‘Uh-huh.’
‘You’re big on the “uh-huh” this morning, Sergeant.’ I was smiling but Harry couldn’t see that.
‘Why on earth would the screws’ offices and locker room be searched?’
‘Because I’m going to suggest it when I’m interviewed, probably this morning.’
‘Christ, Captain, you don’t give us much bloody warning do you? Moorby and Manson?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Now your bloody uh-huh-ing.’
‘Uh-huh.’
I heard him chuckle.
‘Harry.’
‘Yes, Captain.’
‘What was all that palaver with the showers?’
He laughed. ‘Two reasons, Captain. The first was to keep you focused. You were so busy buggering about with showers you didn’t have time to freeze. The second reason was that the police are going to find wet showers and running showers and it’ll just create confusion as they try to figure out the murder scene. They’ll come up with a theory to fit the facts but it won’t make sense.’
‘How do you know this stuff?’
‘Because I’ve been a criminal longer than you’ve been a copper, Captain.’
He was right and the conversation had made me relaxed enough to fall back to sleep.
That morning, Harry and I walked to the dining room for breakfast and other prisoners cleared away from us. If they couldn’t be clear they pressed themselves against the walls. We ignored it as if it wasn’t happening but the screws saw it and the screws knew. The prison was silent. No, that’s an over-statement; it was quiet. The rumour mill was grinding away. Again, I was in the frame, but it was all much more speculative. It varied from suggesting that I’d set a trap for them and murdered them to the nearer reality; they had tried to rape me and failed. The spilt was also interesting; the ex-acolytes of Mr Wharton were supporting the trap and murder theory and the uncommitted and The Brothers were supporting the rape theory. My concern was civil war in the prison. The prison authorities and officers were edgy.
Harry slipped in next to me at breakfast. I was eating a classic, a meal I thoroughly enjoyed that went under the extremely unappetising name of shit on a raft. The cooks of course call it sautéed kidney. It was chopped up kidneys cooked in a thick brown sauce and served on a doorstep of crisp deep-fried bread. Well, the fried bread was crisp until the sauce started soaking into it. It sounds disgusting but tasted wonderful. It also did wonders for bowel movements, which is probably why it was only served once a month.
‘I don’t know how you can eat that shit,’ he said.
‘It’s great. Try some.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding. I’m pleased to see you’ve recovered. You’ll be okay now. Anyway, the project is underway and from what The Brothers say, they think this is a great scam and have a couple of really good places to position the treasure for the treasure hunters to find.’
Arthur, Dad, Flash and Boy said nothing and I knew they would swear on a stack of Bibles they’d heard nothing. Boy Pritchard had started to sit at our table – security and protection, I suppose, for warning me.
30
I was sent for at about ten o’clock. My class was in full swing and we were all, shall we say, less than happy at the interruption. But the summons came as no surprise. The surprise was that it was the governor and it was in a small room that he held his court for miscreants. I was marched in by a principal officer and stood to attention before a lectern behind which stood the governor on a slightly raised dais, so he could look over the top of the lectern and down upon me. Oh, the games people play.
The sun was shining through the window at the side of the room through the venetian blinds, throwing bars of light and dark across the carpet up the side of the lectern and giving the governor writhing stripes of his own as he moved.
As well as the governor and the principal officer, Senior Officer James and a couple of other senior people were present. It was more like a military disciplinary procedure than anything carrying the weight of criminal law.
‘Prisoner Robinson: eight-seven, eight-four, five-two, for enquiry, sir,’ the principal officer snapped out in a Scottish accent as he led me in. I bet he’d been an NCO in the army. I had to smile as I thought of Mr Mackay in the comedy series, Porridge. He even looked like Mackay with the jerking of his head backwards and forwards as he spoke.
‘Robinson,’ the governor said. The ‘let’s all play happy bunnies’ was suddenly gone. ‘You were in the showers at twelve fifteen on Tuesday of this week.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Why were you there at such a strange time?’
‘I was ordered to be there in preparation for a medical at twelve thirty.’
‘Who ordered you to be there?’
‘Officer Moorby, sir.’
‘Who arranged the medical?’
‘I don’t know, sir.’
‘What was the purpose of the medical?’
‘I don’t know, sir.’
‘The record shows you booked it.’
‘The record is wrong, sir.’
‘It says you were suffering severe lower back pain.’
‘Then the record is wrong, sir.’
‘You went to the medical.’
‘Yes, sir.’
He clearly didn’t believe me and looked at the ceiling; the tips of his fingers were touching in front of his chest. He tapped them together as he looked at me. He had visibly made the decision that whatever I said was of no consequence to him; self-evident was his condescension or was it contempt?
‘Whom did you see?’ That was a bit pedantic – ‘whom’.
‘Nurse Carstairs, sir.’
‘What happened when you got there?’
‘I waited and as I saw the nurse, an alarm went and I was directed to return to my cell.’
‘Who did you see in the showers?’
Oh, no ‘whom’?
‘Nobody, sir.’
‘But two people followed you in.’
‘I didn’t see them, sir.’
