by Ted Tayler
“What?”
“When O’Riordan got out of the rear off-side door he moved like a seventy-year-old. Rusty had all the time in the world to get his shots off.”
“That is odd, it doesn’t match his reputation.”
“Once the gang had left the motorway, we were playing catch-up. We believed the vehicles they used to stop the van would have been part of their escape plan. We didn’t factor in them abandoning four or five vehicles altogether. That was clever. It made the task of emergency services even harder. The motorway has two lanes out of action now for the rest of the day. Crime scene officers will have so much evidence to collect from the road they’ll be smothered in it.”
“You anticipated the split correctly, I grant you that,” said Athena, “but you couldn’t possibly have known they planned to drop these three prisoners at railway stations.”
“I knew O’Riordan would go in the opposite direction to the others. That felt obvious. He was heading for either the east or south coast. Once Artemis told us the others had left the A127 and which towns lay ahead, it became clear. They were using a different form of transport. The rail network had to be the best option. The police would assume O’Riordan had gone the same route. Their whole ruse was based on getting him away to safety. If the other three got recaptured it didn’t matter.”
“I’m hoping to hear from Giles in the next hour,” said Athena, “he’s been following the movements of the three prisoners. He notified the police and gave a full description of what they wore.”
“We could walk over together if you wish?” said Phoenix. “I’ll tell you what happened at Rayleigh on the way. It will be better than sitting here waiting for him to call.”
They took the back stairs to the kitchen door. The afternoon sun was warm on their backs as they crossed the lawn. Phoenix told Athena how O’Riordan and the others had died.
“Are you sure it wise to let this man Simms live?” she asked.
“It’s a calculated risk, the same as Rusty and I waiting outside Rayleigh. That paid off, and I believe this will too. Simms will report back to his handler in the O’Riordan gang, who set up this escape bid. In turn, that handler will inform Hanigan. We have wounded the Grid on several occasions in the past month. Often the wounds that fester, and cause the deepest harm are those carried in the mind, not on the body.”
They reached the entrance to the ice-house and descended in the lift to the operations room. Giles Burke talked with Artemis and Rusty.
“Thanks for your help today,” Phoenix said to Giles and Artemis. “You had to do a lot of quick thinking to get the result we sought. What’s the current state of play?”
Giles looked at his watch.
“It’s five hours since the prisoners were extracted from the van. Andy Walters and his team dealt with the occupants of the first getaway car. I contacted a backup crew in the area to reinforce the other members of his team hunting the getaway cars from Rainham and Dagenham. We received news from them ten minutes ago. I can confirm that every one of the gang members who left the scene has now been eliminated.”
“Excellent,” said Athena.
“That’s another strong message delivered to the Grid,” said Phoenix.
“What news on the prisoners?” asked Athena.
“Transport police are on the alert,” said Giles, “they know how our men are dressed. They know the identity of the four prisoners. Even on a warm, sunny day, they’ll stop dozens of men wearing a similar outfit who are totally innocent, but the noose is tightening.”
“We’re monitoring the situation closely, Athena,” said Artemis, “I reckon the police will find them soon enough to save face. How they explain away what happened to O’Riordan and the others near Rayleigh is a different matter.”
“The actions of Andy Walters and his team will be easy enough to sweep under the carpet I presume?” asked Phoenix.
“The police won’t worry too much about losing a dozen active criminals from their future caseload,” said Artemis.
“Family members are prepared for the worst when loved ones choose a violent profession,” said Rusty. “Tears will be shed when they disappear without a trace, but they aren’t left with many avenues they can pursue to uncover the truth.”
“We’ll deploy the usual misdirection tactics,” said Giles, “as you did earlier, Phoenix.”
“Sorry, did I miss something?” asked Athena.
“Rusty called me when they were halfway back to Larcombe,” said Artemis. “They were due here at two, but he told me Phoenix needed a comfort break at Membury services.”
“Not unusual on a long day’s mission, is it?” asked Athena.
“The ketchup stains on Rusty’s shirt suggests they took more than a comfort break,” said Artemis, with a grin.
“Not bacon rolls again,” laughed Athena, “you two are incorrigible. Erebus was staggered by how many you managed to put away in those meetings in the orangery.”
“All that action makes a man hungry, what can I say?” said Phoenix.
“Time to call it a day,” said Athena, “let’s take a break. Giles, you too. Delegate the monitoring to your staff overnight. We’ll get together for an hour in the morning to hear the latest. Well done, everybody.”
The two couples left the ice-house and made their way back to the manor house.
“Enjoy the rest of the day,” said Athena, as Rusty and Artemis went to their apartment.
As she and Phoenix reached their door, they could hear Hope’s laughter as Maria Elena played with her.
“That has to be the best sound in the world,” said Athena.
Phoenix thought the sound of bacon frying in the pan ran it a close second but thought it safer not to mention it.
CHAPTER 14
Saturday, 14th June 2014
Another sun-blessed morning greeted the agents as they faced a new day. The unscheduled morning meeting took place at ten o’clock and everyone had gathered to hear what had been learned overnight.
“Over to you, Giles,” said Athena.
