Strike had had to avoid the Tottenham for months in the aftermath of his capture of the Shacklewell Ripper, because journalists had lain in wait for him here, word having got out that he was a regular. Even today, he glanced around suspiciously before deciding that it was safe to advance on the bar, order his usual pint of Doom Bar and retire to a corner table.
Partly because he had made an effort to give up the chips that were a staple of his diet, partly because of his workload, Strike was thinner now than he had been a year ago. The weight loss had relieved pressure on his amputated leg, so that both the effort and the relief of sitting were less noticeable. Strike took a swig of his pint, stretching his knee from force of habit and enjoying the relative ease of movement, then opened the cardboard file he had brought with him.
The notes within had been made by the idiot who had crashed his moped into the back of the taxi, and they were barely adequate. Strike couldn’t afford to lose this client, but he and Hutchins were struggling to cover workload as it was. He urgently needed a new hire, and yet he wasn’t entirely sure that the interview he was about to conduct was wise. He had not consulted Robin before making the bold decision to hunt down a man he had not seen for five years, and even as the door of the Tottenham opened to admit Sam Barclay, who was punctual to the minute, Strike was wondering whether he was about to make an almighty mistake.
He would have known the Glaswegian almost anywhere as an ex-squaddie, with his T-shirt under his thin V-neck jumper, his close-cropped hair, his tight jeans and over-white trainers. As Strike stood up and held out his hand, Barclay, who appeared to have recognized him with similar ease, grinned and said:
“Already drinking, aye?”
“Want one?” asked Strike.
While waiting for Barclay’s pint, he watched the ex-Rifleman in the mirror behind the bar. Barclay was only a little over thirty, but his hair was prematurely graying. He was otherwise exactly as Strike remembered. Heavy browed, with large round blue eyes and a strong jaw, he had the slightly beaky appearance of an affable owl. Strike had liked Barclay even while working to court-martial him.
“Still smoking?” Strike asked, once he’d handed over the beer and sat down.
“Vapin’ now,” said Barclay. “We’ve had a baby.”
“Congratulations,” said Strike. “On a health kick, then?”
“Aye, somethin’ like that.”
“Dealing?”
“I wasnae dealin’,” said Barclay hotly, “as you fuckin’ well know. Recreational use only, pal.”
“Where are you buying it now, then?”
“Online,” said Barclay, sipping his pint. “Easy. First time I did it, I thought, this cannae fuckin’ work, can it? But then I thought, ‘Och, well, it’s an adventure.’ They send it to you disguised in fag packets and that. Choose off a whole menu. Internet’s a great thing.”
He laughed and said, “So whut’s this all about? Wasnae expectin’ to hear from you anytime soon.”
Strike hesitated.
“I was thinking of offering you a job.”
There was a beat as Barclay stared at him, then he threw back his head and roared with laughter.
“Fuck,” he said. “Why didn’t ye say that straight off, like?”
“Why d’you think?”
“I’m no vapin’ every night,” said Barclay earnestly. “I’m no, seriously. The wife doesnae like it.”
Strike kept his hand closed on the file, thinking.
He had been working a drugs case in Germany when he had run across Barclay. Drugs were bought and sold within the British army as in every other part of society, but the Special Investigation Branch had been called in to investigate what appeared to be a rather more professional operation than most. Barclay had been fingered as a key player and the discovery of a kilo brick of prime Moroccan hash among his effects had certainly justified an interview.
Barclay insisted that he had been stitched up and Strike, who was sitting in on his interrogation, was inclined to agree, not least because the Rifleman seemed far too intelligent not to have found a better hiding place for his hashish than the bottom of an army kit bag. On the other hand, there was ample evidence that Barclay had been using regularly, and there was more than one witness to the fact that his behavior was becoming erratic. Strike felt that Barclay had been lined up as a convenient scapegoat, and decided to undertake a little side excavation on his own.
This threw up interesting information relating to building materials and engineering supplies that were being reordered at a thoroughly implausible rate. While it was not the first time that Strike had uncovered this kind of corruption, it so happened that the two officers in charge of these mysteriously vanishing and highly resalable commodities were the very men so keen to secure Barclay’s court martial.
Barclay was startled, during a one-to-one interview with Strike, to find the SIB sergeant suddenly interested, not in hashish, but in anomalies relating to building contracts. At first wary, and sure he would not be believed given the situation in which he found himself, Barclay finally admitted to Strike that he had not only noticed what others had failed to see, or chosen not to inquire into, but begun to tabulate and document exactly how much these officers were stealing. Unfortunately for Barclay, the officers in question had got wind of the fact that he was a little too interested in their activities, and it was shortly after this that a kilo of hashish had turned up in Barclay’s effects.
When Barclay showed Strike the record he had been keeping (the notebook had been hidden a good deal more skillfully than the hashish), Strike had been impressed by the method and initiative it displayed, given that Barclay had never been trained in investigative technique. Asked why he had undertaken the investigation for which nobody was paying, and which had landed him in so much trouble, Barclay had shrugged his broad shoulders and said “no right, is it? That’s the army they’re robbin’. Taxpayers’ money they’re fuckin’ pocketin’.”
Strike had put in many more hours on the case than his colleagues felt was merited, but finally, with Strike’s additional investigations into the matter to add weight, the dossier on his superiors’ activities that Barclay had compiled led to their conviction. The SIB took credit for it, of course, but Strike had made sure that accusations against Barclay were quietly laid to rest.
“When ye say ‘work,’” Barclay wondered aloud now, as the pub hummed and tinkled around them, “ye mean detective stuff?”
Strike could see that the idea appealed.
“Yeah,” said Strike. “What have you been doing since I last saw you?”
The answer was depressing, though not unexpected. Barclay had found it hard to get or keep a regular job in the first couple of years out of the army and had been doing a bit of painting and decorating for his brother-in-law’s company.
“The wife’s bringin’ in most o’ the money,” he said. “She’s got a good job.”
“OK,” said Strike, “I reckon I can give you a couple of days a week for starters. You’ll bill me as a freelancer. If it doesn’t work out, either of us can walk away at any time. Sound fair?”
“Aye,” said Barclay, “aye, fair enough. What are you paying, like?”
They discussed money for five minutes. Strike explained how his other employees set themselves up as private contractors and how receipts and other professional expenses should be brought into the office for reimbursement. Finally he opened the file and slid it around to show Barclay the contents.
“I need this guy followed,” he said, pointing out a photograph of a chubby youth with thick curly hair. “Pictures of whoever he’s with and what he’s up to.”
“Aye, all right,” said Barclay, getting out his mobile and taking pictures of the target’s photograph and address.
“He’s being watched today by my other guy,” said Strike, “but I need you outside his flat from six o’clock tomorrow morning.”
He was pleased to note that Barclay did not query the early start.
“Whut happened to that lassie, though?” Barclay inquired as he put his phone back into his pocket. “The one who was in the papers with ye?”