Now
At the halfway stage of the quiz, during a break to allow the participants to stock up on beer, Gray raised the matter. It was noisy, the chatter of a full pub talking about the questions so far. Nobody would overhear. Gray’s team was lying in fourth place, just a handful of points off the lead.
When Fowler returned with three pints Gray said, “Do either of you remember the fire which burned down the Sunset guest house?”
Fowler chugged his lager then nodded. “Sure. I wasn’t on duty that night, but I remember.”
“Why?” asked Carslake.
“There’s been an accusation that Jake was involved in burning down Noble’s office.”
“Based on what?”
“A claim that Noble made a connection between Jake and the Sunset fire ten years ago, and it got swept under the carpet. We were all working here at the time, but I was on leave.”
“What are you suggesting?” asked Fowler.
“Nothing, I just wanted to know if either of you knew of Noble making these claims?”
“Means nothing to me,” said Fowler.
“Apparently it’s related to Millstone Developments.”
Carslake gave Gray a tiny shake of the head which Fowler didn’t see.
“Who?” asked Fowler.
“They’re property developers.”
Carslake frowned. However, the quiz master chose that moment to pick up the microphone. His voice boomed through the loudspeakers. “All right, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the rest of the questions?” There was a resounding “yes!” from the tables, except Gray’s. “Then let’s get going! Question twenty-six …”
***
Forty minutes later and Fowler was totting up their results. “Bloody hell, what happened to us in the second half? We got hardly any right!”
“My fault,” said Gray. “I couldn’t think straight.”
“We’ll do better next time,” said Carslake.
“Want another?” Fowler raised his empty glass.
“I’m done,” said Gray.
“Me too,” said Carslake.
“Looks like I’m on my own, then. See you tomorrow.” Fowler went to the bar.
Gray followed Carslake out to his car. Carslake unlocked, got inside. Gray got in the passenger side.
“Why on earth did you bring up Noble and Millstone?” asked Carslake.
“Hamson and I spoke to Natalie Peace and Rachel O’Shea. Turns out they’re mother and daughter. Millstone is trying to buy the property their charity is located in. Noble was investigating Millstone. They’re convinced Noble was murdered to silence him. They’re also convinced Jake had a hand in the Sunset fire which killed their family. That’s why I brought it up.”
“Their family?”
“Natalie’s ex-husband and son died. Rachel was there at the time but happened to be outside when the fire started.”
“Horrible business.”
“You do remember it then?”
“Yes. Unfortunately. The sort of thing you’d like to forget.”
Gray waited for more; he didn’t get it. “You were there during the fire?”
“I was on duty, it was near the station. It shouldn’t come as a surprise.”
“Why did you stop me asking about Noble?”
“Do you trust me?”
Gray hesitated before he answered. “Of course I do.”
“Good.” If Carslake had noticed Gray’s hesitation, he made nothing of it. “This has to stay between us, okay?”
“Promise. Cross my heart.”
“First, I don’t know anything about Noble coming into the station about Jake. I seriously doubt he ever did. Noble was always seeing a story where there wasn’t one. Plus, later on, he had a vendetta against Jake. The Sunset fire brought down Noble’s newspaper, and he always tried to return the favour.”
“I know.”
“Second, Millstone is a sensitive subject. We think it’s being used as a vehicle to buy up large swathes of Margate. There’s a high-level investigation underway, very sensitive, very quiet. There may be some issues with local departments like planning. Bungs — stuff like that. Even I don’t know a great deal about it.”
“Jake’s the victim here?”
“They seem to be targeting him specifically, though he is the largest property owner in Thanet.”
“Jake mentioned that he’d been thinking of retiring and that he’d been made an offer on Seagram’s.”
“It’s entirely possible. Who could blame him for moving on? Look, we need to work together on this.”
“How?”
“You’ve gained the women’s trust, right?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“You know them, though. I don’t.”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to keep them off Millstone and Jake for now.”
“I’m not sure I can. They’re pretty driven.”
“You have to. I don’t want them buggering up the investigation.”
“Why?”
“They’re biased. Their charity is under threat from Millstone, and they hold a grudge against Jake. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
“I’ll try.”
“And Hamson; she can’t know about the Millstone investigation either. Too sensitive.”
“I don’t like the sound of that, Jeff.”
“That’s how it has to be.”
Gray thought for a few moments, weighing everything up. He wasn’t sure where Carslake was going with this, but it felt best to be on the inside. “Okay.”
Carslake held out his hand. “It’s great spending time with you again, Sol. I’ve really missed it.”
Gray shook. Carslake grinned. Gray forced himself to do the same.
“See you tomorrow,” said Gray. He got out of the car and began to walk home through Broadstairs, plenty on his mind.
On the way, he sent Hamson a text.