by Nell Grey
“What happened?”
“Her manager attacked her. I ran in to help. I’ve tied him up.”
“We’d better come up, then,” Ellis says a little stiffly. He’s still wary.
We both climb up the stairs towards Sion, who backs off into the kitchen.
“Annie!”
Claire rushes to me with a bloody towel on the side of her face, and I hold onto her tightly.
“It’s alright.”
“Kevin cut me. What’s it like?”
She lifts the towel tentatively away from her face, and I guide her over to the window so I can take a proper look at it. I can see the deep, thick line that’s been slashed right down her neck.
“It’s nasty but we’ll get you sorted, don’t worry.”
“Will it scar?”
When I don’t answer, I hear her sniffing back tears.
It’s only then that I notice Kevin tied to a chair. His face is covered in blood too, and he looks mean.
“Yes, you can enter the flat safely, over... Roger that.”
Ellis’ voice into his police radio cuts through the air.
Then, silence.
The detective appears frozen for a second. I’m not sure why. Surely, he must have dealt with worse incidents than this?
“If it’s alright with you, I’m gonna take Claire to Accident and Emergency.”
“Stay put for a minute.”
The detective’s eyes are fixed on Sion.
“The gun? Where is it?”
Sion looks at him innocently.
“Gun?”
“Yeah. The police outside heard gunshot.”
Ellis scans the room, then points upwards to his left.
“The bullet’s probably embedded in that hole. Right there, in the ceiling.”
“It’s in his bag.”
The detective swivels around towards Kevin, who’s piped up for the first time.
“Annie, can you hand me that sports bag, please?”
Sion watches on impassively, as I take the bag over to the detective.
“Open it, please.”
I put the bag onto the ground and unzip it fully for the detective. Inside, we can all see a handgun.
Ellis’ eyes meet Sion’s.
“I’m arresting you for possession of an illegal firearm.”
He produces a set of cuffs from his pocket and places them around Sion’s already outstretched wrists. Locking them shut, he continues.
“And on suspicion of murder.”
“Murder? Who’s murder?” I ask, dumbfounded.
He motions to Kevin bound to the chair in front of him.
“Your father, Glyn Evans. It’s the same rope.”
Claire and I watch speechless and shocked, as both Sion and Kevin are handcuffed and taken away by the police.
Sion doesn’t speak either. His head is bowed, but as he leaves, I see his eyes fixed on Claire’s with unshakeable imploring intensity.
“I didn’t do it.”
Claire lets out a loud sob when we’re finally alone.
Placing my arm around her, I take her out of there and on to the hospital. After that, we’ve got a trip to the police station to make a statement.
While she’s getting treated, I call the farmhouse and talk to Jac.
I don’t believe it. Why on earth would Sion, Jac’s best mate, murder my father?
CHAPTER 26
-----------✸----------
“Are you sure that you’re up to this?”
Detective Ellis smiled kindly at Claire, who was sitting across from him with large sterile pads taped along her neck up to her ear.
“Yes. I want to get it over and done with.”
“So, you went to get your wages?”
“Right. And Glenda, the cleaner, told me that Kevin was up in the flat. So, I went up the stairs and he attacked me from behind as I went in. He held a knife to my face, and he threatened to use it on me if I didn’t phone Sion.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why was he interested in Sion?”
Claire shifted in her chair.
“I dunno.”
She felt Ellis’ eyes searing into her.
“It doesn’t make sense. Why would Kevin grab you, so you could call Sion?”
“You need to ask Kevin that.”
“But, why Sion?”
“No idea,” she repeated, her voice rising with emotion. “He had a knife, and he slashed me when I tried to get free.”
She was getting upset. He pushed the paper pad and biro towards her.
“Interview terminated at five-thirty. Write out your statement here, Claire, and then you can go home. It’s been a traumatic day. Is Annie waiting for you?”
She nodded.
“And Jac’s here too.”
She began to jot down the sequence of events as they ended the recording.
Ellis leaned back in his seat. She was holding out on him. It didn’t matter, for now, it would all come out sooner or later.
After a wall of silence from Sion, he’d given him his phone call.
But, he’d spent a very productive hour with Kevin, while Sion was left to stew back in a holding cell.
Kevin had sung like a canary.
According to him, Sion was a wanted man. The Scousers, the notorious Liverpool drugs outfit, had put a large price on his head. They had their tentacles in Wales. But, out here too? In the Cross Keys pub? In the middle of nowhere?
The Baikal IZH-79 confirmed that Sion Edwards was no angel. His bag was full of professional kit, and his gun was the semi-automatic firearm of choice on the black market.
The picture was becoming clearer.
This ex-SAS soldier was a professional gangster.
So, what was the connection to Glyn Evans?
Ellis picked up the vending machine cup of cold, sweet black coffee and knocked it back like a shot.
“Annie and Jac?”
Ellis threw out casually as Claire finished up writing her statement.
