Streetwise (32 page)

Silver’s face had taken on an odd expression. Her eyes were gleaming, her lips strangely twisted. A small gob of spittle nestled in the left hand corner of her mouth. ‘Get moving,’ she ordered, gesturing with the gun.

‘What are you doing?’ Ava whispered.

‘The basement,’ Silver hissed back. ‘Go down the stairs. Over there, through that door where the light’s coming from.’

‘I don’t understand. Why are you —’

‘Shut up!’ Silver snapped. ‘Start walking. Do what I tell you, Ava. Don’t make me mad.’

Shocked and bewildered, Ava headed for the rear of the shop. She heard the thin crunch of the glass beneath her feet and from behind her the sound of Silver’s soft panting breath. She carried on walking until she came to the top of a flight of grey stone steps. By now her heart was thumping, dread knocking in her chest.

‘Down the stairs,’ Silver urged.

But Ava hesitated, panic surging through her body. She looked down into the basement as if she was staring into the jaws of hell. If she went down, would she ever come back up again?

Silver shoved the barrel of the gun into her spine. ‘I can shoot you right here, right now. Is that what you want, Ava? Is that what you really want?’

With leaden legs, Ava slowly began the descent. Silver closed the door behind them. She listened out for any sound that might warn her that someone else was present. Was Danny Street waiting for her? And if he was, then why? All she had done was help his brother escape. Why should she be punished for that?

She clung on to the wooden rail as she put one foot in front of another. Above her a single bare bulb hung from the slanting ceiling. Jesus Christ, if only she’d never looked out of that window. If only she hadn’t answered the door. If only… But those regrets weren’t going to help her now. She had just made what might turn out to be the biggest mistake of her life.

When she reached the bottom of the steps, Ava stopped. Ahead of her, at the end of a short corridor was a large well-lit room. The door was open. The smell of formaldehyde hung on the air. She felt the fear rising into her throat and tried to swallow it down.

‘Go on,’ ordered Silver, prodding her again with the gun. ‘Why have you stopped? You mustn’t stop. You have to carry on.’

Ava knew she had no choice. Holding her breath she advanced, the brightness of the fluorescent light making her squint. As her vision cleared, the first thing she noticed was a long workman’s table in the centre of the room. Its wooden surface was covered with sharp metal tools, wire, clay, animal skulls, skin and bones. Then, as she shifted her gaze a fraction, her stomach gave a lurch. There
was
someone else in the room, only it wasn’t Danny Street.

Morton Carlisle sat propped up against the wall, his head lolling forward, his legs stretched out in front of him. There was a bullet wound close to his collar bone and the left side of his shirt was covered in blood. His chest was still rising and falling, quick shallow breaths as if his lungs were straining to work. A thin wheezing sound came from his mouth.

Ava automatically moved towards him. ‘God, what have you done?’

Silver started waving the gun around again. ‘Leave him! Leave him alone! Don’t touch him!’

Ava stopped in her tracks, glancing quickly over her shoulder. ‘You have to get an ambulance,’ she said. ‘Do you want him to bleed to death?’

That small weird smile appeared on Silver’s face again. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘That’s exactly what I want.’

Ava’s heart skipped a beat. She looked towards Carlisle and then back at Silver. ‘Why? Why would you want that?’

‘That’s my business,’ said Silver sulkily. She pushed out her upper lip, pouting at Ava. ‘Sit down over there.’ She pointed towards the right where there was an old stained porcelain sink set into a steel counter, but then shook her head. ‘No, not there. Sit down by him. I want to be able to see you both. But don’t touch him, right? You mustn’t touch him.’

Ava moved forward, skirted around the corner of the table and kept on walking until she reached the limp bleeding figure of Carlisle. She turned and slid slowly down the wall. She wrapped her arms around her shaking knees and stared up at Silver. ‘What now?’

Silver seemed to relax a little now that she had both of them safely in her sights. She didn’t answer the question, though. Instead she said, ‘Did you know that this used to be a funeral parlour?’

The last thing Ava needed was to be reminded of death, but she knew that the only way of avoiding it was to try and find a way to engage with her captor. She had to play for time. She had to keep her talking until she figured out a plan. ‘Yes, I remember it from when I was a kid. Tobias Grand & Sons.’

‘Do you know what they used to do in here?’

‘No.’

‘This was where they embalmed the bodies. Danny told me. Danny watched it done once. He watched a dead girl’s insides being sucked out through a tube. Is that gross or what?’

‘Where is Danny?’ Ava asked.

Silver leaned against the table and scowled at her. ‘He’s not here. Why would he be here? This has nothing to do with him.’

‘Okay,’ said Ava, trying to keep her voice calm while her thoughts ran riot. ‘I was just wondering. It doesn’t matter.’ Her eyes fixed on the gun. Was it the gun that Chris had lost? It had to be. It looked the same, but she was hardly an expert. ‘Is that your gun?’

