The Blue Notes (8 page)

‘I’ve tried his phone. It’s just going straight to voicemail.’

‘How many times have you tried?’

Pepper grinned back. She was almost pleased that Copeland felt able to wind her up. ‘Haven’t you got work to be getting on with, DC Copeland?’

‘Yeah, I get you. Seriously, do you want me to come with you? Just say the word and I’m there, even if your coffee is terrible. Or would you prefer it if it all went tits up and this Hood bloke rode to your rescue again?’

‘I’ll be fine, Rex. There’ll be no rescues, or tits, or riding come to that. Now, why don’t you clear up a few of your outstanding cases, and get me in the good books with the Super. I’ve got my Inspector’s Board coming up soon, and every little helps, as they say.’

After work Pepper made Ben his tea, and listened to him play his guitar. Justin had shown him three chords, which Ben solemnly demonstrated, and Justin had apparently also told him that the only other thing he needed to be a star was a tooth. Pepper frowned, and thought about it for a moment. ‘No, love, I think he meant the truth. All you need is three chords and the truth.’

Then she negotiated with one of her regular sitters, threw in unlimited access to the biscuit tin to sweeten the deal, and drove round to the pub. It was only a fifteen minute walk, but she wasn’t going to be drinking, or staying long. Not at the rate young Tiffany ate biscuits, anyway. And she was absolutely sure that Hood would be there, because she’d made contact with him by phone at tea time, and they’d arranged to meet at eight.

She walked into the pub, and as far as she could tell no-one noticed her, not even Davey Hood, who was deep in conversation with a bloke who had his back to her. But when he saw her Hood said something to his mate, and came over to meet her.

‘Sorry, I hope I wasn’t interrupting.’

‘No, I was chatting to Craig. We work together, so I’ll have nine hours tomorrow to hear all his news. It’s always about the same thing, anyway. How his ex won’t let him see the kids. Anyway, how about a drink?’

Pepper asked for a lime and soda, and to her slight surprise Hood had the same.

‘So this is your local?’ she said, when they’d settled at a small table in the shadow of the fruit machine.

‘Aye, more or less. This was my dad’s pub, and his dad’s too, as far as I know.’

‘Was? Your dad doesn’t come in here anymore?’

‘No, he died when I was a kid. I hardly remember him, to tell the truth.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. He must have been very young.’

‘Aye, twenty four. Ten years younger than I am now give or take. Car bomb, in Northern Ireland. He was killed outright, but a couple of his mates weren’t so lucky. One of them hung on for years, the poor bastard.’

‘Is that why you joined the army? Because of your dad?’

‘Maybe, aye, a bit. But I didn’t have many options when I left school, and the army taught me a trade.’

‘What did you specialise in?’

‘Logistics. Moving shit about, basically.’

‘Oh, really, my boss did that before she joined the Police. For a supermarket. Not driving, she was in the office, like. We get our senior officers from all sorts of places these days.’

‘The army’s the same. Most of my officers were actually from another planet. Etonus, I think it’s called. Right next to Uranus, I think it is.’

Hood didn’t smile as he said it, and it took Pepper a moment to see that he was joking. Then she laughed.

‘So you’ve had no hassle, coming back in here?’ she said, after she’d had a sip from her drink.

‘Christ, no. I know most of these lads, have done for years. Those tossers who went for you and your mate, they’ve not got many friends in here.’

‘You know them?’

‘By sight, aye. Villains, of course. They work for Dai Young, don’t they?’

‘You know Dai?’

‘By reputation, that’s all. He’s made a bit of an impact, since he’s been back. That’s what I hear, anyway.’

‘Aye, he has.’

‘Take my job, as an example. There are lots of tenders I don’t even get a sniff at, because of Dai. And most of the ones I do, even when my quote’s the lowest, the client mysteriously decides to go with someone else. Usually at the last minute, like.’

‘He makes them an offer they can’t refuse?’

‘Aye, something like that. Or one of his blokes does, anyway.’

Pepper pushed her hair off her face, and looked squarely at Hood. ‘So that’s why you’ve been nicking fuel off him? Don’t worry, Henry told me all about it, and I’m not going to nick you for it. Probably couldn’t anyway, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t, as it happens. But the point is that you’ve drawn attention to yourself, Davey, and that wasn’t sensible. Henry said that you reckoned that one of those two baseball enthusiasts recognised you?’

‘Aye, I think so. He said as much, before I put him on his arse.’