‘I’d like you to explain something to me. After all, you were once a policeman. You go into the bathrooms and you see nobody there. Two people follow you in. You leave the bathroom by the entrance the two people entered by. Nobody else goes in or comes out. The two people who’d followed you in are found murdered. What conclusion would you draw from that?’
‘Quite honestly, sir, there are some elements of that story missing.’
‘Explain.’
‘There may have been somebody in the bathroom when I entered that I didn’t see. That person left without being seen or was seen and nobody’s admitting to seeing him or them. Or the killer left after the bodies were discovered and left under the cover of confusion or waited an hour or so. Or the person who found the bodies did the killing. Or the information given to you is incorrect.’
‘So you don’t accept the simple explanation that you killed two men?’
‘Sir, how on earth am I going to kill two men?’
‘By stabbing them.’
‘What with? I’ve no weapons.’
The Governor stopped; he looked bemused. ‘The police will interview you later this morning, Robinson, when your solicitor arrives. Until they clear you, you’ll wear a tracker.’
‘Am I now a Category A prisoner, sir?’
‘Yes.’
‘May I see the judgement or tribunal report from the Category A team, please, sir.’
‘No you may not.’ He hadn’t followed procedure, again. Oh dear.
‘Then I will challenge your ruling, sir.’
‘You do that, Robinson.’
‘Will I be confined in the segregation unit?’ I was rubbing salt into a wound. I knew he had received an admonishment for confining me before.
‘No, return to your activities, Robinson.’
‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.’
When we left, Senior Officer James took me down to the reception suite.
‘You
know the rules then, Jake?’
‘Yes, ma’am; they prevent the abuse of power such as sticking trackers on me.’
She pursed her lips in a grim smile; she knew the proper procedure had not been followed to make me a Cat A prisoner.
We went into the reception suite and there a tracker was fitted to my left ankle. We then went into the surveillance room, which had at least twenty screens and two officers watching them. My tracker was matched into the computer and from then on, wherever I went would be recorded.
‘So now we will know where you are, Jake,’ said Senior Officer James.
‘Only till my solicitor arrives, ma’am.’
She shook her head. ‘I best go upstairs and get the ruling changed then, Jake.’
31
As I was in limbo, so to speak, I decided to go to the library and play around with some texts and ideas for my class. I was really getting into this teaching bit now. I got a real kick when any of them cleared a hurdle and they really appreciated my help. I was also learning a lot about the English language and about teaching: simple things like parts of speech and tenses. In fact, incorrect tense usage and adverbs annoyed me when I was listening to football pundits and they said things like, ‘And he run quick up the side line.’ I would find myself saying, ‘No! He ran quickly.’ Silly really, the guy on the TV couldn’t hear me. Because of this misuse of the English language I longed for the time my gran used to talk about, when the announcers on radio and television were posh. Well, she knew and I knew they weren’t posh; they just used correct pronunciation, and grammar. It’s amazing how teaching highlights little things that start to make a big impact on you, or perhaps it’s being in prison that does that.
In terms of teaching, I found that it was better to never ‘tell’ when you can ‘ask’. I would never tell my students when they were incorrect; instead, I would ask them what they’d done correctly and what they would do differently next time, reinforcing what they could do and targeting to correct the things they knew they didn’t have correct without me stuffing it down their throats as had often been done to me at school. This was stuff I’d learned in Behaviourist Learning Theory at university and it worked.
As I passed down the passageway into the library, I heard the toilet door behind me close. I was being followed. I turned to find myself facing Pete Costello and Marty Clifford. This wasn’t good. Pete was facing down the passageway, I suppose to stop anybody coming down, and Marty was facing me.
‘Good morning, gentlemen. Can I do something for you?’
‘You’re a smooth bugger I’ll give you that, Captain,’ said Marty.
‘Thank you, kind sir, but I don’t think you were waiting for me to tell me that.’
‘No, we’ve been asked to teach you a little lesson.’
‘And what’s that, may I ask?’
‘The first lesson is coping with pain and the second lesson’s for you to learn to do as you’re told.’
I’d expected an attack but not until after the police had left. The tactics here were just plain wrong. Both of these highly fit and powerful men outweighed me by at least two stone.
‘I see. And if you’re successful in the first part of your endeavour do you think there won’t be repercussions?’
‘We can handle Sergeant.’
‘That’s what I like: confidence.’ This sort of situation is a very scary place and fear is the thing that defeats most people, not the strength and power of the opposition. ‘Okay, which of you is going to try me first?’
Marty was looking over my shoulder and the expression of confident antagonism changed. Was it surprise? I then heard a movement behind me.
‘Fought you might like a little ’elp, Captain.’ It was Arthur. Help in these situations doesn’t come much better than Arthur.
‘I probably do, Arty.’
‘That’s good.’ It was big Fred. So we now outnumbered them.
Sergeant came round the curve and faced Pete. Now, that was an encounter I’d like to see.
‘I think we’ve stalemate, gentlemen. What would you like to do, Marty?’
‘I’ll fucking get you, you stuck-up prick.’
‘Okay, Marty, just you and me. Here! Now!’
