by David Barry
Title Page
EACH MAN KILLS
An Inspector Lambert Mystery
by
David Barry
Publisher Information
Published in 2014 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
The right of David Barry to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998
Copyright © 2014 David Barry
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Quote
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
From The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde
Chapter 1
Raindrops trickled across the lilies like tears. Were they lilies? Lambert wasn’t certain. Flowers had never been his strong point. He felt his arm being touched sympathetically, and a voice of condolence, heavy with theatrical emotion, said, ‘He was a good bloke, Harry. Deep down he was a good bloke.’
Even if he did treat my mother like shit, Lambert thought.
He chased the thought away and nodded slightly, his face expressionless, then looked up from the ragged display of wilting flowers and bouquets. Through the small throng of mourners that circled him he caught sight of Helen, standing slightly apart from the rest of the mourners, her pale attractive face outlined by the black umbrella she was holding. It crossed his mind that it was just like Helen to do the right thing. Even though she had disliked his father, she would never have considered turning up at his funeral with a coloured umbrella.
He nodded at some of the mourners as he brushed past them and crossed to where she stood. He noticed the grey had gone from her hair and it was now uniformly black. She gave him a sympathetic smile as he approached.
He coughed delicately before speaking. ‘Thanks for coming.’
‘The least I could do,’ she replied softly, looking up at him, staring deep into his eyes, searching for the way he felt. It was a sympathetic moment which was broken when she dropped her gaze to the tie he wore, brash and loud.
He affected not to notice her disapproval and looked up at the sky with a wry smile. ‘Rain’s appropriate,’ he said, immediately regretting the cliché.
‘It’ll stop soon,’ she said. ‘It’s only a shower.’
‘Where’s Natasha?’ he asked, though he knew damn well where she was. And, more to the point, why she wasn’t here.
‘You know very well. She’s got her finals.’
‘I would have thought she’d want to be here.’
Helen sniffed, and her mouth twitched slightly into that pinched look he found unattractive. ‘She’d not had much to do with your father for a long time.’
‘All the same,’ he said. He realised it sounded weak but could think of nothing to add and remained silent. He welcomed the sudden intrusion of one of the mourners, who grabbed his hand to shake, pumping it almost too enthusiastically.
‘He’ll be missed down The Eagle. We’ll push the boat out for him tonight. Think you can make it, Harry?’
Before replying to the beefy, red-faced mourner, Lambert glanced towards Helen, who looked away quickly, to avoid him seeing her expression of disapproval.
Not that he blamed her. He had to admit his father’s mourners were a bunch of dickheads, retired loafers who found the cheapest pubs to drink in from early morning, then wasted the afternoons getting through their state pensions and benefits at the bookies.
In spite of his feelings Lambert gave the mourner a conspiratorial grin. ‘I’m not sure about tonight, Steve. I’ll have to see.’ He inclined his head towards the crematorium gates. ‘You coming back to the house for a bite to eat and a drink?’
It was his father’s house where they were having the post funeral drinks. Just going through the motions. The wife of one of his father’s cronies had offered to organise the drinks and sandwiches, for which Lambert gave her fifty pounds.
‘Yeah but - sorry - I can’t stay long,’ his father’s friend said. ‘Got a pool tournament at the pub. And that’s where your dad will be best remembered.’
Lambert tried to rein in the sudden anger he felt and not let it show. ‘Pub might be a problem. Just a quick wake at the house should see the old bastard off.’
He looked towards Helen to see if she approved of his attitude, but her face was a mask. Steve, his father’s crony, made a sideways mouth-clicking sound at Lambert, as if he was a small boy, then turned and walked purposefully towards the crematorium gates. Lambert watched him for a moment then turned back towards Helen, feeling he had to explain.
‘You know, there was never anything...anything dodgy about Dad’s relationship with Natasha.’
‘I never said there was.’
‘You didn’t have to. He wouldn’t have touched her, you know.’
Helen’s mouth tightened. ‘No, but the way he used to look at her. And if we hadn’t been around, I swear...’ She broke off and shrugged. ‘Not that we ever saw much of your father after he left your mother. We just went through the motions. Brief visits and stilted conversation.’ She saw the distant look come into his eyes, guessed he was thinking of his sister, and added, ‘I’m sorry. He’s gone now. Does it matter?’
Lambert shook his head forcefully, dismissing the sour memories of his father, then gazed into Helen’s eyes, deliberately playing for sympathy. ‘I hope you’re coming back for some grub?’
‘Do you really want me to?’
‘Maybe we could go out after. For a drink. To talk.’
Helen gave him a crooked smile. ‘Neutral ground?’
‘Something like that.’
‘All right then. But I think I can live without the wake, and all your father’s boozy cronies sending him off.’
Lambert laughed bitterly. ‘I know what you mean. I’ll keep it short and sweet, then ring you and we can have that talk.’
