Murder Of Angels - a crime thriller (Detective Inspector Declan Walsh Book 2)

by Jack Gatland

  ‘They said you wanted to talk about Father Lawson?’ she asked. Anjli nodded.

  ‘How long were you at Saint Etheldreda’s for?' She asked. Sister Margaret shrugged.

  ‘Ooh, now I don’t know that rightly,’ she said, thinking. ‘I’m eighty six now and I joined when I was nineteen, so a good long time, I’d say.’

  ‘And you were there when Father Lawson was there?’

  ‘I was there when he was just a child!’ Sister Margaret laughed. Billy looked to Anjli before speaking.

  ‘What do you mean by that?’

  Sister Margaret leaned closer, placing the knitting to her side. ‘Those two were a bane of the East End as kiddies.’

  ‘Barry and Stephen?’ Anjli watched Sister Margaret as she spoke. 'You knew them?'

  Sister Margaret nodded.

  ‘Aye, they were always getting into trouble. Eventually their parents, good Catholics the Lawsons were, they put them into Sunday School, and at the time I was running it.’

  ‘So you put them on the path then?’ Billy asked.

  ‘Aye, for the good or bad of it,’ Sister Margaret nodded. ‘Eventually they both went to Seminary College, but Stephen didn’t have the temperament for it. He was too wild, too much of a free spirit for the church. He had lustful intentions.’

  ‘A ladies' man?’ Billy smiled, but Sister Margaret looked horrified at this.

  ‘God no!’ she exclaimed. ‘He didn’t like the ladies, if you get my drift.’

  Billy looked to Anjli now. ‘At all?’

  ‘Now why would you think that?’ Sister Margaret asked. ‘Where are these questions going?’

  ‘Angela Martin and Gabrielle Chapman,’ Anjli said. And at these two names, Sister Margaret crossed herself.

  ‘Poor wee kiddies,’ she said. ‘I heard what happened.’

  ‘We heard that they were the daughters of a nun.’

  There was a moment of silence, as if Sister Margaret didn’t understand the question, before a spark of recognition returned and she carried on as if the pause hadn’t happened.

  ‘Aye, Sister Nadine. A mistake, bringing her into the order.’

  ‘She claimed that Father Lawson was the, well, the father of the child.’

  Sister Margaret sighed. ‘So she did. It was very much an embarrassment to many of us.’

  ‘So you don’t believe it was a vision from God?’

  ‘Oh Christ no!’ Sister Margaret paused, looked to the ceiling and crossed herself again. ‘No, that was definitely the work of man.’

  ‘But Father Lawson was in Africa.’

  Sister Margaret looked confused at this. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean that Barry Lawson was out of the country,’ Anjli replied. ‘I’m assuming if Nadine saw Father Lawson, she was actually seeing his twin brother?’

  ‘Are you dim in the head, lass? I already told you that Stephen Lawson didn’t like girls!’ Sister Margaret calmed a little as she continued.

  ‘And Barry didn’t like tropical climates.’

  Anjli realised what the nun was saying. ‘You’re saying that it was Stephen who went to Africa?’

  ‘Oh, to be sure, we knew that the two of them were playing the same part, but priests are in such short supply these days and Barry always kept Stephen on a short leash. But Barry had his weaknesses, too. And when the Bishop learned of, well, let’s say Barry's indiscretion, that stopped.’

  ‘The church knew of this?’ Billy shook his head. ‘Of course they did. They’re the church.’

  ‘They knew some.’ Sister Margaret sat back in the chair, getting comfy. ‘And Stephen wasn’t going to let his rather lucrative side line go.’

  ‘Side line?’

  ‘Oh yes.’ For a woman in her later years, Sister Margaret’s memory seemed remarkably bright here. Anjli assumed that it was because criminal activities amongst the priesthood was a little more interesting than they usual day-to-day activities of a num. ‘Stephen was bringing in certain illegal substances from Africa every time he went over there,’ Sister Margaret explained. ‘Sold them straight on to Daniel Martin.’

  ‘You knew Danny Martin?’

  ‘Of course I knew him!’ Sister Margaret looked to Billy. ‘Are you sure she isn’t touched in the head, boy? The Martins were some of the most devout Catholics you’d see around here!’

