“The party is in nine days.” I shook my head. “We don’t have long to work out what exactly we’re walking into.”
Jenny flipped open her notebook. “Benjamin Norwood said he lets an events company run Restore Glory events for him. Unique Events is the company Danny said he was working for, right?”
Haze nodded. “I met him at their offices.”
“Unique Events is registered in the Cayman Islands. I looked through all the paperwork, and there’s no individual named in any of the documentation. It was all done through their lawyers, Backhouse Dunne.”
Haze got to her feet. “What the fuck?”
Jenny looked between us. “What?”
We filled her in on the drama with Bibi and Ted and the icy Diana Morgan.
Jenny chewed on the end of her pen. “Backhouse Dunne is a massive law firm. It’s got a reputation for representing all manner of dodgy clients. I don’t think a woman is engineering your downfall because of a four-year-old’s playground dispute.”
“You haven’t met her!” Haze snorted. “And don’t underestimate what a mother would do for her child. She’s already coming after us through planning permissions.”
“The timing doesn’t fit,” I reminded her. “The Chameleon was already in the country and coming after us to go to Balgray before Punchgate.”
Haze sat back down. “Okay, but I say we destroy her too, for getting us on the council’s radar.”
Jenny patted her hand. “Let’s just get through this Chameleon threat first. Unique Events doesn’t have a website, and they don’t seem to have put on any events other than ones for Restore Glory.”
“Norwood said they approached him and don’t charge anything for their services, as it’s for charity.” Something in my muddled brain sparked. Something that seemed to fit. “They’re a shadowy company who organize events for rich criminals to attend. The Corporation is a shadowy organization who work with criminals.”
Jenny looked up at me. “They’re one and the same?”
“And that’s why The Chameleon wants us to meet there,” said Haze. “He knows it’s a secure location, as it’s an event that’s been organized by his bosses.”
We were finally getting closer to understanding what lay ahead for us.
Jenny was flicking through her notebook. “The only thing we really know about The Corporation is that they are discreet. They kill people, but quietly. They’re not going to have some big gunfight waiting for you at Balgray.”
“You really think they’re using an events company in London as a cover?” Haze frowned. “There were lots of people at their office. They didn’t look old enough to be part of an international gang.”
Jenny shook her head. “They could be using freelancers to do their bidding without them having any idea of the bigger picture. The staff there are just organizing parties at stately homes. They wouldn’t know who they’re really working for, or how the company is being used.”
Jenny had mentioned previously that The Corporation has been so hard to pin down and track because there was no money trail to follow. Unique Events put on the parties and organizedticket sales. Something clicked. “It’s a perfect front for money laundering.”
Jenny nodded. “There are lots of different ways they can do it if they’re using a charity and criminals are the ones making big donations.”
David and Goliath. That’s what it was starting to feel like. Our little kitchen-table trio up against the might of an international gang.
Jenny looked at her notebook. “Did you see that it’s a masquerade ball? Convenient, considering the clientele.”
I shook my head. “We’re turning up to a party where we can’t see who anyone is; we just know that they’re likely to be linked to a gang that want us dead.”
Haze frowned.
It was good she was taking it seriously.
“What am I going to wear?” she murmured.
Or not.
I was feeling a little light-headed. I started stabbing at the pad Thai as they compared ideas on outfits that “shouted slay” and were also “comfortable enough to slay in.”
I chewed on the noodles. I hadn’t had one of my funny blackouts in days. Maybe they were finally over with?
