DARIAN HAD a simple routine every morning, getting out of bed around eight, showering and then going through to the kitchen where he would look in the fridge and swear he would do some shopping really soon. For several years there may not have been a single day when that flat contained enough to feed a grown man. Faced with the desolation of a fridge that held a nearly empty tub of butter, an out-of-date carton of milk, some green and beige cheese that had started out oddly orange and a lightbulb Darian had just realized didn’t light, he decided to pay for breakfast at The Northern Song instead. It was an unhealthy but convenient option that both he and Sholto leaned on far too often.
He walked in the cold down to Bank Station, content with his decision to put the hire car back to JJ. Walking and taking the train to work was enjoyable for Darian and perhaps him alone in this narrow city with its clogged roads and absurd public transport. He liked the walk and making his way through the packed station, getting onto the train for the short trip through the tunnel to Glendan Station. It was the people-watching he found the pleasure in, the population of Challaid being a channel that never ran repeats and refused to commission a single dull day. He left Glendan Station and walked down to Cage Street and in through the front door of The Northern Song.
Two people were standing at the counter, waiting for an order that had already been placed. Mr. Yang was there and saw Darian.
He said, “Breakfast special, Darian?”
“Yes please, Mr. Yang.”
The owner went through to the back and returned three minutes later with a warm foil tray and passed it to Darian, taking the money to pay for it with the feigned reluctance of a businessman dealing with a friend. Darian took his breakfast upstairs.
Sholto was already at his desk and when he saw the food he said, “I can’t stop myself turning into a fat old man on greasy breakfasts but it’s not too late for you to save yourself.”
“Is that you trying to persuade me to give you my breakfast?”
“It would be an honorable solution to a real problem.”
“My problem is hunger and I’m holding the solution and not letting it go. Have you heard anything from Dockside?”
“No, and I can’t help thinking that’s probably not a good sign. They’re catching up with the twenty-four-hour mark since they took him in and I don’t see them going for an extension if they’ve made no progress, not with his lawyers waiting to pounce and claim victory if a judge refuses them more time. Better to keep their powder dry.”
“Surely the bra is enough for something.”
Darian sat and gulped down his food with the haste of a man determined to find better things to do with his time. They had no other active cases, just one that was now gripped by the police, and they needed to drum up a little business. That’s what Sholto was doing with his spare time because Darian was so damn bad at it, unenthusiastic about corporate work and no good at hiding the fact.
The breakfast carton was in the bin and Sholto had the phone in his hand, about to call Glendan, the construction giants they did regular work for, when he heard footsteps on the stairs and a knock at the door. When he opened it DC Vicario walked in, looking more tired than she had the day before, many long hours in the station ago.
When the door was closed she said, “I’m on my way to flop into bed but I thought I’d take a detour south and tell you we’re releasing Simon Sutherland. Right now all we could throw at him is withholding evidence and even that would be shaky because he didn’t know it was evidence.”
Darian said, “He didn’t crack?”
“We couldn’t make a scratch on him. Now they’ll be complaining about us mistreating a man with mental health problems, so this isn’t going to get any easier.”
Sholto said, “It was good of you to come and let us know.”
“There is a selfish motive. We’re still going to pursue this, for Ruby. Simon Sutherland is at least a link to whoever killed her so we’re not going to step away from him just because his lawyer’s watch cost more than my monthly salary. Oh, you should see the watch, the sort of gaudy you could easily get hooked on. Anyway, we’ll keep on it but we’ll be under pressure, watched all the time by seniority that could hold us back.”
“And we’ll have a little more freedom.”
She smiled at Darian and said, “Exactly. You dogs of war are off the chain.”
Sholto said, “Hang on, hang on, us mutts are all tied up in the kennels. We’re a research company, and the Sutherland lawyers that can inconvenience you will shut us down before we can so much as peek in Simon’s letterbox.”
“You’re helping to try and find Ruby’s killer and helping Cnocaid try to find Vinny’s ex-wife, although I fear what you’ll find by now. I can assure you, no station in the city will pursue a case against you.”
“Using private companies to chase police cases is not how it’s supposed to work.”
She said, “Maybe we won’t have to, maybe we’ll get Ruby’s killer without your help, but I’d rather know you two were in my corner. You have a good reputation, Mr. Douglas, and I’d want your skills on my side.”
Despite the transparency of the buttering-up Sholto couldn’t stop himself beaming like Heilam lighthouse. He said, “Well, of course we’re in your corner, DC Vicario, that goes without saying. We’ll keep looking into the Ruby killing as well as Freya’s disappearance. We won’t be reckless about it, no, but we will be professional.”
“That’s more than enough for me. I’d better go home before I fall asleep on your floor and get rice in my hair. I’ll be in touch again soon.”
As she left, Darian, embarrassed at the mess, kneeled down and picked the rice off the floor that one of them had dropped in the last few days.
Sholto said, “We’re in deep enough now to feel the heat of the earth’s core.”
“You do always say you want the police on our side.”
“Aye, but if they’re the only ones who are on our side, who the hell is going to pay us?”