Danielle Ramsay - Broken Silence

‘That means he couldn’t have done it. She was murdered by Ellison after Jimmy dropped her off,’ Brady said as a surge of relief rushed through him.

Madley continued to look out at the black sea.

‘Where’s the copper in you, Jack? You know that that dumb sod you’ve arrested didn’t murder her. Otherwise you wouldn’t be stood here now.’

‘Why wait until now? Why didn’t you call me as soon as you knew about the murder?’ Brady asked, doubting Madley’s good citizen act. ‘Yesterday when I came to you about Jimmy? Or even when I saw you this morning. Why didn’t you say something?’

‘This morning you had something else on your mind, Jack. Remember? And, as for yesterday, let’s say I was giving Jimmy some time to come forward.’

‘You know if he ends up inside, they’ll kill him because he’s a copper?’ Brady asked.

‘My heart bleeds,’ Madley answered.

‘And if he’s innocent? Something like this will ruin his career, his marriage, everything he’s ever worked for.’

Madley remained unmoved.

‘All he had to do was give me back what was mine. Instead, he goes into hiding. So what am I meant to think? He’s done this to himself, Jack. He’s a liability now. You of all people know the score. If word got out that I was a soft touch then what would happen to my business? No one steals from me, Jack. No one.’

Brady drained his glass and handed it back.

‘Thanks.’ Brady wasn’t sure whether he meant for the malt or for telling him about Matthews before telling Gates.

‘Still on for poker on Monday night?’

‘Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘See you there, then,’ Madley replied as he turned back to the window.

‘Yeah,’ Brady replied quietly.

‘Oh and Jack, have you had time to consider your other problem?’

Brady turned and looked at Madley.

‘Yeah,’ he muttered. ‘Sort it, will you?’

Madley nodded.

‘Consider it already done.’

‘Thanks,’ muttered Brady.

‘You sure you’ve got no doubts? After all, he’s still your dad,’ Madley added.

Brady turned and looked at him.

‘He was never my dad,’ Brady answered as he tried to get rid of the image of the shabby, drunken tramp in his head.

Brady waited until he was outside before calling Matthews. Still no answer.

‘You stupid bugger, Jimmy,’ Brady said under his breath.

He lit a cigarette as he weighed up his options. He had none. The only thing he could do was go back to the station and watch the tape. After that, he could decide whether what Madley had was bad enough for Matthews’ career to be over.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Fuck, thought Brady as he tried to think straight.

Madley had been right, the tape was incriminating. Matthews’ career as a copper was finished. Brady felt his stomach lurch as he thought about what he’d seen.

Matthews seemed to be all over Sophie Washington; as much as she was all over him. He tried to swallow down the acidic bile that had forced its way to the back of his throat. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t ignore the fact that Sophie was the same age as Matthews’ own daughter. Brady shook his head. This was Jimmy he was talking about; Jimmy. The betrayal he felt was beyond words.

Brady poured himself another Scotch as he sat in the heavy darkness. An orange glow from the street lights outside stabbed through the blinds. His phone vibrated again. He knew it would be Kate. But right now he couldn’t face anyone. And certainly not Matthews’ wife. He rested back in his chair and closed his eyes as he listened to the CD of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings in an attempt to drown out his torturous thoughts. He took another mind-numbing mouthful of Scotch and waited. For what, he didn’t know. But wait was all he could do.

Minutes slowly passed as Brady sat in the dark accepting he had no choice. He was aware that as soon as Gates saw the tape questions would be asked. Matthews had withheld crucial information and to make matters worse, he had disappeared. Add to that the allegation that he had been taking backhanders from Madley, the local mafia boss. Right now things couldn’t get any worse.

Brady reluctantly picked up his phone and dialled.

Conrad’s voice answered. In the background Brady could hear shouting and cheering. It sounded like the team were still celebrating the case being closed. Brady slowly breathed out as he prepared himself.

‘Conrad?’

‘Sir, is that you?’

‘Yeah it’s me. I’m still at the station,’ Brady answered softly. ‘I need to talk to you. It’s important. And Conrad? Keep this to yourself. Whatever you do, don’t tell Jenkins.’

‘I thought the investigation was closed,’ replied Conrad.

‘I wish it was,’ muttered Brady. ‘Conrad, how much have you had to drink?’

‘Just a couple, sir. Why?’

‘I might need you to drive me somewhere,’ answered Brady.

He disconnected the call and waited. Conrad parked opposite Matthews’ house in Earsdon. He cut his lights and switched off the engine.

‘Wait here. If Matthews turns up call me,’ Brady ordered reluctantly.

‘Are you sure about this?’ Conrad asked.

Brady turned and stared at him.

‘You saw the tape. What do you think?’

Conrad didn’t reply. He couldn’t.

‘It’s better this way. I need to have a look around and see if I can get any leads on where he’s gone. I need to talk to him before Gates gets hold of that tape. Madley was serious about giving a copy to Gates. Once he sees it…’ Brady stopped, unable to finish.

They both knew what the outcome would be. Matthews’ career would be over. At least this way Brady might be able to convince Matthews to come forward and explain how the bloody hell he had got himself involved with Madley, not to mention his involvement with the victim. Maybe if Matthews came clean then the outcome wouldn’t include prison.

‘Conrad? If I’m not back out in ten minutes … well just bugger off. I don’t want you caught up in all of this. Understand?’ Brady instructed.

It wasn’t worth ringing the doorbell to see if anyone was home, he already knew the answer. He took out the set of keys he’d lifted when he’d first come to see Matthews.

‘Shit!’ he cursed as an alarm started its countdown. Brady had to think fast or he’d have uniform pulling up outside, or worse some security guards believing they were the law. This was Earsdon after all; expensive houses with lots of fancy goods inside.

He followed the noise to an alarm control unit under the stairs. Steadying himself he keyed in the code from Matthews’ old house and inwardly prayed. It went silent.

‘Shit,’ he muttered uneasily as he pulled himself together.

He didn’t have long. He looked around until he found what he presumed was Matthews’ study. The drawers to his desk had been ransacked. Matthews had obviously been in a hurry when he had left and grabbed whatever he could. However, a spare set of car keys had been left in one of the drawers.

Brady picked them up and headed towards the garage. Being a copper, Brady knew Matthews was aware of the likelihood of being traced. CCTV cameras were everywhere and once the police had a report on a vehicle it wouldn’t take long to track it down.

When Brady reached the utility room he tried the door which connected the garage to the house, expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t. It swung open into a large, dark space. He stepped down into the garage and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dense blackness. Matthews’ car was parked against the opposite wall. Brady felt himself trembling and knew it wasn’t just the cold.

Instinct made him try the boot first. It opened. There was a half-full black bin liner. Without thinking Brady shone his torch into it. He stepped back in disbelief at the sight of Matthews’ clothes; the exact same clothes he had worn to Madley’s nightclub the night of the murder. The pale shirt and tie were splattered in indiscriminate patches of rust-coloured blood. Brady had seen enough. He didn’t have the stomach to search through the rest of the bag and decided it was better left for the lab.