At least Terry Murphy had the decency to look shell-shocked as he sat bolt upright behind Saira. His film-star looks had vanished, in their place pale terror.
‘Do you know why you’re here?’ said Jo, clicking a switch on the door.
‘I, er, I think you’re going to make me disappear before that lot catch up with me.’ The soft Irish burr was incongruous for a man who’d tried to murder her children.
‘Get you out of here?’
‘That’s what he said,’ replied Murphy.
‘Yeah, sorry about that. I might have told you a little white lie,’ said Spanners, with an insincere shrug. ‘Still, you’re here now.’
‘You fuckers,’ Murphy shouted as he grabbed the door handle. Saira twisted round to seize an arm but Spanners already had the man in a headlock.
‘You can let him go,’ said Jo. ‘Child locks. Now, listen to me. You’re here because you defrauded your way into a school to poison two little boys. Correct?’ 312
‘Fuck you. Ouch, get the fuck off.’
Jo looked again at Spanners who was squeezing Murphy’s testicles. ‘Thanks, Spanners, but maybe you can leave the questioning to us.’ She faced Murphy. ‘Now, usually I’d want to find out a bit about you, establish any common ground, that sort of thing, but we don’t have the time.’
‘Who the fuck are you?’
‘The combination of your worst fears. I am both the boys’ mother, and my friend and I are police officers. No one else knows we are here, and it doesn’t much matter as I’m the boss, so if I unleash Spanners on you again, who’s to know?’
‘You fucking grass,’ Murphy yelled as he launched himself at Spanners but the ex-soldier was too strong.
‘Pack that in,’ said Jo. ‘Tell me what you did to my boys, what you used and who paid you.’ Murphy just glared at her. Jo pointed a finger between Murphy’s eyes. ‘Tell me now because if they die, what we’ll do to you is far worse than whoever you’re running from will.’
‘I don’t know,’ he said. Spanners looked between Jo and Saira as if begging for permission to give Murphy a dig. Jo gave the faintest shake of her head.
‘I know how you got in there and what you did. What you’re going to tell me is what you used and who’s the brains behind this, ’cos that certainly isn’t you.’
‘Fuck off.’
‘Right, we’re running out of time here. Saira and I are going to take a walk for a few minutes.’
The PC looked confused.
‘Spanners, are you OK staying here with Mr Murphy?’
‘My pleasure,’ replied Spanners. ‘Fancy attacking kids.’
Jo and Saira walked slowly down to the seafront.
‘Is this wise, ma’am?’
‘Eh? He’s not under arrest and we’ve just left two like-minded chaps 313to have a chat. That said, we’ll only give them five minutes.’
Saira shrugged and they ambled along the promenade in silence.
Four minutes later, Saira took out her phone and read the message.
‘What is it?’ said Jo.
‘Looks like they might not be playing nicely. Shall we go back?’
When she reached the car, even though the windows were shut, she could hear the screaming. She opened the door and got in as quickly as she could. Saira did likewise. If it wasn’t Ciaran and Liam’s tiny lives at stake, she’d never have risked this – but seeing the fingers on Murphy’s right hand pointing in all the wrong directions, she had no regrets.
‘Oh, that looks nasty. Ready to talk?’ she said.
‘Fucking yes, just keep this animal away.’
‘Good. Leave nothing out.’
Murphy spoke full and fast, not least because Spanners kept a tight grip on his left hand should he have second thoughts. Jo remained twisted round so she could look this would-be killer in the eyes.
His route to Brighton had been the same as Spanners’ and his way into the school was as Jo had already worked out, exploiting the school’s impatient clause in the advert which declared DBS check required in due course, but will not be a barrier to the right candidate starting early. ‘I just had to wait to be told what to do,’ he added. It was obvious really but hearing it from his mouth made it all the more sinister.
‘Who?’ Jo demanded. ‘Who put you up to it?’
Murphy glanced at Spanners. ‘Gorby, we call him. Squat, bald fella with a huge birthmark on his head.’
‘That’s the same bloke who told me to distribute the smack,’ Spanners said.
His openness in front of Murphy surprised Jo, but she pressed on. ‘And how did you poison them? I’m guessing you tampered with their lunchboxes, but what did you put in them?’
‘I don’t know.’ With this Spanners gripped Murphy’s left thumb.
‘Hold on,’ said Jo. ‘Why don’t you know?’ 314
‘’Cos the fella, he just gave me this spray bottle and told me to squirt four shots into whatever might absorb it in their lunchboxes. He didn’t tell me what it was and I didn’t ask.’
Spanners looked across at Jo. She shook her head and carried on. ‘Where were you when he gave you the bottle?’
‘He messaged me and told me to meet him outside the school this morning.’ A surge of adrenaline washed through Jo. Just as Mrs Brakespear the receptionist had said. Where was that CCTV she’d asked for?
