‘He was a famous musician who’d had a relationship with your wife.’
‘Long time ago.’
‘But they were still in touch.’
He moved towards me. ‘What the fuck are you saying?’
He was challenging me. It was time to say it like it was. ‘It must have made you feel second best. I know that’s how I would have felt if I was you.’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think about him.’
‘No?’
‘He’s in the past.’
‘The band was reforming. He wasn’t in the past.’
‘Why would I give a shit about the fucking band? It’s her who needs to sort her priorities out. She should be doing something more useful, like taking some of that overtime she’s been offered. If I get laid off here, we’ll need the extra.’
‘She isn’t going to stop with the website, though, is she?’
He shook his head. ‘She never shuts up talking about him and the band. Never gives it a rest.’
‘Where did you go when you left the pub?’ I repeated.
‘You really think I killed him?’
I shrugged. I knew he had plenty of time to leave the pub and get across Hull. Certainly at that time of night. His alibi was worthless.
The fight seemed to leave him. ‘I went to Tasker’s flat, alright?’
‘His flat?’
‘I’d had enough. I wanted to sort it out, man to man. Tell him to leave us alone.’
‘It must be tough for you’ I said. I knew that had to be true. I could feel some sympathy for him.
‘You don’t know the half of it’ he said.
I walked around the car, looking at the upholstery and finish. It was beautiful. I gave him the time to get his thoughts together and continue. ‘What happened?’ I asked. ‘At his flat?’
‘He wasn’t there.’
‘Did anyone see you?’
‘No idea. Look, I really don’t give a shit that he’s dead’ he said. ‘I don’t care what you think. I just never wanted my son anywhere near the man. That’s all. Have you ever felt like you can’t do right for wrong, like you’re some sort of idiot?’
I nodded and moved closer to him. ‘Of course.’ Probably more than he knew.
‘I hated the man and the way he was always there in the background.’ he said ‘Like he was part of our lives.’
I snapped back into our conversation, pushing my own thoughts to one side. His alibi wouldn’t stand up. I looked again at the car, admired the finish. I turned, looked him in the eye, wondering how far I could push him. ‘You said it was in the past. Maybe you’re the one with the problem?’
He threw the wrench at the wall, shouting at me to get out. ‘If you want the truth, go speak to my wife.’
I nodded and told him I’d be doing that.
Lorraine sat at the reception desk. The office was quiet. I waited for her to finish her call before speaking. ‘I’ve just spoken to your husband.’ She looked up. She wasn’t pleased to see me. I wasn’t bothered. It was time to start sorting things out.
‘Why are you bothering him at work?’ she said to me.
‘We had things to discuss’ I said.
‘I told you. My husband didn’t kill Greg. You’re wasting your time talking to him.’ She walked out from behind the desk and opened the front door to the office. ‘I can’t believe you’ve got the nerve to come back here, saying these things. This is where I work. I want you to leave. And don’t bother coming back.’
‘I know, Lorraine.’
She looked at me. ‘What do you know?’
‘I’ve put it together. I know.’
She nodded. The decision made. She relented. ‘How did you find out?’ she said.
‘Maths.’ Priestley had told me she’d always stayed in touch with Tasker, even when they’d moved down to London. It hadn’t seemed important until now, but thinking on it, it was strange. Friendships come and go. Some are only made for a specific moment, and hers with Greg Tasker seemed like a classic example. Their lives had taken very different paths, yet they’d stayed in touch. And her husband’s dislike of Tasker went far beyond normal jealousy. He hated the man, and for that, he had to have good reason. I knew from his reaction in the garage that there was more to the story. ‘Your husband more or less confirmed it for me.’
‘Wait there a minute.’ She said it was almost time for her break. She made a call and we waited in silence until another woman appeared to take her place on the reception desk. Lorraine led me out of the building. We walked to Queens Gardens. Less than a hundred years ago, it had been a working dock. Now it was one of the few places you could find some peace in the city centre. We found a bench next to one of the ponds. I angled myself away from the Mick Ronson band stage. It was hardly a fitting tribute to one of the city’s most famous musicians and nor did it seem appropriate when we were talking about another one. My city was terrible when it came to commemorating its past and coming to terms with its history. I looked at Lorraine. It was like she’d had a weight lifted from her shoulders.
‘Jay is Greg’s’ she said, turning to face me. ‘But Jason is his real dad.’
I nodded my understanding. ‘Of course.’
‘It doesn’t make any difference to me.’
‘But Jason knows?’
‘We don’t talk about it.’
He knew. I was sure.
‘I met Jason as Greg left and went down to London with the band’ she said. ‘He’s the complete opposite to Greg. Jason is a family man who puts us first. He was the kind of person I needed after Greg. Jason was very good about the pregnancy. I think he wanted a child as much as I did, so we never had the conversation. We took it as being a nice surprise. It was quick, but it was what we wanted. End of story. We never discussed it again.’
‘Did you tell him about Greg?’
‘He knew I’d had a relationship with him, but he wasn’t bothered by it. Not then. He never asked the question about Jay, so I never said anything.’
‘He never questioned it?’
‘Neither of us wanted to upset things.’
