Gone Underground

by Phil Brett

  Holding the glass of water with both hands, Jackie looked at the three ex-police officers: ‘Is there anything else?’

  They shook their heads.

  ‘Thank you, comrades. Glen?’ Jackie said, looking at him. Wondering what gifts he was bring to the party.

  But old Glen was really looking quite glum being here. That cheered me up a touch. Seeing any denting of his conceit was always a joy. On the other hand, we were supposed to be a team, so it was regrettable that he seemed so distant from the investigation. He was rivalling young Jack Foxton in the lack of enthusiasm stakes. Not good. No stamina at all. I wondered what was troubling Bale, because, usually, stamina and resilience were what most people would associate with him. I personally would add being up his own arse, but that was a minority view.

  In a voice which sounded as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, he described his call to Nevin. ‘Obviously, he was shocked and very upset. They’ve been partners for years and for him, this is like having his heart cut out. He took it badly.’

  Bale’s eyes looked to the floor, telling us everything we needed to know about what he described as perhaps one of the most unpleasant conversations he’d had to make. A slight sense of guilt spoke in my ear, scolding me for not having more sympathy for him having to make the call. I was glad it hadn't been me.

  ‘As for when I told him what the note said . . .’ He blew his cheeks out heavily, with – it had to be said – far more theatricality than Kemal had managed. ‘To say that he thought it was nonsense would be an understatement. He told me in very forthright terms that he considered it utter bollocks and did not believe it for a second. He is of the firm belief that this is a set-up job and that Youssef was murdered. He couldn’t really give an explanation for why this might be so or, indeed, what Youssef has exactly been doing of late, but he had no doubt that the suicide note is a fabrication.’

  No one said a word for a second or two. It was Jackie who broke the silence. ‘But, at the moment, all the evidence points to it being genuine?’

  Again, no one spoke. Maybe Asher and Roisin were pondering whether to say “caveat” again or whether they were now thinking it was a silk neck-tie, but whatever the reason, the question just hung there. That is, until Victoria finally replied, ‘I think Jackie, that we all have doubts about this, but we don’t want to hypothesise until we have concrete evidence.’

  Payne nodded, but then looked at me intently. ‘Pete? Any views?’

  A mass of conflicting arguments awoke in my rather becalmed brain. It was nice to have them reappear - all this pilled-up chillness was starting to bore me. But what should my reaction be? My usual? Shoot my mouth off, like a scatter-gun with some salient points buried amongst sarcasm, flippancy and drawn out analogies? Or should I just go with the flow?

  There really was only answer to that.

  Shoving my hands deeper in my pockets and tensing, I gave her what she wanted – my view.

  ‘I’m pretty much with Nevin. There’s a definite hint of utter bollocks to all this.’

  For a second, I tried to decide whether that had made any sense whatsoever, but I didn’t have time to clarify, edit or even to speak in Standard English, because one of the phosphorescent pair were bursting to protest. And Roijin did. ‘What? You've been itching to accuse Ali of treachery. What's changed? Is this just to be awkward? Whatever we say, you say the opposite?’

  I shot her look of disdain, but in a voice which was positively floating with harmony, I replied. ‘I know that I have been the most insistent in wanting to investigate Ali, but that was simply because I thought there were some things he needed to answer. I had my doubts about him. I still do, but that’s the point – they were doubts. We had bugger all else against him, which, if he is supposed to be the great secret agent that his suicide note says he is, he would know. We had doubts, but no evidence. Jackie, you said as much to us and wanted us not to bother him. So, why kill himself because of us? Actually, make that - of me. Surely, if he was an agent, he would regard me as trivial, minor, nothing to worry about. What's the worst I could have done? Ask him why he has been ringing up fracking centres? Yeah, that would strike fear into the staunchest of class enemy.’

  Okay, not quite as pastoral as I hoped. The sarcasm had rather spoilt that.

