The Dead

by Howard Linskey

  Golden Boots started nodding vigorously to show he had got the message.

  ‘Good lad,’ said our guard, then he put out a hand and patted him on the cheek, ‘take care now and you watch yourself, you hear, because we sure as hell will be.’

  I suppose there is an irony here. Henry Baxter was judged to be innocent of a crime he actually committed, whereas Golden Boots was starting a life sentence for a murder he had nothing to do with. It could convincingly be argued that real justice was eventually served in the case of Henry Baxter. No one in my crew thought he got anything less than the fate he richly deserved. It could also be argued that Golden Boots merited a few years jail time, for all of his collective misdemeanours put together, and I wouldn’t argue too strongly against that, but he was inside now for one reason, and one reason alone. I had to keep my main enforcer’s son away from a life sentence because, if Kevin Kinane went down, there would be no knowing what Joe might do. This way he stayed by my side and now he owed me big style. Like I’ve said before, loyalty is everything in our game.

  Kevin Kinane had to be punished though. We all knew that, even Joe, especially Joe. I gave Kevin seven days to get his life in order, before making him leave the city he had known all of his life.

  There was no opposition from Joe. His disgust at what his son had done was very clear to me. He didn’t even see him off at the station. We left that job to Peter and Chris Kinane who, early one bright morning, put their older brother on the first train out of Newcastle Central Station to London, with one suitcase, then reported that he was gone for good. I could tell they were as shocked by what he had done as their dad. Aside from the obvious evil of murdering a young girl who had done nothing to offend us, which was a bad enough sin on its own, he had brought a huge amount of heat down on our organisation, putting all our lives and livelihoods in jeopardy in the process. That was indefensible and there was no future for him with us anymore. I had no idea what he was going to do with the rest of his life and I didn’t care. For such a big man, he went like a lamb.

  40

  With two murder trials behind us and the police off my back, I was keen to be rid of the rest of my problems. Only one man could help me do that.

  Amrein was taking afternoon tea in his hotel on the Quayside when I arrived. He was sitting on his own at one table, with two burly bodyguards occupying another, watching over him.

  ‘Amrein, I keep telling you, I need you to persuade this crazy Russian you set me up with that I don’t want to climb into bed with him, no matter how much he is offering. I need you to scare him, buy him, kill him if you have to, do whatever it takes, but I want him off my back permanently. Have I made myself incredibly clear about that?’

  ‘Yes you have… it’s just…’

  ‘It’s just what?’

  ‘Okay, you pay us for this kind of thing, usually, I understand that and so do the people I work for. They are highly sympathetic to your plight but we have a major problem here that we are thinking is beyond our capability.’

  ‘I don’t believe this.’

  ‘We anticipated you would be reluctant to do this kind of business with him, for obvious reasons, but the man is not known for accepting a refusal of any kind.’

  ‘I gathered that.’

  ‘And now you know a little of his plans, he will be even more reluctant to allow you to carry on outside of his Krysha, as he calls it.’

  ‘Are you telling me he is not scared of your organisation? Not in the slightest?’

  ‘The FSB and the GRU have been trying to get Vasnetsov for a decade. You think he is frightened of us?’

  As well as attracting the ire of the FSB, Vasnetsov had to contend with the GRU, the Russian Foreign Military Intelligence service. He had made some powerful enemies.

  ‘Then kill the fucker.’

  ‘This is exactly what the Russians have been trying to do. They’ve had agents penetrate his organisation with the sole purpose of assassinating the man.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘They were exposed by his men and killed. He has some very clever people working for him and he pays them crazy money.’

  ‘What about a tribute of some kind; a pay-off, to make him look in another direction for his supply line.’ I was getting desperate now and I knew it, just as I knew Amrein’s answer before he gave it.

  ‘The man is worth twenty billion dollars. His fortune will increase massively if he can get this African oil project off the ground. What use does he have for your money or ours?’

  ‘And you can’t protect me from him?’

  ‘We could,’ he assured me, ‘if you were willing to live your life in something resembling a witness protection programme; change your name, your appearance, move to another country, never see any of your friends and family again then, yes, we could save you from this man, but that would be expensive, and how long could you continue to pay for this service if you are running your company from a desert island?’