“The three prisoners have been recaptured. The Assistant Commissioner gave the news at nine o’clock this morning. They are being interviewed as we speak. The police want to learn who helped them to escape yesterday.”
“How far did they get?” asked Rusty.
“The guy who left from Hornchurch travelled to Victoria and was at Gatwick Airport when he was arrested. It appears the gang supplied each man with a wad of cash plus a change of outfit.”
“Our Rainham prisoner lacked imagination,” Artemis continued. “He went to Fenchurch Street station and started looking for a woman.”
“Any particular woman?” asked Henry.
“Don’t think so,” said Artemis. “He’d been locked up for a long time.”
“How did the police find him?” asked Minos.
“He visited a bar where he thought he might get lucky and starting drinking. The landlord went to throw him out later when he started singing and touching up any female who got within a few feet of him. The guy started a fight with the landlord and a customer. I bet the police couldn’t believe their luck when they arrived expecting to be dealing with a spot of drunk and disorderly.”
“And the Dagenham prisoner?” asked Alastor.
“He went to Tilbury Dock,” said Giles, “and tried to board a cargo boat sailing under a Singapore flag. There was an argument over the amount of money required to get him to their next port-of-call. The gang possibly gave each man four to five hundred pounds, but the captain wanted more than the prisoner was prepared to offer. A machete featured in the argument as well as a lot of shouting. The dock police intervened and held both men for questioning. The penny dropped late last night that the hopeful traveller might be one of the escaped prisoners. That gave the Met’s morale a lift. They could report that all three remaining prisoners had been recaptured within twelve hours.”
“How did they handle the rest of the story?” asked Henry.
“Did they mention Simms?” asked Phoenix.
“The police seem unaware of a fourth person in the car,” replied Giles, “or they aren’t releasing that information. Difficult to tell.”
“Who do they think was responsible for the breakout?” asked Alastor.
“More important for us, who do the police reckon killed O’Riordan and the others?” asked Phoenix.
“They would be searching for the gang members using the same source information we used,” said Artemis. “That is still available to them until the prisoners were dropped at the stations. Sadly, a fault developed overnight and much of what followed got erased. The feed resumes after the Olympus cars had left the scene. There were no cameras in the countryside where O’Riordan died.”
Giles picked up on Alastor’s question.
“The police are saying they are continuing to search for the people responsible for the breakout. Good luck with that, and Tony Simms won’t help them, even if they discover he was in the car. When the AC answered that question, Alastor, he pointed the finger at the gang O’Riordan led for many years. As to why he was shot, O’Riordan received a severe beating in Belmarsh earlier in the week. It was touch and go whether he would travel yesterday. Heather James, the nurse killed in the crash travelled on board to tend to him if he became ill on the journey. The police think the breakout was solely designed to set him free. Someone who wanted him dead used that to finish the job they’d started inside Belmarsh. Melvin and Lumsden were collateral damage, or ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ as the AC said this morning.”
“That explains why O’Riordan struggled to get out of the car,” said Rusty.
“Anything further?” asked Athena.
“We’re still monitoring things, Athena,” said Giles. “If we need more smoke to confuse the authorities it will be organised.”
“It looks as if you’ve pulled it off again, Phoenix,” said Athena.
“We must remain vigilant,” he replied. “We haven’t had a response from the Grid yet. Simms will fill in a few of the gaps for whoever masterminded the plan. The missing men from the breakout crew will throw up various possibilities as to who got rid of them, and why. It won’t be long before they lash out at someone. When that happens, it will be a swift and deadly attack.”
*****
Colleen had called their children, Tyrone and Rosie last evening to tell them the news. They would fly home for the funeral when it could be arranged. She didn’t know how long it would be before the police released Tommy’s body.
The champagne had tasted less satisfying than she had imagined. Twenty-four hours ago, Tommy was alive, a few hours from a life in the sun. He would have been stranded over four thousand miles away, out of her life forever. She could be her own woman at last.
Now he was dead. That hadn’t been in her plans. Why did things never turn out how you wanted them? Tommy’s death couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time. She moved into her new place in just over two weeks. How could she explain that to the kids? They thought they would come to stay here in the family home.
It was odds on the funeral wouldn’t take place before the middle of July. Then there was the hassle of the will and settling Tommy’s estate. Her lawyer had tidied things up to her satisfaction while he was in prison. Nothing would have changed while he still lived in the Dominican, but now every member of the O’Riordan clan would have their nose in the trough. She might need to let the solicitor have more than a glimpse of her tits if she wanted to get away with every penny Tommy had.
Sean hadn’t called back. He was probably sleeping it off. If he had ever stopped drinking. The police would knock on his door before long. It didn’t take a genius to work out Tommy’s old outfit were favourites for springing him from Belmarsh. Colleen had a brainwave, she rang Sean.
“How are you, Sean?” she asked.
“Hanging, what do you think?”
“Give your head a shake and listen. Take a taxi, and get over here, now. You need a holiday.”
Thirty minutes later, a dishevelled Sean Walsh stood on her doorstep.
