“Okay, guys,” I ask, folding my arms. “What are you thinking?”
“Look,” begins Josh. “I don’t want to get all conspiracy theory on your arse, but I’m sure Shan agrees with me that there’s something fucked-up going on. Your lover—”
“Partner.”
“Your partner, who clearly cared about you, sends you a warning message in code just before he dies in what the world assumes to be a tragic accident. Your message now throws that into doubt. You say you always took his advice seriously in the past, so I suggest you do the same thing now.”
“Josh is right,” says Nishan.
“I’m not going to the fuzz with this, if that’s what you’re about to suggest.”
“Fuck, no. Neither would I,” said Josh. “Not until I knew more.”
“You think I’m in danger?”
“Hard to say,” says Nishan. “First of all, if this is a code only the two of you know, it’s unlikely anyone could link you to anything, which is probably why Albert confided in you. Maybe something came to light during the ride in the minibus. Maybe this is something he’d been dealing with in his professional life but had been keeping from you. At the moment, a lot of maybes. The point is, as far as others are concerned, there is no way you could have been involved. Have you told anyone else about the message?”
“No. I was going to call Alice. But on the bus, on my way here, I saw police cars up on the pavement outside Callico House.”
Once again, Josh and Nishan share a look.
“Do they have staff in the house?” asks Nishan.
“Three. Ms Ross, the cook, and Mr and Mrs Buckland. He works as a maintenance man and caretaker, and his wife runs the house.”
“Were you close to any of them?”
“No. I was only really on speaking terms with Albert and Alice.”
“Okay, a number of things, Gabe,” begins Nishan, who has a keen gleam in his eye. “Did you pick up the notebook Albert mentioned in the first message?”
“No. And I’m not even sure what he meant. He kept all his notes on his laptop, which he had with him. I got the call about the accident while I was still on the training course, so when I got back, I didn’t see the point. Do you think it’s important?”
“I don’t know,” says Nishan. “But if it had been, I think he would have put something in the secret cypher rather than in words.”
“Good point,” says Josh.
“Are you okay to let me have Albert’s mobile phone number? If so, I’m going to try and get a list of all the calls and text messages—received and made—in and around the days leading up to his death—”
“You can do that?” I ask.
“I know people who can. And no, it’s not strictly legal, but let me worry about that. Second, we need to find out what the police were doing at Callico House today. I suggest you call Alice, but not using your phone. I have a couple of pay-as-you-go devices. You can use one of those. But before you do, let’s have a chat about what you tell her. And last of all, we need to get you off the grid as soon as possible.”
“I don’t do social media, if that’s what you’re asking,” I reply.
Josh and Nishan share another grin.
“Not quite what I meant. You have a traceable mobile phone number and use messaging and Wi-Fi. Do you have credit or debit cards?”
“Only an ATM card.”
“The use of which could potentially be traced. The fact you’re between homes is in your favour, but everything else leads straight to you. From the sound of this warning, Gabriel Redbrick needs to disappear completely.”
“And you’re going to tell me how.”
“Well,” says Josh, after taking a deep pull from the spliff and squinting at me with one eye closed. “It just so happens you are talking to the right potheads.”
“Do you have any other devices?” asks Nishan. “A tablet or a connected watch?”