Peter Corris - Open File

‘Constable Simpson, Mr Hardy.’ He flashed his ID. ‘Happy to be out of uniform for a bit. No sign of any trouble so far.’

‘D’you know what to look for?’

‘Everything.’ He set off at a smart pace after Sarah as she rounded the corner.

I rang the bell and Hilde came to the door. A quick hug and I was in. The Parkers’ house was just the way a Victorian terrace should be-uncluttered, making the most of the available space, furniture and trappings more or less in keeping with the style of the house, but in an unstudied way. I followed Hilde through to the kitchen, which was renovated but not glossy. She had been my tenant for a few years, around the time my path crossed with Frank’s. I’d brought them together and the three of us were close. She knew my ways.

‘A sandwich and a glass of wine,’ she said. ‘All ready. What’s this help you need?’

I handed her the folder, sat down at the table and ate the sandwich. Curried egg-a favourite.

‘Cliff, where did you get this?’

‘Don’t ask.’

‘The man must be mad to let you even see it, never mind…’

‘He didn’t have any choice, but don’t worry, he won’t squawk. Great sandwich.’

Hilde shook her head as she flipped over a few pages. I drank some cold white wine, picked up a few bits of egg with my fingers and wiped my hands with a napkin. ‘Can you read it? Do a rough translation?’

‘Yes, of course, but I’m not sure I should.’

‘Look, I don’t even know if it’s important. As Frank might say, I’m trying to eliminate it from my enquiry. I’m doing everything I can to find Sarah’s brother.’

She smiled. ‘You bastard. You’re applying pressure.’

‘If it’ll make you any happier, I promise I’ll send it back to the shrink after I know what it says.’

She nodded. ‘All right. It’ll take a while. Probably a few days for me to find the time. I’ll have to brush up on the differences in the languages a bit. Sort of get the feel of the Dutch. Some of this looks technical.’

‘That’s okay. Just give me the gist. I’ve got other things to do.’

‘Do you think you can find him?’

It’s never been my habit to ask a question like that midway through a search-it can be confidence sapping- but she forced me to it. I finished off the wine and stood.

‘I don’t know, love. I really don’t know.’ I gave her a kiss. ‘Thanks for everything. I like the sound of lamb on a spoon. Invite me over for it some time, eh?’

I phoned Hampshire and told him the arrangements. I offered to pick him up, but he said he’d get there under his own steam. A little odd, but what wasn’t in this case?

‘I’ll arrive a bit early then,’ I said, ‘to check things out. It’d be best for you to be just a shade late.’

He agreed and rang off. He sounded reasonably steady given his many problems. He didn’t mention Sarah.

I called Frank in the evening and asked him how the investigation into Wayne Ireland was going. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. My knowledge of Ireland was sketchy, amounting to nothing more than being aware that he was part of the right-wing machine, with all that implied about connections to unions and the tougher elements in politics and business. He was the minister for transport-middle ranked but influential.

‘Can’t tell you, Cliff, you know that.’

‘A hint.’

‘It’s ongoing, as they say. Sarah asked me about Ronny and I told her that he wasn’t being held. I also advised her to have no more to do with him.’

‘How did she take that?’

‘Pretty well. She’s not a bad kid. Gets on very well with Hilde and Peter. It’s sort of nice to have her around. She pitches in.’

‘I met Simpson outside today when I came over. Simpson without his donkey’

‘Jesus, Cliff, you’d joke on your deathbed.’

‘Never happen. Anyway, I saw Sarah and she seemed fine. I’m grateful for your help, Frank.’

‘You should be. As usual, you’re on a long leash with me, but I hope you haven’t been talking out of turn-to your client, for instance.’

‘Not a word. If the Ireland case gets to court Sarah’s in for a rough time, wouldn’t you say? Be a help if I can locate her brother.’

‘Stay with it, and for Christ’s sake try to make it somewhere near the legal line.’

He hung up. Did his last remark mean that Hilde had told him about the Van Der Harr file on Justin, or was it simply a comment on my usual methods? Hard to say. He seemed to think I’d paid my visit just to see Sarah. I didn’t like keeping things from him, but then, he was certainly keeping things from me.

I got to the appointed meeting place ten minutes early and hung around looking for signs of dirty tricks-people the old-time detectives would have called wrong ‘uns, male or female, or weapons stashed in rubbish bins or in the shrubbery. It all looked clean. Stafford and Sharkey arrived on time and sat at one of the tables nearest the coffee shop door. There was a sports store opposite and a short covered walkway into the mall. One of the other three outdoor tables was occupied by a woman with a child in a pram. People were going in and out of the shopping centre. Not a lot, but enough. The area was paved and clean-a few drifting leaves, the odd bit of paper.

‘There’s no table service, boys,’ I said as I marched up to the pair. ‘Allow me. Whatll you have? Water for you, Sharkey?’

‘Don’t fuck around, Hardy. Where is he?’

I checked my watch. ‘He’s being fashionably late. We can’t sit here without buying something.’

‘Long blacks,’ Stafford growled, ‘and he’s got five minutes, tops.’

I went into the coffee shop, ordered four long blacks and watched out through the window as they were prepared. I carried them out on a tray just as Hampshire arrived. He was dressed smartly-grey three-piece suit, tie, high-shine shoes-and he was leading on a leash the nastiest-looking dog I’d ever seen-a pink-eyed, pig-snouted pit bull.

‘What the fuck is this?’ Stafford roared.

‘Just a little insurance, Wilson,’ Hampshire said. He sat and tied the leash to his chair.

I was so surprised to see the dog, so appalled by its ugliness, that I took my eye off Sharkey. He’d retained some of his ring quickness-I’d been wrong about that. In no more than a couple of seconds he was back with a baseball bat he must have grabbed in the sports store. He took one swing, timed it perfectly as the dog leapt at him and crushed its skull. Blood, brain matter and bone sprayed in all directions as the dog gave a strangled groan and collapsed. Women and children screamed, men yelled. Sharkey had almost overbalanced with the violence of his swing, but he recovered quickly and Hampshire was clearly his next target.

I launched myself, carrying the table and its contents with me, and cannoned into Sharkey when he was halfway through his swing. He staggered, lost balance again, and I was up before him. I hit him with a right hook as low as I could reach. Not quite low enough: it hurt but didn’t disable him. He sucked in air, ignored my next punch and grabbed me by the jacket, pulling me close. He was roaring, spitting, and the saliva hit my face, but he was still a boxer and his instinct was to punch. I brought my knee up hard and caught him solidly in the balls. He yelled and lost his grip as the strength drained out of him. He was still dangerous though, reaching for the baseball bat. I picked it up and slammed it into his right kneecap.

I was breathing hard. That kind of violence affects people in different ways-some become half demented, others stay icy calm. I was somewhere in between. When I looked around I saw that the area had almost cleared, with a couple of people pressed back against the walls and some coffee shop patrons with their noses stuck to the glass. There was no sign of Stafford or Hampshire. I grabbed a napkin from the ground, wiped down where I’d gripped the bat and dropped it. The place was a mess with the dead dog and a writhing Sharkey, broken crockery, upset furniture and spilt coffee mixing with the blood. I walked away.