Kill the Messenger

by Ed James

  Fenchurch stuffed his fists in his pockets, wrapping his fingers around his warrant card. ‘It’s her old man I’m after?’

  ‘Give me a minute.’

  Fenchurch scanned the street. An old lady struggled against the wind, dragging her wheeled shopping trolley behind her like a reluctant dog.

  ‘Through here!’ Webster’s voice briefly overpowered the Sky Sports jingles.

  Fenchurch entered the flat and walked through to the living room.

  Webster sat on the sofa, bouncing his granddaughter on his knee. ‘Hello, me old mucker. What can I do you for?’

  Fenchurch stayed by the door, blocking the only possible exit route. ‘Need to ask you a few questions.’

  Webster stared at Kirk and tilted his head over to the kitchen units. ‘Pop the kettle on, would you?’

  Kirk slouched over to the sink, shoulders sagging.

  ‘Thought he was inside?’

  Webster spoke in a low tone. ‘Holly’s ex. Helping her out while she’s at work.’ His lips twisted into a snarl aimed at his granddaughter’s father, lost in the universe of his phone, thumbs pounding the screen, a deep frown etched into his forehead as the kettle rumbled. ‘I had a little word with him before he got out. Came to an understanding, shall we say. He’s leaving Holly alone, but doing his bit to help this little rascal.’ He tickled Sandy and made the girl squeal. ‘Now. What’s up with you?’

  ‘We should do this down the station, if you don’t mind?’

  ‘And if I do?’ Webster sighed. ‘Thought you’d have learnt not to blunder in here without any evidence.’

  ‘Who says I’ve not got any?’ Fenchurch gave him a broad grin. ‘Get your coat, Desmond. You’ve pulled.’

  ‘Fine.’ Webster got up, kissing Sandy on the head as he rested her on the sofa. ‘Kirk!’ That got him to look up from his screen. ‘Need you to take care of your daughter for a bit.’ He trotted off to the stairs and bounced up like a man half his age.

  Kirk poured water into a tea cup. ‘You still want one, mate?’

  ‘I’m fine.’ Fenchurch joined him by the sink. ‘You were with old Des last night, weren’t you?’

  ‘Yeah. Holly told me to do one about half ten, though. Why?’

  ‘Des here all that time, yeah?’

  ‘Pretty much.’ Kirk chucked the teabag in the sink and added a spot of milk, barely enough to make the drink change colour. ‘You’re asking the wrong fella.’

  ‘What do you mean, pretty much?’

  ‘I don’t know. All I know is I left at half ten. Anything else, you need to take me into a station for.’

  Fenchurch stared at him for a few seconds. A lightbulb went off in his head.

  What if it wasn’t Webster who killer her?

  What if Kirk’s his number two? Robin to Webster’s Batman.

  Kid’s got form, probably still got contacts.

  Then Webster thumped down the stairs. ‘Come on, then.’

  ‘Inspector.’ Unwin paced down the corridor, coffee in one hand, briefcase in the other. ‘I’m a bit taken aback by this.’

  ‘Really?’ Fenchurch laughed. ‘Your client murders someone and you’re surprised I want to speak to him?’

  ‘He’s innocent.’

  ‘No, Terry Oldham’s innocent. What was it your paymasters offered him? Or did they threaten him?’

  Unwin gave a shrug. ‘Just doing my job.’

  ‘Thing is, most people’s jobs don’t involve keeping murderers off the street.’

  Unwin held up his coffee, grinning. ‘I could throw this over you.’

  ‘Be my guest. Would love to do you for assault.’

  Unwin chuckled as he took a drink. He peered over Fenchurch’s shoulder and his look darkened, at the approaching footsteps. ‘I’ll be speaking to my client.’ He bundled into the room.

  Just in time to avoid Loftus, Reed in his wake.

  Fenchurch smiled at Reed. ‘Kay, get the preliminaries over, would you?’

  ‘Sir.’ She followed Unwin inside.

  Loftus stood there, fingers twitching. ‘Remember that you have no air cover, Inspector.’

  ‘Always on my mind, sir.’ Fenchurch held the door handle but didn’t open the door. ‘I’m doing this by the book.’

  ‘Glad to hear it.’ Loftus got out his cigarettes and flipped the lid. ‘You’re one hundred percent sure this was Webster?’

