The Devil's Interval (8 page)

‘Pepper’ he said, when he answered the door. ‘I’m glad it’s you, love. Come in for a minute.’

‘No, Mike. We have to go.’

‘Come on, just for a minute. Doesn’t the condemned man get a last request?’

‘Don’t piss me about, Mike. Your choices, your responsibility.’

‘Christ, you’re a hard-faced bitch these days.’

‘You wouldn’t say that to a bloke.’

‘Fair enough, Germaine bloody Greer. Look, just a quick coffee, then.’

‘I told you, no. Now let’s go.’

‘I have information, Pepper.’

‘Save it for the interview.’

‘No, don’t be daft. This is just from me to you. From one copper to another, like.’

‘Forget it, Mike.’

‘Dai Young. It’s about Dai.’

Pepper glanced up and down the street, then pushed past Robson into the house.

‘Make it quick, mind’ she said, heading for the kitchen ahead of him.

The coffee he made tasted cheap, and it was weak. They sat on opposite sides of the pale pine table. There was no sign that his kids had been there recently.

‘So what’s this about Dai?’

‘He’s behind all this. Making certain that I go down, and that Charlie Adams goes away too.’

‘Not impossible, I suppose. How does he know, though? You weren’t working for him, were you?’

‘No, of course not. Don’t talk bloody daft, love. I haven’t seen the bloke since I last nicked him, and he was only about fifteen then. So you’re talking about the better part of twenty years. All I’m saying is that I have it on good authority that it’s him who’s made sure that we both go down. It had looked like Charlie would get away with it, but now that I’m going guilty he’s buggered too. He’s not playing at this, isn’t Dai, as Peter Roberts would surely tell you, if his windpipe wasn’t blocked up with old tea bags and soiled nappies.’

‘Well, that’s not how Jane Francis sees it. She doesn’t reckon Young for that at all.’

‘No? What would she bloody know? The nearest she gets to street policing is looking at CCTV footage. She’s got no feel for the game. None of them have, these university coppers. But we both know better, don’t we, love? You have to come from the streets to have a feel for what’s what. It’s obvious, is that.’

Pepper took another sip of her coffee, and regretted it immediately. If it had been any weaker it would have needed to be on a drip.

‘She’s not doing too badly on it though, is she? Anyway, Mike, I still think you’re wrong, for what it’s worth. Because if Dai did know about Charlie Adams then why not just take him over as a source? It would be a piece of piss, and Charlie would have had to go along with it. Dai wouldn’t even have had to pay him, would he? Charlie would be a perfect blackmail target.’

‘Maybe Charlie said no.’

Pepper laughed. ‘Come on, street cop, we both know that’s not very likely, is it?’

‘Maybe not. And if that’s the case then I do have one other explanation. It’s not comfortable, but it’s a possibility, I suppose.’

‘You’re thinking that Dai doesn’t need Adams because he’s got someone else lined up already? A bent copper, I mean.’

‘It’s got to be a possibility, hasn’t it? And let’s face it, love, it has been known.’

Robson smiled, and Pepper thought how much older he was looking. She wondered, just for a moment, if he was thinking the same about her.

‘You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last, Mike. And you always were a bit too flash for your own good, weren’t you, love?’

‘Aye, maybe I was. But you can’t tell me that you haven’t sat opposite one of the clever cons, the ones that always walk away smelling of money, and thought how much better they’re doing than we are.’

‘Honestly? No, I haven’t. Not once. For a start there are precious few of them, especially in this neck of the woods. But the main thing is that it never lasts, does it? There’s no cushy pension at the end of their thirty years. They always get nicked, or grassed up by one of their mates, long before that. So they must be looking over their shoulders all the time, even the right nasty bastards, waiting for someone bigger and badder to come along and take it all away. It’s just a bit of bravado we see, when they’re in the nick. They’re mostly shitting themselves.’

‘Aye, maybe.’

Pepper put her mug down, and let its contents cool in peace. ‘So why did you go over, Mike?’

He shrugged. ‘Does it matter? Come on, lass, let’s go. Unless you’re really interested, that is.’

‘No, I’m not interested. I’ve sat in enough interview rooms listening to cons giving me their stupid reasons for what they’ve done, like they expect me to understand, or even care. And, to tell you the truth, I don’t think that my reasons for making the various stupid decisions I’ve made in my life would stand up to much scrutiny, either.’