She nodded. ‘Very well, but please don’t be too long. I’ve got a lot to do today.’
‘No more than an hour, I promise. I’ll tell the mourners there’s been an incident and make my excuses.’
‘I’ll see you in just over an hour then.’
She turned and walked towards the crematorium car park. Lambert watched her for a moment, and grinned. He felt the burden of grief leaving his body and his eyes gained a slight sparkle. Perhaps there was a ghost of a chance to mend their relationship.
***
Gary Evans chucked the ball of stale chewing gum into the wastebin and fed a fresh piece into his mouth. He returned to the sofa and picked up the Browning Automatic, weighing it thoughtfully, as if he was about to pose in firing position, aiming at an imaginary adversary. But Gary Evans was too experienced to indulge in games. He was for real. Pretend was for amateurs.
The phone rang. There were never many calls on his landline these da
ys. Anyone wanting to contact him usually sent a text or an email, or called his mobile number. He only had the landline because of the broadband.
He placed the gun hurriedly but carefully next to the Armalite rifle on the sofa, then crossed the room and snatched the phone from the desk next to his laptop. He was expecting the call, having given the hospital his landline number as well as his mobile, and thought they would probably try the landline first. He braced himself for bad news. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he heard the voice at the other end.
‘Oh, it’s you, Terry.’
It wasn’t like Terry to use the landline number and he wondered what his mate’s reasons were. But whatever the reason, he was relieved to be phoned by Terry at this bad time, even though a part of him was disappointed. Now he would just have to sit tight and wait for the inevitable to happen. The bad news he was expecting.
He checked his watch as Terry Clark demanded they meet urgently at a country pub.
‘OK,’ he agreed. ‘I’ll be there. But listen, I’d sooner stay in Swansea and...’
Terry had already hung up. It was just like him. Say what he had to, then get off the phone. It was all part of Terry’s pose. That’s what Gary Evans hated about his mate. He was a poser. And posers tend to take unnecessary risks. Still, Terry had never fucked up badly. He was still in one piece and that’s what counted in this game.
Evans checked his watch again before wrapping the guns in protective plastic and hiding them back under the floorboards. He sighed as he laid the carpet back into place. Why did it have to be Terry who’d rung? Why not the hospital? He’d been dreading the call, but he wanted it to be over.
Before leaving, he diverted his calls to his mobile, which he clipped to the belt of his 501s. He paused at the door, looking back at his living room with a trace of regret, as if he might never return. Even though the room lacked personality, it had been comforting to know he had his own refuge, somewhere he could shut himself away. His flat was sparse, but he liked it that way. The walls were painted midnight blue, which gave him a deep sense of nocturnal restfulness. There were no pictures on any of the walls, the only adornment being the dominating presence of an enormous horse’s head mask, a reproduction Celtic chariot shield that stared down with lifeless gaping eyes. The rest of the room revealed little of the character of its occupant. That’s what he liked. Clean-cut simplicity, sharp as a six-inch blade. What was that word Terry had used? Minimalist. That was it. Trust Terry to know poncey bloody words like that.
***
As he paid for the drinks, Lambert glanced towards the table where Helen was sitting. He saw her rummaging through her handbag for her lipstick. He watched as she repainted her lips and savoured the moment. He had missed her familiar ways, the comforting touches and gestures of years of intimacy; he felt dryness in his throat, a moistness behind the eyes.
He carried the drinks over, wondering what to say to her now that she’d agreed to meet him. He felt lost, an inarticulate teenager. Not that he’d been inarticulate in his teens. That was half his problem. He’d always had the gift of the gab where women were concerned.
She looked up as he put down the drinks and sat opposite her. He tried to analyse the look. Resignation? It seemed to convey emptiness. He was looking into the eyes of a victim and he was the perpetrator. He raised his pint glass, smiling feebly, and toasted her in Welsh.
‘Iechyd da!’
She raised her glass slowly, but held it close to herself to avoid any toast. This meeting was no celebration, she wanted him to know that. She wanted him to suffer, even if it only meant being deprived of all those shared responses from their past.
Evading the expected response, she said ‘Cheers’ instead, and it came out superciliously English, as though she looked down on the Welsh. She hadn’t meant it to sound that way. She loved the Welsh, and she had loved her Welshman. Only now her feelings were coloured by experience. She realised she had been in love with an ideal, a culture eroded by the permissive, ‘enlightened’ decades. The Welshmen of her generation seemed to be boozers or lechers or both. She longed for a past she had never known. Hymn-singing chapel, fire and brimstone preachers, and temperance societies.
She sipped her white wine and winced. Acid like her mood. Why on earth had she agreed to meet her ex-husband like this? It was a mistake. What was she doing here? She glanced around at the cosy, false atmosphere of this recently built, architectural-salvage, hybrid Victorian/Tudor pub, shelves lined with old books no one would ever read, and wondered if he’d brought anyone else here.
