by Nick Oldham
‘ Conclusions so far?’ FB interrupted.
‘ That the robbers had a falling-out over the division of the money, and one or more of them got away with it.’ Henry took a breath. ‘We’ve had some interesting work done by the financial and intelligence analysts, which I’ve just received from Danny. Don Smith, one of the dead villains in the warehouse, seems to have been pretty careless up to a point. We have records of several recent mobile-phone calls to a number in Tenerife and also spending on his credit card for a flight to Tenerife from Manchester and back via Lisbon and Paris.’
‘ Why do you say up to a point?’ FB asked.
‘ Because we haven’t managed to trace his home address yet. The address for his credit cards and telephones relate to a rented office in Blackpool, which is scrupulously clean, a shell,’ Henry explained. ‘What is obvious, therefore, is that a robbery has taken place, there’s been a fall-out big style between the offenders, an OK-corral-style gunfight, and the survivors have skedaddled with the dosh — and these are the people we need to nail.’
FB gave a weary clap. ‘I know that — what I don’t know is what you’re doing about it.’
‘ My best, that’s what.’
‘ Is that going to be good enough?’ FB was tough.
Henry’s mouth tightened. ‘Yes. I’ll catch the bastard or bastards. The link seems to be Tenerife — which is also the link to one of the security guards, a guy called Colin Hodge, who visited the place just a short time before the robbery. We think he was the inside man. The other link is Billy Crane, who has suddenly reappeared on the scene. Danny has had him positively identified as having stayed at the Imperial Hotel on the night of the triple murder in Blackpool, and leaving via Manchester Airport the day after, catching a flight to Lisbon, subsequently connecting to Tenerife. I saw him back in the country’ before the robbery in the company of Elphick, Thompson and Drozdov junior — three of the four dead men at the warehouse. The fourth dead man is Don Smith, of course, long-time associate of Crane’s. And today the fingerprint people have given me some partial idents lifted from a vehicle — not enough for court — putting Crane at the warehouse. There are also some partial prints of his on a pistol found there, which is the same gun that killed two security guards, Thompson, Elphick and Drozdov.
‘ Our next step must be to trace and arrest Billy Crane. He’s the key to all this and he’s got some nooky questions to answer. But the good bit is — if we don’t get to him first — and soon — he’s as dead as a dodo.’
Later, in the gents’ toilets, Rupert Davison was urinating at one of the stalls when Henry slotted in next to him.
‘ Henry, how are you doing? You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?’
‘ Like the plague,’ Henry admitted.
‘ I’ll tell you what — that Danny Furness has aged well, hasn’t she? I screwed her, you know?’
‘ Did you really?’ Henry bristled. He began to pee.
‘ Are you still serious about blowing me out over those interview tapes and the like?’
‘ Is that why you’ve come today, to ask me that?’
‘ I was invited by Mr Fanshaw-Bayley, actually, because I have a vested interest in this investigation. Two Manchester villains are dead, plus their Russian pal. You need to keep me sweet so I can ensure your enquiries around Greater Manchester go smoothly.’
‘ Are you saying you would obstruct my officers?’
Davison shrugged. ‘I could ensure they did not get the cooperation they require.’
Henry finished urinating and moved on to the wash-basin. He turned a tap on to a trickle and put his hands under it. ‘That sounds like obstructing the course of justice.’
‘ Does, doesn’t it?’ smirked the Superintendent. He finished and joined Henry by the sinks.
‘ That interview-tapes business — you know you’ll never get anywhere with it, don’t you? My word against a mere Custody Officer. I handed the master tapes over to him — which is actually documented in the custody records of Thompson and Elphick — so I don’t have a great problem there. As regards the working tapes of the interviews, losing them is unfortunate, but it won’t get as far as discipline. Happens all the time to other officers. I’ll probably get mildly rebuked. I can live with that.’
‘ But you did steal and destroy the masters, didn’t you?’ Henry said.
