Page 78 of The Killer’s Mark

Poe nodded emphatically. ‘That’s how sure I am.’

‘What we gonna do? Talk shit about them? Call the cops?’

‘I don’t know yet,’ Poe said. ‘But at least we know. Even better, because I left everything intact, they don’t know we know.’

‘That’s why we came to the bar?’

‘It’s called a pub in this country, Esmerée. But yes. That’s why.’

Bradshaw had said very little since she’d opened the attachments. She was staring at the screen, zooming in on things.

‘You’re very quiet, Tilly,’ Poe said.

She wiped the rim of her bottle of tonic water. ‘That’s because you’re wrong, Poe.’

‘I’m not. I’ve been on enough stakeouts to recognise covert surveillance systems. The Red Chamber has eyes and ears on us. Which explains how they knew we’d be in Newcastle. Probably followed the car all the way from Carlisle.’

‘What type of private dick can’t spot a tail?’ Esmerée said.

‘A bad one,’ Poe admitted. And he meant it. The A69 was awkward and hilly. It was the most northerly east–west trunk road in England and two thirds of it was single carriageway. With lorries and caravans struggling with sharp inclines, the first forty miles were an exercise in rural overtaking. It was why Poe had a car with a bit of oomph. It was safer. But the constant overtaking of slower vehicles meant a tail should have been easy to spot. He must be slipping. He wouldn’t have missed one a year ago. He thought back to why he and Esmerée had been driving to Newcastle. ‘We need to warn Hester Flynt,’ he said. ‘If they knew where we were going, it’s because they were listening to our conference call.’

He reached for his phone.

Bradshaw put her hand on his arm.

‘We don’t need to warn Hester Flynt, Poe,’ she said.

‘We don’t? Why not?’

‘Because it’s not the Red Chamber that’s been listening to us.’

‘And watching us,’ Esmerée said. ‘Bet they saw us picking our noses and scratching our asses and everything.’

Poe thought about all the embarrassing things he probably did when he thought no one was watching. ‘Speak for yourself,’ he said. ‘But go on, Tilly. If you don’t think it’s the triads, who do you think it is?’

She turned the laptop around so he could see it. It had a split screen. The left side was a close-up of one of the pictures he’d taken; the right side was a website listing surveillance equipment. She clicked on one of the items. It was the same bit of kit.

‘This is a G-LEM 5674 high-performance camera unit and battery. It can receive and distribute the feed from six different camera cables. It will do the same for any paired audio devices.’

‘Sounds expensive.’

‘A unit like this would retail at forty thousand pounds.’

‘But we know the Red Chamber is cash rich. According to Chao, they’re making millions of dollars a year from their concubines. They could easily afford one.’

‘You’re missing the point,’ Bradshaw said. ‘I said a unit like this would retail at forty thousand pounds, not a unit like this retails at forty thousand pounds.’

‘OK, I’m sure that’s an important distinction.’ He thought it through. Bradshaw was very exact with her language. It was how she kept secrets from him without telling lies. She used wordplay. “Would” was the important word. Which meant only one thing. ‘You can’t buy these, can you?’

‘No, Poe.’

‘And why not?’

‘Because they’re strictly reserved for the security services.’

Chapter 65

‘Alastor Locke is behind this?’ Poe said. ‘That beanpole prick has been spying on us?’