Hard Evidence

'Wait here.'

Delaney sprinted across the open space to a wrought-iron staircase on the other side. He held the gun forward and ran up the stairs into a large empty room. Some sunlight slanted in through the filthy windows that lined one of the walls. The floor was rotten, rain-spoiled planking ripped half up, and in places whole gaps where the floor below could clearly be seen. To the left a door hung half on its hinges, leading to a darkened corridor beyond. Ahead was another closed door. Coming to a decision, Delaney ran across the room and charged the door open. He flew into the next room, skittering on the bare wooden floor. It was empty except for an open door that swung on to an outside staircase. Delaney could hear the sound of a car being driven away at speed, but by the time he reached the doorway it was gone.

He walked back down the stairs to where Kate was waiting by Bonner's inert body.

Kate watched him, shaken, as he put the gun in his jacket pocket. 'Have you got a licence for that?'

Delaney ignored the question. 'What did he mean about you selling me out?'

Kate shrugged. 'I spoke to Bob Wilkinson, Jack. But I can't believe he would set you up.'

Delaney looked down at Bonner. 'Nor can I. And Eddie Bonner would lie as easily as breathe.'

He watched impassively as Kate checked Bonner's pulse once more. 'He's not going to do either again.'

'There's no chance?'

Kate shook her head. 'Do you think he set you up? Was the shot meant for you?'

'Not the first one. No, I think he was telling the truth, he got seriously out of his depth. They followed him, planned to take both of us out.'

'Who's Kevin Norrell?'

'Pond scum out of west London, hired muscle mainly.'

'And he's behind all this?'

Delaney shook his head. 'He hasn't got the brains. He's just an animal for rent.'

Kate stood up and dusted her trousers. In the distance, the faint wail of a police siren could be heard.

'We can't stay here.'

'Come on.' Delaney took her hand and led her quickly towards the exit.

'Where are we going?'

'West.'

31.

Emerald Cabs was a seedy outfit based in Northwood Hills, a run-down, one-horse town west of London, out on the Metropolitan line. Stuck between Pinner and Northwood proper, it was a shabby, halfway kind of place with no real identity, something 'twixt and 'tween. It used to be a kind of breakwater, to the tide of London but the growing spread of housing development had pushed brick, steel and pollution further and further out, breaking though Northwood Hills to wash the flotsam and jetsam of modern London into Northwood and the green belt that lay beyond.

The office of Emerald Cabs was functional but scruffy. As much a front as a legitimate business. They did have a small fleet of cars, nothing luxurious, and a handful of disgruntled drivers who drove them. But Norrell didn't rely on the cab firm's turnover to keep him in pig product and beer, he earned his keep mainly through debt-collecting and hurting people. They say if you are good at something it's usually because you like doing it, and Kevin Norrell certainly liked hurting people.

He sat in front of a battered pine desk at the far end of the office, his grotesquely enlarged legs stretched out on a chair in front of him. He was dressed in baggy shorts and a cut-off T-shirt that revealed massive biceps and forearms. His face was red, flushed with the heat and marked with a permanent rash of angry acne. He had a large Wimpy hamburger in one hand and a thick milkshake in the other. Two similar-size burgers waited in a brown bag on the desk. He took a bite and smiled. Norrell was a man of simple tastes, and stuffing a half-pound cheeseburger into his face was pretty much at the top of his list of most pleasurable experiences. A bag of golf clubs stood in the corner, but it was a long time since he had played the game; walking long distances was not an option with his build. He took another bite of his burger, nearly finishing it, and sat back grunting with pleasure in his chair.

Delaney watched him through the filthy glass outside the taxi office and turned to Kate. 'Wait outside this time.'

Kate nodded, seeing no point in arguing.

Norrell looked up as Delaney walked into the office.

'Help you?'

Delaney could see his face altering as recognition slowly dawned on him. He put down his burger, wiping the cheesy mayonnaise from his face, and lifted his massive legs off the chair opposite him, sitting upright.

'What are you doing here?'

'What do you think I'm doing here, Kevin?'

'Fuck knows.'

'You want to think about it a little? I know you haven't got a lot to work with there.'

'No. I want you to get the fuck out of my office. You got no business here, Delaney.'

'That's Detective Inspector Delaney to you.'

'And it's suck my cock to you.'

Delaney smiled. 'You and I need to have a little talk.'

'I've got nothing to say to you.'

'Nothing to say about Jackie Malone?'

Norrell's eyes flicked nervously sideways.

'Or Billy Martin.'

Norrell stood up, his shoulders dropping, his face shifting into animal meanness.

'I don't know what you're talking about. Now get the fuck out of my office.'

'Or what?'

'I heard Jackie Malone was hurt real bad. Be a shame if that was to happen to you or your pretty lady friend outside.'

Delaney looked across at the window to see Kate watching them both.

'Nice bit of cunt like that. Be a shame to see it all sliced up.'

Delaney stepped forward, picking the telephone off the desk in one smooth movement and smashed it with full force into Norrell's face. Norrell cried out in pain as his front teeth broke and blood poured into his mouth. He shook his head, astonished, and reared above Delaney, who punched him as hard as he could in the stomach. It was like punching a bag of concrete that had been left out in the rain and then in the sun for a week. He might as well have hit him with a limp balloon. Norrell didn't even react, just slapped Delaney on the side of his head with his open palm. A red light exploded in Delaney's brain as he staggered back, his legs suddenly weakened. Norrell followed him in a lumbering waddle, his thighs so large he couldn't walk without them rubbing together. Delaney shook his head clear and jabbed out with a punch to Norrell's bloody chin, snapping the large man's head back but not rocking him off his axis. Norrell swung a meaty fist at Delaney's face and Delaney ducked under it, punching out again at Norrell's chin. Norrell just grunted and spat more blood on the floor.

'You're starting to piss me off now.'

'You were taking shots at us an hour ago, you dumb prick. What am I supposed to do, bake you a cake?'

Norrell looked at him. 'I haven't been anywhere near you. I've been here all day.'

Delaney kicked at Norrell's knee, knocking him off balance, and Norrell gasped with pain as Delaney punched him as hard as he could in the temple. It should have put him on the floor. It didn't. He stood up and staggered forward, enveloping Delaney in a bear hug. Delaney snapped a couple of punches at Norrell's head but he couldn't get any force behind them and Norrell started to squeeze. Delaney felt as if he had been caught in some kind of industrial vice. He struggled as he felt his ribs constricting and the air being forced from his body. His punches became feebler as he felt his consciousness draining. He grunted, drawing in some oxygen, and summoning his last ounces of energy, slammed his knee up into Norrell's groin. Norrell grunted a little, but didn't relinquish his boa constrictor grip. Just my luck, thought Delaney, as a blackness started to descend and he felt himself passing out. Norrell's balls must have shrivelled to nothing after years of steroid abuse; probably didn't feel a thing.

Suddenly Norrell let out a cry and stepped back, his arms opening, dropping Delaney gasping to his knees. Norrell looked even more puzzled than usual as Kate swung the golf club again, a three wood, gripping it low on the shaft like a baseball bat and smashing it with a sickening crack into his temple, dropping him to the floor like a bull elephant hit with a stun gun. The floor shuddered and Delaney, still gasping for breath, looked up at Kate.