down to earth.’
‘Never mind, Tommy darlin’. Nearly finished now, then you can go and snort till your ears meet. You know it’ll make your face cave in at the end? By the time you’re forty you’ll be breathin’ through a straw stickin’ out your neck.’
‘Christ, I hope I’m dead before I’m forty!’ Tommy said. ‘What else d’you want to know about Mike? Quick, get it over with.’
‘Did he tell you anything about his background? Family? What he did before?’
‘Nah, we never talked about that stuff. Just the job, sounds, movies, birds, that sort of thing.’
‘Did he have a girlfriend?’
‘He never told me about one. Never saw him with anyone.’
‘Didn’t you think that was odd? Good-looking geezer like him?’
‘Nah. It’s separate, innit, blokes’ time? You don’t wanna mix ’em. I mean, he didn’t come round and watch when I had a bird up there.’
‘Did you ever go to his house?’
‘I don’t even know where he lived.’
‘And you haven’t seen him lately?’
‘Not since he got sacked from Ransom’s. I thought I might see him at the club, but he’s not been in there either, not when I’ve been in.’
‘Why
was
he sacked? You said he was good at it.’
‘Yeah.’ For the first time, Tommy looked puzzled. ‘I dunno. He
was
good. And Ewan liked him – he’s the director – because he knew the ropes. He said he’d done film extra work, so he didn’t have to be told all the basic stuff. He knew a lot of technical stuff, an’ all. Him and Ewan got on great, chatting away about cameras and lighting and angles and frames and all that bollocks.’
‘So it wasn’t Ewan who wanted rid of him?’
‘No, that was down to the big boss, Mr Barrow. I see Mike trying to get friendly with
him
, and I thought, good luck with that, because he don’t do friendly, the boss. Mike was kind of hanging round him, trying to get him talking, and I s’pose it musta got on his nerves or something, because suddenly one day when I go in Mike’s not there, and when I ask Ewan about it, he says “Paul’s let him go.” That’s Mr Barrow. And he like gives me a look as if to say, “Don’t ask.” So I don’t. It was awkward, though, ’cos we were halfway through a film, so it must have took a lot of editing with one of the main actors suddenly missing.’
‘Yeah,’ said Connolly thoughtfully. ‘I can see it would.’
Tommy wiped his nose on his fingers, looked about vaguely, and then wiped them on his trouser leg. For the first time, curiosity dawned. ‘Why you asking all this about Mike, anyway? What’s he done?’
‘Nothing, as far as I know. Well, thanks for your help, Tommy. I’ll leave you be now.’
‘No, no wait! You must be asking for some reason. Why d’you want to get hold of him?’
‘Never mind,’ she said firmly. ‘You’re not in trouble, that’s all you need to know. But if you think of anything he said about his family or background or past life, the names of anyone he knew or any firm he worked for, you’ll let me know, won’t you?’
She gave him a card, and for a moment the old Tommy reappeared on the last fizzing of the fine Bolivian in his brain stem.
‘Woah! This your private line? Bay-bee, you can bet yo’ sweet ass I will be looking you up! And any time you want a bit of fi–i–ine lovin’ you just call for the Flynnmeister, babe! Light blue touch paper and retire, know what I’m sayin’?’
‘You’d want to listen to yourself,’ she said wonderingly. ‘Love a God, y’ sound like a total gobshite. On second thoughts, give me me card back.’ She whipped it out from his nerveless fingers. ‘I don’t want you usin’ it if for choppin’ out lines. If you think of anything, ring Shepherd’s Bush nick and talk to anyone, they’ll pass it on.’
She left him standing there, and as she turned out of the door towards the stairs she heard his forlorn little voice behind her still trying to be the big man. ‘Yeah,’ he
‘Never mind, Tommy darlin’. Nearly finished now, then you can go and snort till your ears meet. You know it’ll make your face cave in at the end? By the time you’re forty you’ll be breathin’ through a straw stickin’ out your neck.’
‘Christ, I hope I’m dead before I’m forty!’ Tommy said. ‘What else d’you want to know about Mike? Quick, get it over with.’
‘Did he tell you anything about his background? Family? What he did before?’
‘Nah, we never talked about that stuff. Just the job, sounds, movies, birds, that sort of thing.’
‘Did he have a girlfriend?’
‘He never told me about one. Never saw him with anyone.’
‘Didn’t you think that was odd? Good-looking geezer like him?’
‘Nah. It’s separate, innit, blokes’ time? You don’t wanna mix ’em. I mean, he didn’t come round and watch when I had a bird up there.’
‘Did you ever go to his house?’
‘I don’t even know where he lived.’
‘And you haven’t seen him lately?’
‘Not since he got sacked from Ransom’s. I thought I might see him at the club, but he’s not been in there either, not when I’ve been in.’
‘Why
was
he sacked? You said he was good at it.’
‘Yeah.’ For the first time, Tommy looked puzzled. ‘I dunno. He
was
good. And Ewan liked him – he’s the director – because he knew the ropes. He said he’d done film extra work, so he didn’t have to be told all the basic stuff. He knew a lot of technical stuff, an’ all. Him and Ewan got on great, chatting away about cameras and lighting and angles and frames and all that bollocks.’
‘So it wasn’t Ewan who wanted rid of him?’
‘No, that was down to the big boss, Mr Barrow. I see Mike trying to get friendly with
him
, and I thought, good luck with that, because he don’t do friendly, the boss. Mike was kind of hanging round him, trying to get him talking, and I s’pose it musta got on his nerves or something, because suddenly one day when I go in Mike’s not there, and when I ask Ewan about it, he says “Paul’s let him go.” That’s Mr Barrow. And he like gives me a look as if to say, “Don’t ask.” So I don’t. It was awkward, though, ’cos we were halfway through a film, so it must have took a lot of editing with one of the main actors suddenly missing.’
‘Yeah,’ said Connolly thoughtfully. ‘I can see it would.’
Tommy wiped his nose on his fingers, looked about vaguely, and then wiped them on his trouser leg. For the first time, curiosity dawned. ‘Why you asking all this about Mike, anyway? What’s he done?’
‘Nothing, as far as I know. Well, thanks for your help, Tommy. I’ll leave you be now.’
‘No, no wait! You must be asking for some reason. Why d’you want to get hold of him?’
‘Never mind,’ she said firmly. ‘You’re not in trouble, that’s all you need to know. But if you think of anything he said about his family or background or past life, the names of anyone he knew or any firm he worked for, you’ll let me know, won’t you?’
She gave him a card, and for a moment the old Tommy reappeared on the last fizzing of the fine Bolivian in his brain stem.
‘Woah! This your private line? Bay-bee, you can bet yo’ sweet ass I will be looking you up! And any time you want a bit of fi–i–ine lovin’ you just call for the Flynnmeister, babe! Light blue touch paper and retire, know what I’m sayin’?’
‘You’d want to listen to yourself,’ she said wonderingly. ‘Love a God, y’ sound like a total gobshite. On second thoughts, give me me card back.’ She whipped it out from his nerveless fingers. ‘I don’t want you usin’ it if for choppin’ out lines. If you think of anything, ring Shepherd’s Bush nick and talk to anyone, they’ll pass it on.’
She left him standing there, and as she turned out of the door towards the stairs she heard his forlorn little voice behind her still trying to be the big man. ‘Yeah,’ he
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