The Crooked Beat (12 page)

‘I need a word,’ I said. ‘In private.’

He led me through to the office and sat down. ’What happened to you last night?’

I took the chair opposite him. ‘George Sutherland wanted a word. I was given a warning that I should sort the problem out quickly.’ I paused. ‘I didn’t feel like coming back to the party.’

‘What a mess.’

‘I had to watch as Terry Gillespie was given a beating.’ I didn’t go into details.

‘It’s not going away, is it?’ Niall said.

‘No.’

Niall stared at me. ‘I can’t let this go on, leaving it all to you. I’ve got to make a stand. I’ve got to take some responsibility.’

I cut him off. ‘You need to concentrate on this place and leave it to me.’

Niall shook his head. ‘What about if I ask my mates to back me up? We’ll go and see Sutherland and tell him the deal’s off. We can outnumber him. He’ll have to listen.’

I told him this wasn’t a playground argument. ‘Sutherland and his crew are criminals. They won’t go away because you’ve got some mates.’ I felt bad for saying it, like he was a child, but I needed to spell it out to him. ‘Sutherland will take whatever you throw at him and then come back twice as hard. He won’t give a second thought to having you seriously hurt, or attacking this place.’

We sat in silence, Niall staring at the wall. I told him I appreciated the thought. It was true, I did appreciate it, but he had to know the truth of the situation. I had one last throw of the dice. ‘I’ve got a lead on where the cigarettes went to,’ I said.

‘How did you find out?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’ I could hardly tell him Connor had told me. I told him I needed to borrow some of last night’s takings.

I headed east on the M62 in the direction of Goole, ready to speak to the Horton brothers about the cigarettes Milo had sold them. I wanted them back. I saw the two water towers as I approached the centre of town. The salt and pepper pots as I’d heard people refer to them. Goole was a town sat between Hull and Leeds. It was far enough away to feel like alien territory. I parked in the train station car park and decided the best bet was the nearest pub. I headed into the first one I came to. I was the only customer. The landlord was bent over, stocking up a cabinet with soft drinks.

I pointed to one of the bottles of juice. ‘I’ll take one of them, please.’

He held his hand out for payment.

I passed him a five pound note. ‘Expecting a busy day?’

‘Doubt it.’

It was going to be like that. ‘I need some furniture,’ I said. ‘I’ve been told I should see the Horton brothers.’ I took the piece of paper I’d written their address down on and asked him for directions.

He took it from me, looked at it and told me where I needed to go. I thanked him and held my hand out for my change.

I found the shop easily. A man was unloading cardboard boxes from an old red van, the name of the brothers on the side of it. I locked my car up and walked inside the shop. The quality of the furniture they were selling was variable, mainly house clearance stuff, but it was certainly cheap. Eventually I was joined by another man. He was tall, fat and in his mid-twenties. He was chewing gum and smiling at me with an easy confidence. It was kind of smile that was meant to tell me that this was his territory. I was beginning to sense I was about to make a mistake, but there was no going back now.

‘Help you, pal?’ he said.

‘I’m new to the area,’ I told him. ‘Just getting a feel for it, really.’

He nodded. ‘It’s all good quality stuff and cheap. Moving here for work?’

‘Thinking about.’

‘Brave man.’ He folded his arms and continued to stare at me. ‘What line of business are you in?’

‘This and that.’ I held my hand out. ‘Joe Geraghty.’

He shook it. ‘Steve Horton.’

‘So you’re the men to see, I take it?’

‘Definitely.’ He passed me a cheap card.

I took it from him. It stated his name and mobile number. I put it in my pocket and walked closer to the where the till was. I could see the other man unloading the van and stacking boxes in the storeroom. ‘Keeping busy, then?’ I said.

‘We’re always busy.’

He stared at me, trying to work out my angle. I didn’t flinch, feeling more confident about the situation. They were small town crooks. Given their size, they’d no doubt bully the locals, but they were getting mixed up with more dangerous people. They would end up as collateral damage if they weren’t careful. I glanced again at the stack of cardboard boxes. ‘I’m looking for some cigarettes’ I said.

