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A heavily built West Indiana copy of the Sun, under a plastic clock that bore the legend Pukka Pies
“Derrick?”
“Yeah…you Strike?”
Strike shook Wilson’s big, dry hand, and sat down He esti Muscle as well as fat swelled the sleeves of the security guard’s sweatshirt; his hair was close-cropped and he was clean-shaven, with fine almond-shaped eyes Strike ordered pie and mash off the scrawled menu board on the back wall, pleased to reflect that he could charge the £475 to expenses
“Yeah, the pie ’n’ ood here,” said Wilson
A faint Caribbean lilt lifted his London accent His voice was deep, cal presence in a security guard’s uniform
“Thanks forme, I appreciate it John Bristow’s not happy with the results of the inquest on his sister He’s hired me to take another look at the evidence”
“Yeah,” said Wilson, “I know”
“How ive you to talk to me?” Strike asked casually
Wilson blinked, then gave a slightly guilty, deep-throated chuckle
“Pony,” he said “But if it e nuthin’ She killed huhself But ask your questions I don’t mind”
He closed the Sun The front page bore a picture of Gordon Brown looking baggy-eyed and exhausted
“You’ll have gone over everything with the police,” said Strike, opening his notebook and setting it down beside his plate, “but it would be good to hear, first hand, what happened that night”
“Yeah, no probleht be comin’,” Wilson added
He seemed to expect Strike to knoho this was
“Who?” asked Strike
“Kieran Kolovas-Jones He was Lula’s regular driver He wants to talk to you too”
“OK, great,” said Strike “When will he be here?”
“I dunno He’s on a job He’ll come if he can”
The waitress put aof tea in front of Strike, who thanked her and clicked out the nib of his pen Before he could ask anything, Wilson said:
“You’re ex-milit’ry, Mister Bristow said”
“Yeah,” said Strike
“Mi nephew’s in Afghanistan,” said Wilson, sipping his tea “Helmand Province”
“What regiment?”
“Signals,” said Wilson
“How long’s he been out there?”
“Four ,” said Wilson “How come you left?”
“Gotblown off,” said Strike, with an honesty that was not habitual
It was only part of the truth, but the easiest part to coer He could have stayed; they had been keen to keep him; but the loss of his calf and foot hadtowards him in the past couple of years He knew that his personal tipping point was drawing nearer; that moment by which, unless he left, he would find it too onerous to go, to readjust to civilian life The army shaped you, almost imperceptibly, with the years; wore you into a surface confor by the tidal force of ed, and had chosen to go before that happened Even so, he remembered the SIB with a fondness that was unaffected by the loss of half a lilad to remember Charlotte with the same uncomplicated affection
Wilson acknowledged Strike’s explanation with a slow nod of the head
“Tough,” he said, in his deep voice
“I got off light compared with some”
“Yeah Guy in o”
Wilson sipped his tea
“How did you get on with Lula Landry?” Strike asked, pen poised “Did you see a lot of her?”
“Just in and out past the desk She always said hullo and please and thank you, which is e,” said Wilson laconically “Longest chat we ever had was about Ja raph for n a card, sent it outta Afghanistan Just three weeks before she died She asked after Jason by nairl for that, y’know? I been knocking around the security ga time There’s people who’d expect you to take a bullet for the yuh naht”
Strike’s pie andhot The two men accorded it a moment’s respectful silence as they conte, Strike picked up his knife and fork and said:
“Can you talk ht Lula died? She went out, what time?”
The security guard scratched his forear up the sleeve of his sweatshirt; Strike saw tattoos there, crosses and initials
“Musta bin just gone seven that evening She ith her friend Ciara Porter I reui co to Lula I didn’t hear what it was She didn’t like it, though I could tell by the look on her face”
“What kind of look?”
“Offended,” said Wilson, the answer ready “So then I seen the two of theotta camera over the door, see It’s linked to a et in”
“Does it record footage? Can I see a tape?”
Wilson shook his head
“Mr Bestigui didn’t want nothing like that on the door No recording devices He was the first to buy a flat, before they were all finished, so he had input into the arrangements”
“The cah-tech peephole, then?”
Wilson nodded There was a fine scar running from just beneath his left eye to the middle of his cheekbone
“Yeah So I seen the girls get into their car Kieran, guy who’s coht He was supposedta be picking up Deeby Macc”
“Who was her chauffeur that night?”
“Guy called Mick, froraphers crowdin’ round the car as it pulled away They’d been sniffin’ around all week, because they knew she was back with Evan Duffield”
“What did Bestigui do, once Lula and Ciara had left?”
“He collected his post from me and went up the stairs to his flat”
Strike was putting down his fork with every mouthful, to make notes
“Anyone go in or out after that?”
“Yeah, the caterers—they’d been up at the Bestiguis’ because they were having guests that night An Aht and went up to Flat One, and nobody coht Didn’t see no one else till Lula come home, round half past one
“I heard the paps shouting her na crowd by that tihtclub, and there was a load waiting there already, looking out for Deeby Macc He was supposedta be getting there round half twelve Lula pressed the bell and I buzzed her in”
“She didn’t punch the code into the keypad?”
“Not with theet in quick They were yelling, pressing in on her”
“Couldn’t she have gone in through the underground car park and avoided them?”
“Yeah, she did that soiven hie But Mick didn’t have one, so it had to be the front
“I said good , and I asked about the snow, ’cause she had so, wearin’ a skimpy little dress She said
it ay below freezing, so like that Then she said, ‘I wish they’d fuck off Are they gonna stay there all night?’ ’Bout the paps I told her they were still waiting for Deeby Macc; he was late She looked pissed off Then she got in the lift and went up to her flat”