Nothing But Lies

by Lyndon Stacey

  Jafari screamed in fright.

  ‘Get ’im off me! Get ’im off!’

  ‘Stand still and I will,’ Daniel promised.

  ‘I will. I will! Just get ’im the fuck off!’

  ‘Taz, out!’ he commanded and felt a swell of pride when the German shepherd immediately let go and stood back a pace, his eyes fixed with intimidating intensity on Jafari’s face. It had been over a year since the dog had done any bite work and he had performed it with textbook precision.

  Keeping an eye on Taz in his turn, Jafari backed up against the front door and rubbed his forearm.

  ‘That dog’s fuckin’ dangerous. He tried to kill me! I’ll report him and he’ll be shot.’

  ‘Rubbish. You were never in any danger. He’s a trained police dog.’ The words were confident but even so, Daniel felt a twinge of unease. He had been allowed to keep Taz following his retirement only after an assessment of his safety in public. Had he just put the dog at risk? No right-thinking officer would say so, but there were a scary number of health and safety jobsworths out there, and in addition to that, Daniel was very aware that he was back in the jurisdiction of his nemesis, DI Paxton.

  Jafari’s next words accentuated that fear.

  ‘But you’re not the fuzz, are yer? Or you wouldn’t have threatened to call them,’ he said, leaning towards Daniel with an evil sneer. ‘So if you’re not a copper, that’s not a copper’s dog.’

  Taz interpreted his movement as a threat, and began to bark once more, but he obediently fell silent at a word from Daniel, who was saved the necessity of replying by the sound of an oncoming police car. Hoping against hope that it would be Jo-Ji, he warned Jafari not to move and waited for its arrival.

  When it arrived, blue lights flashing, the first person that emerged was not Jo-Ji but another, less welcome face from Daniel’s past; Paul ‘Jono’ Johnson, recently promoted, Daniel had learned from Jo-Ji, to sergeant. In the time before Daniel’s fall from grace, he and his wife, Amanda, had counted Jono and his wife as friends, and although Daniel had never felt as close to the couple as Amanda had, he hadn’t been prepared for their total rebuttal of his friendship when his career hit a brick wall.

  From the other side of the vehicle, a young PC appeared, hesitant and a little tense.

  ‘Sergeant Johnson. Constable Redman,’ Jono said by way of an introduction, hitching his trousers up as he came forward. ‘Right. What’s going on here?’ Round-faced with rather weak blue eyes and razor-cut gingery-blond hair under his cap, he’d put on a good deal of weight in the nine months or so since Daniel had last seen him.

  ‘His bloody dog attacked vehicle!’ Samir told Jono, pre-empting any attempt by Daniel to explain the situation.

  ‘This man was trying to batter the door down with a boot-scraper,’ Daniel countered. ‘He was making threats against the women inside.’

  ‘Daniel!’ Recognition dawned in the sergeant’s face, and from his demeanour, the feeling of discomfiture was mutual. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I’m staying with Jo-Ji – that’s Joey Matsuki in the dog unit – and his fiancé, Tami. This is their house. I’ve been out and I just came back to find this man trying to gain entry using that boot-scraper.’

  ‘And did your dog attack him?’

  ‘He detained him on my command, as he was trained to do. There was never any danger,’ Daniel stated calmly.

  Jono favoured him with a long look but made no comment. Taking out his pocket book, he asked Jafari his name and address, noting them down.

  ‘Is that your vehicle?’ he said then, indicating the white van.

  ‘It belongs to a mate.’

  ‘Name of …?’

  ‘Assim Kahn. He lent it to me. He knows I’ve got it.’

  Jono unclipped his radio and relayed the vehicle’s registration number to his control.

  ‘There’s nothin’ wrong with it. It’s insured and everything,’ Jafari protested.

  ‘Then you haven’t got anything to worry about then, have you?’ Jono said pleasantly. ‘You got your driving license on you?’

  Jafari took his wallet from a back pocket and found the card, which the sergeant inspected.

  ‘You’re a long way from home,’ he observed, handing it back. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘There’s no law against travelling.’

  ‘There is, however, a law against battering someone’s door down,’ Jono pointed out. ‘I repeat, what are you doing here?’

