Dave Slater Mystery Novels Box Set Three

by P. F. Ford

  Jane was almost too frightened to speak, barely managing to whisper a hoarse, ‘Yes’.

  Scanlon smiled crookedly at her. ‘Don’t be frightened, darling,’ he said. ‘I didn’t come here to shoot anyone. If everyone does as they’re told, no one’s going to get hurt.’ Then his face changed and he turned back to Norman, his voice filled with menace once more. ‘Unless, of course, this big lump keeps on trying to get under my skin. If he doesn’t shut up, someone will get hurt, and it won’t necessarily be him.’

  ‘All right, Scanlon, what do you want?’ asked Slater, trying to be the voice of reason.

  Scanlon flashed a half-smile at him. ‘Well, well, well, Mr Slater, isn’t it? I was beginning to think you’d lost your voice.’

  Slater wondered exactly how much he really knew about them. Did he know about Bradshaw?

  ‘Wondering how I know who you are?’ he asked. ‘I’m the bloke who suggested Rosie should come and talk to you. Of course I know who you are. You’ve been working for me all this time.’

  Slater resisted the urge to announce this wasn’t exactly news, and he was relieved Norman kept quiet about it too.

  Now Scanlon beamed a big sunny smile at them, and Slater got the distinct feeling this man was definitely unhinged. Suddenly, he seemed a whole lot scarier.

  ‘I must say, I’m very impressed with your work,’ continued Scanlon. ‘We’ve been looking for those diamonds for years, although, of course, we thought we were looking for Kenny Wingate, or whatever he’s called now. And then he disappeared, and for a while we didn’t know who we were looking for. We thought we’d got close when we finally found old Joe, but then the silly sod dropped dead before we could find out where he’d hidden the bloody things. That’s when we thought of hiring two private detectives. Now, that was stroke of genius, I reckon, because no sooner do you two get involved and suddenly it’s case closed within two weeks. It makes me wonder how you managed it.’

  ‘I guess we’re just not as dim as we look,’ said Slater.

  ‘Or you could be working with the police.’ The menace was back in Scanlon’s voice.

  ‘Don’t make me laugh,’ said Slater. ‘I just walked out a few weeks ago. Wild horses wouldn’t get me back into bed with them, and as for Norman, he was forced to quit. Neither of us have any reason to want to help them out.’

  ‘What about the girl?’ asked Scanlon.

  ‘What girl?’

  ‘The one outside waving the warrant card around.’

  Slater and Norman looked blank.

  ‘Bring them all in here, Denny,’ called Scanlon.

  The two security guards and Watson were marched through the door, closely followed by Denny, who made Watson gasp and wince with a painful prod in the back with his pistol.

  Scanlon took Watson by the arm. ‘This girl,’ he said. ‘DS Samantha Brearley.’

  Slater smiled. ‘Her real name’s Emma Watson,’ he said, calmly. ‘She’s our office clerk. We had the warrant card made up so she could be a diversion while we came in here.’

  Scanlon looked at Watson and gave her a crooked smile. ‘Emma Watson? Weren’t you at Hogwarts?’ He laughed in her face then turned back to Slater. ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘You’ve seen the warrant card,’ said Slater, hoping he remembered it correctly. ‘There’s no constabulary listed. You know as well as I do there’s always a constabulary. Mine used to say Hampshire Constabulary.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Norman. ‘Mine used to say Metropolitan Police Force.’

  ‘So, what went wrong?’

  ‘We hired the wrong forger,’ said Norman. ‘And we didn’t have time to get it changed.’

  Scanlon didn’t look convinced. He moved close enough for Slater to smell the garlic on his breath and rested the barrel of his pistol against Slater’s chin.

  ‘I haven’t got time for this now,’ he hissed, ‘but I promise you I’m going to check when I get back home, and if I find you’re lying, I’m going to come back and find you, and your fat friend, and Emma Watson here, and I’m going to fix all three of you. You really don’t want to cross me. Do I make myself clear?’ He studied Slater’s face, but with a supreme effort of will, he was managing to contain his fear. It wasn’t the man, it was the gun – and what it was capable of – that terrified him.

