‘Does DCI Parsons know about that?’
‘Yeah …’ Christian nodded. ‘I gather she phoned Mr Willard just to check whether it was appropriate. He must have said yes.’
Faraday nodded, amused. ‘He’ll think it might play to our advantage. He’s probably right too. Mackenzie’s going to be vulnerable, his missus as well. The tighter you get … You know the way it goes.’
‘Of course, boss.’
‘There’s something else I ought to mention. The daughter’s been over the side recently. With Perry Madison.’
Suttle’s head came up. Like more or less everyone else, he loathed the DCI.
‘Madison? You have to be joking.’
‘Far from it.’
‘But why him? Why beat yourself up with someone like that? The man’s an arsehole.’
‘Sure.’ It was Helen Christian. ‘But he’s her arsehole. Some women can’t wait to get themselves abused. Don’t ask me why.’
Suttle was still getting to grips with this latest news. From Esme’s point of view, he said, it seemed an inexplicable choice. From Madison’s too. Any kind of involvement with the Mackenzie brood was a kamikaze move. As Suttle himself knew only too well.
‘How come?’ Christian was intrigued.
‘I got it on with a girl called Trudy a while ago. She wasn’t the sharpest pencil in the box but we had a good time. Then it turned out that her mum was Mackenzie’s long-term shag and when the Man found out I got a toeing. Couple of heavies outside Tiger Tiger one night. Fucking painful if you’re asking.’ Tiger Tiger was a nightclub in Gunwharf. The attack had put Suttle in hospital for a couple of days.
‘Nasty.’ Christian was looking at Faraday. ‘So that’s two of us with previous as far as Mackenzie’s concerned.’
It was gone ten by the time Faraday and Christian made it to 13 Sandown Road. Marie opened the front door. Faraday could smell fresh coffee and the lingering scent of burned toast. Two tiny faces peered out at him from the depths of the hall.
Mackenzie and Winter were sitting at the kitchen table. There was an exchange of nods. Faraday said yes to coffee. Christian declined.
‘Old times, eh?’ Winter was looking up at Faraday, then Christian. ‘Who’d have guessed?’
Christian was explaining her role to Marie. She and her husband were to treat her as part of the family. It was important that she won the confidence of the kids.
‘Part of the family?’ Mackenzie’s head came up, immediately suspicious, staring at Faraday. ‘How does that work?’ He rounded on Christian, provoked by the very thought. Then he took another look at her, harder this time. ‘What’s your first name again?’
‘Helen’
‘Helen?’ He was frowning now, trying to match the face to some long-ago memory. ‘Do I know you?’
‘Maybe.’
‘How?’
‘We went out a couple of times. Ages ago.’
‘We did?’ He was fighting hard to keep focus. Last night’s events didn’t help. ‘Like when?’
‘Back in the 80s. 83? 84? I can’t remember.’
Mackenzie stared at her a moment or two longer. She was on the point of giving him another clue when his hand closed on hers.
‘Iron Maiden T-shirt? Big fucking poster on that bedroom wall of yours?’
‘Yes.’
‘We went to the Reading festival, right?’
‘Right.’
‘Black Sabbath? The Stranglers?’
‘Yeah.’
‘So what are you doing with this lot?’
Christian glanced at Marie. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. Mackenzie hadn’t finished. Curiosity had given way to bewilderment. First someone nicks his favourite grandchild, then an old shag turns out to be working with the Filth. Faraday was watching him carefully. He almost felt sorry for the man.
‘She’s a copper, Mr Mackenzie,’ he said. ‘She’s come to lend a hand.’
Marie left the room without a word. Helen went after her, leaving the three men at the table. Mackenzie was still trying to make sense of it all. He looked sideways at Winter.
‘This is totally out of order, isn’t it? This is taking the fucking piss.’
‘Ignore it, Baz. She’s a lovely girl.’
‘You’re right, mush, but what’s lovely got to do with it? This is a kidnap not an 80s fucking reunion. Am I right Mr F?’
