Souvenirs of Murder (11 page)

‘Sorry to be nosy but why were they being evicted? Hadn't they paid the rent?'

So he was a bastard: he must have been in receipt of all Patrick's personal details – which may or may not be in the folder on his lap – and in SOCA's case these I knew were not so much in-depth as bottomless.

Patrick gave him a patient smile that said I think you're in this job because you're a bastard. ‘No, my father's the rector here and the house belonged to the church. It was going to be sold.'

‘Oh, I see. Right then, I'll read out the statement that you made to Commander Greenway before you were sent home. If you've remembered anything else please tell me.'

This he did, and Patrick hadn't.

‘So what drew you to working for the Serious Organized Crime Agency?' Greenshaft then asked.

‘Mostly Colonel Richard Daws.'

‘He was a big wheel in MI5, wasn't he?'

‘Yes, I worked for him when he headed up D12.'

‘So what went wrong there?'

‘Nothing, the department was disbanded, or rather absorbed into another, he retired and I resigned because my family had been under threat from a criminal gang and the protection wasn't up to scratch. When SOCA was set up they raked him out of his castle as they needed people with his kind of experience. He thought he could use me.'

‘Castle?' queried Helen Hurst; short of stature and frankly, nondescript, speaking for the first time, her initial greeting having been an unsmiling and tiny nod.

‘He's the fourteenth Earl of Hartwood in his spare time,' Patrick explained.

‘You've
dabbled
in various careers, haven't you,' Greenshaft commented distastefully, thumbing through the file. ‘You entered the police on leaving school and then resigned at the end of your probationary period to join the Devon and Dorset Regiment. Why?'

Yes, he was the one who would try to make Patrick lose his temper, a serious failing that has had repercussions in the past and something they might now try to accuse him of having done, whether or not under the influence of drugs, and killed several people.

‘It wasn't exciting enough.' Realizing that something more was expected Patrick then added, ‘The West Country was extremely law-abiding in those days.'

‘Lots of sailors getting drunk and going on the rampage in Plymouth surely.'

Patrick shook his head. ‘No, it's drunken civilians who go on the rampage. Besides which, the Navy do their own policing – that's what Masters at Arms are for. Besides, I wasn't after punch-ups.'

After giving Patrick a cold stare Greenshaft continued, ‘And then you entered Special Services, a unit that I understand is similar to the SAS. Tell me, how many people have you killed in your time?'

‘I don't keep a tally,' he was told.

‘Can you remember the last person you killed?'

‘Yes, I was indirectly responsible for the deaths of a couple of hoodlums when I caused an explosion in a gas-filled basement last year. Ingrid and I were running for our lives at the time and she'd just rescued me from being tortured with a red-hot fork. It would all have gone bang anyway, I just hastened things along a little.'

‘I was in on that one,' Greenway said. ‘Ghastly burns on his stomach.'

‘Do you tend to lose the plot when you're under pressure?' Hurst said, ignoring the SOCA man. ‘You know, get a bit desperate?'

‘No,' Patrick said, giving his boss a shut-up-for-God's-sake look.

‘Never?'

‘I've been known to lose my temper when in immediate danger of losing my life.'

‘You could well have lost your temper that morning in Muswell Hill.'

‘No, I was intent on rescuing the child.'

‘Have you remembered exactly what happened?'

‘No. Only of being at the house, carrying Leanne and having her shot in my arms.'

‘Her blood was found on the clothes you were wearing.'

‘That has an obvious explanation.'

‘Where were you when that shot was fired?'

‘I'm not sure – it's all still very hazy. Possibly upstairs. She didn't want to leave.'

‘Why?'

‘Her mother was still there.'

‘You know that? Were they still alive then?'

‘I don't know but must have assumed everything was still relatively normal. Although I know I entered the house quietly.'

‘But surely you'd have known if there was a pile of murdered bodies in the living room.'

