Perfect Strangers

‘Not mine, I’m glad to say. I’d much rather be looking at stock charts than dead bodies.’

Ruth poured herself some juice and told David about the incident with Sophie Ellis by the river.

‘God, no wonder you were in late,’ he said. ‘It was quite a day.’

‘I felt like someone off CSI. They just appeared from nowhere, started shouting in Russian and began shooting.’

David nodded thoughtfully. ‘Jamie on the news desk was telling me about that the other day. Apparently there are various Eastern European gangs fighting over control of the river.’

‘Control of the river? Why would they need that?’

‘There’s a surprising amount of trade that goes on along the Thames. A lot of cargo still gets shifted that way, so whoever controls the flow of traffic can take a cut of each transaction. It’s quite creative, actually.’

‘But I’ve seen police boats going up and down.’

David nodded. ‘Apparently there aren’t many of them, and the river patrol spends most of its time dragging bodies from the water – suicides and so on. Besides, according to Jamie, the gangsters don’t work on the water. They wait until the traders come ashore, then twist their arms.’

Ruth pouted.

‘That’s interesting,’ she said. ‘I wonder if the two are connected.’

David grinned.

‘There you go, I’ve given you a lead. Don’t ever say I don’t give you anything.’

Ruth ran her hand down his chest. ‘I never said that, did I?’ she smiled.

‘So you’re not doing the escort story?’ He said it casually. So casually that it put Ruth on immediate alert.

‘Not at the moment, why?’

‘Oh, I was thinking I might have a little poke around.’

‘Poke around what?’ said Ruth, her back stiffening.

‘Well, Sebastian Watson was the number two at his bank, and his resignation is quite a big business story for us. If it’s part of a sting involving other people, then that’s even bigger.’

‘Wait a minute, David,’ she said tightly. ‘This is my story.’

‘And I thought you said you weren’t following it up.’

‘I said I wasn’t chasing it at this moment,’ she said, placing her hands on her hips. ‘The second they charge someone with the Riverton murder, that story is pretty much over for me and I’ll be moving back on to the escort thing.’

He held his hands in the air.

‘All right, all right. Fine.’

‘What do you mean, “fine”?’

‘Well, I just think it’s a bit selfish of you, that’s all.’

‘David, I dug this story up all on my own.’

‘Yes, but with this Riverton case, there’s a chance you’re not going to follow up the escort story for weeks, by which time Seb Watson will be old news and no one will be interested any more.’

‘So?’

‘So poor Watson’s career is wrecked, so is Bill Danson’s. I just think they should be given a chance to find out what really happened.’