Truth or Dare

by Tania Carver

  ‘She looks… odd,’ said Elli.

  ‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’

  ‘Can’t put my finger on it, but… odd.’

  She passed out of range of one camera. The other ones failed to pick her up.

  ‘Where’s she gone?’ asked Imani.

  ‘She’s parked somewhere where there aren’t cameras. She planned this.’

  ‘Where’s he, then?’ asked Imani. ‘There’s her leaving, but where’s he?’

  ‘In that suitcase?’ suggested Elli.

  ‘We’ll think about that later.’ Imani stood up. ‘Check the cars as they come out. See if you can spot her.’

  ‘Where you going?’

  ‘Back to my own desk. I want to run the guest names again. Compare Malmaison with the Radisson Blu. See if anything stands out. Keep at it. We’re on to something.’

  Imani walked away. Elli looked back at the screen. Thinking of Psycho again had made her uneasy.

  But still, watching that woman walk, she was sure there was something not quite right about her…

  75

  ‘N

  ot there,’ said Moses Heap, ending the call before it could go to voicemail. ‘I’ll text him.’ He had been trying to contact Glen Looker all morning. Before he had tried his mobile he tried his office. His secretary said she didn’t know where he was, with what sounded like a touch of fear in her voice, and didn’t know when he would be back. He didn’t want to press her on it, none of his business. Maybe they were having a thing, or something, and he had told her he was going back to his wife. Or girlfriend. Or whoever. He didn’t really know much about Glen Looker’s private life and didn’t much care. He just needed his help professionally now. It was an emergency.

  ‘I’ll text him,’ he said. ‘Tell him what’s happening.’

  ‘What… what is happening?’ asked Letisha.

  ‘You know what, babe,’ he said, thumbs working over the screen, ‘we’ve got to get away. Move out. Make ourselves scarce.’

  ‘Look, I know it’s dangerous, and all that, you said it was, but… can’t we just stay here? If we say —’

  ‘No.’ Text sent, he put his phone down, took Letisha by the shoulders. Not roughly but firmly. Looked right into her eyes. ‘You know what’ll happen. You knew what would happen as soon as you came to the studio.’

  ‘I didn’t know Tiny would be there.’

  ‘Why not? Think. It’s a truce. We’re supposed to be on the same side. Whatever suspicions he had about us long gone. Supposedly. Seeing you and me together again, for whatever reason, will start him off again, man. He hasn’t forgotten. Never would. And you know what he’s like. What he’s capable of.’

  Letisha shuddered. She had seen, all right. Her head dropped.

  ‘Well, we can’t take that chance. We got to get out of the way. At least until things cool down again.’ He took his hands from her shoulders, put one gently under her chin, turned her face up to his. ‘Yeah?’

  She smiled.

  ‘Okay. As long as, you know… You’re with me.’

  ‘I’ll be with you, babe.’

  Despite the feeling of apprehension, of danger, Letisha felt more than a little glimmer of hope. ‘Then let’s go.’

  They broke their embrace, Letisha going into the bedroom to pack.

  ‘What shall I take? What have you got?’

  ‘As much as you can carry. I just threw some stuff in a bag. Don’t know how long we’ll have to be away. Once we’re gone I’ll get Looker on the case. He can start negotiations for us to come back.’

  Letisha stopped what she was doing, put her head round the door. ‘What if… y’know? What if he can’t or they won’t let us?’

  Moses tried for a brave smile, for Letisha’s sake. ‘Then we’ll just see where we end up.’

  She went back into the bedroom smiling. As she packed, putting what she thought of as her good clothes into a cheap, black, frayed holdall, she thought about his words. See where we end up. That sounded good. In fact, that sounded even better than them having to come back to Birmingham. Proper romantic. Just the two of them on the road, not knowing where they would go, what would happen. Turning their lives into one big adventure. Together. The more Letisha thought of it, the more she wanted that more than anything else.

