Peter Robinson - Many Rivers to Cross

‘If you tell us now, Jason, things will go better for you. If you help us.’

Jason folded his arms. ‘We didn’t do anything.’

‘Where’s the knife, Jason? What did you do with it?’

‘I told you. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Superintendent, I thought we’d left the knife behind us?’ said Ms Lucas.

‘They didn’t do that,’ said Banks. ‘They took it with them.’

‘Cheap shot. You know what I mean. Stick to the script.’

‘Why did you do it?’ Banks asked Jason. ‘Surely it wasn’t because he saw you taking drugs? Surely you didn’t think he’d tell? And so what if he did? Was it because he was Middle Eastern? One of them ? The migrant hordes. He was just a child, Jason. He was only thirteen.’

Jason just shook his head.

Banks let the silence stretch for a while, then handed over to Annie. ‘Did you know Samir before that night in the park?’ she asked.

‘No,’ said Jason. ‘I mean no, I didn’t know him at all. Ever. Stop trying to trick me. And there wasn’t no night in the park.’

‘Is that where you got your drugs? The house on Hollyfield Lane? Did you know it was a trap house for the county line?’

‘You’re way off beam. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Don’t you? Am I? Did something go wrong? Did Samir short-change you? Did he sell you a bad product?’

‘I never bought nothing off of him.’

‘You’re a bright boy, Jason. Look at you, you go to a posh private school. Your sister doesn’t. Lisa only goes to Eastvale Comprehensive. That’s how she got assaulted, walking home from there after a dance. Did you think it was Samir who did that to her? Or someone like him? Maybe if she went to a private school, like you, it would never have happened. How does that make you feel? Does it trouble you?’

‘It’s not my fault. I hate that fucking school, all right? I never asked to go there.’

‘So what happened?’

‘My dad. Mum and Dad. They wanted me to go, become a doctor or a lawyer or something. Go to fucking Oxford or Cambridge or somewhere. I never wanted it. They could only pay for one of us to go.’

‘And you were their best bet?’

Jason just glared at her.

‘Interesting as all this is, DI Cabbot,’ said Ms Lucas, ‘I can’t really see the point in this line of questioning. Can we move on to the matter at hand?’

‘Maybe I don’t know enough to judge,’ Annie said, ‘but I’ve met both of you, and I’d say Lisa is by far the brightest. Was it you who planted the idea in her mind that her attacker was dark-skinned?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Sure you do. It sounds like the kind of thing you would say. The kind of thing you wrote about in that article they wouldn’t publish in the school magazine.’

‘The school’s corrupt. They make their money from terrorists paying to have their kids educated here so they can infiltrate us and kill us.’

‘Do you really believe that?’ Annie asked.

Jason said nothing.

‘The matter at hand, Ms Cabbot,’ said Ms Lucas. ‘No sense going off on ideological tangents.’

‘Lisa didn’t see her attacker,’ Annie said. ‘She had no idea what colour he was. He came from behind, knocked her down.’

‘She saw his hand.’

‘Did she? Or did you convince her that she did? You got her so confused, Jason, that she thought she’d been attacked by a dark-skinned person because you believe they’re the ones who do all the raping and assaulting in this country, don’t you? You see, Lisa never mentioned that he was dark-skinned when we started our investigation, when DC Masterson first questioned her.’

‘She was in shock then. Confused.’

‘It was you who confused her. Your own sister. Just to fit in with your sick beliefs.’

‘DI Cabbot, is any of this really relevant?’ asked Ms Lucas.

‘I’m trying to discover whether this was a hate crime,’ Annie said. ‘I’d say that’s a reasonable line of inquiry, wouldn’t you?’

Ms Lucas sighed. ‘Very well. Carry on. But you’re on a short leash.’

Annie squared her shoulders. ‘Were you getting your revenge for what happened to Lisa, Jason? Taking it out on the first dark-skinned person you could find? Did you do it for Lisa? Because she couldn’t go to a posh school? Because she got assaulted on her way home from a dance at the local comprehensive? Did you kill Samir for Lisa?’

Jason put his hands over his ears. ‘Stop it! I don’t want to hear any more. I didn’t kill anyone. I want to go home.’

‘Look,’ said Banks, gently taking over the questioning again. ‘I understand, Jason. Honest, I do. You had all this stuff going around in your head about migrant hordes, Lisa had been assaulted, you’d been smoking marijuana, then all of a sudden this young Arab lad just turns up out of the bushes. He was running away from someone. Someone he thought was going to harm him but was simply charged with taking him home. But he ran into you, didn’t he? He startled you. That’s understandable. And you took out your knife and stabbed him. Why? Did you think he was armed? Did you think he was going to attack the two of you? Big strapping lads. Bigger than him, older than him.’

Jason started shaking his head from side to side and banging his fist on the table. Ms Lucas put her hand on his shoulder to calm him. Banks glanced at Annie. There wasn’t much point going on right now, he thought, so he gave her the nod and they left the room.

‘I’m not going to lie to you, Chris,’ said Banks, ‘but Jason is very upset back there. I think he finally realised the enormity of what you’ve both done, and it’s overwhelmed him.’

Chris Myers gave a sly grin. ‘Jason’s no fool,’ he said. ‘Besides, we weren’t in the park that night, so why would he say we were?’

‘I’m not saying he admitted you were. But something about our questions upset him. Where were you that night?’

‘What night?’

‘Sunday before last.’

‘At home studying.’

‘You didn’t see Jason?’

‘We’re not inseparable, you know. Yes, he’s my mate, yes, I give him a lift to school, but we’re not joined at the hip.’

‘Would your parents vouch that you were at home that evening around half past ten?’

‘I suppose so. If they remember. I was up in my room most of the evening revising, and they were downstairs watching TV, so I didn’t see them.’

‘It wouldn’t have been too hard to nip out without being seen, then, would it?’

‘Why would I want to do that?’

‘For a smoke.’

‘I don’t smoke.’

‘You know what I mean. And you do have a track record with drugs.’

‘Oh, that fucking stupid party again,’ said Chris. ‘I wish I’d never been there. Do you know, I had no drugs at all that night? I didn’t even get high. Nothing. OK, so I had a few cans of beer, and I wasn’t old enough to drink. Big fucking deal. Arrest me. I was only there cause there was a girl I fancied. A college girl. It’s not as if we’re constantly surrounded by totty at school.’

‘I think the statute of limitations has run out on your underage drinking,’ Banks said. ‘Not to mention lust.’

Even the duty solicitor, Willy Carnwood, managed a smile at that.

‘Who had the knife, Chris? Was it you or Jason? He denies it, but then—’

There came a knock on the door, followed by DC Gerry Masterson carrying a file folder. Normally, Banks would have been annoyed at the interruption, but he had asked Gerry to come immediately if anything turned up at the lab. By the expression on her face, something had.

Banks thanked her, noted what had happened for the tape recordings and took the folder. Annie edged closer to read it over his shoulder. Gerry remained in the interview room, standing by the door.