Murder Ring (A DI Geraldine Steel Mystery)

by Leigh Russell

  Geraldine refrained from pointing out that it was only a week since the detective chief inspector had been convinced Lenny was their killer. In his determination to wrap the case up promptly, she was afraid he was rushing to conclusions. He was an able superior officer, but he wasn’t much older than her and this was his first case as a detective chief inspector.

  ‘What about Lenny?’ she couldn’t help asking.

  A disgruntled expression crinkled Adam’s youthful face, making him look older. ‘What about him? We know he was here when Luke was shot so he can’t be the gunman. I’m no happier about it than anyone else, but we can’t go after him any more, not for these shootings anyway, and his account of his presence in Wells Mews is credible, at least.’

  ‘As is Jack’s explanation of how he came to have David’s leather jacket hanging in his wardrobe.’

  ‘And the gun? I know it was Jack’s brother who was found with it on his person, but he’s hardly a credible suspect, and how could he have got hold of it anyway? Luke was shot in Jack’s presence –’

  ‘We don’t know he was actually there when the shooting took place –’

  ‘With Jack in the building, and next thing we know the same gun pops up in Theo’s hand one week later. How the hell did he get hold of it, if not from Jack?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘First thing in the morning we lean on Jack and get him to talk. Now you get off home and make sure you’re here early tomorrow.’ He grinned, bright eyed. ‘We’re this close to securing a conviction. Let’s not screw it up. That’s all that matters right now.’

  57

  GINA HELD HER hand up. The diamond didn’t seem as sparkly as the first time she had seen it, but she supposed that was because the ring wasn’t so new. It must have been handled while it was being resized.

  ‘They could’ve given it a clean while they was at it,’ she grumbled.

  ‘What you complaining for, woman? Always complaining. It fits, don’t it? First it’s too big, then it’s not clean enough for you. If that bloody great rock ain’t good enough for you, I can give it to my mum. She won’t drive me nuts complaining about it, that’s for sure. What you after, anyway? The bleeding crown jewels. Come here then, I got something else for you.’

  He lunged at her, grabbed her hand, and put it on his cock. She smiled nervously and snatched her hand away.

  ‘Give over, Lenny. It’s a lovely ring. I’m real pleased you got it to fit right, course I am, and I won’t never take it off now we’re engaged.’

  Lenny jumped up out of the armchair where he was lounging. ‘Jesus, will you stop saying that. It’s only a ring so don’t you go running off with your fancy ideas. As if I’m gonna get hitched to you! What the fuck would I do that for? What you got?’ He forced a laugh. ‘You win the lottery and then we’ll talk. Look, it’s a ring, right. A bloody nice ring and all. And I ain’t saying as you don’t deserve it, because you do. That’s why I give it you. Jesus, I coulda sold it and not had none of this. It’s a ring, baby. Get over it. That’s all it is. Bloody hell. Why would I want to get hitched? What the hell for?’

  Gina was shocked. ‘How can you be such a shit? After all I done for you. I done more than anyone in her right mind would ever do and I done it because you and me – look!’ She held up her hand. ‘What the fuck is this if it ain’t an engagement ring? And what the hell’s that if it don’t mean I’m gonna be your wife? What the fuck, Lenny? What’s wrong with getting married anyway? You said. You promised me.’

  He sat down again and put his head in his hands. ‘Well, maybe I said stuff,’ he admitted, ‘but then again maybe I was drunk when I said it.’

  ‘Then you can bloody well get drunk when you marry me. You promised me, Lenny.’

  ‘Well I ain’t gonna do it so you can just shut the fuck up about it. You hear me? Shut the fuck up, woman! Oh fuck you, I’m going out.’

  ‘Running back to your ma?’

  ‘I can go where I like. I ain’t in prison no more and you ain’t my screw.’

  ‘Well, you can just fuck off then.’

