Simon Green - The Dark Side of the Road

‘We need to talk,’ he said.

‘What’s the matter?’ I said. ‘Annoyed you can’t be with Melanie?’

‘That is not what I came here to talk about!’ said Khan.

‘You knew who the Colonel was, knew what he was, from your time at Black Heir,’ I said.

‘I’d heard of the Colonel, of course, but I never knew he was Walter’s son until he turned up here,’ said Khan. ‘I never met him before in my life. But he knew me. He made a point of talking to me, away from everyone else. Told me he knew why I’d had to leave Black Heir.’

‘Because you stole alien technology from their vaults,’ I said. ‘To buy your way into Walter’s company.’

‘I was never a thief!’ said Khan. ‘I was Prometheus, stealing fire from alien gods to give to Humanity! It wasn’t fair for Black Heir to keep all those wonders locked up, benefiting nobody!’ He stopped and looked at me for a moment. ‘How did you know … Did your father tell you?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I never knew him. But I did read the Colonel’s files on everyone here, before I set out.’

I’ve always been able to lie convincingly, without benefit of rehearsal. Part of the job. Part of staying alive.

‘Of course you know,’ said Khan, his shoulders slumping just a little. ‘Everyone knows. Even Black Heir.’

‘They know you stole from them?’

‘Of course! They knew what I was going to do before I did it. They encouraged me … In return, I gave them some of my shares in Walter’s company. Outside money that they could use to fund things they weren’t officially supposed to do. You really think I could have stayed alive all these years, if Black Heir had still wanted my head?’ He stopped again, looked at me squarely. ‘Did you ever work with Black Heir, on any of your missions for the Colonel?’

‘You know I can’t talk about that,’ I said. ‘Why are you still so concerned about Black Heir? You don’t work for them any more.’

‘You’re never really free of them,’ said Khan. ‘Look! This isn’t what I came here to talk about!’

‘So talk,’ I said. ‘Who do you think killed the Colonel?’

‘James was never the target,’ said Khan. ‘Walter was always the real target. I think James just overheard something he wasn’t supposed to, or got in the way.’

‘Spit it out,’ I said. ‘Who do you think wanted Walter dead?’

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ said Khan. ‘It’s Roger! Has to be Roger. Because he wants Penny, and he thinks she is only turning him down because her Daddy disapproves. Behind that boyish facade, Roger is a very dangerous and single-minded young man.’

I let that accusation hang on the air for a while and considered Khan thoughtfully. ‘Are you sure you’re not just saying that because Roger isn’t going to give you the money you want from him?’ I said finally.

‘You have been keeping your eyes and ears open,’ said Khan. ‘Watch Roger. That’s all I’ve got to say.’

‘And you and Melanie?’ I said. ‘Just good friends?’

‘Can’t stand the woman,’ Khan said briskly. ‘But she is my best way to influence Walter, so … I will do whatever I have to do, to keep the company from going under.’

He turned quickly, hauled the door open and left my room, not quite slamming the door behind him. He’d said rather more than he’d probably meant to, in return for as little as I could give him. A useful enough first conversation. No real surprises, and a few things confirmed.

I sat on the edge of my bed, leaning forward just a bit as I listened to Khan walk quickly back down the corridor to his room. He didn’t stop along the way, to talk to anyone else. I heard his door shut. There was a pause, and then I heard more footsteps, moving slowly and steadily up and down the corridor. Which was odd, because I hadn’t heard a door open. The footsteps went this way and that, stopping at one door after another, but no one knocked, or opened a door. And then the footsteps just … stopped. I couldn’t hear anything. I got up off the bed and moved quietly over to my door. I opened it slowly, not making a breath of sound, and looked out into the corridor. There was no one there. The whole length of the corridor was completely empty. Someone had walked up and down and then just … disappeared. I sniffed at the air and couldn’t smell anything. Which was odd. I closed my door and went back to sit on my bed.

I’d barely had time to settle down and start thinking again, when I heard new footsteps approach my door. There was a quick, impatient knock, and then the door flew open before I even had a chance to invite anyone in. Penny came tripping into my room, beaming happily, only just remembering to shut the door behind her. I started to get up, and she immediately waved for me to sit down again. So I did.

Penny paced restlessly back and forth before me, speaking so impatiently that the words all but tumbled over each other. She had a lot she wanted to say. ‘I waited as long as I could!’ she said. ‘But I just had to come and talk to you! Isn’t this exciting? I mean; an actual murder! And terribly sad, of course, because your friend is dead, after all. Don’t think I don’t feel that, because I do, but … This is just the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me! So; I’m just bursting with theories and suspicions, and I had to talk to someone about them, and you’re the only one here who isn’t a suspect.’

‘You couldn’t talk to Roger?’ I said, just to make a point.

‘Don’t be silly, darling. Roger has many good qualities, though I’d never tell him that to his face, but a fully functioning brain isn’t one of them. If he ever needs anything difficult or distasteful doing, he has people to do that for him. And as for spotting a murderer, unless the killer was wearing a black and white striped jersey, a black domino mask, and a hat with Killer! written on it, Roger wouldn’t recognize him.’

‘So who do you think killed the Colonel?’ I said.

Penny stopped pacing and threw herself into the nearest heavily-padded chair. It didn’t budge an inch under the impact. Penny crossed her legs and waggled the top one fiercely. ‘There are so many secrets in this house, in this family; I really don’t know where to start, darling.’

‘Try,’ I said.

‘James was definitely Diana’s son,’ said Penny. ‘But I’m not at all sure Daddy was his father. I’ve heard a great many rumours, from people in a position to know, that Daddy married Diana when she was already pregnant with another man’s child.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ I said. ‘Though the Colonel could be a real bastard, when the need arose …’

‘Ishmael!’ said Penny, putting a shocked hand to her mouth. ‘What a thing to say! Here I am trying to spare your feelings by being discreet …’

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘We all grieve in our own ways.’

‘Yes, well …’ said Penny. But she was too full of things she needed to say to stay shocked for long. ‘Then there’s the letter James left for you. I mean: A horror has come to Belcourt! What do you think he meant by that?’

‘Too many possibilities,’ I said.

‘Then there’s Alex Khan, of course. Running after Mummy like a dog in heat.’ Penny shuddered delicately. ‘They think they’re being so discreet … But if Alex really thinks he can get to Daddy through Mummy, he’s in for a rude awakening. Mummy’s always been a lot smarter than most people realize. She’d never do anything to endanger her meal ticket. You don’t think Daddy just “happened” to bump into her at that grubby little sales conference, did you? She put a lot of hard planning into getting that job and choosing just the right outfit to attract some rich old fool. When she set her cap at Daddy, he didn’t stand a chance.’