Hope Never Dies

by Mike Holden

  “MU09XLK”

  “Have either of you been out since?” asked Kingsly

  “No” came Kim’s response

  “So you weren’t in Warner Street at around 3 o’clock this morning?”

  Ned interrupted “Whilst we were at the concert, our car was broken into. We reported it to the police at around 11 pm and we were fobbed off. We were told to report it formally this morning, which we intend to do. We are not likely to go anywhere with a smashed window, are we?” Kingsly gave an almost imperceptible nod to Hannah, who left the lounge after extracting her mobile radio. They all could here mumbled voices from the hallway and the crackling response from the radio. Hannah was soon back in the lounge.

  She said “There is no evidence on your car of any windows being smashed.”

  “There isn’t now!” replied Ned indignantly “We had to have it repaired last night”

  “Where?” asked Kingsly. Kim gave him the garage details. It appeared to satisfy them. She continued

  “I don’t even know where Warner Street is and as I have said we have both been here since just after midnight”

  “Are you sure?” he asked again.

  Consternation now from Kim “Of course, I’m sure. Just what is all this about?” Silence from the two police officers

  “Look! We’re not going to answer any further questions until you tell us what is going on. For your information I am a qualified solicitor”

  Kingsly simply replied, “Then you may have to answer them at the station. You can probably represent each other.”

  “I’m not a solicitor,” said Ned

  “What are you then?” was the next obvious question

  “A business advisor”

  “And your address?”

  Ned told him. He thought about this answer very seriously. All the time Hannah was studiously writing everything in her notebook. Kingsly paused whilst she caught up. During this pause, the doorbell rang again. Kim and Ned looked apprehensively at each other, wondering if “the man” had come back with his mates. If so, he might be in for a shock and for the first time since their arrival, the two police were somewhat of a comforting presence.

  “I’ll answer it” volunteered Hannah. She had a good idea as to who it was. After peeping through the spy hole, she opened the door, greeted the person outside, another police officer, but this time in uniform, and gestured for him to enter the apartment. He handed the piece of paper to Kingsly. He looked at it, smiled a disconcerting smirk and said

  “Miss Chen, this is a search warrant and we intend to make a full search of the flat”

  “For what?” she asked. She hoped that she could keep the fear rising in the pit of her stomach at bay and not show her worry.

  “OK” replied Kingsly, “as you are both so keen to act all innocent, I’ll start from the beginning and see if I can jolt a memory or two. At about 3am ---“

  “2.58am to be precise” interrupted Hannah.

  “As I said, we received a phone call from an employee of Sapphire Computers in Warner Street reporting a break-in at his offices. He informed us that, as he turned the corner into Warner Street, he saw two people who incidentally match your descriptions, run from the offices with a large bag, get into a white Audi, with number plates identical to yours, and drive off furiously. Now, are any memories jolted?”

  “It was not us,” said Ned, very deliberately. “We were both here at the time”

  “OK, we now begin the search for the stolen money” He noticed the barely perceptible glance that Kim and Ned gave each other and despite his limitations as a detective, that glance told him ever so much. He instructed that Hannah remain with them and that they should not leave the lounge whilst he and the constable searched the rest of the apartment.

  CHAPTER 7

  Kim sat very uncomfortably on the settee, believing that the game was up, once the money had been discovered. She was mentally deciding whom; from her law firm was the best one to call when they were being cautioned and questioned. The time passed very slowly and they sat on the settee for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, Kingsly returned clutching a large black bag. Hopes faded. He watched their faces closely as he threw the bag onto the coffee table. They tried not to show any emotion or recognition. To Kim’s surprise, the bag was empty when it was opened.

  “Where’s the contents of this bag then?” he enquired

  Ned said that it was his bag and it had contained some presents and some odd-and-ends. Kim tried not to look too surprised but she felt that they would find the money eventually whilst they were searching the apartment. Kingsly went out of the lounge again, presumably to continue searching. For what seemed like another eternity, they continued their search and finally both police officers returned to the lounge.

  “Thank you for your co-operation. We would like to take this bag for further examination. You will be questioned again so please don’t leave the area without reporting to us. I’ll leave you my card,” said Kingsly. He found one in his inside pocket and left it on the table.

  Ned said that he was going to return home today but was strongly advised to remain at least another day. He reluctantly agreed. Privately he thought that any excuse would be fine in order to spend more time with Kim. The three policemen left. Ned went to the kitchen and put the kettle on for some tea. He looked through the window and was quite surprised to see that it was now daylight. This morning it was to be green tea again, as it was the nearest to hand. He brought the tea into the lounge and handed a cup to Kim.

  “All right” she said, “I give up. Where’s the money?”

  “I’ve hidden it”

  “In this apartment?”

  “Yes”

  “Well, it must be somewhere very safe if the police were not able to find it. Where is it?”

  “Have you had any plumbing problems lately?” He asked

  “Yes, there was a problem with the shower unit a few weeks ago when the bathroom flooded. The shower had to be dismantled. Is it there?”

