by Alan Hunter
‘You think she’ll do that?’ Gently said.
‘You know she’ll do it!’ Tallent said. ‘Twice you had her on the bloody hook, twice you let her get away with it. She’ll go back there, she’ll fix a witness who’ll swear he showed her the noon paper. Then she’ll fix Sharkey’s missus about the knife, and get her story square with the Quintoses. For chrissake hold her till we’ve followed up, got her stupid lies nailed.’
Gently shrugged faintly.
‘Maybe you weren’t following,’ he said.
‘Yeah, like hell I wasn’t following,’ Tallent said. ‘Let me grab her back.’
‘You’d have to charge her.’
‘You bet I’d charge her! And it’d stick like her own skin. Motive, weapon, opportunity, dabs, guilty knowledge – what else do we want?’
‘No charge. Not yet,’ Gently said.
‘Oh, for crying aloud,’ Tallent said. ‘Do I drag her back?’
Gently shook his head.
‘Lock me up,’ Tallent said. ‘Someone lock me up.’
He stamped up and down the office.
‘Am I crazy?’ he said. ‘I think I’m crazy.’
‘You aren’t crazy,’ Gently said. ‘Come and sit down. Perhaps Stout will fetch us in some coffee.’
‘Yeah, but I am crazy,’ Tallent said. ‘Ever since that dame walked in, I’m crazy. I could hear you playing her along and it wasn’t jake. The sixty-four-dollar questions you didn’t ask her.’
‘Not my day for the hammer,’ Gently said.
‘But hell then, when is it?’ Tallent said. ‘Chummie sits there. The case is made. And you ease chummie off all the hooks.’
‘Relax,’ Gently said. ‘Stay loose.’
‘But you did,’ Tallent said. ‘You bloody did.’
‘I did,’ Gently said. ‘Sit down, smoke.’
‘So I have to be crazy,’ Tallent said.
He threw himself heavily into a chair, jabbed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.
‘I’m not stupid,’ he said. ‘Not usually stupid. But that was chummie who just walked out of here.’
Gently scraped out his pipe and made a ritual of filling it.
‘You haven’t been listening to an interrogation,’ he said.
‘No?’ Tallent said. ‘So what have I been listening to?’
‘It was a briefing,’ Gently said.
He went on being leisurely with his pipe.
Tallent fizzed smoke and stared.
‘I told you yesterday,’ Gently said. ‘It wouldn’t much matter what Miss Sunshine told us. As a matter of fact she was very informative. She confirmed a number of our hypotheses. But that wasn’t so important. What was important was what I told her.’
‘Yeah,’ Tallent said. ‘You told her plenty. You flashed every card and didn’t play one.’
‘I hope so,’ Gently said.
‘Don’t bother hoping,’ Tallent said. ‘You handed her the answers on a plate.’
‘And,’ Gently said, ‘she thinks she knows why.’
Tallent filled up with smoke, let it trail from his nostrils.
‘So she’s briefed,’ Gently said. ‘She’s our ferret. Now we’re putting her in the hole.’
Tallent nosed more smoke.
‘Like that,’ he said.
‘Just like that,’ Gently said.
‘And if the rabbits run?’ Tallent said.
‘Makin has the place staked out,’ Gently said.
‘And if they don’t run?’ Tallent said.
‘They’ll run,’ Gently said. ‘That’s a very nervous burrow down there. One whiff of our ferret and they’ll run.’
Tallent stoked his lungs again.
‘Maybe I am stupid,’ he said. ‘Like not playing in your league. So what do we do meantime?’
‘We do nothing,’ Gently said.
‘I shouldn’t have asked,’ Tallent said.
‘The ferret is in,’ Gently said. ‘The nets are placed. Now we stay quiet. Like good hunters.’
Stout brought the coffee and a plate of biscuits, then settled at a typewriter with his notebook.
Out in the M/T yard cars came and went. Their tyres hissed faintly. It was raining again.
Beyond the door of the office feet clumped in the corridor, phones rang, there were snatches of talk. Someone was marched into the room next door and for a while one could hear the drone of interrogation.
Gently smoked one pipe after another, changing from mixture to sliced plug. Tallent chain-smoked his cigarettes. Stout pecked away laboriously at Miss Sunshine’s statement.