‘Not necessarily. I was in a bit of a state. I might have entered the house through the back. Yes, I've just remembered. I got in through a rear first floor window.'

‘How, for pity's sake? It says here that you have an artificial right leg.'

‘The artificial bit is below my right knee and I'm still quite good at climbing trees as most of my strength is in my hands and arms. That's right, I climbed the tree outside a bedroom window. It's actually an old vine of some kind or a wisteria.'

‘How did you know this child was in particular danger?'

‘That's still a grey area. But it might have been because of something the men said when they broke into my digs and had me under truth drug.'

‘Who were they?'

‘They had masks of some kind or stockings over their faces. But they must have worked for Pangborne – they said they were going to fetch her. She preferred to question and then finish off interlopers herself.'

‘But you'd penetrated this gang. Surely you must have a rough idea who they were, even with their faces covered.'

‘Have you ever been injected with Sodium Pentothal?'

‘No, I haven't.'

‘If you had you wouldn't ask questions like that.'

For some reason Greenshaft rounded on Greenway. ‘Have you asked yourself about this?' he demanded to know. ‘Questioned his account? Also mentioned in these records is that this man is an accomplished actor, a seasoned liar and has been known to kill with his bare hands. You felt quite happy with that, employing such a person, did you?'

I suddenly realized that Greenway might be being officially called to account here too.

‘I was there when Patrick killed someone,' I said. ‘A top policeman in the Anti Terrorist Branch had been permitted to set up a school for terrorists in the Brecon Beacons with a view to finding out their plans and eventually arresting them. It's all in the file. We went in to find out what was going on. We were captured to improve this madman's standing and cover – he employed real criminals for the same reason. He ordered Adjit, an Egyptian, one of the instructors, to slice Patrick around a little with a knife. This man had overseen the severe maltreatment, the previous day, of Patrick's wife, me. Patrick, who was unarmed at the start of this confrontation, killed him. As I said, it's all in the file.'

Greenshaft cleared his throat but before he could speak Greenway said, ‘I have every confidence in Lieutenant Colonel Gilllard's credentials and I do have to point out that you simply cannot equate national security operational criteria with those that are the norm in the police.'

‘But nevertheless he is now working for the police,' Greenshaft remarked. ‘And has to abide by the rules. I wasn't one of those in favour of bringing ex-service personnel in to either SOCA or for more general duties when it was trialled a short while ago. I see he was involved with that too.'

With a crooked smile Patrick said, ‘There's no history of MI5 killing a roomful of criminals with a view to tidying up an investigation. You need to look to the likes of Jethro Hulton for that.'

‘The police forces of several countries have warrants out for his arrest,' Greenshaft muttered absent-mindedly, still reading the file. ‘Do you think you'll ever remember what happened?'

‘I can't be expected to answer that. Possibly not. You might have to ask the medical profession about it.'

‘It's all rather convenient, isn't it? Yet you were found with the gun that killed these people in your hand.'

‘We already know that the weapon had been wiped and only one clear set of fingerprints were on it, mine. I would hardly have done that myself.'

‘Did you have the gun on you when you returned to your bedsit?'

‘I must have done. I wear it in a shoulder holster during the day and it went under the pillow when I slept.'

‘Could someone have taken it off you?'

‘No.'

‘Not even when you were doped?'

Patrick stared into space for a moment and then said, ‘Yes, they did. But I seem to remember him throwing it back at me.'

‘What about when you returned to the Pangborne place the next morning?'

‘I had it with me. I could feel the lump on my side. But I didn't fire it. I know when I've fired a gun, my wrist aches for a while.'

‘Even though you say you were groggy and confused.'

‘He was,' Greenway said grimly. ‘Medical fact.'

‘My point is that would he have noticed a mere ache?'

‘Yes,' Patrick said. ‘I would.'

‘A consummate actor?' Hurst said in an offhand manner with a thin smile. ‘A practised liar? We don't seem to have a timescale for any of this, do we? You say that something must have been slipped in your drink the night before the murders – what were you drinking, by the way?'