“What’s going on there?”
“Back together,” Claire responded, not looking up.
Ellis nodded pensively.
Two deaths. A large inheritance. Two elite ex-soldiers.
Motive, opportunity and means.
It was going to be a long night.
Taking Claire’s statement, he signalled to the uniformed officer by the interview room door.
“We’ll get someone to take you home.”
Claire was confused.
“But, Jac and Annie are waiting for me in reception?”
“They’re going to be a bit busy, I’m afraid. Helping us with our enquiries.”
◆◆◆
“How the Hell could I have known that Sion murdered my father?”
He’s drilling again.
“I was away in London. I was hardly ever back home.”
“No, I didn’t meet him when I was back at Christmas. Or Jac…. That’s right, I was home for three days…. No, I’d never heard of Sion Edwards, back then.... I hadn’t spoken to Jac before my father died for twelve years…. Detective, where are you going with this?”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
First, Jac and I are called in from the front reception area. Then, we’re then taken to different interview rooms to give statements. And now, all of a sudden, I’m sitting here, listening to all manner of lies being knitted together about us.
Ellis presses on, aggressively.
“You and Jac? You’re lovers now? Isn’t it, kinda perfect how it’s all worked out for you?”
“Yes. It is. It’s the one positive outcome from weeks of pain. The shock of dad; then, watching my mother die. Have you any idea what that’s like?”
I’m getting angry and upset.
“So what, about Jac and me? We were together when we were eighteen, and we are again now. Ask Claire or Cal? Even better, check with Jac? They’ll all tell you how we got together after Mam
and Dad passed.”
“Cal?”
He reads off his notes.
“Is that Callista Jones?”
“Yes.”
“Jac’s mother?”
He’s staring smugly at me. Jees! Now he thinks she’s in on it as well. Whatever ‘it’ is.
I throw my hands in the air in exasperation.
“You can keep on with your conspiracy theories all night, but you’re wrong! I hadn’t been in touch with Jac for years. In fact, not until you guys asked him to call me.”
◆◆◆
“So, you and Sion go way back, right?”
Jac raked his fingers over his head and took a deep breath.
“Yeah. We joined up at the same time.”
“And you say he’s like a brother to you?”
“Yes.”
Jac paused to find his words.
“When you’re on the front line with someone, dodging a bullet, watching out for snipers and IUDs every day, you develop a bond. He saved my life one time. And I saved his. We’re like brothers.”
“So, you’d say that you really know him?” Ellis pressed. “About as well as anybody could?”
“Yeah, I’d say so.”
Ellis swung back on his plastic chair.
“So how come, then, you knew nothing about his gun?”
Ellis leaned in, eyeballing him.
“Or his involvement with the Scousers?”
“Who?”
Jac glanced away.
“He didn’t tell me,” he uttered quietly.
“Didn’t tell you? Why’s that? I thought you guys had…”
He checked his notes.
“A special bond?”
Jac studied the table.
“I don’t know why he didn’t say.”
“For the recording, can you repeat that please?”
“I said, I don’t know why he didn’t tell me.”
Ellis spotted the irritation in his voice; he was starting to break him down.
“No. You thought he was off mending computer networks. So... are you now telling me that you didn’t know your so-called brother as well as you thought you did? Is that right?”
“Apparently so.”
“What about the gun?”
“Never seen it before.”
“No?”
“No.”
“And the rope?”
“The rope?”
“Yes. The climbing rope Sion tied the bar manager up with. It was the same rope he used to hang Glyn Evans.”
Jac stared blankly at Ellis.
“What happened, Jac?”
“I’ve no idea what you’re on about… Ask Sion.”
Ellis studied him carefully.
The silence bounced around the walls as Jac tensed and squirmed on the hard plastic chair.
“You’ve done well for yourself.”
“What?”
“Beautiful girl, like Annie. Big farm, lots of potential. Very good income.”
Ellis could feel him smouldering. Any second, he’d blow.
He pushed again.
“Feet well and truly under the table. It’s all working out well for you, Jac. Isn’t it?”
“What are you implying?”
“What d’you think I’m implying, Jac?”
“That I’m with Annie just for the farm? That I don’t love her?”
Jac’s voice rose in a crescendo of anger.
“Or that we cooked up a plan to kill Glyn between us? Is that what you’re saying? And that we gave Maureen terminal cancer too? This is bollocks! Utter bullshit!”
“So, how did Glyn get that rope?”
“I... don’t... know!”
◆◆◆
Sion stared at the bare shadowy wall behind Ellis’ head. The video camera was on, and so far it had recorded a whole heap of nothing.
This Sion was one tough nut to crack. Trained in interrogation, no doubt.
“Tell me,” Ellis began again. “We know you’re on the Scousers’ Most Wanted list. Let’s put that to one side for now. What I’m really interested in is this climbing rope of yours. How did Glyn Evans get a hold of that rope to kill himself?”
