‘I’ll buy you lunch,’ Tom said as they made their way downstairs.‘He might show a little interest.What does he want, signed confessions?’
Kathy turned down lunch. She didn’t want to listen to Tom building up his hopes. She wanted to think.
Later that afternoon she drove into South London and parked in the lane outside PART WORN TYRES.Which part? she wondered. The light was on in the window of the girl’s flat above the laundrette. She silently climbed the stairs to the access deck and listened at the door. She thought she heard the sound of soft music, but not of babies. She knocked.
The door opened on George’s face then began to swing shut
again. Kathy stuck her foot in the gap. ‘Go away,’he complained.‘Go away.’ ‘On your own, George? Don’t keep me standing out here,
there’s a good lad. Someone might see me.’ George gave a moan and let her in.‘Carole’ll be back soon.’ ‘Won’t take long. Just need a bit of help. Nothing heavy. How did you enjoy the concert on Saturday?’ ‘All right.’ ‘I was watching you.You seemed really taken with it.’ He shrugged, scuffed his shoe on the worn carpet tile.
‘It was cool.’ ‘They were raising money for people like you, George, for scholarships-music scholarships, for example.You could apply.’ ‘Nah. I don’t do classical stuff.’ ‘Not just classical,any kind of music.I know Michael Grant,the
bloke who organised it.Would you like me to ask him for you?’ George met her eye with a kind of pained anxiety, as if he knew this was a trap but couldn’t help responding.‘Maybe.’ ‘All right, I will. I passed the JOS last night and saw your
posters.Were you playing?’ He nodded. ‘Teddy Vexx and Jay Crocker were there too, yes? I saw
their car.’ Another nod, more wary. ‘Do you know a girl called Magdalen, friend of theirs?’ ‘Yeah …’ Something about the way he said it made Kathy ask, ‘Fancy
her, do you?’ ‘Nah.’ He looked down at the floor again, embarrassed. ‘She is very pretty though,isn’t she? You’d have to notice her.
Was she with Teddy and Jay at the club last night?’
‘Nah, some other bloke.’
‘Ah. Has she split up with Teddy then?’
‘Not as far as I know.’
‘Didn’t Teddy mind her being with this other bloke?’
George suddenly recognised danger. ‘Did something happen to him? Look, I didn’t see nothing. There wasn’t no trouble at the club. Magdalen and the bloke left about midnight, but Teddy and Jay stayed on till three or four-I swear, I saw them.’
‘That’s okay, George. There was no trouble. Look, between ourselves, Magdalen’s family are worried about her drugs and the company she keeps, that’s all.’
‘Ah.’He looked relieved.‘The other bloke looked okay.White guy. I’ve seen him around. I was surprised, though, that Teddy didn’t seem bothered.’
‘Did he know Teddy?’
‘Don’t think so. I didn’t see them speak.’
‘All right, that’s all I wanted, George, thanks. And I will look into that other thing for you . . .’
At that moment they heard the clatter of feet on the deck outside and the impatient rattle of a key in the door.
‘Oh fuck.’ George panicked. ‘She’ll see you here. She’ll tell Teddy …’
‘What’s her name?’ Kathy said quickly.
‘What?’
‘What’s Carole’s other name?’
‘Marshall, why . . .?’
The door swung open and Carole marched in. ‘Those bleedin’-’ She glared in surprise at Kathy.
‘Ms Marshall?’ Kathy said.‘Hello, I’m from the clinic. There’s been a mix-up over medications. They asked me to come down in person to check you’ve got the right ones. Sorry about this. Can I just see your bottles?’
‘Eh? Clinic?’
‘GUM, dear,’ Kathy murmured tactfully and shot a coy smile at George, who looked blank.‘Are they in the bathroom?’
‘Oh . . . no, they’re here.’ Carole, flustered by Kathy’s imitation of a caring health professional, rummaged in her bag and produced a plastic bottle of pills.
Kathy examined the label. ‘Oh, that’s fine. Not you then. Marvellous. I’ll be on my way. Bye.’
She walked out.
Brock was called to his second meeting with Commander Sharpe the following morning. The first briefing, to acquaint his boss with Tom’s report,had been met with a frosty bewilderment,as if Sharpe really didn’t want to know what had possessed Brock to ignore his earlier advice, and was embarrassed at having to do something about it. By the second meeting, he had regained his usual confidence and precision, and was unambiguous in his instructions.
‘We drop it.’
‘You don’t think it’s evidence of a serious crime?’
‘Absolutely not. I’m advised that it’s flawed, unattributable and potentially scandalous.You will not pursue this, Brock, and you will make sure that your errant team member doesn’t either.’
‘Hm. May I ask if you’re aware of any other ongoing investigation into the affairs of the Roach family, sir?’
‘There is no such thing.’
‘Are you sure? Not even at OCLG level? Five, perhaps?’
Brock noticed a small flush of colour tinge Sharpe’s cheeks as he leaned forward to say, in a lower but even more insistent voice, ‘I am sure, Brock, because your half-baked fantasy went all the way up to JIC, where it was treated with the contempt it deserved. Get Roach out of your head and get on with something else.Do I make myself absolutely plain?’
Tom and Kathy reported to Brock’s room in the early afternoon. The old files had been stacked neatly in a corner, they noticed, as if ready to be returned, and the pin board facing Brock’s desk was bare. Brock himself was eating a sandwich. He popped the last bit into his mouth, smacked his hands together, wiped them on a paper napkin and threw it into the bin.
‘Come in. Sit down.’
There was no sign of their report on his desk.
‘Your little operation has gone through channels,’ he said. ‘There will be no further action.’
There was a moment’s silence,then Tom said,‘What? Why not?’
‘The evidence had no provenance, Tom, no search warrant, no witnesses, no credible means of access. CPS won’t touch it. And the story it told was suggestive at best, open to interpretation.You know that’s true.’
‘Yes, but-’
‘It was taken seriously, it went well up the chain, but the decision was no.We’re bound by that. I expect you to be bound by that. No further action. Sorry. I appreciate your initiative, but that’s it.’
‘I can’t accept that.’ Tom rose to his feet, holding himself rigid, face pale with anger.‘I put myself on the line to gather legitimate, damning evidence-evidence that couldn’t be obtained in any other way. It provides conclusive information about a crime of massive proportions. So what is this? A cover-up or a cop-out? Are you all too bloody weak-’
‘That’s enough, Tom,’ Brock growled.
Kathy couldn’t quite make Brock out. His words were his, but he sounded as if he had something stuck in his gullet. It was hurting him to do this to Tom, and she wished Tom would stop, but he couldn’t.
‘Do you realise what two tonnes of crack on the streets means?’ he yelled, his voice incredulous. ‘Do you have any idea what devastation-’
‘There’s another way of looking at this, Tom.’ Brock’s voice was suddenly hard.‘If you’d come to me before you went in last night, if we’d set it up another way, things could have turned out differently. As it is, the whole case is closed down. Whatever leeway we had has been taken from us.’ He gestured as if to take in the whole office, the empty pin board, the stacked files.
Tom glared at the faded files in disbelief and shook his head, unable to find the words. Then he turned and stormed out of the room.
Brock put his head in his hands for a moment, then looked across at Kathy.‘Couldn’t you have stopped him,Kathy? Couldn’t you have let me know?’
TWENTY-FOUR
Tom wasn’t at his desk when Kathy returned downstairs. Bren