Barry Maitiland - Spider Trap

‘And you helped the police make an image of the man.’ Bren showed him the drawing of a scowling face that could have been anyone.

‘Yes. The other one’s face was a blank, but this one was vivid in my mind-it still is.’

‘Still, nearly twenty years later?’

‘Oh yes.You see, I saw him again, about eight years ago.’

‘I don’t have a record of that.’

‘No.’ The man looked sheepish. ‘I never reported it. My dad decided he wanted to get himself a new Volvo, so I went with him around the showrooms.We’d just walked into this one when I saw him, sitting there at the manager’s desk in a smart suit and tie. It hit me like a blow. I managed to turn and run, and when I got outside I was sick, sick as a dog, in the gutter. My dad had to take me home. I couldn’t get out of bed for days. I couldn’t tell the coppers about it. This is the first time I’ve talked to anyone, apart from Mum and Dad.’

‘Where was this showroom?’

‘Eltham. Roach Motors.’

Bren showed him a picture of Ricky Roach,son number three.

‘Oh my God. That’s him.’

Commander Sharpe was not comfortable. He twisted in his seat, twitched his narrow pointed nose, rubbed his long pianist’s fingers fretfully before he set Brock’s report back on the desk with care, as if it might draw blood.

‘You’re aware of the history of our dealings with Mr Roach, of course.’

‘Of course.’ Brock felt curiously free. The ship was now launched and others would want to have a hand in steering it. There was still much detective work to do, but others would have their say in that, too.

‘Looks fairly damning. Pretty obvious, I suppose, the Roaches. Cut-throat mob back then. Different story now, mind you. Penny bought her sports car at that showroom, dammit. Nearly had a fit when I saw the name on the invoice. Several of her smart friends buy their cars there, apparently. Action?’

‘We have no choice in the matter of Ricky Roach. A credible witness, a clear body of circumstantial evidence, a previous record.’

‘Mm.’

‘The same can be said of Mark and Ivor.We can place them in pursuit of Joseph Kidd on the night he was murdered. They have to be questioned.’

‘All a matter of identification, though, isn’t it? You say Mr Singh is credible?’

‘Credible but nervous. I’ve offered him protection, but he’s worried about his parents and his business. I’ve persuaded him that none of them will be safe until he helps us put Roach behind bars.’

‘And Ferguson?’

‘Solid.’

‘So the first step is identification parades, yes? Conducted by uniformed branch, of course.’ Sharpe took a breath, as if relieved that at least that would be out of his hands.‘Who do you suggest? Eltham?’

‘The offences took place in Lambeth.’

‘Of course, yes.You’ve heard of KCG Resources? They have mines, Canada and South America. Their shares are hot at the moment. Resources boom. The DCC told me to buy some. Safe bet, he said. The Roaches are major shareholders.Where do you buy your wine? Paramounts? They’ll have an off-licence down your way. One of the Roaches’ companies.’

‘I know it won’t be easy.’

‘And you seriously think that they were physically involved in the murder of those two kids recently? Wealthy, respectable men like they now are? It beggars belief.’

‘I think when faced with something personal they reverted to type. But I can only connect them to those murders through the gun that was used.We have to go for the old cases.’

‘But something else worries me.’

‘What’s that?’

‘You, Brock.You’re not happy, are you?’

‘I know I’m right about the Roaches.’

‘But?’

‘But I know how slippery they are in a corner. I’m reluctant to show our hand until we’ve got a watertight case.The trouble is,we’re not going to get one without getting close to them and stirring them up. It’s all just too long ago. The evidence isn’t out there any more.’

‘Let’s get the question of identification sewn up, then we’ll talk again.’

Three days later Brock was summoned back to his boss’s office. This time Sharpe had a third person on hand, Virginia Ashe, prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service. She grinned and barked a greeting.

‘Brock! Good to see you again. How’s tricks?’

‘Fine, Virginia. Congratulations, I saw you on the news last week.’

‘Oh, that. But you’ve been beating me on airtime lately. Everybody loves a grizzly corpse; three old skeletons and two young girls is unbeatable. Absolutely royal flush.’

Sharpe broke in.‘Sit down,please.I’ve asked Virginia to assist us with our discussion, Brock.You’ve heard the results of the lineups? Three clear identifications. Fine, so we consider the next steps. Interview Mark and Ivor, I take it, warrants if necessary, and a warrant for the arrest of Ricky? You’ve read the summaries, Virginia.You agree?’

‘Ye-es, but we are on thin ice with the first two, don’t you think? I mean Brock has done brilliantly constructing a chain of evidence of their movements on that night, twenty-four years ago. Amazing really, but it doesn’t actually prove anything, does it? If they don’t want to cooperate, there’s not enough for a case to be brought for murder. Unless you could prove they still have the gun, say.Where is the gun, by the way? Does anybody know?’

‘No,’ Brock said.‘I think we have to assume that it’s well and truly disposed of by now. But we certainly need to search their compound at Shooters Hill. Virginia’s right. Let’s concentrate on Ricky.We have a witness who saw him use that gun in 1986. He’s the one to start with.’

‘Mm.’ Sharpe stared at the ceiling.‘The way my thoughts are going is this. Given the publicity surrounding the case, it would make sense for criminal proceedings to be instituted by the DPP, would it not?’

‘By us?’ Virginia looked sharply at him. ‘Rather than the police? By laying an information?’

‘Yes.With our full resources behind you,of course.’

Brock saw that Sharpe had been doing some homework and probably taking advice. If ‘an information’, as the case for an arrest warrant was called, was laid by the police, it would be done not in the name of the police force as a body, but in the name of an individual officer, a chief constable or someone designated by him. Commander Sharpe didn’t want his name on that document.

‘Well,’ Virginia said. ‘I’ll take it to the boss, shall I?’ She shot Brock a deadpan look as vivid as a wink.

‘Yes, why don’t you do that, Virginia,’ Sharpe said, getting to his feet.‘Excellent idea.’

Ricky Roach sat facing Bren Gurney and another detective across the table. He was much plumper and sleeker than in the old photographs, with more scalp showing through the well-groomed hair, but with the same contemptuous curl to his mouth. Beside him sat Martin Connell.

Brock, not wanting at this point to disclose that they had made the link of Brown Bread between the Cockpit Lane murders and the shooting of Mr Singh, had decided not to carry out the interview himself and was sitting at Kathy’s side. Virginia Ashe was also there, keenly watching the screen.

Bren opened the proceedings with the standard preliminaries, then said, ‘We’re investigating a series of thefts of luxury cars during the 1980s.’

Roach looked at him in disbelief.‘Oh yeah? The 1980s? Are you serious?’

‘Perfectly.You were in the car business at that time, I believe. You had a sales yard and workshop in Lewisham, yes?’

‘I don’t believe this.’ Roach turned to look at his lawyer. ‘The 1980s?’

‘I thought the charge was attempted murder,’ Connell said.