Sion didn’t answer.
Ellis tried again.
“What did they offer you?”
Silence.
It was harder than anyone could imagine maintaining silence. Ellis thought of it as a war. Who would break first?
“How much did Jac and Annie pay you to kill Glyn Evans?”
Silence.
“For the recording, Sion Edwards refuses to answer the question.”
Nothing.
“How did you do it?”
“For the recording, Sion Edwards refuses to answer the question.”
This was ridiculous.
“Did you kill Maureen too?”
Sion gave him a sarcastic look but kept schtum.
“For the recording, Sion Edwards refuses to answer the question.”
Fifteen minutes ticked by. Twenty. Thirty.
“Interview terminated at seven-fifteen pm. Take him back to the cells.”
Ellis motioned to the uniformed officer at the door, then turned back towards Sion.
“Let’s see how a night locked up improves your communication skills, eh?”
“Hey, Carol?”
Ellis called after his colleague who’d started walking back to her office upstairs.
“Yeah?”
“Can you do us a favour and dig out Glyn Evans’ post-mortem report and get the medical records and death certificate for Maureen Evans?”
“Sure. Leave it with me.”
There had to be a point of triangulation? Something more than just the rope?
“Ellis?”
A uniformed officer came up to meet them.
“Boss wants to see you in her office. Right away.”
Dropping the files onto his cluttered desk, Ellis went to the toilets to try and smarten himself up before making his way upstairs.
CHAPTER 27
-----------✸----------
“He’s free to go? But Ma’am…”
Ellis stood in front of The Superintendent, who was sitting stiffly behind the desk.
Her face was fixed as solidly as her lacquered, highlighted hair. And her sour face told him plainly that she was not in the mood to argue the toss about this.
“But, he was in possession of an illegal firearm? It’s obvious that he’s a villain.”
“He’s one of us.”
“What?”
“He’s an undercover operative. NCA. That’s why the Scousers are after him. I’ve arranged transportation for him back to London tonight. He’s going into witness protection. Throw the book at the barman. Grievous bodily harm with intent. Attempted murder, if you can make it stick. And talk to the NCA, check out the barman’s connections to the Scousers. They’ve obviously moved onto our patch.”
“But Ma’am, what about Glyn Evans?”
“What about Glyn Evans?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Ahh, you mean your farfetched hunch about the farmer suicide?”
“Yes, Ma’am. It’s hardly far-fetched though. It’s not a common rope around here, and...”
The Superintendent glared back at him and he shut up immediately.
“I’ve already examined the post-mortem report. There’s nothing. No bruising. No toxicology. No suggestions of force. But you know that already, right?”
Ellis scrunched his face.
He did.
“But Ma’am, how did Glyn get hold of the…”
She cut across him.
“Drop it, Roberts.”
“But Ma’am, with respect.”
“I said drop it.”
The words were articulated clearly and forcefully.
The post-mortem and Maureen’s medical records would hold nothing for him. It was another one of those messy endings that he hated so much.
◆◆◆
“Is
Claire Williams still here?” Sion asked the female uniformed officer as she released him from the cell.
There was arranged transport back to London. But he couldn’t leave without seeing Claire first.
“Let me check.”
The officer returned to the check-in desk by the cells, a couple of minutes later.
“She’s still in reception. We’ve been struggling to get a police car to take her home, so she’s waiting on a taxi.”
“Can I see her? I won’t be long.”
The officer took him through the building to the reception area, where Sion could see Claire slumped on the padded leatherette chairs. Her head was leaning against the wall, and she’d turned her coat into a pillow. The bandaged side of her face was covered from view. Sion could see that she was exhausted.
“Claire.”
Her head rose as he called her name.
“Sion?”
He heard the nervousness in her voice. He wanted to hug her, to hold her, but he could sense her tensing up as he approached.
In the end, he sat down in the row of chairs opposite.
“How’s your neck?”
“Sore.”
She turned away from him as her eyes filled up.
Leaning across the space between them, he took her hands in his.
“Claire, look at me.”
Reluctantly, she tilted her head towards him.
As well as tears, he saw her uncertainty.
“I’m free to go. They’ve dropped all their wild accusations. I’m heading to London. Tonight. Then witness protection. Come with me.”
She shook her head and stared at the floor.
There it was. Decision made.
“I can’t.”
She was trembling. Was it from shock or was she scared of him?
“You can’t deny it. We’ve got something, you and me. Something I’ve never felt before with anyone else. Tell me you don’t feel it too?”
“I do,” she breathed.
A tear escaped, and he let go of her hand to brush it off her cheek.
The police receptionist interrupted them.
“Your taxi’s here.”
Quickly rising from the chair, she gathered her coat and bag, and made to leave.
He tried to hold her hand again as she moved past him, but she pulled it away.
“I’m sorry, Sion.”
With her head down, she began walking towards the front entrance, where the taxi was parked outside.