Unholy Ghost (14 page)

Somehow, he didn't quite know how, Jimmy felt he ought to apologise.

‘Sorry.'

It didn't help.

‘Sorry! That hardly covers what you have done. You have murdered a policeman in cold blood. I doubt any judge would dismiss the case against you on the grounds that you were sorry, that it was all a mistake.'

Jimmy felt confused by the unreality of the situation, by the conversation he was having. Maybe it was the dope in him or maybe it was the Comedian's technique working. This man was too clever for him so he gave up.

‘What do you want?'

The man's manner relaxed again and he gave Jimmy a smile of encouragement.

‘I want you to replace Carpentier.'

‘What, as Heppert's sex machine? You must be …'

Jimmy's outburst got a laugh.

‘Good heavens, no, Mr Costello, nothing like that. Up to a point he was trusted by her, the work he did on Joubert ensured that. Now I want you to be trusted by her. Have you told her that it was you who killed him?'

‘Yes.'

‘And I'm sure she took it in her stride?'

‘She cried a bit. I thought they were lovers.'

‘Oh no, not lovers. All the rooms of Ms Heppert's heart are fully occupied by Ms Heppert herself. She used him, that was all. If she cried then it was entirely for your benefit, probably to give herself time to adjust to the news and decide what to do. I'm sure she became herself again very quickly.'

‘She did.'

Jimmy was feeling out of his depth. He'd got Serge wrong and he'd got Heppert wrong. He was on a losing streak as wide as Piccadilly Circus and had been ever since they gunned McBride. It was slowly dawning on him that he was still only detective sergeant material, a clever plodder who could only work out the little things, like who did the actual job, pulled the trigger, used the knife, or whatever. On his own, without someone pointing him in the right direction, it all sailed over his head and if he tried to figure it out he did more harm than good. No, not just harm, he bloody well killed people. The wrong people. He needed to be pointed in the right direction by one of the grown-ups. By someone who really did know what they were doing. Someone like the Comedian.

‘If I stick alongside Heppert how do I report to you?'

‘Don't worry, I can easily arrange that. All I want you to do is watch and listen. But be careful, she's as sharp as she is greedy and that is saying a great deal. Don't take any risk that might lead her to suspect you're working for me.'

‘It won't work.'

‘Won't work?'

‘No. I can't act. If I try to pretend I'm on her side in all this she'll spot it. McBride used to hide things from me, tell me half the story and I used to think she was being devious, that maybe she didn't trust me. But now I can see that she knew I had to believe in what I was doing so that anyone I talked to would see I believed it. I can't act. Sorry, but that's the way it is.'

The man stood up and walked slowly round the room and then came back and sat down.

‘Then tell her.'

‘Tell her what?'

‘Everything. I had you picked up, drugged, and brought here. We had this talk, tell it all to her, word for word as you can remember it. I wanted you to replace Carpentier and as I had you over a barrel because of his killing you had to agree. Tell her everything. It won't change our arrangement and there will be no need for any act on your part and nothing for her to find out, you will have told her everything.'

There was a flaw in there somewhere, it was just out of sight, but Jimmy was certain that it was in there somewhere.

‘But it will still be a lie, I'll be working for you not her, so it'll still be a lie, right?'

‘No. You will be working for Professor McBride, not for me and not for Ms Heppert. That, after all, is the real truth is it not?'

Jimmy thought about it and, to his surprise, he found it was. He
was
working for McBride. He had been all along and he still was. This bloke and Heppert meant nothing to him. He worked for them or against them only in so far as it helped him to do what McBride wanted him to do. Which was …?

And there it was. That was the flaw. What the bloody hell was he supposed to be doing for McBride? It couldn't be as simple as she said, get control of the Colmar Estate and check out the convent? Not with all these other high-powered buggers running around.

‘I'll need to know what this is all about. I can't keep flying blind.'

The man sat back.

‘Professor McBride didn't tell you?'

‘Just to find the heir to the Colmar Estate. If I'm going to do what you want I'll need to know what it's really all about. You'll have to tell me.'

The man thought about it, but not for long.

‘No, I think not. I think you will do very well for me as you are. You can, of course, see if you can get Ms Heppert to tell you, but I have to say I think her attitude will prove to be the same as mine. You may have a certain limited use to both of us but it is, I assure you, very limited indeed.'

‘So what exactly is it I'm supposed to be looking for if I stick with Heppert? I have to have some idea. I've made too many mistakes already because I don't have any idea of where I'm going or why, and your turning up hasn't made anything clearer. I'm not going to risk killing some other poor sod because I don't know what everyone else seems to know. Give me something or you can go fuck yourself, Commander.'

The outburst got a gentle smile.

