REYNOLDS AND BRUNO LOOK for Mike Nichols at the station. Reynolds throws his weight around and gets the sort of cooperation Bruno rarely enjoys. They check with Bookings, then move to the cells out back—Nah, he’s not here—then back to CIB where even Lowell Sennett kowtows to orders, telling them that Nichols was sent home.
‘Who did that?’
‘I don’t know,’ says Lowell.
They check the CCTV footage, and it seems Lowell probably does know, because they watch someone just like him—someone tall and careful enough to keep his face from the cameras—take Mike Nichols out back and deliver him to a waiting van.
And yet, they catch a break: the van’s licence plate is visible.
‘I’ll deal with Lowell later,’ says Reynolds. ‘Run the plate.’
Bruno checks his watch. ‘At this time of night?’
Reynolds knows a number to call.
Within half an hour, they have it locked down.
The van is registered to Dick Arnolds. They look him up and call, getting the answering machine of Arnolds Cross Construction.
A call to a union bloke confirms it.
‘They’re contractors for Fantasyland.’
In the car, on the highway, Bruno checks his gun.
‘Good idea,’ says Reynolds.
‘I don’t know if this is worth it.’
‘We’ll take a look. If anything’s out of place, we’ll call it in.’
‘Deal.’
The road tracks under their tyres.
Bruno says, ‘I’ve got a feeling that we’re headed right into it.’
‘What gives you that impression?’
They both laugh.
Bruno takes out his smokes. ‘You up?’
‘Fuck yes.’
He lights two and passes one over.
Reynolds rolls his neck. ‘Let’s run it down. O’Grady is a judge and a pedo, but he’s connected to all the right people. He’s got official police files stashed in his creepy bunker. On the side, he’s fucking Seth Blackwell who is part of the robbery crew we’re chasing. Bill Webber is …’
‘The one who put a gun on me the other night, in the O’Grady house. He also grew up two streets away from the crime scene. You reckon he could be in the robbery crew? It’s gonna be something like that.’
‘Fuck me, I hope not. He’s working the bloody case.’
‘How does Fantasyland fit into it?’
‘Colleen said the O’Grady kid, Samson, had a line into Fantasyland.’
‘There it is,’ says Bruno.
He rechecks his gun.
The turn-off appears.
They take it.