Dangerous Games by Sally Spencer

him puke up the first time he read it, but which he kept
re-readin’
– as if he couldn’t help himself – even when he was at work. Now, what could have been in that letter?’
    â€˜I think his sister-in-law could be right about the gambling debts,’ Paniatowski said.
    â€˜So what are you suggestin’? That the bookies have decided that breakin’ legs isn’t a sufficient incentive to make their clients pay up any more, an’ have moved their persuasion techniques up a notch?’
    â€˜Of course not,’ Paniatowski said. ‘But it can’t do any harm to have the bookies checked out, can it?’
    Woodend nodded. ‘No, it can’t do any harm at all,’ he agreed. ‘When it comes to secret vices, it’s often the quiet ones you have to watch, because they’re always the best at keeping it to themselves.’
    â€˜So we’ll have the bookies checked out?’
    â€˜Why not? What have we got to lose? And while they’re bein’ questioned about Pugh’s possible gamblin’ habits, they can also have a look at the sketch of the Unknown Greek.’
    â€˜What I don’t understand is why Terry Pugh left the pub with this Greek feller in the first place,’ Beresford said, sounding troubled.
    â€˜Go on,’ Woodend said encouragingly – because a troubled thought could often turn out to be a fruitful one.
    â€˜The meeting he’d arranged to have with Mr Hough was important to him, wasn’t it?’ Beresford asked.
    â€˜Very important. Hough was about to offer him a much better job than the one he had at the time – an’ he could have used the extra money, what with the baby bein’ on the way.’
    â€˜And from what you’ve said about him expanding his factory, Mr Hough must be a very busy man.’
    â€˜I imagine he is.’
    â€˜So, since his time is valuable, he won’t have taken kindly to being stood up, will he? He might even have withdrawn the job offer, for all Pugh knew. Yet despite that, he decides to leave the pub with the Unknown Greek – a stranger, who he’s only been talking to for a couple of minutes.’
    â€˜You’re right, that doesn’t make sense,’ Paniatowski agreed. ‘The Greek can’t have been a stranger to him at all.’
    â€˜On the other hand, they’re unlikely to have met in Whitebridge, because we’ve already established that if the Greek had been here for any length of time, one of our lads would have been bound to notice him,’ Woodend said thoughtfully. He nodded at Beresford. ‘Well done, lad. You’ve not only raised some interestin’ questions, but you’ve landed yourself a job for the mornin’.’
    â€˜What job’s that, sir?’
    â€˜I want you to find out if Terry Pugh’s done much travellin’, and especially if he’s ever been to Greece.’
    â€˜Or Turkey. Or Yugoslavia. Or Romania,’ Paniatowski said.
    And then she grinned, just in case Woodend had missed the point that what she was doing was mocking him for his earlier pessimism.
    â€˜Aye, or any of them other strange weird an’ wonderful foreign places as well,’ Woodend agreed, grinning back at her.
    He suddenly realized he was feeling much better than he had earlier. The black mood that this investigation had induced in him – and which had coloured his view of life in general, and Bob Rutter’s absence in particular – had been somewhat lifted by talking through the case with Paniatowski and Beresford.
    Of course, he understood that they still had a long way to go before they were in a position to make an arrest. And, of course, it didn’t help that the Chief Constable was still insisting that they pretend Terry Pugh’s murder was a suicide. But these were no more than occupational hazards.
    He took another sip of his pint, and decided that letting the beer settle