The Retribution

by Shankar Kashyap

  Several of the gay officers had started mixing freely with the local and Asian gay community, frequenting bars such as the Abbey Park and the Quebec almost regularly. Men were visiting the Quebec, every Friday to check out the Asian gay community. No one seemed to know or heard anything about Dev Sharma.

  The call centre was quiet with only fifteen calls during the first week petering down to just three calls this week. Stoker had sent some officers to follow up some of them only to be disappointed with either a hoax or exaggeration.

  Sean was late as usual on the Wednesday of that week and he was getting the usual dressing down from Stoker when one of the secretaries put her head round the door and nearly got her head bitten off.

  “What do you want? Can’t you see I am busy?”

  “Sorry chief, I thought you might want to take this call.”

  “Who is it?”

  “It is Gemma Cornhill, one of the PCs who has gone to check out a lead on a robbery on Mowmacre Hill.” The girl replied. “She says that the guy is confessing to killing someone.”

  Stoker snorted, “And why do you think I would be interested. It would be another crank trying to get his name in the newspapers.”

  “He says he killed an Asian man.”

  That got the attention of both Stoker and Sean. Sean was sitting with the chief going through the papers from the hospital and forensic reports.

  “Get the line patched through to me then. Let see what this is all about.”

  Sean could see a ray of hope in Stoker’s face as he sat down to take the call. The officer on the other end. Gemma, one of the new recruits, was gushing with information.

  “Chief, this guy, Lenny, says he has killed an Asian man three weeks ago. We came to this flat looking for some stolen goods on a tip off.”

  “Where is this flat?” Stoker asked.

  “It is one of the tenement blocks north of the canal.”

  Stoker looked up at Sean. Both of them knew those flats. They had visited those flats a number of times as part of the Drug squad in the past. It was notorious as a habitat for several of the drug runners and users alike. It was the place Sean had made the his first drug bust.

  “You better bring him in and let us have a chat with him.”

  Stoker put the phone down and looked at Sean.

  “We might have something here Sean. Do you want to handle this or shall I ask Mick to take the questioning?”

  Sean scratched his head before answering.

  “You better let Mick take this one chief. He thinks this is his case.”

  “You’re right. Let us sit on this one.”

  He picked up the phone and asked for Mick to be sent for and got back to the papers. He picked up the notes from the hospital and waving at Sean,

  “What do you make of this Sean?

  “It is obviously someone who did not like the priest. It looks like a deliberate attack to me and not a robbery gone wrong. Looks like they had been waiting for him at the car park and pounced on him.”

  “”It was at the gay club. Did you get anything out of the guys in the club?”

  “It is all in the report chief. Not much. He was regular as clockwork every Friday night, which was the Asian night at the club. He had a regular boyfriend, a young white kid who no one seems to remember the name of. No one seems to have picture of him either. It was almost as if the boyfriend has disappeared into thin air.”

  “Did anyone remember anything about the day of the attack? Was there anything in the police report?”

  “Sorry chief. Dead end, I am afraid. No one could remember the attack. It was a few years ago and the people working at the time have left now. There was nothing much on the police files either. Mark Henson has done the report. I spoke to him and he can’t remember much about the incident either. Says he interviewed the priest at the hospital and he was called to the temple when they had some threatening letter and phone calls not long ago. The priest could not identify any of the attackers. Claimed it was very dark and he could not think of any reason for the attack.”

  “Jealous boyfriend?”

  “Judging by the medical report, he appears to have been given a good going over. Must have been more than one guy beating him up chief.”

  “Drug gang?”

  “There is nothing coming out of the drug scene chief. My contact says that he was a runner for a short period and seems to have merged into a background. He was known to use poppers at the club. Whether he actually used the heavy stuff we found at the house is not clear.”

  “Yes, what about all the drug found at the house?”

  Sean was not sure whether he should answer the question. He would be treading on Mick Mills territory.

  “I don’t know chief. Mick probably has some ideas about it.”

  Stoker snorted at this and did not say anything.”

  “If you ask my opinion, I think the stuff was for personal consumption. I don’t think there was enough there for him to be a supplier or dealer.”

  “That is not what Mick Mills thinks.” Stoker said staring at Sean. “What about those Asian guys seen near the house? Any leads on those?”

  “No chief. Since we put out that bulletin about that, there have been several calls. Most of them were crank calls I am afraid. Mostly from right wing activists claiming the priest to be heathen and got his just punishment.”

  Gemma brought Lenny in hand cuffed and looking pleased with himself for some reason into the station about an hour later. Sean could see her marching a weedy looking tall lad in scruffy clothes and torn trainers across the hall into the interview rooms through the glass window of Stoker’s office. Mick Mills walked into the office at the same time.

  “You are just in time Mick.” Stoker said to him. “One of the PCs have brought in a suspect who claims he killed the priest. I want you to question him.”

  Mick’s eyes lit up.