  “Your plumber didn’t do a very good job and the wood and tile area around can easily be taken up because it wasn’t put back properly. I could make a small gap but big enough to store the cash. It wasn’t hard to put the floor back and seal it up although it’s only sealed up with toothpaste.”

  “When did you do it?”

  “During all that time it took you to get ready yesterday afternoon” She gave him a friendly poke.

  He continued, “Seriously though, we are in deep shit because we could soon receive another visit from “the man” and I’m pretty sure that the police have their serious suspicions”

  “You’re right about one thing” she replied “we are now well and truly in deep shit”

  They pondered over what they should immediately do. Ned suddenly said, “I bet that “the man” has staged all this to try to get his money back this way”

  “Nothing gets past you, does it Ned?” she replied rather sarcastically, “That had dawned on me some time ago but the question is what can we do about it?”

  *

  Back in the car, Kingsly and Hannah were in deep conversation. He said to her, as soon as they had began moving,

  “Did you believe them?”

  “No, Terry. They were mighty suspicious”

  “ I agree with you, they were and they were hiding something, but somehow I don’t put them as serious burglars, and besides, we couldn’t find any trace of any money or anything else that might incriminate them.” He thought a little while, “Still, there is something not right here and it smells. It’s nearly time to finish, I’ll drop you at the nick and we’ll resume this afternoon. When you get back, do a check on them and also the bloke, Neil Haslam, who reported the robbery”

  Hannah always regarded herself as a little more e
nthusiastic as her partner and did the check before leaving for home.

  *

  An early breakfast was called for and Ned fancied his favourite, a bacon butty, and whilst Kim was into British food, her choices were somewhat unusual. What he liked about Kim, was her thoughtfulness and consideration. She did not care all that much for bacon but she had bought some knowing that Ned liked his butty. He put some slices into the microwave. Kim had decided to take a shower and he shouted through the door to her.

  “Anything on your bacon butty?”

  He heard the reply through the door, “Some lettuce and tomato. Just make one for me and I’ll have a peanut butter one as well”

  “OK” he shouted back, making an odd face at the thought of the combination. She came into the kitchen just as the food and coffee were ready. His libido suddenly shot up when he saw her, wearing a yellow vest and fawn miniskirt.

  Her first words were, “I’m hungry”

  “You’re going to set my dicky ticker off one day” he said smiling at her. Whilst Kim’s command of the English language is second to none and has been speaking it and studying in it for years, she sometimes had difficulty with slang expressions. However, she had no hesitation in asking if she did not understand, and asked what a dicky ticker was. Was it something rude, like causing an erection? Ned smiled and was very tempted to say it was but he told her it was a weak heart, although by now, she wasn’t far wrong in her assumption.

  “I didn’t know you had a weak heart” she replied innocently

  “I don’t, it’s just a saying to emphasise that you get my heart racing”

  “Eat your breakfast and shut up” was her reply. They ate in silence. Once finished, Kim decided that she would give a critical assessment of the situation.

  “We have a number of options to follow depending on whether we give back the money or not. Let us assume that we decide to return to money and the options are, whom we return the money to,

  1, if it is to the police, we are virtually admitting guilt in a robbery that we had nothing to do with and probably never took place in the first place. We will have difficulty proving that.

  2 if it is to “the man” how are we going to do it. Are we going to wait to see if he happens to turn up again? If he does he is likely to be accompanied. Not a good idea.

  3 We could return it to that company, what was its name, Sapphire Computers? It would put the money back to where it apparently rightfully belongs but again it will be an admission of guilt that we had something to do with it being stolen. And that dreadful man might retaliate against us anyway.

  4 If we take one of these options, our careers have blown, well, at least mine will have and no doubt I’ll be struck off.

  If we don’t return the money we have the following options

  1 The police will continue to hound us. I am sure that they have their suspicions already

  2 As long as he knows where we are, “the man” will be a constant threat to us

  3 If we keep our nerve, we might get away with some careful planning and assuming that we can stay alive”

  With the options put to him, Ned went into a deep thought. He finally said

  “If we can combine two and three of your second option, we might stand a better chance.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Keep our nerve and make sure that the man cannot find us. In fact it would be better if we were to leave here as soon as possible and make ourselves scarce somewhere”

  Kim would have returned the money to any of her suggestions if Ned had readily agreed with her even if it meant the end of her career. Despite her portraying herself as demure and respectable, there was an adventurous streak in her characteristics despite being somewhat traumatised by the events of last night, she began to now think of herself as a Thelma or Louise or even a Bonnie Parker.

  “I’ll get changed and pack a bag” she replied. It was just now that Neil realised that he had no longer a change of clothes. “The man” wasn’t considerate enough to return his belongings; He would travel light and buy clothes, after all money was no object. He went into the bathroom to retrieve the money and whilst doing so, hatched what he thought was a cunning plan.

