Dead Ringer (The Eddie Malloy series Book 6)

by Joe McNally

  ‘What, you want your name in all the papers? You’ll have no peace for the rest of your life. All sorts of wackos will be trying to get you to do things. Go and stand out in your summer house and listen to your beloved silence, and say goodbye to it while you’re out there. You’re going to have the media down here and every weirdo who feels the police should have done better for them and think you should be their white knight. For fuck’s sake, see sense!’

  ‘I’m not bothered about any glory. I want to do right by Jimmy and his father.’

  ‘Well, do right by handing over this guy’s details. How can the police balls that up? Here’s his name and address. Here’s the patents he filed. Get his PC and you’ll find all the evidence you need on bugged conversations and betting fraud.’

  I smiled at her as I lifted the bag off the bed. ‘I didn’t know you cared.’

  ‘Eddie, seriously. You burst in here half an hour ago raving about how McCarthy doesn’t trust you. Answer me this, do you trust me?’

  I’d never seen her so animated. ‘Of course I trust you.’

  ‘You trust my judgement?’

  I knew what was coming but had to say yes.

  ‘Then unpack the bag, call McCarthy and give him those details. It’ll all be over by this time tomorrow, and you and me can be have Sunday lunch in the pub up the road without watching whiskey pissing out of bullet holes in your belly.’

  In the end, I compromised. I arranged a meeting with Mac and Sara Chase that evening and offered to trade the paper I held with Shanahan’s details for the right to be there when they went for him.

  ‘No heroics,’ said Superintendent Chase. ‘We go in first. You stay outside in a safe vehicle. When we’ve got him and secured the area, you can come in.’

  ‘No deal.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I want to see his face when you arrest him for the murder of Jimmy Sherrick.’

  She clenched her square jaw in frustration. ‘We’ll secure the area and you can come in for the reading of his rights, which will be done by our Irish colleagues.’

  I settled for that and they began making arrangements with the Garda in Dublin.

  ‘Go home,’ Mac said. ‘We’ll call you when everything’s set up.’

  I looked at him, then at the Superintendent. I got up. ‘Don’t stiff me on this, Mac. I’ll never forgive you.’

  Sara Chase stood up right in front of me. ‘Nobody will stiff you or anyone else on this, Mister Malloy. You have my word,’ she reached to shake hands. ‘I’ll send a car for you when the time comes, but we’ll need some patience to put things in place with our counterparts in the Garda Siochana. Red tape doesn’t get any thinner when you cross the Irish Sea, I’m afraid.’

  I’d been hoping for a dawn raid on Shanahan’s big house in Ballsbridge, but it looked like I’d be having that Sunday lunch with Mave instead.

  They set it for midnight, Monday. That meant I could make my rides at Uttoxeter, and if all went to plan, I’d be back for Ludlow on Tuesday.

  At seven p.m. a police car picked me up from home and took me to Heathrow. I’d expected Mac to be there, but it was Sara Chase who greeted me and we both checked onto a flight as standard passengers. As we strapped on seatbelts and watched the usual chaos of boarding, I said, ‘I expected a private airfield and a police helicopter with armed SWAT teams or whatever you have.’

  She smiled. ‘We’re on tight budgets, Mister Malloy. And I’ll be there for liaison only. Our Garda friends will lay on whatever firepower they think necessary.’

  ‘Do they know Shanahan?’

  ‘They know of him.’

  ‘Has he got any kind of record?’

  ‘Let’s just say they never expected him to slip up.’

  ‘Well connected?’

  ‘Very.’

  ‘Well enough to be tipped off about tonight by someone in the Garda?’

  I expected an angry rebuke, but she was calm. ‘What would be the point of him running? The best he’ll try is to blame someone else. I’d be pretty sure this PC that’s been controlling everything won’t be found in his office at Nequitec.’

  She was wrong. That’s exactly where it was found. And that, along with the look on Shanahan’s face when they charged him told me that whoever killed Jimmy Sherrick was probably still on the loose.

  58

  With Shanahan in custody in Dublin in the very early hours, I had plenty time to fly back, go home and get ready for Uttoxeter. I’d sent a text to Mave saying an arrest had been made. She was waiting for the details, mug of tea in hand.

