Diamonds Forever (Diamond Trilogy 3) - Page 81

‘Ross!’ said Mia suddenly.

‘You what?’

‘That’s the guy who owned the cottage. Friend of Harville’s. Ross something.’

‘Oh, Ross Something. That’s helpful.’

‘No, he was at college with Kayley … His parents lived in the cottage but he had a flat down near the town centre while he was studying … God, I can picture it now … I went round there with her a couple of times …’

‘That was years ago though. I doubt he’d still be there.’

A pair of teenagers at the next table suddenly looked up from the phones they’d been glued to whilst picking at chocolate brownies in silence and stared at Jason, before making faces at each other.

‘Yeah,’ said Jason, smiling tightly at them. ‘I’m the artist.’

‘The artist who took that photo?’ said one of the teenagers.

‘Shit, I forgot about that.’ He looked hard at Mia. ‘Take me to this guy’s flat then. On the off-chance. Otherwise I can’t see anything for it but to go back there myself.’

They got up and left the café abruptly, sniggers from behind accompanying them all the way to the door.

‘What photo?’ said Mia.

‘You mean you haven’t seen it yet?’

‘No, I’ve been at the cop shop, haven’t I?’

Jason took a long breath.

‘Kind of X-rated,’ he said shamefacedly. ‘Of Jen.’

‘Oh my God. That’ll be all over everywhere.’

‘I think we’d thought of that, thanks,’ said Jason stiffly. ‘Is it far from here?’

‘No, it’s in the nice bit, up by the old town hall.’

They crossed the canal and entered a small area of handsome grey stone Georgian houses that constituted the pre-Industrial Revolution centre of Bledburn, when it was just a little coaching inn spot on the road between Nottingham and Sheffield.

The most imposing of these had been turned into a chain pub, but the rest were as they had always been during Jason’s childhood – a small museum, the tourist information centre they had always laughed about, and ‘the posh shop’, which sold tweed jackets and fishing tackle.

‘He lived over the posh shop,’ said Mia. ‘It’s worth a try, I suppose.’

They went into a side street, to find the back door of the strange little shop.

Mia rang the bell confidently, then stood back, grimacing at Jason.

It took a while, but eventually the door opened to reveal a very hairy and very unkempt man in a towelling dressing gown.

‘Christ!’ said Mia.

‘What are you doing here?’ He squinted, then made to shut the door.

‘No, Ross, don’t!’

‘I’ve just worked three night shifts in a row. I don’t need this,’ he said.

‘But we really, really need to talk to you. Urgently. Please?’

Tags: Justine Elyot Diamond Trilogy Erotic
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