  ‘I’m nowhere near that confident, sir. It’s just… That assassination method is his hallmark. Head, mouth, heart. Tap, tap, tap. Brain, brain stem, heart. Any of them would kill you, but Webster always did all three, every time, to make sure. A guaranteed kill. And we’ve got CCTV footage.’

  ‘Are you absolutely sure this isn’t to do with the Albanian blood feud, because—’

  ‘This is nothing to do with that. Pratt should focus on his job, not ours. This is a gangland assassination, sir, the sort that happened a lot before Webster went inside. The sort that didn’t happen any more as soon as he was in custody.’

  ‘Be careful here.’

  ‘And I’ve listened. Speak of the devil.’ Fenchurch clocked Bridge coming along the corridor. ‘Kay’s in there. I’ll be watching in the Obs Suite.’

  ‘Sir.’

  Loftus waited for the door to shut. ‘Well, I’m surprised again. I thought you’d be leading it?’

  ‘Not a DCI’s job, sir.’ Fenchurch gave him a fake smile. ‘But whatever alibi Webster gives us is bollocks. I happened to see him getting his bike back last night.’

  ‘You just happened to?’ Loftus grimaced. ‘Have you been tailing him?’

  Shit.

  ‘No, sir. I drove past the Loco office. It’s just up the street from here. I was on my way to hospital and there he was, bold as brass, getting his bike back.’

  ‘We need a bit more than that.’

  ‘Which is why I was trying to get the movement data from Loco. Why I called you to chase up Jason Bell.’

  Loftus stood there, thinking it through. ‘I’ll get on top of that.’ He marched off.

  ‘Many thanks, sir.’ Fenchurch entered the Obs Suite and hung his suit jacket from the back of the chair. He took a seat, focusing on the screen, a far cry from the setup they had in bloody Bethnal Green of all places. The video camera was trained down the middle of the table, splitting Webster and Unwin on the right, Reed and Bridge on the left.

  Unwin crumpled his coffee cup and tossed it into the middle of the table. ‘DI Fenchurch knows how well this went the last time.’ He leaned forward. ‘You should let my client go, you know? Save us all the trouble of a second civil court case. I filed the first this morning.’

  ‘Let’s see how this goes, shall we?’ Reed shifted her focus to Webster. ‘How’s about you start with your movements between leaving custody last night and my colleagues collecting you?’

  ‘We were going to go to that boozer down the road from the courthouse.’ Webster sat there, yawning into a fist. ‘Can’t remember the name of it. Cock and bollocks or something. Nice place. Supposed to meet a few old lags in there. Dalton here was going to stick a couple hundred quid behind the bar.’ His eyes lit up. ‘But my Holly was there, outside court. And I thought to myself, “Desmond, you’re better than this. You’ve been so good inside, let your old mates have a treat, but keep yourself away from temptation.” So we cabbed it back home.’

  ‘Sounds really believable.’

  ‘Sergeant, I cleaned up inside. Cut the booze right out.’ Webster patted his flat stomach. ‘Lost a shitload of weight. That’s something I owe your gaffer for. Fifteen months at Her Majesty’s pleasure makes you take stock, you know? Especially on the second time round the board. I’d much rather spend time with my granddaughter than end up staying in there.’

  ‘That why you persuaded Terry Oldham to take the rap for it?’

  ‘Terry told the truth.’ Webster sniffed. ‘I tried to do time for him, but his guilt got the better of him.’

  ‘A likely tale.’

  ‘
Look, darling, all I wanted was to spend some quality time with my daughter and young Sandy. I mean, I’d seen them inside, but it’s not the same when you’ve got an inch of security glass between you, is it?’

  ‘Just the three of you?’

  ‘Nah, that useless lump of coal was there.’ A snarl flickered on his lips. ‘Kirk.’ He smiled. ‘Hard to believe lovely little Sandy came from his seed. Light of my life, she is. One in a million.’

  ‘Was Kirk with you all that time?’

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘Well, it’s not like I can trust a word that comes out of Holly’s mouth, can I?’

  ‘Sergeant, you really need to speak to a shrink or something. I swear, it’s like a constant barrage of negativity with you. Lighten up, learn to trust. Didn’t your daddy love you enough or something?’

  Reed laughed. ‘So, when you got back home, you stayed in all night?’

  ‘Feels like you’re leading me somewhere. Or at least you think you are.’

  ‘Just answer the question.’