  “That is a bit of good news chief. We were not getting anywhere out on the field.” Then he looked at Sean who was sitting on the desk and doubt crept in. “Not one of the cranks is it?”

  Sean’s face was noncommittal. Stoker replied.

  “We don’t know yet. I am sure you can get it out of him if he is a crank soon enough.” The sarcasm was completely lost on Mick. “Come on let us go and find out.”

  The three of them trouped towards the interrogation room. Stoker and Sean slid in to the side viewing room. They saw Mick open the door of the room where Lenny was sitting with handcuffs hands on the desk and the PC Gemma standing beside him.

  “I will take it from here constable, Thank you.” Mick said dismissing Gemma without even looking at her. He pulled up a chair in front of the desk as Gemma left slamming the door.

  Mick was never known for subtlety. Lenny looked at him still with a smug expression on his face. Mick saw a scruffy young man, thin, almost emaciated sitting in front of him. He had the typical drug induced haze in his eyes, not really focussing on anything in front of him. Mick was not immediately impressed by what he saw. He picked up the folder lying the desk and leafed through the papers.

  “So, you think you killed someone?”

  Lenny did not answer first. He continued to stare at Mick with a fixed expression still on his face. It almost looked as if he was laughing inside.

  “Yeah, I did. That’s what I been telling those coppers outside.”

  “Yes, I see. And you are Lenny? Have I seen you before somewhere?”

  “I keep telling you buggers, I killed the bastard, cause he tried to rape me.”

  “He tried to rape you? Are you sure?”

  Lenny pulled the sleeves of his jacket and shirt and exposed arms full of puncture marks and old scars.

  “He filled me full of the stuff and tried to rape me.” Lenny said with a squeaky voice getting irritated. “Mind you, it was good stuff. The best I have had.”

  There was a hint of a smile, which did not go to his eyes.

  “Did you know the man you killed?” />
  “Yeah, I known him for a long time. Bro was good to me. Don’t know what came over him. I don’t like to be fucked by a man. No way. I had to protect myself. I got a girlfriend. You understand?”

  Mick smiled and said, “Of course I understand.”

  “I hope so. Vanessa told me you would understand.”

  “Who is Vanessa?”

  “She is David’s wife. She looked after me that day. I was in a real state after I was attacked. And there were two of them. I had to use the knife to protect myself. I think I killed him.”

  He suddenly started to sob. Slowly at first and intensified with the sobs racking his thin frame. As Stoker and Sean watched through the glass partition, he started to hit his head on the desk. Mick tried to stop him with no effect and sat back watching Lenny continued to sob violently. He soon appeared to get tired and lifted his head back and closed his eyes. There were tears rolling down his cheeks and looked a pathetic figure.

  “OK Lenny. I believe you. But tell me what happened. Why did you kill him?”

  Lenny went into a rage and started to shout and scream. No one could understand anything he said. It was more of a rant than a dialogue. It went on for a while until he appear to tire and rest his head on the desk go to sleep. Mick looked up at the glass partition asking what to do next.

  “I think we should get a statement from this guy once he has sobered up from whatever he is under now.” Stoker said to Sean. “Get a medic to have a look at him and see what he thinks.”

  The two of them walked around the corner into the interview room where Mick was trying desperately to wake up Lenny.

  “That did not go very well, did it Mick?”

  “I think he is drugged to the hilt chief. I can’t get any sense out of him.”

  “Better get a medic to have a look at him and wait till he dries out.”

  It was not till a few hours later when the Police Doctor had examined Lenny and given an injection so that anyone could have a sensible conversation with Lenny. He had slept for six hours after the injection on the hard bench, which served as a bed in the lock up.

  It was nearly eight o clock at night when Lenny was sober enough to speak. They took him into the interview room along with a stenographer to take down his statement along with some recording equipment. Stoker and Sean introduced themselves and sat on one side of the desk while Mick sat with Lenny on the other side with the recording equipment in the middle. The typist was on one side looking rather dejected for having to work overtime.

  “We would like to write down what you say and also record this conversation. Is that alright with you Lenny?”

  Stoker asked with an inordinately soft voice, which belied his size. He could put the worst criminal at ease. He looked like a doddery old uncle who had just walked in out of the cold. Lenny just nodded his head in agreement.

  “Can I ask you to speak out loud whatever you want to say please? It is for the recording equipment.”

  “Yeah, OK.”

  “Good. Let’s start again. Lenny, do you agree for this interview to be recorded and you are making a statement?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  The initial responses were all pretty monosyllabic until he got into the night of the murder. A floodgate seems to open and there was a barrage of information the stenographer was struggling to keep pace with. Sean could not understand a lot of it in the beginning. He talked about a giant cat trying to kill him. His eyes lit up every time he spoke about ‘Bro.’ There seemed to be a genuine affection towards the man. It became quite obvious that the priest was supplying Lenny with crack regularly. There were references to sexual encounters and visits to the Quebec, the Abbey Park and the Central Motors. It was not clear if he was directly involved in the sexual encounters or not. A ‘gaffer’ was mentioned a number of times and it was not clear who this ‘gaffer’ was. He appeared to be central to the drugs.

