Bogdan shakes his head. ‘No, you weren’t short with me. Let’s get you dressed. Is cold out there.’
‘There was a big chap with a beard and hat around earlier too,’ says Stephen. ‘There’s been all sorts going on.’
As they scroll through the files and let Ibrahim do his work, Elizabeth hears their progress from the kitchen. Elizabeth had thought of calling a woman she used to work with, Kasia. Kasia was possibly the greatest cryptographer in the history of MI6, and now works for Elon Musk. But as soon as she heard Ibrahim explaining to Joyce, ‘You see A = 1, B = 2, and so on,’ she realized this particular code might not need Kasia’s full attention.
God bless Joyce. What a good job she has done. Elizabeth will need a little more time off soon, so it bodes well.
Elizabeth looks down at the cups of tea she has made. Joyce was right: there were only eight mugs; but, even so, Elizabeth has had to boil the kettle three times. And then she forgot to take the first tea bags out, so some of the cups are much stronger than the others. And then she accidentally used almond milk because it hadn’t occurred to her that that’s what Joyce would have in her fridge. And, finally, she turned the sugar up the wrong way and it spilled all over the floor. She had cleaned it up immediately because she remembers Joyce once telling her that sugar attracts ants. Twice Joyce had called through, ‘Do you need any help in there?’ and twice Elizabeth had called back that she was perfectly capable of making a cup of tea, thank you, Joyce.
The things Elizabeth could do, and the things she couldn’t.
Carrying the mugs through on a tray, Elizabeth hopes they will be OK for everybody. They will all make encouraging noises, she knows that, but she will concentrate on Joyce’s eyes, because they never lie.
Ibrahim has provided them with a name, hidden in the inexpertly coded files.
‘Luca Buttaci, Elizabeth,’ says Joyce. ‘If that’s how you pronounce it.’
‘I pronounce it Buttaci,’ says Ron.
‘That’s not helpful, Ron,’ says Joyce.
‘I’m doing some Googling,’ says Bob. ‘Just to be useful, and nothing is coming up. Or nothing drug-related. Various Italian mayors and garden contractors, and a schoolboy from South-West London, but no police records, no arrests, nothing criminal.’
‘Probably an alias,’ says Joyce.
‘Probably an alias,’ agrees Elizabeth. Oh, God, now she’s repeating Joyce? Enough! Time to take charge again. She claps her hands. ‘OK, so this Luca Buttaci becomes a new suspect in the murder of Kuldesh, and also in the murder of Dominic Holt.’
‘So what’s next?’ asks Donna, looking around. ‘I got spotted at the football, and then Chris found a corpse. I don’t think we’re as good at breaking the law as you are.’
‘Very few people are,’ says Elizabeth. ‘What we need is a summit.’
‘Oh, a summit, Alan!’ says Joyce. Elizabeth notices Joyce hasn’t yet drunk any of her tea.
‘We need to get everyone together in a room and see their cards,’ says Elizabeth. ‘At the moment it feels like everyone is lying to us. Mitch Maxwell is lying to us, Samantha Barnes and her husband are lying to us. Chris and Donna, the National Crime Agency are lying to you. Dom Holt was lying to us and, given the bullet in his skull, perhaps he was lying to somebody else too?’
‘That’s what you get for smashing up my Daihatsu,’ says Ron.
‘Lovely cup of tea, Elizabeth,’ says Joyce.
‘Not you as well, Joyce, goodness me,’ says Elizabeth. ‘So let’s find Luca Buttaci. Ibrahim, I imagine your friend might be able to help there?’
‘Bob?’ asks Ibrahim.
‘Connie Johnson,’ says Elizabeth, ‘but that was a touching response. Ask her where we can find Buttaci, and then we’ll invite him, Mitch, Samantha and Garth over for Sunday lunch next week. See what we can see.’
‘Best cup of tea I’ve had in yonks,’ says Ron, raising his mug to her. Which gives her a surprising thrill.
‘I do like it when it’s all of us together,’ says Joyce.
‘And, Joyce,’ says Elizabeth, ‘I would like it if we could find Kuldesh’s lock-up before the summit? Monday perhaps?’
‘You’re actually around, are you?’ Joyce asks. ‘That makes a nice change.’
Joyce isn’t being mean, Elizabeth knows that. She just knows something is wrong, and is worried about her. Elizabeth has never been good at dealing with people caring about her.
The summit is a good idea. It will give everyone something to work on. And, when it’s over, Elizabeth can move on to the real business at hand.
Thinking of which, Elizabeth is beginning to wonder where Bogdan might be. If there was a problem, he would ring, she knows that. Perhaps he and Stephen are playing chess? That’s a comforting thought. But doubtful now. Perhaps they are sitting and talking? Stephen doesn’t always know who Bogdan is these days, but he likes his calmness. He fell asleep on Bogdan’s shoulder the other day, and Bogdan missed a weightlifting session because he refused to disturb him.
