‘I thought you liked your women in their twenties? It is Tia, isn’t it?’ Jessica replied, wiping the grin from his face.

‘What’s my wife got to do with this?’

For the first time, Nicholas’s tone was outright menacing, each syllable echoing around the room with a hiss. He was staring at her, trying to figure out what she was up to but Jessica knew what she was doing – or at least she thought she did. She could hear Cole’s warnings ringing around her ears as she slid the two photographs across the desk.

‘Do you recognise either of them?’

Nicholas didn’t look at the pictures, instead picking up a cigar from the table and putting it into his mouth. He chewed on the end, peering at Jessica and smiling with his eyes. ‘Nope.’

‘You do realise it’s illegal to light that in here,’ Jessica said, picking up the photographs and nodding towards a half-full ashtray.

‘I own this place.’

‘It’s also a workplace, meaning no smoking.’

Nicholas’s eyes narrowed, his brow twitching angrily, before he composed himself and broke into a smile. He opened his top drawer and dropped the cigar into it. ‘It’s heartening to know we have such defenders of the law working for the state.’

Jessica held up the photographs for a second time. ‘Look again.’

She saw his eyes dart from one photo to the other but if he recognised either of them, he didn’t let on, shaking his head once again. ‘If you leave me the names, I’ll look into my records and see if I can find anything out for you. It’s twenty-odd years ago; I don’t know what you expect, I shut that casino down years ago.’

Jessica nodded, figuring it was as good an offer as she was going to get. She handed the photographs to Rowlands and then put on as sweet a voice as she could manage. ‘You could let some of our people go through your records if it makes life easier . . . ?’

Nicholas’s smile was fixed but Jessica could see a vein throbbing on his forehead. His skin had reddened further and he was nodding slightly. He barely moved his lips as he replied. ‘No, thank you. I’ll be in contact if I find anything.’

Jessica thought about standing to leave but couldn’t resist. ‘That’s probably sensible. Who knows what they’d find . . . ?’

She knew instantly she had him. Nicholas glanced sideways at the bank of monitors, then the area around his Adam’s apple began bobbing up and down. She couldn’t see it clearly because of the overhanging flap of skin but he could evidently no longer contain his fury.

He thumped his hands onto the table. ‘Who do you think you are?’ His eyes were narrow with rage, his hands shaking. Jessica said nothing. ‘Who do you fucking well think you are?’

Jessica reached into her pocket and took out a business card, sliding it across and speaking sweetly. ‘Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel. It’s nice to meet you.’

Nicholas glared at her. ‘Do you know what I’ve done for my community?’ He waved his hands dramatically towards the wall, where there were framed photos and newspaper articles, including the one she had already seen outside the boxing club.

Jessica stood and walked across to them, taking a cursory glance. ‘Very impressive. We’ve all been talking about how clever you are, haven’t we, Dave?’

Rowlands followed her lead, although she would have preferred it if his voice hadn’t faltered as he muttered a slightly unconvincing: ‘Yeah, really clever.’

Nicholas stabbed a pudgy finger at the monitors. ‘Do you know what I’ve done for these lads? Both Scott on reception and my bar manager, Liam, were unemployed kids. I gave them something from nothing. They came in on work experience and look at them now.’

‘Bravo.’

‘I don’t know why you lot are always on to me. Don’t think I haven’t seen you sniffing around my businesses. I can smell you a mile off.’

Jessica walked across to where Rowlands was sitting and took a final pair of photographs from him. She held up the first one, making sure Nicholas was looking at it before speaking. ‘This is Oliver Gordon. Do you know him?’

Nicholas seemed slightly stunned by her change of tack. She saw at least some of the anger drain from his face. ‘No.’

Jessica flipped the photos around until she was showing him the one of Oliver’s dead body. ‘How about this one?’

Nicholas didn’t flinch but he didn’t sound angry either. ‘No.’

Jessica put the photos down and then reached across, picking up the card she had left as well as Nicholas’s pen. She flipped it over and wrote ‘Eleanor/Ellie James’ and ‘Kayleigh Pritchard’ in clear capital letters, then offered him the card and pen. He took both but put the pen down, studying the names and downing the rest of his drink. She was convinced she saw some sort of recognition in his eyes. He didn’t seem the type to forget names or faces of the women he employed.

‘Give me a call when you find out more about them,’ Jessica said.

She started walking towards the door but Nicholas clearly wanted the final word. ‘Ms Daniel,’ he said, his voice now under control again.

Jessica glanced over her shoulder with one hand on the doorknob. ‘What?’

‘If you want to return to see me, you best make sure you either have a warrant or an appointment.’

Jessica gave him her broadest smile. ‘You were lucky this time,’ she replied. ‘I’m not usually an appointment type of girl.’

With that, she left the room, clattering through the door that led into the club. Two men were sitting on stools at the bar and turned to watch as she stomped through the main area. She ignored Liam, offered a ‘see you soon’ to Scott, who was still sucking his finger, and then banged the front door on her way out into the cool evening air.

She was walking so quickly that it wasn’t until she reached the main square that Rowlands caught her up. ‘That went well,’ he said.

Jessica couldn’t help but laugh, although she didn’t think Cole would agree.

12

Although she had not expected Nicholas Long to complain, Jessica spent the rest of the week waiting to be called into Cole’s office for a telling off. When it never came, she realised she had judged the man perfectly. Some rich, well-connected local criminals would instantly get their lawyers on the case the moment the police did anything that wasn’t quite by the book. Jessica knew Nicholas was nothing like that. For one, she suspected he resented paying a lawyer a penny of anything, let alone for something he would deem unnecessary. Secondly, he seemed the type who revelled in fighting his own battles. He wouldn’t want someone in a smart suit throwing around accusations on his behalf, he would rather be at the centre of everything himself.

Jessica had no reason to believe he was involved in anything to do with Oliver’s death but they didn’t have an awful lot else to go on either. Both Eleanor and Kayleigh insisted there was nothing sinister to them leaving their casino jobs and Nicholas had not come back to them with any further information. She realised the dangers of winding him up, not only because the Serious Crime Division were looking into him but also there was a strong likelihood he was a very dangerous man. None of that would be obvious, of course, but the force wouldn’t be putting that amount of time and expense into someone they thought might have been growing cannabis in a back bedroom. The suspicions of weapon trading in particular seemed strong, although nothing had been proven. She had the feeling people above her would settle for anything, even something tax-related, if it meant getting him off the streets.

With that in mind, she had made the decision to put herself in the thick of things. She hadn’t needed to wind him up but had at least seen the real Nicholas Long up close. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.