  ‘Alright. We got a pizza in to celebrate my release. Geezer chucked in some non-alcoholic beer, too. Some Scotch stuff, really fruity. Quite nice, have to say. Prefer that German stuff in the purple bottles, but hey ho. Made my day, I swear.’ Webster flashed his eyebrows. ‘Well, not as much as seeing my daughter. And I wish I’d seen your gaffer’s face when I got out of court.’

  ‘You didn’t leave the house?’

  ‘Oh.’ Webster paused. ‘Well, I had to speak to a mate. He’d kept a hold of my bike while I was inside. Got damaged when your gaffer assaulted me, didn’t it? He fixed it up, looked after it.’

  ‘This mate got a name?’

  ‘He’s not really a mate, I suppose. My boss. Geezer called Pavel. Can’t even begin to pronounce his surname. Polish, I think. But he’s as Cockney as you or me.’ Webster chuckled. ‘You’re Essex, though, ain’t you?’

  ‘So you just went to get your bike back?’

  ‘That’s what I said. Cycled straight home. Fifteen minutes tops. Tell you, it was a pleasure to get back on a real bike and feel the wind in my hair.’

  Reed whispered something to Bridge, but Fenchurch couldn’t make it out. ‘When did you go to bed?’

  ‘Half midnight, maybe. Kirk cleared off about half ten.’

  Matching the kid’s story.

  ‘Holly with you till the bitter end?’

  Fenchurch took it as a cue to check his texts. Still no sign that Ashkani had turned up with Webster’s daughter. What the hell is she doing?

  ‘Nah, she went to bed just after Kirk left. Working today. Shelf stacking, but it’s a good start for her.’

  ‘And you just stayed up on your Jack Jones last night, did you?’

  ‘You got some evidence says I did something else?’

  ‘The way it works best is when I ask the questions and you answer, not the other way round.’

  ‘I like the cut of your jib, sweetness.’ Webster rocked back in his chair, lifting the front legs clean off the ground. ‘Yeah, I watched some really terrible telly, then went to bed. Swear the old gogglebox has got even worse while I was inside. But a night in my own bed. Fantastic. Slept like a log and not one with a chainsaw in it. Holly woke me up when she left for work, gave me Sandy to cuddle while I came to. Kirk was already there.’

  Reed checked some paperwork for a few seconds. ‘Mr Naughton was inside for robbery, yeah?’

  ‘Something like that. Not armed, though. And it’s not like he’s a nonce or anything.’

  ‘Okay, let’s wind the clock back to last night. After Kirk left and Holly went to bed, did you happen to visit anywhere on Brick Lane?’

  ‘What?’ Webster looked over at Unwin, then back at Reed. ‘I told you, princess, we had pizza delivered. Why the hell would I go out for a curry?’

  ‘Didn’t say anything about a curry.’

  ‘That’s all there is on Brick Lane, though, yeah? Curries, curries and more curries.’ Webster twisted his mouth into a snarl. ‘Couple of Jewish shops, I’ll give you that. Couple of bars for hipsters. But anytime someone’s on Brick Lane, it’s all about a curry.’

  ‘You didn’t murder anyone, did you?’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘You heard the question, right?’ Reed smiled. ‘Or did all those gunshots over the years kill your hearing?’

  ‘Funny.’ Webster narrowed his eyes at her. ‘No, love, I never killed nobody. The one you framed me for, didn’t kill her neither. I’ve gone straight, princess. Being back in prison while you framed me reminded me how hard it is. I can’t go back in there. I’m not even so much as parking in the wrong spot.’

  ‘You confessed to abducting a child.’

  ‘Did I?’ Webster stared straight at the camera. ‘Or was I just getting a rise out of your boss?’

  Fenchurch clenched his fists. Thank God I’m not in there. His head would’ve been bounced off the walls a few times by now.

  ‘You knew exactly what you did, Desmond.’

  ‘Sergeant, my client has answered your questions. I suggest you let him leave.’

  Reed looked at Unwin for a few seconds. Then she got up. ‘Interview terminated at ten fourteen.’ She left the frame and the door clicked as she left the room. Onscreen, Bridge killed the audio feed. Seconds later, the video cut out.

  The Obs Suite door opened and Reed poked her head in. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘Pretty much as I expected.’ Fenchurch got up and put his suit jacket on. ‘I don’t believe his alibi for a second. Right now, our priority is to speak to Holly and Kirk and drill right down.’

  ‘You really think he’s lying?’