  ‘You know what?’ said Scanlon. ‘I’m not sure you and your mate are really listening to me, so why don’t I make a start now?’

  He stepped back, just far enough to raise the pistol at arm’s length, looked down the barrel, and placed it against Slater’s forehead. Slowly, his knuckle began to whiten as he pressed the trigger. Slater could feel the slight tremor in the hand through the gun, and it seemed as if everyone else around them had ceased to exist. He knew he had stopped breathing but he didn’t seem to be able to take a breath of his own accord.

  Even Scanlon’s crony, Denny, looked worried. Finally, the finger on the trigger reached the point of no return and Slater flinched, but instead of the expected explosion, there was a loud click.

  ‘Bang! You’re dead!’ yelled Scanlon and roared with laughter. Slater felt his entire body unclench, and he suddenly felt light-headed enough to stick out an arm, which Norman grabbed to stop his friend from falling over.

  ‘Come on, Denny,’ said Scanlon, still laughing as he took a tight hold of the attaché case. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

  They retreated from the room and pulled the door closed behind them. Slater rushed to the door, but he could hear the key turning. He banged futilely on the door a couple of times.

  ‘The bastard’s locked us in!’

  Chapter Nineteen

  ‘Is anyone hurt?’ asked Norman. He turned to Jane and slipped an arm around her shoulders. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Slightly terrified,’ she said, ‘but I’ll survive.’

  ‘Are you okay, Watson?’

  ‘I’m going to have a rather nasty bruise on my back where that pig jabbed me with his pistol,’ she said. ‘Otherwise, it’s just my ego that’s a bit bruised.’ She turned to Slater, who was still over by the door, holding his head in his hands. ‘Are you all right, sir?’

  He looked up, slightly dazed. ‘Yeah, I think so. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to have some maniac point a gun at me. I doubt it’s done much for the state of my underwear, though.’

  Watson looked somewhat shocked by Slater’s underwear reference, but Norman let out a loud guffaw.

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I, for one, think you definitely qualify for the Joe Cool award of the year. Knowing how terrified you are by guns, I would never have believed what just happened if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.’

  ‘If we ever get into a situation like that again, can someone remind me to run and hide?’ said Slater.

  ‘You’re gonna be working with him, Watson,’ said Norman. ‘That’ll be your job, right?’

  ‘Gosh, yes, I suppose it will,’ she said. Then to Slater she said, ‘Will it? Sir?’

  ‘My whole life has just flashed before my eyes, Watson,’ he said. ‘So now is probably not quite the right time to ask me that question. You’re going to have to improve your timing when we start working together for real.’

  ‘Right. Yessir, sorry, sir,’ she said, contritely, then she slowly realised what he’d actually said. ‘You mean?’ She looked at Norman, who gave her a grin and a wink.

  ‘You got that, right?’ he asked her.

  But before she could answer, Slater was speaking to the two security guards who were sitting to one side on their own.

  ‘Is there any way out of these rooms?’ he asked. ‘Like some sort of escape hatch or something?’

  Andy Judd shook his head. ‘No, sorry, that wouldn’t be very secure, would it?’

  ‘Bugger!’ said Slater. ‘We could be stuck here for hours. Meanwhile that arsehole gets away with the bloody diamonds.’

  ‘I don’t think it will be too long before we’re released,’ said Watson.

&
nbsp; ‘You sound very sure about that,’ said Slater. ‘Would you like to elaborate?’

  ‘Well, I know it’s not really my place to make decisions over your head, but you did say I should be prepared to make them when there’s no DI to turn to, and you had gone off with Mr Norman and Mrs Jolly.’

  ‘You also need to learn to stop waffling and get to the point,’ said Slater. ‘There is a point, is there?’

  ‘I called Chief Superintendent Bradshaw and told him what we were planning to do. He was worried Scanlon might be watching us, so he promised he would have backup standing by just in case.’

  ‘I hope they’re well-armed,’ said Norman. ‘That Scanlon’s some sort of psycho.’