  ‘Shanahan’s suspected of making his money years ago in attacks on business PCs, those DDOS things that you used to read about.’

  ‘Distributed Denial of Service. Where they bombard a company’s servers with so much traffic, the site seizes up.’

  ‘That’s the fella.’

  ‘He was under suspicion in the early days of online betting for doing that to bookmakers, but the police couldn’t find enough evidence to take him to court.’

  ‘It’s a tricky subject for non-specialists.’

  ‘Anyway, he’s always been into racing. He buys a small company producing ID implants for leisure horses, like chipping them for theft prevention and stuff, and he uses his racing contacts to win the big contract supplying implants for thoroughbreds in the UK and Ireland. And he’s close to signing up the racing authorities in the USA.’

  ‘Not any more, he’s not.’

  ‘Seems that way. But I don’t think he’s our man.’

  Mave knew me well enough now to just watch my face and wait. I said, ‘Shanahan might be an accomplished liar, but he seemed genuinely shell shocked when they read him the charge. The PC you traced was in his office, on his desk. He happily gave the passwords for it and they’re going through it today. When things cooled down and I had a chance to think, the first thing that came to mind was that, tough as it has been to trace this guy, in the end it was too easy.’

  Mave sipped tea then nodded. ‘I kind of know what you mean.’

  ‘If Shanahan did this, using a PC in his own office, in his own company, which is worth pots of money anyway…well, there’s complacency and there’s being a complete idiot. You’ve always said how smart this guy is. You’ve called him a genius. Is this what a genius does? Even a complacent one?’

  ‘Normally, no.’

  ‘Mave, if you’d seen his face…There are actors and con men, but, if he is guilty here, those few seconds of facial expressions deserve an Oscar.’

  She sat at her desk. ‘When do they expect to have the data analysis from the PC?’

  ‘I don’t know. I can check with Mac. He texted earlier and said he’d see me at Uttoxeter before racing. But I’m happy to bet now that they’ll find the recording of Jimmy’s message, copies of the emails sent as suicide messages by Watt and Kilberg, lists of the betting accounts opened, the whole nine yards.’

  Mave pushed her hair behind her ears. ‘What you’re saying, Mister Malloy, is that I’ve been led up the garden path to the very door our man has wanted me to paint a big red cross on.’

  ‘I’m not blaming you! Don’t be daft. I just thought back to how Jimmy’s death was made to look so signed sealed and delivered. Especially for the police. They’re no different from the rest of us. They love an easy job. This looks like another classic case.’

  She nodded. ‘I did say I’d be astounded if that last PC in the link was his.’

  ‘You did. And you were right.’

  She smiled that crooked smile. ‘You are such a sweet man. Your diplomacy is not wasted, Edward, even on a cynic like me.’

  I laughed. ‘You’re only a pretend cynic, Mave. You’re as soft as the rest of us deep inside.’

  ‘Soft centre, hard shell. Is that what you’re saying?’

  ‘Your shell’s getting steadily thinner.’

  ‘I’m beginning to feel like a tortoise.’

  My phone rang. It was Mac. I asked him to call back on
the landline. He did. ‘Eddie, you were there when they arrested this guy, why are we still having covert conversations?’

  ‘My naturally cautious nature, Mac. I’d sooner wait until he’s convicted before dropping my guard.’

  ‘Ha! Since when was the word caution ever associated with Eddie Malloy?’

  ‘I keep telling you, older and wiser. That’s me.’

  ‘Listen. I can’t make Uttoxeter. Can we meet at Hilton Park Services?’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Eleven?’

  ‘Okay.’

  Mave waited until I’d hung up then started tapping her keyboard. ‘What are you up to?’ I asked.

  ‘I want to see if another access point’s been used for Shanahan’s PC.’

  ‘His PC’s in a Garda station in Dublin.’

  ‘But the server’s still where it was, for now. Once the cops get a specialist in, the server will be removed too, or locked down. Might as well make hay.’

  ‘You’re not planning to go home, then?’

  ‘I’ve grown accustomed to your face.’

