He opened those stunning mercury eyes and seemed to see right to the heart of me. ‘Bullshit,’ he said. ‘You’d love me if I was nothing, had nothing. You love medespitemy wealth and power, not because of it.’
‘Yeah,’ I admitted and looped my arms around his neck. ‘Look at us, knowing each other inside and out.’
‘Indeed. It’s almost like we’re fated mates,’ he replied drily.
I laughed and leaned in close, letting my breath tickle the shell of his ear. ‘Since you know me so well, you’ll know I desperately need to … finish scouring the scene.’
He barked a laugh as my hands fell away from him. ‘Yes, I do know that. Do your thing, Inspector. And later … I’ll do mine.’
‘Deal.’
It took effort to shake myself and my brain back to the case, but Kate needed me to be focused. Hell, Troy needed me to be focused. So I looked around the penthouse suite and tried to be analytical.
The living space hadn’t given me much of an insight into the mer’s mind. Frankly, from what I’d seen of his home so far, it was presentable, neat, and utterly soulless.
Still, some people liked clean, sleek, modern lines. Maybe it was unfair of me to call it soulless. Decluttering was a thing for a reason, but I found myself missing all the homely touches that punctuated my home and the home I’d been raised in. Each to their own, I supposed.
I headed towards the hallway that branched off from the main living space.
The lighting shifted again, with subtle recessed LEDs along the baseboards giving the corridor a soft glow. The walls here were decorated with framed photographs, and I paused to look at them. They weren’t of family or friends, but various pictures of water.
One was a black-and-white shot of waves smashing against cliffs, violent and glorious. Another showed an underwater scene with sunlight spearing down in pale beams, illuminating something that might’ve been coral, but it was hard to tell without the vibrancy of colour.
The photos were stunning, but the whole place felt professionally put together.
I continued down the hall. The master bedroom door was ajar, and I entered it. The bed was sizeable – a king-size at least – immaculate, and dressed in slate-grey sheets witha navy duvet folded back. There were no creases. No signs of sleep. Jingo might have been here, but he hadn’t slept here. He’d risked going somewhere else to put his head down for the night.
I pulled my phone out and dialled Ji-ho.
‘Yo Shirlylock! You get anything helpful?’
‘Not yet, but it’s clear Jingo didn’t stay the night here. Everything is creepily neat and tidy. So I need you to dig deeper into Jingo’s financials. I need to know what property he has. Hemusthave a way to access his money and properties no matter whose body he’s in.’
‘I’ve been looking into it,’ Ji-ho said, ‘but so far I’ve found plenty of money buried under his name – Jude Jingo – or under various aliases I’ve found that he’s repeated over the years, but no property so far. And that’s unusual for someone with a portfolio his size.’
‘How much is he worth?’ I asked out of curiosity.
‘Around a hundred million that I’ve found so far. No doubt there’s more.’
I whistled. ‘Whoever said crimedoesn’tpay. All right. Thanks, Ji-ho.’ A thought struck me. ‘Dive into his second-in-command. Reed. Maybe he holds property on Jingo’s behalf.’
‘I can do that,’ he said, and in my mind’s eye I pictured him in his new office at Bridge Street, bobbing his head inthought, even though I knew full well he was at my flat. ‘Is Reed his first name or second?’ he asked.
‘No idea. But he’ll be listed under known associates.’
‘Give me a second.’ Ji-ho hummed a K-pop song as he scanned data for me.
‘Here we go. Django Reed.’
‘Django?’ I said in surprise. ‘Jude Jingo and Django? That’s not suspicious at all. Is Django his real name?’
‘According to the birth certificate I can see, it’s real,’ Ji-ho said. ‘But we both know those things can be faked for a price.’
‘Anything can be faked for a price,’ I muttered as my brain whirred. ‘Look into the properties in Reed’s name, okay?’
‘On it.’
We hung up, and I turned my attention back to the too-neat bedroom.