  ‘Not long,’ I admitted, ‘this business doesn’t exactly take kindly to sleeping partners. You’d soon be dealing with someone else in Newcastle and then I’d just be an expensive house guest.’

  ‘Regrettably so,’ he told me, with characteristic honesty.

  ‘So then, in summary, I’m fucked.’

  Amrein said nothing. It was the first time he hadn’t contradicted me, which told me everything I needed to know.

  ‘Let me ask you something Amrein, what would make the Stevic brothers come all the way from Belgrade to take me on?’ He opened his mouth as if to answer but I cut him off, ‘and don’t give me that bullshit about them thinking we’re weak.’

  ‘That is usually the way they operate.’

  ‘Since when has taking over Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh been a sign of weakness?’

  ‘What then?’

  ‘It’s Vasnetsov,’ I told him. ‘He’s the man behind them. He’s got to be. I wasn’t certain until I offered them money to walk away.’

  ‘Money you had no intention of paying?’

  ‘I needed to be sure.’

  ‘It would explain why they turned you down,’ he admitted, ‘if they already have his money.’

  ‘Remember what he told me about Krysha? If ever I have a problem I could come to him and he would make it disappear.’

  ‘And the Serbs would return to Belgrade and you would think it was because of him.’

  ‘And it would be,’ I said, ‘he’d send them home because he was the one who ordered them over here in the first place. How else could they get something on an Assistant Chief Constable? He set that up.’

  Amrein thought for a moment, ‘I think you may be right, but what can you do about it?’

  ‘I can show him I don’t need his help to get rid of the Stevic brothers.’

  As soon as I concluded my meeting with Amrein I took Palmer to one side. ‘I need you to use your skills and contacts,’ I explained, ‘the guys you knew from your time in the intelligence services.’

  He was immediately evasive, ‘I was only ever seconded to those guys for short periods…’

  I interrupted him, ‘Can we cut the crap, Palmer, because I haven’t got time for it? How long have I known you? I’ve seen what you can do. You weren’t seconded to anyone. You were the real deal, so can you afford me the courtesy of stopping with the denials?’

  Palmer thought for a moment then said, ‘Sure. What is it you want?’

  ‘I need you to go off the grid for a while. Can you do that?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘There’s something important I need you to do for me.’

  As DI Sharp walked into the station he immediately realised something was wrong. The whole atmosphere seemed different and he soon learned why. The top brass were here. He could see them at the far end of the room, across a sea of desks, but they hadn’t spotted him yet. They were standing outside his boss’ office, deep in conversation. He could tell they were waiting for something or someone and his first impulse w
as to turn around and march straight from the room. He’d go back down to the car park, climb into his car and drive away as fast as he could. He knew he’d not get far, but Sharp would take his chances that way rather than be arrested here in front of everybody he’d worked alongside for years. Ten years minimum, he thought and felt sick.

  To the left and right of him, desks were occupied by fellow officers but nobody acknowledged him. They all knew. He’d witnessed this kind of thing before. An unsuspecting detective would walk in one day to find a reception committee waiting for him; senior brass, his boss, a couple of hand-picked fellow officers, chosen for their bulk and ability to quietly contain him without a fuss being made. Everyone would know in advance, no one would blink as he was arrested on suspicion of corruption, then escorted from the building.

  Sharp was about to turn on his heel when his boss DCI White spotted him and shouted across the room, ‘Sharp!’ he called, just loud enough. Sharp couldn’t possibly claim he hadn’t heard.

  ‘Boss,’ replied Sharp, with a strained smile, but he could already feel his cheeks burning with shame.

  DCI White nodded towards his vacant office, ‘We’d like a word.’

  I was at home when the call came through. He didn’t say who it was but I didn’t need him to. The sound of those deep, rasping breaths was enough.

  ‘I didn’t tell you everything,’ he wheezed, ‘there’s something you want to know, but I’m wanting another five grand for the information.’

  ‘Really?’ I replied, astounded at the cheek of this guy, because I seriously doubted he had anything new to tell me, ‘and what would that be?’

