by Alan Hunter
‘I don’t know why I do it.’
‘But you stabbed him twice.’
‘Maybe,’ Sharkey said.
Tallent scraped his chair, grabbed a cigarette, threw a hard stare at Sharkey.
‘You just don’t know what you do,’ Sharkey said. ‘It’s like a kind of blackout. I’m doing my best to remember.’
‘This woman,’ Gently said.
Sharkey hung to his knees.
‘Where was she when you entered the room?’
‘Man, she’s on the bed,’ Sharkey said. ‘They’s both on the bed. She’s underneath him. That’s the way.’
‘You were able to see this?’
‘Don’t I say so?’
‘You were able to see her?’
‘Yeh, man. Yeh.’
‘Though she was beneath Blackburn?’
‘Yeh. I can see her.’
‘Well enough to know she was a stranger?’
‘I did know that,’ Sharkey said.
‘Then you approach the bed,’ Gently said. ‘You can see her. Doesn’t she see you?’
‘Man, she ain’t seeing,’ Sharkey said. ‘She got her eyes closed. She don’t see me.’
‘So you stab him,’ Gently said. ‘Is she still insensible?’
‘I don’t know, I don’t wait,’ Sharkey said.
‘While you stab him twice,’ Gently said.
‘I just don’t know, man. It’s all like a nightmare. I don’t know.’
‘But you’ll know this,’ Gently said, ‘since you saw her so well. Was she a white woman?’
‘She, she—’ Sharkey said, ‘she’s a white woman.’
‘So she couldn’t have been Sadie?’
Sharkey dropped his head.
‘Well,’ Gently said, ‘I’m glad that’s established, your sister being under such grave suspicion. Now we’ll be able to relieve her mind when she walks through that door.’
Sharkey jolted upright.
‘You don’t need her here, man!’
‘She seems to think otherwise,’ Gently said.
Out in the hall there’d been voices and footfalls.
Now there came a rap on the door.
Sadie Sunshine came in.
Sharkey Sunshine jumped up.
They stood facing each other in front of the desk.
Seen together, there was no mistaking the kinship between the two fine-featured faces. She was nearly as tall as he. They made matching male and female figures. She was elegant, he was powerful, each with a natural grace of carriage.
‘You, woman,’ he said from deep in his chest. ‘You keep your mouth shut, you woman.’
‘You, man,’ Sadie Sunshine said. ‘Who you think you telling, you, man?’
‘This ain’t your affair,’ Sharkey Sunshine said. ‘You just do what I’m saying, you, woman.’
‘This my affair too,’ Sadie Sunshine said. ‘You a big fool, Sharkey Sunshine, you, man.’
She turned impetuously to Gently.
‘You don’t listen to this man,’ she said. ‘He has an idea in his head that he ought to protect me. I don’t need protecting by him.’
‘You, woman, be quiet,’ Sharkey Sunshine said.
‘Oh no,’ Sadie Sunshine said. ‘Oh no. You’ve told these policemen your story, Sharkey. Now you just let me tell them mine.’
‘I’ve confessed, you, woman.’
Sadie Sunshine laughed.
‘And you think they believed you, you fool man?’
‘I killed Blackburn,’ Sharkey Sunshine said. ‘I killed him.’
‘Man, you weren’t even near the place.’
She took the chair Sharkey had sat in, folded her long legs neatly together. She laid her bag and her gloves on her lap. She met Gently’s eyes firmly.
‘I was the woman with Blackburn,’ she said. ‘I went to his flat to make it up with him. He was in my arms when he died. I saw the man: it wasn’t Sharkey.’
‘Oh, you fool, woman!’ Sharkey groaned.
‘This is very interesting,’ Gently said. ‘So who was it?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We didn’t have the light on. But it wasn’t Sharkey. He didn’t have a beard.’
‘You could see that?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I could see that. I could see his silhouette against the curtains. And it wasn’t Sharkey. It was a shorter man. It was a man with a very short neck.’
‘Who you didn’t know.’
‘Who I didn’t know. I’m not even sure he was black.
‘And he just stabbed Blackburn and ran.’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Stabbed him and ran.’
She sat very still, slightly smiling, eyes large and unwinking.
