All the Empty Places

by Mark Timlin

  ‘What do you mean?’

  I enlightened him. ‘Dead,’ I said.

  ‘Where?’

  ‘In the main sewer.’

  ‘You killed him?’

  I nodded. ‘Just like I killed your pal Billy. Now which one of you killed her? Was it you? Or was it him?’ I pointed at Morris. ‘Or was it big, bad Billy? Or the other fella? Come on Johnny, you can tell me. Or was it Finbarr himself? Tell me, you shit, or I swear I’ll kill you too.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ He seemed genuinely ignorant of what I was talking about. But then he’d had lots of practice at coming on all injured innocence in police stations up and down the country.

  ‘Sheila, Johnny,’ I said slowly, as if to someone retarded. ‘Our mutual amour. Who killed her?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  I reached inside my sweatshirt and pulled out my blood-stained commando knife and put the needle point on Tufnell’s Adam’s apple, then I put the Detonics barrel into the centre of his forehead, the gun was still cocked and my finger was hard on the trigger. Just like when I’d put it against my temple back at the house the night that Sheila died. He was only a couple of pounds’ pressure from dying and he knew it. ‘Don’t lie, man,’ I said. ‘Don’t fuck me around or I’ll just shoot you out of hand. With all five of you dead I’m sure to have got the right man. Or would you prefer I use the knife on you like I did on good old Billy, like one of you did on Sheila?’

  ‘You’re wrong, Sharman. Dead wrong.’

  I had to laugh, although even to me it didn’t sound like the laugh of a sane man. What the fuck it sounded like to him I have no idea, but he wasn’t looking too happy at the sound of it and paled visibly. ‘Don’t insult my intelligence, Johnny,’ I said. ‘Don’t fucking lie to a liar. It doesn’t work.’

  ‘What are you on, Sharman?’

  ‘Not much. A little bit of speed is all. Just enough to keep me sharp, like this knife.’ And I laughed again, and Johnny Tufnell, hard man that he was, went even paler.

  ‘Well you’re wrong,’ he said, and there was a tremor in his voice as he spoke.

  ‘I’m not wrong, Johnny. Even old Bill are looking for you for it. You’ve been keeping a low profile, brother. Underground as it were. If only they knew eh?’

  ‘Listen man. As God is my witness, I never touched Sheila.’

  ‘That makes a change doesn’t it? From what I heard you were always touching her when you were together. Touching her hard. Fisty. And don’t bring God into the equation.’

  ‘That was then, man. I hadn’t seen her.’

  ‘Since when?’

  ‘Since just after you two started seeing each other.’

  ‘I still don’t believe you, John. You see she left me a letter and a tape of you and Morris’s first meeting with Finbarr at his office. And whoever killed her was looking for it. They spun her place, then mine.’

  ‘It wasn’t me.’

  ‘So was it Fin?’

  ‘Fin? No way. Fin loved that girl. He’d loved her since before I even met her. He was all fucked up when she was killed. I mean it.’

  ‘So it was Billy or Morris or our unnamed friend lying there with four bullets in him?’

  ‘No. Morris knew nothing about Sheila. He’d never even seen her. And Billy was just muscle. So was the other bloke. We just brought them in for the digging.’

  ‘So it must’ve been you.’

  ‘It wasn’t me,’ he pleaded. ‘Listen. I’ll tell you what happened. When she kicked me out I told her that if she hooked up with anyone else, anyone, I’d kill him whoever he was. She didn’t. Go out with anyone I mean. Not for months until you came along. Fin told me all about it after we’d had that meeting and I went round one night when you weren’t there. I told her I’d meant what I said, and she told me that she knew about this job. I didn’t know exactly how much she knew but it was enough. I guessed that me turning up at the office had scared her and she’d been listening in. I didn’t know anything about a letter or a tape.’

  ‘So it was very convenient when she died.’

  ‘Oh shit,’ he said. ‘I never thought about it. Not until later, anyway. Yeah, it was convenient. But Christ, Sharman, I’d never do a thing like that. I’m no killer, I’m a thief.’

  ‘So tell me what happened when you saw her that night?’