Faraday ignored the question, aware of the sudden force of Mackenzie’s anger. Putting Helen Christian into play had been a deliberately provocative ploy. Best now to move on. He outlined some of the steps Operation Causeway had already taken. When he got to the Sexual Offenders Register, Mackenzie interrupted. He seemed to have forgotten about Helen Christian.
‘You think the boy might have been nonced?’
‘I doubt it. The MO’s all wrong. Nonces don’t break into houses like Esme’s.’
‘But you think it might be possible?’
‘We have to bear it in mind.’
There was a silence around the table. Then Faraday assured Mackenzie that everything possible was being done to progress the investigation. For the time being they were imposing a media blackout but this decision might change later. Mackenzie wanted to know why.
‘Because it might be in our interests to make some kind of appeal. They’ll be expecting that. They’ll be tuned in.’
‘But these cunts will get in touch, won’t they? Isn’t that the way it works? Gimme the moolah? Or fucking else?’
‘It’s possible,’ Faraday admitted, ‘but we try and plan for every eventuality.’
He asked about Esme. It was important to talk to her. When was she coming back?
‘I’ve been trying to phone her all morning. Silly cow’s got her mobile switched off. I’ve left a message at the hotel too. She’ll get in touch in the end.’
‘And her husband? Stuart?’
‘He’s on the way down. He should be here in an hour or so.’
‘Good. So how are the kids?’
‘Upset. Guy’s always been the big brother. Big brothers don’t just fuck off like that.’
Faraday nodded, turning his attention to Winter.
‘Perry Madison?’ he enquired.
‘Haven’t got a clue, boss.’ The ‘boss’ was deliberate, Faraday knew it. Winter’s role here was to muddy the waters. Faraday looked at Mackenzie again.
‘Is Madison still with your daughter, Mr Mackenzie?’
‘No idea. I’ve never discussed it with her, to tell you the truth. No offence, mate, but how could she pull a stroke like that? With the Filth?’
Faraday, unsmiling, made a note. When he asked whether either of them could think of any possible reason why anyone would want to kidnap young Guy, Mackenzie was the first to answer.
‘Money,’ he said. ‘Stands to reason.’
‘Nothing else?’
‘No.’
‘No vendettas? No one you’ve upset recently? No one trying to settle a debt?’
‘No way.’ Mackenzie shook his head. ‘I’m a businessman, mush. I watch my manners. Reputation’s everything in my game, especially in a city like this.’
‘I don’t doubt it.’ Faraday turned to Winter. ‘How about you?’
‘I work for Mr Mackenzie.’
‘I know. You’ve been in the Job though. You know the way these things work. Can you think of anything, anything, that might account for last night?’
Winter held his gaze, aware of Mackenzie trying to catch his eye. This, he knew, was the fork in the investigative road. For whatever reason, Bazza had decided to bluff it out. Was it really Winter’s job to grass him up?
‘Offhand, the answer has to be no,’ he said carefully. ‘It’s been a long night. If anything comes back to me you’ll be the first to know.’
Winter watched Faraday scribbling himself another note. Already he felt like a hostage, bound hand and foot by a boss who paid him a great deal of money and then refused to listen to sensible advice.
&nbs
p; Faraday hadn’t finished. He was still looking at Winter.
‘We’ll need a full account of your movements over the past week or so.’
‘Why?’ It was Mackenzie.
‘Any of you may have been watched. It’s unlikely you’d be aware of something like that but there are steps we can take to check these things out. We look for patterns, as Mr Winter will doubtless explain.’
‘Fine.’ Mackenzie shrugged. ‘Ask away.’
‘It won’t be me, Mr Mackenzie. We have a D/S on the team. His name’s Suttle. He’ll be along later. If you can give him - say - an hour of your time, I’d be grateful.’
‘No problem. Paul’s the one with the heavy schedule.’
‘Oh?’ Faraday cocked an eyebrow.
‘Yeah, he’s up to London on the one o’clock - important meeting with clients. Back tomorrow, eh Paulie?’
‘Yeah.’ Winter offered him a weary nod, already aware that Faraday didn’t believe a word.