  ‘So Danny Martin and Stephen Lawson worked together,’ Anjli was writing this down now. ‘Was Barry a part of this?’

  ‘No, never,’ Sister Margaret vigorously shook her head at this. ‘That is, I don’t think so. No, I’m right. He was never a part. But once Nadine was pregnant, we knew that Barry had been foolish. Stephen and Daniel, they used this for leverage. Stephen started playing ‘Barry’ more now while the poor lad went to his other church in Beachampton.’

  'Was it Barry or Stephen then that was here the day of the birth?’ Anjli asked.

  ‘Stephen,’ Sister Margaret replied. ‘That was a weird day to be sure.’

  ‘Why?’ Now Billy was asking the questions. Sister Margaret shrugged.

  ‘Well, we didn’t really have births back then. We stopped in the seventies. But Daniel Martin was an old school Catholic family and Cliffie Chapman was a local too, although he’d moved. They both came in through Father Lawson, but it was Stephen who was there on the day.’

  ‘Did they talk to each other?’ Anjli was realising what happened that day.

  ‘Why would you think that?’ Sister Margaret asked. Anjli shrugged.

  ‘Well, we know that Daniel Martin and Craig–sorry, Cliff Chapman worked together, and you’ve already said that Stephen worked with him too. I’m guessing that it wasn’t a coincidence.’

  There was a long silence. Sister Margaret sat, looking nervous.

  ‘I didn’t know,’ she whispered. ‘I mean, we knew that there were drugs, but it was Africa, you know? They couldn’t be that bad.’

  ‘Go on.’ Anjli leaned forward.

  ‘They met,’ Sister Margaret admitted. ‘They talked a while. I can’t remember how long for, but it wasn’t more than half an hour. I only passed by once, but they were talking about trade routes.’

  ‘Then what happened?’

  Sister Margaret started to cry.

  ‘Then it all went wrong,’ she said. ‘Sister Nadine, she went into labour. And so were the women, the wives. One was a breach, the other way too early. Things were going bad. We called Father Lawson–Stephen Lawson out, begged him to help us. The babies, they were dead.’

  ‘Which babies?’ Billy asked. ‘Nadine’s?’

  ‘The others,’ Sister Margaret wiped away her tears. ‘Father Lawson said this couldn’t happen, that this would be a terrible thing, and we, well, we believed him. He went to speak to Sister Nadine; she’d given birth but was poorly. I don’t know what happened, but he returned and told us that the babies were alive. But Sister Nadine didn’t seem to be. We checked, and he was right. She had passed.’

  ‘He killed her?’ Anjli was astonished at this. Sister Margaret shook her head.

  ‘No, no, he wouldn’t have…’ she said, but her tone gave away an uncertainty to this. ‘He wouldn’t have…’

  ‘So then what happened?’

  Sister Margaret took a deep breath. ‘We swapped the babies,’ she admitted. ‘We gave one each to the families, but it was a crazy time as an ambulance had arrived for the Martin lady. She was losing blood after her birth. The families left, and we buried Sister Nadine and her… their babies.’

  This was the moment that Sister Margaret broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. ‘Oh Jesus, forgive me!’ she wailed. Anjli looked to Billy, her face devoid of all expression.

  ‘What happened after that?’ she asked coldly. Sister Margaret looked up, gathering her composure once more.

  ‘We never talked of it,’ she said. ‘When Father Barry returned, he was furious. Told Daniel and Stephen that they were barred from his church, that he would never help them again. Neither Stephen nor Barry told Daniel
that his newborn child was our Angela, our Angel… I think they were scared of some kind of retaliation.’

  There was a long moment of silence before Sister Margaret spoke again, and this time Billy and Anjli allowed her this time to compose herself some more before continuing.

  ‘Anyway, about a year later Stephen killed two men in a café, and was put away. After that, Father Barry and Daniel seemed to reunite, to rekindle their old friendship. But by then I’d moved up to Alum Rock with many other Nuns.’

  Billy wrote this in his notebook. ‘And when Angela came back?’ he asked.

  ‘That was years later,’ Sister Margaret replied. ‘She found out the truth, you see. We told her to speak to Father Barry. We hoped this would be his time to tell her the truth, but I don’t think he did.’