  ‘The name of the man who killed your fatha.’

  Like most pubs, the Newcastle Arms is busy at the weekend, particularly on a match day, but quiet during the week. I met my asthmatic informant in a near-empty bar.

  He was already there waiting for me. I bought my pint and sat down. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘this had better be good.’

  He gave me a grim smile, ‘Why? Will you kill us if it isn’t like?’ He had another coughing fit from the effort involved in asking me that. ‘Well, you’ll have to be quick. I’ve got three months, so they say.’ From the look on his face, he wasn’t bluffing.

  ‘Is that why you wanted to see me? To unburden yourself?’

  ‘For the money,’ he told me, ‘I’ve got nowt, man,’ and he shook his head bitterly. ‘I want five grand for me daughter and her kiddie. That’s loose change in your pocket. If you give it me, I’ll let you have the name of the man who saw to your fatha.’

  ‘And how would you know that,’ I challenged him, ‘if you were on the outside looking in?’

  ‘Aye, well, I lied about that? I did more for Bobby Mahoney than I care to admit.’ He didn’t look like he was lying this time, so I let it go.

  ‘Then why didn’t you give me this name before?’

  ‘Because the bloke’s still alive,’ he explained, ‘and he’s an evil bastard.’

  ‘And you were scared he’d come after you?’

  He shrugged, ‘Doesn’t matter now, does it?’

  ‘How would I know it’s him?’ I asked. ‘You’re desperate. You could be spinning me any old yarn.’

  ‘Go and see him,’ he suggested, ‘judge for yourself, persuade him to tell you the truth. I bet you could, an’ all.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘If you’re convinced, you can give me my money.’

  ‘You’re a trusting soul, all of a sudden.’

  ‘Aye, well, you’ll either give us it or you won’t but, like I said, it’s loose change to you and I’ve heard you don’t welch.’

  ‘You’ll get it,’ I assured him, ‘if the information you give me is correct. Out with it then.’

  He leaned in close. ‘Have you heard of Mickey Crowe?’ he asked me.

  ‘No.’

  ‘No reason you should have,’ he admitted, ‘he found God,’ and he let out a little snort of derision, because clearly he hadn’t. ‘Jacked it all in when he was born again, turned his back on a life of crime and went off to save the souls of bad people instead,’ he smiled at that, ‘he must be a busy lad in Newcastle.’

  ‘Jacked what in exactly?’

  ‘Killing people for money.’

  41

  I don’t know what I was expecting from the church of the Tyneside Bible Fellowship, but I wasn’t expecting this. The place was huge and looked more like a corporate headquarters than a church. I wondered how much the congregation had been fleeced to pay for it. I guessed they didn’t mind. After all, they’d been ‘saved’.

  There was a sign on the lawn at the front of the church that proclaimed, ‘The Bible is inspired by God and is the final authority on all matters.’ Not much room for debate there then. I could never understand how quoting lines from a book, written by men, decades after the death of Jesus Christ, could prove anything to anyone about the existence of a god.

  There was nobody in the church at this hour, so we ignored the big glass doors at the front and walked around the back. We found a door that was unlocked. Joe Kinane and I walked inside. We followed the corridor until we reached a small kitchen. There, sitting all alone at the table, drinking his tea, was the Reverend Michael Crowe. I recognised the man from his picture on the church’s website.

  ‘Who are you?’ he asked, clearly disconcerted by our presence. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘That’s not a very Christian welcome, Reverend Crowe. You know Joe Kinane from your old life,’ I reminded him, ‘it doesn’t matter who I am. Kinane works for me now. That’s all you need to know.’

  The reverend looked nervous, but was he scared of Joe Kinane or of having his past life exposed to his congregation? Maybe it was both.

  ‘Is this what you really do now Crowe?’ asked Kinane.

  ‘Since I was saved, yes,’ he answered, with the glassy-eyed conviction of the brain-washed.

  ‘Saved?’ asked Kinane, ‘you’re fucking joking, aren’t you?’

  ‘I was saved and anointed by God to spread his word,’ Crowe told us firmly.

