Chapter 23 #3
Girard produced his tablet and made a note with his stylus, which seemed to make Quella extremely happy.
“That’s just under two weeks ago,” Girard noted.
Hallie wanted to curse in frustration. She and Girard had been looking for Findo Trask on the other side of the world, while their quarry had made his way back to Daydawn and settled down here, in this affluent and leafy neighbourhood.
Which made her wonder just what Findo had been doing here.
It seemed that Girard had the same questions as he turned to their host. “You’ve had some time to keep an eye on him, then. What did you see?”
“Well, now, let me see. Nothing much for the first few days. Wouldn’t hardly have known there was anyone in the house except there was the occasional bit of steam up from the heating and the like and the curtains were pulled, then open.
Then a few deliveries. Delivery companies with packages, not like supermarkets with groceries, you understand.
Day after that, perhaps, a couple of other men came by, brought two cars with them, left in one.
Think one of them might have been a rental agent.
He had that look. Slick hair, cheap suit, and skinny tie.
The other one was tough looking, but dressed nice.
The car they left didn’t move during the day, not that I recall.
But it was in a different place a couple of mornings.
He must have gone out at night. I get to bed early.
When you get to my age, a decent night’s rest is essential.
Then this other fellow turns up.” Quella paused, pressing her lips together.
“I don’t like to speak ill of people. Now that first one, the veondken, he had those red eyes but he didn’t give me any cause for alarm.
Not really. This other fellow, now, he was a bad one.
Had a bad look to him. Came by about, oh, four days ago now.
Think he’s been staying in the house. Took the car out during the day a few times.
First thing this morning, they both got in the car and left, and I haven’t seen them since. ”
“That is very helpful, thank you, Quella. Let me be sure. Is this the first man you saw, the veondken?” Girard turned his tablet towards her, showing an image of Findo Trask.
“That’s the one. In trouble, is he?” Quella’s sharp gaze turned to Girard.
“A little, yes.” Girard made some adjustments to his tablet.
“Could you look at these men and let me know if you recognise any of them?” He turned the screen back to her and Hallie saw that he’d managed to pull the photographs of Russet and his associates together in one image.
Collected together, they all had a similar, hard look to them.
“That one there, he was one of the ones with the car. The tough looking one who’d dressed nice,” Quella said, and pointed. From her angle, Hallie couldn’t see which image had been chosen. “Oh, and that’s the rough one. The one who turned up later.” She pointed again.
Girard turned the screen back and made a couple of marks, enlarging two images. Hallie noted they were Wrench and Russet. Then he showed the screen to Quella again. “These two? You’re sure?”
“Sure as I am sitting here with you now.”
“Could you give me details about the cars?” Girard asked, setting the tablet down on the wooden table surface and picking up his stylus again.
Quella turned another page in her notebook and rattled off detailed descriptions of make, model and licence plate for each car, making it clear which was the one that had been left at the house.
Girard asked a few more questions about the coming and going to and from the house, and when Quella thought that Findo and Russet had left earlier that day. The answers Quella provided were prompt and honest. That done, Girard got to his feet, Hallie moving with him.
“You’ve been a great help, Quella, thank you so much.
I wonder if we could trouble you some more and ask if we can post an agent in your house for a day or so, to keep an eye out for the two men coming back?
” Girard asked. Hallie tried not to openly react.
He was being honest about the request but not the reasoning and she didn’t want to alarm Quella.
The woman preened - there was no other word for it - and happily agreed to host as many agents as Girard might want to send, saying she’d bake more cookies and a cake.
With that promise ringing in their ears, Hallie and Girard left, heading along the road up to where the tac team had established a perimeter around Findo’s temporary home. The director was outside, conferring with Commander Rojas, but both men looked around when Hallie and Girard approached.
“Well?” Peredur asked.
“A really excellent witness, sir. Quella Rosewood. She made a note of the comings and goings. Both Findo Trask and Russet Welliver were in the house until earlier this morning and left together. We’ve got details of the vehicle, although it’s most likely a rental.
Wrench has been to the property as well,” Girard said.
“I’d like to post a couple of people at her house, sir.
It’s likely that Findo or Russet, or both of them, will have noticed her interest in them. ”
“You think she might be in danger,” Hallie said, annoyed with herself for not thinking of that.
“I do, yes.”
“We’ll get the locals on it. The detective bureau owes us a few favours,” Peredur said. “What did you tell her?”
“That we wanted to post people to keep an eye out for the men coming back. She promised to bake more cookies and a cake for them.”
“Oh, that kind of witness,” Peredur said, face briefly lightening into a smile that just showed how tired he was.
“I am sure the detectives will be happy to help. I sent Mel and Jasper to the other witness across the street. They didn’t get much from him other than what Mel referred to as some attitude. ”
Hallie frowned, drawing the director’s attention.
“Problem, Miss Talbot?” he asked.
Aware that they had had some differences over the past day or so, Hallie tried to be as diplomatic as she could in her answer.
“Well, sir, Mrs Rosewood referred to the other witness as an old, interfering busybody, in so many words, which suggested to me some kind of rivalry between the two. She has notebooks, and clearly keeps a close eye on things. I would have thought the old man did the same. And, forgive me, sir, but Mel is not the most sympathetic of questioners.”
Hallie heard what sounded like a smothered laugh from one of the tac team members around them at her description of Mel, although both the commander and director managed to maintain decent poker faces.
Hallie was sure that Mel wouldn’t have slammed the old man’s head against a table, as he had done to her on their first meeting, but she was also quite sure that the hochlen investigator would not have had much patience for an elderly human man, and the old man would have easily picked up on that.
Peredur stared at her for a long breath during which Hallie wondered if she’d gone too far in bringing up criticism of Mel.
Then he nodded once. “I’ll ask the detective bureau to re-interview the other possible witness.
” He glanced towards the house. “Looks like Findo has been here a while and doesn’t believe much in housekeeping. ”
“Almost two weeks, according to Quella Rosewood,” Girard said, and Hallie heard the edge of frustration in his voice. “So, while we were getting nowhere in the Lucien Islands and then Minamaan, Findo was here all that time.”
“The last place we’d look for him,” the director concluded, expression reflecting his own frustration.
He drew out his phone and checked the time, muttering a curse.
“The Conclave meetings are due to begin soon. We’re going to secure this scene and head back.
Miss Talbot, there’s been no time to give you a run through of the Conclave building or its security measures, and normally I wouldn’t bring you in without that knowledge, but given the situation, we need everyone.
Stick with Girard. Your liaison to the tac team will be Frollo, as before. ”
“Yes, sir,” Hallie agreed, echoed by Girard.
“We’ve got ten minutes before we need to leave. The building has been cleared. No explosives or traps. Take a look through and see what you make of it,” Peredur said, waving to the house in front of her.
“Is there a basement or attic?” Hallie asked before she moved.
“Yes to attic, it was searched when Frollo’s team moved in, and no to a basement. Or not that we’ve found,” the director said. He tilted his head towards the house, suggesting a measure of impatience for her to get on with her work, but his voice was mild when he said, “Your clock is running.”
“Yes, sir,” Hallie said, and started forward.
Ten minutes wasn’t nearly long enough for a building that size, but the director knew that so there was no good pointing it out.
However, she and Girard had been given a great deal of information by Quella, including where the woman had most often seen lights in the house.
So, when Hallie got inside the front door, she took a brief look around the entryway, seeing wood panelling and heavily patterned carpet, before heading into one of the rooms that opened off the entrance.