“The police will ask questions, Sean,” she said, “and you’re in no state to give them sensible answers on your own. We need to get our statements lined up first. We both visited Tommy on the hospital wing in Belmarsh on Tuesday. That can be confirmed easy enough. He told us he felt in danger for his life and couldn’t wait to get up to Durham. They’ll swallow that after the beating he took. You stayed home all day yesterday. Your phone records and mine will confirm we talked to one another, and the GPS will place us in north-west London, not out on the M25 in Essex.”
“What about the calls I had with Tony Simms?” asked Sean.
“They know you’re both criminals, Sean, just say it was business. You don’t need to incriminate yourself. Tony will sing from the same hymn sheet if they ever find out he was involved. There’s no way they can connect you to the breakout if Tony and the others keep their mouths shut. They haven’t caught any of them, have they?”
“No, it’s only the prisoners they’ve caught up with, so far. They were expendable anyway. Tommy was the important one.”
“Yeah, and we know who topped him. We’ll let the police try to work it out on their own. That will take the wooden tops six months minimum. What we know, we keep to ourselves. If anyone’s taking revenge for my Tommy’s murder, it’s me.”
“So, we tell the cops the same story to keep them off my back, what do we do then?”
Colleen had been waiting for the chance to reveal her great idea.
“With Tommy not needing it, the place near La Romana is vacant, and there’s loads of money in the bank. We’ll get you on a plane tonight, or tomorrow. Stay there until the heat dies down.”
“I can’t leave the wife and kids without a word,” said Sean.
“No, you prat, take them with you, the kids will only miss a week of schooling, then you’ll be okay for another six weeks. We can sort you out somewhere fresh to start back. We’ll sell your place while you’re away. The money’s there, Sean, trust me. I need you around when I tackle Hanigan. I can’t afford for you to be banged up.”
“I’ll miss the funeral?”
“I’ll give him a proper send-off, Sean. Tyrone will walk behind his coffin with me.”
“What about Hanigan?”
“You leave him to me. He’ll need to look for a new person to front up the gang while you’re out of the country. Seamus McConnell is a fool and will be history. I’ll convince him it’s best to keep it in the family.”
“He won’t work with a woman, sis, don’t be daft.”
“He worked with Tommy, didn’t he? Then he worked with you. How hard could it be? Anyway, it will only be a temporary arrangement.”
Sean thought things over with a black coffee. His head had hurt when he shook it earlier. It made more sense the longer he thought about it. He’d been to enough funerals. Missing Tommy’s would be tough to take, but it got him out of Hanigan’s way. His family wouldn’t complain at two months in the Caribbean, and a new home to return to in a different part of town could be made to work too. He needed to get back in his wife’s good books after the slap he had given her when he was drinking yesterday.
“Okay, sis,” he said, “let’s get our brief to sort out these statements. Then we’re covered if the police come calling. If things get difficult while I’m away, the family can come home in September, and I’ll hide out in La Romana until it’s safe.”
“Well done, Sean, I knew you’d see sense. I’ll make sure the money’s there for you.”
*****
Hugo Han
igan had watched the same news report as Sean Walsh and Colleen O’Riordan. He was as stunned as they were. He had been ribbing Sean on Wednesday when they met. Hugo never imagined someone would kill him as soon as he was sprung from prison. Who could have done it? Everything went smoothly. They were an hour away from the coast. Tommy was so close to freedom. It made no sense.
On Saturday morning Hugo read the newspapers. As lunchtime approached, he listened to the latest news bulletins as one by one the prisoners were recaptured. He kept waiting for Sean and his crew to get a mention. The police were hunting for the gang but making no inroads whatsoever. That felt wrong. Sean had done well, with Colleen’s help, but the police should have tracked at least one person involved. His idea of gathering the gang leaders together seemed an even better idea today. Questions needed to be asked. Answers had to be given. Who killed Tommy O’Riordan, and why?
*****
The Walsh family flew out to the Dominican Republic with British Airways on Monday, the sixteenth of June. The coroner released Tommy’s body on Monday, the thirtieth, the day Colleen took possession of the keys to her penthouse overlooking Hugo Hanigan’s apartment.
Colleen could now inform the O’Riordan family, the Walsh’s, and those from the Kelly and O’Regan clans Tommy’s sisters had married into, that the funeral would be at two o’clock on Friday, the fourth of July.
Tyrone and Rosie flew into Heathrow on Thursday afternoon. A driver met them as they came through Arrivals. They were more than surprised to be taken to a hotel, rather than their old home. The manager told them they were booked into a suite for three nights.
A note from Colleen was waiting for them in their room, giving details of the funeral at St Mary’s, in Kensal Green. The driver would collect them at one fifteen tomorrow to take them to the social club. Their mother promised to be there to meet them. The clothes she expected them to wear were being delivered first thing in the morning.
On Friday morning, Colleen stood and watched as the odds and ends she was taking with her were loaded into the removals truck. Her new clothes and furniture would be waiting outside her apartment block when the taxi dropped her off at ten. As soon as the funeral was over, she would return to make sure everything was done to her satisfaction. She had no intention of attending the wake at the club. Tyrone and Rosie could represent her.