Between Two Thieves Read online

  “My dad works hard and he earns well. I don’t see a problem with either part of the deal.”

  “Neither do I,” said Dan. “I’m interested, that’s all. My line of work makes me interested in people. Does he get up to anything else?”

  The kid read Dan’s eyes and saw he was genuine. He lowered his guard with a shrug. “He’s been trying to write a book too. Some kind of thriller or adventure, I think.” There was a hint of pride in the young man’s voice, but there was an equal hint of melancholy. From her position by the window, Georgie’s eyes seemed to ask for Eva’s attention. Eva felt there were words on the tip of her tongue. She gave the slightest nod of invitation and the girl broke her silence.

  “Joe’s father is incredibly good at what he does,” she blurted. “But the way I see it, that’s always been part of the problem.”

  “Problem?” said Joe.

  The girl nodded, refusing to be silent. “He’s always away these days. And when he’s not away at work, he’s here, locked in his study or out at the library, finishing whatever he’s working on until it’s done. You only ever see him when he’s between trips or business meetings or writing his book.”

  Joe winced and glanced at the floor.

  “Then it’s a good job he has you for company,” said Eva.

  “He’s away now?” said Dan.

  Joe shook his head. “No. He’s between projects, like Georgie said.”

  “That’s good then,” said Mark, taking an airy tone to lighten the mood.

  Joe and Georgie looked up at him, unconvinced.

  “Isn’t it?” said Mark.

  “After this last gap,” said Georgie. “I think Joe had gotten used to his father not being around. I think we both had... Carl Renton helped fill the void he left behind.”

  “Georgie!” said Joe, checking her. “There’s no need to tell these people everything!”

  “They’re private detectives, Joe. They could help you. They could help us all.”

  “Help in what way?” said Eva.

  “Help us find Carl, of course. Joe won’t admit it, but he got close to Carl. He was like a second father.”

  “That’s overdoing it, Georgie.”

  “You want us to find Carl Renton?” said Dan. “We could look at that. But I still don’t understand. How come someone with your background had dealings with a man like him?”

  The boy’s eyes flared. “A man like him?”

  “You don’t strike me as the Christian type. I knew those types pretty well. I went through some hard times a few years back. I knew the down and outs, the junkies and alcoholics, all their self-inflicted misery and hard luck stories,” said Dan. He looked around the room. “That’s not you.”

  “Carl Renton is more than some sappy Christian who runs rehabs,” said Joe. “He does that because he’s kind. He does all kinds of outreach stuff. I first met Carl at some music event at my sixth form college about a year back. I got talking to him about music. He was funny and we got on from there.”

  “Then he started coming around here?” said Dan, making a face.

  “Or I would go and see him at his office. I always got on better with the more eccentric types. You know that right, Mark?”

  Mark nodded. “Yeah. I remember alright.”

  “Carl was real with me, so I was real with him. It was a mutual respect thing. Though I guess Dad being away so much might have been a factor in how we became friends.”

  Georgie gave a thin smile at the admission. “Carl was good to him and good to a lot of other people too. But disappearing like he did. That’s not like him at all.”

  “Yeah. From what I’ve read, I think the same,” said Dan. “People like that, the kind who run rehab centres – dependable upstanding people, they don’t just up sticks, and disappear. If they did, they would certainly have a serious reason for it. That’s the first thing you need to establish, is why he had to go. Once you establish that, it should be pretty straightforward to find him. If he wants to be found.”

  Joe Clancy made a face and looked away.

  “Is there a problem?” said Dan.

  Joe looked up and met his eye. “What if he doesn’t want to be found?”

  Eva and Dan shared a momentary glance.

  “And what makes you think that?” said Dan.

  “Just the fact he’s gone. Doesn’t that speak for itself? Like you said, people don’t disappear unless they have a very good reason.”

  “And do you know what that reason might be, Joe?” said Eva,

  The young man met her eye. He seemed downcast, pale and weary. “No,” he said. “No, I don’t.”

