Page 65 of Joker in the Pack

And that was it, my sad life reduced to a series of interactions, many of them insignificant or unpleasant. Hearing myself talk through them out loud made me wonder once again why I hadn’t run for the hills.

Nye typed a couple more sentences, then looked up. “That’s a good start.”

“Is it? Half of those people are pensioners or girls.”

“Women can do every bit as much damage as men.”

“Really?”

“You’d better believe it.” He paused, focusing on the screen in front of him. “Well, this is interesting.”

“What? Did you find something?”

“I’m not sure. A load of the residents of the three Foxfords have files on our system, but they’re all sealed. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Who sealed them?”

“One of the directors at the company I work for.”

A company? I realised I knew next to nothing about him. “I assumed you worked alone. Or perhaps you had an assistant. Like…”

“Don’t even mention Sherlock Holmes. Please. I’ve heard every joke in the book, and it’s worn thin now.”

“Okay, er, I just don’t know any other private investigators.”

“I work for Blackwood Security. It’s one of the largest security and investigation firms in the world. I’m not a lone wolf.”

Phew. At least he wasn’t some cowboy. “What do the sealed files mean?”

His mouth set in a hard line. “It means we’ve looked at these people before, but I don’t know why. I’ll try to find out. But in the meantime, can I have a look around?”

“Of course.”

I followed him as he poked and prodded his way through the house. He whistled as he saw what was left of the piles of peril.

“Holy shit. That’s a lot of…shit.”

I had to agree with him, even if he’d put it rather crudely. “My aunt was a bit of a hoarder, it seems. I’ve been selling it as quickly as I can. I was going to use the money to modernise the place, but I’ve ended up spending it on repairs instead.”

In my bedroom, I blushed as Nye opened the wardrobe and stared at my clothes. Tell me he didn’t plan on checking my underwear drawer too? I breathed a sigh of relief when he headed downstairs, through the kitchen, and out into the garden.

Our first stop was the woodshed, where he picked up the chain and padlock still attached to the support.

“You can’t keep your bike in here anymore.”

“I know that. I’ve been wheeling it into the hallway for the last few nights.”

Nye shoved his way through the undergrowth around the perimeter with me tripping along behind. Then it was back to the house.

“Your security’s terrible. I’ll get a man in to sort out decent locks for your doors and windows. And you should stay out of the garden until we’ve got to the bottom of this. It’s too secluded.”

“I can’t afford new locks at the moment.” If I could, I’d have bought them already.

“People owe me favours.”

“It’s not fair to ask you to do that. I owe you already for coming at all.”

“You’re not asking. I’m telling you—you’re getting new locks. And you don’t owe me anything. Coming out here was a favour to Soph.”

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