  ‘My partner’s in there. She’s abducted my son. I’ve got every right to see him,’ Jafari asserted.

  ‘It seems to me that if she’d wanted to see you, she’d have opened the door.’

  ‘I told you – she abducted my boy. She’s not just going to give him back because I ask, is she?’

  ‘So you were going to take him back by force, were you?’ Jono enquired.

  ‘No!’ Too late Jafari saw the corner he’d been backed into. He spread his hands. ‘What am I supposed to do?’

  There was a click from the front door lock and then the door opened a little and Tamiko peered anxiously out.

  ‘Ah. Miss Yoshida?’ the sergeant asked.

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘It was you who reported the disturbance?’

  ‘I did.’ Tamiko glanced apprehensively at Jafari.

  ‘Do you know this man?’

  She nodded. ‘He’s the ex-partner of my sister. She came here to get away from him because she was scared. Are you going to arrest him?’

  ‘That depends—’

  At that point his radio crackled into life and he turned away, but not before Daniel heard control verifying the ownership of the van in the lane.

  ‘But he’s threatened to kill her!’ Tamiko protested when Jono turned back.

  ‘Is that right?’ Jono asked, looking at Jafari, but he, predictably, denied it vehemently.

  ‘Oh, what a surprise,’ Daniel muttered.

  ‘He’s hit her before,’ Tamiko said.

  ‘When was this?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Some weeks ago, in Manchester where they lived.’

  ‘And did she report it?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Yes, I think so. She is very scared of him. She leaves because she is terrified of what he would do to her or her son.’

  ‘Well, if she didn’t report the abuse, then I’m afraid it’s just her word against his,’ Jono said, shaking his head resignedly.

  ‘But you can see what he’s like!’ Tamiko persisted, her eyes imploring.

  ‘I’m sorry. Where is your sister now?’

  ‘In the house. She won’t come out.’

  ‘We can charge him with criminal damage with regards to your front door.’

  ‘So you will arrest him, yes?’

  ‘I’ll take him in, he’ll be charged and the court will order him to pay for repairs and to stay away from your sister.’

  ‘Oh, that is no use!’ Tamiko threw her hands up in despair. ‘The law is stupid! Do we have to wait until my sister is harmed by this man?’

  ‘Can I go now?’ Jafari put in.

  Jono shook his head.

  ‘No. I have to ask you to come down to the station with me. My colleague will take a statement from Miss Yoshida and her sister.’

  The younger officer, who had been hovering on the sidelines, now stepped forward, patently relieved to have been allotted a relatively simple task.

  ‘You’re asking me?’ Jafari repeated. ‘And what if I don’t want to go to the station?’

  ‘Then I will arrest you. The choice is yours,’ Jono said patiently.

  ‘Ah, this is so fuckin unfair! Always you believe the woman.’

  ‘Well, she wasn’t the one bashing the hell out of the front door, was she, sir?’ the sergeant observed placidly, placing his hand on Jafari’s arm to steer him towards the waiting police car.

  He shook it off.

  ‘What about the van?’ he demanded.

  ‘Give the constable
the keys and he’ll lock it.’

  ‘And then what? How do I get back here to pick it up? Will you bring me?’

  ‘No, I’m afraid you’ll have to find your own way back. I can give you the number of a taxi, at the station.’

  ‘That’ll cost the bloody earth!’

  ‘Quite likely. Shameful, isn’t it?’ the sergeant agreed. ‘Now, are you going to come quietly, or do I have to arrest you for non-cooperation?’

  Jafari gave in, but he shot a venomous look at Daniel and the dog as he passed.

  ‘Aren’t you going to arrest him? And what about the fucking dog? He’s dangerous! He needs shooting!’

  ‘Let me worry about them,’ Jono said, guiding him safely past.

  Taz rumbled under his breath and Daniel twitched his collar to shut him up.

  It was over half an hour later when the police car bearing the two officers and Hana’s unhappy ex-partner disappeared down the lane. Going back into the house, Daniel found Hana in the kitchen looking white and shaken, Jahan clinging to her side as he had on the night they arrived. Empty mugs stood on the table but Tamiko refilled the kettle and made yet more tea.

