Page 65 of Mann Hunt
“I only wish I could have found him earlier. I accept full blame for that,” Declan said.
“Bah,” the accountant said. “What is a finger good for but to point accusations, and an ear but to hear lies? Now,” he said to Declan, leading him towards his office, “come and tell me what is on your mind. Mother—chaiandkaju katli.”
They sat down and Palvinder asked, “Now, my friend, what can I do for you?”
“First off, I want to thank you for the wonderful gift you gave us. My partner, Charlie, was speechless.”
“It was the least I could do for what you did for me. And that little car of yours…it is a bit of an embarrassment. I can’t have my hero driving around in that little shit-box. So after the police had finished with the red beauty, I convinced the wrecking yard fellow to sell it to me in exchange for a bit of help with his taxes. He was so pleased that he did the cleaning and detail work on the car for nothing!”
“Speaking of work, you mentioned to Charlie that you were in the market for a new client.”
“Yes,” Mr Attwal answered.
“As it so happens, I’m in the market for an accountant.”
“Then it must be me! No discounts, of course, for saving my life. This is a business deal.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t expect it.”
“Mother!” the accountant called out.
She entered carrying a tray with two ornate tea cups filled withchaiand a small plate covered in triangular-shaped sweets. She set them down with a clatter and said, “I’m working on the contract right now. Don’t rush me.”
She quickly departed.
Declan smiled. “I’m going to like working with you, Mr Attwal.”
“Palvinder, please.”
“And please call me Declan. Now, I understand that one of your clients was Ian Mann.”
The accountant crossed his arms. “I’m not sure how you found out, but yes, hewasone of my clients.”
“His wife hired me to find out what happened to him.”
“Interesting.” Palvinder nodded. “I thought the city had police to do that?”
Declan shrugged. “Sometimes it helps to have someone who is…free of blinders to look into a case.”
“And sometimes it is just easier to handle things on your own, without the constraints of the outside world.”
“Exactly,” Declan agreed.
“So,” Palvinder continued, “do you have any clues as to what happened to Ian?”
“Other than that he was murdered?”
Palvinder took a sip of his tea. “That is unfortunate.”
“It seems that he was involved in an unwanted attempt to get him to sell one of his properties. Do you know anything about that?” Declan asked.
“As his former accountant, all I can say is that I was encouraging him to offload unnecessary assets to a developer, a view he didn’t share.”
Declan leaned in. “You wouldn’t happen to know who that developer was?”
Palvinder picked up a sweet which he nibbled. “You are asking me to divulge private information of a valued client.”
“Yes.”
