The Crooked Beat (6 page)

‘Anything else?’

‘I heard him shout he’d be back. That’s why the police said they would step up their patrols.’ She pointed to the bag in her hallway. ‘But you can’t trust them, can you? That’s why I’m going to stay with a relative until they catch this man.’

I told her I understood and thanked her for helping Don. She shouted after me as I walked away. ‘The policeman left his card with me.’

I waited while she went and found it. She reappeared and held it out to me. I read the details. Acting Detective Inspector Coleman. He’d been promoted since our paths had last crossed.

Starbucks in the St Stephen’s Shopping Centre was above the main row of shops, as if it was suspended in mid-air. I had a good view of people coming and going. More importantly to me, it was busy. I didn’t know what I was getting into, so it had to be done in public. There were no seats free which had a decent view of the staircase, so I sat with my back to the entrance and waited. I watched as shoppers carried bags between stores. My concentration was broken by a hand gripping my shoulder. It squeezed hard but I didn’t flinch. George Sutherland slipped into the seat opposite me.

‘This is a surprise, isn’t it?’ he said.

I couldn’t help but smile. I’d been wrong about him. I’d considered him well under the radar, but there weren't many people in the city with the clout to smuggle in a quantity of cigarettes through the docks. Sutherland was obviously one of the small number who could. I remembered that his pub offered bed and breakfast. He could possibly justify importing the catering supplies which masked the cigarettes. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but it made some sense to me.

‘How’s the wife?’ I asked him. It was a cheap shot, but it was all I had.

He laughed. ‘No idea, but I owe you my thanks for that. I couldn’t give a fuck about her.’ He pointed to the blonde a few tables away, flicking through a magazine. ‘Worked out for the best, I reckon.’

I smiled. ‘At least your wife will get some well-deserved money.’

‘Fuck off, Geraghty. Have a look around. There’s a recession on. I’m a humble businessman trying to scratch a living. I’m sixty years old soon. I’ve got fuck all to give her.’

‘Right.’ I didn’t believe him.

‘Ask my accountant. I believe you know Mr Millfield.’

‘We’re already acquainted.’ I was surprised, but I didn’t let it show.

‘But we’re not here to talk about that, are we? Seems like your brother has been a naughty boy.’

‘Stupid, maybe.’

‘Beside the point, really, given the circumstances.’

‘Maybe you should have taken more care. If you trust someone like Gillespie to sort things out for you, maybe you should have kept the cigarettes somewhere else.’

Sutherland sat back in his chair. A waitress placed a large cappuccino in front of him.

He drank a mouthful of coffee. ‘You might have a point there. I placed my trust in people and the cunts let me down.’

I thought about the beating my brother had been given. Sutherland must have known I was involved. He’d been playing with me, waiting for me to make a move. Maybe waiting to see if I could find the cigarettes for him.

‘Gillespie is a piece of shit,’ he said. ‘I don’t care for him. And I can’t say I care much for your brother. If you want to play with the big boys, you’re going to get hurt.’

I was getting angry with him. ‘You leave my brother alone.’

Sutherland smiled again. ‘I dare say you’ve spoken to Peter Hill, too. He’s quite a useful man to know, so I’m sure I’ll be dealing with that cunt soon enough. Plenty of people need to make things up to me.’

‘What do you want?’

‘I want them back, obviously.’ He paused. ‘Or I want paying.’

‘Unlucky on both counts.’

He smiled again. ‘That’s not how it works.’

‘I can’t give you what I haven’t got. They were stolen, but you already know that.’ There was no way I was giving him Connor’s name.

‘Quite a fucking coincidence.’

‘Indeed.’

‘I’ll make it clear, then. I can’t get insurance for my line of business, so I have to enforce my own rules.’ He shuffled forward and leaned in close to me. ‘Believe me, I’ll enforce them. I’m not prepared to be out of pocket or let people down.’

‘How much are we talking about?’

‘Fifteen grand for the cigs.’ He shrugged. ‘Make it twenty for the inconvenience and my time sorting it out.’

I laughed. ‘I can’t help you with that.’

‘Don’t be talking yourself down, Geraghty. You caught me out, didn’t you?’

His was talking about his wife. ‘You didn’t make any attempt to cover your tracks.’