  CHAPTER 8

  On arriving home, Detective Sergeant Terry Kingsly found that he had difficulty sleeping and his mind was fully alert, thinking about the robbery. Things did not ring true with it and he was convinced that there was more to it. Perhaps the three of them were in it together. That would make the most logical answer, particularly as it would be difficult to nail the Chinese girl and her boyfriend on the evidence so far obtained. So much was his mind whirring, over the matter that he decided that he would go to the nick as soon as he could this morning. That would certainly surprise his colleagues. He called his partner on the way there and told her to join him. All this sudden enthusiasm was not necessarily out of duty to the force but instead, what was really getting to him, was that this case, might end up in some sort of personal financial gain.

  Once they were both ensconced with coffee, he asked Hannah if there were any developments. She told him that she had run a check of all three names through the computer.

  “Chen and White have nothing more serious than a few speeding or parking offences between them, but Haslam has been previously accused of minor embezzlement but nothing was formally proved and no charges made”

  “See if you can dig up any connections between Haslam and the other two?”

  “I’ll put Alan onto it. He’s good at that” she replied.

  “And while he’s on it, get him to check the CCTV cameras around Warner Street between two and four this morning” Quietly he asked her, her thoughts on the case.

  “None of it rings true. I know that Chen and White are as guilty as hell but guilty of what? The robbery looks all too pat and I think that we have to interview Haslam again as there is something wrong there. Let’s see what Forensics has come up with on the bag”

  They decided that they would wait until the results came back and then they would go to town on all three.

  *

  Neil Haslam was still a very worried man and he still had everything to lose. He had only a few hours left before he had to report back to his blackmailer and he needed progress now. After reporting the “robbery” to the police, he knew that they would be going to the couple’s apartment and he called his local taxi firm who dispatched a cab forthwith to take him directly back there. He saw the police arrive in three different waves and saw them leave virtually together. He noted that the plain-clothes one carried his bag. So the money was now in the police station. He would telephone the station early in the morning. He was also able to retrieve his car from the secure park by quickly following someone out.

  Later that morning, his telephone call seemed to take an indeterminate time, until, finally he got through to the detective. He was astounded to learn that no money had been recovered and that the bag was empty. Either the money was still in the flat or the policeman was lying to him. Which one, he wondered? It would be easier to retrieve it from the flat but he needed some help. He made a call to a business associate of dubious reputation.

  Very soon, he was driving back to Kim’s apartment block accompanied by two men whose looks, attitude and demeanour suggested that one would not naturally invite them to social gatherings or to meet your mother. As he rounded the corner in front of the garage entrance to the apartments, he saw the white Audi leave at a speed faster that he would have expected.

  The plan that Kim and Ned had discussed earlier was now coming to fruition.

  CHAPTER 9

  Both Kim and Ned were very uneasy with the plan but felt they had gone too far to admit anything concerning the money, either to the police or anyone else. They knew that they had just to disappear for a short time whilst they could think of a solution
to their problem that was growing larger by the hour. Kim had telephoned her friend, Katy who lived in another apartment block nearby and arranged that they would go there. However, Ned changed the plan at the last minute as he said it would be too dangerous to involve any friends. They had to work this out on their own. Therefore, Plan B came into being.

  They had made their way to the car park and Kim had driven quicker than usual though the exit. She just wanted to get away as soon as possible. She drove very quickly towards the main road that leads past Old Trafford and southwards out of the city. Ned began to daydream again, not about the Fab Four from Liverpool, but about one of his other loves, on his right. Why couldn’t they be more consistent? It was clear to every one that Fergie needed to buy another striker and he hoped it would soon dawn on the Great Man Himself. Although it was a speed limit area, Kim drove at least ten miles per hour above it to assuage her uneasiness. She noticed that Ned was constantly looking to the rear of the car, using the nearside mirror. Had he seen something or could he not take his gaze away from the “Theatre of Dreams”, his dreams?

  “What’s wrong?” she asked

  “I think that we’re being followed. When we left the car park, another car, a blue Merc, did a handbrake u-turn and he’s been behind us ever since. From what I can see there are a least three people in the car.”

  Kim adjusted her mirror and saw the Merc following, gaining speed on them.

  “Any ideas?” she asked.

  “I don’t think that they will do anything on busy roads, so keep going to the motorway and follow the route that we agreed”

  He was right. Whilst the Merc was only a couple of cars behind them, the driver made no attempt to do anything other than follow them. They soon reached the motorway and made a left turn through the traffic lights at the roundabout. Ned said as soon as they were on the motorway,

  “Speed up and see if there is any chance at all that we can lose them”

  Kim is not a particular fast driver and was reluctant to do more than eighty miles per hour. She hated the criticisms that women drivers received and was determined not to fall into any of those categories. She edged the car towards ninety miles per hour when traffic density allowed her. More music in his head, Baby you can drive my car and baby I love you. It was not his car. Ned kept watching the Merc. It kept an even pace behind them, speeding up when they did and slowing down when they did. Drastic measures were called for but he wasn’t the driver and he doubted that Kim would be able to out manoeuvre them. At the next junction, they had to pull off the main track as they wanted to head down the M56 for the airport. The junction was a complicated one and Kim had to slow right down to negotiate the sharpish bends and the Merc did so too. Desperation was now at the forefront of Ned’s mind.