  After studying his eyes, Eva gave a slow nod of acceptance. He seemed to be telling the truth.

  “And that’s not even the extent of our problems, is it, Joe?” said Georgie.

  The young man looked up at the girl and shook his head. He was about to say something but she beat him to it.

  “The break-in, Joe. The burglary. And the other missing stuff.

  Joe Clancy gave the girl a sharp look.

  “Come on,” said the girl. “If there’s a chance that these people can help, then you may as well tell them everything.”

  “I think I should consult my father on that first, don’t you? They burgled his belongings after all.”

  Eva frowned.

  “I’m sorry? Break-ins? Theft?” she said.

  “Don’t worry. My father is dealing with all that. There was the break-in last night, and a few other things are missing too. Having a collection like his creates risks in itself.”

  “You had a break-in here?” said Dan.

  “Yes,” said the girl. “They came in through the kitchen window and they stole a few things from the collection...” she looked at Joe. “So Joe told me,” she added.

  “Last night?” said Dan.

  Joe nodded. “Late last night.”

  “And were you here when the house was robbed?” said Eva.

  The young man shook his head. “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “It was pretty scary,” he said. He looked at Georgie. The two of them exchanged a meaningful glance. Eva saw it. Dan’s eyes narrowed.

  “I was upstairs while it happened.”

  “You must have heard the glass getting smashed...” said Dan.

  Joe looked suddenly embarrassed. “I’m a solid sleeper. But even if I had been awake, I wouldn’t have risked my life to save a few pieces of shiny metal.”

  “What did they take?” said Dan.

  “Oh... I don’t know the details. I only knew that stuff had been taken. But my father knows about that.”

  A car pulled up outside on the driveway, and the engine shut down. Dan looked out and saw the grand black bonnet of a new Lexus saloon fill the window. The car door slammed and a raised voice could be heard. It sounded like one half of an angry telephone conversation. The words were hard to make out, but the tone was clear – irritated and frustrated.

  “Your father?” said Eva.

  Joe nodded. “Sounds like that’s him now. Let’s hope he doesn’t mind you lot being here. “The boy stiffened as the key turned in the lock. Eva and Dan felt themselves tensing too. The door opened and a set of heavy, confident feet echoed into the hallway before the door clunked shut.

  “No...” said the voice. “But my Celtic torq has nothing whatsoever to do with whatever items that preposterous councillor lost at his little soiree. Come on, man. It would only take a fraction of expertise to tell the difference between a piece of ancient Celtic gold and the pieces you’re looking for. There’s a clue in the name. What the councillor lost belonged to a Saxon King, and my gold torq is Celtic! That piece is mine and went missing in a burglary here last night. I’m happy you found it, but it’s mine! Surely the museum staff, with all their expertise, could have explained that a Saxon belt buckle has nothing at all in common with a Celtic gold band! If you people won’t take my word for it, surely you’ll take theirs?”

  There was
more silence as the man kicked his shoes to one side. Eva, Dan and the rest kept silent and listened in.

  “Now listen here. I’ve been robbed blind. You’ve thankfully found one of my pieces and all you want to do is give me incident numbers and claim procedures and now you’re telling me you won’t release that piece of mine until some bureaucrat with no expertise tells you that Celtic gold is not the same as Saxon gold. It’s from a different era, from a different race of people, found in an entirely different country! Do the idiots rule the roost here or what? No, no. That wasn’t an insult. It was merely a rhetorical question...”

  The man on the mobile passed by the front room door and stopped walking. The phone was still pressed to his ear as he leaned into the room and his eyes widened as he took in all the faces ranged around him. His mouth fumbled to find words he no longer wished to say in public.

  “Look, officer, I’ve got to go. That piece is mine, that’s all there is to it. And if I don’t hear from you by tomorrow then I’ll probably have to contact my solicitor. Now please get me some good news. I could do with it.”

  The man took the phone from his ear and ended the call. Then he looked at his son and the rest of them, letting the silence rapidly fill with unspoken questions.