‘They seemed like a good idea at the time, though?’

‘Some of them, aye. Come on. Have you got your bag packed? You know you won’t be back here for a good while, don’t you?’

‘Never, you mean.’

‘Come on, don’t be melodramatic. It doesn’t suit a tough guy like you. You’ll make it through your sentence, no problem. Especially if you go guilty and grass up a mate.’

‘I didn’t mean that. This place will be repossessed, Pepper. It’ll be bloody long gone, by the time I get out. All the kids’ stuff, everything will be gone. My whole life will be swept away. I’ll never see them again, I know that. Penny has shacked up with that bloke from the social who looks like a bloody walrus, and they’ve all moved away. Not that I blame her. Not really, like.’

Pepper was tempted to reach across the table, but she didn’t. What would be the point? Mike was totally on his own, just like she was. She got up, rinsed out her coffee cup, and left it upside down on the draining board. He just left his on the table. She had to resist the urge to wash it out.

‘You’re sure about Dai, then?’ she asked, as he picked up his bag.

‘A hundred percent, aye. And when I get out I’ll bloody find him, and I’ll kill him, Pepper.’

‘No, you won’t.’

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘Because he’d kill you first, Mike. You talk like that inside, and it just might happen while you’re still there.’

‘Bollocks. Porter will have him, no problem. I’ll probably still be on remand when that happens.’

‘No, you’re wrong. He’s a survivor, is Dai, and he’s more than a match for the likes of you. So don’t bloody kid yourself on, love. It could get you into some really serious trouble.’

When Pepper got home she started on tea, then sat with her son on the sofa. He was trying to watch a cartoon, but she still asked him about school, and football club. He looked up at her, just for a second.

‘I didn’t score.’

‘Never mind.’

‘I wanted to score.’

‘I bet you will next time, love.’

‘No, I won’t.’ He spoke patiently, as if it was obvious. ‘You don’t know, mum, you’re never there.’

‘I have to work, you know that.’

‘That’s all right. But I won’t score next time, either. I never do.’

It was almost nine o’clock when Copeland rang, and Pepper was tempted not to answer. But she knew that if she let him leave a message she’d just end up calling straight back anyway.

‘Who am I bloody kidding?’, she said, picking her phone up off the coffee table.

‘All right, boss?’

‘I was, Rex. What is it?’

‘Our friend Farmer wants a meet, and he wants you there this time, and all.’

‘When? Tonight?’

‘Yeah. He said in an hour, to give you time to get a sitter.’

‘He said that?’

‘Something like it, yeah.’

‘What did he say then, exactly?’

‘He said he’d give us an hour, so you could get one of your boyfriends round.’

‘Cheeky bugger. And why does he want me there, all of a sudden?’

‘I asked him that. He says it’s so he can convince you that his information is straight. He seems to have got it into his pretty little head that you might not quite believe him, what with him being a working villain and all that.’

‘All right. Where and when?’

‘That club on West Walls. He said you’d know it.’

‘I do, worse luck. We won’t be able to hear a bloody word in that place. Christ, I sound like I’m about fifty.’

‘Can you be there?’

‘Have to be, won’t I? I’ll meet you outside, OK?’

When she’d rung off Pepper thought about what Copeland had relayed from Farmer, grimaced, and dialled Justin’s number. It went to voicemail. Of course, he was away. Then she tried Adam.

‘Sorry, love, but I’m up to my ears in work.’

‘You could do it round here.’

There was a pause, and Pepper was sure that he was as good as on her sofa, his marking in his lap.

‘Sorry, love, but no. I just can’t.’

‘Can’t be arsed, you mean.’

‘If you like, aye. I’m sorry, Pepper, but I spend all day with kids, you know.’

‘Aye, all right. See you soon, yeah?’

‘Aye, sure.’

She looked at the phone for a moment, after she’d rung off. ‘So much for my bloody boyfriends’ she said, and went looking for her shoes. Young Tracy from two doors down would sit for an hour for her, if the price was right. Tracy’s mum was forever saying that the cash was for the kid’s university fund, and Pepper was forever not believing her.

