‘He was a professional assassin?’ asked James.
‘With an exceptionally good record, I must say,’ said Mandy.
‘If he really wanted to kill you, you would have been dead.’
‘Maybe he wanted to at first. He did get my vase though. After that it was mindless firing.’
‘So whoever ordered him to kill you changed their mind after a few moments. Why? It seems irrational to try to kill somebody and then seconds later decide not to. That would be a really fickle-minded thing, or, well, I can’t think of a good reason.’
‘Neither can I.’
James thought for a moment and said, ‘Could he have murdered Adam?’
‘Evidence shows that on the night of the murder, he was still in the hotel he was staying at for a few weeks. And his car too was in the parking lot,’ said Mandy.
‘He didn’t make a good attempt at hiding himself. That means he wasn’t planning on killing somebody.’
‘Yes, exactly. Plus, why would a person like him kill somebody with a kitchen knife?’
‘It’s not him then,’ said James.
Mandy nodded in approval and stared outside her window. Outside, the world was a blur, thanks to James’s driving skills. After a half-hour ride, they entered a quiet countryside. People were walking all around, chatting and going about their work. James had to slow down and eventually stop to give way to pedestrians.
‘Why can’t they walk a little faster?’ asked James with an irritated look.
‘Be patient. We are all sometimes in their shoes,’ said Mandy.
‘At least I don’t stand in the middle of the road and wonder where my chicken flew off to.’
Mandy laughed as James slowly moved through the traffic.
‘Okay, so I was thinking why exactly all these millionaires decide to settle in countryside. They have lavish properties in the city, but no, let’s settle in a farmhouse,’ said James.
‘I don’t know. People have their preferences. We’re going to meet one of them. Why don’t you ask him?’ said Mandy.
‘So he declares me an idiot right away.’
‘At least you did accept you are one.’
‘Oh, shut up.’
‘Ignorance is bliss,’ said Mandy as she laughed.
After a few minutes, James took a sharp left and drove on a narrow road. Two miles later, he stopped outside a large gate. It was half open, and a watchman walked up to him.
‘Your name?’ he asked.
James showed him his badge, and they were allowed to pass through. He parked his car in the porch, along with the rest of the three imports. Somebody is a car lover here, thought James.
He and Mandy walked to the big door and rang the doorbell. Seconds later, the door opened. An old lady opened the door. She was dressed like she was going outside somewhere.
‘Morning, officers. I am Mrs Lily Holman. Please come inside,’ she said.
She showed them to the living room. It was beautiful and had a red-and-yellow theme. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling. Mandy could only imagine how beautiful this room would look in low evening light.
‘I presume you are here to talk to my husband. He’ll be here in a few moments,’ Lily said.
‘Yes,’ said James.
Lily then took her bag from the mantle near the door and left. Jeremy Holman entered a few seconds later. He was old and looked a little timid. He was dressed in a shirt and trousers and had a wine glass in his hand.
He stood opposite them and said, ‘Good morning. Would you like to have anything? Coffee or wine?’ he asked.
‘No, thank you,’ said Mandy.
Jeremy nodded and they all sat. A butler entered and poured some wine in Jeremy’s glass. He murmured a thank you.
‘Mr Holman, we’re here to ask a few questions,’ said James.
‘Yes, you may proceed,’ said Jeremy.
‘Tell us about Mr Lancer.’
‘He was a good business partner. He was practical and strong-willed and knew how to proceed about in tricky business matters.’
‘What kind of a person was he, nature-wise?’ asked Mandy.
‘I can’t tell much about him that way. We generally met for business meetings only. We rarely socialized,’ said Jeremy.
‘Why would that be? You’re running a business together, and you don’t know what kind of person you’re working with?’
‘Actually, Adam was an introvert. He felt uncomfortable in social chit-chat. And like I said, we only met for business meetings and for the social parties in the casino. We all had our friends to hang out with.’
‘Where did you have your business meetings?’ asked James.
‘In Adam’s house,’ answered Jeremy.
‘When?’
‘Mostly every weekend in the evening at eight.’
‘Who all attended?’
‘Me and Mark Becker.’
‘Was a meeting scheduled this week also?’
‘Yes, we had planned to meet like usual on Saturday.’
‘Where were you on Friday?’
‘In the house itself.’
‘So only the shareholders attended. Who were all the ex-shareholders?’ asked Mandy.
‘There were four of us from the start with George Hustle. But he died along with his wife when his house burnt down a year ago.’
‘Yes, we heard about that. What kind of a person was George?’
‘Oh, he was good. We all liked him, except Adam. They hated each other. But there could have been a change.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They hated each other until they made that deal.’