Horton smiled and stepped towards me. I tensed, ready for his attack. I watched as he went for his pocket. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lit one for me. ‘Have one of these, and if you’re not buying, I suggest you be on your way.’

I threw it on the floor and stubbed it out. ‘I want my cigarettes back.’

Horton shouted for his brother to join us. It was the man I’d seen unloading boxes. He appeared from the back room. It was two against one.

‘This cunt thinks we’ve got something of his,’ Horton said to his brother.

‘I know you have,’ I said.

‘Don’t know what you’re talking about, pal.’

It was a stand-off. I repeated that I wanted the cigarettes back.

Horton laughed. ‘Even if we had them, why the fuck would we want to give them to you?’

‘I’ll buy them back,’ I said.

Steve Horton stepped closer to me. ‘Have you got the cash to do that?’

His brother followed him. I stared at them, my heart pumping a little faster. I eventually nodded. ‘I’ve got it.’

‘On you?’ Steve Horton said.

‘I can cover what you paid for them and give you some profit. I know the lads you bought them from and it’s causing some bother for them.’

‘So what?’

‘They weren’t their cigarettes to sell.’

‘Sounds like their problem, not ours.’

‘It’s going to become your problem if you don’t give them back.’

Steve Horton laughed. ‘You didn’t answer my question. Have you got the money on you?’

His brother walked around me and guarded the door. I was boxed in and outnumbered. I’d made a mistake. Steve Horton stepped forward and threw a punch which landed square on my jaw. I fell backwards and before I had time to defend myself, his brother followed through with a kick to my stomach. I collapsed to the floor. The next thing I knew, I was being hauled up and thrown out of the front door. I no longer had the money.

I drove back to Hull. I ached a little, but it was mainly my pride which was suffering. I’d been stupid to think I could reason with the Horton brothers. I was done with diplomacy. I had to change my angle of attack. I knew very little about Sutherland as a man. I had to know more if I was going to find a weakness I could exploit and get him off my family’s back. My advantage was that I’d once worked for his ex-wife, Brenda. If anyone could help me, it was her. I didn’t know where the paperwork for the case was, but it had amounted to little more than a selection of long lens photographs of her husband and his mistress. It had been very straightforward. Fortunately, I still had her contact details in my mobile. She was surprised to hear from me, but was willing to meet, even after I told her what I wanted. She lived in a flat on Peel Street, off Spring Bank.

The area had changed a lot in recent years. War and social unrest in Europe had brought people from around the world to the area. I knew Lauren’s class at school contained children from Eastern Europe, Iraq and Africa. She’d told me about them with a look of excitement on her face. When I’d been at school, new class members from the other side of the River Hull had been greeted as if they were aliens.

I arrived at Brenda Sutherland’s flat. She let me straight in and offered me a drink. I told her I was fine and sat down. The furniture was sparse and basic. A small portable television perched on a unit in the far corner of the room. She had a bookcase full of paperbacks.

‘Bit of a change since we last spoke,’ she said. ‘I’m still waiting on him to sell the house.’ She shrugged. ‘I didn’t know he’d re-mortgaged it. It’s not too bad around here, though. Everyone’s friendly enough and I’m making new friends. It’s fine for now.’

I was pleased to hear it. In fact, I admired the way she was making a go of things. It would have been easier for her to turn a blind eye and carry on living in more comfortable surroundings than this. ‘I know we never talked much about your husband when I worked for you, but I need to know more about him for something I’m working on.’

She shrugged, not interested in the details. ‘If it helps, it’ll be my pleasure. Believe me.’

‘How much do you know about how he makes a living?’ I asked.

‘I know exactly what he is, if that’s what you mean. I won’t lie to you, Joe. When I first met him, it was that edge he had which attracted me. Every girl loves a bad boy, don’t they? He was a little bit dangerous and that scared people. It meant we got special treatment when we went out, and I liked it at first. We were treated like royalty, but it wasn’t real.’

‘How much did you know about his business?’

‘Not a lot.’

‘You knew he worked for Frank Salford?’

She nodded. ‘He was the boss. If Frank called, George went running. That’s the way it was.’

‘What did he do for Salford?’