Faraday was back in his office by eleven, summoning Jimmy Suttle for an update.
‘Winter’s lying, Jimmy. Mackenzie too. I’ve no idea what’s been going on but the daughter will know, Marie too probably - if she ever talks to us again.’
Faraday described the scene in the kitchen, with Mackenzie raking the ashes of a long-ago fling. Before he’d left the house Faraday had snatched a quiet word with the FLO. According to Helen Christian, Marie had been appalled to find one of her husband’s old girlfriends in the house and it was going to take a while to get her onside.
‘You think that’s going to be possible?’
‘Helen does, and that’s all that matters. She’s playing the sisterhood card. They both know the man, they’ve both had to cope with him. She’s a good girl, Helen, and the fact that she’s so local might even help in the end. God knows, they’ll probably end up mates.’
Suttle nodded. Parsons had organised a squad of detectives for Causeway and fired up the Major Incident Room. A D/I from the Serious Organised Crime Unit had arrived with a watching brief but the returns from the initial actions had so far been disappointing. Nothing hugely significant from the traffic cameras. No reports of anything out of the ordinary from neighbouring properties. Four local entries on the Sex Offenders Register, all of them with alibis that would probably check out.
‘Early days though, boss, eh?’
Faraday nodded. He wanted Suttle to get across to Craneswater as soon as possible. Mackenzie, his wife and Winter would have had ample chance to get their stories straight by now but Helen Christian had been right to flag up Marie’s distress. The rift between her and her husband was doubtless what Willard had planned, and in the nature of these incidents Faraday knew that the sheer emotional impact of losing the child would deepen that divide.
‘The son-in-law will probably be there too. Get a full account off him, the last week or so - pin him down.’
‘And Winter?’
‘He’s off to London. Back tomorrow. Good luck, son.’
Suttle left the office, followed by Faraday. Down the corridor, Parsons’ door was open. She was on the phone. Faraday stepped inside and closed the door. His earlier request had given the Surveillance Unit barely an hour to get themselves together.
Parsons ended her call and looked across at Faraday.
‘Well, boss?’
‘Sorted.’ Parsons rarely grinned. ‘He’ll be on the one o’clock, you say?’
Mackenzie insisted on having the confrontation in the den. He didn’t want Marie in on this. No way.
Winter told him to sit down. He rarely lost his temper but now was different. He literally had no choice.
‘You know your problem, Baz? You’ve started to believe your own publicity. You think you’re smarter than they are. You think they’re stupid. Ten years in clover and you think you’re home free. Money’s bought you all this. Money’s even bought you me, for fuck’s sake. But you know something? The hole you’re looking at now is deeper than even your fucking pockets. They’ll have it off you, Baz. Every last fucking penny.’
‘I know, mush.’
‘So why fanny around? Why try and pull the wool? Why not do as I suggested? Try and turn the thing to our advantage? Prove what a load of born-again do-gooders we really are? Marie tells me you want to go into politics. Fat fucking chance. Politics takes a bit of wit, Baz. You have to listen to people. You have to suss their weaknesses, their strengths, their funny little ways. Not just march on as if the rest of the fucking world doesn’t exist.’
‘So what was I supposed to say? That we were that close to signing a deal? That we sussed the guy? That we pulled out?’
‘Exactly. All you had to do was make a little drama out of it. All we had to stand up was our own integrity. We could have signed that contract but we didn’t, and there’s no way they can disprove that. These guys are into evidence, Baz. That’s what they collect for a living. In this case there isn’t any. Why? Because we’ve got it all back off them.’
‘Wrong, mush.’
‘What?’
‘I said you’re wrong. I got through to Ez just before they arrived. Told her what had happened.’
‘And?’
‘She’s taking the next plane home but that’s not the point. It’s about the contract.’
‘You’re telling me the hotelier won’t play ball? Won’t give us the contract back?’
‘No, it’s not that. Fresnada’s fine about his copy but he had a little chat to the receptionist who was on duty on Sunday. The lawyer guy apparently asked her to send a fax to the UK just after they signed the contract. Guess how many pages?’