  ‘Anointed by God personally?’ asked Kinane. ‘Nice of him to take time out of his day, like that. He must be hellishly busy, poor bastard.’

  Kinane went over to the kettle then. He picked it up and filled it from the tap in the kitchen sink. The sound of the water pouring into the kettle made Crowe turn his head and watch my enforcer. Kinane put it back on its stand and switched it on. Crowe continued to watch him as Kinane went to the oven and turned on all of the gas rings. There was a hiss and a click, click, click until each ring fired and flames shot up from them.

  ‘Good screw is it?’ I asked, ‘making a canny living are you, from your flock I mean? Or is that not what it’s called in your church?’

  ‘You can mock me all you wish,’ Crowe told me, ‘but the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand’ he said; ‘repent ye and believe the gospel; Mark, Chapter one, Verse fifteen.’

  ‘Shut the fuck up and listen or Kinane will break both of your arms. That’s David; Chapter one, Verse one.’

  Kinane opened a drawer and selected some large kitchen knives. He checked that Crowe was looking at him as he placed the knives blade first into the flame of one of the gas rings, then he took a saucepan and filled it with water and put that on a ring too. Finally he took a frying pan and poured a load of oil in it until it made a deep pool and he placed this on one of the rings. I said nothing while he did this and Crowe watched him intently the whole time.‘This is quite a change of lifestyle, I must say,’ I said, ‘was it gradual or did it happen overnight? I mean one day you are killing people and the next saving them. That’s what it says on your website anyhow; the bit about saving them, I mean. You don’t mention the killing. Funny that.’

  ‘Salvation is a miracle, only through the goodness of God can we be led to repentance,’ he recited.

  ‘So you repent all of your sins do you?’

  ‘I have made my peace with God, yes
.’

  ‘But you were never punished, were you? For those crimes you committed, for the men you killed. You just stopped, changed your life and got off scot-free. No prison term, no nothing in fact, just renounce evil one day and set yourself up preaching the word of the Lord to the gullible the next. Does it not feel strange telling fairy stories to nut jobs while fleecing them out of their money? I suppose it’s undemanding work.’

  ‘I feel sorry for you,’ he told me, ‘it’s obvious to me you are in great pain but it isn’t too late, it’s never too late to renounce evil and hear the word of Christ. He is your salvation, believe me.’

  ‘I am in great pain,’ I admitted, ‘I’ve got this terrible pain in the arse right now listening to you banging on about your imaginary friends Jesus and the Lord.’

  ‘There shall be false teachers among you, who shall bring in damnable heresies,’ he was quoting at me again.

  I ignored this. ‘Kinane didn’t bring his tool box but he doesn’t need it here, not with boiling water, red hot knives and scalding oil. Kitchens are very dangerous places for men who don’t provide answers to my questions.’

  ‘What questions?’

  ‘How many men did you kill for Bobby Mahoney?’

  ‘I told you, I have made my peace with God.’

  ‘But not with me and I’m the one that’s in the room right now asking you. God can’t protect you from me, Crowe. If you really think he can, you’d better call on him now and ask him to smite me down, before I get Joe to put one of your hands in that pan of hot oil. Are you taking me seriously? I hope so. How many was it? Some say a dozen, there are others who claim it was more.’ He went silent on me then.

  ‘Perhaps when we are done here,’ I admitted, ‘we’ll just call the police and give them the information they need on all of those cold cases they’ve got on file from the seventies. They’ve got retired coppers working on them part-time and they love it because, no matter how old the case, they’ve always got a good chance of linking a suspect to a corpse due to the DNA. Must be your worst nightmare that Crowe? I mean, when you were killing folk nobody had heard of DNA. Bit sneaky of them to change the rules like that, eh? Not very sporting. I reckon we’ll start with the four people I know you killed for Bobby. I’ve been asking around you see. Should we tell them about James Connor? Or Martin Pearce?’ There was recognition in his eye at those names. ‘Maybe Patrick Donnelly will ring a bell with them or Susan Carter; poor lady was strangled in her bed one night because she knew the names of a gang who’d carried out a bunch of armed robberies and she was going to give up the lot of them. Bet the police kept her night clothes and bed sheets all these years.’