  Lenny stormed out of the house. She was glad to see the back of him. It was the last time she was going to put up with his lies. She had offered him one last chance to be good to her and he had given her his answer. Bawling, she went upstairs to the bedroom. While he was out of the way she had a chance to pack her bag and leave. She had suspected for a long time that it would end like this. The ring had given her the chance to get away and she wasn’t going to blow it this time. Such opportunities didn’t come twice. She would pawn the ring, and head off. Anything would be better than this. With cash in her pocket, she could please herself. Lenny had tried to deny it afterwards, but he had let slip that it could be worth tens of thousands. If she couldn’t have him, she would at least get her hands on the dough. Money couldn’t lie.

  Sobbing, she packed her clothes into his big suitcase on wheels. His bitch of a mother ruined everything. If Lenny died while he had some dosh, or some gear that was worth something, Gina would get fuck-all because she wasn’t his wife. After she had lived with him for so long, looking after him when he was sick, waiting for him when he was banged up, she would have to watch Cynthia cop the lot. Not that Lenny had much to leave, but anything was better than nothing, and it would be typical of him to have a big win on the horses just before he croaked. Well, if he was so keen for his mother to get her hands on everything, he could go fuck himself for being such a prick. She’d find someone who would look after her properly, someone who didn’t have a mother out for whatever she could get. She must have been an idiot to stay with him for so long.

  The first jewellers she went to on the High Street didn’t do valuations.

  ‘We can send it away for you,’ the heavily made-up shop assistant said, tapping Gina’s stone with a long red nail. ‘It’s a nice ring. Nice design. When are you getting married?’

  ‘I ain’t sending it away no place,’ Gina replied, pulling her hand away. ‘I want someone as can value it and give me my money straight away.’

  ‘You’re better off going to Hatton Garden.’

  ‘Oh right.’

  It was the same in the first three shops she went in. She was growing desperate by the time she entered the fourth jewellers. With a narrow shop front and dingy interior, she expected the same brush-off but the old man behind the counter smiled and nodded when she asked if he could do a valuation there and then.

  ‘Depends what it is,’ he replied.

  Gina held up her hand, displaying her ring. The old man scrutinised it and asked her to remove it.

  ‘You ain’t taking it away no place.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll just take a look at it right here, where you can see me.’

  She took off the ring and handed it to him. The old man pushed an eye glass into one eye and switched on a bright light so that he could examine it. Turning it one way, then the other, he held it up to his lips and breathed on it before studying it again. Finally, he returned it to her.

  ‘Zirconia.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I thought as much when you first showed it to me on your finger. It doesn’t reflect any colours, you see. It’s a pretty enough design made to look reasonably authentic, but it’s only a bit of zirconia.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘This isn’t a diamond. It’s zirconia. The band is worthless too, I suspect, although I’d need to check to be sure.’

  Gina snatched her ring and replaced it on her finger. ‘You telling me this ain’t no diamond?’

  ‘I’m afraid that’s exactly what I’m saying. Diamonds reflect colours. Look, you can see it doesn’t even sparkle when you hold it up to the light. If it was a genuine diamond, you’d be able to see different colours reflected from it, even with the naked eye. Especially one this size. Even a flawed diamond would show some colour. And this hasn’t got any visible flaws, which is another indication that it’s fake. If it was a real diamond it would be worth
a fair few thousand.’

  ‘Could it be your shit light?’ she asked uncertainly.

  ‘Hold it up in the sunlight you’ll see the same. Tell you what, you can test it for yourself. Breathe on it. Go on. A diamond doesn’t retain heat so if the stone looks at all cloudy when you breathe on it, you know it’s a fake. Go on, try it.’

  ‘What will you give me for it? I mean, you could sell it as if it was real, couldn’t you? So it don’t make no difference, not really. No one would know. You said it’d be worth thousands.’

  The old man shook his head at her. ‘You’re nuts, lady,’ he said. ‘I got a reputation. I’ll give you a fiver for it, and that’s a good offer.’

  58

  THE NEXT MORNING Geraldine was called by the desk sergeant who told her Rosa Bates had turned up and was causing a scene. With a sigh, Geraldine went along to see what was happening. On the way she took a detour down to the custody suite.

