“Never seen him.” Tyler passed the photo back. Gerry thought he was telling the truth.

“We think he was Greg’s replacement,” she said. “Or all set to be. Are you sure you didn’t take any deliveries from him over the past month or so, since Greg packed it in?”

“No. I told you, I found someone else. In Leyburn. Then I packed it in. Besides, I’d remember if I had met him.”

“And you never went back to Hollyfield?”

“No. Why would I?”

“OK,” said Gerry. “So you’re saying the old man told you things would be up and running again soon, but they weren’t?”

“Right.”

“What about the line? The phone number?”

“Dead, wasn’t it?”

“And you didn’t get a new one from your mate?”

“No. Nothing. They just, like, abandoned us all. Just like that.” He drank some more beer. Gerry finished her slimline tonic and closed her notebook. She hadn’t learned a lot, but it hadn’t been an entirely wasted visit. At least she thought she had managed to add a bit more evidence to the mounting pile that showed Samir hadn’t turned up in Eastvale until the day he was killed. Or if he had, he had been lying very low. And she knew his predecessor’s first name was Greg. But she still didn’t feel any closer to knowing who had killed him.

Chapter 10

10

ON SATURDAY NIGHT, ZELDA WAITED UNTIL NINE O’CLOCK before she entered the bar and grill at the Hotel Belgrade. As luck would have it, there was a vacant seat at the bar between two couples, both far too interested in their respective partners to pay her any attention. She was also pleased to note that her style of dress was not at all out of place. The dressed-down crowd might be sitting at the tables, but up there at the bar, most of the men and women were dressed for an evening out. She looked just like a woman waiting for her date.

When the barman asked her what she wanted, Zelda ordered a vodka and tonic. The only thing she really missed was smoking. She wished she could light up while she was sitting there with her drink. Not only was she feeling a nicotine craving, but her nerves needed calming. The barman placed a bowl of mixed nuts and nibbles in front of her, but that wasn’t quite the same. She tried one piece; it tasted like salty cardboard.