  I took a breath. All were looking at me and none were interrupting. I didn’t know if they were interested in my opinion, were shocked by it or were worried that I had finally had a mental breakdown. Whatever it was, I ploughed on. ‘Let’s say he feared that he thought we knew more than we actually did– then, why not flee? Jump in a car and cross the Euro-tunnel? Catch a plane? Ferry? Anything. Or even kill us. He has supposedly not been reluctant to take that direction when the occasion arises. But he kills himself? Sorry, I can’t see that. If he can fool the party and fool Nevin, with whom he has shared so many years, then he should be wise enough to be able to escape our clutches.’

  For the first time, one of my audience stirred. Cole nodded agreement.

  Encouraged, I continued. ‘I don’t know about the evidence, but you said yourself that it is so far only preliminary.’ I deliberately avoided using the word caveat. ‘Is it possible that we could find that he had been drugged or that someone else had used the computer?’

  This was taking the dangerous step of asking Kemal and Joseph to what amounted to support. I stopped and waited for the worst. However, both simply said, in a neutral and painfully professional tone, that yes, it was possible.

  Then after doing something so unnatural to me as asking Bill and Ben their opinion, I went deeper into Kalder’s most unlikely moments – I praised Glen Bale. ‘So, let’s look at the political situation we are operating in. Glen, you always start a meeting with such an analysis. To be honest, I’ve always thought it rather pointless, but at our last committee meeting you skipped it. That got me thinking and realising how important it is.

  ‘Look at where we are now: the revolution is still at risk, but the immediate threat is declining. The international coalition against us is starting to splinter. With Portugal, we have a chance to go on the offensive. In that light, would killing off a few leading members really harm us that much? With all due respect to Olivia, her death is not a major setback. I’d say that, right now, we could even take Jackie being liquidated. His “suicide note” sounds made up to me. And not very well made up. It's like what a thirteen-year-old might write. He does not mention why he killed Olivia. In actual fact, he doesn’t really say why he’s decided to kill himself now. Not really. I don’t think Olivia was killed just because she was important. Things are too serious for the international ruling class to rely on that – it’s too little, too late. They need something big – big enough to harm us both internationally and nationally. I think Olivia found out what it was. Maybe Youssef did too?’

  I had their attention. Now I had to make a decision. I had raised my doubts about this being suicide, but should I be proactive and argue against it? My evidence was akin to the weight of a butterfly wing. Oh well, in for a penny . . .

  ‘I noticed the ONE was on. As you probably know, a ONE is the best extraction system there is to destroy smells. They used to boast that there wasn’t a smell it could not destroy. You may remember the ads with the rhinos and hippos. Anyway, why was it on? Was it in a sudden fit of community caring that this MI5 agent doesn’t want to upset the neighbours by the stench of his decaying body?’

  Bale spoke. I'd actually forgotten he was still here. ‘It might simply be that there was a smell which was annoying him!’

  My reply was nearer the jeering end of the spectrum than the placid. ‘What? He finds a smell so bad that it interrupts his blowing his brains out? No, this was to do with his murder, not some fruit and veg which might be off.’

  Payne asked Joseph, ‘Did we find anything which might have caused a smell? Food rotting? A dead mouse?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘So, it's either that he had farted or he wante
d to cover the smell of his decaying body. How public spirited!’ I said, again allowing sarcasm to rather taint the argument.

  Cole followed my thinking, if not my tone. ‘But, by removing the smell of the body, and with Nevin abroad, it could be days before it would be found. His disappearance might well be seen as being suspicious and possibly distract us for a short while.’

  Joseph nodded, before asking, ‘Pete, Vic: was the kitchen light on when you entered?’

  I paused for a second. In all honestly, I had no idea. A mangled Ali had rather been the centre of my attention. Cole, though, was adamant. ‘Yes, most definitely. Why?’

  ‘Because that activates the anti-insect device. It doesn't work whilst off. Not this make. Being on would keep any troublesome flies away, which the neighbours might notice. It may be nothing, but it does lend some credence to Pete's idea.’

  Emboldened, I continued. ‘Jackie, you yourself said that you did not want us coming here.’

