1 The Cuckoo's Calling

“Isn’t he a quarter Malay?” asked Strike.
She gave a snide little laugh.
“I don’t know; I never met any of Freddie’s grandparents, did I? He’s about a
hundred years old. I know he’ll say anything if he thinks there’s money in it.”
“Did anything ever come of these plans to get Lula and Macc into his films, as
far as you’re aware?”
“Well, I’m sure Lula was flattered to be asked; most of these model girls are
dying to prove they can do something other than stare into a camera, but she
never signed up to anything, did she, John?”
“Not as far as I know,” said Bristow. “Although…but that was something
different,” he mumbled, turning blotchily pink again. He hesitated, then,
responding to Strike’s interrogative gaze, he said:
“Mr. Bestigui visited my mother a couple of weeks ago, out of the blue. She’s
exceptionally poorly, and…well, I wouldn’t want to…”
His glance at Tansy was uncomfortable.
“Say what you like, I don’t care,” she said, with what seemed like genuine
indifference.
Bristow made the strange jutting and sucking movement that temporarily hid
the hamsterish teeth.
“Well, he wanted to talk to my mother about a film of Lula’s life. He, ah,
framed his visit as something considerate and sensitive. Asking for her family’s
blessing, official sanction, you know. Lula dead barely three months…Mum was
distressed beyond measure. Unfortunately, I was not there when he called,” said
Bristow, and his tone implied that he was generally to be found standing guard
over his mother. “I wish, in a way, I had been. I wish I’d heard him out. I mean,
if he’s got researchers working on Lula’s life story, much as I deplore the idea, he
might know something, mightn’t he?”
“What kind of thing?” asked Strike.
“I don’t know. Something about her early life, perhaps? Before she came to
us?”
The waiter arrived to place starters in front of them all. Strike waited until he
had gone, and then asked Bristow:
“Have you tried to speak to Mr. Bestigui yourself, and find out whether he
knew anything about Lula that the family didn’t?”