Gerry looked puzzled. ‘Nobody, guv. Not as far as we know. Not in the park.’
‘And is there any reason to think that there might have been someone else there we missed?’
‘Not really,’ Annie said. ‘I mean, why would there be? How could anyone know Samir would run there?’
‘Exactly,’ said Banks.
‘I still don’t see what you’re getting at, guv,’ said Gerry. ‘Are you suggesting that someone else from Blaydon’s or Gashi’s organisation just happened to be loitering in the park at the right time and took the opportunity to kill Samir for some reason?’
‘Not at all,’ said Banks. ‘I’m saying the opposite, that it would be most unlikely. My point is that maybe what happened to Samir had nothing whatsoever to do with Blaydon, Gashi and whatever it was they were up to. Nothing to do with the Kerrigans and the Elmet Centre redevelopment. Nothing to do with any of it. That we’ve let ourselves be comprehensively sidetracked.’
‘By whom?’
‘Not by anyone but ourselves,’ Banks answered. ‘We think we’ve been working on a crime with clear motivation and opportunity — drugs, organised crime — but what if the whole thing was completely unplanned and unexpected? What if Samir was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? What if the crime had nothing to do with the other stuff, but everything to do with the park?’
‘And you’re assuming he was killed in the park?’ said Annie.
‘Yes. As I said, I don’t think there’s much doubt that the blood Stefan’s team has found is his, do you? We’ll have to wait for analysis, of course, but I’d bet next month’s salary on it.’
‘And?’
‘Well, who do you think might have been likely to be in the park when Samir ran there? I think it might not be a bad idea to go and have another word with Mr Neighbourhood Watch, don’t you?’
Granville Myers led Banks and Annie through the bright kitchen to the paved patio area in the garden at the back, where four white fold-up chairs were arranged around a circular table with a brightly striped umbrella, under the shade of an overhanging willow.
The weather was warm enough for Banks to remove his jacket and hang it over the back of the chair. He noticed an outdoor grill in the corner by the door, which reminded him that he had been planning on buying one for a couple of years now but hadn’t got around to it. He thought he could probably master the basics of grilling a burger or steak; it would be something quick and easy he could make after a long day at work, leaving only a minimum of washing up. Spring seemed to have morphed into summer so much more quickly than usual this year, and he realised his mind was still stuck in winter. Time to get a move on and catch up with the seasons.
‘I can’t imagine what it is you want to talk to me about,’ Myers said. ‘I told the other young lady everything I know. Which is nothing.’ In front of him on the table were a half-finished glass of orange juice and an open paperback copy of the latest Lee Child.
‘Just a few minor details, if that’s all right with you?’ Banks said.
‘I don’t suppose I have much choice.’
‘There’s always a choice, sir,’ Annie said. ‘And it’s always best to make the right one.’
Myers scowled at her. ‘Thank you for that gem of wisdom. What is it you want to know?’
Banks gave Annie a slightly annoyed glance, hoping to indicate that she was getting Myers’s back up too much too soon. True, he seemed a puffed-up, self-important pillock, and he did look a lot like Nigel Farage, but there were ways of treating such people in an interview. Still, Annie had been angry and sarcastic a lot lately. Banks wondered if it had anything to do with Ray and Zelda. Best leave that for the moment, he decided.
‘It’s about Sunday night,’ he said. ‘The night of the murder.’
‘But I went over that with—’
‘Yes, I know you told DC Masterson all you knew, but sometimes we find it’s useful to go over old ground with fresh eyes, so to speak. As you may know, we’ve been working in the park at the bottom of Elmet Hill for the past couple of days.’
‘A neighbour told me,’ Myers said. ‘I can’t imagine why.’
‘I was wondering if you knew that the place was a hangout for marijuana smokers, casual sexual liaisons and other such things?’
‘What? The park? That’s ridiculous. It’s not anyone from around here, I can assure you.’
‘Who else, then?’
‘Hollyfield.’
‘Come on, there’s hardly anyone left there, Mr Myers. No, I think your days of blaming every local evil on the Hollyfield Estate are just about over, especially now that Howard Stokes is dead.’
‘What are you suggesting? That’s the old man who was found dead over there of a heroin overdose, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. Howard Stokes. He lived on Hollyfield Lane for many years. Lived a perfectly normal life.’
‘You can’t tell me that’s a normal life. A drug addict. Not unless you’re a bloody Guardian reader and you think everything most decent folk view as abnormal is normal, and vice versa.’
‘As it happens, I do read the Guardian, Mr Myers, but that’s by the by. A Mail man, yourself, are you?’
‘Telegraph,’ Myers grunted.
‘Admirable. The thinking man’s Mail. Anyway, what concerns me now is the extent of the after-hours activity in the park and what you, as head of the local Neighbourhood Watch, might be able to tell me about it.’
‘I told you, I know nothing about it. You surely don’t think I’ve been down there smoking marijuana, do you?’
Banks laughed. ‘I very much doubt it. But it strikes me that you might have known what the park was being used for, and you and your colleagues might have made the occasional sweep of the area, just to discourage it. Your son, Chris, for example, was reprimanded for drugs just last year.’
‘Nothing came of that,’ said Myers. ‘Chris was completely exonerated. He had no drugs in his possession whatsoever.’
‘No, but he was in a place where drugs were being consumed.’
‘No charges were brought. You’ve no right to bring that up. Chris has no criminal record. All mention of what happened should be expunged from your records.’
Banks thanked his lucky stars for the old incident sheets and glanced at Annie. ‘Let’s move on, then,’ he said. ‘You are in charge of the Neighbourhood Watch, so it can hardly be unusual to assume that you have some idea of what’s going on in the neighbourhood, can it? I’m simply asking for the benefit of your expertise. Doesn’t that seem reasonable?’
‘On the surface of it, naturally it does,’ Myers blustered. ‘But in reality, I’m sure you know as well I do that our brief stops at Cardigan Drive. We don’t police Hollyfield.’
‘Nobody does,’ said Banks.
‘Well, you know what they say. Physician, heal thyself.’
Banks sighed. ‘If only it were that easy. We don’t have the resources. That’s why we rely on people like you to help us. People who have some sense of pride in their neighbourhoods, people who value the safety and security of their families and neighbours. We know we’re falling way short.’