Davison placed his hands under the soap dispenser and then turned on a tap. Henry leaned across and turned it off, coming in close to Davison, eyeball to eyeball.
‘ You did, didn’t you?’ Henry pushed.
A smile crept over Davison’s face. ‘Of course I did.’
Henry took a step away. ‘Have you come here to gloat?’ He put his hands towards the hot air dryer, then changed his mind and went for the roller towel. ‘To tell me not to bother going for you, is that it?’
‘ Not to gloat, Henry — just to ensure that you don’t waste your breath and time on something where you’ll end up with egg on your face,’ he said confidently.,
‘ What happened to the master tapes?’
Wonderfully, Davison came alongside Henry by the towels and spoke in a hoarse, but clear whisper. ‘In a busy custody office, it’s very easy to make things go missing. I went back down a little later and while the Custody Sergeant was tied up booking in prisoners, I helped myself. The tapes are kept on a shelf under the desk until they are collected by the tape librarian, usually the day after. They are destroyed now.’
And so are you, mate, Henry wanted to tell him, but before he could make any sort of response, Davison said, ‘It’s a shame our operation against Thompson and Elphick came to nothing. Unfortunate they bubbled you as a cop, isn’t it?’
Henry’s eyebrows knitted together. Something in Davison’s tone of voice triggered off a warning bell in Henry’s head. ‘You sound like you know something about it?’
Davison uttered a short laugh and moved his wet hands underneath one of the hot air dryers. Henry stepped in and blocked his way before he had a chance to turn it on. ‘Did you tip them off about me?’ he demanded coldly.
Davison and Henry stood face to face for a few tense seconds. ‘What do you think, Henry?’ Davison said without admitting anything. He shouldered Henry out of the way to get to the machine. ‘I’ve got wet hands.’
Henry drew back, repulsed. He stormed out of the toilets and went back to the MIR where FB and Danny were waiting for him. He ripped the miniature tape-recorder out from the small of his back and shoved it into FB’s hands. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘hang the bastard out to dry.’
Their lovemaking took place on the deep pile rug in front of Danny’s living-room gas-fire. It lasted a long time and both experienced a prolonged, satisfying orgasm, leaving them feeling tired and mellow. Henry lay on his back, Danny tucked up on her side next to him, her fingertips tracing lazy circles around his nipples, chest and stomach.
‘ Before we were rudely interrupted by FB, you were going to say something to me — remember?’
He took a deep breath. ‘The only reason I took that under cover job was to get away from you.’
‘ Me — why?’
‘ All that stuff we went through with Jack Sands, all the time I spent with you… I was falling in love with you, Danny. It was doing my skull in. Life at home was getting unbearable because all I could think of was you and wanting to be with you — even though we hadn’t actually done anything like this.’ He indicated their nakedness. ‘I took the U/C job to get away from it all, take a break, get things into perspective. I thought I’d find it was just a silly infatuation, that I was just kidding myself. Wrong! All I could do was think about you — and when I got the chance to come home, what happens? Before going home to Kate, I go into Blackpool nick and see you instead.’
‘ And ask me how to win your wife back — and I suggested shagging her! I really wanted you to shag me.’
He laughed a little. ‘I needed to be sure how I felt about you. I’ve done some crackpot things in m
y life with other women, Danny, on the pretence of being in love, but I wasn’t. I was just having my ego fuelled. You are different.’ He paused. ‘I love you.’ He waited for a reply.
‘ This could get very complicated,’ Danny said cautiously, but feeling wonderful having heard Henry say the words.
‘ Don’t I know it.’
‘ And unpleasant.’
‘ Yep.’
‘ And costly.’
‘ Oh don’t, now you’re digging a knife into me.’
‘ And people will get hurt.’
‘ I know.’
‘ And we will suffer professionally.’
‘ Yeah.’ He pushed himself up on to one elbow and faced her. ‘You’re talking future tense.’
‘ Yes… all those things will happen. If you want to go for it, then so do I because I love you very much, Henry. I’ve fancied you for years and now I want you for ever, whatever it costs. I love you.’
