Barry Maitiland: Spider Trap

‘Yes, yes, of course. I’ll come back over to the hospital soon.’

‘Tom’s daughter and her mother are here at the moment. They seem a little better today. The forecast is fair. Should be a nice day for a drive into the country. I expect I’ll be home later tonight.’

‘Right. Have a nice trip.’

‘Thanks. Oh, one bit of news should appeal to you. I’ve just had the result of the tests on the gun Adonia used. It is Brown Bread.’

She opened the curtains and looked out on a dark morning sky, heavy with cloud.Ivor Roach,Brown Bread’s last victim.Brock was implying that there was justice in that, a kind of resolution, but she couldn’t really feel it. To her it just seemed as if all their digging around had brought some nasty dormant thing wriggling to the surface to create more pain and misery. What was the point of avenging those ancient deaths if it just caused more death, more anguish, more broken lives? She felt tired, so tired, and had to force herself under the shower to face the day.

She also didn’t fancy meeting Tom’s family at the hospital, and left her visit until mid-morning, by which time they’d gone. After an hour staring at his motionless, mummified form she felt restless and decided to get some fresh air with a walk along the river. She made her way down to the ground floor and had barely cleared the entrance doors when she was stopped by a cry.

‘Kathy!’

She turned and saw Martin Connell running towards her, his coat flapping, hair flying in the wind. He looked pale, eyes pouchy, and she guessed he hadn’t had much sleep either in the past forty-eight hours.

‘Thank God,’ he gasped.‘Where’s Brock?’

His abruptness startled her. ‘Hi, good morning to you too, Martin.’

‘Sorry.’ He took a deep breath, pulling himself up with a visible effort, and put on an unconvincing smile. He was agitated, blinking rapidly and she noticed a tremor in his cheek.‘Kathy, this is terribly important.’ He took hold of her arm, gulping for air as if he were drowning.‘Do you know where he is? Is he inside? I haven’t been able to find him.’

‘No, he’s not here.What on earth is wrong?’

‘I have to see him, Kathy. It’s very urgent!’

‘Well, I’m afraid you can’t, not until tonight anyway, or maybe tomorrow.’

Martin’s face looked so racked that she added, ‘He’s gone to North Wales to speak to Michael Grant. But you can reach him on his mobile. Here’s the number-’

‘No, that’s no good! I have to speak to him in person. North Wales?’He shook his head as if this were impossible.‘Where? Do you know where?’

Kathy hesitated, thrown by Martin’s obvious alarm. ‘Grant’s staying in a cottage out in the country somewhere, I don’t know exactly where.’

‘You must!’

‘Martin,’ she said, exasperated now, ‘Brock got the directions himself from the friend of Michael’s who owns the place. I wasn’t really paying attention. Surely someone else can help?’

He shook his head desperately.‘How long ago did he leave?’

‘Oh, three hours, but-’ ‘Maybe I can go after him.Who is this friend?’

‘He’s a builder. But why-’

‘Can you get hold of him?’

‘I do have his phone number, but-’

‘Ring him, please. Get the directions from him.’

‘Not until you tell me what this is all about.What’s going on?’

‘Kathy, please. I just have to get to Brock, now, today, as soon as possible. It’s a matter of life and death. Believe me, please.’

She’d never seen him like this, panicky and wild, clutching his coat about him, looking more like a beggar or a mugging victim than a top criminal lawyer. She took out her phone and notebook, checked Wayne Ferguson’s home number and made the call. His wife answered. There had been an emergency of some kind at the building site and Wayne had had to go in.She gave Kathy his mobile number, but when she tried it she got his message service.

‘He’s gone to a building site,’she said.‘A supermarket.There’s been-’

She caught a look of alarm on Martin’s face, his eyes on something over her shoulder, and when she turned she found herself staring into the faces of the two remaining Roach brothers, Mark and Ricky. Close up, in the flesh, they were nothing like the remote images on the walls at Queen Anne’s Gate. Beefy men with heavy bodies and florid meaty faces, their father’s thin gene had bypassed them or been gorged out of existence.

‘You two having a cosy chat, or what?’ Mark said menacingly. ‘Who was she phoning, Martin?’

‘It’s all right,’Martin gabbled.‘I’ve found out where he is.She was trying to get directions . . .’

‘Where is he then?’

Kathy stared at Martin. He forced his eyes away, to the two men. ‘He’s gone to North Wales, to see Grant. He’s hiding up there.’

‘Oh yeah?’ The brothers exchanged a calculating look, then one glanced back over his shoulder at a group coming down the footpath towards them, and said, ‘Let’s go into the car park.’ He took hold of Kathy’s arm and gripped tight. She tried to wrench free and he said, ‘Don’t be stupid or we’ll have to hurt you.’ His brother took the other arm and they frogmarched her towards the parking building, Martin tagging along behind.

They walked up ramps and along aisles lined with deserted vehicles until they came to a black Mercedes luxury off-roader. Inside, Kathy made out the profile of Spider Roach, and saw him turn his cadaverous pale face towards them as they approached.

‘Now,’ Mark said as his brother pushed Kathy hard up against a concrete column.‘What’s the story?’

Kathy said nothing,and Martin immediately responded.‘He left about three hours ago.The place is a cottage in the countryside.She doesn’t know the address, so I got her to phone the owner, a friend of Grant’s,but we couldn’t get through.He’s a builder and he’s been called out to a site. A supermarket, right, Kathy?’

He looked at her, appealing with his eyes.

‘What are you doing, Martin?’ she said.

‘They’ve got Lynne, Kathy, my wife. I spoke to her, she’s hysterical. Vexx and Crocker have got her.’

‘We’re not too impressed with old Martin here at the moment,’ Mark said, and gave the solicitor a playful punch on the upper arm that made him shudder.‘Sleeping with the enemy is what we hear.’ He pointed an accusing finger at Kathy.‘That right,darling?’

Kathy just stared back. She wondered if it was Tom who’d planted that little seed in their minds.

‘Tell them, Kathy!’ Martin begged.‘Tell them it isn’t true!’

‘It isn’t true.’

Mark gave a chuckle.

‘What do you want?’ Kathy asked.

‘Dad wants to talk to Brock, about what happened to our brother.You too.’

‘You didn’t say anything about her,’ Martin protested.‘You said it was Brock you wanted.’

‘A supermarket, did you say?’ Mark mused.

‘That’ll be Ferguson,’ Ricky said. ‘The one we spoke to before. In Walworth.’

Mark nodded and opened the vehicle door and got in beside his father. Kathy watched them talking, then turned back to Martin.

‘When did this happen, with Lynne?’

‘I was playing golf, not much more than an hour ago. I got this phone call. I had to drive over here. They . . .’ he glanced at Ricky, still gripping Kathy’s arm, so close to her that she could smell the fried onions on his breath and feel the hard lump of the gun under his jacket when he turned,‘. . . they’d tried Brock’s house, but he wasn’t there. They wanted me to find him, and persuade him to come out to the car. They say they just want to talk . . .’

Kathy stared at him and the words died in his throat.