  ‘Your suspect’s quiet as a lamb,’ the custody sergeant told her with a grin. ‘We don’t get many happy chappies down here.’

  She took a look through the peephole at Theo who was sitting on his bunk. His lips were moving as though in prayer.

  ‘He slept like a baby, and he’s been singing to himself ever since he woke up for his breakfast,’ the sergeant said. ‘Not right in the head. I don’t think he knows where he is.’

  Thanking her colleague, Geraldine went to find out what Theo’s mother was complaining about. The desk sergeant was a large, red-faced man who leaned forward earnestly, lowering his booming voice as he explained that on Rosa’s arrival he had assured her new information had come in which meant Theo would be released. According to his account, Rosa had insisted on taking Theo home straight away. The sergeant had advised her to be patient. Nothing moved swiftly at the police station; due process had to be followed, and so on. He had assured her that he was sure it wouldn’t take long but she had flown off the handle once again, screaming about justice for her son.

  ‘But your son’s out of the frame,’ the sergeant had protested. ‘What’s your problem?’

  He hadn’t been able to quieten her ranting and had summoned a female constable to take her to an interview room and watch her. Before she left the custody sergeant, Geraldine told him that the new suspect was also Rosa’s son.

  ‘What? She’s got two sons and first one now the other is a suspect for the same murders?’ he repeated in a low voice. ‘I wouldn’t want to be around when she’s told why this one’s being released. She’s going to go apeshit.’

  Reluctantly, Geraldine went to the room where Rosa was being looked after and told her Jack had been apprehended fighting in the street. Already distraught, Rosa leapt to her feet and launched into a hysterical tirade accusing the police of targeting her sons.

  ‘You couldn’t make nothing stick against Theo, so now you gone and started on Jack. What is it with you people? My boys never done nothing wrong. We ain’t done nothing to you. Go and get my boys right now or I’m going to the telly, and I’m going to tell everyone what you done. You got no right to lock my boys up. All Jack done was get in a scrap with another lad. You got no business victimising my family like this!’

  Geraldine let her rave for a few minutes, waiting for her to run out of energy. When it seemed that she was only winding herself up even more, Geraldine interrupted her firmly.

  ‘You need to sit down and listen to me.’

  ‘You need to let my boys go.’

  All at once, Rosa slumped down on a chair and burst into tears. Quietly, Geraldine assured her that Jack would receive appropriate legal support.

  ‘The last thing we want to do is send a case to court that isn’t going to stand up. If there’s any doubt that Jack is implicated in the recent shootings, he will be released. But as things stand, the case against him is compelling.’

  ‘Bullshit. He got in a fight, that’s all.’

  ‘We think we can prove he was involved in the shooting of two men. That may not be what happened, but we have to proceed on the basis of the evidence. We’re still analysing the data and talking to witnesses. Until we finish conducting our investigation, Jack will be staying where he is, in custody. He’s being well looked after, and you can visit him, but he’s not going home and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. When we’ve concluded our investigation, if we still think Jack is responsible, it will be up to the Crown Prosecution Service to weigh up all the evidence and decide whether or not to go ahead with a prosecution. There’s nothing you can do to stop this, Rosa. Two men have died. We have to take our investigation seriously and I’m sure you can understand that.’

  ‘I understand you been fitting up my son.’

  There was nothing more Geraldine could say. In a multiple murder enquiry there was no prospect of bail. All she could do was encourage Rosa to take Theo home. There was no question of her seeing Jack straight away as he was seeing his lawyer, after which he was going into an interview.

  ‘So when can I see him?’ Rosa wailed as Geraldine stood up to leave.

  Geraldine turned to the constable who was sitting with Rosa. ‘Look after this, will you? Get her another cup of tea and send her on her way.’

  ‘I’m not going without my boys!’ Rosa shrieked as Geraldine left the room.

  Jack was even more sullen than he had been the day before. To begin with he refused to answer any questions.

  Adam challenged him about his arrest. ‘There’s no point in trying to deny it. What were you fighting about? Why did you stab him? Think carefully. Remember we have witnesses who saw exactly what happened. We know you started the fight.’

