Murder in the Cards (SeeMS Detective Agency Book 2) by Gina Cheyne

Author:Gina Cheyne
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Fly Fizzi Ltd
Published: 2022-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

THE PASSWORD AND THE DOUCHEBAG

An hour later, when Miranda arrived at the office, Stevie’s mother jumped out of the shadows. ‘Password?’

Miranda jumped. ‘Honestly, Blinkey, don’t do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack.’

‘Wrong. Password.’

Miranda sidled past her. Good thing her earlier black mood had passed, and she was instead in the mood for dancing and laughing.

Stevie was at the computer. Cat was searching for the coffee beans, which Blinkey had hidden as usual.

‘Guess what Karen sent my way?’

‘Doughnuts?’ asked Cat hopefully. She was always hungry around midday.

‘Well, something in a bag, but more of a douchebag than delicious.’

‘Douchebag?’ asked Cat. ‘Something for showering?’

‘More human,’ said Miranda, ‘certainly someone you might want to drown.’

‘Ah,’ said Cat, ‘is that what I would call a spiv?’

‘Not exactly,’ said Stevie, ‘it comes from incel culture, which means the involuntarily celibate male. A bit less successful than a spiv.’

Cat laughed. ‘So, what did the douchebag do?’

Miranda told them all about her trip up the hill with the dog. All three women laughed joyfully when the dog came to her defence, but Cat said, ‘I hope your dog wasn’t hurt. Sounds like this chap might be quite poisonous.’

‘Certainly, I think his information might have been,’ said Miranda.

‘I’m glad you didn’t pay the douchebag for his information,’ said Cat, her repressive voice reminding Miranda of Mrs Pogle. ‘You should never pay for things that relate to morality. It opens you up to blackmail.’

‘Besides,’ said Stevie, ‘most things he could give you, I can find on the Internet for free.’

‘So, what have we found out about this DB?’

Miranda grinned. ‘DB, very à la mode, Cat. His name is Clinton Steman and he works in Soho as a barman. Obviously, he’s not working now because bars are closed. But it seems he’s been working as a barman since the 1960s, so he must have quite a lot of information.’

‘Why would a barman have lots of information?’ asked Cat.

Miranda turned to her in amazement. ‘That you even ask that shows how little time you spend in bars. They get info in two main ways. Firstly, customers talk to them. The more unhappy the client, the more information they give away. Secondly, barmen listen. It doesn’t matter how busy they are, their ears are always open. And the more a barman needs money, the more he refines his hearing. I would say Putrid Clinton was a pretty ideal sponge.’

‘But is it stuff we would want?’ asked Stevie.

‘True. He used to work in Soho, but in the late seventies he moved … wait for it … to a bridge club.’

‘He became a bridge expert?’ Cat’s voice exuded disbelief.

‘No, he worked behind the bar. More information there and you don’t have to concentrate on the game.’

‘How do you know this?’ said Stevie.

‘Ah, there are other methods of getting information than the Internet,’ said Miranda, waggling her shoulders joyfully. ‘I used what Cat would call the dog and bone.’

‘Indeed,’ said Cat, ‘and are you going to tell us who was the woofa?’

‘As

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