Blood Substitute (28 page)

‘Oh, I tossed in a few more yesterday.'

‘You're lying. That's when there was a big panic to get it all ready for burning – when the policeman was brought from wherever he was being held with a view to finishing him off without anyone knowing.'

‘No!'

There was a knock on the door.

‘Come!' Greenway bellowed.

‘Miss Dean would like to speak to you, sir,' said a woman I knew to be his assistant.

‘I'm rather tied up here,' he countered.

‘She says it's important.'

Greenway stopped the tape, jerked his head in my direction and we left the room. When he had organized someone to watch over the suspect we took the lift to the second floor.

‘I'm sorry if I've dragged you away from something important,' Miss Dean began. ‘But I think you ought to know that I've had some success with this. Once I had realized that some, if not most, of the code names for people are places and vice versa I made headway. It's an almost childishly simple code. The old cinema is Garbo after the actress. It would appear that they bought a lot of other property surrounding it two years ago when prices in the whole area were at rock bottom. I think we're talking about money-laundering on a large scale. Plymouth is referred to as Drake, Portsmouth as Nelson and Swindon as Bombs – so someone must have studied History and English literature at school,' she ended by commenting crisply.

‘So what's Bristol?' Greenway wanted to know, his mind obviously on Slaterford and Sons.

‘Duke, I think.'

‘Duke?'

‘Wasn't Sid James the Duke of Bristol in one of the Carry On films?'

‘You're a genius,' Greenway said admiringly.

Miss Dean beamed at him. ‘Putting the names of real people to those of places is much more difficult, of course – and some eastern European-sounding ones could be either – but I'm working on it. What I really wanted to tell you was that I went on the local authority website here and there's a report that the old cinema has, in the last couple of days, been awarded money from the Lottery Heritage Fund for its restoration, together with the whole road as most of the properties are Grade Two listed. Everything would be compulsorily purchased.' She removed her half-moon glasses and said sadly, ‘It's come too late for the old picture house.'

‘They knew,' Greenway said succinctly.

‘And because of the award a planning application by a development company has been turned down. I accessed the local paper's website and understand the plans were very unpopular with just about everyone in Walthamsden because it would have meant a lot of high-rise flats and a casino. That would be Ballinger all right.'

‘Was the application for lottery funding anything to do with a preservation society?' I enquired.

‘I don't remember seeing anything like that mentioned.'

‘Did the name Lazlo Ivers appear anywhere?'

‘I don't think so. If you like I can double-check.'

‘Please do,' Greenway said earnestly. ‘I'll look in again later but you mustn't feel obliged to work late.'

We were halfway out of the door when she called, ‘Oh! How do you spell that name?'

I told her how I thought it might be spelt.

‘Slizaverlo!' she exclaimed, pointing to the computer screen. ‘If ever there was a place name on no known map it's that one. It's an anagram,' she explained, seeing our baffled expressions.

‘I'm seriously thinking of taking that brainy lady on as a part-time consultant,' Greenway said as we were returning to the basement. ‘Do you think Hellier's lying or just stupid?'

‘Both,' I replied.

‘So do I.'

‘Right!' Greenway exclaimed, flinging open the door of the interview room and making Hellier jump out of his skin. ‘I want to know Iver chummy's address and how much he was paying you to be his dogsbody.'

‘I've never known where he lives,' Hellier stated emphatically. ‘He isn't the kind of man you ask anything of a personal nature.'

‘And the rest? Your cut for stifling resistance to his presence among the other members of the preservation society, lighting fires for him, that kind of thing?'

‘Nothing! I didn't get paid nothing!'

Greenway ignored the contradiction. ‘It seems that you're easily intimidated. I think that when most people, even frightened ones, were asked to commit murder they'd run to the police, but you obviously didn't. Why?'

‘You don't know him,' was all Hellier said.

