Death on Account (The Lakeland Murders) (34 page)

‘And has Murphy been picked up?’

‘Yes. Tony Sheridan called me earlier. He’s been charged as well, but needless to say he’s not saying a thing. Tony says that they’ll do everything they can to connect the killing all the way back to Cafferty, but they’re not hopeful. Murphy will take the fall, and the time, if he has to.’

‘Cafferty chooses his lieutenants well.’

‘Probably, and then frightens them even more effectively. Murphy will be under absolutely no illusions. And the DPP says that a conviction is actually far from certain anyway. They’re saying not much over fifty-fifty. There’s even a possibility it won’t come to trial at all.’

Superintendent Gorham closed the file slowly.

‘Well done, Andy. This is an excellent result for us, and for the station.’

‘You think so, ma’am? We haven’t arrested Williams’ killer, and the person who procured the information about him, knowing full well what would happen, will get a relatively short sentence. Murphy may well get away with it entirely too, and as for Cafferty, well he’s the big winner here. He just stuck two big fat fingers up at us, and we can’t touch him for it.’

Gorham looked slightly confused, then mildly irritated.

‘That’s not the right way to look at this at all, Andy. It really isn’t. What we’re looking at here is a 100% clear up rate on a murder and the conspiracy. And we’ve got no bad smells hanging around the station either. You really do need to rise above the day-to-day business of policing and look at the bigger picture. I like to call it my helicopter perspective, Andy.’

‘Yes ma’am, I’m sure you do.’

When Nobby Style’s shift was over he got changed quickly, and he almost ran to his car. He reached the hospital at half-four, and was sitting next to Gemma’s bed by twenty to five. He’d been every other day since she was admitted, and he’d fallen into a bit of a pattern. He’d tell her about his day, sit quietly for five minutes, then pat her hand and go. He’d got to know a couple of the nurses, so he sometimes chatted to them.

As he was walking back to his car afterwards he saw a familiar figure ahead of him, standing next to his car.

‘All right, Ray, what are you doing here? Visiting someone? You’d better hurry, it’s almost tea time.’

‘No, Nobby. I came to see you mate.’

‘Oh aye. What about?’

The clouds were lower now, and it was just spitting with rain.

‘In the car’ said Ray, and Nobby plipped the locks. He was in for a bollocking, and he knew it. ‘How did you know?’

‘Your missus told me. She’s been worried about you.’

‘She had no right to tell you.’

‘Nobby, you know that’s not true. She had every right. And you know this has to stop. We all feel sorry for Gemma, and her mum, but you can’t help, and it’s not your concern. You’ve got your own life, your own family.’

‘It was my fault.’

‘Bollocks’ said Ray loudly. ‘You’re not some wet behind the ears probationer, Nobby, are you, mate? What happened isn’t your fault at all, in fact you did all you could to help. And whatever you did was never going to be enough, was it? Terry Walker would have behaved the way he did whatever we’d done, no matter how often you nicked him, because he’s a stupid, evil bastard and he knew just how far he could push it.’

‘I know that, Ray, of course I do. But it was the look on Gemma’s face when I went into that room. I’ve never seen such pain. I can’t even begin to explain it to you. It was so pure.’

They sat in silence, and heard the raindrops beat a faster pattern on the roof.

‘I know, mate. I understand, of course I do. But you’ve got to stop coming here, you really have. Now will you do that for me? As a mate, like?’

Outside a man walked past quickly, trying to beat the rain, and he noticed the car with steamed up windows, and saw that it was rocking slightly. Someone must have had bad news, he thought, as he hurried past.