  ‘Will Taz be in trouble for attacking the man?’ she asked anxiously.

  ‘He shouldn’t be,’ Daniel said, with a fair degree of confidence. ‘It was necessary force. Taz wouldn’t have gone in if I hadn’t told him to and he stopped when I told him to. If anyone is to blame, it’s me, not the dog.’

  Jono Johnson’s final words to him had been that the dog’s part in the affair would be reported but with the evidence in the statements the girls and the neighbour had given, he had no anticipation of any problem. Daniel hadn’t detected any malice in the sergeant’s bearing, but he was clearly awkward in the company of his ex-colleague, and Daniel found he was glad he didn’t have to depend on Jono’s intervention on his behalf.

  ‘Why didn’t they arrest Samir?’ Hana wanted to know. ‘He should be locked away!’

  ‘Because apart from his temper tantrum with the front door, they haven’t got anything to arrest him for,’ Daniel replied.

  ‘But he’s a bully! He’s hit me before.’

  ‘Well, you say you reported it, so it’ll be on record and they’ll take that into consideration.’

  ‘But his van’s still out there. What if he tries again when he comes back for it?’

  ‘I don’t think he will. He knows I’m here and he won’t fancy a second taster of the dog. But anyway, I expect it’ll take quite a while to process him at the station, especially being a Saturday evening, and hopefully Joey’ll be back before long.’

  When Jo-Ji did turn up, he did so with Jafari in the passenger seat, and watched while he turned the borrowed van round and drove away.

  ‘Why did you help him?’ Tamiko demanded crossly. ‘Me, I would have made him walk.’

  She and Daniel were sitting in the kitchen; Hana and Jahan had already gone to bed, exhausted after a long and eventful day.

  ‘I was coming this way, and it gave me a chance to have a word with him,’ Jo-Ji told her. ‘Not that he was very forthcoming. He’s convinced he’s the injured party in all this.’

  ‘I wouldn’t waste time talking to him!’ Tamiko declared. ‘Did you see what he did to our door? If Daniel hadn’t come back, he would have broken it down.’

  ‘Did they say anything about Taz at the station?’ Daniel wanted to know.

  ‘Not a lot. It’s in the report but I wouldn’t worry too much. Ropey’ll put in a word for you, if necessary.’

  ‘What if he comes back and Daniel isn’t here?’ Tamiko asked, still worrying about Jafari.

  ‘Well, I’m off for the next couple of days,’ Jo-Ji said. ‘I think the best thing we can do is try and find somewhere your sister can go, where Jafari wouldn’t think of looking, then maybe we can all relax again, yes?’ He put his arm round her shoulders and pulled her towards him, but she remained anxious.

  ‘Do you think it was him all the time? The man who was watching me, I mean.’

  ‘I wondered about that. Your sister left him some weeks ago, didn’t she? Perhaps he came here hoping she would eventually turn up. After all, he was onto her fairly quickly when she did.’

  ‘Did you ask him?’ she said. ‘What did he say?’

  ‘I did. He told me to eff off. Not much help. But he’s been cautioned, now. He knows if he turns up here again making a nuisance of himself, he’ll be arrested. As for me – I’m going to let Dex and Bella out for a pee and then get to bed.’

  With Jo-Ji at home to keep an eye on Hana and her son, Daniel was free to ride out with Tamiko again the next day. Being a Sunday, she had no clients, and they were able to set off soon after breakfast. Although it was a short and steady outing, more to stretch limbs and muscles that had worked hard the day before, Daniel thoroughly enjoyed it, beginning to feel quite at home in the saddle.

  Tacking up, Tamiko had remembered the borrowed martingale again, and resolved to return it the following afternoon on her way to visit a client.

  ‘I didn’t know you did home visits,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Mostly, I don’t, because with the cost of petrol, I have to charge a big amount, but some people prefer to have treatment in their homes and don’t mind to pay, so I go. I see some nice houses,’ she added with a smile. ‘My client, tomorrow, has much money.’

  ‘I’ll come with you.’

  ‘No, really, there’s no need. I’ll be OK now we know who was watching.’

