Cut To Black

by Hurley, Graham

  Faraday resumed his seat, wondering just how much political capital Willard had invested in tomorrow’s outcome. The other night, in hospital, Nick Hayder had described the Det-Supt as a key ally, vital protection against marauding predators from higher up the force food chain. Faraday knew this was true, and was grateful for the knowledge that Willard’s fierce loyalty would be unwavering if it came to resisting boarders. Nonetheless, Faraday had been less than comfortable to find himself in the crossfire at Secretan’s council of war, and the more he thought about the drugs issue, the less certain he became of his own position.

  Did Harry Wayte have a point when he banged the table about wholesale legalisation? Was Eadie Sykes right to break every rule in the book in the battle for hearts and minds? Would J-J his own son, for God’s sake become an unwitting victim in the ongoing war? To each of these questions, Faraday had no answer, and in policing terms he knew that made him next to useless.

  The likes of Willard and Brian Imber didn’t have a moment’s self-doubt when it came to Tumbril. Bazza Mackenzie had grown fat and all too visible, thanks to his dealings in the cocaine trade, and in their view he’d deserve everything that a judge and jury, convinced by hard-won evidence, could throw at him. The fact that other men, almost certainly outsiders, would fill his boots within weeks was irrelevant. Justice, he could hear Willard saying, was best served by taking on the bad guys and putting them away.

  So far, so good. But what of the Brixton Yardies queuing up at Pompey’s door, just itching for a crack at the market? What of the Scouse lunatics, with their Stanley knives and their cut-price wraps? And what, rather closer to home, of the envy and resentments that rumours of a covert operation like Tumbril were inevitably stirring up amongst other coppers? Brian Imber had already warned him about the old-stagers, seasoned detectives like Harry Wayte. But how would Imber himself feel once he realised that he too had been kept in the dark about tomorrow’s little adventure?

  “Have you made a choice, sir?” The waiter had returned, pad in hand.

  “Yes.” Faraday was still gazing out at the sunshine. “I think I’ll have a large Scotch.”

  A call to the PNC clerk at Kingston Crescent had given Winter all the details he needed on the BMW in Valentine’s workshop, Unsurprisingly, DVLA at Swansea was giving Valentine himself as the vehicle’s owner, a fact that might indicate a temporary transfer of ownership ahead of commercial sale. On the other hand, the Beemer had been registered in Valentine’s name for more than a year, which suggested to Winter that it might be his personal set of wheels.

  A second call, this time to the force control room, supplied phone numbers and addresses for three Valentines in the Waterlooville area. Only one of them was a Mr. M. Valentine, and on the strength of this information Winter drove round for a look. Number 4 Avondale Gardens turned out to be an executive-style four-bed roomed house in a select crescent on the nicer side of town. There was a For Sale notice in the front garden and no sign of life inside.

  Winter phoned Valentine’s number to be on the safe side, then called the estate agency. He was down from London with an hour or two to spare. He was desperate for a cash buy and rather liked the look of number four. Any chance of a quick tour? The woman at the other end said she was up to her eyes but thought one of the other sales staff might be able to help. Minutes later, she rang back. Interest in the property, she warned him, was keen, but there was still room for what she termed “a competitive bid:.

  Bored with coverage of the big London anti-war demo, Winter turned off the car radio and gazed at the house. If Valentine was indeed doing a runner, then he certainly wasn’t covering his tracks. Winding up his garage business and putting his home on the market was a public declaration that he was moving on, and it was inconceivable that Bazza Mackenzie didn’t know. In Winter’s view, it was odds-on that Misty Gallagher and probably Trudy were going with him, and it was at this point that the likely passage of events was trickier to call.

  Misty, last night, had been adamant that Bazza had never caught a whisper of her on off liaison with Valentine. Only too conscious of the likely consequences of him finding out, she and Mike been ultra-careful to shield the relationship from prying eyes. They were all friends, obviously; Valentine, Bazza and Misty were often in company together. But never, she insisted, had Baz ever suspected that she and Valentine sometimes met to get it on, or even disappeared together for extended weekends in a variety of secluded West Country hotels. As far as Bazza was concerned, Posh Mike, as he called Valentine, was simply a mate and a business partner.

