‘ Both myself and DC Robson here heard you. Do you deny you said those words?’
No reply. No response.
‘ During the journey back to the police station, I reminded you that you were still under caution and that it was in your interests to be quiet until we reached the police station where an interview would be conducted formally. However, you continued to talk throughout the journey, though we did not invite you to do so. You said, and I quote — because DC Robson made notes of the unsolicited remarks — “I had to kill the bastard. He would have done me in otherwise. It were him or me and I made fucking sure it were him. I blasted him in those changing rooms and he didn’t have a chance in hell. Bang fucking bang! Dead Munrow”. Any comment John?’
As if.
Henry persisted with this for thirty further minutes, having to change the tapes partway through. Not surprisingly he got nothing out of Rider, who at the end of the interview declared he wanted a solicitor for the next one and refused to sign the tape seal when he was invited to do so.
They led him back to the custody office and handed him back to Sergeant Taylor. Henry said, ‘Interviewed in accordance with PACE and the Codes of Practice. No admissions made.’
Rider was taken back to his cell.
Siobhan linked her arm with Henry’s and drew him to one side. ‘Well done, Henry. I’ll tell the boss you’re trying.’
‘ I feel like dirt.’ He pulled his arm away.
She smiled. ‘You’d better start thinking about finding some evidence at his place now. Like a ski mask, or something, maybe splattered with blood.’ She left the custody office.
Henry walked back to the charge desk where Taylor was scribbling in a custody record.
‘ Eric?’
Taylor looked up defiantly. He placed his pen down.
‘ How much did they give you?’
‘ You should know, Henry.’
‘ Don’t talk shit. You know I never sent that money. I just don’t operate like that. I’d rather get convicted of assault than pervert justice.’ Which he knew was rich coming from someone who was in the process of doing just that to another person.
‘ Five grand in a briefcase.’
‘ And where would I get that sort of money from? I haven’t got five hundred in the bank.’
‘ How do I know?’
‘ Have you still got it?’
Taylor nodded.
‘ I suggest you keep it very, very safe, Eric, while I think of how we can both get out of this mess and still be in employment. Understand?’
Henry was astounded by the level of threat in his voice. It frightened him a little as he said, ‘Because if it disappears, I’ll throw you off the Tower, Eric, and I’ll enjoy watching you fall and splat onto the shops below. And I mean it.’
Their faces had got closer as if they were hypnotising each other. The gaoler came back from the cell corridor and broke the spell. ‘Rider says he wants to see you, Sarge,’ he said to Henry.
‘ Right,’ Henry nodded, eyes on Taylor. ‘Put it down in his custody record that I visited him and spoke to him through the cell hatch on an unrelated matter.’
Rider’s face was pressed into the hole in the door.
‘ Henry fuckin’ Christie.’
‘ My middle name’s James, actually.’
‘ I wouldn’t mind, Henry, but I don’t even speak like that! I mean: “It were me or him, I made sure it were him”! I might be a toe-rag to you, but my English grammar is just as good as yours.’
‘ So? What’re you getting at?’
‘ You’ll have to do better than that if you want to stitch me up.’
‘ I haven’t finished yet,’ Henry said coldly.
‘ I thought not, but I’ll tell you something.’ Rider changed the position of his face. ‘I’m surprised at you. I don’t like you and I’ve only known you a week, but I’d thought to myself, “Here’s an honest cop. A bastard, but honest”. And I respected that — but you’ve let me down. Big style. What does it feel like to be someone’s puppet, doing someone else’s bidding? How does it feel to be out of control?’
They met at midnight in the conservatory. Kate had gone to bed, leaving Henry, Karen and Donaldson.
‘ Two out of four ain’t bad for a first strike,’ Donaldson said quietly. He took a sip from a cool can of Colt 45. He was referring to the fact that the other two witnesses had been out. ‘We’ll get ‘em tomorrow.’
Henry was tired. His chest was sore and he had made his ear bleed again by fiddling with the dressing. He sat back in the bamboo chair and took a sip of the malt whisky he only brought out on special occasions. It flowed silkily down his throat and put up a temporary barrier against the pam.
‘ We were followed,’ Donaldson told him. He recited the registered number of the car and the make.
‘ Tch,’ Henry uttered. ‘Sounds like an NWOCS car.’
‘ It means they’re onto us, Henry,’ Karen said quietly. There was a note of warning in her voice. ‘They might have figured out what we’ve been doing.’
‘ And it means you’d better watch your step, Henry, because if they’ve put it together, they may act on it… which could mean you might be in real danger.’
‘ Don’t make it sound so dramatic, Karl,’ Henry said in an attempt to shrug it off. However, Donaldson’s words were not to be ignored. Two cops had been wasted already. A third wouldn’t make much difference.
‘ You might be targets, too,’ Henry said bleakly.
‘ So in that case we’d all better be careful and we better make sure we get that evidence together tomorrow. Quick.’
Chapter Twenty-Three
Conroy, Morton and McNamara assembled the morning after — Sunday — at their usual place. The time — 8 a.m. — was pretty un usual.
It was a business breakfast. They were served with eggs, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, toast, orange juice and fresh coffee.
Two of Conroy’s men sat outside the room, having been provided with coffee and bacon sandwiches.
The three men were dressed casually. Conroy and McNamara intended to play nine holes of golf after the meeting, using Conroy’s men as caddies.
‘ How do things stand?’ Conroy enquired.
‘ Christie’s been well and truly done over and he knows there’s no way out for him but to give in,’ Morton said. ‘Having said that, I don’t think we’ll keep him down without a fight. Something’s going on, but I’m not sure what. I’ll follow it up later.’
‘ Expand,’ McNamara said.
Morton shook his head. ‘Just a funny feeling. If there is anything, I’ll let you know.’
‘ If there is anything,’ said Conroy, opening his mouth and dropping a rasher of bacon into it, chomping as he spoke, ‘Henry Christie should be iced. We’ve spent enough time farting around with him and we shouldn’t spend any more. At least if he’s dead he won’t be able to tell tales.’
‘ He might say more dead than alive,’ Morton retorted. ‘If there’s a way of dealing with things which means people don’t get killed, we should do it that way, even if it means a bit of dancing on our feet. Killing’s easy, as we’ve shown already. The repercussions are difficult. That’s why we’re working so damned hard in Blackpool, covering our backs.’
‘ Fair enough — for the time being.’ Conroy took a swig of coffee. ‘But if he gets difficult, don’t hesitate: do him.’
‘ Have you found that prostitute yet?’ McNamara said.
‘ Still looking,’ said Conroy. ‘She’s gone to ground but we’ll find her. I got someone on it. Bit of a loon, like, but reliable. She’s a different problem to Christie. No one’ll miss her and the cops won’t bust a gut to find her killers.’
They ate in silence for a while.
Conroy cleared his plate and covered some toast thickly with butter and Tiptree Lime Marmalade. McNamara pushed his food around, eating little. He wasn’t hungry. Morton ate most of his, but it was coffee he craved. He had drunk three large cups of it so far.
‘ And the other matter?’ asked Morton.
‘ Hamilton meets the buyer’s agent today in Lisbon. He’ll be with us to view the goods tomorrow. He’ll buy, I’m sure of it… then we can arrange payment details and transportation.’ That was McNamara.