  She smiled at my baffled look and said, ‘A song title. Paraphrased. One of my dad’s favourites.’

  ‘That’s the first time you’ve mentioned another soul you are linked to in any way.’

  ‘Despite everything you’ve assumed about me since we met, I do indeed have a father and mother. Or had.’

  ‘Are they…aren’t they still alive?’

  She smiled sadly. ‘No, they aren’t, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘I am too.’

  I sat by the desk and looked at her. She didn’t seem upset, still working her keyboard. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

  ‘Not now, thanks. Go and meet McCarthy. You’ll be late.’

  ‘Will you be all right?’

  ‘I’ve been all right for a long time, but thanks for asking. Now bugger off.’ I went to the bedroom to pick up my kitbag.

  Mave had that knitted-brow look I’d come to know well. I said, ‘You’ve been here over a week. That qualifies you for a goodbye peck on the cheek, but it means you need to have my pipe and slippers ready when I get back.’

  ‘I’ll pass. Thanks.’

  ‘See you later.’

  ‘Mmm’

  My backup phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but it had to be somebody involved with this caper. ‘Mister Malloy?’

  ‘Who’s speaking, please?’

  ‘It’s Ishrat Uppal, project manager for, well, that project.’

  ‘Oh, hello. I’m sorry, I didn’t have your number in my contacts.’

  ‘That’s okay. Can you talk just now?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Our team in Ireland has found your horse.’

  ‘Literally? The horse, or the identification of the horse?’

  ‘The identification. It ran previously at the beginning of last season, before an injury caused it to miss the rest of the season.’

  ‘What’s its name?’

  ‘Colossus.’

  I knew of it. The horse had won two top novice races in Ireland. It had never raced in the UK under its own name. I could recall the trainer but not the owner. ‘Do you know anything about what happened to it after it was taken out of training?’

  ‘It went to its owner’s farm.’

  ‘Who’s the owner?’

  ‘Enda Magultry was the owner.’

  I’d never heard of him. ‘Don’t tell me…he sold it to a man called Miles Shanahan?’

  ‘Close. He left it to Mister Shanahan in his will.’

  ‘He’s dead?’

  ‘Er, yes.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘July eighteen, last year.’

  ‘Suicide?’

  ‘He ate an apple that had been injected with cyanide.’

  Mave had stopped tapping and was watching me. I smiled at her and said to Ishrat, ‘Your team in Ireland are very efficient.’

  ‘You don’t seem so bad yourself, Mister Malloy, if you don’t mind me saying.’

  ‘Thanks. Do you think they could find out everything they can about the history of Enda Magultry?’

  ‘I’ll get them started on it right away.’

  ‘Good. Thank you. I’ll put your name in my contacts now.’

  ‘You have my number?’

  ‘Is this one the best to get you on?’ I asked.

  ‘Day or night. And I mean that. If you need to call me at three in the morning, don’t hesitate.’

  ‘You’ll go far.’

  ‘I try.’

  ‘Speak to you soon.’

  ‘Goodbye.’

  I told Mave.

  ‘An apple injected with cyanide? Guess how Alan Turing died?’

  ‘An apple injected with cyanide?’

  ‘That’s what was assumed. They found a half-eaten apple by his bed and cyanide in his system. They never tested the apple for cyanide.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’

  ‘Dark forces and all that cold war stuff. Turing was thought by many in the establishment to be an international accident waiting to happen.’

  ‘You think MI5 killed him?’

  ‘I don’t think anything. Many do believe that, though. And what about Shanahan now? If that horse is in his ownership, it looks like game over.’

  ‘It does.’

  ‘Which hammers a big hole in your instinct. And mine.’

  ‘Let’s see what Mac has to say. Want me to call you after the meeting?’

  ‘It can wait.’

  ‘See you tonight.’

  ‘Keep your guard up, Eddie.’

  ‘You too. Lock the door behind me.’

  She did.

  59

  Mac was in the big service station cafe. Beside him was an empty plate, the thin sauce from baked beans showing a smear of drying yolk and tracks from mopping bread. Mac was drinking a huge mug of tea - trucker size.

  I slid in across from him. ‘Good breakfast?’