  ‘When was the last time you saw Father Barry Lawson?’ Anjli asked, rising from the bed. Sister Margaret shrugged.

  ‘I avoided him after his brother’s incarceration,’ she said. ‘It turned him, it did. Made him a different person.’

  ‘Thanks for that,’ Billy said, rising to join Anjli. ‘And God be with you.’

  Anjli looked at Billy with a what the hell expression, and he shrugged. Shaking her head, Anjli turned to also say farewell to Sister Margaret.

  But she was already knitting once more, already forgetting the two police officers in front of her.

  She’d probably forgotten Father Barry Lawson, too.

  20

  Interview Two

  Declan was in the Interview Room when Derek Salmon was brought in.

  ‘About bloody time one of you turned up,’ he said, sitting down on the chair facing Declan across the table. ‘I’ve been in here over twenty-four hours since you left me. They’ll start charging me rent.’

  He was wearing the same trousers as he had the previous day; Declan could still see the mud flecks on them from the trip to Epping Forest but instead of the suit jacket and the shirt he’d been wearing when he was arrested, Derek Salmon now wore a white tee shirt under a light grey hoodie. Declan wondered whether they’d allowed someone to pick up some clothes for him, some kind of professional courtesy to someone who once worked in the building or whether they’d just found some items in the lost and found box, and tossed them to him. Arriving at Tottenham North, Declan had realised very quickly that Salmon was becoming a bit of a celebrity right now, with the Last Chance Saloon being cast in this story as the unit helping him ‘clear his name’. Police loved a good underdog story, especially when it involved one of their own, and a tale of a copper that was proving their innocence was pretty much catnip to the plod. After all, the alternative was that one of their own had been dirty for years.

  Which, in this case seemed to be more accurate.

  ‘Sorry,’ Declan muttered, holding his anger in check until the police constable who’d brought Derek in exited the room.

  ‘Do you need anything else, Derek?’ the constable asked before leaving.

  ‘Nah, Mike. Just my medicines. I’ll take them with dessert,’ Derek smiled at the constable as he left through the main door, closing it behind him. ‘Good man, that. Helps people out.’

  ‘You seem to be doing okay,’ Declan said, forcing a smile. ‘It’s almost like people here believe you’re innocent.’

  ‘I have you and your sterling work to thank for that,’ Derek replied. ‘Also, what did I hear about another body being found?’

  Declan rose from the chair, pacing around the room. ‘It’s a confusing one, I’ll admit, Derek,’ he admitted. ‘There are so many twists and turns in this case—’

  By this point he had walked up from the side and, with one quick movement, and before Derek could respond, Declan grabbed the front of his hoodie, dragging him to his feet and slamming his back against the wall.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Derek exclaimed as Declan leaned in close.

  ‘You might have everyone here fooled, but I’m wise to you now, you crooked bastard,’ he hissed. ‘I can’t believe that I believed you. I actually fell for your act like that bloody idiot who just walked out of here.’

  Derek stared at Declan silently.

  And then he smiled.

  ‘Press the button, you cocky little shit,’ he breathed. ‘Stop pissing about and start this interview. I got things to do.’ And with that he brought up his left hand and, with a sharpened pinkie fingernail, he scratched at Declan’s cheek.

  It didn’t draw blood, but it hurt like hell and Declan stepped back, letting go of Derek’s hoodie.

  ‘What the hell?’ he snapped. Derek shrugged.

  ‘You just rammed me against a wall,’ he replied. ‘You think I wouldn't take a shot back at you?’

  ‘You used me,’ Declan said. ‘You were my mentor, and you used me.’

  ‘And you were the son of the man who killed my career,’ Derek sat at the table once more, straightening himself out as he did so. ‘How do you think it felt, watching you climb the ranks because of him? To be forced to wipe your arse every day because of him?’

  ‘My father?’

  ‘Of course I mean your father! Bastard was as corrupt as I was! Oh, don’t tell me you didn’t know. We all lined our pockets, even your darling DCI Monroe. But no, suddenly Patrick gains a conscience and I’m damned for all eternity! Stuck at DI rank while shits like you overtake me!’