‘And you think the people who’ve stolen the cigarettes are master criminals?’

‘I want you to leave my brother out of this.’

Sutherland considered this. ‘You want me to hold you responsible?’

I nodded. It was the only way. I didn’t care much about Terry Gillespie or Peter Hill. I only cared about Niall and Connor.

He swallowed the last of his cappuccino. ‘In that case, I’ll be in touch.’

I need a distraction to occupy my mind. I was going to have think carefully about my next move with Sutherland. Kath Millfield’s literacy charity operated from an office on Wright Street. I’d checked her website. They operated an open door policy. People were encouraged to simply drop in to see the work they did and maybe volunteer their time. Roger Millfield would be expecting me to make progress, so I decided I wanted to see his wife when she was in her comfort zone. I wanted to get a feel for the woman. I fed the parking meter and walked in.

Directly in front of me was a display board about their literacy work with children. It was impressive. At the bottom was a list of corporate sponsors. Her husband’s firm was one of them. To the left, I could see the offices. They had glass fronts, so you could observe them at work. Kath Millfield was on the telephone. I looked again at the display boards. The charity certainly did important work around the city. The children on the photo were all smiles and laughter.

One of Kath Millfield’s employees walked across to join me. ‘The children get so much out of the process. A lot of them aren’t interested in reading when they start with us, but we place the emphasis on fun.’ She smiled. ‘It’s about learning without the pressures of targets and exams.’

‘It’s certainly impressive,’ I said.

‘We’re always eager for men to get involved. We always need positive male role-models.’

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man walk straight into Kath Millfield’s office. She put the telephone down. The woman continued to talk to me. I nodded, as I kept an eye on the office.

She continued to press me. ‘Are you thinking of volunteering with us?’

I said something non-committal. Kath Millfield was arguing with the man. The woman I was talking to was clearly embarrassed. We both watched as the man stormed out. Kath Millfield closed her office door after him. She didn’t notice me. I picked up a brochure and said I’d think things over. There was no point in following the man. I recognised Neil Farr, the solicitor I’d seen in the photographs with Kath Millfield.

I found Don propped up in his bed in the far corner of the hospital ward. He’d been worked over, his face was a mess, but at least he was comfortable. I took a chair off the stack in the corner and placed it next to his bed.

‘I can go home once they’ve finished running their tests,’ he said.

‘You should take your time.’

He stared out of the window at the panoramic view of the city. Under other circumstances, it would be breathtaking.

‘Who did this to you, Don?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘I spoke to your neighbour.’

‘Keep out of my business, Joe.’

‘I’m here to help you.’

‘I don’t need your help.’

I leaned forward. ‘Sure?’

‘Definitely.’

‘Who did this to you?’ I repeated. ‘This isn’t going to go away.’ The man sounded like hired muscle to me. Which meant it was serious. There was a reason for what had happened.

He asked me to pour him a glass of water. I did as I was asked, even though I knew he was playing for time. This wasn’t right. Don had set up as a Private Investigator as a means to keep himself occupied after taking early retirement. He had been happy to work the mundane cases. They’d kept him busy and in the loop with old colleagues. I knew he wasn’t the sort to seek out trouble.

He took a mouthful of water before speaking. ‘You don’t owe me anything. We’re not partners. Let it go.’

I changed the subject. ‘Roger Millfield called me earlier.’

Don stared at me. ‘Why would he do that?’

‘He had a job for me.’

‘I thought you were out of that game?’

‘I’ve got to make a living.’

He shook his head. ‘What are you doing with your life, Joe?’

It was a good question. I had no answer. ‘At the moment I’m trying to help some old friends.’

‘Don’t keep me in suspense, then. What did he want?’

‘He thinks his wife is having an affair.’

Don was shocked by my news. ‘And he called you?’

‘That’s right.’

We sat in silence until the bell signalled the end of visiting time. Technically, he was a pensioner, but he was also ex-police. CID. He was nobody’s fool. I leaned in close to him so no one else would hear. ‘It’s time to be honest with me.’ I looked him in the eye. ‘I can help you.’ We’d had our problems and difficulties, but I knew what he’d given me. ‘If you don’t want my help for yourself, think of Sarah and Lauren. They’re going to have to see you like this.’

Don said nothing. I straightened myself up and left him lying there.