‘Very well, seeing as how you ask so nicely I will give you something, a direction, a purpose. Ms Heppert represents one powerful party which is interested in the Colmar estate. I will call them Group A. There is another party which is also interested, let us call them Group B. Heppert is with A and wants to move over to B taking with her what she knows. That is the partnership she seeks, the one I mentioned earlier. She wants to sell out her employers. But Group B have proved to be a very violent proposition, not something Ms Heppert is used to dealing with. She needs a scout to lead the way, someone through whom to make contact, someone who is used to violence. She needs a stooge to do the dangerous work of locating someone from the top of Group B. She was considering using Serge Carpentier but, as I said, she is clever and she wasn't convinced he was exactly what she wanted. I think she sensed he was, how shall I put it? He was not someone she could use and dispose of. However, your little bit of back-alley work closed that avenue to her rather suddenly. It did, however, open up a new and better one. She has chosen you to be her scout.'

‘She doesn't rate me as difficult to dispose of?'

‘Apparently not, although I doubt she sees herself as the actual disposer.'

‘So what will she want me to do?'

‘You will be in the middle of this affair. Ms Heppert will be able to see you but stay at a safe distance from the opposition. If they react badly it is you who will die and Ms Heppert will withdraw and try again in some other way. That is your position, Mr Costello, you are in the middle. At some point you will be able to see both Group B and Ms Heppert, although they will not be able to see each other. When that happens you will either set up a safe meeting for her or you will be eliminated. There will be no third way.'

It made sense, in so far as anything in this affair made sense. But it didn't sound like it would have a happy ending.

‘And if I set up this meeting I'll be eliminated anyway. I'll have served my purpose and be a loose end.'

‘I would have thought so.'

‘So why should I go ahead? What's in it for me?'

‘Group B killed the man in the wheelchair in Munich. They also killed the journalist you sent. More importantly they tried to kill Professor McBride and, if she survives, will undoubtedly try again. That is what is in it for you, Professor McBride's life. Believe me, they won't miss a second time.'

‘And you. Which group are you?'

‘I represent another group unattached to either A or B. We wish to stay invisible to both sides until we can move in and take the Colmar estate from whichever one remains standing at the end of their struggle.'

‘I see.'

He didn't, of course, but he saw enough. He saw how he could get at the bastards he was looking for. At some point, when he had the time, he would have to come to terms with what he'd done to Serge, but that was for later, if he survived. For the moment he knew where he stood. Or, more accurately, he knew where he was going to stand. In the middle, between Heppert and what this comedian called Group B. And if he did get a clear look at any of them, then fuck Heppert and fuck the Comedian, he'd kill them. And this time there'd be no mistake.

Chapter Twenty-eight

They were sitting across the desk from Professor Scolari in his office.

‘This is Ms Heppert. She is a lawyer with Parker and Henry in their Paris office. She is acting for the Sisters of Bon Secours in the disposal of their convent. Professor McBride was asked to assist by the superior of the order and sent me to Paris to look into the matter. I liaised with a lawyer, M. Joubert, who was then acting for …'

‘Professor Scolari.'

The Professor turned his attention away from Jimmy to Nadine Heppert.

‘Yes?'

‘Here is my card.' He took it. ‘On the back are the numbers of the office of M. Joubert and the sisters at the convent, if any sisters are still there. Please call my office, M. Joubert's office, and the sisters at the convent to confirm that I am now officially handling the matter. If you can contact the superior of the Sisters of Bon Secours here in Rome to confirm that she did indeed ask for Professor McBride's assistance I suggest you do so. Mr Costello tells me there is information relating to the matter in a green dossier in Professor McBride's office. I need to see it and, if I think necessary, to take a copy. I am in Rome only to assess the relevance of this information and I wish to do so as speedily as possible. While I appreciate your giving me access is not without its problems, I hope you appreciate my position. I have given you sufficient information, I think, to confirm my bona fides in this matter and I hope you will be able to make the necessary calls as soon as possible.'

Scolari looked at the card then at Jimmy.

‘I'm working with Ms Heppert now. That is what Professor McBride would have wished. I can confirm everything Ms Heppert says and, having seen the dossier, agree with Ms Heppert that there is information contained in it that she needs to support the work she is doing for the sisters.'

Scolari looked back at the card.

‘I do not know whether I can …'

Nadine Heppert stood up.

‘Then please find someone who does know. I am trying to be as reasonable as I can but my time is limited. Professor McBride is still in intensive care after her latest surgery and will not be in any way contactable for some considerable time. I can, of course, return to Paris and set in motion the necessary legal …'

Scolari stood up, Jimmy sat and watched.

‘Please, you must understand, Ms Heppert. I do not doubt your bona fides but I have no legal right to give any permissions …'

She steamrollered over him.