  And what of Trudy? Once again, Misty had shaken her head. Baz had long ago made up his mind that Trudy was his. Misty had never bothered to put him right in this belief largely because it guaranteed her a generous monthly allowance and supposition on Bazza’s part had become fact. The moment he discovered that Trudy belonged to someone else, not just someone else but posh fucking Mike Valentine, then the shit would truly hit the fan.

  Was this why they were all getting out? To escape the terrifying prospect of Bazza’s wrath?

  The woman from the estate agency drove a white Toyota. At the newly painted front door, hunting for the key, she mentioned the price again. Nothing was set in stone. A couple of thousand over the odds, and she was sure the vendors would snap an offer up.

  “You’ve got the name of the owner?”

  “Valentine, I think.” The woman flicked quickly through the file. ‘yes-A Mr. Michael Valentine.”

  Winter followed her into the property. The wooden parquet flooring was beginning to fade from the sunshine and Winter caught the lingering scent of cigars. The door to the lounge was open, sunshine jigsawed on the carpet, and Winter found himself looking at a big room furnished by someone with a bit of taste. While the agent enthused about the recently upgraded central heating system and state of the art intruder alarms, Winter toured the room, inspecting a set of fine watercolours that looked original. One of the things about Valentine that had always attracted Misty was the man’s education. He’d been a St. Joseph’s boy, she’d said, briefly a classmate of Bazza’s until Baz got expelled. He spoke French. He knew his way round a decent menu. He went to the theatre. He even read books.

  The agent, obviously pressed for time, was already leading the way into the kitchen, but Winter lingered beside a glass-fronted cabinet that held a much-thumbed collection of novels. Winter’s taste didn’t run much beyond Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler but the names on these shelves impressed him. A complete set of D.H. Lawrence. A bound edition of Middlemarch. A long line of Graham Greene novels. Misty was right. After the gale-force excitements of Bazza Mackenzie, an evening with Mike Valentine would have been an altogether gentler experience.

  Winter was examining a roll-top writing bureau in the corner when he heard the trill of a mobile. The agent stuck her head round the kitchen door and apologised for having take the call. Winter shot her a smile, said it was no problem, and waited until she was back inside the kitchen before opening the bureau. To his disappointment, it had already been cleared. He tried the drawers beneath. They were all empty. About to explore the dining room next door, he remembered the phone in the hall. It was a stylish unit he’d spotted recently in a catalogue. It contained an answering machine.

  Stepping back into the hall, he lifted the phone and keyed the message button. There were three messages waiting. The first was Misty. She was running late. She’d be at Waterloo for twelve o’clock, usual place. If he was serious about staying over in London, it was no problem from her point of view as long as they could go to the Lanesborough again. The next caller, a man, left a name and a number and rang off.

  Winter glanced up. The agent was still on her mobile he could hear her laughing. He bent to the phone again, waiting for the last of the messages. A woman this time, calling from a travel agency. Mr. Valentine’s tickets for the ferry crossing had come through. She’d managed to get him a nice outside cabin with full en suite, four bunks as requested. He could p
ick up the tickets himself or she could have them sent round. Mr. Valentine was to remember to be at the ferry port half an hour before embarkation. The phone went dead, leaving Winter gazing at yet another water colour

  Faraday had decided to level with Willard. The Det-Supt, after all, deserved the truth. There were reputations on the line here, and a ton of money, and if Faraday felt he couldn’t deliver then it was only fair to say so.

  Willard lived in Old Portsmouth. Faraday had never been to the house before but Willard had described it on a number of occasions, a converted bakery in Warblington Street, and Faraday knew exactly where it was. Glad of the smack of fresh air, he set out from the hotel and made his way towards Old Portsmouth. For a man who rarely drank at lunchtime, he was pleasantly surprised at how mellow the third Scotch had made him feel. For the first time in days, he risked a smile.