‘But things changed?’
She nodded. I sat quietly and let her work out what she wanted to tell me.
‘It’s not fair’ she eventually said. ‘It’s not fair on me or Jason, but it’s especially not fair on Jay. It didn’t seem like a problem when he was younger, but now he’s a bit older it feels like I shouldn’t be lying to him like this.’
‘Did you speak to Greg?’
‘He’d worked it out.’
‘How?’
She laughed. ‘Jay looks like Greg.’
I hadn’t particularly noticed the resemblance. He’d probably done the maths, like I had.
‘What did Greg want?’ I asked.
She looked at me, as if I was stupid. ‘His son.’
I looked around the Gardens. Office workers on their lunch breaks and pupils from the nearby nautical school running around. I turned back to Lorraine. ‘What about Jason?’
‘I haven’t told him.’
‘Why not?’
‘It’d destroy him. I couldn’t do it to him. I’d hate myself.’
‘He must have had his suspicions?’
‘His name’s is on the birth certificate. I thought it was enough.’
‘But Greg wanted to be part of Jay’s life’ I said.
‘He wanted to leave Siobhan and start again with me and Jay.’
‘He was going to tell his parents about Jay?’ I said. That made sense to me now.
‘I think so, but I told him he couldn’t do that.’
‘When did you speak to Greg about Jay?’
‘Not that long ago.’
‘What did you want to do?’ I asked.
She held my stare. ‘I wanted to believe Greg. I really wanted to believe what he said, but I’d made my decision years ago. I couldn’t do it to Jason. He stood by me when I needed it the most, so now it’s my turn to stand by him. It cuts b
oth ways.’ She paused. ‘Do you have family?’
I thought about my brother, but pushed it to one side. I hadn’t made the time to ring him since our night out, but I’d promised I would. ‘You don’t owe Jason your life’ I said.
‘Just leave it, please.’
I felt sorry for her. She was trapped in a marriage she didn’t want with a man she didn’t really love. It was sad she felt she couldn’t make a change, that she owed him so much. I wondered if Tasker had told Kane Major about his son, that he was willing to move away with Lorraine. I wondered if that would have meant there’d be no reunion. I couldn’t see Major receiving that news happily. Equally, Jason Harrison stood to lose everything. He’d treated Jay like his own, probably believed it, too, but he had to know the truth. It gave him a powerful motive in relation to Tasker’s murder. Tasker would have brought Harrison’s life crashing down around him.
We were finished here. Lorraine stood up, ready to leave. I told her she could call me whenever she liked.
‘Please don’t speak to my husband again’ she said, before walking away from me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The office was cold and empty. I’d spent the time as I walked down Whitefriargate thinking over what I’d learnt. It struck me Tasker’s parents didn’t realise they had a grandson. Sarah would know whether I should tell them about Jay or not, but she wasn’t around to ask. It might be some small compensation after losing their son that he would live on through his child. Sat at my desk, I busied myself by updating my notes. It was a habit I’d picked up from Don. He called them ‘Case Management Reviews’, like he was still in the police force. He was right. It made sense and it helped me stay on top of things. Easily distracted, I checked the BBC website for any updates on Tasker. There was nothing new from DI Robinson and his team. I called Julia to see if she’d made any progress. She was just about to leave the press conference she was attending.
‘I was going to call you’ she said.
I asked why.
‘Gary Bilton wants to talk to us. Now.’
I drove to the police station and waited for Julia. I wondered if I should tell her about Jay Harrison, but decided to sit on the information for now. I wanted to tell her, but it was an explosive story. Other people had a right to know first. I leaned on the bonnet of my car and watched DI Robinson push his way through the remaining reporters, heading towards the exit. I noted the media crowd had started to thin.
‘Now then’ I shouted to him. I waved to make sure he didn’t miss me.
He changed direction, walked across to me. ‘Mr Geraghty. I understand you’ve had a spot of bother at your office?’
I wondered how he knew. ‘Nothing serious’ I said.
He stepped closer to me. ‘You should be careful.’
‘I’m fine.’
He turned away from me. ‘Well, best of luck. If you’ll excuse me, some of us have proper work to be getting on with.’
I saw Julia walk out of the station, stuffing papers into her bag. ‘Best of luck to you, as well’ I shouted after Robinson.
‘What have you been up to?’ Julia asked me, as we pulled away.
I told her as we drove across the city, before changing the subject and asking her about the press conference.
’There was nothing new, really’ she said, then she pointed. ‘Down there.’ I turned the car around and parked outside the house she was indicating.
‘Are you alright?’ I asked.
She looked at me and nodded. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Right.’
We got out of the car, knocked on Gary Bilton’s front door.
‘At least he’s moved since I was last in Hull’ Julia said, as we stood and waited.
He eventually opened the door. He looked terrible. His left eye was closed, his mouth swollen. Someone had given him a proper going over. But you could see he was in better shape than his brother. Maybe five years younger.
‘Nice to see you, Julia’ he said. ‘It’s been a long time.’
She ignored him. He let us into his house. We followed him into his front room. I unplugged his Xbox and turned the television off. The curtains were still closed, the room smelt stale.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
I pointed to the big cardboard box in the corner. ‘New television?’ I told him to sit down. ‘You wanted us to come here. You can talk to us properly.’