‘Then as I say, find someone who has, or I will get my own legal right.' She looked down at Jimmy who was enjoying watching her in action although he regarded the contest as a mismatch. Scolari was nothing more than an academic, he didn't really stand a chance. ‘Are you ready, Mr Costello?'

Jimmy stood up slowly.

Maybe it was something in the way she'd spoken to Jimmy that decided Scolari, the nasty edge in her voice, the arrogant confidence of a superior to a menial.

‘Perhaps, if it is no more than a sight of the document. I think, yes I think I could …'

‘No, Professor. I insist that you make those calls first. I don't want you to agree now and have doubts later if and when anyone should ask you whether you checked you were acting correctly.'

Scolari was finished. She had given him his orders so he would have to obey them.

‘I will make the calls …'

‘Good, start with my office then with M. Joubert's office. You will get a response at both of those. Then try the convent and last the mother superior. Mr Costello and I will go and get a coffee and return when you call. Please make your calls as soon as I leave.' There it was again, thought Jimmy, the superior to the menial. First knock the poor bugger down then kick him in the slats. Some did it with boots, she did it with the grand manner. ‘Where can we get coffee?'

Scolari brightened. He could provide that information without any reservations. He gave her directions to a café. She led Jimmy out of the office, down in the elevator, and out into the street. Once outside the office block they set off to the café which was close by but which Jimmy had never known existed.

‘Nice work. You rolled over him nicely.'

She didn't respond to his compliment but looked around at the office blocks.

‘What the hell kind of college is theirs? This all looks more like where I work.'

‘It's a college all right. McBride's office is on the top floor. On a clear day you get a nice view of the hills at Frascati.'

‘What do they teach there?'

‘Nothing. They don't teach. They were founded to study the relationship between religion, power, and politics. They're good at it, they've been doing it a long time. Their founder was one of the Borgias.' Jimmy gestured with his arm. ‘This was all farms. The rents went to keep the college going. Now it's offices and the rents still go to the college. Like I said, they study, they don't teach. They can afford to do without students.'

Jimmy could see she was impressed. He'd meant her to be. He needed her to know that he had something solid behind him and he didn't mean one of the Borgias. She wasn't interested in history but money, power, and possessions impressed her, and money did it most because money was usually what gave you the power and possessions.

‘That professor guy back there didn't look too hot on power or politics so I guess he must be the one who does religion.'

Jimmy smiled dutifully, she had made a joke about Scolari to show that she wasn't too impressed by that particular member of the wealthy Collegio. She had obviously enjoyed squashing the harmless academic. The Comedian was right. She could probably be a nasty piece of work when she felt like it.

They found the café. It was a functional sort of place with big windows through which you could see bright plastic-topped tables and shiny metal chairs. At the back was a counter which did the coffee and flanking it were the chiller cabinets of sandwiches and other take-away meals. It was more a snackery for the office workers than a place to eat, anonymous and universal and most of all functional. It was  mid-morning, too late for people arriving and not late enough for the quick snack lunchers. It stayed open in case a lucky few managed a mid-morning break but at the moment it was empty. Nadine sat at a table while Jimmy got two coffees.

‘I'll give him half an hour then we'll go back.'

‘What if he hasn't made the all the calls?'

‘It doesn't matter. He'll get someone at my office and he might get someone at Joubert's but the convent won't answer and the superior left Rome last week. We'll give him half an hour.'

‘A whole half hour. Why so generous with your time?'

‘Because we need to talk.'

‘We do?'

‘Yes, we do. What is it you're holding out on me?'

‘Sorry, you just lost me.'

‘No I didn't. When we ate last night I knew something had happened, what was it?'

Jimmy almost laughed. Was it divine intervention, good luck, or was somebody stage-managing the whole thing? Half a dozen times last night when they were eating he had tried to do like the Comedian had told him, tell her about getting picked up outside Termini, and each time he'd fluffed it or let it go because he knew it wouldn't sound right. Now here she was laying it on a plate for him and no acting required. She wanted him to tell her. She'd asked him out loud to tell her. So he told her.

She sat and listened. When Jimmy had finished he waited while she thought the whole thing over.

‘Who is he?'

‘Intelligence of some sort, Danish Intelligence, rank of commander. That's all I know.'

‘And he knew you from Denmark, from some bind you got into there?'

‘There and other places.'

She was silent for a moment as she went over what Jimmy had told her.

‘I was wrong about you and I'm not often wrong. I don't like that.'

‘It happens. No one's right all the time.'

‘I thought I'd got you pretty well pegged as no more than a useful leg man but first you kill Serge and then you spring Danish Intelligence on me. To be that wrong makes me think someone worked very hard to get me that way.'

‘It's possible but it wasn't me. Until Joubert got smacked around I didn't know you existed.'

