Mark Pearson - Hard Evidence

'We found copies in your flat.'

'You've been to my flat?'

Campbell's look was pure granite. 'Yes, we've been to your flat.'

'You had no right.'

'We had every right. We had a warrant and we found the cocaine.'

Delaney shook his head angrily. 'Jesus Christ, Diane, half a dab.'

'I told you not to call me that. And damn near a kilo is a little more than a dab. I told you to talk to me, didn't I? About Jackie Malone, about your relationship with her.' She shook the suicide note at him and pointed at Moffett. 'And now this sick dead fuck is saying you killed her.'

Delaney sighed, resigned. He could see the way this was going, but couldn't see a way out of it, for now. 'This is a set-up, Diane. I didn't take that cocaine, it's a plant. I've got nothing to do with those films or with Moffett. I've never even heard of him. And I sure as shite had nothing to do with Jackie's murder. You know that!'

Campbell shrugged angrily. 'You've left me with no choice, you stupid prick.'

'Just do it then.'

'Detective Inspector Jack Delaney, I am arresting you on suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.' She turned to Bonner. 'Cuff him and take him in.'

Bonner shrugged apologetically and held out the cuffs. Delaney turned round and held out his wrists, looking back at Campbell. 'Is this going to affect my promotion?'

'Just take him away, Sergeant.'

Bonner led Delaney out of the room as Campbell glanced down at the dead body of Alexander Moffett and shook her head. She looked at the shell-shocked uniforms who were gathered about the room.

'And for fuck's sake, someone give me a cigarette.'

Outside, Delaney walked ahead of Bonner and a uniformed officer to a waiting car. As Bonner opened the door for him to get in, Kate drove into the driveway and jumped out of her car.

'What the hell's going on, Jack?'

'Unpaid parking fines.'

Kate rounded on Bonner. 'Eddie. Come on. What's going on here?'

Bonner shook his head. 'It doesn't concern you, Dr Walker.'

Delaney looked at her impassively. 'He's quite right, there's a dead man in there. Stick with him.'

Kate turned back to Bonner. 'Where's Campbell?'

'She's inside. Not in a good mood.'

'It's not going to improve any.'

She turned sharply on her heel and walked into the house. Bonner put his hand on Delaney's head, bending him into the car. Delaney sat in the back and Bonner turned to the uniform. 'I can take it from here, thanks, Jimmy.' The policeman nodded and headed back towards the house. Bonner walked around and got in the front seat, firing up the engine. He tilted the rear-view mirror so he could see Delaney's face.

'What's going on, Jack?'

'You tell me.'

'That's not the way it works. You know that.'

Delaney held up his hands. 'Not really. Not used to sitting in this position.'

'I had to put the cuffs on.'

'Sure you did.'

'She wasn't a happy bunny, Cowboy. No point both of us pissing her off.'

Delaney nodded his head and looked out the window. 'You reckon this good weather will hold?'

'We'll make an Englishman of you yet.'

'Not in this lifetime.'

Bonner laughed drily. 'As for good weather, you said there was a shit storm coming and you were right. And it's all coming your way, Cowboy.' He shook his head and readjusted the mirror.

Kate walked into the study, her heart hammering in her chest. She fought hard to stay calm. Delaney needed her to stay focused, she reckoned. And strangely, the knowledge made her heart beat a little faster.

Campbell gave her a curt acknowledgement as she entered and gestured atMoffett's body. 'I need to know if it was suicide or if he was helped.'

Kate knelt down by the body of Alexander Moffett, opening her police surgeon's bag and letting the familiar routine steady her nerves. She felt as if every eye in the room was trained on her. She looked at the ligature marks around the dead man's neck. Rope burns that, had he survived, would have marked him for the rest of his life. But he hadn't survived. The man's death was clearly tied up with Jackie Malone, but she didn't know how. She looked up at Diane Campbell.

'What exactly do you think happened here?'

'We don't know, Dr Walker. He was found by his housekeeper.'

'A suicide note?'

'A typed one, left on his computer.'

'What did he say in it?'

'Said he couldn't live with himself. Couldn't live with the guilt.'

Kate looked back down at the swollen face, twisted in agony. 'He chose a particularly unpleasant way to go.'

Campbell nodded. 'I have a hypothetical for you.'

'Go on.'

'Somebody orders a man – at gunpoint say, or some other threat – to stand on a low stool. The rope has been fixed, the noose tied. He tells the man to put the rope around his own neck. He has a gun on him, so who knows, he probably would do it. Then the stool is kicked away and the man is strangled.'

'What's the question?'

'Is there any way of telling that? Any way of telling it was murder and not suicide.'

Kate shook her head. 'Under those circumstances, probably not. If there was a struggle, we could get some indicators – skin under his fingernails, that kind of thing. Otherwise it's very hard to prove.'

'What about fingerprints off the rope?'

Kate shook her head again. 'No chance. We'll test for fibres, but the surface is too rough for prints.'

Kate tilted the man's head and looked at the bruising around his neck.

'I can tell you one thing.'

'What?'

'This wasn't a quick death. He would have taken a while to die. He'd have to really hate himself to do it.'

'Unless he had help.'

Kate looked down at Moffett again.

'Yeah. Unless he had help.'

In the back of Bonner's car, Delaney looked down at the cuffs on his hands and flexed his wrists. There was no chance of sliding them off, the sergeant had made sure of that. He shifted sideways on the seat and looked at Bonner in the rear-view mirror.

'You getting a buzz out of taking me in, Eddie?'

'Someone had to do it, boss. That's what the taxpayers pay their taxes for.' He shrugged. 'Nothing personal.'

'From this angle, it feels kind of personal.'

'What is it we always say? If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to be scared of.'

'We know the system better than that, though, don't we?'

Bonner nodded with a sly smile. 'I'd be lying if I said we didn't.'

'It's a frame. I don't know why. But someone has put me in it. Think about it.'

Bonner shook his head again. 'Not my job, Cowboy. I'm just a policeman, and only a sergeant at that. I don't get paid to think.'

Delaney grunted. 'Cheers, mate.'

'I'm not your friend, Delaney. I never was. I work with you. End of story.' He met Delaney's eyes in the mirror. 'That is, I used to work with you.'

Bonner turned his attention back to the traffic and Delaney slumped against the side of the car. He hoped Kate Walker would be careful who she spoke to. One of his colleagues had set him up. They had killed more than once, and to Delaney it was perfectly clear that they would happily kill again.

Siobhan screamed. High-pitched and terrified. She yelled again and Wendy laughed as she pushed the swing higher. 'Don't stop!' Siobhan loved to go as high as she could. She loved it and was terrified by it at the same time. She remembered last year when her dad had taken her to an amusement park. She couldn't get enough of some of the rides. Ones that went high in the air and crashed to the ground. Ones that whirled like gigantic whisks, spinning and wheeling and turning and dipping. She'd laughed, screamed herself hoarse on that day. Her dad had paid for her to go on the rides time and time again, but wouldn't go on them himself, even though she and Wendy had teased him mercilessly. He claimed he had an inner ear problem which meant he couldn't go on spinning rides. Siobhan laughed as she remembered it.