Broken Dreams

by Nick Quantrill

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  ‘Thanks’ I said to Sarah. It was frozen pizza and cheap wine, but it didn’t make any difference to me. It was exactly what I needed. Don walked back into the room after checking Lauren was still asleep.

  He picked up the slice I’d been eyeing. ‘A good day.’

  I picked up my glass and returned the toast. ‘A good day.’ I asked him when Murdoch had been arrested.

  ‘Late afternoon’ Sarah told me. She’d taken the message from Coleman. It sounded like they’d been busy, picking up Murdoch, Taylor and Johnson in co-ordinated raids.

  ‘What about Salford?’ I asked.

  ‘No word.’ She shrugged. ‘He wasn’t involved, was he?’

  I grunted my agreement. So far as we knew, he hadn’t had any direct involvement in the fraud. It didn’t ring true, but proving it would be a difficult job for Coleman. I also had to break the news to Julie Richardson. ‘Your old mate, Branning, won’t be best pleased, either’ I said to Don.

  Don shook his head and sighed. ‘I’ll have to let him know. He’ll think we let him down.’

  There was nothing we could do. Salford had turned out not to be our problem. He’d evaded Branning this far, and it wasn’t going to change. I hadn’t spoken to Don all day, so I explained about Salford’s illness. He digested the news and said he’d make talking to Branning a priority. Branning had lost the war without winning a significant battle. The price Salford was going to pay was not knowing his daughter, however much he wanted to.

  ‘What did Murdoch have to say?’ Don asked me.

  ‘He wanted me to find out who killed his wife, even if he was arrested.’ I shrugged. ‘At least we’ve done that for him.’

  ‘I guess we were wrong about him’ Sarah said. Don looked away from me, obviously not ready yet to admit he’d misjudged the man.

  ‘He’s hardly one of life’s good guys’ I said. Murdoch had jeopardised his life’s work. His regeneration plans could have made a real difference to the area and the city. Instead he’d let personal greed and gain taint him. He was going to go to prison a broken man, and he’d deserve everything he got.

  ‘He’s not all bad, though, is he Dad?’ Sarah said to Don.

  I managed not to laugh as Don did his best to side-step the question. The pizza was good – I helped myself to another slice.

  ‘He’s probably lucky he wasn’t fed to the pigs’ he eventually said.

  We all laughed. I pushed the memory of Johnson threatening to bury me alive to one side.

  Don produced a pad of paper. ‘I want to make some notes, so we can tidy things up tomorrow. Maybe we should try to take on less dangerous jobs in the future.’

  It wasn’t an unreasonable point, but I hadn’t expected a simple investigation into an employee’s illness to mushroom like it had. I told Don I’d try to choose more wisely in the future. Sarah smiled at me, complicit in the joke.

  ‘What do we need to cover off?’ he asked us.

  Murdoch had given me a cheque to cover our time. I hoped it wouldn’t bounce. ‘I think we should make sure Sam Carver’s alright for money. Try and make it up to him the best we can.’

  ‘Who’s he?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘The guy at the casino.’

  She nodded. ‘Right.’

  ‘What about Maria Platt?’ Don asked.

  I shrugged. ‘There’s nothing more we can do for her.’ I told Don about the cheque Salford had given me for Chelsea.

  ‘Shame there’s nothing for us’ he said.

  I wasn’t too bothered. Sometimes you get drawn into cases you shouldn’t. However much you tell yourself not to let it become personal, it succeeds in getting under your skin. The Platt family had certainly been dealt a rough hand, and it would have been nice to have reunited them, but it wasn’t what Donna had wanted. End of story.

  ‘Is Anastazja still at your flat?’ Sarah asked.

  I nodded. ‘I think she’s planning on going tomorrow.’ I told them I’d like to give her some of Murdoch’s money. He’d been generous, so it seemed the right thing to do. She deserved the chance to make a fresh start. Neither of them argued with me.

  We heard Lauren shout for us, so Don stood up and said he’d see to her. ‘She probably wants a story reading.’ He closed the door behind him.

  I poured Sarah and me another glass of wine each and sat back down. It had been a long day and I was starting to feel frazzled around the edges.

  ‘Are you alright, Joe?’ she asked.

  I nodded and said I’d had better days. ‘It’s such a mess.’

  She moved across the couch and sat next to me. ‘I know.’

  She was sat so close to me, I could smell her perfume. As well as smelling great, she looked great. I smiled at her. The moment was interrupted by my mobile ringing. I listened to the message and disconnected the call.

  ‘Coleman’ I said, reluctantly standing up. ‘He wants to meet me.’