Sharkey towered over her chair, scowling down, a hand on the chair-back.
‘So,’ Gently said, ‘you claim to be an eye-witness.’
‘I sure was that,’ Sadie Sunshine said.
‘You saw the murderer, saw the blows struck.’
‘I could feel them.’
She blinked her eyes.
‘Did you scream?’
‘I guessed I screamed. Maybe that’s why he left so fast.’
‘Leaving you pinned down by Blackburn’s body.’
‘Don’t remind me of that,’ she said.
‘Of course, you’d be terrified,’ Gently said. ‘Left in that situation with a murdered man. In the dark as you were. With blood pouring over you. What did you do?’
She laughed nervously.
‘I guess I got out from under.’
‘What about the blood?’
‘I sluiced it off in the shower. I was in my birthday-suit, remember.’
‘That’s curious,’ Gently said. ‘We didn’t find any blood-traces other than those on the bed. And Blackburn bled quite freely. And all this happened in the dark.’
‘I guess I didn’t get so much on me,’ Sadie Sunshine said. ‘I was sliding out of that pretty quick. I switched the light on as soon as I reached it, saw I had some smudges down the side.’
‘Did it call for a shower to remove those?’
‘I thought it had better be a shower,’ she said.
‘Wouldn’t you be in a hurry to leave there?’ Gently said.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I got in the shower.’
‘Going back to the attack,’ Gently said. ‘You could see the attacker, you could feel two blows.’
‘Two blows,’ she said, ‘very quick. Then I was screaming and he ran out.’
‘He didn’t hesitate.’
‘He didn’t hesitate.’
‘So it couldn’t have been him who wiped the knife-handle.’
Sadie Sunshine’s eyes didn’t blink.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I did that afterwards.’
‘You,’ Gently said.
‘It was naughty,’ she said. ‘I know I shouldn’t have done that. But I recognized the knife. It meant it was one of our people. So I gave it a wipe with my hankie.’
‘Why didn’t you take it?’
She made a face.
‘I wasn’t going to pull it out,’ she said. ‘It was only a cheap, common sort of knife. I sure didn’t think you’d ever trace it.’
‘You kept a cool head,’ Gently said.
‘Not me,’ she said. ‘I was in an all-ways tizzie. But I had to wash and dress, I couldn’t just run, so I guess I cooled a bit in the process.’
‘It was then you thought to wipe the knife-handle.’
‘The knife-handle, the doors, things I’d touched.’
‘And when you did something else.’
‘Maybe,’ she said.
‘Concerning Blackburn’s wallet.’
‘The wallet,’ she said.
Gently stared at the ceiling.
‘The wallet,’ he said, ‘was in Blackburn’s jacket, which hung over a chair. The murderer didn’t have time to go through it, but someone did. It was empty.’
Sadie Sunshine repeated her nervous laugh.
&nb
sp; ‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’ll come clean. I took his money. He owed me that much. And he surely didn’t have any more use for it.’
‘How much?’ Gently said.
‘Oh . . . about fifty.’
‘Mostly in fivers?’ Gently said.
‘Mostly in fivers,’ she said. ‘A few ones.’
‘Miss Sunshine,’ Gently said to the ceiling, ‘you’re a liar.’
He came up suddenly from his chair.
‘You’re liars, both of you,’ he said. ‘Neither of you was in that flat on Tuesday evening. Neither of you was in Chiswick.’
‘Man, that ain’t so—’ Sharkey began.
‘You,’ Gently said, ‘never left the Club.’
‘I did!’
‘You didn’t,’ Gently said. ‘You couldn’t leave it for an hour and nobody notice. You’re a figurehead there. You’re the MC. You leave a gap when you go out. And you didn’t go out. Your customers say so. Who served the band at 10 p.m.?’
‘I—’ Sharkey said.
Gently turned to Sadie.
‘You were in Acton,’ he said. ‘With James Osgood.’
‘I never was!’
‘Oh yes,’ Gently said. ‘You were giving him a whirl to spite Blackburn. It was a bad alibi, so you didn’t give it. Osgood had reason to settle with Blackburn. It was a bad alibi for Osgood too. You were hot. You wouldn’t do.’
‘But this is crazy—!’
