The Tangled Web (21 page)

A conversation had begun amongst the others in the group
about whether an iPad was better than a BlackBerry Playbook, which Flic only
half-listened to.  She looked at a checklist she had made for herself.

1 – Find out what Polish people eat and drink (i.e., types
of tea, coffee, traditional Polish cakes and biscuits)

2 – Find out some more Polish names, to create a family for
Diana

3 – Pick up information about Polish schooling system to
create a background

None of it sounded too difficult.  She could start by
helping herself to the tea and coffee in front of her.  She poured herself a
cup of the coffee and searched the table for biscuits.  Cupcakes?  Caramel
Wafers?  Blue Riband?  Penguins?  What was this? It all looked suspiciously
local.

Pawel entered the room and walked toward the window to draw
the curtains.

‘Now our group is complete, we are ready to begin,’ he
grinned.  ‘Does everyone have enough to eat and drink?’

Everyone nodded and mumbled to suggest their satisfaction,
except Flic and Lumi.

‘This coffee is wonderful?  Is it Polish?’ Flic asked.

‘No, it’s Nescafe,’ Pawel blushed.

‘I see!’ she nodded.  ‘Can I ask what kind of biscuits or
cakes you would eat with coffee in Poland?  It’s just, I want to get a feel for
the lifestyle as well as the language,’ she continued.

‘Well, I personally wouldn’t have anything with my coffee,
but if you’re interested you can visit my kitchen after the lesson and I’ll
show you some of the Polish foods I buy here, when I visit Tesco,’ Pawel
suggested.

‘Great!’ Flic purred. 

She cursed inwardly.  She had no idea how to stay behind
and talk to Pawel AND speak to Lumi too, especially when Lumi didn’t look keen
to acknowledge she’d ever met Flic.  If they had been chatting and looked like
they already knew each other, she could explain that, but Lumi was pretending
Flic was a total stranger.  Well, that made sense, Flic told herself.  Lumi was
here looking very respectable and tidy.  Obviously she just came here to learn
and wouldn’t want her personal life dragged out and broadcast to a room full of
strangers.

‘So, I have spoken to you all individually, but I shall
speak to the group now for a moment.  My name is Pawel.  I am from Krakow, I’m
thirty-four and I have lived in Scotland for three years.  I worked as a cabin
steward for Ryanair in another life and gave up because of travel sickness. 
Now I work in a café.  I’d like to teach Polish and this is my first class. 
Let’s have an ice-breaker.  We can have everyone introduce themselves.  Flic,
how about you first?’

Flic stiffened at the thought of having the volunteer
information to a room full of strangers.  She cleared her throat and smiled as
she silently affirmed to herself that she was confident, self-assured, and she
could share anything she wanted and hide the rest.

‘My name is Flic.  I’m from England.  I’m…over twenty-one,’
she paused and pouted.  Everyone seemed to appreciate the humour in her
discretion over her age.  ‘I’ve lived in Inverness for about five years and I
work as a private investigator.  I want to learn Polish for one of my cases.’ 
She clasped her hands around her knees, smiled warmly at everyone then
expectantly looked back to Pawel. 

‘Wonderful.  You forgot to mention that you were the person
who gave me the idea for this class,’ he winked.  ‘Who is next?’

Flic pretended to be attentive as she listened to each
person in turn divulge what she considered to be too much information about
themselves.  She was certain that she could find most of them online now and check
them out if she wanted to.  The only one she really wanted to hear talk was
Lumi – to find out where she had been.  She still had to warn her that Magnus
may approach her.

They took turns in a clockwise direction and Lumi’s turn
finally came. 

‘And now, Diana, would you like to tell us about yourself?’
Pawel encouraged.

Diana?  Flic attempted to mask the confusion which must
have been evident on her face.  Had she made a mistake?  Was that not Lumi?

‘My name is Diana, I am twenty-one and I have my own
business.  I live locally.  I want to learn Polish for fun and curiosity,’ she
informed her classmates.  She spoke quietly, with the same soft accent she had
when Flic and Vicky had spoken to her alone, rather than the harsh exaggerated
tones Flic had witnessed when Lumi was selling magazines.  It was definitely
her.  But for some reason she had changed her name. 

