Mark Pearson - Hard Evidence

Today, though, he was focusing on business, or trying to. He had his notebook open on his lap and his pen in his hand.

'Come on, love, she's dead. Not a pleasant death.'

Melissa shivered. 'I heard.'

'Or Billy Martin's.'

'What's happened to that prick, then?' She put two mugs of tea on the table and sat opposite him. Bonner watched distracted as she placed a cigarette between her ruby-red lips and fired it up, her lip muscles twitching and the cigarette doing a lazy circular dance as she drew deeply. Her chest swelled as she inhaled and Bonner had to flick his eyes away from her cleavage. The heat wave was showing no signs of abating and a small drop of sweat was running slowly down her right breast.

'I said what happened to him, then?'

Bonner blinked and looked up at her face. 'He went for a bit of a swim. Didn't wear his lifebelt.'

Melissa sucked in more smoke, her cheeks hollowing and her lips pouting. She let the smoke slip forth in a lazy stream, and Bonner almost sighed along with her.

'Good,' she said finally, and Bonner nodded in agreement. Billy Martin's passing from the world was universally unmourned, but he still had a job to do, and the sooner he got business out of the way, the sooner he could attend to other matters. He nodded to the smoke-stained wall to his left.

'Jackie Malone. You telling me you didn't hear anything?'

'I already told your uniforms. Nothing at all.'

Bonner gave her his policeman's look. 'You told them nothing or you told them you heard nothing?'

'You've got my statement. I didn't hear a thing.'

'She was murdered right next door, for goodness' sake.'

'I wasn't listening. I'm a working girl, remember. I have to concentrate.'

'So you didn't notice anything out of the ordinary? You didn't hear anything unusual?'

'She was a specialist, wasn't she, Eddie? It was all unusual there.' She threw him a knowing look, half amused, half challenging. 'Wasn't it?'

Bonner closed his notebook. He was only going through the motions anyway. The woman didn't know anything, that much was clear.

'What about her son? Where did Andy go, do you know that?'

Melissa looked at her watch and blew out another stream of smoke. 'Who knows with that one? Thirteen years old going on thirty. He's probably with his other uncle, travelling. He was never here much, you already know that. You spoke to his uncle?'

'We're looking for him.'

Melissa shrugged. 'I wish I could help, love, but I didn't hear or see a thing.' She ground out her cigarette in a small plate on the table and drained her mug of tea. 'That the official business over with, is it?'

'For now.'

'Right.' She stood up and took off her cardigan. Her voice suddenly uncompromisingly authoritarian. 'Get next door then and get on your knees.'

She reached behind her to pick up an improbable-looking object with straps and buckles from the kitchen table. Bonner nodded, the dry tip of his tongue nervously licking the corner of his lips.

Sometimes he really loved his job.

Later that afternoon, Delaney ground his cigarette stub with a quick flick of his shoe and watched as a police van pulled to a stop in the car park outside White City police station. The back doors swung open and a couple of uniformed officers climbed down, leading a middle-aged man between them. In his forties, he was dressed in filthy black jeans, with beads, bangles and long greasy hair. Half hippy, half Hell's Angel, more metal in his face than God or nature ever intended. Jackie Malone's elder brother. He scowled as he saw Delaney lounging against the wall and spat on the ground.

'Might have known.'

Delaney walked over to the officers. 'I'll have a quick word with him, thanks, guys.'

'All yours.'

'There was no sign of the boy?'

One of the uniformed men shook his head. 'We asked around too. Nobody has seen him for a long time.'

'Okay.'

The officers walked away, rubbing their hands as if to clean off the taint of Russell Martin.

'What do you want, Delaney?'

Delaney pushed the man against the wall and wasn't gentle about it.

'Suppose you tell me where the boy is, for a start?'

Martin struggled angrily. 'And suppose I tell you to go stick your head in a pig?'

Delaney kneed him quickly in the groin; he doubled over in pain but Delaney hauled him up by his throat and leaned in close.

'You fuck with me, Russell, and I'll make your eyeballs bleed. Do you know what I am saying to you?'

Russell Martin looked away and Delaney slapped him as hard as he could, open-palmed against the side of his head.

'Do you know what I am saying to you?'

Martin grunted and rubbed his head. 'I've got rights.'

'You've got the right to remain silent. But you exercise that right and I'll spoil you for your girlfriend. You fuck with me, you piece of pikey shite, and I'll spoil you for any woman.'

'What do you want from me?'

'I want to know where Andy is.'

'I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him for weeks.'

Delaney slapped him again on the side of the head. 'I'm telling you, don't fuck around with me.'

Martin was nearly in tears. 'I don't know where he is. I swear.'

'I don't care what you swear; you lie to me and you'll live to regret it.'

'I've been on the road for four months and he wasn't with me the last couple. He came back to his mum, that's all I know.'

'You spoken to her lately. Or your brother?'

Martin shook his head, 'I heard what happened to them, but it's got nothing to do with me.'

'Who has it got to do with, then?'

He shrugged. 'I don't know. We weren't exactly close.'

Delaney curled his lip, genuinely disgusted. 'You're a real piece of shite, you know that.'

Martin shook his head angrily. 'I know what I am and I know what they were. This has got nothing to do with me.'

Delaney leaned in angrily again. 'It's got everything to do with your nephew right now.'

Martin flinched back and shook his head. 'I wouldn't do anything to hurt the boy.'

'That's right. You're a regular Mary Poppins, aren't you?'

'I don't know where he is, Delaney. It's the truth.'

Delaney looked at him for a long moment. 'You wouldn't know the truth if it fucked you in the arse.' He gave him a rough shove towards the road. 'Stay where I can find you.'

Russell staggered and caught his balance. 'Yeah, right.'

'I mean it. Don't make me come looking for you.'

Martin hurried away out of the car park entrance without looking back. Delaney palmed a cigarette into his mouth and lit it, a dark look in his eyes as he drew the soothing smoke in and watched Jackie Malone's brother scurry away. He took a couple more drags and then walked across the car park, heading towards the road.

Pacing about on the deep-pile carpet of his office on the second floor, Chief Superintendent Walker was talking on his mobile phone, and he was far from happy.

'I don't care what your problems are. I told you I'm dealing with it.' He walked over to the window and looked out, anger sparking in his eyes like an electrical storm as he saw the person they were discussing heading out of the car park.

'I told you I'd take care of it, so just let me do my job!' He snapped the phone shut.

Kate threaded through the crowd of off-duty police already packing the Pig and Whistle at five o'clock, and made her way to the bar. Delaney was sitting on a stool in the corner, nursing a pint of Guinness, watching Sally Cartwright beat Bob Wilkinson at darts but not really paying any attention. His thoughts were elsewhere. Kate took a penny out of her pocket and slid it along the bar counter in front of Delaney. He picked it up and looked at it.

'If they were that easy to get rid of, I'd gladly give them to you.'