He’d all the apparent advantages: he outweighed me, he was stronger than me, he’d massive street-brawling experience and we were in a small area so my manoeuvrability was limited.
‘Wrong place, Captain,’ said Sergeant.
‘You’re right, Sergeant. I’d be taking advantage to fight Marty here.’
‘I’ll fucking kill you, you stuck-up prick.’
‘Oh dear, Marty. You’re repeating yourself and using wicked words.’ I spoke like a disappointed mother talking to her small child.
He then did exactly what I expected him to do. He rushed me. He charged forward and threw a massive right swing that I ducked, turning to my left and stepping into his body. I grabbed his right sleeve, pulling down with my left hand and pushing my right hand under his jaw, twisting my body and using his momentum to throw him over my right hip. He somersaulted over me: a perfect throw. I released. His head and shoulders hit the concrete floor hard. He wasn’t moving and blood trickled from the damage to the back of his scalp; blood was also coming from his left ear, now that worried me, and there was a trickle at the corner of his mouth. He was unconscious.
‘Hey, Pete,’ I said, ‘I think you better help your mate. He seems to have fallen over.’
Pete was gobsmacked. His mouth just hung open and his eyes were twice their normal size. This was the last thing he’d expected.
‘Thank you, gentlemen,’ I said, looking round. ‘Your support is much appreciated.’ I could tell by their reactions that they were pleased, supportive and more than a little surprised. Me? I was just relieved.
Sun Tzu said in The Art Of War, ‘The key to victory is the ability to use surprise tactics.’ He also said, ‘He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not will be victorious.’ No, Marty was not prudent. I once again knew what Sun Tzu said was right and once again I’d reason to thank Li Tie, my martial arts instructor at school. I could hear him deep in my head: ‘Don’t think, young Master Robinson. Just let it happen. Your subconscious will take the action.’
32
I was a little out of breath after that, recovering from anxiety rather than physical effort, but I was eventually able to settle myself down in the library. As I quietly worked Peter Jackson came and sat at my table. He said nothing; he just sat there and I suddenly realised that we were the only ones in the library. I looked around – nobody. Through the patterned glass panel of the doorway I could see the outline of somebody leaning against it. But I wasn’t concerned; Peter wasn’t a thug. He was in his fifties, and he had the look of a middle-class gentleman. His orange prison suit seemed to have been tailor made for him and he had a pair of rimless spectacles with fine gold arms. They just looked expensive and sophisticated. I suppose that is an odd thing to say. He never even worked out in the gym and in the exercise yard he was normally surrounded by a small group of acolytes who ran errands for him. He seemed to have a separate existence from the rest of the prisoners and he never demonstrated control or power, just independence.
‘Thinking of joining my class, Peter?’
‘Actually, I was rather hoping you’d join mine. On the other hand, I’ve to make a decision about whether to have you eliminated.’
‘My word, that sounds a bit drastic.’
‘Having killed my front men, Wharton and Wilson, I need a replacement and you and Sergeant seem to be the ideal couple.’
‘Why did you send the other two goons after me?’
‘Yes, they made a mistake. They thought I’d want you disabled, but that isn’t right. I think somebody told them I wanted you disabled, but I think they learned a lesson and I’ll arrange for the two who told them to also learn a lesson.’
‘Oh I see. That wouldn’t be a couple of prison staff would it?’
�
��Yes, I think we could work together very well, Captain. The only problem I have is you appear to be an enemy of The Family.’ He was watching me closely.
‘I think you should talk to Randolph Mabry.’
‘Yes, I was warned you were probably a Mabry man.’
‘Well, he’s a boss but not my boss.’
‘At the moment I agree, but I’ll keep my options open till all’s clear. I just find it odd that you ended up here when there are many other prisons where you might have been sent, particularly as you’re from London. I find it odd that another military man known to you is here to look after you, also from London. I find it odd that a man you arrested was killed in this prison and he came from, um, yes, London. I find it odd that you killed the killer of that soldier. Not only that; I find it odd that you’re such an accomplished fighter. I’d never have dreamed that you could take Marty. I’d even have given odds on him against Sergeant.’
‘So, what’s your conclusion?’
‘Either Mabry placed you in here for some reason that I can’t get my head around or somebody else put you in here to gather information about what I’ve no idea, or it just may be that the world is full of extraordinary coincidences.’
‘So why did you order your lead goons to rape me?’
‘Oh, that was purely domestic. You were gathering a following and Sergeant is gaining control of The Brothers. With you diminished I thought I could bring over The Brothers and have a nice big happy family.’
‘You thought Sergeant would desert me?’ I had to smile and Peter Jackson nodded his understanding.
‘I did think that might be a problem but one never knows.’
‘So did I spoil the party?’
‘Not really. I just underestimated you and now I want you as an ally.’
‘Supposing I want to replace you?’
‘Oh dear! That would be a shame. What I suggest you do is think about my offer.’
‘Just out of interest, why did you have Jase killed?’
‘Orders and don’t ask me who from.’
‘Was it just to stop the enquiry?’
Staying Alive Page 16
