‘No names, no shit.’ The voice was half muffled by the hood. Rebus realised there was a scarf under there too, wrapped around the face up to its nose. A BMX-style bike had been parked against the back wall of the shop, next to the solid metal delivery door. A security camera above had been draped with a polythene bag, rendering it useless.
‘I couldn’t care less about you,’ Rebus replied, slipping a piece of gum into his mouth. He scooped a few dog biscuits from his pocket and dropped them at his feet to keep Brillo busy. ‘I just want to know about Ellis and Kristen.’
‘What’s to know?’
‘They bought from you.’
‘Not much, not often.’ The fingers were still busy. Rebus wanted to snatch the phone away and crush it underfoot, but he guessed that might conclude the meeting prematurely.
‘What did you think of them?’
‘I try not to think.’
‘Maybe something you sold him sent him over the edge.’
The eyes met Rebus’s momentarily. ‘Don’t fucking think so.’
‘I hear weed’s stronger these days than it used to be.’
The head was being shaken slowly but determinedly. Rebus shuffled his feet.
‘So what were they like? You’re about the same age, went to the same school?’
‘Ellis was all right. Never talked much. Kristen was the one that wouldn’t shut up. Probably talk to the mirror if no one else was there.’
‘Was she seeing anyone apart from Ellis?’
‘I told her she should have been seeing me. Didn’t really mean it, though I wouldn’t have said no to a quickie.’
‘I hear she was the queen bee at school.’
‘You heard right.’
‘Meaning popular?’
‘Well, she had her gang around her.’
‘Not universally popular then?’
‘Tongue like a blade. Didn’t shy away from a scrap, either.’
‘Fists and tongue — she ever use anything else?’
‘A real blade, you mean?’ Another shake of the head.
‘How about Ellis?’
‘Seemed to get all his aggression out playing those games of his. Maybe that’s what you should be looking at — the effect of violent gaming on the teenage male brain. Me, I sell the antidote.’
‘You reckon?’
‘A smoke gets you the opposite of raging. Chilled and stilled and on top of the world.’
‘Maybe I better buy some.’
‘Maybe you should.’ Rebus thought he could detect a smile beneath the black nylon scarf. ‘One thing everybody will tell you about Kristen, she gave as good as she got.’
‘Yes, I’ve been hearing that. The girls in her gang were a bit in awe of her.’
‘Queen bee — you said it yourself. She could have had her pick of the drones, and for some reason she chose Ellis. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was just a hurdle she had to jump to get what she really wanted.’
‘Ellis’s uncle Dallas?’
There was a snort from beneath the hood. ‘That fucking tattooed lady? No, I mean the one who was in front of him in the queue for looks.’
‘Ellis’s dad?’
‘Recently separated, therefore fair game for a fair maiden who liked to play dirty. Such a shame she’s not still around to play dirty with me.’ He had finished with cigarette and phone both. Now he raised his head and studied Rebus properly. His eyes were beady and brown, forehead dotted with acne. Head probably shaved. Rebus had met dozens like him down the years.
‘Gotta go,’ the youth explained, reaching out a hand towards his bike.
‘Bit of advice, son — get out while you can. Days won’t always be as good as this. You’ll end up doing time, maybe not enough to compensate for the lives you’ve ruined, but a fair bit nonetheless. Right now you don’t owe Cafferty anything, besides which he’ll hand you to us on a platter if he ever needs something to trade.’
‘He told me you weren’t police.’
‘I keep forgetting I’m not,’ Rebus said, tugging at the lead and turning to leave.
38
Steele was the first interview, Edwards outside in the corridor on a chair. When they swapped places, Steele gave his colleague a wink. Edwards then went on to provide almost identical answers.
‘Almost as if you’d rehearsed,’ Clarke commented.
His fixed smile was unnerving. ‘It was a long time ago, DI Clarke. You can’t blame us for lapses of memory.’
‘Precisely what your pal said.’
‘And don’t think we don’t know there’s an element of payback here where you’re concerned, just because we did our job as ACU officers.’
Turning towards Crowther, Clarke cupped a hand to her ear. ‘It’s like there’s an echo in here or something.’ Then, to Edwards: ‘How long did it take Steele to teach you to parrot all these lines? You’ve been in thrall to him for way too long, Edwards. He’s going to fall eventually — and believe me, it will be a proper spectacle. Of course, he’ll take you all the way down with him. In fact, if I know Steele, he’ll see to it that you’re the one who takes that plunge, with his hand on your back if need be.’ She paused in the hope that her words might at least start to sink in. ‘But meantime, let me ask you again. Did Adrian Brand get you to talk to Stuart Bloom at any point? Either to warn him off or to ask for the contents of his safe to be returned?’
‘No.’
‘And as far as you know, Brian Steele wasn’t taxed with that job without your assistance?’
‘No.’
‘Any theories about the handcuffs?’
‘No.’
Clarke made an exasperated sound and turned to Crowther again. ‘Anything you want to add, DC Crowther?’
‘I’m just wondering if Detective Constable Edwards was ever dropped on his head as a baby.’
Edwards’s eyes drilled into Crowther’s, but the smile stayed in place. ‘You should mind your manners,’ he warned her. Then, pointing a chubby finger in Clarke’s direction: ‘You also don’t want to be hanging around with her. She’s got her hand so deep in a certain reporter’s pocket, she could probably fondle her arse.’
‘Tell Steele to get a better script-writer for next time,’ Clarke said. ‘One who can do jokes at the very least.’
Afterwards, Steele put his arm around Edwards’s shoulders as they walked back down the stairs, heads close together as they conferred. Clarke and Crowther stood at the top, watching. Neither man cast a backward glance.
‘Wasn’t that bad a line, actually,’ Clarke admitted. ‘If only more of our clothing had pockets...’
In the MIT room, Graham Sutherland was just finishing a phone call.
‘Bloody soil results won’t be in until tomorrow,’ he said, not managing to hide his frustration. ‘Lab has been all over the VW without finding anything new. Some of the vegetation that’s grown through the chassis doesn’t match what’s growing in the gully, but it’s just the usual bindweed and stuff that you’d find more or less anywhere in the lowlands. Means the car was sitting somewhere for a considerable period of time, long enough for the plant life to penetrate it from ground level.’ He had walked to the whiteboard and was looking at the photos of the boot’s interior. ‘Mould, spores, moss and plenty of dead bugs.’ He glanced towards Clarke. ‘An episode of CSI would have wrapped this up by now.’
‘Slightly bigger budget than us, I dare say.’
Sutherland just about managed a smile. ‘Anything from the ACU interviews?’