  Lenny claimed that the priest took Lenny to his house on Harrison road and picked up a couple of his mates on the way. He claimed that the three of them tried to rape him and he pulled his knife out in self-defence.

  “Do you mean to say the three of them tried to rape you?”

  Lenny looked confused at this.

  “No, no. It was just the Bro.”

  “So what happened to the other two men?”

  “What two men?”

  “You said there were three of them remember?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  This went on for a while until Stoker decided to move on.

  “I think you killed him to get more drugs and steal his money.” Mick said.

  “No.” He screamed. “Why would I kill Bro? I loved him. He was good to me and he looked after me. I tell you it is that cat, which turned him against me. He tried to rape me. He has never done that before.”

  It was close to midnight by the time they finished taking down his statement. Sean felt drained as he walked out of the headquarters and sat in his battered old car. It looked like an open and shut case with a confession by the killer. It would be up to the judge and the jury to decide whether he meant to kill the priest or not. And yet, there was a nagging doubt in Sean’s mind. There was something quite not right here. He could not put his finger on it. He kept thinking about the reporter and his claims about Sheena. There was nothing in Lenny’s statement or the little red book to tie her down as a suspect. He opened a new bottle of whisky and was down to nearly half when he finally fell asleep only to be woken up by the constant knocking on the door. He staggered to the front door only to find Stoker standing outside leaning against the wall. He left the door open and staggered back inside without saying a word followed by Stoker.

  “Where the hell have you been all day?”

  Sean scratched his head and looked at his watch. It was nearly four in the afternoon. He could not remember when he had fallen asleep. He had a splitting headache and he was hungry.

  “Mostly in bed.” Sean replied.

  “You live like a tramp.” Stoker said looking around the dinghy little flat. “This place is not the same since Lucy left you.”

  Sean did not reply, but walked across to the window and pulled the curtains and opened the window. The cold breeze from outside woke him up and helped clear the cobwebs from his drink befuddled brain. He stood there looking outside at the park in front and the bench under the large oak tree. There was an elderly couple sitting there with a dog running around the park. His mind went back to the happier days when he used to walk with Lucy hand in hand along with Jimmy, their golden Labrador. His eyes misted over at the thought. She had taken the dog with her telling him, “You are not capable of love or dealing with another living being.”

  He turned back to face Stoker and said,

  “Do you believe that guy?”

  “Which guy?”

  “Lenny.”

  “Seems straight forward enough.” Stoker threw the clothes from the settee on to the floor before sitting down. “The guy confessed to killing the priest in self-defence. It is for the lawyers to fight it out about the motive”

  “Aren’t you least bit curious to find out why he killed the priest?”

  “He told us remember? The guy was trying to rape him.”

  His voice belied his conviction.

  “So you don’t believe him then?”

  “Did I say that? Are you not listening to me Sean?”

  “Chief, I have known you long enough to know otherwise.” Sean replied. “Why else would you be here?”

  Stoker smiled as he picked up the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the side table.

  “What do you think?” he said closely examining the left over whisky in the bottle.

  “I am not sure chief. It looks too neat. There are so many strings attached, it is practically a cobweb.”

  “Is there anything you are not telling me Sean?”

  “I don’t know what you mean chief.”

  “Come off it. You know exactly what I me
an.”

  “You have read my report.”

  “Yes, I have, Sean” Stoker said looking through the whisky bottle at the sun “Fascinating. Did you know you could see lots of colours when you look at the sun through a whisky bottle?”

  “I don’t think I have left anything out in my report.” Sean said feeling a little unsure of himself now.

  “Why is it that I don’t believe you then? You know I usually believe everything you tell me.”

  “I think I know what you mean, chief. There is something about this case which does not add up.”

  “There is more than something Sean. Why did he leave all that money lying around? He had more than enough time to clean up the place. For a drug addict, he left a drug cache as big as anything. He could have kept himself loaded for the rest of the year with the stuff we found in that house. He could have stolen the almost brand new beamer. It was found abandoned a couple of miles from Harrison road at the end of an alleyway. We still have not found the keys for the car yet. He did not even steal the Rolex watch on his wrist.”

  “So Lenny did not go in the Priest’s car?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. So why is he confessing to killing the man?”

  “Beats me chief.” Sean almost blurted out about the little Red book.

  “And another thing. While you were sleeping off your whisky, we have been working. No sign of his knife yet. I have over a hundred officers combing the streets from the priest’s house to Mowmacre hill and nothing has come up. Yes, we did find some blood stained trainers at his friend, David’s house.”

  Sean looked at Stoker with a question.

  “Forensics are working on it to see if it matches either the Priest’s or Lenny’s blood. The guy does not have a place to live. He crashes out at a girl’s place most nights.” Stoker said putting the whisky bottle down again. “I can’t understand what that teenager sees in that wastrel of a man.”