‘I was goin’ tae call you,’ she said, sourly. ‘When will I be able to arrange Marlon’s funeral?’
‘As far as I’m concerned,’ I replied, as I occupied the chair that faced across the desk, ‘you can do it now. It’s not my call, but I don’t think the fiscal’s office will object. They might not let you cremate him, but it should be okay to have a burial.’ I couldn’t resist having a go. ‘It won’t be a very big affair, though,’ I added. ‘Just you and Tony and Lennie, by the looks of it. I don’t see your daughter turning up, not after you putting the black on her.’
‘She’ll no’ be missed,’ Bella hissed. ‘Jumped-up wee tart.’
‘Mother of the Year,’ I laughed, then turned back to her boss and mentor. ‘With two extra mouths to feed you must be running short of groceries,’ I said. ‘I think Lennie should take Bella to Safeway to stock up. Don’t worry, you’ll still be protected. I’m here.’
He understood me; I’d come for a very private chat. ‘Aye, okay,’ he responded. He reached into the top drawer of his desk and produced a roll of twenties, peeled off a few and handed them to Bella. ‘On you go,’ he told her.
‘Ah checked this mornin’,’ she protested. ‘We don’t need anything.’
‘Well go tae the fuckin’ casino then,’ he snapped, ‘but go somewhere.’
She flounced out, all legs and attitude. For the first time I could see that she was her daughter’s mother.
Manson grinned as the door closed on her. ‘Now you see why I don’t have her move in,’ he chuckled. ‘What a fuckin’ life that would be. What’s that daughter of hers like then? I’ve only heard her on the radio. And what was that about her blackmailing her?’
‘Mia’s also a piece of work,’ I replied. ‘The other was a family misunderstanding that’s been sorted out now.’
‘Ah,’ the gangster murmured. ‘Miss Sparkles doesnae want anyone to know where she’s from. I get it. I don’t blame the lassie either. I must pay more attention to her.’
‘I wouldn’t, if I were you.’
There was something in my eyes and he read it. ‘Oh aye,’ he exclaimed. ‘Is the detective superintendent warning me off? Has he been there himself?’ He chuckled. ‘I think he has, I think he has indeed.’
‘Turn the tape off, Tony.’
He stared at me. ‘What tape?’
I leaned across the desk. ‘Do not fuck me about,’ I growled. ‘You’ve had a recorder running since I walked in here. Your voice is different, louder and clearer, and we both know why. Now, are you going to turn it off, or do I have to find it and do it for you?’
He knew when to fold ’em, did Tony Manson. ‘Aye, okay,’ he conceded. He opened the drawer at his left hand, produced a microtape recorder and disconnected it from a pen stand on his desk. ‘Looks realistic,’ he said. ‘You’d never know the ballpoint was a mike.’
‘That will bring you down,’ I warned him. ‘Vanity is a fatal weakness for a guy like you. And trying to get something on me would have been pretty bad for your health as well. Gimme the tape.’ He removed it, without protest, and handed it over. ‘And the one you made last time.’ He smiled, went back into his desk drawer and handed me another micro-cassette in its box.
‘There’s no more,’ he said. ‘I promise. Now, Skinner, why are you here?’
‘I want to find out how stupid you really are.’
‘You know I’m not.’
‘I thought I did, but something’s happened to make me doubt myself, in that respect at any rate. When I was here last, I fed you some information that should have stayed within the investigation. I even ran a couple of names past you. I did that because I believed that if you could have helped me, you would have, quietly, just between us two. What I did not believe was that you would act on that information in a way I wouldn’t like or in a way that would embarrass me. So imagine what I felt when I was called down to Newcastle last night and shown the bodies of the guys we had firmly in the frame for Marlon’s murder.’
Thunderclouds formed on Manson’s brow. ‘Are you winding me up?’ he asked, in a hiss that might have been the direst warning to someone other than me.
‘Not for one second, Tony. Now tell me, did you have anything to do with this… and be fucking sure you look me in the eye.’
He did. He held my gaze and he didn’t blink. I saw the real man, the near monster, not the front he’d been hiding behind until then. ‘No I did not,’ he replied, in the same voice. ‘I swear, on your daughter’s life.’
He was trying to send me a message, to say to me, I know you, I know your weakness, should you ever push me too far, copper. But he’d got it wrong: he didn’t know me at all. I felt my volcano ready to erupt, but I kept the plug in.
‘Let me promise you something,’ I said, holding his gaze. ‘If you ever mention my daughter again to me, or if I ever hear of you mentioning her, then I will take that as a threat to her. And… I … will… kill you. I’m a cop, Tony. I can find the means to do that and suffer no consequences. So let’s have that clear between us.’
He considered me anew, and he nodded. ‘Sorry,’ he whispered. ‘No threat implied. If I ever had cause to come after you, it would be you alone.’
‘I can live with that.’ I paused. ‘You wouldn’t. Now, repeat, you’re giving me your word that you had nothing to do with the deaths of these three men.’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, somebody’s hoping I’ll believe that you do.’
He relaxed a little, hid behind the mask once again. ‘That had dawned on me,’ he drawled.
‘Any idea who?’
He shook his head. ‘Not the faintest, Skinner. I’m hiding nothing from you, honest…’ he chuckled, ‘… and that’s not a word you’ll hear me use too often.’ And suppose I did, I’d always take it with a spoonful of salt.
‘Could it have something to do with Bella?’
‘No. I know all there is to know about her,’ he paused, ‘apart from her taking protection from her daughter, maybe. It couldn’t, believe me.’
‘How did you get together?’ I asked.
‘I saw her at Al Holmes’s funeral, believe it or not. She was two rows back in the crem, wearing a red dress. I liked her style, and her guts. I asked her what the hell she thought she was doing and she told me flat out that she was there to make sure he went up in fuckin’ smoke. What she didnae know,’ he continued, ‘was that Perry had asked me to kill her. He sent for me, in the Western. It was just the two of us, in his private room. He could barely talk then, but he managed to say to me, “Favour time, Tony. I want the Spreckley sister dead.” I told him that he’d have to settle for the brothers, for a man with a bullet in his head and fuck all else wasnae giving me orders.’
‘Are you saying this could go back to Holmes, and that it could be his revenge on Bella?’
‘No,’ he replied. ‘It’s got nothing to do with her. I’ve seen Perry since; I told him that Bella and Marlon were under my protection, and that there were no more debts owed. He accepted that. He’s out of that life now, Skinner, for sure. He’s got lots of money, but no power. Plus, of course, he’s a fucking cripple.’
‘So who? Zaliukas and his Lithuanian chums?’ I suggested.
‘No chance. Young Tommy’s trying very hard to be legit, and I’m encouraging that. He still has his faults, a bit flash, a bit reckless, but I hear he’s got himself a new girlfriend and that she’s bringing him under control.’
‘How exactly are you encouraging him?’
He smiled. ‘Let me put it this way. Your drugs team’ll be wasting its time staking out his pubs.’
Meaning he had put them off limits to his pushers. ‘Are you an investor too?’ I asked.
‘No, the boy doesn’t need me anywhere near him.’ The smile became a soft chuckle. ‘I invest in myself, that’s all. Perry’s the man wi’ the portfolio. Although what he’s going to do with it when he dies.. . and as we both know that could happen any minute… God alone knows. He’s never been married.’