Chapter Seven;
Kowalski

"Been shopping?" Stuart grinned as Max got back in the car and threw the plastic bag of supplies in the back seat.

Max nodded. "Pretty much." He flipped open his phone and brought up Craig's mobile number. "How do you think I did?"

"You got hot-wife's phone number? Nice work."

"Yeah, good for me. Let's head back to the station." Stuart started up the car and they drove away. They didn't notice Hayleigh Bolt watching them from the upstairs window.

*

Neil Manson was frowning over the radio as Max and Stuart entered the incident room. Back in her civvies, Millie was on a computer, trailing her finger down the screen in front of her as she read off it. They both looked up as Stuart spoke. "We got Bolt's mobile number Guv." Max shot him a look. "And by 'we' I mean him." He thumbed back at Max who dropped a plastic bag on his desk and fished into it. He withdrew a bag of chips that he tossed onto Stevie's desk, a bottle of cola he dropped on Will's desk then a Kit Kat. He came over to Millie and read over her shoulder.

"What's this?"

Millie glanced at him. "Will and Stevie are following up on Brecht. Will thinks he may be here." She tapped the screen and motioned to a picture of a tour bus.

"Brecht runs a tour bus company?"

"Yeah, sort of, he's part-owner anyway, but under his mother's maiden name Kowalski. Nikolai Kowalski also has a registered address, car and mobile phone. TIU are trying to get a trace on it now." She glanced up. "No luck on Bolt?"

"He wasn't at home but I spoke to his wife and she gave me his mobile number." Millie lowered an eyebrow. "She just doesn't know she gave it to me." Millie grinned and Max dropped the Kit Kat down on the table. "On me." He walked back towards Stuart and DI Manson who were listening to Will's past dealings with Brecht.

"It's just a guess Guv, but from what you've said he looks like he certainly sounds like Kowalski."

"How did you run into him before?" Neil asked.

"In uniform. He was having problems with a few passengers who wouldn't pay. They said he didn't give them the tour they paid for, but he was adamant he had." He went off for a minute and they heard him give Stevie directions. "Anyway, he started getting bullish on them and we had to intervene. As soon as we turned up he changed completely, gave these people their money back and even offered them a free tour. It was bizarre. I guess that's why he stuck with me. His ID said Nikolai Kowalski, but while we were there I heard someone call him Brecht. He seemed a bit shaken when I asked why the man called him that but he passed it off as a nickname, something about a German guy."

Millie spoke up. "Bertolt Brecht, a German playwright and poet. He was the 'father of culture' in Germany during the Weimar Republic after the First World War but his fame died out when Germany was dragged into the Second World War." She looked up as the men fell silent. "I studied drama and history at high school."

Stuart laughed and Neil just shook his head, taking the radio. "Okay, so you're pretty sure this is Brecht?"

"Yeah, I'm sure he ain't no playwright." Will snickered and Millie just shook her head, ripping open her Kit Kat. "What do you want us to do if Brecht is here?"

"Just follow him. We need to find out of he's in on this business with Bolt."

"You got it."

Neil put down the radio. "So, Bolt's mobile number? How'd you manage that?"

Max shrugged. "Natural detective skills… and I nicked Hayleigh Bolt's phone."

Neil frowned. "Are you sure she didn't see you? If she noticed, Bolt will have dumped the phone by now."

"I still don't understand why she called me in the first place. There's no way it was about solving the break-in story we spun her." Millie said, pushing her chair back and standing up. She was rolling the Kit Kat around her hand as she spoke. "Especially now we know Bolt wasn't at home."

"So what are you suggesting? She knew who we were? She knew who I was in the shop?" Max asked, taking a seat on a desk behind him and crossing his arms defensively.

"Well, I'm not saying your detective skills are in question sarge, but she struck me as someone who knew the law better than most. She must've known you would be waiting for her husband."

"So why would she call then? Tell us where he was?"

"No, she told you where he wasn't." Millie pointed out. Max was quiet, frowning. Millie broke the silence. "If you have the number sarge I can check it, find out if it's traceable or a pay-as-you-go service." Max nodded and slid his phone from his pocket, handing it to her. She took it and left the room.

"Well, she got you there Max." Stuart slapped him on the shoulder as Max frowned.

"I hate to admit it, but she's right. Hayleigh Bolt played us, which means she probably knew exactly who I was in the store. So why'd she let me go?"

"Don't take it personal mate, women do that." Stuart left and the DI returned to his office. As they went Max noticed the half-finished Kit Kat on the table in front of him. With a small frown he went back to his desk.