  ***

  As this conversation was taking place in the locked room twenty-two, Stevie Scanlon and his friend Denny found themselves surrounded by armed police officers and escorted into waiting vehicles. There was only one problem left for Bradshaw to work out: which room were Slater, Norman, Watson, Jolly, and the two security officers incarcerated in? But at least there was a clue. Norman’s van was still parked outside door ‘B’, so he guessed that would be the area to start with. All he needed now were the keys . . .

  Chapter Twenty

  ‘You used us as bait!’ said Slater to Bradshaw later. ‘You knew Scanlon was watching us.’

  ‘That’s not true. I didn’t know for sure,’ argued Bradshaw. ‘You should think yourself lucky you had Watson watching your back. If she hadn’t kept me informed and called for backup, you could have been locked in there for days, and Scanlon would have had a head start. He would have been out of the country before we had even known what he’d done.’

  ‘He nearly blew my bloody head off!’

  ‘His gun wasn’t loaded.’

  ‘Oh yeah, you know that now,’ said Slater. ‘But I didn’t know that when he had the damned thing pressed against my forehead, did I?’

  ‘And the guy’s definitely at least one sandwich short of a picnic,’ added Norman. ‘He frightened the crap out of all of us, and he wasn’t even pointing the gun at anyone else!’

  ‘He’s not as mad as you think,’ said Bradshaw. ‘All that crazy, mental, psycho stuff is an act. It helps to keep everyone under control when they think the boss is a ticking bomb just waiting to explode. Trust me, you were perfectly safe. He’s never fired a shot in anger. He might be his father’s son, but he’s not stupid enough to risk a murder charge.’

  ‘Did Watson know all this?’ asked Slater.

  Bradshaw shook his head. ‘She was as much in the dark as you were. Think about it – if Scanlon had known any of you weren’t frightened, don’t you think he might have wondered why? He might have realised he was walking into a trap, and we could have lost him. Anyway, there’s no harm done in the end, and the case is closed. Congratulations all round I’d say, wouldn’t you?’

  Slater and Norman exchanged a look.

  ‘And what about the man who called himself Joe Dalgetty?’ asked Slater.

  ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘What about Joe?’ said Norman. ‘We got into this case because a lady called Rosie asked us to find out what had happened to her friend.’

  ‘What difference does it make? The man died of natural causes.’

  ‘But we don’t think he did,’ said Slater.

  ‘He had a heart attack, how much more natural does it need to be?’

  ‘Look,’ said Norman. ‘We know Joe wasn’t the protected witness who ran off with the diamonds.’

  ‘But he had the key,’ argued Bradshaw.

  ‘Yeah,’ agreed Norman, ‘but how did he come to have it?’

  ‘And how did he come to be living in that house?’ asked Slater. ‘The name on the tenancy agreement is William Harding, and the rent and bills are being paid from Harding’s bank account.’

  ‘We’re sure it’s all linked,’ said Norman, ‘but we’re missing something somewhere.’

  ‘Don’t all these loose ends worry you?’ asked Slater. ‘Because they worry both of us!’

  Bradshaw considered for a moment.

  ‘Well, I can’t stop you if you want to pursue it,’ he said, finally, ‘but I’m not paying for it.’

  ‘I was rather hoping you might let Watson stay with us for a few more days,’ said Slater. ‘It’ll help us build our working relationship.’

  ‘You haven’t confirmed there will be a working relationship yet,’ countered Bradshaw. ‘I need you to give me a starting date, Slater.’

  ‘Okay, here’s a deal. It’s Tuesday afternoon now. Let Watson stay until the end of the week and I’ll give you a definite start date on Friday afternoon.’

  Bradshaw looked doubtful.

  ‘You won’t want me to leave cases half-finished when I’m working for you, will you?’ asked Slater.

  ‘You will make sure she’s on a train on Friday afternoon,’ he said finally. ‘And you will make sure that train leaves early enough for her to get home for a decent weekend. I don’t want to find she was travelling Friday evening.’

  ‘I’ll put her on the train myself,’ promised Slater.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ‘Right,’ said Slater next morning, when they gathered at the office, ‘we might have solved this case to Bradshaw’s satisfaction, but there are far too many unanswered questions for my liking. For a start I’m not convinced Joe died because of Scanlon’s diamonds.’

