Chapter 17
Constable Peter Coles, in a highly stressful situation, had done a good job. Taken as a vulnerable hostage he had followed the correct procedure and had complied with what his captor asked of him. He also followed the three primary directives of police work, observe, observe and observe. The ugly wound which curved across his neck, had been inflicted to press home his vulnerable position and looked far worse than it was. The medical officer saw to it that he was soon cleaned up and bandaged. He was told that there would be a slight scar but it would fade in a relatively short time. Peter was not overly worried; the scar was almost a badge of honour. It should stand him a few pints among his colleagues, until the novelty wore off. For the moment, now that the initial trauma was receding, the young officer was rather enjoying his brief exposure under the spotlight. Detective Sergeant James Conway and his assistant Detective Constable Megan Oliver took him to be debriefed.
"Now, you're sure you feel up to this lad?" Conway was a middle aged avuncular character with a genuine concern for the welfare of his officers; particularly the new recruits.
"Yes sir. I'm fine now... really."
"Good man, now tell us what you remember."
The sergeant pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and offered it round for pieces to be snapped off.
"Well sir, we were proceeding down the high street when we got the call to attend the robbery at the Bullion exchange. As luck would have it we were already close to the action and immediately gave chase to the fleeing BMW. It was obvious that they were going way too fast for the road conditions, I think our siren spooked them... By the time we got a clear view of them, the car was already completely out of control. Gavin... that's constable Williams held back a little so that we wouldn't get tangled up in the inevitable accident. As we arrived at the scene, we stopped a little way from the wreckage. The BMW was in a terrible state crushed under the front of the lorry. I saw the man jump from the car and land awkwardly, I think his leg was probably damaged in the accident. He ran off limping and slipped down the alley on the left, about twenty metres from the scene of the accident."
"And he was carrying the attaché case?"
"Yes that's right...It looked almost too heavy for him. I guessed it must be part of the proceeds of the robbery."
"It was the same type as the one we recovered from the BMW?"
"Yes sir, as far as I remember they looked like a matching pair."
"Make a note of that Megan, maybe someone will remember selling a pair of matching cases, that would not be a common occurrence."
Megan licked her chocolatey fingers and jotted the request down in her notebook. She knew it would be a futile exercise, another needle in a haystack job.
"What happened next Peter?"
"Well Sir as I went round the corner to the alley he came at me and caught me off guard. He was a stocky man well built, strong. I guess he must have swung at me with the case and then suddenly he was behind me and I went down onto my knees. Then he held my chin and..."
Peter became visibly shaken at the memory.
"All right, take your time lad."
The young constable took a deep breath before continuing.
"He sliced my throat... shit. " Clearly still distressed by the memory, his hands went to his throat in a reflex action.
"Sorry sir... but I really thought I was a dead man for a while."
"I know son, take your time, what happened next?"
"He took my handcuffs and clipped my ankles together, then he limped off hauling the case with him. He turned left up Kingston Street. A little while later help arrived, by then he had disappeared."
"Yes he did disappear... into thin air. OK that's good lad, is there anything you can remember about the man?"
"Oh yes I was careful to make a mental note about him. He was medium height but well built, dark hair cut short, there were no distinguishing features that I saw. He was dressed in a dark almost black jacket, a bit like an army combat jacket, you know the sort... lots of pockets and he had fawn trousers. Oh and polished brown boots."
"Did you notice which leg was injured?"
"The left one... I think."
"OK... Did he say anything to you?"
"Oh, yes, that reminds me, he was a Scotsman, quite a strong accent. He told me that if I cooperated he would not kill me."
"Did he now, he sounds like a right friendly bastard. We need to bring this man down Peter, is there anything else you can add?"
"Nothing that would pass as a fact, but I felt he had a sort of military bearing, I wondered if he could be ex-services, and I thought he might have been an officer, just from the way he acted, sort of in control of things."
"That's good constable, we'll take a formal statement later when you feel up to it, in the meantime Megan will drive you home. We don't expect you in for a couple of days... get your feet up."
Sergeant Conway stood and finished his fruit and nut. The wrapper was tossed in an expertly executed arc into the waste bin.
"Megan when you've taken young Peter home, see if you can find any candidates who have recently left the services that fit the description. Concentrate on Scot's officers. Then check the local hospitals for anyone turning up with a leg injury, left leg especially." Megan rolled her eyes There must be hundreds she thought; another needle in another haystack.
"Yes sir, I'll get onto that straight away... Come on then Pete, let's get you home love."
Megan's enquiries came up against a brick wall and there were no sightings or security camera images at all of a man in a dark jacket in the vicinity. The wanted man had vanished without trace.
The next day Tony bought a selection of newspapers and read up about the robbery. He was keen to know what had happened but also had a rather smug I told you so feeling; he had a premonition that the robbery would end in disaster and here was the confirmation. There were no names mentioned in the papers but it did say that a quantity of gold coins and bullion had been recovered. The BMW had been reported stolen some weeks earlier and the police assumed, correctly, that it had been stolen with the robbery in mind. They were asking for sightings of the car, finding where it had been kept might be useful. Tony winced at this information and hoped that no one had seen the dummy run. The way he had driven the car would not have gone unnoticed by anyone in the vicinity and his face was well known in the area.