  Jackie thought for a second. ‘That would imply that someone knew that you were suspicious of Youssef in the first place.’ She face-palmed, and mumbled, ‘Not again.’

  I feared that it was. ‘Someone high enough in the movement to do serious damage and someone who has a least some knowledge to what we are doing in regard to Olivia’s murder.’

  Cole continued. ‘But not close enough to guess that Pete would disregard any conventions of comradeship or decency and just come here and break in.’

  Hmm, thanks friend. Remind me, whose side are you on exactly?

  Jackie countered. Not to defend my honour, as her regard for that had been somewhat dented recently, but to question the possibility of using Ali’s “disappearance” as a red herring: ‘Surely, if they were hoping to keep Ali's murder a secret and to use his absence as a decoy, they couldn't have thought it would work for too long. Even if they assumed that no one would break in here, Nevin is due back in a day or two.’

  Another passenger alighted on the doubting express. Bale spoke. ‘That's true, Jackie, but we have already discussed that whatever is happening is probably connected with the environmental conference. The delegates will be arriving tomorrow, so if it is linked, then they wouldn’t need much longer.’

  Kemal nodded and joined in. It was positively rush hour! ‘And further tests in the lab might take a day or two, in any case.’

  Joseph, though, was not going to go anywhere in haste. Sitting there like a neon bear, he pointed out that what we were saying was mere speculation. ‘We have to look at the evidence and let it guide us, not us guiding the evidence…’

  My mouth stayed glued and I didn’t ask if, when working for the Met, his past practise had been “guiding the evidence”.

  ‘And,’ he continued, ‘whilst I accept the doubts, the evidence, at this moment in time, does suggest suicide. We should keep all our options open, but it is foolish in the extreme to just tramp after Kalder’s suggestion . . .’

  Suggestion. In his view, it hadn’t warranted calling it a theory.

  True, but I hadn’t finished yet. ‘And another thing,’ I said, ‘on a photo upstairs is a note from Nevin. It's next to the bed and looks well-thumbed. I’ve seen that – well, something similar – before . . .’

  For moment, my nerve failed. I could see that Victoria had seen the note and was intrigued as to its importance. The problem was, that to go further was to open up something deeply personal and still raw. Doctor Brakus had found that I wasn't one to do that too often, so if I didn't spill my guts to her, then why should I do so to this lot?

  But then, perhaps there was a point of doing it now. I did. ‘When my partner and daughter died, I kept a note which they had both written to me a few days earlier. It was a silly thing about – well, it doesn’t matter what it was about – but the thing is, I too kept it by my bed, to remind me of them. I think Nevin’s note was there because Youssef missed him. I bet if you test it, you’ll find saliva marks where he kissed it.’

  I stopped, feeling choked. I had revealed more about myself than I would have hoped.

  Jackie looked at me and, for the first time in a while, I saw warmth borne of love and friendship. Her eyes softened and her cheeks, which had resembled slabs of onyx for the previous twenty minutes, moved into a gentle smile. She knew exactly what saying that had cost me.

  Joseph simply said, ‘For what it’s worth, we can check for saliva easily.’

  It wasn’t quite a full love-in here just yet, then.

  But maybe the lights were dimming. Roijin, at least for the moment, dropped her outright hostility towards me. ‘I have to say that I do think that it is odd that Ali just gets on the computer, writes the note, which as Pete says, is brief to the extent of being ridiculous, in one go, without edits, or corrections or even pauses, and then pops downstairs and immediately shoots himself. It seems a bit too linear, and without hesitation. Would you be that cool if you were about to kill yourself?’

  Joseph, though, still had doubts. ‘And his signature? How was that done? We have found no sign of violence to indicate that he was forced to sign it.’

  ‘True, Ash, but we can do further checks to see if it was fake.’

  ‘Agreed, Roijin, but surely the killer would know that!’

  ‘But, if it is the case that they only need us distracted for a day, or even a few hours, then even a slight delay whilst we do the other checks might be enough.’

  Joseph thought for the second, weighing up the possibilities.

  ‘So, Pete, have you an idea on what they might be planning?’ Jackie asked.

