Page 69 of Better the Devil

There was nothing Logan would enjoy more than finding out Bosco was involved in this. The moment he slapped the cuffs on the bastard would rank up there with the greatest of his life.

If Bosco was guilty, the last person he should want digging around in his affairs was Jack Logan. And yet, he’d practically come begging.

It could be a double bluff by the Russian, of course. But, by God, given Logan’s feelings on the man, it was a risky one.

So, what if the timing was still important, but the motive was different? What if someone was doing this now precisely because Bosco was out, and therefore around to take the heat?

‘You think someone’s trying to frame him?’ Sinead asked, dusting the flour from her roll off her hands.

Logan swallowed down a bite of square sausage and darted his tongue across his bottom lip. ‘It’s possible. If someone’s trying to move in, they could wipe out the competition, pin it on Bosco, and get away free and clear.’

‘Or it could just be Bosco, boss,’ Tyler reasoned. And it was clear that he desperately wanted it to be.

‘It could,’ Logan admitted. He wanted it to be Maximuke, too. And maybe it would be. Maybe it would be that simple.

But when was it ever that simple?

They ran through their list of suspects. Bosco sat at the top, naturally. Below that was a bit of a mishmash. Eleanor Belov. Kendrick Crichton for Victor. Victor’s brothers, Mikhail and Sergei, for Kendrick.

‘It’s no’ exactly much,’ Ben said. He held up his hands. ‘I mean, not that my opinion matters. But you’ve got close to bugger all there.’

‘We’re waiting on phone records,’ Hamza said. ‘Victor’s, Kendrick’s. I’ve put in a request for Eleanor’s, but doubt we’ll get it without something solid to go on. Worth a try, though.’

‘I want the brothers brought in,’ Logan said. ‘We’ll keep them separate. Try and play them against one another, see if one of them cracks.’

‘We might struggle there, sir,’ Sinead said. ‘CID have questioned them a few times and got nowhere.’

‘Aye, well, we’ll see if I can’t work my charms,’ Logan replied.

‘What about the wife, boss? Eleanor? We bringing her in?’

Logan scratched at his chin and considered Eleanor’s photograph on the board. It was a blown-up image from her Instagram. In it, she was lifting up a pair of mirrored sunglasses to show her eyes, and smiling for the camera.

It was taken a few years ago, presumably before her first husband, Jason, had died. She looked a good bit younger than she did now, but it was one of the few photos on her socials that gave a clear view of her face.

Unlike her second husband and her in-laws, she’d never been brought in for questioning. There had been several approaches by CID, but they had all been firmly rebuffed by her legal team.

What she’d said back at the house, about having multiple accountants and lawyers, had not, it seemed, been an exaggeration. If they pulled her in too soon, without something cast iron to batter her with, her legal reps would have a field day.

‘Not yet,’ he decided. ‘Let’s see if the brothers give us anything first. But, Hamza, I want you digging into this whole Bitcoin story, see if you can make heads or tails of it.’

‘You think she’s lying, boss? About the money?’

‘I mean, she built a fuck-off huge mansion into a hill, so there’s definitely money coming from somewhere,’ Logan reasoned. ‘But I don’t know enough about cryptocurrencies, or whatever, to be able to tell if she’s talking shite.’

Hamza glanced down at his notebook, which was already crammed with things to do. ‘I’ll have a go, but?—’

‘I know a bit about crypto,’ Dave announced. ‘I mean, probably not as much as Hamza, but I know a bit.’

‘I don’t actually know that much, beyond the basics,’ DI Khaled admitted.

‘OK, well score one for me, then,’ Dave said.

‘How come you know about it?’ Tyler asked.

‘Because I’m not just a pretty face. I’ve dabbled a bit. A few altcoins, some US stablecoin stuff. Made a killing on some NFTs a few years ago, before the arse fell out of it.’

‘Oh. Right,’ Tyler said, staring blankly back at him.