‘But we're getting a pretty good idea,' Greenway went on silkily. ‘I actually think you're now part of his whole set-up and were bought, lock, stock and conscience by him right from the moment he decided to snuff out all local objection to what he wanted to do. You have a website that anyone can access. He might have thought the organization was much larger and had more influence than it has. Well, sunshine, it was all in vain. Not only has the whole area been granted a ton of money to be fully restored but you're in the frame for murder.'

I shot a panic-fuelled look in Greenway's direction, wondering if he knew something that I did not, but he glanced at me and winked.

‘He said he'd kill me if I didn't do as he said!' Hellier shouted. ‘I knew he must be a crook and would never take his money.'

‘I only need to take a look at your bank account.'

‘Carry on, I've nothing to hide.'

Greenway took a deep breath and I sensed that we would get no further with our suspect at this stage.

There was another knock on the door.

‘What?' Greenway yelled.

His assistant's head came around the door. ‘Inspector Rahjeed craves admittance, sir. Sorry, his words.'

‘Send him in,' said Greenway. Then, ‘
Who?
'

Inspector Rahjeed came in.

‘They said you were dead,' Hellier said disgustedly. ‘Or is that the other one?' he scoffed.

Patrick drew up a chair and sat down. Even with the brown skin dye he looked wan and had limped a little as he crossed the room. When he spoke it was in his normal voice.

‘I don't have to remind you that I'm the person who saw you when you'd just lit a match and made sure a box containing petrol-soaked newspapers had ignited before you bolted, locking the stage door virtually in my face. I saw you in the light coming in from outside and I shall get enormous pleasure in testifying against you in a court of law. Right now you're the only one in the frame for this crime so it's in your own interest to tell us everything you know about Lazlo Ivers.'

Stone cold. He had not so much as looked in my direction. I did not need to be told that if ever there was a moment not to show emotion it was this. I bit back the tears of sheer relief and concentrated on the thought that after a lightening visit to our hotel to shower and change he must have witnessed at least the second part of the interview courtesy of mikes and the one-way glass partition situated behind where Greenway and I were sitting.

‘So it's three of you now, is it?' Hellier shouted. ‘Three against one. This is when you start putting the boot in, eh?'

‘He's right,' Greenway said. ‘And it's against regulations. I shall go and get myself a cup of tea.' And with another wink in my direction, he left the room.

Our suspect did not appear to be relishing the result of his protest.

Patrick gave him a jolly smile. ‘I don't need boots,' he said. ‘The question we really need answering is why you lit that match just because Ivers told you to.'

‘I've already explained why. He was spitting mad with me for mentioning his name and said he'd kill me if I didn't do as he said.'

‘You only had to go to the police. You would have been given protection.'

‘His sort find you wherever you are. You can't hide for the rest of your life.'

‘Explain to us why you didn't go to the police when you first realized the preservation group had been taken over by a bunch of crooks.'

‘For the same reason.'

‘You're still lying. You're actually in the pay of this man.'

‘Go to hell!'

‘When a Detective Chief Inspector from Avon and Somerset Police arrested you at your house he had in his pocket a search warrant that he genuinely forgot to mention to you. I've just had a call from him and it appears that a team working with him from the local nick have discovered five thousand pounds hidden under the floorboards in your bedroom. I'd like you to explain that.'

‘Perhaps I don't trust banks,' Hellier said after nervously licking his lips.

‘You'll have to do better than that.'

‘Ivers asked me to look after it for him.'

Patrick turned to me with a sigh. ‘He'll get life for this.'

I nodded. ‘And get mashed by Ivers anyway when they're banged up together after we've caught up with him and his hoodlums shortly.'

‘You're right,' Patrick agreed musingly. ‘I hadn't thought of that.'

‘Eh!' Hellier exclaimed. ‘They don't do that! Do they? Put you in the same prison? They can't!'

‘It's your decision,' Patrick said with an off-hand shrug.

In the long silence that followed I was expecting at any second that he would turn up the pressure, switch to that inexplicable mode, stare at the other man and exude that
threat.
But he did not, half turning his back to Hellier and saying to me, ‘Fancy a drink later?'