When the phone went, after an hour, it was Bristol reporting back on Albert Quintos. He’d been seen during Tuesday evening at a café in the dock area with a black woman, unidentified.
‘Which about clears him,’ Tallent growled. ‘I never did reckon him much of a prospect.’
‘Unless the woman was Miss Sunshine,’ Stout ventured rashly.
‘You shut up,’ Tallent said. ‘You’re just the stenographer.’
Outside a light sprang on in the M/T yard and showed up the puddles on the greasy concrete. Patrols were coming in. There was talk and some laughter. A distant radio was switched on for the news.
Tallent stalked about the office touching things. He pulled open a cabinet and looked at a file.
Stout finished the statement. He sat looking through the window.
Gently smoked another pipe.
‘Hell, oh hell,’ Tallent said at last, slamming the cabinet-drawer shut.
He looked at Gently.
‘We could call Makin,’ he said. ‘Make sure he isn’t asleep on the job.’
Gently shook his head.
‘He’d have news,’ Tallent said. ‘Damnation, he must have seen something. Your bloody rabbits aren’t running.’
Gently shrugged, drew on his pipe.
‘I don’t think they’re going to run,’ Tallent said. ‘And for this we missed out on Sadie.’
‘Fetch some more coffee in,’ Gently said to Stout.
‘But for me, arsenic,’ Tallent said.
At last he went storming out of the office to return with a bundle of evening papers. He settled in a corner with them, leaning against a radiator, reading each one backwards from the sports page.
Stout also shyly brought out a newspaper, which Gently could see was the Guardian.
For twenty minutes the office stayed quiet.
The phone rang at 7.15.
‘Fox-trot Seven.’
That was Makin. They’d hooked his call up through the board.
‘Gently here,’ Gently said. ‘Report in, Fox-trot Seven.’
‘Sharkey Sunshine has just left the Club, sir,’ Makin said, his voice sounding gritty. ‘He’s taken his car. We’re in Victoria Road, heading south towards Acton. What are your instructions, sir? Over.’
‘Fox-trot Seven,’ Gently said. ‘Stay with him. Have you left men covering the Club? Over.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Makin said. ‘Over.’
‘Over and stand by,’ Gently said.
He dropped the phone on its rest.
Tallent had come up close to listen. His face was close to Gently’s.
‘Sharkey,’ he said. ‘And he’s the rabbit?’
‘He’s the rabbit,’ Gently said.
‘Yeah,’ Tallent said. ‘So now I’m getting it. Why pinching Sadie wasn’t enough. What made you so sure?’
‘Knowing Sharkey,’ Gently said. ‘Though Taylor could have been first rabbit.’
‘Taylor,’ Tallent said. ‘Is he still in it?’
‘Not now,’ Gently said. ‘Not as of that call.’
Tallent sat down slowly on a chair by the desk.
‘Next question,’ he said. ‘Where is rabbit running? Victoria Road, heading south towards Acton. Could it be he’s heading for Osgood’s flat?’
‘Not very likely,’ Gently said.
‘Too close, too obvious,’ Tallent said. ‘How about the A4 and, like, Bristol?’
The phone rang again.
‘Fox-trot Seven.’
‘Report in,’ Gently said.
‘We’re in Rollo Lane, sir, still heading south. Over.’
‘Received,’ Gently said. ‘Over and stand by.’
Tallent was staring.
‘Rollo Lane,’ he said. ‘He’s coming straight at us. We could reach out and grab him.’
‘No need,’ Gently said. ‘He’s doing all right.’
‘Yeah,’ Tallent said. ‘Yeah?’
He was silent some moments. Then he said, ‘You knew.’
Gently nodded. ‘That’s why I’m sitting here.’
‘That’s why he’s sitting there,’ Tallent said.
He made his big fists rasp together.
‘I’m not on the beam, am I?’ he said. ‘You’ve got it set up and I’m not reading it.’
‘You’ll read it,’ Gently said. ‘It’ll be simple.’
‘For those kind words,’ Tallent said.
He spat.
Makin and Sharkey came in together. Sharkey stayed scowling just inside the door. Makin said, ‘Sunshine wants a word with you, sir.’
Then he quietly backed out, closing the door after him.