  ‘Brunch, really. Well, I’ll count it as lunch too.’

  ‘Why not? Take the weight off the calorie conscience?’

  ‘It’s all right for you whippets. Try having a dodgy metabolism. It’s not easy.’

  ‘So they tell me. Anyway, what can I do for you? I need to be at Uttoxeter in an hour.’

  ‘You can help me out on the best way forward with this. We’d still like to keep it under wraps. We’ve got the right man,’ he said, ‘I don’t doubt that. The horse isn’t going to run again. I just would rather know where it is.’

  ‘Ask the owner.’

  ‘We don’t even know what the bloody horse is!’

  I told him about Magultry and his will.

  ‘How did you find this out?’

  ‘Through the paid contacts of the bookies.’

  ‘Shanahan’s dead in the water,’ he gulped tea.

  ‘Too dead for my liking, Mac. It’s like somebody sent us a jigsaw puzzle with the parts all numbered on the back.’

  ‘Well you’ve changed your tune. Forty eight hours ago you were saying it was only because of this genius of yours, whoever he is, that we were anywhere near catching Shanahan. Now you think it was so simple he’s the wrong man?’

  I explained it as I’d done to Mave, but Mac’s glowering look didn’t change. ‘Eddie, you’re a one off. Nothing’s ever straightforward in your world. If Shanahan was being set up, why not just place the clues in the suicide messages, or leave something on Watt’s PC, or Kilberg’s. Instead, we’ve had to pick our way through a maze of over thirty thousand hijacked computers. Why not five thousand computers, or five hundred if it was meant to be easy?’

  ‘You’ve picked your way through? You mean we, I think. Anyway, I take your point. It was very tough early, very.’

  ‘See, you forget the difficult things that happened a while ago and just concentrate on the breakthrough moments.’

  ‘Fair point. Okay. Let me think a bit more about it.’

  ‘I’ll get
Sara to ask her Irish colleagues about the horse. They tell me Shanahan handed over his PC passwords willingly. No reason why he shouldn’t tell us where the horse is.’

  ‘Okay. I must get off to Uttoxeter and you’d better get going for your meeting in Birmingham with the Gambling Commission.’

  He stared at me. ‘How did you know about that?’

  I smiled and tapped my nose. ‘Elementary my dear McCarthy.’ I got up. Mac reached and clasped my arm. ‘Seriously, Eddie. Who told you? This is private and was only arranged late last night. That’s why I had to call off the Uttoxeter trip.’

  ‘Mac, cool it. It was a guess. You couldn’t make Uttoxeter. We live ten minutes from each other yet you wanted to meet me fifteen minutes from Birmingham. I ask myself, who’s big enough in Birmingham to make Mac cancel a meeting? That’s where the Gambling Commission have their HQ. There’s been a lot in the news about integrity in sport. Two and two made four for once, now I wish I hadn’t bothered. You’re bruising my delicate skin. Let go.’

  He did, but he didn’t let go the mistrustful look he had.

  I smiled. ‘Mac, it’s known as the power of deduction. Not something you’d be familiar with, hence your suspicion.’

  He walked with me to the car park, warning me to keep quiet about the ringer business, even though it looked done and dusted. He said, ‘I’m astounded it hasn’t been picked up by anyone else, and I want to stay astounded.’

  ‘May you be in a constant state of astoundment. Call me if you find out where the horse is. Ring my backup phone.’

  He grunted and got in his car.

  60

  The nice little midlands track of Uttoxeter yielded me a winner and a third. On the way home I called in to see Jim Sherrick and told him about Shanahan. Mister Sherrick sank back in his chair by the fire. ‘All for money then, in the end, Eddie.’

  ‘It looks that way.’ I hadn’t mentioned the paedophilia. Even though everything pointed to Jimmy’s innocence on that front, I didn’t want Mister Sherrick to even have it in his mind.

  ‘What will he get? What sentence, I mean?’

  ‘Shanahan? Who knows? Life, I’d have thought.’

  He stared into the fire flames for a while then looked at me. ‘This’ll sound a bit silly, but if they find all the stuff he recorded with those bugs, on Jimmy and on me, could I ask for them to be destroyed?’