Amy has been in The Brass Monkey a few times before—Christmas, Debbie’s birthday one year. Tonight it is rammed, the quiz being the weekly highlight of the Axley social calendar. Every table is filled with men in short-sleeved shirts and women in floral blouses, doing the pre-hunch of teams agreeing on names. At a table in the far corner, Amy sees Jyoti half stand and raise her arm to grab their attention. John is setting down three drinks on their table and the loss-adjuster, Martin, sits with his back to them.
Steve snakes his way through the tables toward his friends. Just before Steve reaches the table, Amy finally understands why they are there. If she were the sort of person to gasp, she would gasp.
Martin turns, a handsome black guy in a cloth cap. His salt-and-pepper beard not hiding for one moment that Martin from Lymington is, as alive as you like, Jeff Nolan.
“You look well, Jeff,” says Steve. “Considering.”
Jeff gives an impressed smile. “You found me?”
Steve smiles back. “Who else would have dropped the information about Courtney Lewis into a Brass Monkey lock-in?”
“Couldn’t think of any other way to get in touch,” says Jeff.
“Who’s Jeff?” asks Jyoti. “Hello, Steve!”
If Jeff is surprised to see Steve, he hides it with great skill. He stands and hugs Amy.
“So you’re not dead,” says Amy.
“Why would he be dead?” says John. “He’s a loss-adjuster.”
“From Lymington,” adds Jyoti.
“Kept five pints of my blood in the fridge,” says Jeff. “Fired a few shots in the Beamer and tipped it over the front seat.”
“That’s what I said you would do,” says Amy.
Rosie offers her cheek to him and says, “Ah, the elusive Jeff. The elusive, surprisingly handsome Jeff. I’m Rosie.”
“That’s Rosie D’Antonio,” says John to Jyoti. “At the quiz!”
“Amy doing a good job looking after you?” Jeff asks.
“Terrible,” says Rosie. “But we’re having a lot of fun.”
“What’s going on, Jeff?” says Amy. What is he doing here, in Axley? How did Steve know he would be here? And is Henk right about him? And, the most important question of all: are they really going to have to do an entire pub quiz before she finds out?
“It suited me to be dead for a few days,” says Jeff. “François Loubet was trying to kill me.”
“How do you know it was Loubet?” Steve asks.
“I’ve got the emails to prove it,” says Jeff.
“Where have you been staying?” Steve asks.
“Well,” says Jeff. “Full disclosure. I’ve been in the spare room at yours.”
“Huh,” says Steve.
“Apart from the last couple of nights. A man and a woman showed up, so I made a sharp exit. I’ve been sleeping in a ditch.”
“You look good on it,” says Rosie.
“It was a comfortable ditch,” says Jeff.
This is it, is it? They’re just going to make small talk? “Why are you here?” Amy asks in frustration. “In Axley?”
“Mainly because Loubet was trying to kill me,” says Jeff. “But also I love a quiz. I just thought, where better to hide out while you solved the case?”
“And Loubet is trying to kill me too?” Amy asks.
“With a bit of help from Joe Blow,” says Jeff.
“And who’s Joe Blow?” Amy asks.
Jeff nods over to the bar. “Henk, of course.”
They all look over toward Henk, currently trying to carry four pints at once.
“Who’s Henk?” says Jyoti.
“But Henk says you’re working with Loubet?” says Rosie.
“Other way round,” says Jeff. “You’ll see.”
“We still need a team name,” says John.
Henk is focusing his eyes on the carpet as he weaves through the crowd. And then, flicking his eyes toward his destination, he sees Jeff.