  ‘She told me that if anything happened to you, anything, an accident, anything – even if you stubbed your toe getting out of the bath – she’d blow the whistle on this caper. I didn’t know she knew anything about it. It stopped me in my tracks I can tell you. We’d invested time and money into the job, and the returns were so huge that I let it go. I swear, man. I didn’t tell Finbarr in case he pulled out. I didn’t tell Morris either. And the other two were just donkeys. No one knew she knew except me. That’s the truth.’

  ‘So it had to be you, stands to reason,’ I said. ‘You’ve just convicted yourself out of your own mouth.’

  ‘No,’ he almost screamed. ‘Listen to me. When I heard she was dead I couldn’t believe it. But I loved her too, you know, in my own way, and I promise you I was down here when it all happened. We all were. Even Finbarr was around that morning. I’ll never forget it. He was one of the first to hear about it, you know that, and he found out the time of death and told me. We were all underground. The boys would tell you if they could.’

  I almost believed him.

  ‘I almost believe you,’ I said. ‘Except it’s the perfect motive. Kill Sheila and she couldn’t grass you up.’

  ‘If you stayed well she’d keep her mouth shut. That was the deal, and Sheila always kept her word. You know that. You must.’

  Once again I almost believed him.

  ‘So who killed her, Johnny? Rupert the Bear?’

  ‘I swear I don’t know, Sharman.’

  ‘I do,’ came a voice from behind us, and when I turned Lucy Madden was standing on the edge of the hole in the floor holding a silenced semi-automatic pistol, and a big, blonde woman dressed in motorcycle leathers was climbing up behind her.

  42

  And suddenly, like the sun coming out after a prolonged period of rain, everything became clear, and I released that once again I’d been taken for a mug. ‘You,’ I said. ‘I don’t fucking believe it.’

  ‘Believe it,’ she said back.

  ‘I’ll be damned.’

  She nodded in agreement.

  I saw the look in Tufnell’s eyes as he clocked Lucy. I imagine it was pretty similar to the expression on mine when I had first seen her outside my front door on the day Sheila had died. ‘Like her, isn’t she?’ I said.

  ‘Jesus, I never knew.’

  ‘You two never met?’ She’d told me so many lies by then, I didn’t know what to believe.

  Tufnell shook his head.

  ‘Then let me introduce you. Johnny Tufnell, this is Lucy. Sheila’s sister, and unless I’m much mistaken, the person who stabbed her to death. Some families huh? And the other one must be Georgina, her bull dyke friend. Attractive. If you like brick shit houses. Think what Jerry Springer would make of this little lot.’

  ‘Shut up both of you,’ said Lucy, ‘and put down the gun and knife, Nick. Gently. Then move away from him and them.’

  ‘But I’m right, aren’t I, Luce?’ I said. ‘It was you all the time.’

  ‘Shut up, Nick, and do as you’re told,’ said Lucy, and raised her gun.

  I did exactly what I was told then, moving away from Johnny Tufnell and laying the Detonics and the commando knife carefully on the floor.

  ‘What the fuck is going on, Sharman?’ demanded Tufnell. ‘Did you bring her here?’

  ‘Not me, man,’ I replied, then to her. ‘You’ve been following me haven’t you?’

  ‘You and a trail of bodies,’ said Lucy. ‘Thanks for doing most of our wor
k for us.’

  ‘I knew it,’ I said. ‘I knew someone was watching me.’

  ‘We’ve got no time for this rubbish,’ said Lucy. ‘Georgie, put the cuffs on them.’

  ‘You think of everything,’ I said as the blonde hauled out a number of sets of metal cuffs from the ample bosom of her leather jacket. ‘You going to get your tits out for the boys are you, Georgie?’ I baited her. ‘Give us a feel, there’s a girl.’

  ‘Shut up,’ she hissed and mistakenly passed between Tufnell and Lucy, which gave him the opportunity to move, kicking the lantern over, extinguishing the flame and plunging us into darkness, which was when it all went on top.