  The answer to that was that I only had a fuzzy one, and one that even someone so unafraid of spouting forth as I might refrain from saying until I was sure. So I pulled a face and said simply that Victoria and I should be given more time to look into it.

  Joseph wasn't convinced, repeating that my “suggestion” lacked any evidence. He was willing to hear the others consider this murder dressed up to be a suicide, but not me. He wasn’t really prepared to consider anything from me. I’d be unable to convince him that the earth was round. Although just to show what a true pro he was, he did add that they had obviously intended to run a far more extensive set of tests “back at the lab”.

  Jackie’s cheeks slid back into place, locking into position, and she looked at him intently. ‘Your opinion has been noted. I presume you and Roijin can cope with working on both Youssef and Olivia at the same time? Or do you require help from one of our other former police technicians?’

  Her curt reply had surprised him and, sheepishly, he replied that of course they’d be okay.

  Not that he was the only one in the room who was feeling down in the dumps, because Bale asked a question which sounded as if he feared the answer. ‘So, Ash and Roijin will do their tests, but what are we going to do?’

  Poor lamb, he really had gone off the idea of playing cops and killers.

  Cole answered first. ‘We should keep working with the Battersea Workers’ Council to see if we can gain any more evidence from Olivia’s murder scene. Jack Foxton can continue to supervise that.’

  ‘Already spoken to him,’ I said, pleased to sound efficient and concise as well. Suck on that, Joseph. I decided against mentioning that Foxton seemed barely of this world.

  ‘Oh, good stuff, Pete. Conversely, the photo–fits should be circulated here by local comrades to see if anyone recognises them. Gita Devar should be called in and put in charge of the investigation here. She can liaise between the two deaths. Pete has an interesting hypothesis, but as Ash has pointed out, it is still just that. We need to check as many possibilities as we can. That said, I have to say that a lot of what Pete says makes sense, so it is worth using as a working hypothesis.’

  ‘Okay, Vic,’ mumbled the crestfallen glow-bear.

  Now, Victoria should have bounced over to Joseph and given him a big kiss on the cheek and said, ‘We all still love you, and the revolution is still really thrilled that you swapped sides, turned your back on the
forces of state terror, and, by the by, you do look so gorgeous in your CSI outfit.’ But alas, she didn’t. Instead, she continued her to-do list: ‘Pete and I will check up on some ideas.’ She looked at me, with an expression designed to appear as if she exactly knew I had been alluding to. Chances were, that she didn’t have the foggiest idea. And if she did, perhaps she could explain it to me because I wasn’t sure that I did.

  The room, though, agreed with her recommendations.

  ‘And me?’ Bale asked, now sounding like a very depressed Eeyore who had just taken several downers.

  This time, Jackie spoke. ‘Glen, you will work with Gita on Youssef’s murder. And Pete and Vic are to stay on Olivia’s death. Agreed?’

  Once more, the room did.

  She hesitated, and an intense silence suddenly filled the room. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. When it was broken, it was to acknowledge a life. Jackie spoke in a slow voice, heavy with weariness and as sombre as funeral concierge, ‘This violence has to stop. The number of people murdered or injured is growing by the day across the country. Now, Olivia and Youssef have joined the list. Perhaps I was naïve, but I thought, after the civil war, we would be rid of these cowardly acts.’ She sighed. ‘They were good comrades, good people.’ She swallowed hard. ‘Good friends.’

  The silence returned for moment, before she shook herself back into her public role. ‘But, we have to be honest and open and look into everything. This is political, not personal. I don’t believe Youssef was a spy but, frankly, that means nothing. We investigate and find through fact, not opinion, whether he was or not, and how he died. I also think we should go public with everything – what we know and what we don’t know – about the deaths of Youssef and Olivia. And, in doing so, we should put out a call for help and information. Glen, you could draft out the key areas where people can help.’

  Bale frowned. ‘I thought you were having second thoughts about the Community Information Meetings? Thinking that they were too unwieldy and that was why we had formed a smaller more cohesive committee?’