Perdition by Pete Brassett

Author:Pete Brassett [Brassett, Pete]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Folks best-selling British murder mystery crime fiction publishers
Published: 2018-06-22T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Although West, on occasion, had done her best to convince him that his boyish good looks would pay dividends later in life when he’d look considerably younger than his greying contemporaries, and the dire state of his love life was simply down to bad luck, Dougal – looking forward to the day when he’d have to shave out of necessity rather than habit – remained unconvinced. He sat at his desk with the same petrified look of inevitability as a deep sea diver who’d run out of air.

‘Blimey,’ she said, ‘what’s up with you? You look like you’ve wet yourself.’

‘Not far off, miss,’ said Dougal, ‘if I’m honest. It’s Emily. She’s asked me out again.’

‘Emily?’

‘Aye, you remember, the lassie who worked for Gundersen before we nicked him. The lassie who got hammered on our first date.’

‘Oh, her! But I thought you liked her?’

‘I did, aye. She’s gorgeous. And clever, too.’

‘So, what did she say?’

‘She was wondering why I’d not been in touch. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I couldn’t handle her drinking.’

‘Och, Dutch courage, laddie,’ said Munro. ‘We’ve all been there.’

‘Maybe, boss, but she was out cold by seven-thirty. Two bottles of wine to herself.’

‘Sounds like a lightweight,’ said West, smirking.

‘Listen to me,’ said Munro, ‘remember as a wean, if there was a lassie in the playground who caught your eye, would you tell her so?’

‘Don’t be daft.’

‘Exactly. Instead, you’d call her names and tease her, too scared to show your true colours. This is no different. She simply had a wee drink to calm her nerves...’

‘A wee drink?’

‘…and got carried away.’

‘Jimbo’s right,’ said West. ‘What you’ve got to remember, Dougal, is that you’ve seen her at her worst, and she knows that. Now, embarrassed as she must be, if she’s got the balls to call you back, then she must like you, too.’

‘Aye! I never thought of it like that.’

‘And she’s not likely to make the same mistake again,’ said Munro. ‘Take my advice and give her a call, laddie. You’ll not regret it.’

‘You think so?’

‘I know so. Life’s too short for “what ifs”. Trust me.’

‘Anyway,’ said West, ‘counselling session over, how’d you get on? With Jardine, I mean.’

‘Result, miss!’ said Dougal, his spirits lifted by the pep talk. ‘He’s got one of those mobile banking apps on his phone and he’s been moving money around like a banker playing the stock market.’

‘No surprise there,’ said West. ‘Do we know where?’

‘Aye. Jersey and the Isle of Man, mainly. The fella’s loaded.’

‘Tax evasion?’

‘Spot on. See, he’s not on the payroll with the bank, he’s registered as self-employed so he’s liable for his own tax and last year he paid less than me.’

‘Pity,’ said West, ‘if he hadn’t kicked the bucket, we could’ve done him for that, too. What about this Fou geezer?'

‘Claude Foubert. Five-eleven, well-built, no hair and a small birthmark like a port wine stain on his forehead. Age: thirty-seven. Single. Born: Maisons-Laffitte; that’s a posh part of Paris. He’s been over here with the bank for three and a half years.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.