Life of Crime

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘You must know more than me, Si. You’re his best pal, you must know something. When I asked you about Jase’s money problems, you told me we’d be OK in the long run. Why did he take all that money out the bank? Only I’m now thinking he used it to buy the bloody drugs and he was banking on selling them to sort out our finances.’

  ‘Jason has his finger in many pies, Mel. But I can assure you he would never buy drugs.’

  ‘What has he bought then? You must bloody know.’

  ‘That’s for you and him to discuss, Mel. It isn’t my place to say.’

  ‘But it’s definitely not drugs?’

  ‘No. And you have my word on that.’ Simon was actually a worried man. The police must have been watching Jason and if they knew about the withdrawal from his Jersey account, their investigation had gone way too deep for Simon’s liking. Would their next step be to drag him in for questioning as well? The last thing he needed was the filth all over him. The majority of his clients were up to no good and he stood to lose them if word got about. ‘The Old Bill didn’t mention me, did they?’ he asked.

  ‘No. I didn’t say anything wrong to them, did I?’ Melissa asked worriedly. She had already told Simon the answers she’d given to all their questions.

  Mel should have just stuck to ‘No comment’, but Simon didn’t want to scare her. ‘No. But I’ll put you on to my solicitor in case they want to question you again. He’s very good. If Jason has to go to court, Tim will represent him. Better the devil you know.’

  ‘Thanks, Si. I wonder when they’ll let him come home? Do you think if I ring the station they might give me an update?’

  ‘I wouldn’t ring just yet. Perhaps later this evening if you’ve heard no more. I play golf with a couple of coppers. Do you know the names of the ones who arrested you?’

  ‘Erm, I think one was called Chatham, he raided the house. The two who interviewed me were Parkes and Carling. Parkes is a woman. They said they were from the National Crime Squad.’

  Simon’s heart sank. The National Crime Squad didn’t mess about. They were the heavy mob.

  Jason knew more about the law than most. He was streetwise, had been raised in an area where people were regularly nicked. He’d also had a tug or two himself, back in his teenage years, and both times he’d blagged his way out of it at the station.

  This was different though. It was massive. But as much as Singh and Chatham poked, probed and threatened him, he wasn’t about to crumble.

  ‘How well do you know Craig Thurston, Jason?’ Singh asked.

  ‘No comment.’

  Chatham leaned forward. ‘We are trying to help you here, Jason. We’ve done our homework; we know you’ve only been on the scene recently. If you help us, we’ll help you, lad.’

  ‘No comment.’

  Singh had seen the look of pure horror in Jason’s eyes earlier when he had shown him the photographs. He’d been totally unprepared for that. Desperate for Jason to break, Singh took both photos out of the envelope again. ‘For the tape, I am about to show Jason the same two photographs I showed him earlier.’

  Not even bothering to look at the photos, Jason held Singh’s gaze. ‘No fucking comment.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Having been advised by the solicitor that if he did not start talking he might be locked up until the trial, Jason was now answering some questions. He’d been at the police station for over forty-eight hours by this time and couldn’t wait to go home, have a long soak in the bath and change into some clean clothes.

  ‘Just to clarify for the tape, you are saying you had no idea that Craig Thurston and his cronies were involved in importing then distributing Class A drugs?’ Singh asked.

  ‘I didn’t have a clue, I swear to you. Being a pawnbroker, I often get asked for bits and bobs. I’m no saint, I’ll admit that, but I would never knowingly get involved with drugs. I was asked to supply half a dozen untraceable mobile phones. That’s my only involvement. I haven’t done sod-all else wrong and I wouldn’t even have supplied the phones if I’d known it would’ve resulted in my front door being kicked in.’

  ‘Who asked you for the phones, Jason?’ Chatham enquired.

  Not wanting to grass on his pal or anybody else for that matter, Jason shrugged. ‘I’m not sure of the geezer’s real name. I only know him as Woody. He’s just a bloke who pops into the shop from time to time.’

  ‘How well do you actually know Craig Thurston?’ Chatham asked.

  ‘I’ve known him for years, but only saw him again recently. He came to my shop enquiring about gold. He said he’d take as much off me as I can get.’

