Strange Affair

Banks took one of the stools at the bar and ordered a bottle of Stella. The price was every bit as outrageous as he had expected. The bartender was a woman in her late twenties, by the look of her, about the same age as Cori

Banks showed her his card. “Do you work here every night?” he asked.

“Most nights,” she said, scrutinizing the card more closely than the doorman had. “Yorkshire? What brings you down here?”

“Cases can take you all over the place,” Banks said. “People move around a lot more than they used to.”

“You can say that again.”

“Actually, I’m making a few inquiries about Roy Banks. I understand he was a member.”

“Poor Mr. Banks,” she said. “He was a real sweetheart.”

“You knew him?”

“Not really ‘knew.’ I mean, not outside of work. But we talked here occasionally. You tend to do that, in this job. He always had time for the bar staff, not like some of our more stuck-up members.”

“Did he sit at the bar and tell you his troubles?”

She laughed. “Oh, no. That only happens in films.”

“What’s your name, by the way?”

“Maria.”

“Pleased to meet you, Maria.”

“What relation are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your name’s Banks, too. I saw it on that card. Are you his brother?”

“Yes,” Banks said.

“You must be gutted.”

“I am. But I’m also trying to find out what happened. Did you talk to him last Friday?”

“Yes. He and Mr. Lambert were sitting at that table just over there.” She pointed to a discreet corner table. “Mr. Banks always made a point of coming over and saying hello and asking me how I was doing. And he always made sure he left a decent tip.”

“Did he have anything to say that night?”

A waitress appeared asking for drinks. Maria excused herself for a moment and filled the order with graceful efficiency. “What was it you wanted to know?” she asked when she came back.

“Just if Roy had said anything out of the ordinary to you.”

“No. Nothing. Not that that I remember.”

“Did he seem upset or a

“Not at first. A bit preoccupied, maybe.”

“Later?”

“After he’d been talking to Mr. Lambert for a while he seemed to be getting uncomfortable, if you know what I mean. I don’t know how to describe it, but you could sort of feel the tension, even from over here.”

“Others noticed?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve always been very sensitive to the vibes people give off.”

“And these were bad?”

“Yes. I think so.”

“Were they arguing?”

“No. They never raised their voices or anything like that. It was just a sort of tense negotiation.”

Lambert had told Banks that Roy had been pressing him for contacts in the arms business, but Banks didn’t believe that. “What happened next?”

“After he used the telephone, Mr. Banks went through to the casino and I didn’t see him again.”

“Mr. Lambert?”

“He sat by himself for a while, then he went into the casino, too.”

“You say Roy used the telephone?”

“Yes.”

“Where is it?”

“There’s a public telephone in the corridor by the toilets,” she said. “Down there.” She pointed directly across the room. Banks turned and saw the phone on the wall. From where Lambert had been sitting, he couldn’t possibly have seen Roy make the call. “Not a lot of people use it because everyone’s got a mobile these days, haven’t they, but he must have forgotten his or the battery was dead or something.”

Banks thought of the mobile sitting on Roy’s kitchen table. “Was it a long phone call?”

“No. Just two or three minutes.”

“How long had he been here when he made it?”

“Not long. Maybe half an hour or so, a bit longer.”

That must have been the call he made to Je

“Like I said, he went into the casino. He didn’t say good-bye, though, and that’s not like him.”

“Did Mr. Lambert make any phone calls?”

“Not that I saw.”

“Could he have done?”

“Oh, yes. I mean, he went to the toilet. He could have used his mobile there, if he had one with him. But I didn’t see him make any calls, that’s all I meant.”

“Thanks very much, Maria,” said Banks. “You’ve been a great help.”

“I have?”

Banks made sure to leave her a decent tip and wandered out onto The Strand. He glanced about him to see if there was anyone watching for him, but if there was, he didn’t notice. According to the doorman and Maria, Roy had left the club around half past twelve. There were plenty of taxis passing by, Banks could see. So what had Roy done? Got in a taxi? Or had someone offered him a lift? It couldn’t have been Lambert, because he was still in the casino. So who?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The sun was up by the time the operation had been approved by the brass in SO19, the Metropolitan Force Firearms unit at Scotland Yard, and the team had been assembled and briefed. A

It was an eerie sight, A

In a way, A

On the prearranged signal, the SO19 team battered down the front door and stormed into the house. A

But there were no shots, and she took that as a good sign.

She had no idea how long it took, but eventually the team leader emerged and told them the house was secured. There had been one guard armed with a baseball bat and three other men, none of them armed. The rest of the occupants were young women. They had best take a look for themselves, he told them, shaking his head in disbelief.

A

The seven girls were all in a small room upstairs. Probably more lived there, A