The Police were also looking for a man to help with their enquiries who had assaulted an officer while making his getaway. He was thought to be a Scot of medium height and with short dark hair and had last been seen dressed in a dark, possibly black combat style jacket. Tony assumed the man the police wanted was John Mason but where did they get the idea that he was Scottish? Tony considered the possibility that the man who had got out of the car was someone else entirely. He wondered if Mason could have been one of the men in the car who had not survived the accident, or like himself had walked away from the robbery altogether. He had no way of knowing but it was important to know if Mason was looking for him. After considering his position he decided that he would be safer to assume that he was still in danger. He knew Costard too well, he knew that he would never forgive his disappearing act, that he would almost certainly have put on contract on his head. The man Costard would have gone to with that was John Mason and the thought chilled Tony to the core. It was still too soon to lift his head over the parapet. Now the idea that John Mason was out there looking for revenge, was suddenly central to his thoughts.
Tony's mind turned yet again to his sister's cottage, if only he had managed to inherit it, the money would be enough to give him his new start. He had vague plans of making an escape to South America but for that he needed money. His mind flirted for a brief and troubled instant with his original idea of killing Emily, but it would now be murder; there was no escaping the fact. It was far too dark a place to go. Tony was all too aware that he had a dark place inside him and that he had not yet fully confronted it. He feared that if he ever did
confront his demon head on, it may prove be too strong for him, may be able to convince him to do anything. He put the dark thoughts from his mind and instead decided to make a flying visit to see his mother, maybe she would have a little money to put him back on his feet.
John Mason had his knee seen to. He chose a busy time at A and E when no one would pay too much attention to him. He had suffered a cracked patella and it only needed strapping up. He was given the advice to keep off it until the pain subsided. Mason had neglected to shown them the extensive bruising across his chest and arms nor had he told them of the post-accident aches and pains. The emergency room gave him pain killers for his knee which helped, and he went on his way. John Mason kept himself fit and from long experience as a combat soldier, knew that his broken bones healed quickly. As far as he knew no one had connected him with the incident that held centre stage in the local papers. His best plan was to drop out of sight but first he had a duty to his fellow survivor. He made a call to Kevin.
"Mate, I guess you are up to speed with what happened, it's been all over the news..."
"John, yes what a fucking cock up, are you OK yourself like?"
"I'm fine, came away with a stiff knee. Look what I wanted to talk about was your share of the proceeds."
"My share... I wasn't expecting anything."
"I walked away with half the haul Kevin, there'll be a decent pay out for you."
"Really, that's triffic John, most would have legged it with the lot."
"Haven't you heard of honour among thieves?"
"Heard of it yeah, can't say I've seen much of it about though, know what I mean?" He tried a laugh but it was half hearted, for once Kev's sense of humour had abandoned him.
"Well, this will be a first then, look Kevin, it's really best if we aren't seen together in public again. Do you still have access to Jimmy's getaway house?"
"Yeah... The cops have been crawling all over Jimmy's warehouse, there was a lot of loot with my name on it stored there that I won't see again. But they still don't know about the rented house."
"OK, that's good I'll drop your share off tonight after dark, say nine o'clock."
"I'll be there John. That sounds sweet man... I really owe you for this."
"It's what Jimmy would have wanted... Have you got plans for the future?"
"I'm getting well away from the area, probably head for Spain, now you've brought me the windfall... I know some people over there... Will there be enough money to set me up?"
"Easily Kev but as you know it's all in gold, hard to trace but also hard to shift across borders."
"That's no problem, Jimmy already fixed up his contacts. Some banker who works on the edge of what's legal, know what I mean. I can get it converted into Euros and deposited in a bank account in my name."
"You trust these contacts Kevin?"
"Yeah Mate they're well solid... So how about you John?"
"There's one uncomfortable job Jimmy left me to take care of then the name John Mason will disappear for ever."
"Best of luck with that... This job, would it have Tony Wilcox's name on it?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny that Kevin..."
"No... 'nuff said John. That snivelling rat has earned what's coming to him. Anyway, if you'd like me to put you in touch with Jimmy's bankers just let me know."
"Yes thanks, but maybe I'd be safer to handle it myself."
As promised Mason handed over Kevin's share, there was plenty to go round. He then made a quick exit from the rented premises, choosing not to take advantage of the offered glass or two, he noticed that Kevin was already well beyond mellow.
Mason had always thought that the clever thing to do, if you chose to follow a criminal life style, was do one big job and then stop; the chances of being caught would be minimal. Well this bullion theft was a big enough job to give John all he needed. It would not make him super rich but it would make him more than comfortable. That level of wealth was all he wanted; John Mason had no interest in excess. This job was also his first involvement in a robbery, he discounted his other inter-personal activities which were in a different league. Mason took the decision to spend the rest of his life as an honest citizen... After he had completed the one last account that honour demanded be settled. He wondered what Kevin would do. Probably splash out big and let the money slip through his fingers in a couple of years... That was entirely up to Kevin; Mason would not be around to watch what he expected to be a slow motion extravagant train wreck.
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