Page 47 of The Hallmarked Man (Cormoran Strike #8)

Ask me no more, for fear I should reply;

Others have held their tongues, and so can I…

A. E. Housman VI, Additional Poems

Albie emerged from the staff entrance shortly after eight. His eyes sought Robin’s over the crowd of staff now hurrying homewards.

‘Hi,’ said Robin, and shaken though she was, she managed to sound perfectly cheerful, ‘d’you want to get something to eat? It’s on me. We could get a burger or something?’

Having three brothers, two of them younger than herself, Robin knew the importance of food to young men.

‘Er… yeah, all right,’ he said, and Robin thought she read in his expression, nervous though it was, a certain satisfaction at the fact that there was something in this for him.

‘D’you know the Alfred Tennyson pub?’ said Robin, who’d looked the place up while waiting. ‘It’s ten minutes up the road, but the food’s good.’

In fact, she’d never eaten there, but everything nearer looked even more expensive, and there was a limit to what she thought she could persuade their accountant into accepting as a legitimate business expense.

They walked through the chill evening, through throngs of passers-by, Robin making banal chitchat.

They discussed the staff discount Albie received at Harrods, and what a good deal he’d got on most of his Christmas shopping.

She learned that he’d recently ‘buggered his knee’ playing football, and that ‘people always think I’m posher than I am’, because of his double-barrelled name, which was really the result of his feminist mother demanding equal billing on his birth certificate.

Albie seemed an amiable young man, bright though not academic (‘I can’t see the point of university, you’re just wasting time when you could be earning money’), and she was slightly puzzled to know why Rupert Fleetwood, whose behaviour – regarding the stolen nef, and towards his pregnant girlfriend – suggested fecklessness and unkindness, should have been good friends with a young man who seemed decent, hard-working and responsible.

The Alfred Tennyson was crowded, but they were able to secure a table for two in the restaurant area.

Robin slid into the seat with her back to the wall; nobody else was going to approach her from behind, unseen, if she could help it.

Albie, who seemed torn between pleasure at the prospect of a decent hot meal after a long day at work and worry about what was coming, ordered a burger and a pint, then sat, slightly hunched, with his hands between his knees.

‘So,’ said Robin, when the waitress had left, ‘as I said before, Albie, I’m really just looking for background. We don’t know much about Rupert, except that he and Decima were in a relationship, and that he was brought up in Switzerland by his aunt and uncle.’

‘OK,’ said Albie, looking nervous.

‘When did you first meet him?’

‘Last year. Early – like, February, I think. When he started work at Dino’s.’

‘How long were you there?’

‘Two years in all. Bit over.’

‘Did you like it?’

Albie’s pint arrived, and he took a large sip before saying,

‘It was OK. Some of it. Have you spoken to Mr Longcaster?’

‘No,’ said Robin. ‘But I know about the nef.’

‘You don’t want to judge him by that,’ said Albie quickly.

‘Judge who? Rupert?’

‘Yeah,’ said Albie.

Robin could feel the table vibrating slightly; one of Albie’s long legs seemed to be jumping up and down.

‘You liked Rupert, though? You were friends?’

‘Yeah,’ said Albie, with a slight smile. ‘He’s a good guy. Kind of… old soul, you know? Steady. The kind of bloke everyone tells their problems to.’

This didn’t tally remotely with the idea Robin had formed of Rupert Fleetwood, who she’d been picturing as just another of the wealthy, well-born young male Londoners she’d come across during her detective career.

They existed like tourists in their own city, taking the best of what it had to offer and never needing to dirty their feet where regular people trod, unless they hit some personal crisis; usually a sudden drop in funds caused either by an allowance-withholding parent or an out-of-control drug habit.

‘What d’you know about Rupert’s ex-housemate, Zac?’

‘He tried to stiff a drug dealer for payment, then fucked off and let Rupe and Tish take the heat,’ said Albie darkly.

‘Who’s Tish?’

‘Zac’s ex-girlfriend. The dealer was threatening her as well as Rupe. Trying to get to Zac through them.’

‘What’s Tish’s full name?’

‘I never knew her surname. I only met her once.’

Albie’s burger now arrived and he started eating immediately, clearly very hungry.

‘Rupert didn’t have much money, did he?’ asked Robin.

‘No. He sounds posh, but there’s nothing left in his trust fund. All the money went on paying for his boarding school in Switzerland. Rupe needs to work if he wants to eat. Have you spoken to his aunt?’

‘My partner has.’

‘Rupe can’t stand her. He had a bad childhood.

He was really unhappy at his boarding school and he didn’t like his aunt and uncle.

He told me he never felt like he belonged with them.

He wanted to get back to England and his mum’s side of the family.