‘So you can see how you’ve just got to be on Young’s radar now? You helped me and Rex when a couple of his lads had a go at us, you’ve been nicking off him, and you saw off two of his blokes when they tried to stop you nicking off him.You’ve made a complete fool out of Young, Davey, and he won’t like that at all. Partly because it’s bad for business, but mainly because he’s a certified nutter. A right animal, in fact.’

‘I’ve had dealings with a few fanatics, believe me, Pepper. I can look after myself.’

‘It’s not the same now, mate. Out there you had a whole team of blokes with you, didn’t you? All the resources of the mighty British army. Helicopters, and all that. But here you’re on your own. I can’t protect you, because officially I don’t even know what you’ve been doing, getting up Young’s nose like that. And I also know that you’re not going to give me the time of day, officially, on any of it. So at least take my tip and keep out of sight, as much as you can, for a bit. Stop coming in here too, for starters, like.’

Hood shook his head. ‘You don’t mean that. Not really. For a start it wouldn’t work, not if they really wanted a chat, like. And second it would show fear, and when you do that to a bloke like Young you’re buggered. So let me ask you something. What would you do, in my position?’

‘But I’m a police officer. That’s different. If I ever backed down it’d be panic on the streets of Carlisle, as the man once said.’

Hood smiled. ‘The Smiths, right? But is it really that different, you being a cop? I’m not sure that Dai Young would give a shit, either way. But forget about what you would do, just for a second. Say you weren’t a bobby, what would you do then? In my situation, I mean.’

Pepper smiled. ‘All right, it’s a fair cop, like. I’d probably carry on as before. The same as you. But just because it’s what I’d do, that doesn’t make it right, or even sensible.’

‘Sensible is over-rated though, isn’t it? Where would we all be without a bit of excitement, eh?’

Pepper smiled. Months later she’d run that exchange back in her heads, many times, but not then. In that moment it sounded like a throw-away line, not a declaration of intent, or a declaration of war.

‘He’s a powerful man though, Davey.’

‘Oh, aye, I know that. I’m not saying that he couldn’t hurt me, kill me even. But so what? We’ve all got to go sometime, and who knows, maybe it’d be him who came off second best. Stranger things have happened, lass.’

‘Aye, maybe. Well, I’ve told you, anyway. What you do from here on in is up to you.’

‘It is, aye. But one thing I don’t get. Why didn’t you just tell me this on the phone? Why did we need to meet up? I’m not complaining, like, I’m just curious.’

He was smiling now, and she smiled back.

‘Isn’t it supposed to me who asks the questions?’

‘It is if you’re a copper, but not so much if you’re off duty. Then it’d just be being nosey, like. So which is it, love?’

Pepper looked at her watch, and feigned surprise when she saw the time.

‘Well, would you just look at that. I’m now officially off the clock. So how about a proper drink? Come on, marra, what’s your poison?’

At that moment Dai Young’s ears should have been burning, but he wouldn’t have noticed anyway. Because his whole face was red from exertion, and his knuckles were sticky with clotting blood. Not that any of it was his. He turned away from the kid with the bust face and broken teeth, and hoped that he’d have the strength left to come at him. Even half a swing would do. Then he could really get stuck in, and enjoy it. Maybe it was the fact that the kid was so young, and so thin that he seemed malnourished, but something was stopping him from really losing himself in the moment, and enjoying the fear in the eyes and the pain in the screams the way he usually did. But Jonny Adams seemed impressed, and frightened too.

‘You did right’, said Young, enjoying the way that Adams flinched as he approached. ‘You did right bringing this little tosser to me, Jonny. And you know why that is, don’t you?’

‘Aye, because if we let him away with it then they’d all be at it.’

‘Exactly, every one of our street level lads would start thinking that they could break the tie. Well, not with this brewery, they can’t. It’s our town, and they only ever sell our gear, right?’

‘Right.’

‘So what are you going to do with this lad now, Jonny?’

Adams looked even more frightened now. ‘You don’t want me to kill him, do you?’

‘That’s up to you, lad. You decide. You make the call.’

Adams looked across at the boy, who had slid down the warehouse wall. He’d wet himself. Young looked round too.

‘Well at least his bladder’s got a bit of sense’, he said, laughing. ‘So, what’s it to be?’

‘I don’t know, boss. He’ll not do it again. He’s learned his lesson, I’m sure of it.’

‘How sure?’

‘Pardon?’

‘How sure are you that he’s learned his lesson?’

‘Sure, aye, totally sure.’

‘Would you bet your life on it?’