  ‘Kay, I know he is. There’s a gap in his alibi, from when Holly went to bed through to this morning. You saw that CCTV Lisa found. Whoever killed Casey, did it right in the middle of that gap.’

  ‘I agree. So what now?’

  ‘We hold him until that alibi falls apart, then we arrest him for murder.’

  Reed blocked the doorway, stopping him leaving the room. ‘Loftus grabbed me in the canteen, said he’s not happy about you bringing in Webster. Said if you don’t get him by lunchtime, we have to let him go.’

  Snide little wanker.

  ‘He should speak directly to me, not pass messages through you.’ Fenchurch blew air up his face. ‘Webster’s staying here until he’s got a solid alibi. I don’t care about innocent until proven guilty. If we let him go and there’s another corpse…’

  ‘Your funeral, guv.’

  ‘Don’t joke about that, Kay.’ Fenchurch laughed.

  Then his mobile blasted out The Queen is Dead by The Smiths. Ashkani. He answered it. ‘Uzma, what’s up?’

  ‘I’ve got Holly in room one.’

  27

  Fenchurch waited in the corridor for Ashkani to join him. ‘Good work finding Holly.’

  ‘Thanks, sir.’ Ashkani gave a noncommittal smile. ‘Wasn’t rocket science. And I’ve got a good team.’

  ‘All the same. I asked you to find her and you did.’ Fenchurch nodded at the interview room door. ‘Got her brief in?’

  ‘He was already here…’

  Fenchurch groaned. ‘Shit.’ He opened the door. Dalton Unwin was talking to Holly in a low voice. ‘You sure get around.’

  ‘We’re okay to start, seeing as how you asked so nicely.’ Unwin gave a fake smile. ‘Though I am keeping tabs on how much of my clients’ time you’re wasting.’

  ‘Time spent with friends is never wasted.’ Fenchurch focused on Holly. ‘Nice to see you again.’

  She wore a Tesco uniform, the name badge reading Holly-Ann. ‘Saving it for your wank bank, are you? You filthy pervert.’

  Unwin brushed her arm and she shut up.

  ‘I see you’ve got your father’s sense of humour.’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘You remember spitting on me yesterday? Outside court.’ Fenchurch pointed at his cheek. ‘Landed right here.’

  ‘You got m
e in here for that? You got her,’ she gave Ashkani a disdainful wave, ‘to fetch me from my work for this? My boss ain’t impressed, you know. We could’ve done that upstairs in the canteen or the boss’s office, but hauling me in for questioning like this? Come on, that’s messing with my life, mate. That job’s all I’ve got.’

  ‘We just want to check on what happened after your old man got out last night.’

  ‘You messed up, didn’t you?’ Holly grinned. ‘Tried to frame him and you couldn’t.’

  Keep her thinking she’s winning. ‘After that, what did you do?’

  ‘We was going to take my old man out for a drink. I mean, I’m earning now so I wanted to treat him. But he’s not touching the stuff any more. And Dalton here was going to stick some cash behind the bar for Dad’s mates.’

  Fenchurch shuffled through his notebook, pretending to be confused. ‘Can you remind me how your father can afford to pay for the services of one of London’s top lawyers?’

  ‘Inspector…’ Unwin laughed, a real throaty one. ‘You’re overstating my worth. As you know, my firm runs a very cost-effective service for our clients. We appreciate Mr Webster’s business. And the bar tab is a standard “thank you” to our clients. We genuinely like them. Wouldn’t defend them if we didn’t.’

  ‘Very generous of you.’ Fenchurch fixed his stare on Holly. ‘You stay in that pub a while?’

  ‘We didn’t go in. We went back home. My place. Well, Dad’s place too.’

  ‘Very cosy.’

  ‘Kirk had been minding Sandy for me.’

  ‘So he left, right?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘So the three of you went out for something to eat?’

  ‘Nah. We got a pizza.’

  ‘From Mario’s?’

  ‘Hardly.’ Holly got out her phone and fiddled with the screen, her purple nails flashing in the lights. She held it up. ‘Got it off Just Eat from a place round the corner. Two pizzas, a veggie one for me and Dad. Kirk had some meat thing.’ She slid her mobile across the table. ‘There. Plus some beer.’

  Fenchurch checked the screen. All seemed to be on the level. He passed it to Ashkani. ‘Take a note of that.’ Then to Holly. ‘So when did this pizza arrive?’