The Silent Pool Read Free Page A

stool next to Dan. Dan didn't even look round.
    ‘OK, Erasmus. Here's the deal. You push me off my stool and then I get up off the floor and hit you hard, Jackie Chan style. You hit the deck and beg me to stop.’
    Erasmus signalled the bored looking bar man who rolled his eyes but nevertheless wandered over to take his order.
    ‘Mineral water,’ said Erasmus.
    Dan turned his head and gave him a look of contempt.
    ‘Then, the girls come over to check I'm OK and I'll explain we are long lost brothers fighting in a
Legends of the Fall
type way over our massive inheritance. They get all emotional over the display of testosterone and wealth and we take them back to the Shangri La for some Schezuan then onto the Malmaison for an afternoon of
Heat
magazine type debauchery. If it's good enough for celebrities, it's good enough for us. What do you say?’
    ‘How's Grace?’
    Grace was Dan's long-suffering wife. Dan groaned.
    ‘Ahh you've gone and dumped icy water all over my fantasy man. It's not fair, especially given the gift I'm about to give you. And just because you're on the wagon, though you know I think sex addiction is just a made up Hollywood thing?’
    Erasmus noticed that the blonde sitting at the corner table was sneaking looks at him that were lasting a couple of moments too long. He pondered the possibilities for a second and then discounted them. He decided to ignore Dan's comments about his sex addiction. It had been a mistake to tell him about it when trying to talk Dan into getting help for tackling his own demons
    ‘Gift?’
    ‘Yeah, what does every PI in this city want?’
    ‘To get a job anywhere else?’ said Erasmus.
    ‘You need to be careful. We can be a proud bunch here. Especially when southern jessies like you start slagging us off.’ He gave Erasmus a mock punch to the head.
    ‘You know I love this place. What did you tell me Carl Jung said? “Liverpool is the pool of life”,’ said Erasmus.
    ‘That's right. And don't you forget it. I am about to do you a massive favour. I know you used to do that secret squirrel stuff when you were in Afghanistan.’
    Erasmus groaned. ‘I told you last month, I'm through with it all, I'm studying to be one of you lot. Going over to the dark side.’
    Dan mimicked the plucking of an arrow from his chest. ‘I'm wounded, truly I am, but hey, you'll be in need of funds?’
    Erasmus didn't reply.
    ‘I have a client. A very beautiful and potentially very rich client.’
    Dan took a sip of his drink and paused for a moment. He smiled as Erasmus took the bait.
    ‘Go on.’
    ‘She has an unusual problem.’
    ‘Tell her to go to the clinic,’ said Erasmus.
    ‘You wouldn't say that if you saw her, Raz. She's stunning.’
    ‘Your judgement on such matter is suspect.’
    Dan turned and waved at the women sitting in the corner booth. They giggled and one of them, the elder one, by Erasmus’ reckoning, raised her drink in response. Reluctantly, Dan turned back to Erasmus.
    ‘I see the inner beauty. Look, it's straightforward. My client's husband is missing. She needs you to find him.’
    ‘Tell her to go to the police.’
    ‘She has already. He's been gone two weeks. You know what they do, add him to the Missing Persons Register and that's it. You know how many people are on that list? Thousands. Even I was on it once. Grace called the cops when I got stranded at a conference in London.’
    Erasmus rolled his eyes. He knew what that meant.
    ‘He's been suffering from stress, work problems, the usual drill, so he's gone walkabout. If we can help track him down, she will be very grateful.’
    ‘Other woman, gay, breakdown or dead,’ said Erasmus.
    Dan smiled at Erasmus. ‘And you're just the man to find out. I told her I knew the best, someone who was trained in these matters, who had fought in Afghanistan. Come on, you just need to help find a missing person. You tracked al-Qaeda, didn't you? This should be a doddle.’
    Dan eyed up the two women for a