  ‘We think we know,’ Daniel demurred. ‘But even if it was Jafari, he’s still out there and he’s not thinking straight. There’s no knowing what he might do. Jo-Ji will be here to keep an eye on your sister; it’ll be better if I come with you.’

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and the next afternoon found Daniel and Tamiko on their way to Bath in Tamiko’s Peugeot. Daniel had offered to drive her there, but she had laughingly told him that she had a reputation to uphold, which slur on the condition of his Mercedes he took with a show of injured feelings.

  ‘No. You shouldn’t have to use your petrol for my work,’ she told him, adding with a certain amount of pride, ‘and I have advertising for my business on the car.’

  The front doors of the navy blue Peugeot did indeed carry the name of ‘Tamiko Yoshida, Holistic Therapist’, on them, so Daniel gave in and settled into the passenger seat.

  The property that Boo Travers called home was a substantial Georgian manor house, the roof and chimneys of which were just visible from the road over a laurel hedge of impressive proportions. A stone set into the wall was inscribed with the words Rufford Manor, which had then been picked out in gold. No obvious lack of money here, either, Daniel thought.

  Tall, black, wrought-iron gates stood open, and Tamiko drove in. To the left, the gravel drive swung away between the laurel hedges towards the house, while a fork to the right led downhill towards a five-bar gate under a brick arch, which appeared to form the entrance to the stableyard.

  Heading for this, and parking in front of the arch, Tamiko collected the martingale from the back seat of the car and continued on foot, letting herself through the gate and quickly disappearing from Daniel’s line of sight.

  Alone in the vehicle, he switched the radio on and ran through the pre-set channels. Finding little to his taste, he turned it off again, and sat tapping his fingers. In deference to the hair-free state of Tamiko’s vehicle, he had left Taz with Jo-Ji, and now felt ridiculously bereft. The dog was so much a part of who he was and everything he did; Daniel felt incomplete when he wasn’t there.

  Suddenly Tamiko was back, hurrying and looking a little flustered.

  ‘Sorry I was long time. There is no one there so I decide to put it in the tack room and write a note to her. Then a man comes who is her brother, so I can give it to him.’

  ‘Couldn’t you have texted Boo?’ Daniel enquired.

  ‘I don’t have her number,’ Tamiko said, reversing and turning the car. ‘I don’t really k
now her very well.’

  ‘But you knew where she lived.’

  ‘Once I came here with Natalie, a few months ago, to see a horse she was buying. Now I must hurry not to be late for my client. It is five more miles.’

  Daniel looked sideways at her, a time or two, as she drove, then finally asked, ‘Did something happen at Boo’s to upset you?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘No, not really. It was just that the man I saw was quite angry.’

  Daniel frowned.

  ‘Angry? Why should he be?’

  ‘He saw me come from the tack room and ask me who I am and what I do there. I told him I return the martingale and he asked how I get in. He tell me the gates should not be open and I should not come in, but how was I to know that?’

  ‘They were electric gates,’ Daniel said. ‘Presumably someone left them open by mistake, but that’s not your fault, is it? You say it was Boo’s brother?’

  ‘Yes. When he ask my name, I say “But I do not know you either”, then he tell me.’

  ‘Good for you!’ Daniel said. ‘You weren’t doing anything wrong. Don’t worry about it.’

  Tamiko’s client lived in another Georgian property, but this one was a stately town house standing in beautifully manicured formal gardens in a leafy street on the edge of Bath.

  ‘The problem is there is not always a place to park,’ Tamiko said, driving slowly past. ‘That is the house of Stella, but there are no spaces on the road here.’

  Daniel glanced in through the gateway as they passed and saw a narrow, bricked parking area in front of the house that was already taken up by a sports car and a motorcycle. On the front steps he caught a glimpse of a woman with short blonde hair, in biking leathers and a T-shirt, apparently deep in conversation with an older woman.

  Tamiko drove to the end of the road with no luck, and then turned the car in a side road and drove slowly back. As they approached the house once more, they saw a motorcycle emerge from the gateway and pause at the road edge.

  ‘Maybe you can get in now,’ Daniel said and Tamiko put her indicator on.

  The biker did a quick scan of the road, nodded to Tamiko and pulled away smoothly, leaving the way clear for her to drive in between the gateposts and park.