‘Anything else?’
Murphy shook his head. ‘No, I swear.’
‘Where’s the bottle?’
‘Dumped.’
Jo could have pushed it but the clock was against her. ‘Spanners, get him to the hospital. Stay with him until you hear from us.’ She turned to Murphy. ‘Listen to me. You tell the hospital you were jumped and these guys you’ve never seen before broke your fingers. You do not tell them why and, when the police arrive, which they will, you point-blank refuse to talk to them. They’ll push it to a degree but not for long. When you’re fixed, you stay with Spanners and we’ll be in touch with the next steps. Understood?’
He nodded. Spanners added, ‘If he needs reminding then I’m happy to help.’
‘Just be careful. Now off, the pair of you.’ She released the child locks and the two men exited the car.
When they were gone and out of sight, Jo called the hospital. More than once she bellowed at the unanswered ringtone to ‘Fucking answer’, and eventually she was put through to the HDU. After a hurried update it was clear that the doctors, like her, were none the wiser regarding the source of the symptoms. They were screening for everything imaginable but nothing was coming up positive. The vomiting was being held back by anti-emetics and their temperatures kept at bay by paracetamol, but 315both boys’ condition seemed to be in stasis.
For now, she had to block it from her mind while she made a couple of calls. First to the school to find out where the external CCTV had got to. Next came a trickier call but one that she had to make.
When he answered, he still sounded offended.
‘Bob, look I’m sorry but I’m terrified,’ she said, ‘and I need to update you.’ She ran through everything, except the broken fingers, and tried her best to differentiate the certainties from the inferences, of which there were many. ‘It’s essential we locate this Gorby bloke – it has to be Evans – and find out what was in those bottles.’
‘Finished?’
‘For now.’
‘Right,’ said Bob. Jo could tell he was struggling to remain civil. ‘It might surprise you but I’ve not been idle myself. My lot have been digging into Evans and he’s been remarkably busy over the last few weeks. Usually he keeps out of the way but he’s been getting his hands dirty, meeting with people he’d usually avoid like a month-old kofta.’
‘Such as?’
‘Few you’d know specifically, but loads of them have been linked to the anti-Op Eradicate activity and most have gone missing.’
‘Well done.’
‘Mmm. Anyway, here’s the jackpot ball. Despite what he thought were Soviet-standard counter-surveillance techniques, guess who he’s visited regularly?’
‘I haven’t got time for guessing games, just tell me,’ she said as a dog walker allowed his mutt to cock a leg against her tyre. She couldn’t help but bang on the window, which terrified the owner and set the terrier off into a cacophony of yelps.
‘Sir Ben Parsons.’
‘Say that again.’
‘You heard me. Some of his phones and several of the cars linked to him have been tracked to Sir Ben’s house, and on occasions both of 316their phones have been together away from the address.’
The thrill of the chase, which was so rare in her current role, overwhelmed her. ‘Let’s find him and nick him then,’ she said.
‘Hold your horses. We might need a little more than that.’
‘Usually, yes, but you’re forgetting my two boys’ lives are at stake. Until we know what these bastards have given them, they could die at any moment.’ She choked the last words. ‘We don’t have time for a gilt-edged arrest plan. We need to find out what they know, like five hours ago. By force if necessary.’
‘Their phones are both showing at Sir Ben’s address now.’
‘Which is?’
Bob gave it to her then said, ‘But I need something to firmly link them before I can get a surveillance authority, let alone a warrant to search the place.’
‘Oh, you crack on then. Let me know when you think you’ve got enough. Meanwhile, I’ve got a couple of funerals to arrange.’ Jo hung up before Bob could reply. She knew she’d treated her most trusted colleague appallingly once again but she needed action.
She was about to call Bob back but before she could, a WhatsApp from a number she didn’t recognise flashed on her screen.
CCTV from outside school. Mrs Holmes, read the message with a video attached.
‘Watch this,’ said Jo, angling the screen to Saira.
The frozen frame showed the school gate and the road beyond. The timestamp showed that day’s date and 10.15 a.m. Jo pressed play. She watched intently as Murphy ran into shot and out of the gate, then stood at the side of the road directly outside. Almost immediately, a Brighthelm cab pulled up on the other side of the road. Murphy then peered at the car and hesitated. Next Tony Evans – his birthmark thankfully spotlit by the sun – got out of the car and seemed to shout towards Murphy, who ran over and got in the cab. For a full two minutes, nothing happened. Then Murphy got out, checked the traffic 317and ran back into the school, stopping only to pull something from his pocket, examine it, then stuff it back. He then disappeared from shot.
Jo started the car. ‘Buckle up. We’re off to pay someone a visit.’