The woman had both hands in the big front pocket of a black apron and was fiddling with pens and bottle openers in there. ‘It’s Yasmin,’ Russell said. ‘Have I got that right?’
‘Right.’ Yasmin had tiny tattoos all over her. Nestled behind her ears, and in the hollows of her collarbones. Thin letters and light little bumble bees and beetles. ‘I served the guy. The one you’re looking for. Constable Fry was asking me about him this morning, when I was doing my statement. He showed me the footage.’
‘Tell the story again.’ Russell made an impatient gesture at her. ‘You’ve had twenty-four hours or so to think about it. I want to hear it from your own mouth. And make no mistake, Yasmin: you could have been looking directly at our killer last night. You understand? So, your ability to remember important details about him could be the difference between someone else getting butchered down the road tomorrow night and this guy being locked up before he can do that.’
‘Shiiiiit.’ Yasmin widened her eyes. ‘Are you for real?’
‘Unfortunately, he is,’ I said.
Yasmin massaged her brow. ‘Um, I mean, it was just like you see on the video. The guy was young. Dark hair. Kind of ratty looking in the face, you know? Like, pointy? I think he had a lip piercing?’
I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my reaction.
‘Youthinkhe was young, or hewasyoung?’ Russell said. ‘Youthinkhe had a lip piercing, or hehada lip piercing?’
‘I’m not a hundred per cent on the lip piercing. I just have, like, a feeling.’
‘How old was this fellow?’ Russell pressed.
‘Maybe twenty, but just barely?’
‘Clothes? Remember any brand names? Something about the cap?’
‘No, it’s all just blank in my brain. I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be sorry,’ Russell said. He seemed to catch himself almost being kind and understanding, set his jaw again. ‘How did he order? Was he chatty? Quiet?’
‘Quiet. Straight to the point. Said “Please”.’
‘Okay.’
‘He came in the two separate times.’ Yasmin shifted back and forth on the balls of her feet. ‘Pretty close together. Ordered a James Squire the first time and a Tooheys New the second time.’
I glanced at my brother. Realised he was already frowning at me but looking through me, his head cocked.
‘Two different drinks,’ Russell said.
‘Twoverydifferent drinks.’ My mind was racing ahead, but the words were tumbling out before I could stop them. Cop autopilot. ‘How far apart were the two orders?’
‘Not very. Constable Fry and me, we looked at the footage and we lined it up with the readout from the till. The drinks were ordered seven minutes apart. The first time he came in alone. The second time is when he, like, checked out Chloe’s arse or whatever.’
‘He was with someone else.’ Russell was chewing his lip, thinking. ‘Got a drink for himself; friend arrives; he leaves the drink with the friend and goes in to get one for his mate.’
‘Why would he do that?’ I asked. ‘Why not send the friend in for his own drink?’
‘The friend is underage,’ Russell said. ‘You said he was young. He’s got a younger friend.’
‘Why didn’t you card him at the bar?’ I asked Yasmin. ‘If you’re saying he was twenty at a stretch, you should have carded him.’
‘Awww, well …’ Yasmin bobbed her head guiltily. ‘It’s a country pub, you know? And we don’t get a lot of young people here, soRob’s trying to, like, encourage more to come? We don’t want everyone thinking this place is super narky.’
Russell looked back up at the hotel behind Yasmin.
‘I know you guys are wondering if he was the guy,’ Yasmin continued. ‘But—I don’t know if this even helps—the guy I served spent his time out the front. And Chloe was out the back in the beer garden. So he wasn’t anywhere near her.’
‘He was out the front?’
‘Yeah, like, near the river, in the dark.’ Yasmin turned and pointed. ‘If you stand behind the bar, you can see directly out and across the street. Sometimes people go over there to look at the water or whatever.’