For a while Sharkey didn’t move. He stood very straight, his eyes on Gently. He wore no coat, as though he’d left in a hurry. Rain gleamed like sweat on his black hair.
He said throatily, ‘You said I’d be coming to you, man.’
Then he stepped forward in front of the desk.
He looked down at Gently. His eyes were dull.
‘You didn’t leave no other way, man, did you?’ he said.
‘Give Mr Sunshine a chair,’ Gently said to Stout.
Stout sprang up and placed one. Sharkey sat. He sat upright, his hands flat on his knees, his face hard-shadowed by the strip-light above him.
Gently leaned back, watching Sharkey.
‘This is about your sister, isn’t it?’ he said.
‘You darned well know it is, you man,’ Sharkey said. ‘You been asking her questions till you made her hysterical.’
‘Scarcely hysterical,’ Gently said.
‘Hysterical,’ Sharkey said. ‘She was howling like a kid. And none of that necessary. She ain’t who you want. You don’t have nothing sure on Sadie at all.’
‘Who do I want, then?’ Gently said.
‘Not Sadie,’ Sharkey said. ‘You don’t want her.’
‘That’s not how it looks to me,’ Gently said. ‘I do want her. And very soon now I’ll probably have her.’
‘But she ain’t the one!’
Sharkey’s hand flicked out.
‘See, man, I can prove it. She’s home all the evening. You just got out of Sarah Sadie’s not in her room, and that sure is the truth. But she’s only in the john.’
‘Very possible,’ Gently said.
‘Yeh, possible,’ Sharkey said. ‘She got tummy trouble, remember? She’s in and out that john all the time, I saw her myself, I know she’s there.’
‘You saw her, Sarah didn’t,’ Gently said.
‘Yeh, I saw her,’ Sharkey said. ‘I’ll swear it.’
‘And what will Sarah do?’ Gently said.
Sharkey hesitated.
‘That’s no account,’ he said. ‘I’m going to swear.’
Gently sighed.
‘You’re a good brother,’ he said. ‘You’re not going to let perjury stand in your way. And now you’re launched you may as well make a job of it. How did Sadie learn that Blackburn was dead?’
‘Man, all this is true!’ Sharkey said.
‘Oh, never mind,’ Gently said. ‘Answer the question.’
Sharkey’s hands curled, paled at the knuckles, suddenly relaxed again on his knees.
‘I just told her,’ he said.
‘You just told her.’
‘I just told her,’ Sharkey said. ‘That’s how she knew. I gone down to the shops to fetch our supplies, and I pick up a paper, read it there.’
‘Which paper?’ Gently said.
‘I ain’t sure which paper.’
‘What time did you buy it?’
‘I ain’t sure what time.’
‘Where was it in the paper?’
‘I ain’t—’ Sharkey said.
‘And you’ll swear to this too?’ Gently said.
Sharkey was silent.
‘Of course, she may have heard it from you,’ Gently said. ‘And you may have read it in the paper. And the paper may have arrived in Brickfields about two minutes after it hit the street. And you may simultaneously have bought, read it, driven back from the shops, passed the news on to Sadie. And she may instantly have packed and left. It could happen. On TV.’
‘Man, that’s the way—’
‘Now the knife, Gently said. ‘Something original about the knife. I didn’t see Sarah phoning last night, nor do I think she was much in the mood.’
‘I phoned—’
‘We’ll check,’ Gently said.
‘I went to a box,’ Sharkey said. ‘I phoned.’
‘What’s wrong with your phone?’ Gently said.
‘Man, I just knew you’d tapped it!’ Sharkey said.
‘You phoned trunk from a box?’
‘I did that!’
‘Why?’ Gently said. ‘What was important?’
‘I’m just ringing Sadie—’
‘Just saying hallo.’
‘Just ringing her,’ Sharkey said. ‘Ringing her.’
‘Who knows?’ Gently said. ‘That could be true too. Though Sadie said it was Sarah rang her. But late at night, a bad line. Maybe Sadie mistook the voice.’
‘It was me,’ Sharkey said. ‘Me, me.’
‘We’ll check with the Quintoses,’ Gently said. ‘Let’s get on to Sadie and Grey, how you can prove they’re not lovers.’