For the first time that evening, the two of them made eye
contact.  That was why Lumi had appeared guilty, Flic surmised.  She was using
a fake name and didn’t want Flic to give the game away.  Of course. 

She winked in Lumi’s direction and Lumi snapped her head
back to Pawel. 

‘Thank you Diana, we look forward to getting to know you
better,’ he beamed.  ‘Now, let’s begin with something simple, like a greeting.’

*****

The two hours which followed passed slowly for Flic.  She
was attentive and made notes whenever possible, although the spellings of words
compared with how they sounded when Pawel pronounced them baffled her.  For the
most part, she ignored Lumi and pretended not to know anything about her and
instead chatted to Mrs. Notepad next to her like they were old friends.  When
Pawel announced the class was over and anyone who wanted to stay behind and
visit his kitchen was welcome to do so, Flic caught sight of Lumi grabbing her
bag and coat, heading towards the door hurriedly.

She shot from her chair and rushed after Lumi, leaving her
own bag and coat sitting in Pawel’s living room, calling to Pawel that she
would be back in a minute. 

Lumi was heading down the path when Flic caught her. 

‘Diana!  Wait!  I need to tell you something.’

Lumi peered over her shoulder at Flic and sighed.  ‘What is
it?  I’m in a hurry.’

‘Vicky and I tried to look for you.  We had a problem.’

‘I’m not selling magazines anymore.  I moved on.’

‘Where to?’ Flic probed.

‘I have my own business now.  Did you see the cupcakes on
the table tonight?  I brought them.  I sell cupcakes in the shopping mall.  I
have my own stall,’ she divulged.

‘Cupcakes?’ Flic repeated.

‘Yes.  I make them myself.  And I decorate them.  My
boyfriend owns the stalls in the shopping mall.  He suggested the idea.  You
should visit me and buy some.  You look like you could use a few cupcakes.  No
offence,’ she said, looking Flic up and down.

Flic held her tongue, although she was tempted to let rip. 
Cheeky mare.  Who was she to comment on Flic’s figure?  Instead she dazzled a
smile and said, ‘Congratulations on your new business.  I’ll come and buy some
of your cupcakes next time I’m in the town centre.’

‘Did you want to tell me something?’ Lumi urged.

‘Yes, I did.  We were trying to find you because somebody
recognised you from the picture we used on our honey’s profile,’ Flic informed
her.

Lumi clearly hadn’t expected Flic to say this.  She appeared
to have halted and turned her whole body to face Flic now instead of edging
away and facing out to the street.

‘Really?  Who?’

‘His name is Magnus.  He recognised you and started asking
questions, so we deleted him as a friend of the honey and blocked him.’

Lumi cast her eyes down for a moment.  When she looked up,
she was wary again, the way she had been when Flic first entered Pawel’s living
room that night.  She appeared to be mulling over the information Flic had
given her and Flic suspected she had questions of her own, even if she wasn’t
forthcoming with her feelings on the matter.

‘Who is Magnus?  Why was he Diana’s friend?’ Lumi asked.

‘He’s our business partner.  He’s involved in the financial
side of HunE-trap Investigations, and he’s a friend of my boyfriend.  He and
Vicky are seeing each other.  But he knew nothing about our deal with you. 
Just be vigilant and if he approaches you, say he’s mistaken and it wasn’t you
in the photographs,’ Flic advised.

‘I’ll watch out,’ Lumi nodded.  She began to back away,
ready to make a dash out toward the road.

‘One more thing.  What made you call yourself Diana
tonight? Flic asked.

‘I just needed a name, an alias.  Your character was the
first name that came into my head,’ Lumi shrugged and turned to walk away.

‘Right.  Well, I’ll drop by your stall some time.  Take
care.  And remember to watch out for a guy called Magnus,’ Flic called after
her.

Lumi ignored her and continued her hasty escape.  Flic
folded her arms around her chest in a hug in an attempt to ward off the biting
wind and headed back through Pawel’s door.  Her classmates had now started to
leave, with the exception of Mrs. Notepad who had chosen to stay along with
Flic and learn about Polish cuisine.  Pawel was busy ushering the leavers out
of his front door and chatting as he did so.  Flic decided to call Vicky to
give her the news about Lumi.