  I found Coleman sat in the corner of Queens, a pint of lager waiting for me.

  ‘Least I could do’ he said, as I sat down next to him.

  It tasted good, especially after pizza. I hadn’t been keen to move off the sofa when he called, but I couldn’t say no, either.

  ‘You’ll be pleased to know we got someone for the attack on you.’

  I raised my eyebrows. ‘What?’

  ‘The ones who stole your mobile’ he explained.

  I nodded. ‘Right.’ I’d seemingly been attacked so many times since, it didn’t really register.

  ‘Gang of kids, looking for easy pickings.’

  I picked my drink up. Easy pickings, I thought? ‘It was traumatic.’

  ‘I’m sure it was.’

  We both laughed. It wasn’t important now.

  ‘You’ll make another statement?’

  ‘Whatever.’

  ‘We got some work out of the Murdoch’s swingers club you went to. Remember New Holland?’

  I nodded. ‘The band?’

  ‘That’s the one. The singer was at the party, complete with a pile of Class A’s.’

  I didn’t recall seeing him, but the band had been over for nearly fifteen years. I’d read they were reforming and going back out on tour. I assumed it would be interesting as I recalled the split being acrimonious. Coleman told me about the day’s arrests. ‘I wasn’t there for them’ he said. ‘I was involved with the interviews, so I had to prepare at the station. I’m pretty pleased I missed Johnson’s arrest, though.’

  ‘Didn’t take it too well?’

  ‘Took four officers to pin him down and put the handcuffs on.’

  It sounded about right. ‘How did it to go with Murdoch?’

  ‘He came without any trouble.’

  ‘The interview?’

  Coleman sighed and sat back in his chair. ‘Between these four walls, it’s going as we expected. We haven’t been able to speak to him yet, as the fraud boys get first crack, but he’s not holding out on us. He’s got his solicitor with him and he’s working through the details.’

  ‘How’s he holding up?’

  ‘Couldn’t really tell you.’

  Murdoch had caused me nothing but grief, but I felt a little sorry for him. He’d allowed events to overwhelm him and Johnson had been quick to take advantage of him. For all that, he’d still made his choice. The regeneration work he had planned should have been his crowning moment, but now it wouldn’t happen. The biggest losers were going to be people like the Platts and their neighbours. Just like they’d lost their livelihoods all those years ago when the fishing industry had collapsed. ‘How did it go with Johnson and Taylor?’

  ‘As you’d expect, really. I’m told Taylor was relieved to get it all off his chest. You could say he’s not cut out for a life of crime.’ Coleman laughed. ‘Johnson is proving to be a harder nut for us to crack.’

  ‘I can imagine.’

  ‘He’s saying nothing, insisting he’s an innocent bystander, but we’ll keep chipping away at him. W
e’ve got plenty of time left.’

  ‘Good.’ The city would be a better place if he wasn’t on the streets. Over the last few days, I’d been thinking about my future. I hadn’t been sure how much enthusiasm I had for carrying on, and although most of the work was routine, the chance to help take down people like Johnson was too great to pass over. It got me out of bed in the morning.

  ‘Will you be talking to Frank Salford?’

  Coleman shrugged. ‘Couldn’t tell you. It’s not really my case, but it sounds like he kept himself out of the loop.’

  It was probably true. Salford had spent his whole life one step ahead of the police, so I doubted he was going to slip up now. He’d given Johnson enough rope to hang himself and he hadn’t been disappointed. It showed who was in charge.

  ‘How about Briggs?’ I asked, turning the conversation back to the Murdoch’s.

  ‘I spent a couple of hours with him. He’s not a very pleasant individual, is he?’

  I agreed with him. ‘Have you charged him yet?’

  ‘Not yet, but it’s looking like a formality. He killed Jennifer Murdoch.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘I hope us getting Johnson gives you some sort of closure for your wife’ Coleman said quietly, before turning away from me.

  I was going to mention I had given them Johnson, but checked myself. It wasn’t important. I was pleased that they had the right man. He might not have set the house on fire himself, but he had ordered it. Maybe the police would get a name from Johnson, but I didn’t care who actually started it. It meant nothing to me. Coleman couldn’t look me in the eye; he knew the police had let me down. It had been me who’d chipped away and looked beyond the obvious. Christopher Murdoch hadn’t killed his wife.

  ‘No hard feelings, Joe.’ Coleman was in front of me, coat on, ready to leave. He held out his hand to me but I just stared at it. I thought about Debbie and fumbled around in my pocket for my wedding ring. Finding it, I put it back on, stood up and left the pub.

  END

  Joe Geraghty will return in

  ‘The Late Greats’