Page 147

Chapter 80

Theincident with James had taken less than ten minutes, yet during that time the voting had accelerated.

Douglas Salt: 00000467

Chrissie Stringer: 00000489

‘Chrissie Stringer is still winning, Tilly,’ Poe said.

‘Wait until later tonight, Poe.’

‘Why? What happens then?’

‘The Americans will be commuting. That’s always when there is the highest traffic on social media. By midnight, Douglas Salt will be comfortably ahead.’

Henning Stahl was peering inside one of the boxes that James the courier had delivered.

‘What’s this?’ he asked.

‘Bit of light reading,’ Poe replied. ‘Five years’ worth of people who have bulk-purchased acetone.’

‘But there must be thousands of names in there.’

‘This is ninety-nine per cent of what I do.’ Bradshaw cleared her throat. ‘This is ninety-nine per cent of what Tilly does,’ he continued without missing a step.

‘May I take a look?’

‘Wait until Tilly’s put them into piles first. And please don’t use any of these names in your book. Acetone is widely used and it’s unlikely our guy was stupid enough to use his real name when he bought it.’

‘So why bother?’

‘Investigations are like sharks, Mr Stahl: if they don’t keep moving forwards they die.’

Stahl opened his notebook again and wrote something down. ‘You’re the gift that keeps on giving, Sergeant Poe.’

‘You can help me sort them into piles if you want, Henning Stahl?’ Bradshaw said. ‘Poe and DI Flynn will review the lists once I’ve prioritised them.’

‘How will you do that, Tilly?’

‘As the Botanist wouldn’t have needed much, and so far he’s used a different poison each time, I’ll start with people who made single bulk purchases and I’ll sort them into size; smallest to largest. I’ll sort the rest into individuals or companies that purchased large quantities of acetone more than once. There will be sub-lists relating to dates and logistics, of course, but I imagine these will be the main three.’

‘I assume the companies that bought it more than once will be businesses that use it in a manufacturing process?’

‘Yes, but Poe wanted them left in.’

‘What did Poe want, Tilly?’ Flynn said, entering the room. Douglas Salt was on her heels. Salt looked angry, Flynn looked bored.

Bradshaw told her how she planned to triage the acetone lists.

‘What you been up to?’ Poe said. He’d insisted that Salt was shadowed at all times. Flynn had drawn the first shift. Gamble, Nightingale and the others were relaxing in the myriad subterranean rooms. Every now and then Poe heard the click of pool balls and the occasional cheer. He assumed Salt had a games room that he hadn’t seen yet.

‘We’ve just watched the new Bond movie and now Mr Salt says he’s hungry.’

‘I have acôte de boeufchilling in the fridge,’ Salt said.

‘And what’s that?’ Poe said.

‘It’s a cut of vintage beef that’s been stored in a ventilated negative cold room since 1998. I’ll fire up the Konro grill while I bring it up to room temperature. I’m sorry, but I only have the one.’