  Lucy fired twice, the sound silenced by the suppressor, but in the strobe of the muzzle flash I saw Tufnell fling up his arms as he was hit and fall backwards. Then Lucy pulled the trigger again and the bullet plucked at my jacket and sweatshirt and a ribbon of fire burnt its way across my ribs. I cried out in pain as I dropped to the floor, scrabbling for my gun as I went. I fumbled, almost lost it in the bright memory of the flame on the retinas of my eyes, and found it again more by luck than judgment and clutched it to my chest like a long lost lover.

  In the silence that followed the short engagement I heard Georgina say, ‘Did you get them?’

  ‘Shut up,’ barked Lucy in reply.

  And then Georgina did the most stupid thing she could’ve done under the circumstances. From somewhere on her person she found a Zippo lighter and fired it up. Maybe she was convinced that Johnny and I were both out of the game, or maybe she was scared of the dark, or maybe she was such a rank amateur that she didn’t know any better, but I heard the flywheel rasp and like a good Zippo it caught on the first spark and illuminated her face. I fired straight into it twice and blew what brains she had out of the back of her head. The mechanism of the .45 blew back empty and I rolled away as Lucy returned fire. The bullets whistled round the vault like tiny space ships.

  ‘We’re even now,’ I said through the ringing in my ears as I pulled the revolver I’d taken off Fin from my pocket. ‘One on one.’

  Lucy fired at the sound of my voice but I’d already moved and was hunkered down behind Tufnell’s body.

  ‘You killed her, you fucker,’ she said.

  ‘The killing of Sister George.’

  ‘Bastard.’

  ‘And you killed Sheila,’ I reminded her.

  ‘Stupid bitch. She could’ve been rich.’

  ‘Helping you take the loot from Finbarr and Johnny and their mates.’

  ‘Got it in one, Nick.’

  ‘Did she tell you about all this so that you could nick them?’

  ‘Yes. And get Johnny out of her life once and for all.’

  ‘But you had different ideas.’

  ‘Right again.’

  ‘But why kill her? She was your own flesh and blood for God’s sake.’

  ‘She was a bloody fool, always getting mixed up with the wrong men.’

  Did she mean me I wondered. ‘And you’re supposed to be a copper,’ I said.

  ‘That’s fine coming from you.’

  ‘But you’re a high flyer. Why give it all up?’

  ‘Don’t be stupid, Nick,’ she said, and I knew she was moving round to my left. ‘Why should I put up with all the shit I get just for a rotten copper’s wages? All the old bollocks my so called colleagues give me, just to be one of the boys.’

  ‘I thought you were one of the boys,’ I said.

  ‘Shut up.’

  ‘You’re going to have to pay,’ I said.

  ‘What lousy film did you get that line from?’

  ‘It’s the truth, Lucy. One way or another, I promise you will pay for what you did.’

  ‘Eat this,’ and she fired off half a dozen rounds in my general direction, one at least smacking into Tufnell’s dead body. Not that he cared.

  ‘I hope you’ve got plenty of ammunition there, honey,’ I said when she stopped firing.

  ‘Enough to deal with you.’

  ‘Well, we’ve got all the time in the world to find out.’

  ‘Plenty of time, Nick. But unless I’m much mistaken you’re bleeding. Bad is it? I hope so. And you’re stuck inside and I’m blocking your exit.’

  ‘Stalemate then, darling.’

  ‘We’ll see about that won’t we.’

  43

  ‘So what do you reckon?’ I asked after a bit. ‘What is it now? Sunday evening? If we stay around like this long enough, in thirty-six hours or so someone will come along and open the vault and then the game will be up. Pity we didn’t bring the Scrabble set to pass the time. Or some sandwiches would be nice. Didn’t you get Georgie to make up a picnic?’ I shifted as I spoke and felt a liquid pain from my bullet wound. I wondered how serious it was. I didn’t fancy dying down here.

  ‘I don’t intend to be here that long,’ said Lucy in reply. ‘I am a police officer after all.’

  ‘What the fuck’s that got to do with anything? What are you going to do then? Call for back-up? I don’t think your mobile will work this far underground. And even if you could, how are you going to explain this little lot?’

  ‘That you’re a murderer and bank robber, and that I caught you and your accomplices in the act. Just as thieves fell out.’

