The Inspector Walter Darriteau Murder Mysteries - Books 1-4 by David Carter (best finance books of all time .txt) 📕

such as this crazy slut? One of the vests ran to the hook, grabbed it, tugged it free, leant down with it, offering the hook to the girl. She grabbed it, and between them they pulled her up onto the jetty.

The girl floundered around their feet like a giant drowning-in-air tuna fish, coughing and spluttering and spitting and cursing, as she tried to sit up and stand up. Uncle slapped her hard on the head.

‘I am NOT paying a thousand dollars US for that!’ said the older man, with an air of finality that brooked no argument.

‘Suit yourself!’ said Uncle. ‘I’m not wasting any more time here!’ and he grabbed the girl sitting at his feet, clutching the back of her blouse in one hand, and her sopping mob of badly cut hair in the other, and he dragged her back down the jetty toward the car, the girl all the while screaming and cursing and slapping his legs and backside as they went.

The three men walked behind, pointing and sniggering.

One of the vests said, ‘Will you take eight hundred?’

‘No!’

‘How about nine?’

‘Forget it!’

‘I’ll take her,’ said the other vest.

Uncle paused and the hint of a smile came over his handsome olive face, a smile they all saw in the bright moonlight.

Perhaps they could do some business after all.

‘Are you sure?’ he said.

The vest nodded.

Uncle dragged the sopping girl to her feet and pulled her back inside the bar. The three men followed and closed the door behind them.

‘I’m not going anywhere with these pricks!’ Lily Sang shrieked. ‘Not a fucking chance!’

One of the vests grabbed her face, one handed, pressing in on both of her freshly cleaned cheeks. She tried to bite him. He glared at her.

‘You’re mine now, slut, and if you bite me I’ll cut your throat,’ and to reinforce that image he pulled a flick-knife from his jeans, flashed it open before her eyes. The lights from the bar glinted on the toughened Korean steel. ‘Understand?’

Lily Sang stared terrified at the blade, and nodded through his hand.

‘Just one small thing,’ said Uncle. ‘She’s not yours yet.’

The vest nodded at the guy behind the counter. He opened the till and grabbed some notes and began counting them out on the bar. When he’d done, Uncle picked up the cash, held it to the light to check it was genuine, and presumably satisfied, slipped it into his trousers.

‘Nice to do business with you,’ he said, and he picked up the Japanese whisky that was sitting on the bar, downed it in one, ‘I may have another niece next month,’ and he smiled at the guys knowingly, and looked disdainfully at the girl, as if happy to be finally rid of the dirty troublesome bitch, and he turned and opened the door, and went outside, waved over his shoulder, and walked smartly away and back to the car.

He never once looked back, drove straight to the base. Reported in, handed over the thousand dollars, US, told them everything that had happened, promised his full written report would be on their desks before 9am, and was dismissed to go home to his wife and three small children.

Back at the bar, Lily Sang had her hands bound together. One of the vests went outside to check the all clear. Then the girl was taken outside and led back to the car park, thrown into the rear of the 4x4, and driven away to a new life God knows where. Lily Sang glared and swore at the vests. They ordered her to shut up, or they’d cut out her tongue. Acting Inspector Jun Woo fell silent and sat back in the car, happy in her work. Phase one had been successfully completed.

Uncle had played his part well, and when the time came to write her report she would endorse that, except he hadn’t hit her hard enough. That could have given them away. Maybe he should have stripped her too, before dropping her in the sea. Yeah, that would have been more authentic.

Forty-One

Walter and Karen searched Remembrance from top to bottom, Karen glancing frequently at her wristwatch, for she had promised to fix Greg dinner. Walter picked up the signs. Her new man would just have to wait awhile for his feed. Walter had to.

They didn’t find a computer in the house, not that Walter expected to, and they didn’t find any evidence of multiple bank accounts either, nor did they locate any surplus cash, in fact they didn’t find anything that incriminated Donald Rushnell in any way, a fact that prompted Karen to say, ‘Do we actually have any evidence that Donald is behind this?’

‘He filled out all the loan applications and passed them for payment. That’s all the evidence we need.’

‘Couldn’t someone else have filled them out, someone else running the scam, and he just passed them?’

‘Why would he do that?’

‘For a kickback perhaps?’

‘Can’t see it. He’s done the whole thing,’ insisted Walter.

‘But it would be possible,’ said Karen again; never eager to give up on anything once she had an idea in her head.

‘We know he’s got few friends. I just can’t see anyone else being involved.’

Karen pulled a face, said, ‘Maybe you’re right, Guv.’

‘The important thing is why did he want the money, what has he done with the cash, and where is he now?’

Karen shrugged. She didn’t have answers to any of those questions, and neither did he.

They searched the bedrooms, found nothing of interest, and went downstairs. Colin and Chrissie were sitting at the table looking even more miserable than usual.

‘Anything?’ she said.

‘Not yet,’ said Walter.

‘I’d like to see your bank statements,’ said Karen.

‘Why?’ asked Chrissie.

‘Are you legally entitled to do that?’ asked Colin.

‘Probably not,’ said Walter. ‘Just to eliminate you from the inquiry, that’s all.’

The Rushnells glanced at one another and nodded and Chrissie said: ‘Show them.’

‘All right,’ said Colin. ‘But all the figures will be red, except they are not in red these days - just have that awful DB after the