Alan Hunter: Gently Go Man

‘Are you ready to give us the truth, then?’ Setters asked.

‘I’ve given it to you,’ Elton said. ‘I never busted Johnny off.’

‘That’s your story and you’re sticking to it?’

‘It’s the truth,’ Elton said. ‘I didn’t bust him.’

‘And you didn’t see the crash. Though you were passing right at that time.’

‘I don’t know that,’ Elton said. ‘It’s only what you’ve been telling me.’

‘Now I’m going to tell you something else,’ Setters said. ‘Then perhaps you’ll sing a different tune.’

He peeled off a report sheet and laid it to one side. Elton watched him. His cheeks were flushed, he kept pressing dry lips togazz-sessether. Setters picked up a statement and flicked over a page. He sat a moment or two scanning it. He laid it down on the desk.

‘So you were a pal of Johnny’s?’ he asked.

‘I was his pal,’ Elton said.

‘On Tuesday night?’ Setters asked.

‘Yuh… Tuesday night too.’

‘Then listen to this statement,’ Setters said. ‘It’s just come in from Castlebridge.’

He began to read the statement.

‘Statement made to Castlebridge Borough Constabulary by Edward Frank Bagley, 23 St John’s Road, witnessed by Detective Constable Hill. “On the evening of Tuesday 22nd September I proceeded to the Ten Spot Milk Bar in Prince’s Street with Thomas Cook, Mary Stebbings, Harry Robson, Nina Black, and Jill Copling with the purpose of attending the weekly jazz session held there. We arrived at about half-past seven and parked our scooters in the park opposite the milk bar and there met John Lister, Betty Turner, Sydney Bixley, and Anne Wicks, who had ridden over from Latchford. While we were talking to them a young fellow who I later learned was Laurence Elton rode up to park his motorcycle, and when he saw Lister he walked up to him and began to be offensive. Lister tried to ignore him and walked away towards the milk bar, but Elton followed him across the road and I saw him make a threatening gesture. Then Lister went into the milk bar with Betty Turner and some of the others, and Elton came back to finish parking his motorcycle. With regard to the order in which they drove off afterwards, Lister and Betty Turner went off directly after the jazz session. I saw Elton go for his motorcycle about five minutes later.”’

Setters stopped reading. He looked at Elton and waited. Elton ungummed his lips.

‘Yuh, that was nothing,’ he said.

‘You were going to hit him,’ said Setters.

‘No,’ Elton said. ‘I wouldn’t have pitched him.’

‘It doesn’t sound like it,’ Setters said.

‘I’m telling you straight,’ said Elton.

Setters rapped on a sheaf of papers. ‘I’ve got supporting statements from all those kids. There was only Bixley who didn’t see it. He’s your only friend, Elton.’

‘Yuh, but it was nothing,’ said Elton.

‘You hated his guts and you know it,’ Setters said. ‘Shall I tell you why? Because he pinched your girl. Her sister told me, and it’s all down here.’

Elton dragged up one of his sneakers. He twisted his hands in his lap.

‘It’s just the same,’ he said. ‘I didn’t bust him and I didn’t see it.’

‘Right,’ Setters said. ‘Now we’ll come to the real business. You’ve had your chance to change your story, and it’s the last one you’ll get. I’m going to tie you into this job till even Houdini couldn’t get you loose. You’ve heard of Houdini, have you, Elton?’

‘Yuh,’ Elton said, ‘I’ve heard of him.’

Setters took back the report sheet he’d taken off his pile. He held it out in front of him with both his arms flat on the desk.

‘This is a report from the forensic laboratory at Castlebridge,’ he said. ‘The subject of it is those leathers and riding boots you kindly lent us. You did a nice job on them, Elton. You sponged them and polished them up a treat. But it didn’t work, Elton. You ought to have burnt them, you know that?’

Elton didn’t say anything.

‘Yes,’ said Setters, ‘you ought to have burnt them. Then you wouldn’t have a report like this one to explain away. Because you know what it says, don’t you, Elton? It says there was blood on those boots. You’d sponged it and polished it off the surface, but we dig a little deeper than that.’

‘There’s a cat I ran over-’ Elton began.

‘Hold it, sonny,’ said Setters quickly. ‘As from now what you’re saying is evidence and may be introduced in court. It breaks my heart to tell you this, but you needn’t say a bloody word. But what you do say we’re taking down. Have you got that clear, Elton?’

‘I got it clear,’ Elton said.

‘So now you can tell us about the cat.’

‘I ran over one,’ said Elton. ‘That’s how I got the blood on my boots.’

Setters nodded very slowly. Sergeant Ralphs had begun to scribble. Elton licked his gummy lips. It didn’t seem to wet them much.

‘Yes,’ Setters said. ‘That’s a very nice explanation. People do run over cats and splash some blood about, Elton. But do you really want to know something? That wasn’t cat’s blood, sonny boy. It was blood like yours and mine. It was human blood, Elton.’

‘I cut my hand,’ Elton said.

‘Do you know your blood group?’ Setters asked.

‘I cut it at work,’ Elton said.

‘We know your blood group,’ Setters said.

‘I don’t know anything about blood groups,’ Elton said. ‘I cut my hand on a bit of piping.’

‘But we know your blood group,’ Setters said. ‘And it’s not what’s down here in this report. What’s down here is Lister’s blood group. It was Lister’s blood you had on your boots.’

Elton gummed his lips up close. He swayed a little in the chair.

‘Any comment?’ Setters asked.

Elton didn’t make any comment.

‘And there’s another thing,’ Setters said. ‘We took some casts back there by the body. We took two casts of a size nine boot with a Goodyear sole which had had pedal-wear. A bit of blood there is on those casts. There had to be. The boots had paddled in it. Like somebody had come to have a close look, to make sure that Lister was really a goner. But it wasn’t you, was it, sonny boy? You didn’t bust him and you didn’t see the crash. You just sailed by like a bat out of hell, then you sponged your boots and you went to bed. And you left the girl there to die if she wanted to. That was a sweet touch, leaving the girl.’

Elton made a sort of pushing move with his hand. He was squinting a bit. His mouth was open. He made a funny swallowing noise.

‘I’ll tell you,’ he said.

‘Yes,’ said Setters. ‘You’ll tell us.’

While Sergeant Ralphs kept scribbling it down.

Setters sent out for coffee and a packet of sandwiches. Elton didn’t want to eat but he got down a cup of coffee. Setters offered him a cigarette but he didn’t want that either. His cheeks kept going from white to red and he was shaking so he spilt some coffee. His eyes were fixed ahead of him below the level of the desk, he didn’t look to see when he tilted the coffee-cup. Setters smoked. He couldn’t keep from watching Elton. Setters was fifty. This was his first case of murder.

They finished the coffee and Ralphs took Elton’s cup from him.

‘Go ahead,’ Setters said. ‘And remember it’s evidence.’

Elton cringed as though he were expecting a blow from someone.

‘Yuh, I stopped,’ he said. ‘I saw him. I stopped.’

‘What did you see?’ asked Setters.

‘I saw his bike,’ Elton said. ‘On the verge it was. All twisted and bashed about. There was bits of it in the road. The lamp, the battery. I saw the lamp first. Then I saw the bike.’

‘How fast were you going?’ asked Setters.