DI Sean Corrigan Crime Series: 6-Book Collection: Cold Killing, Redemption of the Dead, The Keeper, The Network, The Toy Taker and The Jackdaw. Luke Delaney

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ I figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep a couple of hairs for ourselves, leave them at an appropriate scene if things started getting desperate.’

      ‘So you planted them at the Kotler scene for Dr Canning to find? Very nice.’

      ‘No,’ Donnelly said, ‘not me. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t convinced about Hellier, so I held them back, but …’

      ‘But what?’

      ‘I gave them to Paulo to look after, just until we needed them …’

      ‘And Paulo was convinced about Hellier and decided not to wait?’

      ‘That’s about the size of it.’

      ‘He told you all this?’

      ‘Aye. Once you nailed Gibran, Paulo ’fessed up. No need to panic, though – I’ve already made it look like an administrative balls-up. As far as anyone will ever know, Paulo accidentally sent the wrong samples to the lab. He mistook the samples taken from Hellier for hairs gathered from the Kotler scene, so no surprise they found a match. But it’s covered. Trust me.’

      ‘I take it he understands he’ll have to explain this administrative balls-up in court at the trial?’

      ‘Aye,’ Donnelly answered. ‘He doesn’t really have much choice.’

      ‘Has he learnt his lesson?’

      Donnelly knew what he meant. ‘He was trying to do the right thing, but he won’t do it again, not without checking first.’

      ‘Fine,’ Sean said. ‘I’ll deal with it myself, before anyone has a chance to make more of it. I’ll make sure he knows when to and when not to give an investigation a helping hand.’

      ‘I owe you one,’ said Donnelly.

      ‘No you don’t,’ was Sean’s reply.

      ‘And what do we do about Gibran?’

      ‘Run it past the CPS. Tell them we think we’ve got enough to charge him with two counts. The attempted murder of Sally and the murder of PC O’Connor.’ Sean leaned back in his chair. ‘At least we’ve got a decent chance of getting a conviction there. While he’s banged up on remand, we’ll keep digging on the other murders. Maybe we’ll get lucky.’

      ‘And if we don’t?’ Donnelly asked.

      ‘Pray we get a friendly judge with the brains to read between the lines. If we do, then Gibran will spend the rest of his natural behind bars.

      ‘Changing subjects, is PC O’Connor’s family being looked after?’

      ‘As best we can,’ Donnelly said. ‘Family liaison’s with them already, for what it’s worth.’

      ‘Any kids?’

      ‘Three.’

      ‘Christ’s sake.’ Sean couldn’t help but imagine his own family sitting, holding each other, crying in disbelief as they were told he’d never walk through the front door again. He felt sad to the pit of his stomach. ‘Having a dead hero for a father isn’t going to be much use to them, is it?’

      Donnelly shrugged an answer.

      ‘Last but not least,’ said Donnelly, ‘what do we do about Hellier? Or rather, Korsakov?’

      ‘Leave him to DI Reger at Complaints. He can have Hellier and Jarratt as a package, assuming he can find him. And good luck to him there.’

      ‘That’s the thing I don’t get about Hellier,’ said Donnelly. ‘He had the money and the means to disappear whenever he wanted. Why didn’t he run when we first came sniffing around him? Why didn’t he just fuck off to the tropics then? Come to think of it, why was he working for Butler and bloody Mason in the first place? He didn’t need the money, he already had a small fortune stashed where the sun don’t shine. He could have put his feet up on a beach someplace where the sex is cheap and the booze is cold, and stayed there happily for the rest of his natural. Why fuck around in London, pretending to be a financier? He may have been a fraud, but he was still working for a living. It doesn’t make sense.’

      But it did to Sean. The more he knew about Hellier, the more he understood him.

      ‘It wasn’t about the money with Hellier. For him it’s the game, always the game: proving he’s smarter than everyone else.’

      ‘Proving it to who?’ Donnelly asked.

      ‘To himself,’ Sean answered. ‘Always to himself. Proving to himself that everything they said about him was wrong.’

      ‘“They”?’ Donnelly asked. ‘Who are they?’

      Sean had said enough. ‘It doesn’t matter. It’s not important.’

      ‘Whatever,’ Donnelly dismissed it. ‘Anyway, speaking of Hellier, Korsakov, whoever the bloody hell he really is, how do you suppose he got to the hospital so soon after we did?’

      ‘Nothing surprises me when it comes to Hellier. Maybe we should check to see if any of our fast response cars are missing.’ Sean managed a slight grin.

      ‘Indeed,’ Donnelly replied and stood to leave, but stopped in the doorway. ‘What was all that about, by the way?’ he asked. ‘In the interview, when Gibran started saying all that shit about your childhood and how you and Hellier were the same?’

      ‘It was nothing,’ Sean told him, his voice a little too loud. ‘It meant nothing. Just rantings. Gibran’s last chance to try and do some harm.’

      ‘Aye,’ Donnelly responded. ‘That’s what I thought.’ As he turned to leave Sean’s office, he almost walked into Featherstone. ‘Guv’nor,’ he acknowledged.

      Featherstone nodded his appreciation and watched Donnelly leave before turning to Sean. Without speaking, he closed the door and took a seat. Sean had no idea whether he was about to be praised or pilloried.

      Finally Featherstone spoke. ‘Ordinarily, I’d say congratulations – but I’m betting that would feel rather hollow right now.’

      ‘It would,’ Sean agreed.

      ‘No one could have done a better job,’ Featherstone reassured him. ‘You displayed some, shall we say, unusual insights. Had you not, Gibran would still be out there. I think you’ve saved some lives today, Sean.’ He didn’t answer. ‘Anyway,’ Featherstone continued, ‘the real hard work starts now, yes? So I’ll leave you to get on with it, but don’t kill yourself. This would be a good point to practise the art of delegation. Your team’s capable. You need to get that hand seen to and to get some rest. Spend a little time at home. You’ll feel better for it.’

      ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Sean promised.

      Featherstone rose to leave, then sank back into his uncomfortable chair. ‘One more thing you should know.’ His words made Sean lean away from him. ‘Your … shall we say, special talents have been noticed. Certain people have begun СКАЧАТЬ