  Singh chuckled. ‘Pull the other one; it’s got bells on, Jason. Gold! Really? I thought even you would come up with something more original than that.’

  ‘It’s true,’ Jason insisted. No way was he snitching on Craig. Craig was bound to be refusing to answer questions and he would somehow get word to him of what he’d said so they could stick to the same story. That could be their get-out clause if the Old Bill had photographs of them together.

  ‘Let’s go back to that huge sum of money you drew out of your bank account. Where is it now, Jason?’ Chatham asked.

  ‘I already told you: I had a gambling problem and I spunked it all.’

  ‘And you can prove that, can you?’ Chatham replied.

  ‘Not really. I don’t tend to keep losing betting slips. Horses and dogs are my biggest downfall.’

  ‘Can you remember the names of any of these dogs or horses you supposedly gambled on?’ Chatham asked.

  As luck would have it, a pal of Jason’s owned a couple of racing greyhounds. ‘Jimmy’s Game and Beryl’s Wrath are two I definitely remember putting a bundle on.’

  ‘Who is your regular bookie?’ Singh enquired.

  ‘I don’t use betting shops. I go to the tracks – the odds are better there.’

  ‘What track did these dogs run on and what date?’ Chatham asked. He knew Jason was lying and was determined to catch him out.

  ‘Romford and Catford, I think. I can’t remember the exact dates, but it would have been end of March beginning of April time. That’s when my addiction really took a hold of me.’

  ‘Well, unless you can remember exact dates and we can check out your story and find some proof to back it up, you certainly won’t be seeing your wife and kids any time soon. We’ll be opposing bail,’ Singh informed Jason.

  Knowing their good cop/bad cop routine off by heart, Chatham leaned forward. ‘We can only help you if you’re honest with us, Jason. Be truthful with us and we’ll have a word with the judge, get him to be more lenient with you. If you’re lucky, you might even get bail.’

  ‘You can’t bang me up for something I haven’t done. This whole drugs bust has sod-all to do with me, I already told you that.’

  ‘We can bang you up, and if need be we will,’ Singh explained. ‘So I will ask you again, why did Craig Thurston come to your shop, Jason? What did he really want from you? And please do not say gold again. I don’t take kindly to people who insult my intelligence. It makes me angry.’

  Jason rested his forehead in his hands. He had a splitting headache. ‘I need to take a break. I don’t feel well.’

  ‘How the hell am I meant to manage financially? I can’t pay the fucking mortgage, can I?’ Melissa screamed down the phone. It was two days since the police raid and this was the first time Jason had called her since.

  ‘Let me talk to Dad. Please,’ Shay begged.

  Sitting at Mel’s kitchen table, Tracey was all ears. ‘Be quiet, Shay. Melissa and your dad have important things to discuss,’ she urged.

  ‘Why didn’t you let me talk to him? I asked you about ten times,’ Shay cried, hands on hips when Melissa ended the call.

  ‘Go to your room,’ Melissa bellowed.

  When Jason’s daughter stormed out of the kitchen, Tracey said, ‘Don’t keep me in suspense. What did Jase say?’ She had been stunned by the news. Could not believe she wa
s carrying the baby of a drug smuggler.

  Melissa poured herself another glass of the wine Tracey had brought round. Trying to give up the booze when you were married to Jason was proving impossible. ‘He’s being taken to court tomorrow to see if he can get bail. What am I going to do if he doesn’t? I’ll never be able to pay the mortgage, the kids’ school fees and all the bills.’

  Thinking she’d had a lucky escape by telling Simon he was the father of her child, Tracey squeezed Melissa’s hand. She felt a bit guilty lately over her fling with Jason. Not terribly guilty, as all those years ago she had seen and liked Jase first and whenever she did feel bad, that’s what she reminded herself of. ‘You’re a survivor, Mel. You’ll be OK. Jason’s bound to keep his shop open, isn’t he? There will still be money coming in.’