  The route to Willard’s house passed the Anglican cathedral. Across the road from the cathedral was a pub, the Dolphin, that Faraday had always rather liked. Inside, it had a timbered, low-ceilinged, shadowy feel, unspoiled by piped music or this month’s makeover. Years ago, he’d asked the publican about the history of the place, how far back it went, and the assurance that Nelson might have paused here before embarking to hunt for the French came as no surprise. In the clamour that passed for today’s society, the Dolphin somehow represented peace.

  The pub was empty. Faraday had bought a copy of the Guardian from the news agent on the corner, and now he found himself a chair beside the fire. The first pint, London Pride, slipped down beautifully. Faraday thumbed through the news section of the paper, trying to piece together the chaos of the allied advance into Iraq. Had Umm Qasr surrendered or not? Would Basra be the next plum on Saddam’s tree? After the second pint, Faraday didn’t care. Folding the newspaper, he made his way back onto the street,

  Crossing the road, resuming his journey, he became aware of the unaccompanied chant of a choir. It was coming from the cathedral, a sound like none other he’d ever heard. Even here, out in the sunshine, it had a bare, haunting quality that spoke of something in definably precious. The door on the western corner of the cathedral was open. He stepped inside, glad at once that he’d done so. On the dais beneath the organ loft, a dozen or so men were involved in some kind of rehearsal. The choirmaster stood before them, a portly man in a red check shirt. He conducted with one hand, fluid circular gestures, beautifully expressive, and the music rose and fell as he did so.

  Faraday slipped into a chair at the back of the nave, engulfed by the music. He’d always loved this cathedral. Domestic in scale, it had never set out to intimidate or impress. On the contrary, with its honeyed stone and softly lit recesses, it offered the most intimate of welcomes.

  Faraday let his head sink back against the ribbed stone of the nearby pillar. The chant, it seemed to him, had slowed. Closing his eyes, he began to drift away, feeling the sudden warmth of the sun on his face, catching a glimpse of something big, a lammergeier perhaps, soaring on a thermal high in the Pyrenees. The flight of the bird, circling and circling, perfectly matched the music. Away beyond the frieze of peaks, the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon. Later, he thought, he’d retrace his steps, clamber down towards the valley, find a bodega in the village below, treat himself to chorizo sausage and Catalan bean stew and a decent bottle of Rioja. He’d maybe risk his broken Spanish on a local or two, try and share his day in the mountains, then in the warm darkness he’d beat a path to bed.

  His mouth dry from the alcohol, he began to snore. After a while, the chanting stopped. Then, from deep sleep, Faraday found himself shaken awake. A figure in a black cassock was standing over him. It was a face he recognised, a face from years back. He reached up, touched the man’s hand, grateful for this small miracle.

  “Nigel?” he queried.

  The march had been a disappointment. After the unforgettable turnout in February, one and a half million people bringing central London to a halt, Eadie had known at once that this march was infinitely smaller. The faces had changed, as well. Gone were the ranks of middle England, the civil servants in from Haslemere, the young mums up from the shires. Instead, Eadie found herself taping placards from an organisation called Sex Workers of the World Unite. She knew that bizarre lobby groups like these would be a gift to waverers tempted to close ranks behind the troops in the front line. Weep with the widows of Iraq might touch a nerve or two, but the public mood was undeniably changing.

  As a speaker from the Socialist Workers’ Party seized the microphone on the platform in front of the crowd, Eadie hunted one last time for images that would give J-J the ammunition he needed. A young black vicar with a child on his shoulders. Two Muslim women, their eyes letter-boxed in black. Distant spectators hanging over a balcony on a hotel overlooking Park Lane. Cold and hungry after the sunshine of the early afternoon, Eadie finally lodged the camera in her day sack and got out her mobile. Three calls to Joe had so far failed to raise a response. She tried again. Nothing.

