Rollover by James Raven Page A

mentioned him a few times.’
    Temple glanced at Priest. ‘There’s a Joe Dessler on the patch, sir. He’s a small-time pimp and loan shark.’
    ‘I know of him,’ Priest said. ‘The vice lads have had him in from time to time. I’m sure he’s got form.’
    Temple turned back to Jennifer. ‘So what do you know about Dessler, Miss Priest?’
    ‘I know that Vince didn’t like him much,’ she said. ‘And I know that he and Danny were planning to do some kind of exposé on him through the news agency.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    She shrugged. ‘That’s all I know really. He talked to Danny about it a few times when I was with him.’
    ‘You mean Danny Cain, his partner?’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘So tell me about this exposé they were working on. What’s it all about?’
    ‘Well, apparently Dessler wanted his money back from Vince andhad made some threats against him,’ she said. ‘But Vince was always short of cash and on one occasion he even borrowed from me to service his debts. So he came up with the idea of doing a story on Dessler and selling it to a Sunday newspaper. Vince was keen on it because he thought it might solve his cash problems if Dessler got put away. I know Danny was a bit worried about it but as far as I know he didn’t object.’
    ‘So why didn’t you tell me about this?’ Priest said, aggrieved.
    Jennifer looked up at her father. ‘Vince told me not to mention it to anyone, especially you.’
    Priest turned to Temple. ‘We need to talk to Cain about this article. It could be significant.’
    ‘We will when we find him,’ Temple said.
    ‘Is he not at home, then?’
    ‘His house was empty when we got there, although the lights were on. There was also a car on the driveway and DS Angel swore she saw someone moving around inside as we arrived.’
    ‘What are you saying, Jeff? That you think he did a runner?’
    ‘I don’t know, sir. He might have ducked out the back. He has a wife and daughter and they’re not around either.’
    ‘Do you know if there were any problems between Vince and his partner?’ Priest asked his daughter.
    Jennifer shook her head. ‘Not that I’m aware of. They always seemed to get on.’
    ‘What do you know about Danny Cain?’ Temple asked.
    ‘He’s a nice man,’ she said. ‘A family man.’
    ‘Has he or his wife got any relatives in this area? Parents or siblings?’
    ‘I think Danny’s wife has a mother who lives close by. I don’t know where.’
    A few beats of silence. Jennifer seemed to shrink further into the chair under the weight of her grief.
    ‘Did you talk to Mr Mayo at any point after you left the cottage?’ Temple asked.
    ‘I wish I had,’ she said. ‘I tried calling him when I got home, just before I went to bed. I wanted to say goodnight. But there was no answer on his mobile or landline.’
    ‘Did that not worry you?’
    ‘Not really. I assumed he was either in bed or had gone to one of the casinos in town. He often did that when he wasn’t with me.’
    ‘Did it occur to you that he might have a problem if the man who’d been threatening him was going to his home?’
    ‘He didn’t seem worried about it. In fact he told me that Dessler was happy to get at least some of his money back. Plus I heard them talking on the phone. It was fairly amicable. Vince was sure there wouldn’t be any trouble.’ She paused there, took a breath and then her jaw dropped. ‘Oh, my God, do you think Dessler killed Vince? Is that what you think?’
    ‘We have no idea, Miss Priest,’ Temple said. ‘At the moment there’s no evidence to suggest that he did but we will be talking to him. By the way, do you know if Mr Mayo kept any valuables in the cottage? Something that might be of interest to thieves?’
    She shook her head. ‘He sold off everything of value to pay for his gambling, except for his mother’s jewellery, that is. He told me he would never part with that.’
    ‘How much jewellery?’
    ‘I’m not sure