“Hey, come on.” Von Joel was frowning now. “What have I done to you that’s so bad?”
“You lied to me,” Larry said coldly. “I met your wife. Moyra.”
“Ah. I see. Moyra.” Von Joel smiled again, faintly. “You met Moyra.” He stepped closer. “Did you tell your wife about Lola? You tell some things, some you keep quiet about. Mickey? I never talked about Mickey. Not to anyone but you.”
“You never had a brother.”
Von Joel gripped Larry’s arm tightly. “I never lied to you,” he said.
Larry jerked free. He walked out of the room, banged the door shut, and locked it. Von Joel took a deep breath and let it out slowly, grinding a fist into the palm of his ! hand as he scanned the flaw in his strategy.
Jackson was not the pushover he had thought. He started to control his breathing, forcing himself to rethink how he would approach Jackson now. Time was running out. He had to make his move fast, faster than he had anticipated. He had already heard Shrapnel talking about Reading. He knew about the holding cells there, and if he was moved it would be even more difficult to get out, if not impossible. Time was short. This shit hole might prove a better move than he could have anticipated. It was just Jackson. He had underestimated Jackson. That was a big mistake.
19
“They were in his jacket pocket,” Susan said, suppressing a little belch as she leaned across and handed the ticket stubs to Colin Frisby. They had been drinking wine for half an hour and now Susan believed she had had too much. In the circumstances it didn’t trouble her. “He was out until way after midnight.”
Frisby looked at the stubs, then at Susan. “Opera?” He had just been passing again and had decided to drop in so that he could, as he put it, “make sure everything’s all right.” Susan was glad he had called, she needed to talk to someone. Colin, for his part, was glad she had suggested the wine. Each time he visited, his mission went a little further toward its goal.
“The night before,” Susan said, pushing back a nonexistent strand of hair, “there were three calls. He said they were something to do with the case, then he left the phone off the hook.” She picked up another slip of paper, a receipt, from the table beside her. She handed it to Frisby. “The Hyde Park Hotel, of all places...” She took a big gulp of wine and wiped her lips with the side of her hand. “Colin, I wasn’t going through his pockets like some jealous idiot. It was just an accident.”
He nodded, frowning delicately, eyes crinkled, a look that said he understood perfectly. They were developing a nice self-righteous complicity, he and Susan. Larry’s deceit was a mystery they were determined to crack.
“No other calls?” Frisby said, looking at the receipt.
“No.”
“Anything else?”
Susan put down her glass. She brought her cupped hands up around her head, as if it were suddenly too much for her neck to support.
“I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this,” she said. She let her hands drop and looked at him. “It’s just, since he came back from Spain, it’s like I don’t know him.”
Frisby, sure of his timing, reached out and took her hand. He held it.
“You want me to check out this hotel receipt?”
“No.” Susan shook her head. “Forget it,” she said, sounding cold suddenly. “I wish I hadn’t told you.” She took back her hand and stood up. “I’ll make some coffee.”
She went to the kitchen. Frisby took out his notebook and jotted down the waiter’s number from the receipt. He put the notebook back in his pocket, took a swig from his glass, stood up and crossed to the mantel. He yawned, gazing at the framed family snapshots, making a mental note to bring the wine himself next time. Mood swings weren’t such a hazard with decent wine.
Larry unlocked Von Joel’s door quietly, hoping for a measure of surprise. It was late evening and there had been no sounds coming from the room, not even music. He turned the handle and threw open the door. Von Joel was sitting in the center of the room, his back to the door. He turned, smiling, and held up a joint. Larry saw the blue smoke in static layers above his head.
“Want a drag?”
“I don’t believe this.”
Von Joel drew hard on the joint and held on to the smoke, taking it deep into his chest. He let it out, still smiling.
“You better believe it,” he said. “You brought me the gear.”
Larry frowned, not understanding.
“My herbal medicine. Frank’s really getting into it. I make him tea with it in.”
“What?” Larry was appalled. “You mean he’s drinking the stuff? Oh, my God!”
His tough demeanor had fled. He stood there looking awkward and helpless. Von Joel began to laugh, a deep, friendly sound, warm and infectious. It rumbled on, and after a while it began to get to Larry. He struggled to keep his face straight, then gave in. He closed his eyes, shaking with mirth.
“Help yourself,” Von Joel said, indicating a small bag beside him. “You look as if you could do with a drag. You’re so uptight. Loosen up.”
Larry’s face straightened suddenly, as if someone had thrown a switch. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he said.
Von Joel opened the bag of grass. Larry leaned down and grabbed his wrist.
“Hey, steady!” Von Joel protested. “I’m just going to roll you one.”
He jerked his wrist free, bringing his arm up sharply so that his elbow struck Larry on the testicles.
“Aah! Jesus Christ...”
As Larry doubled over Von Joel jumped to his feet and held him tight with both arms.
“I didn’t lie to you, Larry...”
Larry pushed him away, using more force than was needed.
“Oh, I see.” Von Joel’s voice had gone cold. “Come on then...” He started squaring up. “You think you can take me?”
Larry backed off, still doubled over, catching his breath. He had no fears about his chances in a scrap. He just didn’t want to get into this.
But Von Joel was determined. He was in the boxing stance, bouncing on the balls of his feet, facing three-quarters-on to Larry, beginning to dodge around him. After a minute he realized Larry wasn’t going to be drawn. He ducked and dived a couple of times, throwing fall-short punches, then he straightened up and held out his hand. He was holding the door key.
“You want it,” he said, “come and get it.”
Larry tried to snatch the key. Von Joel clipped him on the shoulder, hard. Larry reacted with a fast right jab.
“Getting really pissed now, huh?” Von Joel bounced around, getting on Larry’s right side. “Come on...”
Larry moved forward, taking steady steps, delivering short hard punches to Von Joel’s head and shoulders. Von Joel moved back, still smiling, until he was touching the wall with his shoulder.
Larry stopped and put his hands up, indicating that was it, it was over. Von Joel sprang forward and landed a right hook on Larry’s chin. It sent him across the room and he couldn’t stop himself from crashing against the door.
“What’s going on in there?” Shrapnel yelled from the passageway. “You in there, Jackson? You okay?”
Larry rolled his head sideways against the door, panting.
“Go back to bed, Frank. We’re just having a bit of a workout.”
They listened, hearing Shrapnel confer with another officer. The voices faded and a door closed.
“I never lied to you about my brother,” Von Joel said quietly. “You want to check him out, go to Somerset House. You’ll find him. His name was Mickey but we had different surnames. Look up Johnstone, born Bradford, 1955. You should trust me, Larry.”
Larry fingered his jaw. Von Joel handed him the door key.
“I just want to be friends.”