Page 60 of The Impossible Fortune

Bill nods. ‘Same reason it’ll take you about half an hour to reach The Compound from here. If you want to rob this place, you’d better not be afraid of the dark or tight spaces. Is Nick Silver okay?’

Ron sighs. ‘Definitely missing. Could be dead – we don’t know. There were some texts from his phone, but someone else sent them.’

‘How do you know that?’ Bill asks.

‘A car called the Babe Magnet,’ says Ron. ‘Don’t ask. Nick went missing very early on Friday, so Holly came to see us. Then she dies.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ says Bill. ‘What a mess. Who’s in charge here, then?’

Ron shrugs. ‘You?’

‘I don’t want to be in charge of anything,’ says Bill.

‘Holly told us there’s a lot of valuable stuff in The Compound,’ says Ron. He sees Bill’s eyes flick for the briefest moment to the rusty washing machine in the corner of the cellar. So that’s the way in, is it? Leading to some sort of tunnel? Clever. Elizabeth will be impressed with his observation skills. Ron would love to be Columbo, he really would.

‘I can’t say,’ says Bill. ‘All that stuff I can’t tell you.’

‘She also said that she and Nick have got something down there,’ says Ron. ‘And Nick Silver thought someone was after it.’

Bill shakes his head. ‘No one could get anything from down there. Do you know when Holly’s funeral will be?’

Ron will ask Paul. ‘I’ll let you know.’

‘Thanks, Ron,’ says Bill. ‘They’ve got a unit down there, Holly and Nick. But I’ve been here ten years and I’ve never seen them open it.’

‘We know they had two codes to get in,’ says Ron. ‘Nick had six numbers and Holly had six numbers. What if someone got hold of those numbers somehow? What’s stopping them coming down here and opening the box?’

‘Well, they’d have to find the place,’ says Bill. ‘That’s the first thing.’

‘But a client would already know where it is?’

‘True,’ says Bill. ‘But if they get down there and I see them opening the wrong box, I lock the whole place down.’

‘You could just nick it yourself,’ says Ron.

‘I can’t get into the vault without a client,’ says Bill. ‘That’s the only time me or Frank are allowed in. Retinal scans on the client, and one on me. Thumbprints from the client; thumbprints from me.’

‘A client could come down with a gun,’ suggests Ron. ‘And force you to help.’

‘Full body scanners,’ says Bill. ‘I can see the scans from downstairs, and, if I don’t like what I see, I don’t send the cage up.’

‘I bribe you, then,’ says Ron. ‘Or I bribe Frank? I’m aclient, I know you. You let me in, turn a blind eye when I open the wrong box, you take me back up, I split the proceeds with you.’

‘Try it,’ says Bill. ‘See where it gets you.’

Ron has always been good at thinking like a criminal. It’s second nature. ‘So I’m an existing client, I’ve got my hands on Holly’s code and Nick’s code, I’ve bribed, let’s say Frank and not you. What’s stopping me coming in tomorrow night and stealing Nick and Holly’s money?’

Bill thinks for a long while. ‘Nothing. Except that’s a lot of ifs.’

‘Okay,’ says Ron. ‘Okay, at least we know. If a client makes an appointment in the next few days, you’d know? Would it usually be on your shift or Frank’s?’

‘Most appointments are on my watch,’ says Bill. ‘But some people are night birds. I’ve got one in a couple of days’ time.’

‘Got a name?’ Ron asks.

‘Lord Townes,’ says Bill Benson. ‘Ain’t seen him in yonks, but a nice enough fella.’

Nice enough fella, thinks Ron. Elizabeth will have something to say about that. It’s too much of a coincidence, surely?