  “More guests of yours, Joe?” said his father in a deep, well-spoken voice.

  The boy looked awkward in the extreme.

  “Yes, they found my wallet and brought it back to me.”

  “All of them? They all found it?” said the man.

  “No. Mark here was in my class at school and he found it.”

  The taller man nodded at Mark. “Then he’ll remember Georgie as well.”

  “I do,” said Mark. “Pleased to meet you, Mr Clancy.”

  The man nodded but offered no further greeting.

  “I had no idea you’d lost a wallet, Joe. You never mentioned it.”

  “I’d forgotten all about it. I think it happened while you were away,” he said. The older, taller Clancy gave a nod. “Well, at least some people still believe in returning other people’s belongings. For a moment I thought you’d managed to find yourself a new set of strange friends. My son is a collector much like I am,” said the man with a smile. “Except where I tend to collect precious items, my son tends to collect people.”

  “The police have one of your items?” said Eva.

  A furrow appeared in the man’s brow. He cast a look at his son before speaking.

  “Yes, unfortunately they do. It seems one of the items these ruddy thieves purloined from my house was either lost or discarded en route. It was found early this morning on the Southchurch seafront. Compared to some of the other items, that Celtic band certainly doesn’t look worth very much. It’s dirty and discoloured with age. But it was one of my first purchases. I bought it from a potholer in northern France. It has plenty of sentimental value, not to mention financial value. Somehow these fools have managed to confuse it with the museum’s missing Saxon treasures. All because of some showboating councillor’s almighty cock-up. The councillor’s house got robbed while he had the Saxon haul on display.”

  “Did you have anything to do with the Saxon King find, Mr Clancy?” said Dan.

  “And are the Saxon pieces still missing?” said Eva.

  “Yes. They should never have kept the damn things at our little town museum in the first place, let alone loan them to some fool councillor for his house party. Damn fools. They should have gone straight to the British Museum. They know how to look after treasures up there.”

  The man’s brow dropped low over his eyes.

  “Excuse me for saying this, but seeing as this is my home, I’m sure you’ll understand. Just what is your interest in all this? What with the burglary and the police holding my belongings, one tends to be a little cautious as to who one lets into his house – even if my son doesn’t take the same precautions.”

  The younger man blushed and shook his head.

  “It’s not like that, Dad. They brought me my wallet...”

  “So you said,” said Clancy Senior, sticking a speculative tongue against his cheek.

  “Of course, Mr Clancy,” said Eva. “My name is Eva Roberts, and this is my partner Dan Bradley. We’re private investigators.”

  The man’s frown lifted a little. His eyes fell upon Mark and Joanne.

  “And these are our assistants,” said Eva. “This certainly wasn’t a business call by any means. Mark wanted us to return the wallet he found, but then we learned that Joe here knows Carl Renton – the man the newspapers are saying is missing, You must know him too, I take it.”

  “What? They’re saying he’s missing, are they? But wasn’t he here last night?”

  Joe nodded with a pained expression.

  “Then he can’t be missing. The papers must have it wrong. Mr Renton is a friend Joe collected last year, while I was away on business. Yes, I know him. Seems a nice, upstanding fellow. Very different to me and Joe, of course. But I suppose Joe could have picked up with a lot worse than him while I was on my travels. I was a bit concerned the man was going to turn him into a tambourine waving church hippie at first...”

  “Dad,” said Joe.

  “But over time I saw he had a stabilising influence on the lad. That’s what he needs, of course. My work isn’t exactly perfect in that regard, I’m afraid. Renton isn’t the friend I would have chosen for him, but he is safe at least.”

  “Safe? He’s better than safe, Dad,” said Joe.

  “But now he’s missing...?” said Mr Clancy. “Are you working to find him at all?”

  “No,” said Dan. “We’d only just read about it before we came here.”

  “I see,” said Clancy.

  “And with your burglary it seems you have a problem of your own.”