‘Is there anything else I should know about you?'

‘You can have what there is. I got involved in something here in Rome, it doesn't matter what, I was only a bit player. I was out of my depth and got chewed up but with Professor McBride's help I got out alive. There were people after me and they finally caught up with me in Copenhagen. That's where my friend in Danish Intelligence got involved. He was all for throwing me in chokey and losing the key but McBride got me out again and finally squared everything with the people on my tail. I'm clear now so long as I don't go back to Denmark. I'm not welcome there. I owe McBride a lot so now I do odd jobs for her, like finding the heir to the Colmar estate.'

‘Except she had one up her sleeve all along.'

‘Yeah. She doesn't always tell me everything. She doesn't think I can act. If I'm not telling the truth it shows so she makes sure I only know enough of the truth to get her what she wants.'

She didn't give him an argument on McBride's assessment of his acting.

‘Who is this McBride really?'

‘An academic. Works for the Collegio Principe.'

‘Like that Scolari guy? Don't give me that.'

‘No, not like Scolari, not like anyone. As far as I can make out she sort of moonlights for the Catholic authorities. She sweeps things under the carpet for them, in-house stuff they want to be sure stays in house.'

‘And you?'

‘Like I said, I'm her odd-job man. My way of saying thank you for Rome and for Denmark.'

‘So, she's connected and she's no lightweight?'

‘Professional killers don't shoot nobodies where I come from.'

‘And where do you come from when you're not being chewed up or doing odd jobs for moonlighting academics?'

‘London. Detective sergeant in the Met. about a thousand years ago, but I still know how to put two and two together when I have to.'

She fell silent.

The Comedian had been spot on, no lies needed, no acting needed, just tell her the truth, let her add two and two and wait for her to come up with five.

‘Why are you telling me all this?'

‘You asked.'

‘I asked, but you don't owe me anything, so again, why are you telling me?'

‘No, I don't owe you anything but I think we need to work together so I've told you.'

‘Don't count on it to get you anything. Nothing you've told me gets me anywhere with what I'm working on.'

‘Which is?'

‘The Colmar estate. That's all you need to know.'

‘What's the secret ingredient in the Colmar estate that's got everyone jumping?'

‘Does there have to be a something?'

‘An old guy dead in Munich, Joubert in hospital, McBride gunned down outside her office, a journalist pushed under a train …'

‘What journalist? You mentioned a journalist before.'

‘Serge didn't tell you? Naughty Serge. He got me a journalist to visit the old guy's daughter in Munich to see what he could get out of her. They pushed him under a train at a local station and got a witness to say it was suicide.'

‘Did he get anything?'

‘No idea, he never reported in before he went under the train.'

‘So you have no idea what this is all about?'

‘Only that the score so far is two murders, one attempted murder, a criminal assault, and Danish Intelligence lifting me here in Rome which to a nasty mind could be classed as kidnapping. I'd say there had to be something pretty exceptional in the Colmar estate for all that to have happened, wouldn't you?'

‘I wouldn't say, and it's three murders. You left out the dead police officer in Gagny sous Bois. Don't forget Serge.'

Jimmy wasn't forgetting Serge, he would have a hard time with that, but it would have to come later. Right now he was busy with other things.

‘My point is, I think we'd stand a better chance if I know what you know.'

‘Your boss McBride never told you what this was all about?'

‘No. Just find an heir.'

‘Then I'm not about to tell you either. You were a detective, if you want to know then you'll have to find out for yourself. What about our Danish friend?'

‘What about him?'

‘You said he wants you to get close to me, to report back to him. What are you going to do about that?'

‘Nothing, there's nothing I can do. Now you know what he wants you dump me or keep me with you. It's your choice not mine.'

‘I should dump you.'

‘Yes, that's the safe way.'

‘But you think maybe not the right way?'

‘It's the safe way.'

‘But?'

‘But you wouldn't have taken me on board unless you needed me.'

‘I took you on board? That's not how I remember it. As I remember it you slapped me about and did all the threatening.'

‘OK, you're cleverer than me. You can act and I can't. You got yourself Serge because you needed somebody to handle a bit of rough stuff and I don't mean the sex.' That got a smile. Jimmy was pleased. ‘Once you knew I'd killed him you decided I should fill his boots. You still needed someone to look after the rough stuff.'

The smile had lasted.

‘The sex?'

‘No. For that you'll have to get somebody else. I know what goes where and why but that's as far as it goes with me. With me it would be sex within the meaning of the act, but as for magnificent and wonderful? No.'

She managed to go up as far as a small laugh.

‘So, no sex?'

‘No, but there'll still be other kinds of rough stuff and it'll need handling so maybe like I said, the safe way isn't the right way. Not if you want to get where you're going.'