Jessie Keane - Lawless

‘Michael was blackmailing you, wasn’t he?’ asked Daisy.

‘That vile man!’ burst out Vanessa. ‘He came here and said that if I didn’t pay up he’d show them to the press. So I agreed. I paid him. And then he said he was going to show them anyway, and-’

‘And then what?’ Rob demanded. ‘Ivan killed him, right?’

Vanessa’s milky blue eyes opened wide. ‘No! How you can say that?’

‘It’s what I’d do, in his place,’ said Rob. ‘Remove the threat. Nice and clean. Always supposing Michael hadn’t lodged a set of the prints elsewhere with instructions to open and publish if anything should happen to him.’

‘Ivan was in the army, wasn’t he? He knows all about guns,’ said Daisy.

There was movement at the French windows and a male voice spoke.

‘That may be true. But if I’d wanted to kill that bastard, I’d have done it with my own bare hands.’

Daisy and Rob turned as one, and saw that wiry, bearded Ivan had just stepped into the drawing room holding a twelve-bore shotgun.

‘Oh God,’ said Vanessa, putting a hand to her mouth. She surged to her feet, making entreating motions to Ivan. ‘No, you mustn’t…’

Rob pushed Daisy behind him and stared down the barrel of the gun. Ivan was much smaller than Rob, slight and sinewy, but he had eyes like a tiger and they glared with purpose.

‘Get hold of the prints,’ Ivan ordered Vanessa.

With trembling fingers, Vanessa did as she was told.

‘That’s no good,’ said Daisy, having to swallow hard to get the words out. ‘We have copies. Several copies,’ she lied.

‘What about the negatives?’ asked Ivan.

‘We don’t have those. We can’t find them.’

‘But you found these.’

‘Yeah, you missed them when you searched the office and the flat,’ said Rob. ‘But the negatives? No. Couldn’t find them.’

‘It was worth a try,’ shrugged Ivan.

‘Yeah, I’ll give you that,’ said Rob. ‘Like offing Michael was worth a try too, I guess. End of blackmailer – end of blackmail.’

Ivan’s lips twisted in a sneer. ‘What, you think that was me? Sonny, if I’d truly intended to see the man gone, I’d have done it quietly, not with a gun.’

Daisy was staring at Ivan. She grabbed Rob’s arm. ‘Ivan was in the army,’ she said.

‘Special Air Services,’ said Ivan.

‘They’re taught silent killing.’

‘They’re also taught guns,’ said Rob. ‘Dum-dum bullets. That says military to me.’

‘I wouldn’t have needed a gun to put that bastard’s lights out,’ said Ivan.

‘But you’re waving a gun around now,’ said Rob.

‘We’re not interested in these prints,’ Daisy said. ‘I know Michael didn’t need your money, he was just winding you up. Paying you back for what you put Ruby through. The only thing we’re interested in is who killed him. That’s all we want to know.’

‘Ivan didn’t do it,’ snapped Vanessa. ‘Of course he didn’t. But I tell you – when that man died the way he did, we were just so pleased. So relieved the nightmare was over. Ivan decided he’d try to find the negatives, and any prints. Put the whole horrible incident safely away. But he couldn’t find them.’

Daisy could feel herself shaking as she stared at Ivan holding the gun, pointing it straight at Rob’s middle.

‘Please put the gun down,’ said Vanessa, her teeth chattering with fear as she glanced at Daisy’s ashen face. ‘There’s really no need for that.’

Ivan stayed motionless for a moment. Then, slowly, he lowered the shotgun. He looked straight at Rob. ‘I didn’t kill Michael Ward,’ he said, disgust obvious in his tone. ‘But I wish I had. He deserved it.’

Daisy saw a muscle twitch in Rob’s jaw. She knew he had idolized Michael.

Rob turned away from Ivan and looked at Vanessa.

‘Keep the prints,’ he said, and moved towards the French windows followed by Daisy, both of them passing close by Ivan.

‘What about the other copies?’ snapped Ivan.

‘That’s our insurance,’ said Rob, pausing on the threshold. ‘Behave, and they stay out of the public eye. Don’t, and the society pages will get an eyeful.’

Rob then stepped outside, grabbing Daisy’s arm and walking her quickly round the side of the building.

‘What the fuck are you doing, showing up here?’ he asked her as he bundled her over to his car.

‘I’ve got my-’ she started.

‘No leave the frigging Mini right there. There’s no guarantee he won’t come after us even now. Just get in the bloody car, you daft mare – and hurry up.’

Daisy got in Rob’s car and he jumped in, started the engine and roared off full speed down the drive.

‘Shit, that was scary!’ said Daisy, clutching her chest. ‘My car…’

‘We’ll pick it up when things have cooled down. You shouldn’t have come. What the hell were you playing at?’ Rob reached the end of the drive and steered the car quickly into the lane with a chirp of tyres.

‘Me? How about you? You vanished without a word. I phoned round, trying to find you, and then it hit me. I knew you’d be down here on your own, playing the big man.’

‘He could have shot us, Daisy. Both of us.’

‘Jesus, don’t you think I’m aware of that?’ shrieked Daisy.

They tore through the village and out the other side, and onto the main road. Slowly, Daisy began to feel just a little safer.

‘Daise, calm down.’

‘Calm down? After everything that’s been going on?’

She couldn’t believe that they had just been standing in Vanessa’s drawing room with Ivan pointing a gun straight at Rob. What if she hadn’t shown up? Would he have taken the opportunity to dispose of Rob? He could be dead right now. And knowing that, how awful it would be, how truly terrifying, brought it home to her all the more forcefully: she was in love with Rob.

And the worst thing was, it wasn’t reciprocated.

Once they’d put a good distance between themselves and Brayfield, Rob pulled in at the side of the road and turned off the engine. He looked at Daisy.

‘You great fool, he could have killed you!’ she shouted, thumping his arm.

‘Daise.’

‘Oh, shut up. You had to play John Wayne, didn’t you? Strutting down here on your own. Has it occurred to you what would have happened if I hadn’t shown up? You could be in a hole somewhere! Do you seriously think he wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t there as a witness? Vanessa wouldn’t let him hurt me, so he couldn’t hurt you. I’ve just absolutely fucking saved you, and all you can say is calm down !’

‘Daise,’ said Rob again.

‘And you shouldn’t have left the prints there. The police would have treated those as evidence, we could have given those photos to them and perhaps made a case.’

‘The police don’t give a shit about Michael’s death, Daisy,’ cut in Rob harshly. ‘The case has been sidelined. We could hand photos of Lady Bray and her gardener swinging bollock-naked off the light fittings or boffing a bloody donkey, and they wouldn’t give a toss. But when Ivan said he’d have used his bare hands? I think that was true.’

Daisy thought it was true too; Ivan was a real old-school officer type, super-posh and tough as cowhide. She had always imagined him as the sort of man who would trek to the Pole with his toes blackening and dropping off through frostbite, and he wouldn’t utter a word of complaint until he’d got there, achieved his goal.

‘You know what? I honestly hate you,’ snapped Daisy. She put her hands to her head and shook it, digging her fingers into her scalp. Then she threw her arms wide and sent him a desperate look. ‘And who the hell gave Michael that LP, that ring? That’s driving me mad .’