‘Sorry, boss, I don’t quite follow…’

‘Look, son, it’s very simple. He’s your boy, yeah? You earn off him, don’t you?’ Adams nodded. ‘So that means you’re responsible for him, and for everything he does. If he sells someone else’s gear, then as far as I’m concerned it’s you who’s selling it. Now this is his first and final warning, and it’s yours too, Jonny. If I find out that he’s at it again then he goes, and you have to go too. That’s the rules, I’m afraid. I’d like to tell you that I disagree with them, but I don’t. So do you follow me now, son?’

‘Aye, I do.’

‘Good. Tell you what. I’m going to leave you two girls to it now, and you do what you think is right. Take him home, take him to A&E, if that’s what you want. Tend to his fucking wounds yourself and bathe him in milk and honey, for all I care. But let me tell you one thing. That kid needs to respect you, which means that he needs to fear you. Otherwise he’ll take another chance. Maybe not next week, or next month, but it will happen. And when he does it’ll be you who’s floating down the Eden like a spawned salmon.’

Young turned and walked away, and tried again to figure out why he’d found it all so unsatisfying tonight. But he was smiling before he was even half way to the door, because he could hear the screams of pain. Real, animal pain. He was still convinced that Jonny Adams didn’t have what it took, not by a bloody mile, but at least he was making an effort. And one thing that Dai Young did like was a tryer. That wouldn’t stop him killing Adams, when the time came, but one thing that Young had learned during his distance-learning MBA was that no one was indispensable. Not Adams, not him, and not the fucking Ferris brothers either. That thought made him feel more cheerful, and he almost turned round to see if he’d enjoy hurting that dealer any more, if he had another go. But he didn’t. Let young Jonny Adams see if he could actually develop the taste. Because without it he was already as good as fucking dead. The lad just didn’t know it yet.

Tuesday, April 14th, 8.29am

Petteril St, Carlisle

Afterwards Pepper would be almost pleased that the knock at the door came when it did, because Ben had left with his friend’s mum less than five minutes before, so he didn’t need to see any of it. And as soon as she opened the door she knew exactly what was going on. DS Dixon showed his Search Warrant, then came in without a word. The search team were all from HQ in Penrith and points south, but even so a few knew Pepper, and looked particularly uncomfortable as they came past her. She did her best to make eye contact with every single one of them, as she stood holding the door.

When she followed him into the living room Jarvis explained that the search was being made in connection with Operation Garden, an investigation into police corruption in Cumbria. He asked her if she could produce receipts for any items of significant value around her home.

‘I’ve got the receipt for the telly, I think. Otherwise I don’t think I’ve got anything worth more than a couple of hundred quid. My laptop’s years old.’

‘And there’s nothing else of substantial value? Sports car? Jewellery, anything like that?’

‘No, nowt like that.’

‘How about family holidays. Anything booked for this year?’

‘Aye. Two weeks in August, when Ben’s off school. We’re going to Cornwall, camping.’

‘Nice.’

‘Glad you think so. And what about you, where are you going, DS Jarvis? Florida, is it? Or Spain, maybe, where all the villains are?’

Jarvis smiled. He’d heard that one before. Lots of others too, come to that. He liked to think that he was keeping an open mind, but in that moment he really wanted Pepper Wilson to be dirty. He didn’t think too hard about why. Maybe it was because she had the right background for it, including having a dad who had been a lifelong villain. Or perhaps it was because she seemed so bloody keen on the job. They were often the worst, the bloody zealots.

‘Any cash in the house, DS Wilson?’

‘No. Just what’s in my wallet, and Ben’s money box, of course.’

She sounded bitter to Jarvis, but then he found that they often did, clean or dirty.

‘If you wouldn’t mind staying here, while we go upstairs. We’ll call you if there’s anything we want you to look at with us.’

Pepper sat and thought about what was happening. Why were they here? Were they acting on specific information, or was it just a fishing expedition? That’s what they’d been doing with Rex Copeland, after all. She was going to ask Jarvis if they intended to interview her at Carlisle nick or back at HQ, so she could put her Federation rep on notice immediately, but before she’d even got up he came back carrying Ben’s guitar, and the question went out of her mind. She wanted to tell him to take his hands off it.

‘When did you buy this?’, asked Jarvis. ‘It’s top of the range, is this, for a beginner.’

‘It was a gift.’

‘Oh, aye? And you’ll be able to provide details of the person who gave it to you?’

‘Of course I will. And it was a gift to my son, not to me. Now put it straight back, you bastard. Don’t touch my son’s stuff.’

The search went on until after lunch, and Pepper did all she could to keep calm. The texts and emails flooding in from colleagues helped, even though they had all been specifically ordered to have no contact with her, even if they were off duty. There wasn’t one from Mary Clark though, but that was no surprise, and meant nothing at all, Pepper was almost sure of it. She tried to eat, and couldn’t, and eventually stopped asking Dixon and Jarvis how much longer they’d be.