  “Yes,” said Clancy. His eyes narrowed and he sucked in air through his teeth, “Yes, I certainly do. It seems some chancer has decided to take my collection for himself. I’m sure it’ll be one of the usual rogues doing the rounds. We live on one of those kinds of streets that the villains target from time to time. I don’t mind so long as I get it all back.”

  “Were there other thefts?” said Eva. “I got the impression you lost a few other things.”

  “A few things have gone missing here and there, but nothing to worry about. But this was a big hit right at the heart of my collection and I’m not in the mood to let it happen again. Some of these were the centrepieces of the whole thing. Just holding them takes me back to the place where I first bought them. And they’re effectively my life savings too. My son’s inheritance.”

  “Perhaps they could help you find them, Mr Clancy,” said Georgie, with big eyes. Her voice trailed into silence as the man looked at her. He regarded Eva and Dan with thoughtful eyes. Eva saw a moment of opportunity. Business was slow lately and here was a new job just waiting to happen. They both felt it. There was no need to pitch for the business. They’d expressed an interest, demonstrated their credentials through their questions and they were already on the ground. The rest was up to Mr Clancy himself.

  “Hmmm. You’ve done this kind of thing before?”

  “Located stolen items? Found a thief?” said Eva

  “Found missing persons?” said Dan.

  “Located stolen items, mainly.”

  “Yes, Mr Clancy. We’ve done that kind of thing before. Successfully too.”

  The man crumpled his chin and nodded his head. He looked at his son, at Georgie too.

  “Then maybe you should come and see what’s left of my collection. It might give you a feel for what’s missing, and perhaps, give you an inkling where to look. If I were to take you on, that is.”

  Eva buried her excitement under a professional smile, but Dan saw the gleam in her eyes. Joanne noticed it too and beamed in the corner of the room.

  “It certainly wouldn’t hurt to take a look, would it?” said Eva.

  Clancy shot Dan a look of caution.

  “Ah,” said Clancy. �
��I prefer to take one guest into the room at a time.”

  “We’re trustworthy, Mr Clancy,” said Dan.

  “I’m sure you are. But allow me a mite of caution. I’m sure you’ll be able to tell your partner what he needs to know.”

  Eva looked at Dan and nodded. “I can manage that.”

  Dan didn’t look impressed but shrugged anyway.

  The tall man led the way into the neat clean white corridor.

  “Dad, wait!” called Joe.

  Eva and Clancy Senior returned to the living room doorway. Clancy Senior looked serious and burdened.

  “Yes?”

  “If you do hire them,” he said slowly. “Maybe... you could ask them to find Carl Renton too.”

  “I think those would be defined as two quite separate tasks, don’t you, Joe? I want my collection back from that thief.”

  “They do seem like separate tasks,” said Eva. “But seeing as Mr Renton has been such a help to you, we’ll see what we can do.”

  Joe nodded his thanks and Clancy Senior gave him an ‘are you satisfied?’ look before turning away to lead Eva to the stairs.

  Any idea of an afternoon at the beach had gone by the wayside, but there was a new excitement in the air which couldn’t be expressed as long as they remained in the Clancy household. Dan decided to use the wait for Eva as best he could. His eyes tracked around the artefacts on the living room walls and he took in the odd, quiet glances between Joe and Georgie. The dynamic between them was weird, but Dan couldn’t yet decide how. He resolved to try and crack the code with a few questions.

  “So tell me more about Carl, Joe. When did he actually disappear?”

  The young man’s eyes glazed with a sad, tired look as he began to replay the events of the night before.

  In the hallway, Clancy Senior led Eva to the staircase at the back of the hallway

  “Your son seems quite affected by Mr Renton disappearing.”

  “Yes, don’t think I haven’t noticed,” he said. “But when you’ve known Joe for as long as I have, you’ll know that he gets affected by an awful lot of things. He’s the sensitive type, I’m afraid. Highly strung. A trait he inherited from his mother.”