  ‘I don’t know, and even if he does he’ll have to pay somebody to run it full-time. We’ve not much money in the bank and our mortgage is ever so expensive. I’m scared and worried, Trace. I can’t believe he could be so fucking stupid. I will never forgive him if we lose our home and I have to take Donte out of his school. I’ve got about ten grand in my savings account, but that won’t go far.’

  ‘What did you mean when you said to Jase he’s hiding something?’

  ‘He doesn’t want me to go to court tomorrow for some reason. He said Simon’s going and he or Simon will call me afterwards.’

  ‘You should go. You’re his wife. Bloody cheek! You don’t reckon he’s still seeing that Charlotte and she’s going, do you? He’s such a womanizer, I wouldn’t put anything past him.’

  ‘Thanks, Trace. Make me feel better, why don’tcha? I don’t even know where the bail hearing is. He didn’t say.’

  ‘Well, we must be able to find out. I think you should just turn up. I’ll come with you.’

  ‘I’m not sure I want to be anywhere near him, Trace. I fucking hate him right now and I swear, if he doesn’t get bail and I lose everything, that’s me and him finished for good.’

  The police decided to have one more crack at Jason. He was the only member of the gang who was talking. None of the others had said anything.

  ‘My client has something to say,’ the solicitor informed Singh and Chatham.

  ‘I will tell you the truth why Craig came to my shop, on condition my wife doesn’t find out,’ Jason said. He hadn’t really wanted to involve Darlene, but had little choice. No way did he want to spend another night cooped up in a cell. It was doing his head in.

  ‘So you’re admitting you lied about the gold, are you?’ Singh asked.

  ‘Yes, I did. But for a very good reason.’

  ‘Well, providing we believe your reason and it checks out, there is no need for us to involve your wife.’

  Jason took a deep breath. ‘Craig came to the shop to tell me somebody very dear to my heart has terminal cancer.’

  Chatham rolled his eyes. ‘And you expect us to believe that?’

  Jason slammed his fists against the table. ‘It’s true,’ he bellowed. ‘The lady I’m on the beach with in that photo you have, she’s dying. She was like a mum to me when I was growing up, but then we lost contact. Craig is close to her too and paid me a visit asking me to visit her. She lives in Basildon now.’

  ‘We know that. We followed you there,’ Chatham informed Jason. ‘So why don’t you want your wife to find that out? Am I missing something here?’

  ‘Darlene, her name is. Many years ago, she turned up at my wedding reception and created an awful scene. Melissa, my wife, was understandably upset and I had to promise her I would have nothing more to do with Darlene. But when Craig turned up at my shop and told me the news, I needed to see her.’

  ‘Were you having an affair with her?’ Chatham asked.

  ‘You don’t have to answer that question, Jason. It isn’t relevant,’ the solicitor advised.

  ‘So if we pay your lady friend a visit, she will confirm what you’ve told us, will she?’

  ‘Yes. It’s the truth. Darlene knows Craig came to my shop to speak about her and give me her address. She might be a bit cagey at first, mind. Where we come from, you don’t talk to the police. You might have to explain I’m in trouble to get her to open up.’ The police had yet to ask him about his second meeting with Craig at the car park opposite the Camelot pub and, until they did, Jason wasn’t mentioning it.

  ‘Going back to your finances, why was the bulk of your money in a bank account in Jersey?’ Singh enquired.

  ‘Because I used to own flats in Jersey that I rented out. When I sold them, I left the money out there,’ Jason replied truthfully.

  ‘Have you thought of a way yet to prove you gambled all your money away, Jason?’ Singh asked. ‘Only we are finding that particular story a tad far-fetched, to say the least.’

  ‘I wasn’t intending on frittering it away when I withdrew it. I just wanted to get it out my account so my wife couldn’t get her hands on it. We’d split up at the time and she was threatening to take me for every penny I had. Temptation of having it close by proved too much for me though. My addiction got the better of me.’

  ‘That doesn’t answer my question, Jason. I asked if you had thought of a way to back up your version of events. Perhaps if you could remember the bookmaker you had placed these bets with we could speak to them. I doubt many bookies are going to forget some bloke placing fifty grand on a mutt running round Catford in a hurry, are they?’