Henry touched her cheek. They kissed tenderly.
‘ You will have a lot of difficult things to do, Henry, but I promise you I’ll be here for you, however tough it gets. I won’t let you down.’
His pager rang out shrilly from the settee where his trousers had been dumped. He rolled away, glancing at his watch as he did so — it was 10 p.m. — and checked the message. He picked up Danny’s phone and called Control Room, talked to the Duty Inspector, lying back as he conversed. Danny sensuously rubbed her breasts along his rib cage. ‘Thanks,’ he said and hung up. ‘Interesting… we need to get back in. There’s been a development. Crimestoppers have had a call from a male who says he has urgent information about the M6 robbery and that he wants to speak to me — now.’
They dressed quickly and were out of the house minutes later, jumping into their respective cars. Before setting off, Henry leapt out of his and trotted round to Danny in her unrepaired MX-5. ‘Sorry about this,’ he said awkwardly, ‘but I should just phone Kate and let her know.’
‘ Sure.’ She gave him her house keys and waited while he went back in and made the call. ‘Did you dial 141 before dialling your number — you know, so my number is untraceable?’ Danny asked when he gave her the keys back.
‘ No. Oh, shit — no, it’ll be all right.’
Chapter Twenty
‘ Don’t get upset.’ Henry attempted to calm Danny. ‘This guy could be our key to cracking this job.’
‘ And he’s also the one who attacked me on the beach in Los Cristianos,’ Danny spluttered angrily. Her wild eyes glared at Henry. ‘He indecently assaulted me. He would have raped me if I hadn’t kicked six shades out of him.’
‘ Danny, please,’ Henry cooed. ‘I think I know how you’re feeling.’
‘ How the hell could you..?’ she started to demand. Her voice trailed off and she wound her neck in with a remorseful, ‘Sorry.’
‘ Forget it.’
‘ It’s just I’m so tired. There’s so much gone on recently.’
‘ Forget it,’ he said again. ‘Let’s just hear what he has to say and if it’s all crap, then we’ll beat him up together, shall we?’
She managed a smile and nodded compliantly.
It was twenty-four hours later, the day after Henry had met and questioned Alexandr Drozdov. Henry and Danny were standing in an interview room in the main police station in Santa de la Cruz, Tenerife, having landed from England only a couple of hours previously. Two Spanish detectives sat behind them, looking bored, observing their heated exchange with indifference. On the other side of a huge, two-way plate-glass mirror sat the lone figure of the man who had phoned Crimestoppers and demanded to speak urgently to DI Henry Christie.
The mystery caller had claimed, ‘I have information for you that will lead you straight to the man who planned and pulled the M6 robbery and who also killed those three people in Blackpool. I know him personally and I know where you can find him. I live in Tenerife and I want you, Mr Christie, to come out here personally and talk to me — now. And I want the reward money, because I know that the information I give will lead you to his arrest and conviction. But you must give me protection.’
Henry had taken a deep breath and said, ‘How can I believe you? I’ve had hundreds of calls claiming the same since the robbery happened. I can’t afford to go off on a wild-goose, chase.’ Henry had to be cagey without losing the man because, somehow, he sensed this was the big break, and it needed to be handled correctly.
‘ Here’s a titbit for you. If you are any sort of detective, you should have found this out by now — and it’s not something you’re likely to reveal to the press just yet. One of the security guards was in on the job. His name was Colin Hodge.’
Henry looked quickly at Danny and winked. The strong suspicion that Hodge was the inside man had not been revealed to anyone outside a very privileged few.
‘ I take it from that pause I’ve hit the nail on the head,’ the man said.
‘ Tapped it, perhaps,’ Henry said, trying to contain his excitement. ‘Can you give me any further details?’
‘ He came out to the island before the robbery and had a planning session with the man who is behind it all. I might have been able to guess the first bit, but not that — so, are you coming out here?’
‘ Yes, I think so.’