Sharkey rocked a little, his lips twisting.
‘Ain’t no other way, man,’ he said. ‘That’s what you’s telling me.’
‘Sadie knew,’ Gently said. ‘No papers. No phone calls.’
‘That’s what you’s telling me,’ Sharkey said.
He went on rocking.
‘You told her,’ Gently said.
‘I told her,’ Sharkey said. ‘I told Sarah.’
‘But Tuesday night.’
‘Tuesday night.’
‘I have to warn you,’ Gently said.
The phone rang.
* * *
Gently took up the phone.
‘Fox-trot Four.’
‘Come in, Fox-trot Four,’ Gently said. ‘Over.’
‘Miss Sunshine has just left the Club in a taxi, sir. We’re following them along Victoria Road, heading south. Over.’
‘Fox-trot Four,’ Gently said. ‘Follow them in. Over.
‘Message received,’ patrol said. ‘Over.’
‘Over and stand by,’ Gently said.
He hung up.
Sharkey was watching him.
‘I’ll repeat what I was saying to you,’ Gently said. ‘What you say now will be taken down in writing and may be used in evidence. Is that clear?
‘That’s clear, man,’ Sharkey said. ‘You’s mighty fair. Put that down.’
‘Right,’ Gently said. ‘We’ll continue. You told your sister and your wife on Tuesday night.’
Sharkey eased forward, pressing on his knees.
‘I ain’t going to justify it any,’ he said. ‘I had ’bout all I could take from Tommy, and I just went crazed. That’s all I can tell you.’
‘Did something happen on Tuesday?’
Sharkey pulled at his beard.
‘Yeh,’ he said. ‘You can say something happened. I just got a letter Sonny posted before he sailed. When he was alive. It reached me Tuesday. And that was a lie I said about Tommy and the ship. I knew he was responsible, I’d talked to Grey. Then Tuesday evening Tommy was kidding with Sarah like nothing had happened. And I flipped.�
��
‘Go on,’ Gently said.
‘I followed him home. I knew he’d have a whore there, him leaving early. I parked in the road, let him go up, gave him time to get in a clinch.’
‘You parked where?’
‘Right in the road, man. He didn’t know I was on his tail.’
‘Did you see anyone there who might identify you?’
‘No man, nobody. The road was empty.’
Tallent made a noise.
Sharkey slid him a look.
‘I ain’t saying there wasn’t nobody there,’ he said. ‘But I didn’t notice nobody. I was watching Tommy. I didn’t see any person in that road.’
‘So you waited,’ Gently said. ‘What happened then?’
‘I went in round the back way,’ Sharkey said. ‘Between the houses. There’s some outside steps go up to the kitchen. That’s the way I got in.’
‘Wasn’t the door locked?’
‘Sure,’ Sharkey said. ‘But I got a knife with me, remember?’
‘What about the mortice lock?’
Sharkey hesitated.
‘There ain’t one,’ he said. ‘Or it wasn’t locked.’
‘Go on,’ Gently said.
Sharkey pressed on his knees, seemed to be moulding them together.
‘I went in,’ he said. ‘They was on the bed. I let him have it in the back.’
‘Who was the woman?’
‘I didn’t know her,’ Sharkey said.
‘You saw her?’
‘Yeh, man.’
‘Though it was dark?’
‘It ain’t quite dark,’ Sharkey said. ‘Not quite dark. There’s some sort of light. Maybe it’s the electric fire.’
‘Blackburn’s flat is centrally heated,’ Gently said.
‘There’s light,’ Sharkey said. ‘Maybe it come through the window.’
‘Enough light for you to see this woman was a stranger?’
‘Yeh, man,’ Sharkey said.
‘Go on.’
‘So that’s about all,’ Sharkey said. ‘I went out there fast. I jumped in my car and drove back home. I’m maybe gone about an hour, but ain’t going to be nobody notice that.’
‘You stabbed him and went.’
‘That’s about it.’
‘So your dabs will be on the knife,’ Gently said.
‘Dabs,’ Sharkey said. ‘There ain’t no dabs. I’m wearing my gloves all this time.’
‘I see,’ Gently said. ‘Did Blackburn scream?’
‘No, man. He’s dead straight away.’
‘Why stab him twice, then?’