Page 77 of Mann Hunt
They sat down. Charlie was still trying hard to forget the silhouette he’d seen in the shower this morning.
“Everything okay? You seem distracted,” Declan said.
“No. No. Everything’s fine,” he answered, avoiding eye contact by pretending to read the menu.
Ethel came back in a flash. She batted her eyelashes at Declan as she dropped off a couple of coffees and said, “I’ll start you with these while I clean up.” She expertly stacked the dishes that were left behind, leaving some glasses and a folded newspaper.
Declan collected the glasses and put them at the edge of the table. Ethel came back with a tray and a wet cloth. Charlie picked up the paper as she wiped the table down and stacked the glasses on the tray.
“I bet I know what you want,” she said, leaning into Declan.
Charlie interjected, “I’ll have the special—eggs over easy, rye toast…please.”
Declan smirked, then started. “And I’ll have—”
“Egg-white omelette,” she said, winked then left.
Declan smiled. “You see, Charlie. That’s why I come here.”
“They do know you’re gay, right?” Charlie asked.
Declan shrugged.
Charlie sipped his coffee. “How did your meeting with Mr Attwal go yesterday?”
“You’re off the hook. I got the company a new accountant.”
“That’s a relief,” Charlie said.
Declan continued. “And I got him to disclose that Monarch was the developer trying to acquire Ian Mann’s building.”
Charlie put down his coffee with a clatter. “You already knew? So, I got beaten up yesterday for information that you already had?”
“Charlie, I didn’t ask you to go undercover, and if Mr Attwal hadn’t revealed that information, your discovery would have been the only source. What you found out corroborates Mr Attwal’s statement.”
Charlie swirled his coffee in his cup. “At least what I did wasn’t a total waste. Did you find out anything else?”
“Plenty. I also found out that the real estate agent working for Monarch is none other than Michael Taylor.”
“What?”
“I went to visit him last night. He was hiding out at Katherine’s. It turns out their whole affair was a lie.”
“Why would they lie about that?” Charlie asked.
“So the Monarch connection wouldn’t come out. They were business partners. With Ian dead, Katherine inherits the building and Michael stands to make a tidy profit.”
“So that would make them the prime suspects in Ian’s murder,” Charlie said.
“But we need proof and something’s still not sitting right with me. If Katherine was guilty, why would she ask me to investigate the case?” Declan stared out the window.
Charlie didn’t want to interrupt Declan’s thoughts so he busied himself with looking at the paper. An article in the sports section caught his eye.
“We’re missing something. It seems too easy,” Declan said. “What else have we been ignoring?”
“Hockey,” Charlie said as he dropped the open newspaper in front of Declan. The headline above the article readThe Axemen Lose Their Head!
Declan picked it up.