‘I'd like that,' I said.

‘And then a meal perhaps?' with a winning, come-hither smile.

‘That too,' I agreed.

He just carried on sitting there, blatantly flirting with me without saying a word. This was not all acting; the smile said it all.
Thank God you're all right and I love you to bits.

‘What about me?' Hellier said in a small voice.

‘Oh!' Patrick said, giving every impression of having been so involved with lustful thoughts that he had forgotten all about the job in hand. ‘Well, you could turn Queen's Evidence, co-operate and then be put somewhere nice and safe from Ivers and soon, no doubt, be tucking into a hot meal. As I said just now, it's entirely up to you. The evidence against you is overwhelming.'

‘OK,' Hellier said after another long pause. ‘But send in that other bloke. I don't trust you not to turn nasty.'

‘Before I go I want that mobile phone number. And don't tell me you can't remember it. It must be engraved on what's left of your soul.' He pushed a note pad and pen across the table.

Hellier wrote and shoved it back.

‘Is that correct?' Patrick asked. ‘Because if it isn't I shall be right back.'

‘That's the number,' the other muttered.

‘I shall also return if you refuse to tell my colleagues all you know,' Patrick said grimly. ‘And next time I shall stay until we've wrung you dry of every last bit of information. Is that understood?'

‘We can't have fallen very far,' Patrick said to me outside the interview room after we had sneaked a kiss and a quick cuddle, after which I had given him the important details of what Miss Dean had found out. ‘All the rungs my weight was on gave way at once and that was it. I must have hit my head on the ground and knocked myself right out. They wanted to keep me in for observation and all that rhubarb but were quite glad when I opted to go as soon as I felt able to.' He added, echoing Carrick's remark, ‘The place was like a battlefield.'

‘What about Kennedy?'

‘He's definitely being kept in. They were sending him down to X-ray as I left because he was in a lot of pain, probably from broken ribs. He had at least recovered consciousness after being given fluids. A couple of blokes in shades, at a guess from F9, were trying to get to speak to him but the medics were having none of it and sent them packing.'

‘Did you manage to speak to him?'

‘Not really; his mouth was too dry for him to say anything and he didn't really know what was going on. I just shook his hand as I left and told him I'd check up on him later.'

‘Did he know you though?'

‘No, hardly surprising in the circumstances and the way I look now.'

‘You still smell of smoke.'

‘So do you – but I still fancy you enough to take you out for a drink sometime.'

‘But I'd only just handed over to you. What the hell did you do to him?' Greenway said when we had relayed the news.

‘Nothing,' Patrick answered. ‘He's been a loner all his life and sometimes the feeling of isolation is unbearable.'

The SOCA man shook his head, not understanding.

‘What d'you want me to do about the mobile number he gave me?'

‘What do
you
want to do with it?'

‘Phone, pretend I'm Hellier and ask for the wages owing to me for burning down the cinema. He'll suggest a meeting place and be all ready to gun down his now useless henchman. Ivers can't know that Hellier's been arrested unless he's got someone permanently watching his house, which seems highly unlikely. We grab the bastard plus whatever mobsters turn up with him.'

‘There's an awful lot of conjecture in there,' Greenway pointed out. ‘First, I think I'd prefer to try to find an account address for the number.
And
,
don't forget, all Ivers has to do is send someone round to Hellier's place to put a bullet in him now only to find that the house is crawling with cops.'

‘He could well do that. But he'd wait until dark. You could make sure all searches have been completed by then and everything was looking normal.'

Eyeing him dubiously Greenway said, ‘You're sure you can fool him into thinking you're Hellier?'

Patrick took his mobile from his pocket and waggled it, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

‘OK then, phone.'

This he did, first going into a corner of Greenway's office and facing into the right angle of walls in order to muffle his voice. I walked over very quietly behind him to listen in.