She didn’t bother getting changed, and she was glad she hadn’t. The wind was funnelling down the street, and even though she only arrived a minute or so before Copeland she still felt like a bag lady who’d seen better days, and not recently, by the time he turned up. The bouncers didn’t dare to laugh, though, which made her feel a bit better. At least they were still scared of her, and not just because of her mad hair.

Farmer was sitting at a table in the furthest, darkest corner of the club. But he still wasn’t hard to spot, because he was the only customer in the whole place.

‘I hope you haven’t got shares in this one, Alan,’ said Pepper, sitting down opposite him. ‘Because I’ve been to livelier autopsies, honest I have.’ Copeland sat next to her, and took out his notebook. A thin hostess in hot pants came over, saw what was in Copeland’s hand, and veered away.

‘I’m mainly in floating rates notes, at the moment’ said Farmer, and Pepper shook her head. She had no idea what he meant, and it didn’t matter. Cons were all such fantasists. ‘Do you want a drink?’ he asked.

‘No, you’re all right. Let’s get on with it. I need to get back.’

‘Lover boys let you down tonight, did they?’

‘Don’t piss us about, Alan. You’ve got two minutes to interest me, because this whole Terry Maxwell story is just a wind up, I reckon.’

‘You do?’

‘Aye. Word is that he’s dead. He was sprung all right, but not by his mates.’

‘Bollocks.’

‘That’s what I heard, from the officer investigating.’

‘He would say that though, wouldn’t he? He hasn’t had a sniff of Tel, not since he first went over the wall.’

‘All right then, you prove him wrong. But a word to the wise before you try. DC Copeland here says that you’ve been hinting at having an informant of your own, on our side of the fence. Is that true?’

Farmer laughed. ‘Whatever gave you that idea, love? Could it have been the fact that two of your lads are just about to go down for corruption?’

‘Two?’

‘That’s what I heard, like. Why, are there more? Anyway, do you want an update on Maxwell, or not?’

‘Go on then.’

‘It’s soon, a matter of days. He’s in the county right now, like, I know that. They’re moving him in a hire car, and I’ll get the registration, or at least the make and model, in a day or so.’

‘Route?’

‘M6 northbound. Coming on near Kendal somewhere. It’ll be through the night too, I know that.’

‘Can’t we take him at the safe house?’

‘No. That’s not on offer. And the car will be easier, trust me. It’ll just be him and the driver, see.’

‘Why isn’t he driving himself? He’s hardly like to go off piste, is he? Not with a fifty grand reward on his head. And I expect you’ll be claiming that after, like?’

‘Aye, that’ll be right,’ said Farmer, laughing again. ‘I wouldn’t live to spend a fucking fiver.’

‘So that’s it, is it? You bought us out on a dark and stormy night just to tell us that it’s soon, did you? A bloody text would have been more than enough for that, like.’

‘No, not just that. I thought you might have your doubts about why I’m doing this, Pepper. Because we both know that the reward may as well be ten million fucking quid, for all the difference it makes.’

‘Don’t tell me, you’re doing it out of civic duty. I’ve heard that old bollocks recently from another con, and I didn’t believe a bloody word of it then.’

‘No, don’t be daft. I’m doing it to drop Dai Young right in it. End of, like. I need you to understand and believe that. When Maxwell’s crew find out that their man’s been nabbed while Young was supposed to be doing the business they’re going to come looking for him, aren’t they?’

‘Are they? I’d have thought that the informant would be much more likely, Alan. They’d want a quiet word with you, wouldn’t they? Although the word would only be ‘goodbye’, like.’

‘But they won’t know who I am, will they?’

‘So you’re really doing this for Porter? Is that what you’re saying to me?’

‘I’m saying nowt. You draw your own conclusions.’

‘Don’t worry, I will. But I wouldn’t trust a bloke like you if all you were asking was, ‘would you like fries with that’? And, by the way, have you got any boys with you tonight? I didn’t see them, if you have.’

‘Don’t you worry, they’re around. And you’ve got it all wrong, love. Dai Young didn’t kill Roberts. He hasn’t got the bottle for that.’

‘It was those flash Ferris boys from the smoke, was it? Or the mad lads from Glasgow?’

‘I’m not grassing on no-one. But you don’t have to worry about me. I’m completely safe. And what I’m giving you is a hundred percent true. You’re going to nick that nutter Tel Maxwell, no trouble at all.’

Pepper turned round, and looked around the club. It was still empty.