‘Stop lying,’ Gently said. ‘You two are covering, but not for each other. You’re covering for the woman who is Grey’s mistress. Who borrowed Sadie’s bonnet. Who couldn’t run.’
‘Oh man, we ain’t—!’ Sharkey cried.
‘Who propositioned Blackburn,’ Gently said. ‘Who was waiting in his flat for him on Tuesday. Who killed him with a knife taken from Sadie’s bedroom.’
‘Oh God, my God!’ Sharkey cried.
‘So don’t let’s waste each other’s time,’ Gently said.
He picked up the paperweight, let it drop with a bang.
‘I knew this yesterday,’ he said.
Sharkey reached over the desk, grabbed Gently’s arm.
‘But why you think this, man,’ he cried. ‘Why you think little Sarah kill him? She don’t have any reason at all.’
‘Tell me her maiden name,’ Gently said.
‘Her maiden name—!’
‘Isn’t it Quintos?’
Sharkey gazed, lips trembling.
‘Sarah Quintos,’ Gently said.
He pushed the Immigration Department list towards Sharkey.
‘You lost a brother,’ he said. ‘One. She lost brothers, sisters, father, mother, a grandparent: her all. She didn’t have anyone left but you.’
Gently snatched his arm from Sharkey’s grasp.
‘And yesterday she didn’t have you either,’ he said. ‘After you’d guessed about Grey.’
‘Oh, oh,’ Sharkey sobbed.
He slid down on the front of the desk.
‘It’s true,’ he sobbed. ‘Oh, I been cruel. I didn’t know I could be so cruel.’
Sadie Sunshine sat very pale.
‘She’d have told you,’ Gently said to her. ‘You knew about Grey. That’s why you ran. So we’d suspect you. So we wouldn’t bother much with Mrs Sunshine.’
Sadie Sunshine said, ‘It was Grey.’
‘Yes,’ Gently said. ‘Grey. Perhaps even losing her whole family wouldn’t have turned Sarah into a killer. And unless she talks we can’t touch him.’
‘He’ll need to watch out,’ Sadie Sunshine said.
‘I’m afraid he’s good at that,’ Gently said.
Sadie Sunshine didn’t say anything.
Gently shrugged.
‘Right,’ he said to Tallent. ‘Time to go out and bring her in.’
‘No, man!’ Sharkey cried, jumping up. ‘You cain’t do that, sir – you cain’t.’
‘I must,’ Gently said.
‘No,’ Sharkey cried.
He went down on one knee before Gently.
‘Let me fetch her. Oh, please. She ain’t going to give nobody any trouble.’
‘It’s my duty,’ Gently said.
‘She’ll be frightened, sir. Please. Please.’
Gently paused.
‘You come with us,’ he said. ‘We’ll let you talk to her first.’
Tallent hooked up the phone, said, ‘I’ll inform Division. Do you reckon we need help?’
‘No,’ Gently said. ‘It’s just a family affair.’
Sadie Sunshine caught Sharkey’s hand.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE RAIN HAD left the air softly chill and the night sky like blue-black plush. Tyres still swished in the gleaming streets and lamps shone with a deep brilliance.
They’d taken a Super Snipe. Tallent drove, Gently sat by Tallent. In the back the two Sunshines shared with the grey-eyed policewoman, whose name was Grady.
Nobody spoke. Tallent drove swiftly, touching his siren for the lights.
When they reached the junction of Paradise Road they found a patrol Wolseley parked opposite.
Tallent drifted the Super Snipe in behind it and Makin came to Gently’s window.
‘There could be trouble, sir,’ Makin said. ‘There’s forty or fifty immigrants outside the Club.’
‘Doing what?’ Tallent growled.
‘Just hanging about,’ Makin said. ‘I took a shufti but I didn’t go near them. I thought I’d talk to you first.’
‘Do you know about this?’ Gently said to Sharkey.
‘No,’ Sharkey muttered. ‘It ain’t my arranging.’
‘Maybe now we call help in?’ Tallent said.
Gently shook his head. ‘No,’ he said.
‘But look,’ Tallent said. ‘This could be a bloody slaughter. They’re bound to jump us if that woman kicks up.’
‘That’s a risk we take,’ Gently said, ‘with any arrest. We’ll have to take it here. Keep driving.’