‘Hello,’ Vicky answered the phone.

‘Vic.  It’s me.  You’ll never guess who I met at the Polish
lesson tonight.’

‘Who?’

‘Lumi!’

‘Nooo!’

‘Yes!  I warned her that Magnus might approach her and
start asking questions.  I told her to say it wasn’t her in the photo.  She
looked a bit miffed, but I think she’ll handle it ok,’ Flic recounted.

‘Well at least we don’t have to worry about her giving the
game away now,’ Vicky sighed with relief.

‘Lucky I met her tonight.  Imagine if Magnus had got to her
first!’ Flic chortled.

‘Doesn’t bear thinking about,’ Vicky granted, with muffled
tones.

‘Are you eating something?’ Flic giggled.

‘Yeah, a cupcake.  Magnus brought it over for me earlier.’

Flic was halted by the mention of cupcakes.  That’s a
strange coincidence, she thought. 

‘Mr Kipling’s finest?’ she joked, trying not to think of
what might have happened if Magnus had gone shopping for cupcakes at Lumi’s
stall.

‘No, it’s one of his new business ventures.  You know those
stalls he has in the shopping centre?  He’s found a girl who’s a cupcake
whizz.  She started selling them last week,’ Vicky reeled.

Lumi’s words echoed in Flic’s head
…‘ I make them
myself.  And I decorate them.  My boyfriend owns the stalls in the shopping
mall.  He suggested the idea.’

Boyfriend?

16

8
^th
March

‘Scarlett?  It’s Flic.’

‘Flic!  Wonderful to hear from you,’ Scarlett enthused. 
Her mouth was clearly too close to the phone and Flic had to draw her ear away
slightly.  ‘Listen, I have a favour to ask you.’

Flic pinched the bridge of her nose.  She had quickly
learned that Scarlett’s favours were not something she wanted to get involved
in.  ‘I’ve got a favour to ask you too.  What’s yours?’

‘Oh.  Right.  Um, we got turned down for the Jeremy Kyle
show but we DID get accepted for The Roland Reading Show.  I was going to ask
if you’d come on with me and back me up,’ she stated.

Flic shook her head.   ‘No, really, what’s your favour?’

‘That’s it.  Peter and I are going on a show called, “I
Paid A Prostitute To Honey Trap You…..But Don’t Give Up On Me.”  Would you come
on and tell your part of the story?’

‘What? No!  I am NOT a prostitute!’ Flic squealed.

‘Come on, there’s no such thing as bad publicity,’ Scarlett
urged.

‘Forget it!’

‘Think it over.  And talk it over with Vicky.  What were
you going to ask me?’ Scarlett promptly changed the subject.

‘I need you to check Vicky’s address book and get me
Magnus’s address, but don’t tell her,’ Flic asserted.  She doubted if Scarlett
could be trusted to keep quiet but she had no other way.  She’d found too many
different addresses for him online to know which one was his home, there was no
sign of an address book in Adam’s belongings and she couldn’t just phone up
Magnus and ask him.  That would arouse suspicion.

‘I don’t need to look it up.  He’s staying in Bridge
Street,’ Scarlett sniffed.

‘That was easy,’ Flic muttered.

‘He rents it on a weekly basis because he’s always moving
around.  Vicky raved about how fancy it was,’ she went on, letting a hint of
jealousy slip.  Flic presumed Scarlett was wishing Peter had as much money as
Magnus.

‘Any idea which number?’ Flic pressed.

‘No, but it’s one of the fancy flats.  You know the ones
I’m talking about?’

‘Yeah.  Thanks,’ Flic muttered.  She was already mentally
planning her reconnaissance work.

Flic had spent the previous night tossing and turning in
bed.  She had alternated between snarling at Adam’s loudly snoring head and
berating herself for having started HunE-trap Investigations in the first
place.  She couldn’t wait to get home tonight and have a couple of bottles of
wine to send her off to sleep.