Lost Cause by Ed James

Author:Ed James [James, Ed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grey Dog Books
Published: 2022-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

38

A couple of young women stood at the reception desk, blonde-haired, probably Scandinavian, could even be sisters. They looked bored as Harris fussed around with his precious ledger. They looked over at Mark in creepy unison and smiled the same smile.

He kept his distance.

No sign of Vic Hebden, or his bulky assistants.

Mark felt that burning in his throat.

Harris held out the room key to the women, a wide grin filling his face as they both reached for it. He let go and watched them march over to the stairs, then shifted his focus to Mark. ‘Now, Mr Campbell, how can I help you?’

‘Well, let’s start with you telling me the truth.’

Harris kept up the pretence of a smile. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Kay has been staying here, hasn’t she?’

‘We’ve been over this already, sir.’ Harris had his eyes shut. ‘Your daughter was not a guest of ours.’

Mark felt a slight blush. Confrontation wasn’t his strong suit, but when it came to his daughter? All bets were off. ‘Okay, but someone saw her go upstairs.’

Harris frowned, opened his eyes, then cleared his throat. ‘Well, she might have, I suppose. But—’ He slammed his ledger shut. ‘Oh flipping Christ, has she been stealing?’

‘I didn’t say—’

‘Christ, Christ, flipping Christ!’ Harris reached down and retrieved another ledger, then flicked through it. ‘Good heavens, that explains it.’

‘Explains what?’

‘Things have been going missing here. Expensive things. We pride ourselves on a genuine silver service in the restaurant, but it’s become somewhat challenging when you’ve lost several items of silver.’

Mark didn’t give a shit about his cutlery. ‘If she’s been upstairs here, I—’

‘Leave me alone!’

Mark stepped back, arms folded, looking around the grand entrance hall. ‘This place intrigues me. Big, with a decent-sized staff. Well-maintained. Thing is, though, I’ve only seen three rooms occupied out of, what, twenty? Twenty-five? Be interesting to see how much is going through your books.’

Harris looked up at him. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Very easy to run a money laundering organisation here. Stick a few grand a day through the books. Cops in Inverness or Wick are probably never in this glen, never even know how quiet this place is.’ Mark held his gaze. ‘Now, I’m working with police officers, so—’

‘Are you threatening me?’

‘Who said anything about threatening?’

‘Sir, I appreciate your concern at finding your daughter, but if she went upstairs, it was without my knowledge. And we have many more guests than you have accounted for.’

‘Look, I just want to know what’s happened to her. That’s it.’

Harris huffed out a sigh. ‘If she was as irritating and persistent as you, Mr Campbell, I’m sure everyone she spoke to will recall it vividly.’ He held Mark’s gaze for a few seconds, then looked away. ‘Now, I’ve passed on your comments to Janek and he’s refusing to—’

‘Who’s Janek?’

‘Our chef.’ Harris rolled his eyes. ‘Polish gentleman. The man who cooked your excellent steak this evening.’

‘That wasn’t mine.’

‘No? Well, it was charged to your room.’

Hebden… ‘What comments were those?’

‘Your fellow guest says it was overcooked, when it was ordered as rare.

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