‘No, no,’ she laughed, ‘don’t do that. I need all the business I can get.’
‘Times are tough?’
‘They’re okay, but you know how it is in this trade. It takes a while to build up a solid customer base; at my stage you grab all the work that comes your way.’
‘Hopefully you’ve learned not to take on work without knowing exactly who your client is?’ Her basic naivety had been at the heart of the initial difficulty between us, and later it had come back to bite her.
‘Oh yes,’ Carrie replied. ‘I’m very careful who I work for now.’
‘Do you want to work for me?’
‘Is it legal?’ she asked, with a smile.
I grinned back at her. ‘Anything that isn’t I’ll be handling myself.’ I opened my briefcase and took out a folder. ‘I need you to run background checks for me on a list of people. I want to know if any of them have a grudge, overt or hidden, against this man.’ I took a photo, one that I’d printed myself, from the file. ‘Do you know who he is?’
She took it from me and studied it, carefully. ‘That’s Eden Higgins, isn’t it, the businessman?’
‘Got him in one. How much do you know about him?’
‘Personally, nothing. Although . . .’ she hesitated. ‘A few months ago, his wife made a claim against the insurance company I worked for, and I checked it out.’
‘Much involved?’
‘Quite a bit. A suite of her jewellery was nicked, a necklace, matching bracelet and a pair of earrings, Christ knows how many carats of diamonds in the lot. She and her husband were staying in a country house hotel in Argyllshire, attending some sort of international business summit. When she arrived she deposited the jewels in the hotel safe. The following evening, when she wanted them for the main event dinner, they were gone.’
‘Did the insurers pay out?’
‘They had to,’ she said. ‘There was some talk of arguing that the swag had been left at the owner’s personal risk, but that fell very quickly and they settled for the full insured amount.’
‘How much was that?’
‘Two hundred and fifty thou. The irony was that we insured both parties, but it’ll be the hotel’s policy renewal that’ll be hammered next time round, for its owners were held at fault.’
‘Have the jewels been recovered?’ I asked.
‘Not a chance. The local Inspector Clouseau was baffled, and the Pink Panther got away with it.’
‘Was anything else taken?’
‘Nothing. That was remarked on at the time. One of the other guests had a large quantity of bearer bonds on his possession, and they’d been signed into the safe too. They were left untouched, yet they were worth ten times what the jewellery was. The thief couldn’t have been as smart as he thought.’
‘Or a lot smarter than the police reckoned,’ I countered.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Let’s say you’re the Pink Panther. You’re after jewellery. You find it, and alongside it there’s a few million quid in out-dated old-fashioned, but still entirely legal tender, and,’ I added, ‘entirely untraceable, bearer bonds. What are you going to do?’
‘Fill my pockets,’ Carrie chuckled.
‘Are you really?’ I asked.
‘Why not?’
‘Possibly self-preservation,’ I said. ‘Look, you’re a jewel thief, it’s what you do. Mainly, almost invariably, you’re actually stealing from insurance companies, not individuals. If you’re good enough to evade Clouseau, and you have a safe market for the gear, you’re free and clear.
‘But,’ I continued, ‘yield to greed or temptation . . . a hell of a lot of temptation, I’ll grant you . . . and trouser the bearer bonds, you are stepping into the unknown. Those things are a risky form of security and, historically, they’ve been used by some very risky people. Yes, they are untraceable and you could be set up for life, but the chances are you’d spend the rest of that potentially short life looking over your shoulder.’
‘I see what you mean,’ Carrie admitted. She looked up at me and winked. ‘I wouldn’t like to steal your bearer bonds.’
I smiled. ‘Best not to, I agree.’ I paused and then went back on subject. ‘I take it you didn’t meet Eden Higgins in the course of your work for your company.’
‘No. Only his wife and his son, who’s quite tasty as I recall.’
‘So you have no preconceptions of him?’
‘No. He’s just another very successful bloke. Why do you ask?’
‘Because ultimately,’ I told her, ‘he’s your client. You’re working for me, and I’ll pay you,