‘Who did this to you?’ Julia asked him.
‘If I knew, I wouldn’t be talking to you about it, would I?’
‘What happened?’ I said.
‘Jumped as I walked home from the pub. Some bloke appeared out of nowhere and asked me what time it was. I went to have a look and he cracked me one. The next thing I knew, him and his mate had picked me up and thrown me into the boot of their car.’
‘What did they look like?’ I asked.
‘How would I know? I didn’t get a proper look. The bloke who spoke to me had a cap pulled right down over his face. They weren’t local.’
‘Where did they take you?’ Julia asked, ignoring me.
He turned his head to look properly at her. ‘I was in the boot of their car. I’ve no idea.’
‘What about when they got you out?’
‘No idea.’
‘You didn’t recognise the area?’
‘No. It was the middle of nowhere.’
I turned to Julia. ‘We’re wasting our time.’
‘What did they do to you?’ Julia asked, turning back to Bilton.
‘What do you think happened?’ He held his left hand out for us to look at. ‘They didn’t take me out for a nice meal.’
I looked away. I didn’t want to see.
‘They used me as an ashtray’ he said. ‘Is that enough detail for you?’
‘Have you been to the hospital?’ Julia asked.
He shook his head. ‘Don’t be stupid.’
‘You could have some internal damage.’ She looked at me for confirmation. ‘We’ll take you.’
I shook my head. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I wasn’t sure if Julia saw me out of the corner of her eye.
‘I’m not going anywhere’ he said.
‘What did they want?’ I asked.
‘They wanted their money’ he said to me.
‘Right.’ I walked over to the window. The estate was quiet, like it was asleep. I didn’t like it. It made me feel uneasy. I turned back and shrugged, no idea what he was talking about. ‘Give it to them. It’s nothing to do with us.’
He pointed at me. ‘It’s everything to do with you.’
I walked towards him. ‘Say that again?’
Julia told me to be quiet and turned to Bilton. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘They said they were owed money and they were going to collect.’
Julia looked at me. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. I got it. Mistaken identity.
He smiled at me through his broken face. ‘That’s right. You were supposed to lead them to my brother. But they got me instead.’
I told Julia to call Major as I drove. She did as I asked and told him we’d made a breakthrough. Nothing more than that. He told her where he was eating. It was the same fish restaurant as last time. I told Julia I’d got the address and headed straight there. We found him eating by himself in the corner. I sat down opposite him. ‘You’re lucky I don’t knock you out in here’ I said to him. ‘So everyone sees.’
‘I don’t follow you, PI’ he said. I was willing to credit him for being a good actor. He was unmoved.
‘Trevor Bilton’s brother has been given a good kicking.’
I could see him doing the calculations. He eventually shrugged. ‘I’ll get you both a drink.’
‘I don’t want a drink off you’ I said. ‘I assume you don’t want to do this in public?’ I stood up. ‘Outside.’
Major told the waiter he’d be back shortly. We walked out and got into my car. Major was in the back, me and Julia in the front.
I eyeballed him using the rear-view mirror and told him about Gary Bilton’s injuries, describing them in detail, right down to the cigarette burns. ‘Somebody wanted to hurt him badly’ I said. ‘But they got the wrong brother.’
‘I’m not with you’ he said.
I smiled at him. ‘You’re with friends now. You don’t have to lie.’
‘I’ve no need to lie to you, PI.’
‘Try again’ I said. I held his stare. ‘I told you about Trevor Bilton, remember?’
He nodded. ‘So what?’
I took my eyes off him and turned to Julia. ‘His brother said the beating was my fault, didn’t he?’
She agreed with me.
I searched for Major’s eyes again in the mirror. ‘He also told us I led them to his door.’ I turned around. ‘Remember I told you I was being followed? I mentioned it to the police and I asked Whittle. Neither of them knew anything about it and I believed them. Why would they need to follow me?’ I pointed at him. ‘You know exactly what I’m talking about. You said Greg was involved with some bad people and you wanted them off your back. You told them Trevor Bilton was the man they needed to speak to.’ I looked at Major again. ‘You know who they are.’
We sat in silence for a few moments. I never took my eyes off Major I’d locked the car doors to make sure he wouldn’t leave until I was satisfied I’d heard the truth. ‘Why did you do it?’
‘I didn’t have a choice.
‘You can do better than that.’
He flashed with anger. ‘Who the fuck do you think you are?’ He jabbed his finger at Julia. ‘You bring a journalist along with you and expect me to answer your questions? Have a word with yourself, PI.’
I shrugged it off. ‘I’m the man who has the police on speed-dial. This is off the record for now, but it can soon become on the record. Do I make myself clear?’
Julia nodded. ‘I can have it ready for tomorrow’s paper.’ She knew how to play along.
‘Look, you don’t know what you’re messing with, alright? These are bad people, seriously bad fucking people.’
‘So why are they chasing you?’ I already knew the answer, but held out some small hope he’d surprise me.
‘I owe them money.’
The Late Greats Page 15
