‘It’s been two years since this happened.’ Rajesh Baqri pointed at his arm. ‘I thought someone would have caught up to him sooner.’
He gestured towards the sofa; Adrian and Imogen sat down opposite him.
‘What happened?’ Adrian asked, unsure if he wanted the answer or not.
‘I signed a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for a decent settlement. I can’t afford to give the money back, so I’m afraid I can’t talk to you.’
‘A non-disclosure agreement is not legally binding if its purpose is to cover up a crime,’ Imogen said.
‘Well, I had no proof anyway, so there isn’t much to say. Machine malfunction and then zap, my arm was gone. I sued the company and got a nice lump to live on for a while. Better than nothing.’
Rajesh Baqri had a strange optimism considering his situation. His flat was nice, probably funded at least in part with whatever money Reece Corrigan had paid him off with.
‘Did you suspect that it wasn’t an accident?’ Adrian said.
‘I’ve given it a lot of thought over the last couple of years and in all honesty, I don’t know. The timing of it? The fact that he paid up leads me to believe that it probably is true. I got lucky, though. I could have easily been killed in that accident.’
‘Would you be surprised if it was planned?’ Adrian said.
‘No.’
‘Why would Reece Corrigan want to hurt you?’ Imogen asked.
‘The man is nuts. I once saw him pay a man five hundred quid to eat a bowl of wet cement.’
‘Jesus. Did the man do it?’ Imogen said.
‘He tried, but he couldn’t keep it down. Puked everywhere. It could have literally killed him.’
‘Why would Corrigan do that?’ Imogen said.
‘He gets off on humiliating people and playing God. He thinks he is above everyone else. Total narcissist.’
‘Anything else you can remember? What about his wife?’
‘Oh, yeah, when he brought her to the site you had to keep your eyes down. If he thought you were looking at her then you were in trouble. And God help you if you tried to help her out in any way.’
‘In what way?’ Imogen said.
‘In the losing your arm kind of way.’ He smiled bitterly before leaning back in his armchair.
So, Rajesh Baqri had tried to help Angela Corrigan and then ended up without an arm. Adrian had to wonder if Reece Corrigan would have the balls to go after a police officer. He took an arm from Baqri, would he try to take something from Adrian?
‘Did you try to help Angela?’ Adrian said.
‘I didn’t want to get involved, but I used to ask her how she was doing, which was more than anyone else seemed to do. I guess I know why.’
‘Did you know Simon Glover or Leon Quick?’
‘Simon was one of Corrigan’s shadows; he’s always got one or two around him. They are probably the smart ones – keep your enemies closer and all that. What’s happened to Simon?’
‘What makes you think something has happened to Simon?’ Imogen said.
‘Well, aside from anything else, why would you be asking me about him?’
‘We pulled Simon’s body from the River Exe,’ Imogen said.
‘I saw that on the news. That was him?’
‘It was. He was beaten. Did you ever see anything like that happen while you were there?’
‘Obviously not to that level, but I did see a couple of beatings take place.’
‘Beatings for what?’ Imogen asked.
‘Anything Corrigan felt like, shoddy work, being lippy – we were walking on eggshells a lot of the time,’ Baqri said.
‘Who administered the beatings?’ Imogen said.
‘The ones I saw? Simon did. He did whatever Corrigan told him to do. Let me guess, he got involved with Angela.’
‘That seems to be the case,’ Adrian said.
‘How about her? Is she all right?’ he asked with a heavy sigh.
‘How close were you with Angela?’ Imogen said.
‘Not close, but anyone with eyes could see what was going on in that relationship. Most people were too afraid to do anything. I took her to the hospital once and I lost my arm for it. There’s something about Corrigan. It’s hard to explain, but you kind of get the feeling he would do anything, that nothing is off limits. He is one sinister individual.’
‘Why didn’t anyone go to the police?’ Imogen said.
‘It was understood that bad things would happen if you did. They weren’t empty threats – as you can see.’
‘We spoke to Leon Quick and he seemed terrified. Do you know why?’ Imogen said.
‘Quick was a bit of a gobshite, but he wasn’t in with Corrigan, not like Glover was. I don’t know why he would be terrified, though. Most of these little accidents at work came without warning. Sorry. I really don’t have much information. I wasn’t even there that long, so I’m not sure how much I can help you.’
‘We are trying to encourage Angela to make a statement telling us what happened the night Simon was attacked. We believe she has some information. Would you be willing to speak to her?’ Imogen said.
‘Life is hard enough with just one arm. I’ve been off Corrigan’s radar for a while and I prefer it that way. I doubt Glover is the first person he killed. I just can’t help you, I’m sorry.’
‘Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to us,’ Adrian said.
‘I hope you get him.’
They stood and left the flat. Adrian turned to Imogen as they walked back to the car.
‘How does Corrigan have that much power? How does he get away with it?’
‘Some people just feel entitled to it. They take what they want and screw anyone who gets in their way. Like Baqri said, it’s narcissism.’
‘We need to put him away.’
‘We do. We also need to be careful. I know you, Adrian. You think you’re bulletproof, but you aren’t.’
‘We can’t be afraid of people like that. They can’t be allowed to get away with this stuff.’
‘No one’s saying that. We just need to make sure not to piss him off before we can put him away.’
Adrian thought about what Baqri had said. What if Reece Corrigan knew that Adrian had tried to help Angela? What would he do then? Adrian wasn’t afraid, just curious. How far was Corrigan willing to go to protect what was his? Was he willing to hurt a police officer, or worse? At this point, Adrian had very little concern for his own safety; he just wanted to put Reece Corrigan away.