  Derek was reddening in the face now, but his anger wasn’t abating.

  ‘You know how many times a day I wished him dead? And then God answered my prayers! No longer did he have anything on me. Granted, it was weeks before I would die myself but screw it, a win’s a win! Now I could do what I wanted. And what I wanted was to bring you both down. You and Monroe.’

  ‘Join the list,’ Declan snapped back as he sat in the chair facing Derek. ‘How is all of this bringing us down?’

  ‘Because you’ve started a gang war,’ Derek said with a smile. ‘You’ve kicked a hornet’s nest and people are going to die because of it. And the people upstairs will go the media are pissed at us! Why did that idiot DI ask questions when someone confessed to the murder and even showed us the body? Why did his DCI agree to this?’

  Declan stared at Derek Salmon now with the look of a man who was seeing someone for the first time. Derek was right. The higher ups would have a field day on this. Monroe’s team had been handed an open goal here; it was Declan’s faith in his onetime mentor that was going to bring them all down.

  ‘Personally though, I wanted to see you fall, you cocky little prick,’ Derek was enjoying the role of an angered victim a little too much. ‘All those years wiping your arse and fixing your cock ups, you aged me more than cancer ever did. And I’ve not even started yet. I’ll be haunting you way beyond my death.’

  There was silence in the room as Declan glared at his old mentor.

  ‘Press the sodding button,’ Derek hissed.

  ‘So you hold all the cards then,’ Declan eventually spoke. ‘Care to explain some things to me?’

  Derek looked at the recorder. ‘You’re not being professional here.’

  ‘I’m learning from the best,’ Declan replied. Derek thought about this and then nodded, as if taking the compliment.

  ‘So what do you want to know?’ he asked. ‘You better hurry, I’m watching Bake Off in ten minutes. They put a TV in my cell and everything.’

  Declan leaned back, considering this. ‘Did you kill her?’

  ‘Isn't that the whole reason you're on the case? To prove otherwise?’

  ‘We know you worked for The Twins and also the Seven Sisters. Did you work for George Byrne?’

  ‘Ooh, now that’s an interesting line of questioning,’ Derek clapped his hands in a slow applause. ‘I wonder though if you’re missing the point of this though.’

  ‘Probably. Are you really dying?’

  ‘Yeah. So you can imagine my delight when your bastard of a father did it first.’

  Declan bit back a reply. He knew that Derek was just trying to get a reaction.


  ‘Did you work with Danny Martin?’

  ‘Several times.’

  ‘You knew Angela well?’

  ‘Well enough.’

  Declan nodded to himself. ‘You knew she wasn’t his daughter?’

  Derek laughed. ‘Everyone knew that, boy. She looked nothing like him or his wife. It had to be Lawson’s.’ Derek paused, as if realising he’d spoken out of turn.

  ‘Nice,’ he said. ‘That won’t happen again.’

  ‘Why do you want a gang war?’ Declan asked. Derek shrugged.

  ‘I don’t,’ he said. ‘But the kids do.’

  'Moses and Macca?'

  'Among others.'

  'There aren't any others.'

  'You sure about that?' Derek chuckled. 'Shame. I actually thought you'd made some headway here.'

  ‘You’re just playing with me now,’ Declan stood up, the interview over.

  ‘I wouldn’t have done any of this, you know,’ Derek admitted. ‘If you’d just rolled over and died after punching that priest. But no, you had to do one last thing, solve one last case, didn’t you? And in the process kill the career of DCI Ford.’ He laughed. ‘The Twins might not have given a damn about her, but Danny Martin used her for everything he did. And losing her blindsided him.’

  ‘You’re talking about the Bernard Lau case?’

  ‘Damn right I’m talking about that,’ Derek leaned back, crossing his arms. ‘They suspended you. You were out. There was no way that you’d get out of that. And then DCI Ford decides that she wants you as her own patsy, but royally screws it up. And then you get a nice new job, all thanks to Alexander Goddamned Monroe.’

  ‘And that’s when you did all this,’ Declan shook his head. ‘I never realised how much you hated me.’

  ‘You haven’t even begun to realise how much I hate you,’ Derek said. ‘I made deals, boy. Deals that were worth it.’