‘Yeah,’ Tallent said. ‘Now let me pray.’
He wheeled the Super Snipe off the kerb. As they turned into Paradise Road their headlights picked up the black youths grouped together near the Club steps. Tallent drove hard towards the steps, then braked the car to a screeching stop. The crowd pulled apart, giving the car space, but didn’t move far from the steps.
‘Cut your headlights,’ Gently said.
Tallent cut them. Gently got out, walked up to the steps. At the top of the steps stood the bouncer, Josh, and a man who was holding half a brick.
‘Remember me?’ Gently said to Josh.
‘Yeh, man,’ Josh said. ‘I remember you.’
‘So let’s stay friends,’ Gently said. ‘Come down and let me get on with my job.’
‘Maybe we don’t like your job,’ Josh said.
‘Maybe I don’t either,’ Gently said.
He walked up the steps, stood level with the men.
‘Are you planning to attack me?’ he said.
The man with the brick didn’t want to look at Gently.
Josh kept looking, didn’t move.
‘Well?’ Gently said.
‘We ain’t planning to attack you,’ Josh said. ‘Just we don’t like what you come here to do.’
‘So come down,’ Gently said.
He reached for the brick. The man holding the brick let him take it. Gently turned, came down the steps. Josh came down the steps. The other man followed.
The rest of the crowd had drawn round the car where Tallent now leaned, stroking his knuckles. They were silent. They stared at Tallent. Tallent whistled softly, gazing over their heads.
‘Right, you go in now,’ Gently said to Sharkey.
Sharkey got out. Sadie stayed in the car.
Sharkey stood by the car a moment, his eyes wild, then he stumbled up the steps and unlocked the doors.
‘We go in too?’ Tallent said.
‘No,’ Gently said. ‘We wait.’
Sharkey pushed through the doors, leaving them wide. He pus
hed through the swing doors. A light flared on.
‘No other lights,’ Tallent murmured.
He nodded to the windows apart from the hall.
Sadie said from the car, ‘She’s surely in there. Sarah wouldn’t run away like me.’
‘Yeah,’ Tallent said.
He resumed his whistling.
Now some of the crowd were whispering together.
A train went very slowly by, backed up, went slowly by a second time.
Then the spring doors squeaked and Sharkey lurched out, a bundle sagging in his arms. He stood swaying on the steps, making choking noises. The bundle he carried was Sarah Sunshine.
‘My God, he’s killed her!’ Tallent gaped.
Sharkey sank on the steps, tears squeezing from his eyes.
Sarah’s head dangled heavy, her small teeth showing.
Through his sobs Sharkey choked, ‘Hung. She’m hung.’
‘Keep back, keep back!’ Gently snapped at the crowd as they hustled round him at the foot of the steps.
In Sarah’s neck was a deep, fresh weal. An envelope was pinned to the breast of her dress.
She was warm, but she was dead. Her mouth, her eyes were slightly open. Perhaps at the last she’d snatched at the noose, since a nail was torn and the finger bleeding.
‘Oh, she’m hung,’ Sharkey sobbed, and those gathered round him gave a rustling moan.
Sadie Sunshine clawed free of the mob to throw herself weeping on her brother’s shoulder.
‘Give me some light here!’ Gently snapped to Tallent.
Tallent bulled his way through with a service handlamp.
Gently unpinned the envelope, shook out the contents, poked open a folded sheet with one finger. The writing on it was uneven and scattered, as though blown through by the wind.
I sory, the note read, Key man I know you dont love me eny more now I bad to you I sory if they come for me that is truble for us peeple I have to be brave Key man maybe we meet agn sumplace Key man I did love you I sory man.
The last words tailed away and the note was unsigned.
In Tallent’s hand the lamp wavered.
‘Oh Christ,’ he muttered.
He switched the lamp to her upturned face. The eyes glittered faintly through the lashes, the mouth was parted like a dead animal’s, the smooth cheeks had no expression.
‘She’m hung,’ Sharkey sobbed. ‘Oh why?’
‘That bloody bitch,’ Tallent said.
‘Come on,’ Gently said. ‘Let’s get things moving.’
‘Bloody,’ Tallent said. ‘Bloody.’