  She was starting to think that she was glad she had gone to see him, glad that this thing with Darren Richards had put Moses back in her life. Maybe it was fate. Meant to be. Karma. She didn’t know what that meant, not really, but she had heard it on telly and thought it sounded good. The way the people on the TV had been talking about it made it sound like for every bad thing that was done to you if you’re good you get a good one back. That sounded fine to Letisha. She had had that many bad things done to her over the years, she was owed a whole shitload of karma.

  And then there was a knock at the door.

  Letisha froze.

  Another knock.

  Letisha moved as quickly and as silently as she could into the living room. She stared at Moses who was staring at the door, his eyes wide with fear and horror. Neither moved.

  Another knock. Accompanied by a voice this time.

  ‘Hey, Moses, know you’re in there. Car’s down here. Open it.’

  Tiny’s voice.

  Hearing the voice, Moses broke out of the spell the knocks had cast on him. He looked around frantically. He ran to the window, opened the doors. Letisha ran with him. The balcony was small, the distance to the ground huge. He looked along. The next balcony was a couple of metres away. He might make it if he jumped, but he might not. And Letisha might not.

  He even thought that they could do a trick he’d seen in films where the hero – James Bond usually – hides from the bad guys by hanging underneath the balcony, only coming back up, pulling himself in when they had gone. Yeah, that was going to happen. That would work. No problems with that.

  Another knock. Tiny’s voice: ‘I’m gettin’ impatient out here, man…’

  Letisha was next to him, looking up into his face, eyes scared but trusting. She would have gone over the balcony if I’d asked her, he thought. She looks like she’s ready to follow me to the ends of the earth.

  ‘What do we do?’ she asked, her voice a frail whisper.

  Moses sighed. ‘Let him in, babe.’ His voice spoke of resignation. ‘What else can we do?’

  ‘But… can’t we…’

  ‘We tried, babe,’ said Moses. ‘We tried.’

  Letisha grabbed his hand. ‘I love you, Moses.’

  He gave her a sad smile. ‘And I love you too, babe.’

  Moses dropped her hand, went to answer the door.

  76

  ‘S

  o explain, then,’ the Lawgiver said, standing directly in front of Glen Looker, blocking out the light, making him Looker’s whole focus, whole world. ‘Explain. How can tolerating a small evil save us all from a larger one?’

  ‘You’ve never heard of that principal before?’

  ‘Well, obviously, yes. But I’ve never believed in it. It’s bullshit. There’s no such thing.’

  ‘Let me give you a small example,’ said Looker, his voice back in lawyer mode, as if he was addressing a room full of people who needed to be impressed by his opinions. ‘And, needless to say, this is an example that I was personally involved in.’

  The Lawgiver waited, a malevolent shadow eclipsing the light.

  ‘Remember the gang wars?’ Looker asked. ‘The Birmingham gang wars? Only a few years ago, course you do. You must.’

  ‘Vaguely,’ said the Lawgiver. ‘Lot of black-on-black killings. The poor wiping each other out. It didn’t concern me much. The more of each other they killed, the less of them there would be walking the streets. Win win.’

  ‘Bullshit,’ said Looker, getting into his stride. ‘You know nothing. The gang wars tore this city apart.’

  The Lawgiver bristled at Looker’s more dominant, aggressive change in tone but said nothing.

  ‘The Han
dsworth Boys? The Chicken Shack Crew? No? They tore the city up between them, blew people away. Kids with guns. Scared kids with guns. Don’t you remember all the innocent kids who got killed in the crossfire? Shot, knifed? Made all the papers, national news. Remember?’

  ‘Yeah, I remember.’

  Looker gave a tight smile. ‘Well, I made it all go away. Or at least I helped to. Played a significant part, shall we say. In making this city more peaceful and safe.’

  ‘How?’ The Lawgiver’s voice was flat, emotionless.

  ‘There was this gang leader. Let’s call him Julian.’

  ‘Wilson,’ said the Lawgiver.

  Looker smiled widely. ‘So you do know what I’m talking about.’

  ‘Just keep going.’

  ‘Okay. It was like this. He had a girlfriend. The number-one bitch in his stable of bitches. His words, incidentally, not mine. Well, this girlfriend was only with him because of what he could offer her. If we’re being honest. I’m sure she liked him, probably, but she liked what he gave her more.’