It was nearly two o’clock when the search team left, and Jarvis came into the living room, where Pepper was sitting, staring sightlessly at the turned off TV.

‘Where to now?’ she said. ‘The nick?’

‘No. We’ve got another premises associated with you to search first.’

‘But I don’t have any other property. It’s all I can do to keep this one going. So where is it?’

‘Come on. Get your coat.’

‘Bloody hell, I’m not some stupid little tart you can intimidate with the Stasi act, mate. I’ll see where we’re going in a minute anyway, won’t I?’

‘Aye, you will. Now let’s go. And I’d watch the offensive language, if I were you, DS Wilson.’

‘Offensive? I’m on my best fucking behaviour here, mate.’

They drove for less than five minutes, but it wasn’t until they were two streets away from the allotments that Pepper knew for certain where they were heading. Had she been spotted there? Was that it? Or had Linda contacted the force for some reason, either cash or coercion? Or even been tapped up by Dixon direct, maybe. No, that couldn’t be true, because if Linda had talked they’d already have the cash, and Pepper would be being interviewed under caution.

‘Do you remember which one of the sheds on here belonged to your grandfather?’ asked Dixon, as they walked through the gate onto the allotment site.

‘No’, said Pepper, ‘but I’m sure you do.’

‘I do, aye. It’s over here. Of course it belongs to someone else now, like, but it was that one, over there.’

‘And this is where I stash my cash, is it?’

‘Who said anything about cash?’

Pepper smiled. She knew better than to get drawn like that. It was the oldest trick in the book. ‘Come on then’, she said, ‘I can’t wait to see what’s inside. Chandeliers and shag pile, I expect. It looks like a right little pocket palace, does this. Now, if it’s all right with you, can I go back to the car?’

‘Why?’ said Dixon quickly. ‘Worried you’ll be recognised?’

‘Worried I’ll get greenfly. Just get on with it, would you, and tell me when we’re done?’

She stood outside while the search took place, just to show she had nothing to worry about, and had to make an effort to take an interest in the crimson tide of rhubarb on the next plot when the inspection lights were turned onto the floor of the shed. But ten minutes later it was over, and they were driving back to Force HQ, on the outskirts of Penrith. Pepper didn’t say a word the whole way, and thought though the implications of what had just happened. Professional Standards must have known about the cash that her dad had stashed in the shed for her, but they seemed not to know that it had already gone. They also seemed to think that the five grand had been a payment for information received, rather than her father’s final, ill-fated attempt to say something to her through his actions, no matter how misbegotten.

The whole shed search might also have been part of some larger play, designed to unsettle her, so she made a conscious effort to stay calm. The Federation rep suggested that they get their usual solicitor involved, but Pepper knocked that idea back.

‘It’s just a fishing trip, is this, Bill’, she told him. ‘So let’s not get too worked up, OK? The sooner we get this done, the quicker we can all get back to work.’

‘Aye’, said Bill, looking none too happy at the prospect of getting back on the job.

Twenty minutes later the four of them were in the largest of the interview rooms at HQ, Dixon and Jarvis sitting opposite Pepper and the Federation rep.

‘Let’s talk about your family background,’ said Jarvis.

‘Must we?’

‘Aye, we must. But I don’t blame you, like, not wanting to talk about your old man.’

‘Look, mate, you’re wasting your time. And I’ll tell you why. First, I’ve never made any secret of who my old fella was, or what he was, Everyone in the job knows, and always has. He’s what made me become a cop, and until today I really thought that it was the only decent turn he ever did me. And second, my old man was a piss-poor con, even by the standards of the halfwits that we spend half our time nicking. He was always pissed, he had no skills whatsoever. In short, he was a total waste of five yards of skin. If I was going to get involved with criminals, he’s literally the last one on earth that I’d have chosen.’

‘All right. How about another working villain, then? How about Dai Young, say?’

‘Would I work for Dai? Are you seriously asking me that, mate? I’ve spent the last six months trying to nick that bastard, not that anyone has taken a blind bit of notice. I’ve been trying to put him in the frame for two recent killings, for a start.’

‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’

‘You what? Speak English, mate. My lad will be home in an hour, and I intend to be there to meet him. So ask your questions, or fuck off out of my face, all right?’

‘I just mean that you’re just a bit too keen to tell me that your dad’s lifestyle, and the people he knew, had no influence on you.’

‘That’s not even a bloody question. Look mate, good luck with your Open University psychology degree, or whatever all this in aid of. But if that’s it, can we just wrap this up now?’