‘He always told me he looked after Frank’s businesses for him. Management.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t really know. I knew what Frank was, so I didn’t ask for the details.’ She shuffled forwards. ‘I always thought George reckoned he was entitled to more from Frank, that he didn’t get the respect he deserved.’

‘What happened?’

‘George took what he thought he was entitled to.’

‘He was skimming the cash?’

‘All but admitted it to me.’

‘What happened after that?’

‘They didn’t work together again.’

‘Never?’

‘Not so far as I know.’

I nodded. It was a reasonable assumption that they both knew where the bodies were buried. It would have been a case of mutual destruction if one or the other had gone to the police. I asked her how dangerous her ex-husband was.

She thought about the question. I waited as she lit a cigarette and took a long drag. ‘He likes to be the big man when he’s got a crowd, but he’s really nothing more than a bully and a coward. Nothing physical, just the type of comments that are designed to chip away at you and make you feel worthless. He’s a manipulator, always looking for an angle.’

Her hand was shaking slightly. I angled myself away from her so she couldn’t blow smoke in my face. She took another deep drag and put the cigarette down in an ashtray. ‘Tread carefully, Joe. But whatever he’s done, make sure he pays for it.’

I left Brenda Sutherland’s flat with plenty to think about. I wanted to give Roger Millfield another shake. I still hadn’t banked the cheque he’d given me at the KC Stadium. It was the excuse I needed.

His receptionist tried to stop me making my way in to his office, but I wasn’t going to be fobbed off. He was on the telephone as I entered. My entrance left him speechless. It took him a couple of seconds to pull himself together and tell whoever was at the other end of the line that he’d call them back.

He looked at me. ‘I thought I’d made myself clear. Our business together is finished.’

I shook my head and passed him the cheque back. ‘I’m not done yet.’ I could have used the cheque to repay some of Niall’s takings I’d lost in Goole, but I needed him to talk.

He waved the cheque away and tried to busy himself with the paperwork on his desk. ‘If I don’t require your help, I’d say we’re finished. Take the money and leave it there, please.’

‘That’s what Don said I should do.’

He stopped what he was doing. ‘Maybe you should take his advice, then.’

‘You didn’t tell me your wife knew George Sutherland.’

‘I don’t see how that’s relevant. Many of my clients are known to me personally. It’s perfectly normal.’

We sat in silence. I hoped he would crack first, but he didn’t. He busied himself on his laptop.

‘She knows him from when they were kids,’ I said, wanting his attention back.

Millfield laughed. ‘You’ve been talking to Neil Farr.’

‘It doesn’t matter who I’ve been talking to.’

‘Just so long as you realise who the man is. That’s all.’

I took the bait. ‘Who is he?’

‘The man who settled for second best. He always wanted Kath, but she never wanted him.’

I didn’t want to talk about Farr. ‘Your wife was brought up in the same street as Sutherland?’

He shrugged. ‘It’s a small city. You know that.’

‘Why do you still act for him, then?’

He was puzzled by my question. ‘He’s a client.’

‘But your wife doesn’t want you doing it.’

He wasn’t surprised that I knew. ‘Kath doesn’t like the man. Can’t say I blame her really, but it’s business. Simple as that.’

‘Even though he worked with Frank Salford?’

He tried to pretend he didn’t know the name. He was a bad liar. He was sweating and refusing to meet my eye. I wondered why a professional man like Roger Millfield was happy to associate himself with a known criminal.

I let it hang there for a moment before continuing. ‘I’ve got a problem with Sutherland,’ I leaned toward him. ‘A serious problem.’ I wanted to pressurise him a bit. Let him know the lie of the land. I was certain he’d crack. I made sure I had eye contact before speaking. ‘I need to take him down.’

Millfield cut me off and held the cheque back out to me. His hand was shaking a little. ‘Take it and leave me alone.’

I knew I was going to need to find another route in George Sutherland. I also needed to give some attention to Don’s problem. My best bet was to go back to Gerard Branning. He’d made it clear he’d help if asked. The door at the care home was answered by the same woman. ‘I’m back to see Gerard,’ I told her.

She shook her head and blocked my entrance. ‘I’m afraid not.’

‘He said I could visit him any time.’

‘He’s not receiving visitors at the moment.’

I took a step back. I didn’t understand what had changed.