  ‘Jewellery,’ said the Lawgiver. ‘Material things.’ A sneer of contempt behind the mask.

  ‘Yes,’ said Looker, ‘to an extent. But more substantial things, too. A better life. A way out of the dead-end drudgery she’d been born into.’

  The Lawgiver said nothing.

  ‘But there was a problem. While this girl was with Julian for what she could get, she fell in love with someone else. Really fell in love. Properly head over heels. And that was with the rival gang leader.’

  The Lawgiver let out a harsh, grating sound. A laugh. ‘The Montagues and the Capulets.’

  ‘If you like. Now she wanted to leave him for this other leader. Let’s call him —’

  ‘Moses Heap.’

  Looker laughed. ‘You know, you pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about…’

  ‘Someone from the Handsworth Boys killed Julian Wilson. We know that. Is this story going anywhere?’

  ‘If that’s what you think then you don’t know as much as you think you do. That is the official version of events. I know the real one. Listen up and I’ll tell you. Now, as I said, this girl wanted to leave. But she couldn’t. The trouble was, Julian found out about this. Now, I’m not saying this girl was the love of his life. He probably felt about her the way she felt about him. Good arm candy, willing in bed, that sort of thing. But he didn’t want to lose face, didn’t want her to go over to the enemy. He’d be a laughing stock. Severely weakened. So he tried to kill her.’

  ‘Tried?’

  ‘Tried. He should have got someone else to do it, one of his soldiers, but no. He wanted to do it himself. Except it went wrong. He tried to shoot her. There was a struggle. She got the gun off him. Shot him.’

  ‘And this is all true?’

  ‘All true. Now, not knowing what to, she called Moses over. They had a choice. Play it straight, throw themselves on the mercy of the police, tell them what happened, that it was self-defence and he was trying to kill her, then stick to the truth and take their chances with that through the legal system. A system that hadn’t been skewed in their favour up till now, I hasten to add. In fact, it had been actively biased against them.’

  ‘That’s what all the liberals say.’

  ‘Yeah, they do,’ said Looker. ‘Especially the ones who work in it every day. As I said, one way of doing it. The other way was to try to get out of it. That’s when they called me in.’

  ‘To do what?’

  ‘To stage Julian’s death, make it look like he was killed somewhere else, by someone else.’

  The Lawgiver leaned forward, peering at Looker through the eye holes of his mask. ‘Why are you telling me all this? What do you hope to gain?’

  ‘What d’you think?’ said Looker, louder than he had intended. ‘You’re going to kill me, I’ve worked that one out. No matter what I say, what arguments I come up with, you’re going to kill me. I know that.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘I do.’ Looker laughed. ‘I know you better than you know yourself. So maybe I’m just getting it off my chest. One last confession.’

  The Lawgiver stood back, blocking the light once more. ‘Keep going then.’

  ‘Fine. We staged Julian’s death. There are people I know, friends of friends really, who can do that kind of thing. I don’t call on them often, but, needs must…’ He attempted a shrug. Continued. ‘But while we’re getting this sorted, Moses decides he wants to use it for something else. Not just for him and Letisha – oh dear, I said her name.’

  ‘Keep going.’

  ‘Okay. Him and Letisha to get away with murder. He wants to make something of it. Use it as a springboard to bring peace between the two gangs. I told him it was risky, but he wanted to do it. So this is what he did. He approached Julian’s younger brother, Tiny, knowing he’d be the one to take over. Now Tiny’s a bit mental, bit unstable, so he has to tread carefully. He does. He tells Tiny that he’s sick of all the bloodshed between the two gangs, the violence. He wants peace. Tiny’s not interested. He wants blood. Moses tells him that if he can find out who was responsible for Julian’s death – because the order hadn’t come from him – find out and deal with it, will Tiny sit down and talk? He says he will.’

  ‘So he killed one of his own men.’

