An hour later, and back in the office, Sarah raced through a proofread on a brochure that Grace had been putting together.
“The online copy’s pretty much the same text,” said Grace putting a coffee on Sarah’s desk. “Is okay?”
“More than okay,” said Sarah. “Couple of typos — I marked them — but otherwise, good to go. Great work, Grace!”
Grace’s face broke into a big smile.
Thank God for Grace, thought Sarah. Time to dig into what Jack found.
She quickly brought up the Rolex site — which turned out to be easy to navigate. Designed to facilitate the process of authenticating Rolex watches sold around the world, Sarah found it simple to create an account, password, and then gain entry to the limited database.
Then it was just a matter of entering the watch’s serial number.
The site — sluggish — took a while to respond.
And — there it was.
The date the watch was sold.
June 5, 1998.
And where the watch was purchased.
Barcelona.
She sat back in her chair.
Thinking of Larwood, living in Sitges.
Sarah knew the place from her student trips there: a beach-front town filled with cafés, restaurants, clubs. And also expensive homes that sat in the nearby hills, looking down on the town and the Mediterranean.
And Barcelona — just a thirty-minute train ride away.
She picked up her phone. Called Jack.
And while the phone connected, she thought of Bruno’s fall.
His push.
Could someone like Larwood be capable of more than trying to throw Jack off the trail?
Larwood had been on Jack’s boat during the carnival. But even so — could he be connected to Bruno’s accident?
Then — Jack’s voice.
“Sarah?”
“Jack — can you talk?”
“Yup. Just arrived at the regatta. How’d you get on in Bourton?”
And she told him what had happened that morning. How Rogers had kicked her out — but how Miriam had then sought her out.
***
Jack stopped in his tracks — staring out across the full car park towards the river where the regatta was due to start in just half an hour.
“You’re sure it was Bruno she saw?” he said.
“Jack — I got a good look at his van at the cricket match. Got to be the same one.”
“So Tim went off with Bruno. And never came back.”
“Looks that way,” said Sarah. “Think I should go check out Karin’s place? That’s where he’s living these days, apparently.”
Jack thought about this.
“Not sure. Maybe we do that together, hmm? When we know a bit more about what the hell’s going on.”
“Okay,” said Sarah, “how about I go talk to Lionel instead? He’s staying at The Bell. Just up the road.”
“Good idea. Maybe press his buttons? But Sarah — after last night — be careful.”
“Always.”
Jack tried to process the new information — make sense of the connections. “Bruno and Tim — I don’t get it,” he said. “What’s the link? Were they working together?”
“I doubt it,” said Sarah.
Jack looked down to the river: rowers were out already, warming up.
“And why two cars?” said Jack, half to himself.
“What?”
“Just thinking aloud,” he said. “Hey — nearly forgot — you find anything about the watch?”
“I did, Jack. But I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
Then he listened as Sarah now told him what she’d found on the Rolex site.
***
When Sarah had finished, there was silence. She could imagine how Jack was feeling.
“It’s not a coincidence — is it?” she said.
“No,” said Jack. “Harry and Brian with a condo near Barcelona — and then a body turns up just a couple of miles from Cherringham with a watch bought there? That’s no coincidence.”
“Think Larwood is going to be there — at the regatta? Now?”
“Bound to be. Seemed real interested in things. And if he’s pretending that he just popped back to Cherringham for the carnival, I’m sure he’ll show up, nice and casual.”
She hesitated.
“What are you going to do?”
“That game he was playing? Two can play at that.”
Sarah sensed that Jack was putting a plan together.
“Look. I gotta dash. Running late. One more thing. The movie tonight — after the carnival procession? Everyone usually goes to that?”
“You mean like Harry, Amanda …?”
“And her sister, if she isn’t by Bruno’s bedside.”
“If she’s not, that in itself would be interesting. Guy’s in a coma — ex-husband or not. But, yes, everyone will be there. It’s pretty much the high point of the whole week. They hand out the awards too — so the Tylers are sure to attend.”
“And who’s in charge of the show?”
“Tony, I imagine,” said Sarah. “It’s American Graffiti, right? Your choice. Everyone’s looking forward to it.”
Jack laughed. “Think they won’t be disappointed.”
“Hmm? What are you up to, Jack?”
“Must run but I’ll tell you later. Promise. See you down here by the river later this afternoon, hmm?”
“Okay. I’ll keep my eye out for you — and your coconuts.”
And she heard Jack laugh as the call ended.