Jarvis didn’t so much as blink. ‘So what about the five grand?’

‘What five grand?’

‘The five grand that you were paid for information concerning police operations. The five thousand pounds that you hid in that shed.’

‘All bollocks. Are you talking about the shed that you just searched?’

‘Yes.’

‘And was there any five grand in it?’

‘No. But that doesn’t mean to say that it wasn’t there in the very recent past. In fact, there was a floorboard that showed signs of having been disturbed recently.’

‘So what? I’ve not been in my granddad’s shed since I was about ten.’

‘Are you absolutely sure about that?’

Pepper didn’t hesitate. ‘Aye, I’m sure. Now look, Holmes, you’ve just searched my house, you’ll already have examined my finances, so you’ll know that what I’m about to tell you is true. I don’t have any five grand, and I’ve never, ever provided any form of information to criminals, whether for money or not. I totally despise cops who do that. In fact, I despise them even more than the kind of cops who are so cowardly, and so frightened of facing up to real cons, that all they can do is work in Professional Standards. It’s strictly for wankers, by wankers. And this so-called interview has been the biggest load of bollocks I’ve ever sat through in my life. Where’s your actual evidence, mate? Because I’ve heard absolutely fuck all so far, like.’

Pepper had made an effort to exaggerate her anger, and it had’t been hard to do. But if Jarvis had any more on her then she wanted to see it, to hear it, because at present she could only think of one explanation that fitted the facts, as far as she knew them. And unless Jarvis had something else up his non-iron sleeve the only credible explanation was that someone from inside Dai Young’s operation had used whoever was the mole to leak the information about her dad’s cash back to the enquiry. But Jarvis wasn’t biting. If he had any more on her, which Pepper doubted, he most certainly wasn’t saying. But one thing she did know now, absolutely for certain, was that there was a mole within the job. Had to be.

Ten minutes later she was being driven back to Carlisle in an unmarked car, driven by a young uniformed WPC who Pepper had never met before. The girl tried to chat, but Pepper didn’t respond. Jarvis looked like the kind of sly bastard who would try something like that on. Try to get her talking when she thought the pressure was off. Well, he could fuck right off. And as they drove up the motorway Pepper glanced across at the young woman’s hands on the wheel. Those long, manicured nails didn’t belong to a working copper. They’d be ripped off and bloody by closing time. Pepper made sure that WPC Atkins had noticed her glance, and then waited for her to speak. ‘Just had them done, ma’am. I was on a night out at the weekend. They’ll not last five minutes when I’m back out on the street, will they?’

Pepper didn’t reply, just smiled to herself and watched the countryside roll by. At least her driver would shut up now, so she could think. How confident could she be that the source of the information about that money was the person who’d actually paid it to her dad? Now that she thought about it again, she concluded that she couldn’t be absolutely certain. For a start, while Dai Young would have known how much was paid, he could only have known where her dad had actually hidden it if he’d told Dai, or someone close to him, himself. That would have been very stupid, not least because Dai was certainly not above simply stealing it back. But it was certainly possible, probable even. But the more she thought about it, the less sure she became. Could her old man have ever been that pissed, that raddled, that reckless? After all, that cash was supposed to be some kind of bequest to her. A sign of a father’s love. Far too late, and completely the wrong kind of sign, but symbolic none the less.

So, as Atkins left the motorway at Carlisle, Pepper considered another possibility. Had her father mentioned the money in the hearing of one of the cops at the hospital, when he was drugged up, maybe? Had he tried to use one of them to get a message to her, but instead they’d told someone else? Who could that be, if so? Even if she looked up the duty roster for the day after her father had been so seriously injured while driving for Dai Young’s outfit that probably wouldn’t help. There’d be thirty or forty possibles at least, because everyone and their bloody dog had turned out on the night, and even more through the following day.

So was there another way that she could find out more? As she ran up the stairs to the CID office, her shoes echoing rapid-fire in the stairwell, she started to think about Mary Clark. And by the time she reached the management suite, and the sound of her hurrying feet was dulled by the deep blue carpet, she knew how she’d play it. And for the first time in hours, she was smiling.

The Super was in a meeting, but her PA told Pepper that Clark had given instructions to interrupt as soon as Pepper arrived. And, sure enough, twenty seconds later, three or four civilian staff came out, talking about something to do with the budget. And that was Pepper’s key advantage over the Super, she thought as she walked in to her office. Because while Clark could spot an error in a spreadsheet at ten feet she didn’t have a clue about real policing. About spotting a lie, about running an interview. Or about getting to the truth, even when the truth was in hiding.