  It was almost laughable, and I would’ve done if my ribs hadn’t hurt so much. ‘And what about Georgie girl?’ I asked. ‘Why was she here? To handle first aid?’

  ‘I’ll think of something.’

  ‘Oh yeah, and I’m just going to stand for that am I?’

  ‘You might not be around to stand for anything.’

  ‘You’ve got to catch me first.’

  She was silent again for a minute or two. ‘Or we could join forces,’ she said, with a wheedling tone to her voice. ‘There’s enough here for both of us. More than enough.’

  ‘And I’m supposed to trust you after all that’s happened?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I don’t think so, Lucy.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because you killed your own sister for this. My girlfriend. What makes you think I’d believe you’d web me into it?’

  ‘Trust me.’

  ‘And your girlfriend still warm. Your girlfriend that I killed. I don’t think so.’

  ‘Well, I killed your girlfriend so that makes us even.’

  What a cold hearted cunt. But that’s women for you. ‘You’re unbelievable,’ I said. ‘Your girlfriend wasn’t my sister. Mine was yours. How the fuck could you do that?’

  ‘We were never that close. I told you that.’

  I couldn’t find a retort to that one.

  ‘Nick. Believe me,’ she went on, ‘much as I value human relationships, I value money more.’

  ‘I believe you. I found Sheila’s body don’t forget.’

  ‘That’s in the past. And we had something together didn’t we?’

  ‘One drunken fuck. Hardly the basis for a long lasting relationship.’

  ‘But all this money…’

  ‘No, Lucy. As far as I’m concerned I’ll take the “Stay here till Tuesday” option. I reckon the cops will at least listen to my story.’

  ‘You’ve killed how many?’ she said in reply. ‘You’re in deep shit, my friend. Do you think you’re going to walk away from this little lot with just a slap on the wrist?’

  ‘I’ll take my chances.’

  ‘Then of course there’s always plan B,’ she said.

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘I’ve got enough explosives here to close this vault down for good. And enough money and tom outside in the tunnel to keep me in a way I could rapidly become accustomed to. Not as much as I anticipated, I agree, but I’m on my own now that George is dead. I’ll take my chances. And you’ll be buried under a million
tons of London. How do you feel about that?’

  ‘You’re bluffing.’

  She laughed a horrible laugh. ‘Try me,’ she said.

  44

  I stayed quiet, lying there in the dark for a few minutes, trying to work out what to do for the best and coming up with not much, except for the .22 which I took out of the holster under my arm, but unless she put on some light I couldn’t be sure of a shot the way her voice echoed around the vault so I couldn’t know her exact location. Then she said, ‘Well?’

  ‘You’re bluffing.’

  ‘Try me.’

  ‘You’re serious?’

  ‘Never more so.’

  ‘Charming.’

  ‘So what’s it to be, Nick?’

  ‘Looks like I don’t have much choice,’ I replied.

  ‘I’m glad you see it that way,’ she said.

  ‘So how do we do this?’

  ‘How many guns have you got?’

  ‘A few.’

  ‘How many’s a few?’

  ‘Enough,’ I said, sliding the .22 back into its holster.

  ‘Put on your torch.’

  I did as I was told.

  ‘Put it on its bottom and stand it upright.’

  Once again I obeyed, but slowly. If she was going to shoot me down in cold blood, this would be the time.

  ‘Put your guns on the floor.’

  I did it. The empty Detonics, Finbarr’s .38 and Billy’s revolver.

  ‘Walk to the wall and assume a position. You know the drill.’

  I walked slowly to the nearest wall, put my hands on the surface at head height, walked back a step so that my hands took my weight and shuffled my feet apart.

  I heard her footsteps behind me and she patted me down with one hand, the other keeping her gun at my neck. She found the .22 right away. It had only been a thought on my part. ‘Tsk, tsk,’ she said. ‘You little liar.’

  ‘You can’t blame me for trying,’ I said as she pulled it loose of the Velcro and put it into the back of her pants.

  ‘Naughty boy,’ she said, and let me have a good one with the end of the suppressor on her gun on the back of my head. ‘Any more?’