‘Orange juice,' Patrick replied doggedly. ‘I needed to keep a clear head.'

‘Didn't anyone find that suspicious?'

‘There were no comments. I'd said I wasn't feeling well.'

‘So it's perfectly possible that someone doctored your drink as some kind of joke.'

‘Perfectly possible.'

‘Do you think anyone suspected you of being an undercover policeman at that stage?'

‘No.'

‘Any idea who might have done the doctoring?'

‘Not a clue. I'd fixed it myself.'

‘Do you know the names of those who were there?'

‘Most of them, but there was no guarantee that the names they were using were genuine. And you must understand that people were wandering in and out. There was always open house on Friday evenings. Some of those present were neighbours who one must assume were perfectly innocent.'

‘And the next thing you remember was being woken up in your room in your digs some distance away by men kicking the door in?'

‘That's right.'

‘How had you got there?'

‘No idea.'

‘I still think your story's too bloody neat by half.'

‘Do you have a case against me that'll hold water?' Patrick asked him grittily.

The two men exchanged glances.

‘Yes, we do,' said Greenshaft. ‘The cleaner whom you locked in a cupboard and who subsequently broke her wrist trying to get out has made a statement to the effect that she freed herself in time to see you kill six people with shots fired in rapid succession. You then turned to come towards the stairs where she was observing this over the bannisters. She ran and hid in a bedroom and subsequently heard another shot fired and the child screaming. Then there was silence during which she dared not move in case you found her.'

I thought the silence would never end so decided to break it myself.

‘And while this woman was trying to batter her way out of a cupboard upstairs everyone else was just carrying on normally as though it was an everyday occurrence,' I said scornfully.

Greenshaft said, ‘She said there was a hell of a row going on downstairs. Shouting and banging about. They would not have been able to hear her.'

‘I shut her in the cupboard for her own safety,' Patrick said. ‘She was scared stiff.'

‘I'm not surprised if you were waving a gun in her face,' Hurst remarked.

Patrick had his eyes closed, trying to remember. ‘No,' he said quietly. ‘I didn't have anything in my hands. She was in the room, cleaning, where I'd just climbed through the window and was understandably alarmed by my appearance. I put my finger to my lips to warn her to silence – I don't think her English was too good – whereupon she pointed in the direction of the stairs, whispering “Hulton! Hulton!” That was when I hid her in the cupboard, with her full permission, I must add. I didn't hear her trying to break out. That must have been afterwards when she thought she'd been forgotten.'

‘After what?' Greenshaft snapped.

‘After whatever happened next. That's all I can recollect at this stage.'

‘Why should she lie?'

‘Because she's been threatened,' I said. ‘I hope you've given her police protection
now
.'

No one spoke for a few moments and then Greenshaft said, ‘I've been digging around for people who knew you in your MI5 days. In fact I spoke to Commander John Brinkley who was, you might remember, your department's liaison officer with the Met. He thinks you're mentally unbalanced and so obsessed with getting the job done your way you're perfectly capable of going right over the top and committing murder, especially if under the influence of drink or drugs, if a job got too much for you. Did it, Gillard? Did this assignment have you floundering? Was it right over your head?'

‘So why did he offer me a job?' Patrick said softly. ‘I refused and he took it very badly.'

‘Hardly surprising as it appears you swore and shouted obscenities at him.'

‘No, I don't have to shout.'

‘You don't deny it then.'

Patrick took a deep breath. ‘My anger was not directed at him but at an Assistant Chief Constable by the name of Judd and a Superintendent Norman. They had messed around with a case I was working on to see how I would react and seriously jeopardized the rightful outcome. Brinkley was in the room but my remarks were not addressed to him. Since promotion to Commander he's become overweight, groomed like a dog ready for Crufts and horribly full of himself. I declined the job offer a little later but at the time to which you're referring told him he smelt like an Albanian knocking shop. It didn't appear to put him off making the job offer.'