She emerged from the bedroom, her kimono loosely tied. ‘I’ve got it,’ she said. ‘Hold on a minute.’ She disappeared back into the room and re-emerged with a fat brown envelope. ‘Mine and Matt’s. It’s all there.’

‘Need any more gear?’ Leroy asked.

Juliette’s glance strayed to Kletz, who looked tense. ‘No. Thank you, that’s fine.’

The big man nodded, looked Juliette up and down deliberately and slowly, and let his gaze wander to Kletz and back again. You and him, really? his look seemed to be saying. He said a brief goodbye and slipped out of the door, back to the borrowed car.

Chapter Sixteen

Thursday

First thing Gillard went to see Chief Constable Alison Rigby and told her about the previous night’s experience. She listened carefully, her powerful blue eyes focused on his.

‘I can see why you did it, Craig,’ she said. ‘But you don’t need me to tell you what an awkward piece of potential evidence you have created for a defence team should Mr Ceejay be brought to court.’

‘Yes ma’am,’ he said.

‘So what did you learn as a result of this rather foolhardy reconnaissance?’

‘Well it’s clear that the restaurant is controlled by Ceejay. You can see it in the body language between the two principal shareholders. Filings at Companies House show that Anton St Jeanne is the majority owner, but on the ground it looks the other way round. Ceejay was confident enough to be able to offer me and Sam a complimentary dessert without having to check it with anyone.’

‘Are we thinking money-laundering?’

‘That’s my guess, but of course it’s so hard to prove.’

Rigby sighed, and looked out of the window. ‘Any link to our mystery body?’

‘None whatever. I had intended to casually ask a waitress about recent staff turnover, but once my cover was blown there was no point. I wouldn’t have got a straight answer. So I think we are now waiting for the mitochondrial DNA results, which I have been promised for this afternoon. Stable isotope analysis, which tells us exactly where this person has lived, is going to take another couple of weeks.’

‘Okay. Are there any leads coming from overseas?’

‘No, ma’am. As you know, there is no international missing persons database, except for those concerning war, human rights violations and natural disasters. Interpol has a few cases notified, but there is no apparatus to pursue them. If we knew the country he came from, we’d be able to narrow it down. That’s why I’m putting my hope in the stable isotope analysis.’

‘Good, that should get us a definite answer.’

‘On another subject, ma’am. It’s about Anton St Jeanne’s girlfriend Leticia Mountjoy, who has the Special Branch contact.’

‘Yes, Craig,’ she said wearily.