He really liked his Uncle Ned, but he died just after Rupe came back to the UK. ’

‘What did Rupert do before he worked at Dino’s?’

‘Worked for an estate agents, then he was front of house at some restaurant in Soho, and then Sacha – you know Rupe’s Sacha Legard’s cousin?’

‘I did, yes,’ said Robin. ‘Are they friendly?’

‘I don’t think Sacha wants to get too friendly.’

‘Why not?’

‘In case Rupe wants things from him,’ said Albie owlishly.

‘What kinds of things?’

‘Dunno. Money? Premiere tickets? Hang out with his famous friends?’

‘Would Rupert want those things from Sacha?’

‘No,’ said Albie. ‘All he really wants is family. Sacha was the one who suggested Rupe went and worked at Dino’s, though. Sacha’s a member there. He said, if Rupe wanted a better job than the restaurant, he should ask Mr Longcaster, seeing as he was his godfather and everything.’

‘Did Rupert have much to do with Mr Longcaster before he went to work for him?’

‘He never even knew Mr Longcaster was his godfather before Sacha told him. Rupe’s aunt doesn’t like Mr Longcaster, but Rupe didn’t care what she thought about anything any more, so he went to the club and Mr Longcaster said, “oh, you’re Veronica and Peter’s boy? ” and said he’d try him out for a bit.’

‘Mr Longcaster hadn’t been a very involved godfather, then?’

‘I think he’d forgotten all about Rupert until he turned up at the club.’

‘And did Rupert like working there?’ asked Robin.

She was moving the conversation gradually closer to Decima, but didn’t want to arrive there too quickly.

‘He thought the same as me,’ said Albie. ‘Bits of it are cool. You see some really famous people in there, and at first that’s interesting, but after you’ve been there a while you realise they’re just people. Some of them are OK and some are twats, you know?’

‘And that’s how Rupert felt about it, too?’

‘Yeah… you haven’t spoken to Mr Longcaster?’ Albie asked again.

‘No,’ said Robin, but this time she added, ‘why?’

‘He’s… I hate him,’ said Albie, with sudden, surprising vehemence. ‘I hate all of them – except Decima. She’s OK. She’s the only decent one.’

‘When you say “all of them”, you mean—’

‘The Longcasters. Him and his wife, she’s a real bitch, and his other kids.

Valentine – I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire,’ said Albie savagely.

‘He’s a shit, he acts like it’s his club, he treats the staff like dirt.

And Cosima, she’s the youngest, and she’s a spoiled brat.

Decima’s the only decent one, she always treated the staff well.

Well, she kind of was staff herself, for a bit, working on the menus.

Mr Longcaster asked her to help out. She’s a really good chef…

but I think her restaurant’s in trouble. I saw online.’

Robin thought she heard a trace of guilt, but Albie went on quickly,

‘Anyway, she doesn’t fit in with her family. Same as Rupe. I heard the two of them discussing it, once.’

‘So you saw Rupert and Decima’s relationship up close?’

‘Yeah, I s’pose,’ said Albie.

Their client’s prohibition on mentioning her baby was highly inconvenient; Robin sensed that Albie might be amenable to a little emotional blackmail.

‘So, did you think Rupert and Decima were a good fit, or—?’

‘Why’re you asking that, if you work for her?’ said Albie.

‘Because,’ said Robin, looking Albie straight in the eye, ‘I think it’d be kinder for her in the long run to know the truth, rather than be told lies, and left wondering why, if Rupert was supposed to genuinely care about her, he disappeared.’

Albie looked down at his plate, ate another couple of chips, then said,

‘She thinks he was that body in the silver shop, doesn’t she?’

‘She told you that, did she?’

‘Yeah, but’ – Albie laughed uncomfortably – ‘that’s mad. Why the hell would Rupert have gone to work there?’

‘You’ve just told me why,’ said Robin. ‘He had to work if he wanted to eat. He’d run off with Mr Longcaster’s nef, so he had reason to hide, didn’t he? But you don’t strike me as the kind of person who’d encourage him to ditch his girlfriend without a word.’

She watched as a flush spread over Albie’s face.

‘I’m not,’ he mumbled.

‘Did Rupert want to end things with Decima?’

Albie opened his mouth, shut it, then said,

‘Not really.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I don’t know… her brother was really against it, he thought Rupe was way too young for her – and probably not rich enough, knowing Valentine.’

‘Rupert decided to split up with her, because Valentine disapproved?’

‘No,’ said Albie. ‘He didn’t want to end it, but he had—’

He cut himself off.

‘“Had to?”’ said Robin. ‘Why would he have to? Because he was afraid of Valentine, or Mr Longcaster?’