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‘Only ever does private readings. He’s a purist and despises pretty much everyone else. Obviously, I’ve had no chance to observe him. He does have some rich and famous customers, but he’s probably very good at what he does because he totally believes in his gift.’
He sure does, Kim thought.
‘Boss, I thought I’d seen the name Victoria Sykes other than in Dunhill’s article.’ Stacey turned her screen. ‘She’s performing at the Grand in Wolverhampton tonight. Event sold out weeks ago.’
‘We need to go,’ Kim said. They needed to see this deception and its effects up close. The woman needed to be warned and, finally, their killer might even be there. ‘Stace, get the manager on the phone.’
‘Victoria Sykes is very popular. She uses an element of drama in her shows. She doesn’t do private readings, I believe,’ Richard offered, while Stacey rang the theatre. ‘But she is very good at getting the confidence of the crowd.’
‘Here you go boss, Teresa Williams,’ Stacey said, handing her the phone.
‘Ms Williams, DI Stone of West Mids police. I need tickets to tonight’s event.’
‘Impossible,’ the manager blustered. ‘It’s been sold out for weeks.’
‘I need tickets,’ Kim insisted.
‘Unless someone is selling them on eBay, you’re out of luck unfortunately. I can’t allow your standing as a police officer to influence fire regulation limits. I’m sure she’ll tour again at—’
‘It’s not a social engagement, Ms Williams. We need to observe the show in connection with an ongoing investigation.’
The woman was silent for a minute. ‘How many tickets do you need?’
‘Five,’ Kim answered.
‘Impossible,’ she repeated. ‘I can maybe manage two if I revoke the staff passes.’
Kim didn’t have the luxury of feeling guilty for the two staff members who wouldn’t be able to go.
‘I’ll take them,’ Kim said.
The woman gave her instructions on getting the tickets when she arrived.
‘Okay, guv, who’s the lucky person going with you?’ Bryant asked.
‘Before you make your choice,’ Richard said, ‘if you really want to see how the deception works, you have a better chance of success if you’ve got a level of vulnerability. There are some tricks I’m happy to share with you, but no offence, they’re not going to work on you. You don’t look anywhere near naïve enough to be approached.’
Yes, she could see his point, but she definitely needed to be one of the two.
‘With that in mind, which one of us are you going to take?’ Bryant asked again.
She looked around her team and made a decision.
‘I’m not taking any of you.’
THIRTY-SIX
Kim was already waiting in the locker room when she heard the unmistakeable voice talking to a colleague.
‘Hey, Tink,’ she said, stepping forward.
Tiffany’s face froze in surprise as her colleague continued walking.
Kim saw their history together play out in the young woman’s eyes.
The first time they’d met was when Tiff had assisted them with data mining on a child genius case, because Penn had been temporarily seconded back to West Mercia. The second time had been when Tiff went undercover into a cult they’d unearthed and very nearly lost her life.
Warmth filled the woman’s eyes and Kim had to pause. That the young constable was so pleased to see her, given that every time she gave them a hand she got in some kind of shit, was a testament to her generosity of spirit.