‘How d’you know this place?’ she said.
Lambert knew what she was driving at and assumed a faithful, dog-like expression. ‘Been here before. Once, with my sergeant, on our way back from an investigation.’
‘How is Tony Ellis?’
‘He’s fine. He’s dependable.’
She nodded slowly, mulling it over, then sipped her wine.
Lambert studied her carefully before speaking. ‘I miss you, you know.’
‘I miss you, too,’ she said automatically, and immediately regretted it, resenting him, as if he’d forced it out of her. She knew exactly what he would say next.
‘So what’s the problem?’
She gave him a pained expression.
‘Look,’ he continued, ignoring it. ‘I know I behaved like a shit, but...’
She flared up. ‘Oh, let’s just let bygones be bygones, why don’t we? Forget about what I found on the back seat of your car.’ She shuddered at the memory.
‘I’ve told you, I was so pissed I can’t remember.’
Helen gave him an icy smile. ‘But not so drunk you forgot to take precautions.’
‘Look, Helen, we’ve been over this...’ he began. ‘Don’t you think I’d like to wind the clock back?’
‘So you could clear up the mess behind you, Inspector? Harry, your priority is don’t get caught or admit to anything. Isn’t that the police code?’
‘Criminal, actually.’
‘It’s a thin dividing line.’
Lambert frowned. That he was an honest copper there was never any doubt. But he suddenly felt unsure of himself. Had he given Helen the impression over the years that he was corrupt? After all, as far as she was concerned, he had shown himself to be untrustworthy.
He downed most of his pint before responding. ‘Did you come out here just to have another go at me?’ It came out sounding pathetic and he waited for her next onslaught.
‘No, I don’t know. I...I just wish things could change.’ She stared at him with a mixture of defeat and bitterness, sighing deeply. Then she spat out with sudden venom, ‘You’re just like your fucking father.’
‘Steady on. We’ve only just buried him.’
He wasn’t used to her swearing and felt he had been wrong-footed.
‘I couldn’t give a toss,’ she went on. ‘Look how he treated your mother when she was alive.’
He almost wished he’d never told her about the time he came back from university to find his mother bruised. It provided her with more ammunition to criticise his own shortcomings as a husband.
‘At least I was able to intervene,’ he said rather lamely. ‘And he never raised a hand against her again.’
‘He was an absolute bastard,’ she hissed
Lambert smiled thinly, trying to defuse the way the conversation was heading. ‘It runs in the family.’
Suddenly tired of their meeting, Helen stared at him wearily, then her eyes dropped to his chest.
‘And as for that tie,’ she said.
***
Terry was sitting on a stool by the bar when Evans arrived at the pub. ‘There you go, mate.’ He handed Evans a bottle of Budweiser and looked at his watch. ‘I’ve only just got here myself.’
‘Cheers.’ Evans took
the bottle, frowning. ‘I didn’t want to leave Swansea right now, Terry. I was hoping we could’ve met somewhere in town.’
‘Nah, shitholes them pubs.’
Evans suddenly felt impatient, irritated by his friend’s flash attitude. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘What’s on your mind?’
Grinning, Terry leaned closer to him. ‘We’ve had a call from the Avenue.’
Evans noticed the awe, the undisguised admiration for covert power that Terry carried in his voice.
Terry’s grin grew bigger and cockier. ‘Fuckin’ A, Mac!’ he said loudly in a mock American dialect. A middle-aged man, ordering drinks at the bar, glanced at his wife apologetically before glaring pointedly at Terry, who stared back confrontationally. ‘Sorry, pal. Didn’t mean to upset the lady wife.’
The man found Terry’s bullet-shaped, cropped head and smugly arrogant expression intimidating. Feigning embarrassment, he studied the coins in his hand, while Terry continued staring at him for a moment, as if fighting the urge to beat him to a pulp. Evans sighed impatiently. He knew it was all part of Terry’s act. Terry was still a pro and attacking a civilian was not a smart way to operate. Not unless you want to jeopardise the next job by risking a custodial sentence for GBH.
‘What do they want us to do?’ Evans asked as Terry turned to look at him, grinning.
Terry dropped his voice again. ‘Job for the Israelis. And no problems with the Foreign Office. Piece of piss, this one. Dangerous, but no political complications.’
Evans swigged from his bottle and unthinkingly touched the mobile phone on his hip, willing it to ring.
‘Yeah, this one’s kosher,’ Terry laughed. ‘Got the ministry seal of approval. And it pays. Shit does it pay.’
Evans took a deep breath then took a long swig of beer before speaking. ‘I might not be able to handle this one. Not now.’
Terry leaned forward on his stool. ‘What d’you mean, you can’t handle it?’
‘Not now. Bad time.’
Terry patted his arm understandingly. ‘Look, I know it’s risky, man, but we’ve been in some tight spots before.’