‘ I want three grand up front — and I also want you to remember that because I’ve made this call, my life isn’t worth shit now. If he finds out, he’ll do me in, guaranteed.’
Henry was thinking fast. ‘The up-front money is no problem. Ring me back in an hour and I’ll tell you what’s happening, unless you want to give me your number.’
‘ Yeah, sure. Think I was born yesterday, do you?’
‘ OK, that’s fair enough. You’ll need a code-name,’ Henry said. ‘We don’t use real names over the phone — just in case.’
‘ Nero,’ the man suggested quickly.
‘ OK, Nero — give me one hour,’ Henry reiterated. ‘Ring back via Crimestoppers again — it’s safer that way.’
By the time that hour had passed, it was almost midnight. FB had been woken up and apprised of the new development. Groggily he had said, ‘You and DS Furness go if you think it’s necessary.’ Henry had also arranged for three thousand pounds to be paid to him from the informants fund. Booking a flight or accommodation had been impossible at that time of night.
Sixty-one minutes later, Crimestoppers connected Nero through to Henry’s extension. ‘The money has been sorted and I can come and see you. Obviously I can’t book a flight at this time of day, that will have to wait until morning. Call back at ten — we’re in the same time zone, aren’t we?’
‘ OK — but if you haven’t sorted out a flight by then, the deal’s off. I can’t afford to wait around.’
Henry smirked, knowing he was being bullshitted. He had vast experience of dealing with informants, or ‘sources’ to use police jargon. They rarely stopped once they’d started because they are usually driven people — driven by revenge, greed, or both, or they actually like being informants, enjoy playing the game, being a double-agent, living on the edge of what has often been a worthless life. ‘Don’t worry,’ Henry said, ‘everything will be sorted… but there is one thing.’
‘ What?’ asked the source dubiously.
‘ Give me something else now, prove your credentials.’
Henry heard the man clicking his tongue, thinking.
‘ It doesn’t have to be mega,’ Henry encouraged him.
‘ Maybe tomorrow,’ he said and hung up.
Henry and Danny spent the remainder of that night at the Training School in separate rooms, and were up by seven. After a hurried breakfast, they both drove back to Blackpool to their respective homes. Henry had breezed into his house like he was doing the most normal thing in the world, dashed around like a whirlwind, finding his passport, stuffing clothing and shoes into a holdall. He kissed Kate in passing, gave Jenny and Leanne a quick peck on the cheeks and was gone, with no real explanation, no pro
per conversation, just a hurried, ‘Got to get to Tenerife… might have cracked this job… shouldn’t be gone too long… give you a bell, love… bye!’ Then breezing quickly past a speechless wife.
Pulling away in his car he felt an absolute bastard and when he glimpsed the stony-faced figure of Kate standing in the bay window, he felt physically sick. Yet he pressed on and was back at Headquarters before nine to find Danny had beaten him and was already phoning around for flight tickets. Henry sorted out money and accommodation and made brief contact with the Criminal Justice Support, National Criminal Intelligence Service at Scotland Yard and the Spanish police in Tenerife to tell them all, as a matter of courtesy, his plans.
Danny quickly secured two cancellations on a holiday charter. The tickets would be made available at Manchester Airport and they had to be there at 1p.m. for a 2.30 p.m. flight. She then booked a hire car for collection at the airport in Tenerife.
The source rang again on the dot of ten. ‘This is Nero.’
‘ How are you?’
‘ Getting jittery already — but never mind that. What’s happening?’
‘ I should be in Tenerife by seven this evening, landing at Reina Sofia. What arrangements do you want to make to meet?’
‘ That’s too close to home. I can’t see you there. What about Santa de la Cruz, ten tonight?’
‘ Cuts it pretty fine, doesn’t allow for any delays.’
‘ I’ll wait for you — for a while, anyway.’
‘ Where shall we meet?’
‘ At the cop shop. You parade up and down in front of it and I’ll approach you. It’ll be safe enough there for me, I guess.’
‘ I’ll arrange it,’ Henry said quickly. ‘How will you know me?’