  ‘Him getting jiggy with my bitch so I shank him.’

  Geraldine held out a photograph of a naked girl they had found on his phone. ‘Is this your girlfriend?’

  ‘What you doing with my gear? You got no right to look at my phone. I never give you permission. It’s private. You got no right looking at that.’

  ‘Where did you get the gun from?’ Geraldine asked, putting the photograph away.

  ‘What gun? I never had no gun.’

  ‘We’re talking about the gun you gave to your brother, Theo.’

  ‘What you talking about? I never had no gun.’

  Adam leaned forward. He spoke very softly. ‘You mean Theo got a gun all by himself?’

  Jack looked worried.

  ‘Theo was arrested with a gun in his possession, a gun that was used to shoot two people dead. We thought maybe you might know something about that. But if you didn’t give your brother the gun, then it seems he’s guilty after all.’

  ‘Guilty? What you mean he’s guilty? Theo ain’t done nothing.’

  Adam replied that if Jack hadn’t shot two people and given the weapon to his brother to hide, then Theo must be solely responsible for what had happened.

  Jack glared at the detective chief inspector. ‘What you on, man? Theo ain’t never done nothing to you.’

  ‘No,’ Adam leaned forward, sensing his advantage, ‘but he shot two men and they’re dead. He’s going down for a long time. He may never come out. I can’t see him surviving long behind bars.’

  Geraldine thought of Theo singing happily to himself in the cell, and said nothing.

  ‘Man, you full of shit.’

  ‘The gun was found in your brother’s possession. A jacket belonging to one of the victims was found in your locked room. The other victim was shot at the premises where you work, while you were there. What happened, Jack? Was it you or Theo who shot those men? You can’t continue to pretend you know nothing about it. Who was it, Jack? You or your brother? Or were you in it together? Come on, Jack, you need to give me an answer,’ Adam insisted.

  ‘We need to take a break,’ the lawyer said. ‘I have to talk to my client.’

  59

  ‘DAMN IT,’ ADAM fumed, ‘we had him. He was about to confess when the bloody brief interrupted. You saw it on his face, didn’t you? I’m not imagining things. We had him.’ />
  ‘We’ll be back on it soon,’ Geraldine replied.

  ‘We have to keep the pressure up. Did you see his face when I pinned him down? He knew the game was up, and his blinking brief knew it too. That’s why he was so quick to insist on taking a break. It was him or Theo, it had to be one or other of them.’

  Geraldine wondered if Jack was guilty or just concerned about his brother, and whether Theo would be capable of using a gun, but she didn’t contradict her superior officer.

  ‘One more minute in there and we’d have had him,’ he insisted, glancing at his watch. ‘We need to get back on it as quickly as possible.’

  When they sat down again, the lawyer spoke first.

  ‘My client would like to confess. He found the gun at his place of work after the shooting took place. That was the first time he had ever been in possession of this or any gun. He deeply regrets that, instead of handing the gun in to the police as he now recognises he should have done, he took it home with him. He is adamant that he never had any intention of using it. The gun was to be used for self-defence only.’

  Behind his mask of composure, Geraldine sensed Adam’s disappointment. Pressing his lips together, he nodded.

  ‘I never done it,’ Jack muttered. ‘Whatever you said, I never done it.’

  ‘You need to be more specific,’ Geraldine said.

  Adam glanced at her then repeated her words. ‘Tell us exactly what happened.’

  ‘I never done it. I never shot them two geezers, like you said I done. I lifted the old guy’s jacket and legged it outta there, just like I told you. I heard a shot, but I never seen nothing. The other geezer what was shot in the bar, I never shot him neither. I only found the gun and took it home. But it weren’t me what shot him and it weren’t Theo neither. And that’s all I gotta say. My blad, he ain’t never used a shooter in his life. He wouldn’t know what the fuck to do with no shooter. So you leave him alone. This ain’t nothing to do with him. He don’t even know what a gun is. He don’t know nothing, I’m telling you.’