  ‘No. He found one of his gang who was willing to take the rap for it. But he didn’t kill him. This is where I came in again. Again, friend of a friend… So this gang member gets a new identity. And money. He’s not dead, just living in Runcorn. Which, admittedly, some would say is the same thing.’

  The Lawgiver said nothing.

  ‘Now obviously, Tiny must never know. That it was Letisha who killed his brother and that the person he thought responsible isn’t dead. And that Moses lied to him. If he found out, the peace would be over. If Moses and Letisha even see each other again then Tiny would suspect. He’s never fully believed Moses but he’s gone along with it.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because he can see how beneficial peace is as well. For everyone.’

  Looker sat back. Or attempted to. ‘So there you go. A small evil covered up for the sake of a much larger good. Not really evil, in fact, just a messy accident that couldn’t be reported. So what d’you think, Lawgiver?’ Looker seemed to relish saying the name. ‘Where does that fit in with your philosophy?’

  The Lawgiver said nothing. Just stared at him.

  Looker smiled. ‘Right. That’s me done. Do with that what you like, it’s in your hands now. So fair’s fair. I’ve shown you mine, you show me yours. I want you to tell me about Diana.’

  The Lawgiver stared at him. The staring went on so long that Looker began to tremble, feeling he had gone too far. Then the Lawgiver did something Looker hadn’t expected. He ripped off his mask.

  Looker had no idea who he was. Although his eyes looked smaller, his face more nondescript, he kept staring.

  And that was when Looker realised. I’ve seen his face.

  I’m not going to walk out of here alive.

  77

  P

  hil was just replacing the handset into the cradle on his desk, smiling slightly, when there was a knock on the door.

  ‘Yeah?’

  Nadish poked his head round. Looked from side to side as if he was in danger of being overheard. ‘Can I… can I have a quick word, please, boss?’

  Phil put the phone down, sat back. ‘Course you can. Come in, Nadish. What’s up?’

  Nadish took the chair in front of the table, looked slightly sheepish. ‘Well, it’s… I don’t know. I was thinking about what you said before, in the briefing. The psychological profile and all that.’

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘Well… you said think about anyone you’d come across who stuck in your mind, that kind of thing. There was this guy…’

  Phil leaned forward, interested. ‘He kinda ticked a few of the boxes.’

  ‘What’s his name?’
/>   ‘Stuart Hinchcliffe. Lives just opposite where the first crime scene was.’

  ‘I’m interested. Go on.’

  ‘Well, he seemed like a bit of a loner, bit odd. Said he collected old Sixties soul, something about it being the last great manufactured thing, or something like that. Had a vintage jukebox. That’s what we got talking about. Got a mate who does them up, an’ that. We chatted about them.’ Nadish sighed. ‘Well, I think I may have been, you know, blindsided a bit by that.’

  Phil studied his young officer. Despite his flaws, Nadish had good instincts. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Well, it was just a vibe, really. I got the feeling, when I think back, you know, I got the feeling that he was… laughing at me. Taking the piss a bit. Thinking here was this thick copper he was getting one over on. You know what I mean?’

  ‘I know what you mean. I’ve been there.’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘We all have. Carry on.’

  ‘Right.’ Nadish put his head back, thinking. ‘Well, he seemed well-educated but a bit odd. Said he lived with his sister but I never saw her.’

  Phil felt that familiar tingle when he knew he was on to something. It wasn’t infallible but it was a good indicator. ‘Grounds for being the Lawgiver, you think?’

  ‘I don’t know. Sounds a bit… thin when I say it aloud. But it was just something I felt.’

  Phil thought for a moment. ‘When did you talk to him?’

  ‘Yesterday. Afternoon.’

  ‘What time?’

  Nadish puffed out his cheeks, thinking. ‘Around… threeish, something like that?’

  Threeish. Phil checked through a file on his desk. The call from the Lawgiver had come in at just before three thirty. ‘I got a call from the Lawgiver yesterday. Just after you’d finished with Stuart Hinchcliffe. He sounded jubilant. Like he’d… won something. Maybe he thought he’d fooled you. Maybe that gave him the impetus to target Looker last night.’