To Make a Killing Read Online Free Page B
Author: K.A. Kendall
“What about family?”
“Sheila was right. Briefly married and divorced soon after, five years ago. No children. No brothers or sisters. His parents are still alive and living in Perth.”
“Well, I may be jumping to a conclusion, but I don’t think the parents are suspects. So, ask the embassy to arrange for the body to be flown back, and ask them to contact the local police to notify the parents and get their statements. Make sure they understand why we want no press in on this yet; if it gets out, it may lead directly to another person’s death. Get in touch with all the major credit card companies and find out when and where he used any card he may have had. He may have had a mobile phone, so check that out with Penrith, and after that with the leading Australasian telecom providers.
Alright. What we need to know now, as a minimum is: Was he here on his own? When did he enter the country? Who did he meet? And above all, what did he do in the time he was here?”
“According to Penrith, he had taken four weeks off, starting on the 28th of August”
“And today’s the 17th of September, so assuming he flew straight here . . .”
“Been there, done that” said Hayes both cockily and laconically. “He flew with Qantas from Adelaide to Heathrow via Singapore on the 29th. His passport was registered at 21:23, and we may be able to get airport video of him arriving – still have to check on that. And by the way, the hotels turned up blank; no Brett Russell registered anywhere.”
“So either he used an alias or he stayed in a rented flat, or with a friend. Well, let’s leave that as a dead end for now. Alright. Get a list of everyone who was on that flight, in particular who was seated next to him. Interview the stewards and stewardesses on that flight, to see if they remember anything about him; bits of conversation, his behaviour, etc.. Did he have anything to declare? How much luggage was he carrying? Then there are the taxi services. Get his description off to them immediately, and cross your fingers that he wasn’t picked up by a friend or took the tube. Do you think we could get video of him leaving the Airport?”
“I’ll check.”
As Keane paused for thought, Hayes saw his chance and asked the inevitable question that Keane had brushed off unconvincingly minutes before:
“How did you know he was in the wine business? It surely wasn’t a guess.”
“I saw an old friend yesterday, and he gave me a few tips.” Keane could see from Hayes’ look that he needed to be more specific. “The MO and the poison point towards someone who may have had, or still has, connections with the Chilean Secret Service. There are two countries in the world that are currently enjoying great success in the wine industry: Chile and Australia.”
“I see. An ‘educated’ guess, then.” said Hayes bringing the matter to an end in his own mind.
Hayes held out his hand and offered Keane a stick of chewing gum, having taken one for himself. Keane declined quietly with a shake of the head, as in fact he had done without exception, every time Hayes had done this, since they first met six months ago. It seemed to Keane to be more a subconscious ritual on Hayes’ behalf, than a social grace. Keane was just glad it was chewing gum and not chewing tobacco, snuff or - heaven forbid - a cigarette!
Hayes continued hopefully, “Erm, about the theory that it was the wrong victim. Do you still think we need to spend all that time . . .”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. How is it going?”
“We’ve only just scratched the surface.”
“IF . . . if the intended victim was not killed, we probably only have a few days, perhaps even hours, in which to find out who it is. I need your group to have made a list of your best prospects within 24 hours. In the meantime we need to get something out of our airport leads. Tell you what. I got nothing out of our files yesterday –
“Sheila was right. Briefly married and divorced soon after, five years ago. No children. No brothers or sisters. His parents are still alive and living in Perth.”
“Well, I may be jumping to a conclusion, but I don’t think the parents are suspects. So, ask the embassy to arrange for the body to be flown back, and ask them to contact the local police to notify the parents and get their statements. Make sure they understand why we want no press in on this yet; if it gets out, it may lead directly to another person’s death. Get in touch with all the major credit card companies and find out when and where he used any card he may have had. He may have had a mobile phone, so check that out with Penrith, and after that with the leading Australasian telecom providers.
Alright. What we need to know now, as a minimum is: Was he here on his own? When did he enter the country? Who did he meet? And above all, what did he do in the time he was here?”
“According to Penrith, he had taken four weeks off, starting on the 28th of August”
“And today’s the 17th of September, so assuming he flew straight here . . .”
“Been there, done that” said Hayes both cockily and laconically. “He flew with Qantas from Adelaide to Heathrow via Singapore on the 29th. His passport was registered at 21:23, and we may be able to get airport video of him arriving – still have to check on that. And by the way, the hotels turned up blank; no Brett Russell registered anywhere.”
“So either he used an alias or he stayed in a rented flat, or with a friend. Well, let’s leave that as a dead end for now. Alright. Get a list of everyone who was on that flight, in particular who was seated next to him. Interview the stewards and stewardesses on that flight, to see if they remember anything about him; bits of conversation, his behaviour, etc.. Did he have anything to declare? How much luggage was he carrying? Then there are the taxi services. Get his description off to them immediately, and cross your fingers that he wasn’t picked up by a friend or took the tube. Do you think we could get video of him leaving the Airport?”
“I’ll check.”
As Keane paused for thought, Hayes saw his chance and asked the inevitable question that Keane had brushed off unconvincingly minutes before:
“How did you know he was in the wine business? It surely wasn’t a guess.”
“I saw an old friend yesterday, and he gave me a few tips.” Keane could see from Hayes’ look that he needed to be more specific. “The MO and the poison point towards someone who may have had, or still has, connections with the Chilean Secret Service. There are two countries in the world that are currently enjoying great success in the wine industry: Chile and Australia.”
“I see. An ‘educated’ guess, then.” said Hayes bringing the matter to an end in his own mind.
Hayes held out his hand and offered Keane a stick of chewing gum, having taken one for himself. Keane declined quietly with a shake of the head, as in fact he had done without exception, every time Hayes had done this, since they first met six months ago. It seemed to Keane to be more a subconscious ritual on Hayes’ behalf, than a social grace. Keane was just glad it was chewing gum and not chewing tobacco, snuff or - heaven forbid - a cigarette!
Hayes continued hopefully, “Erm, about the theory that it was the wrong victim. Do you still think we need to spend all that time . . .”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. How is it going?”
“We’ve only just scratched the surface.”
“IF . . . if the intended victim was not killed, we probably only have a few days, perhaps even hours, in which to find out who it is. I need your group to have made a list of your best prospects within 24 hours. In the meantime we need to get something out of our airport leads. Tell you what. I got nothing out of our files yesterday –
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