  ‘No. I weren’t placing that much at a time. Five or ten grand per night I was doing. When you’re gambling like I was, adrenaline kicks in and everything else is a blur. I can’t remember any bookies off hand.’

  With a bored expression on his face, Chatham slammed his fist against the table. ‘Well, best you try thinking harder then. Because if you don’t, you’ll be on your way to prison very shortly.’

  Having ignored Tracey’s advice of turning up at court unannounced, Melissa instead waited anxiously by the phone the following day. Simon had called her late the previous night and told her she would be better off waiting at home for news.

  ‘Jason wants to explain everything to you in person, Mel. Hopefully he’ll get bail and will be home where he belongs. I’ll go to the court and I’ll call you as soon as the hearing is over,’ Simon promised. He’d also informed her the hearing was being held at Snaresbrook and insisted the only reason Jason didn’t want her to attend was because he didn’t want to upset her any more than he already had.

  Pouring herself a small glass of wine to take the edge off her nerves, Melissa continued to pace up and down her expensive wooden flooring like a woman possessed. The kids hadn’t wanted to go to school today, but she had ordered them to. Company was the last thing she needed, which was why she had told Tracey not to come round either. Her friend sticking her oar in today of all days was something she just couldn’t stomach. The fear of not knowing what the future held had kept her awake all last night and the constant churning in her stomach was making her feel sick.

  The dreaded phone call finally came at 2.16 p.m. ‘What’s happening? Is he with you, Si?’ Melissa gabbled.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Mel, but he didn’t get bail. I’m leaving the court now, will come straight round to you.’

  Melissa’s legs buckled and she sank to the floor on her knees. She would never manage financially. Jason had paid for everything since the day she’d first met him. He wasn’t just her husband. He was also her bank.

  By the time the kids arrived home from school, Melissa’s shock had turned to anger and she blurted out the news without trying to soften the blow.

  Shay’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t remember her real mother and had no wish to ever trace her, having been left as a baby. Therefore, her father was the only real family she had, and he’d always bought and given her whatever she wanted. ‘When can I visit him? Do you think he’ll ring us tonight?’

  ‘How the hell am I supposed to know that?’ Melissa bellowed. ‘He’s going to prison. Hardly going to let him keep his mob
ile, are they?’

  ‘Don’t have a go at Shay. You’ve been drinking again, haven’t you? I can smell it on you,’ Donte spat accusingly.

  ‘And so would you be turning to booze if you’d just found out your husband is a drug baron. How could he be so stupid? He must be guilty; I have no doubt about that now. They wouldn’t be locking him up otherwise,’ Melissa yelled.

  ‘Let’s go upstairs and do our homework,’ Donte urged, grabbing Shay’s arm.

  ‘I wouldn’t bother with your homework. You’ll be going to new schools soon. Jason’s bound to be mentioned in the newspapers. That’ll look good, won’t it? You’ll be known as the drug baron’s children. You’ll probably be expelled, thanks to that bloody idiot. Not that I can afford to pay your fees anyway. It’s not just my life he’s ruined, it’s yours too. What the hell are we meant to live on? Peanuts?’

  Simon’s arrival allowed Shay and Donte to escape. ‘Mum’s in a foul mood and she’s been drinking,’ Donte warned Simon as he opened the front door.

  Bordering on hysterical, Melissa paced the room again. ‘Well?’ she yelled at Simon. ‘And please don’t tell me that bastard is innocent, because I wasn’t born yesterday.’

  ‘Sit down and calm down, Mel. Please,’ Simon replied.

  Melissa sank on to the sofa. ‘What did the judge say? I wish I had come now. I feel like the silly wife who is always kept in the dark.’

  Simon sat on the armchair opposite. He was gutted for Jason, truly gutted. ‘The judge didn’t give any of ’em bail. But believe me, Mel; Jason isn’t involved like the others. The Old Bill obviously think because Jase drew out that lump sum from an account, he must have used it to purchase drugs, but I know for a fact he hasn’t. He will explain all to you himself. Brixton, they’re taking him to, so you can visit him there. Don’t ask him any questions on the phone though. He won’t be able to answer you on the blower in case the police are listening in.’