  ‘But he knew where they were,’ said Watson.

  ‘Yes, I know that, and your theory that perhaps he came home and found Stevie Scanlon in his house makes perfect sense, but that doesn’t tie up with what Scanlon said.’

  ‘I’m not sure I follow,’ she said, doubtfully.

  ‘He said it took them years to find Joe and then he dropped dead before they could talk to him about where the diamonds were. On top of that, Bradshaw tells me Scanlon is adamant he didn’t kill Joe. He says it was never his intention to confront Joe in his house. Yes, he wanted to get in and have a look around, but if the diamonds weren’t there, it was always his intention to let Joe lead him to them, just as he did with us.’

  ‘And you believe him?’ asked Norman. ‘Just because he says he didn’t frighten the crap out of Joe? He’s bound to say that, isn’t he? If he admits it, he could end up on a murder charge.’

  ‘Scanlon does have a reputation for being a madman,’ argued Watson. ‘If Joe knew that and he had a weak heart, it’s quite possible he would have died of fright at finding his worst nightmare standing there in his house. But whatever Scanlon might be, he’s not an idiot. He would have known that was a risk he should avoid.’

  ‘It’s not just that,’ said Slater. ‘Dennis Stockholm said Kenny Wingate was the grass who got a new ID and then made off with the diamonds. But he also said Joe Dalgetty was six inches too short to be Kenny. Stevie Scanlon said they started off looking for Kenny, or whoever Kenny had become, but then he disappeared, and for a while they didn’t know who they were looking for. So there’s a gap in the middle there. I want to know what happened.’

  ‘You know, you’re right,’ conceded Norman. ‘When you look under the surface, there’s a lot of unanswered questions.’

  ‘Exactly!’ said Slater. ‘What was Kenny Wingate’s new ID? We know he didn’t have the diamonds any more, but why, and what happened to him? Who was Joe really, and how did he get the diamonds? And did he have anything to do with Kenny’s sudden disappearance?’

  ‘There’s something else,’ said Norman. ‘What happened to William Harding? How does he fit into this? Or is he just a red herring?’

  ‘Don’t forget the Harding brother, Brian,’ said Watson. ‘I think it’s a too much of a coincidence that he was involved at the beginning when he shared a cell with Wingate, and then his brother’s house is involved at the end!’

  ‘What do you think?’ Slater asked Norman. ‘Do we try and work it all out, or do we close the case?’

  ‘Heck, let’s do it,’ said Norman. ‘It’s not as if I’ve go
t anything else to do!’

  ‘What about you, Watson?’ asked Slater. ‘You don’t have to stay if you’d rather go back.’

  ‘Good heavens no,’ she said. ‘I’m enjoying myself too much to leave now. This proper detective work is much more fun than keeping Mr Bradshaw’s diary straight. Where do you want me to start?’

  ‘Well, I couldn’t sleep much last night,’ said Slater. ‘I think it might have something to do with staring down the barrel of a gun yesterday. Anyway, the thing is, although I didn’t sleep, I did spend a lot of time thinking about this case. In particular, I thought about what we learnt before we got distracted by the storage centre. We know Kenny Wingate shared a cell with Brian Harding, and we know when Harding came out he was moving around all over.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Norman. ‘Didn’t you say he was either hiding from someone or looking for someone? Probably Kenny, or whoever Kenny had become.’

  ‘Hold that thought,’ said Slater. ‘This is probably crazy thinking, but let’s suppose Brian actually found Kenny, bumped him off, and got his hands on the diamonds. But then, having got hold of the diamonds, he finds he’s not the only one who’s been looking for Kenny. Somehow, he finds out Scanlon’s looking, and he knows Scanlon’s reputation as a homicidal maniac. What’s he going to do?’

  ‘Take the diamonds and disappear,’ said Watson. ‘I’d choose somewhere warm and sunny.’

  ‘Kenny could have done that, but for some reason he didn’t,’ said Slater. ‘Maybe that’s what Brian was intending to do, but what if, now he’s got the loot, he’s found out there’s some reason that’s not possible.’

  ‘Like what?’ asked Watson.