Page 362 of The Hallmarked Man

‘I don’t think it’s lack of interest,’ said Robin. ‘The terrorism threat’s at severe; I can see how a bit of A4 with a gorilla on it isn’t absolutely top priority. Anyway,’ she went on quickly, because she could tell Strike was struggling not to start laying down the law about security and protection, ‘I want to interview Hussein Mohamed.’

‘We’ve been through this. I don’t want you out on the street,’ said Strike, still struggling to keep his temper. ‘And I’d have thought last night proves—’

‘OK, fine,’ said Robin, ‘one of the others can interview Mohamed; I don’t care, I just want it done.’

‘Why?’

She took a deep breath.

‘All right, you might think this is crazy, but Martin told me last night about this man he knows who put his company logo on the weights in his home gym. He’s a businessman who’s got an obsession with Excalibur and he puts it on everything, apparently.’

‘You think Wright ordered custom weights?’ said Strike, with raised eyebrows.

‘We know Oz and Medina went back to Wright’s flat in the early hours for something even Oz could barely carry, right? You were the one who said it was probably the weights. Well, what if they had something on them, some personal – I don’t know, a motif, a personal slogan—?’

‘Custom weights would be a bloody extravagant purchase for a bloke who only had enough money to live in that shithole,’ said Strike.

‘I know,’ said Robin, ‘but they needn’t have been custom-made, exactly, they could have had – I don’t know, stickers on them, or something. Stickers Medina couldn’t scrape off, and even if she’d managed to do it, the traces might have pointed to something the killer wanted to hide, something that would have identified Wright. Or else the weights were a brand, or a colour, or something, that might have pointed to who Wright was. We know Mandy and Daz never went inside Wright’s room, but Mohamed might have done. I know it’s a really long shot, but Strike, I think we’re a long way ahead of the police. We’ve taken the possibility Wright wasn’t Knowles seriously much longer than they have. I just feel as though—’

There was a knock on the door and Pat entered, looking grumpy.

‘That was Plug’s uncle. He wants you to pretend the boy wasn’t there. Says it’s not his fault, his dad made him.’

‘Fuck’s sake,’ exploded Strike, ‘we’ve already given statements to the police. What next? Does he want Shah to pretend he stabbed himself in the leg?’

‘That’s a “no”, then,’ said Pat, scowling, and she closed the door again.

Strike now lowered his voice.

‘Was she banging on about that bloody fish when you arrived?’

‘Travolta?’

‘What?’

‘It’s what she called it. I’ve just found out.’

‘The fuck’s she naming them for?’

‘People do that, with pets,’ said Robin, amused.

‘I knew it was going to be like this,’ said Strike in exasperation. ‘The look she gave me when I told her it had died, you’d think I’d fucking eaten it… where were we?’

‘Mohamed,’ said Robin. ‘Plus, I got this, late last night, from Chloe Griffiths. Look…’

She handed him her phone and Strike read:

Hi Chloe, this is Robin Ellacott. I’m sorry to contact you again, but I’ve got a few more questions and I think you’re the only person who can answer them. I do understand how difficult this is for you, and I wouldn’t disturb you again if I didn’t think it was important.

What questions?

I’ve spoken to Hugo’s father and he mentioned a big argument you had with Tyler and Anne-Marie about a bracelet.

So?

I’m just a bit confused about your and Tyler’s relationship.

Haven’t you got FUCKING EYES? Does that look like Tyler on my fucking Instagram?