‘Ten?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Shit.’
‘Exactly. Fresnada got me the details. It’s a London number.’
Winter sank into one of the big leather recliners. Suttle was due any minute. They had to work this out, had to.
‘Tell him, Baz.’
‘Tell him what?’
‘Tell him everything. It’s called disclosure and it’s still not too late. The fact that Ez signed the contract needn’t land us completely in the shit. It’s a mistake, sure, but no one’s perfect in this world. We got it wrong. End of.’
Mackenzie shook his head.
‘They’ll screw me, mush, I know it.’
‘So what are you suggesting? What choice do we have?’
‘You go to London. I’ve got Garfield’s address. He won’t be there, of course, but his missus will. Get that contract back off her, the faxed copy plus any others. Then put her in front of a lawyer and get her to sign an affadavit saying that the deal’s off. Do whatever it takes. Be sweet to her. Apologise. Say you’re really, really sorry. Blame what happened on Rikki’s boys. Tell her we’re as pissed off as they are. The thing was totally out of order. If it’s money she’s after she can talk to me. We’ll call it compensation. We’ll call it any fucking thing. But she has to see it our way, mush, before these animals get on your case.’
‘My case?’
‘Yeah. You’re right about the Filth but you’re in as deep as me, mate. And I’m not just talking money laundering.’ He checked his watch. ‘I’ll phone for a cab. You can still make the one o’clock.’
Perry Madison didn’t bother to knock. Faraday looked up from his desk to find the DCI shutting the office door behind him. As ever, he was wearing a sharply cut grey suit with the kind of fuck-off tie that drew your attention. Today’s was scarlet with yellow blobs. Look at me.
‘Are we making this official or what?’
He stood over Faraday and glowered down at him. This was less than subtle but on a good day he could turn intimidation into an art form.
‘Like it or not you’re part of this thing.’ Faraday reached for his pad. ‘I take it we both want the kid safely back?’
‘Of course we fucking do. Don’t be a twat, Faraday. You know exactly what I’m talking about.’
‘I do?’
‘Yeah. Even you can’t be that thic
k.’ He was on the balls of his feet now, the classic boxer’s pose, and Faraday wondered whether there was a reasonable chance of violence. Oddly enough, the prospect didn’t worry him in the slightest. He’d long considered Madison to be a headcase and this simply confirmed it. He looked up at him, holding the man’s gaze, then suggested that he sit down.
‘You think I told Willard about you and Mackenzie’s daughter? Is that it?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Then you’re right for once. That’s exactly what I did.’
‘Then you’re a grassing cunt.’
‘Maybe.’ Faraday shrugged. ‘But what does that make you? Apart from stupid?’
‘I could have you for this, Faraday. I can’t think of anyone else who would have done what you’ve done. There’s a code in this job in case you’re wondering, things you do and things you don’t do. Grassing up a colleague is fucking outrageous and climbing up Willard’s arse is even worse. You smell of shit, Faraday. I don’t know how people like you sleep at night.’
‘With ease, if you’re asking. And I’ll tell you something else. I spent the worst six months of my professional life trying to nail Mackenzie and he pissed all over us. You know why? Because he’s smarter than we are. But hey, you might have cracked it. Shag his daughter? Have her fall in love with you? Smart move. That may have legs. That may do it.’
Madison at last lowered himself into the spare chair. He crossed one leg over the other, his eyes never leaving Faraday’s face. Whoever was doing his ironing knew a thing or two about knife-edge creases.
‘You really think that?’
‘Think what?’
‘Think that I’m doing some kind of number on her? Charging her up to overtime?’
‘Yeah. And like I say, that may do it for you. This job loves legends. You could just become one of them. The guy that screwed the Mackenzies. Not just the father but the daughter too. Bold, Perry. It’s good to see guys like you thinking outside the box.’ Faraday reached for his pad and took his time sorting a pen. ‘I hate to lower the tone but what have you been doing these last few days? Care to give me a full account?’
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