Читать книгу Sad Song - Vincent Banville - Страница 5

The office was large enough to land a helicopter. Carey sat behind a desk that was about an acre in area. He had hair like steel wool. A tanned face. Eyes as cold as winter frost. And a small mouth as tight as a duck’s arse. His voice had a smoker’s edge to it when he spoke.

“You’re Blaine?”

“I was the last time I looked in a mirror.”

Carey frowned.

“Cut out the smart remarks. I want you to find my daughter Sam and bring her home.”

“Sam?”

“Her mother gave her the name Assumpta, but she hates it. So everyone calls her Sam.”

“Johnny Cash had a song about a boy called Sue.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Just making conversation.”

“You’re not here to make conversation. How long will it take you to find her?”

“Depends on where she is.”

“Last I heard she was living in a squat with a crowd of drop-outs. Here’s a photograph of her.”

Carey poked the snap across his desk and Blaine had to hurry to catch it before it fell on the floor. It was a colour head-and-shoulders shot of an open-faced, cheerful-looking girl. She was in her late teens or early twenties.

“Maybe I should talk to her mother,” Blaine suggested.

“Her mother departed . . .”

“She passed over to the other side?” Blaine asked, wondering if he should bless himself.

“Only to the other side of Dublin. She divorced me a couple of years ago.”

“Oh.”

“The address of where she’s been living up to recently is on the back of the photo. Somewhere in Cabra.”

“The mother?”

“No, the daughter.”

“Why don’t you go and bring her back yourself?”

“I’m too busy. That’s why I hire people like you.”

“I charge two-hundred-and-fifty a day. Plus expenses.”

“See Sylvia on the way out. She’ll give you a cheque for five days’ work. That should be enough for a simple job like this.”

“What if Sam doesn’t want to come home?”

“Persuade her. Put a rope around her and drag her back if you have to. A daughter’s place is by her father’s side. Not living the life of a down-and-out.”

Carey pressed a button – it was a great place for button pressing. The same girl who had shown Blaine in now appeared to show him out. She didn’t speak to him. Just marched ahead, while he followed along behind, admiring the sway of her bottom. It was worth watching.