I forced my way through the crowd at the front of the hospital and headed for the car park. Acting Detective Inspector Richard Coleman was standing at the entrance. I suppose we had a grudging kind of respect for each other these days, but we certainly weren’t friends. I nodded a greeting and tried to side-step him. He blocked my move, so I tried again. He mirrored my move.

‘What brings you here, Joe?’

‘Just visiting,’ I said. ‘I hear you’ve been promoted.’

‘Not quite. Acting Detective Inspector.’

‘Congratulations.’

‘You still haven’t said what brings you here.’

I told him again that I was a visitor.

‘Don?’

He knew, so I nodded my agreement.

‘Same here. I’ve come to take a statement.’

I tried to move away again. ‘Best of luck with that.’

‘Time for a coffee?’

I was curious as to why he’d want to speak to me. I agreed and let him lead the way back in to the hospital. We walked up the two flights of stairs to the canteen. I found a table and waited while he queued for coffee. The queue was long and the canteen understaffed. It gave me time to think. I was surprised to find a senior detective was personally taking a statement. It didn’t make sense.

Coleman sat down and placed a mug of coffee in front of me. ‘What happened to Don?’ he asked me.

I shrugged and said I knew nothing. Don wasn’t prepared to talk about it. I asked Coleman what brought him here.

‘You know how it works. We take care of our own.’ He sipped at his drink. ‘We’ve all got pasts.’

He was playing it with a poker face, adding nothing further. I wasn’t going to give him anything, either. He would have spoken with Don’s neighbour, too. It was a stalemate.

‘Are you going to tell me anything?’ I asked Coleman.

‘I haven’t spoken to Don yet, so I haven’t got anything to tell you.’

I finished my drink and stood up. ‘See you later, then.’

He followed me out of the canteen. At the top of the stairs he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. ‘Go careful, Joe.’

I put Coleman’s warning to one side and called Terry Gillespie as I walked back to my car. He told me he couldn’t talk. I told him he didn’t have a choice. I suggested he made himself available. I was heading to his house and I expected him to be there. It took me fifteen minutes to make the journey.

‘You can’t do this,’ he said, opening his front door to me. ‘I’ve got a job to do.’

I brushed past him and went into his living room. We didn’t sit down. ‘Haven’t we all?’ I said. ‘And don’t give me any of that shit.’

‘What do you want?’

‘We’re going to talk about George Sutherland. They were his cigarettes.’

Gillespie smiled. ‘Hardly a surprise, is it?’

He’d known all along. He’d tried to play me for a fool to get himself off the hook, but it wasn’t relevant now. ‘I told Sutherland that he should consider it my debt.’ I didn’t mention the price tag. All twenty thousand pounds of it.

He laughed. ‘Why the fuck would you do that?’

‘For my brother.’

Gillespie shrugged. ‘No skin off my nose.’

I leaned forward and grabbed him. ‘Don’t think you’re walking away from this unless I say so.’

‘Why would I care?’

I relented and released him. ‘Niall said you used to work on the docks, back in the day.’

‘Used to be a bobber, hauling the baskets of fish in off the boats. Loved that work, I did. It was honest work. Not like sitting on your arse all day, watching things come and go. But that’s progress, I suppose.’

I walked over to the mantelpiece and picked up a leaflet for Sutherland’s pub. It was advertising erotic dancers and gentleman’s evenings. ‘What’s Sutherland up to?’ I asked him.

‘How would I know?’

‘You were seen arguing in his pub.’

If he was surprised by what I knew, he hid it well. ‘I argue in a lot places.’

‘And you thought you’d drag my brother into your shit?’

‘He’s a big boy. He makes his own decision.’

I was starting to lose my patience with him. ‘Don’t fuck me about,’ I warned him. ‘I’m doing you a favour here.’

He didn’t speak. I was wasting my time here. It was making more sense to me, though. Erotic dancers and gentleman’s evenings. I finally got the subtext. No wonder Sarah had felt so uncomfortable in the place. Gillespie was most likely paying for sex in there. Or rather he wasn’t paying. Sutherland had a grip on him. There was a debt to be paid. I was sure of it. He’d lied to me about his involvement, pretending he didn’t recognise the photograph of Carl Palmer. He wasn’t going to be any help to me. I balled up the leaflet and threw it at him.