  Chapter 19

  SATURDAY, 22 MARCH 2003, 16.30

  Winter was surprised to find Cathy Lamb at her desk on a Saturday. The DI’s hideaway lay next door to the bigger squad office, and Winter glimpsed her through the open door as he walked past.

  “Paul.” She called him back. “What are you doing in?”

  Winter tried to fend her off with a grouch about paperwork. Unless he caught up on the backlog he’d be chained to his desk for most of next week. She didn’t buy it for a second.

  “The day you bin a Saturday for paperwork is the day pigs fly.” She snorted. “What’s going on?”

  Winter, playing willing, took a seat in front of her desk. Cathy Lamb was a sturdy, big-boned woman with a slightly butch attitude to fashion and make-up. Winter had known her for years and had always taken a lively interest in her career. As his skipper on division at Southsea, she’d been tough but shrewd, allowing him the benefit of the doubt as long as the scalps he took outweighed his transgressions. As DI, shackled to a desk, she was less forgiving.

  “You know a bloke called Barry?” Winter said lightly. “Rat-faced? Mid thirties? Qualified motor mechanic?”

  “Can’t say I do. Does he have a surname?”

  “Yeah. That’s why I asked. I’ve seen this bloke somewhere before but I can’t place him.”

  “Why the interest?”

  “He’s working for Mike Valentine.”

  “The car dealer? Bazza’s mate?”

  “Yeah. Except that Valentine’s selling up, getting out.”

  “Who said?”

  “Me. I was up there this morning.”

  “Why?”

  Winter had seen this question coming since he launched the conversation.

  “Why is he getting out?” he queried. “Or why was I up there?”

  “The latter.”

  “I need a car, Cath, something half decent. The Subaru’s been great but you know how it is…” He made a gesture of resignation. “Nothing lasts forever.”

  “But why Valentine?”

  “Because he’s cheap. In fact he’s giving the bloody things away. Fire sale.”

  “But no fire.”

  “Exactly.”

  He held Cathy’s gaze. He knew she didn’t believe the story about the car for a moment but there was something else going on in there.

  “There’s street talk about a big cocaine shipment,” she said at last. “Have you picked that up at all?”

  “No.” Winter’s interest began to quicken. “How big?”

  “Couple of kilos, minimum.”

  Winter was impressed. Two kilos of cocaine, cut and bagged, could net you 120,000.

  “When was this?”

  “No one knows, not for sure.”

  “But recently?”

  “This week.”

  “And we don’t know whose name’s on the label?” “No…but it has to be something to do with Mackenzie. Not hands-on, of course, but I bet he’s staking it, that kind o
f weight.” She leaned forward. “If you were overrun with Scousers and Jamaicans and God knows who else, and everything else had failed, what would you do?”

  Winter thought about the question for a moment or two, then grinned.

  “Flood the market,” he said. “Bring the price down.”

  “Exactly. Couple of kilos of cocaine? It’s Blue Cross Day.” She nodded. “Has to be linked to Mackenzie. Has to be.”

  Winter was thinking about the workshop behind the showroom, the guy Barry gob bing into the gloom, clearly pissed off.

  “Bazza’s gear’s supposed to come down in Valentine’s cars.” Winter was beginning to enjoy himself. “Did you hear that?”

  “That’s what everyone says. You’re telling me it’s true?”

  “I’ve no idea. Except you’d need a mechanic to get at it at this end.” Winter got to his feet. “You here for a bit, Cath?”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I just need to make a phone call. Back in a jiff.”

  Winter called the CID room at Highland Road, catching Dawn Ellis as she put the finishing touches to a CPS file on a serial shoplifter. As duty

  DC on lates all week, she’d come in early to keep herself out of the shops.

  “My Visa statement arrived this morning,” she told Winter. “Overdrawn just doesn’t do me justice.”

  “Have you still got that cork board over the kettle? The one with the mug shots?”

  “Yeah.” She sounded bemused. “Why?”