‘It’s mine now,’ Silver said. ‘Finders, keepers. And it’s loaded.’ She looked at Carlisle and gave her little-girl giggle. ‘But you already know that. And the thing is, when it goes off, nobody can hear a thing. It’s the walls, you see, nobody can hear through these walls.’

Ava gazed up at Silver, seeing for the first time the spatters of blood down the front of her white coat. She hadn’t noticed it before. The light had been too dim. She must have been standing close to Carlisle when… but she didn’t want to dwell on that. ‘Have you used it before?’

‘Before?’ Silver repeated, a tiny frown settling on her forehead. Then suddenly her brow cleared. ‘Oh, I get it. You mean Jenna Dean, don’t you? Now if anyone deserved to die, that bitch did.’

‘Did you kill her?’ Ava tried not to make the question sound like an accusation.

‘Might have done,’ Silver said. ‘Then again, I might not. What do you think?’

‘I don’t know.’ Ava wasn’t sure if she wanted to know either. She wondered how long it would be before anyone noticed she was missing. A few hours, maybe even longer. Tash would probably presume that she’d gone to see her dad. She wouldn’t start to worry until later tonight. And then, even if it was reported, who would think to look for her in Beast? ‘Why have you brought me here?’

‘You know why.’

Ava shook her head. ‘I thought we were friends. Didn’t you say that, in the Fox? Didn’t you say that we were going to be the best of friends?’

‘That was before.’

‘Before what?’

‘Before Daddy found out about…’ Two stripes of pink appeared on Silver’s cheekbones. She glared down at Carlisle. ‘That bastard told Raynard everything.’

‘I don’t know who Raynard is.’

Silver gave a sigh of exasperation as if Ava’s ignorance knew no bounds. ‘Works for my dad, don’t he? He came here. He came here asking questions and that stupid bastard spilled his guts.’

Ava realised now what had happened upstairs. Raynard’s powers of persuasion had clearly gone beyond the verbal. She gave Carlisle a quick sidelong glance, unsure as to whether he was even conscious or not. How long could he survive for? Fifteen minutes, twenty? How long before all the blood leaked out of his body? ‘He shouldn’t have done that,’ she said, trying to ingratiate herself. ‘People should know when to keep their big mouths shut.’

‘That’s what I told him. But he wouldn’t listen. Kept saying that he was going to call the filth.’ Silver gave a high-pitched laugh, a sound that had a faintly hysterical edge to it. ‘The filth, for fuck’s sake!’

‘So you had to stop him. Of course you did.’

‘Yes,’ Silver said. ‘That’s what I had to do.’

While they were talking Ava was looking surreptitiously around the room. So far as she could tell the only way of escape was back up the steps. Had Silver locked the door? She didn’t know. She’d heard it close, but wasn’t sure if a key had been turned or not. Anyway, she’d never even make it that far. Now that she was sitting on the floor, she was at a distinct disadvantage. In the time it would take her to get up, to make a lunge at Silver, the crazy girl would have pulled the trigger. She cursed the fact that she hadn’t made a move upstairs where the light was bad and she might have stood a better chance.

‘I still don’t see why we can’t be friends,’ Ava said. ‘I’d never grass to the police. They had me down the station for two hours this afternoon and I never said a word.’

‘Ava Gold,’ Silver murmured. ‘Silver and Gold, silver and gold – do you get it?’

‘Sure,’ Ava said, smiling back at her. ‘Doesn’t that make us a team, you and me?’

‘We could have been friends, but it’s too late now.’

‘It’s never too late,’ Ava insisted.

Silver gave a shrug. She didn’t look convinced. Her fingers tightened around the gun.

‘Why did… why did Morton want to talk to the police?’ asked Ava tentatively.

Silver’s eyes glittered, her face growing angry. ‘It was all his fault,’ she spat, glaring at Carlisle. ‘It was, it really was. He
wanted
her to do it. He wanted Ava to do all those dirty things with those men. He wanted her to fuck them. That’s not right, is it?’

‘No,’ Ava said.

‘And now Daddy’s mad and he doesn’t love his little girl any more. So Morton has to be punished. And Ava has to be punished too. She has to be made to pay for all the trouble she’s caused. Do you see?’

What Ava saw was that she wasn’t going to get out of this damn place alive if she didn’t do something soon.

It was almost fifteen minutes now since Valerie had got the call from DC Lister, informing her that Danny Street’s girlfriend had turned up at Market Square and taken Ava Gold to Beast. There was no doubt in the inspector’s mind as to what was going on: Chris Street was holed up in the taxidermy shop and the clan was gathering to help with his escape.

She sat in the car, her eyes firmly fixed on the door. She had made the decision not to go in. Chris Street was a dangerous fugitive. He was wanted for murder and if he could kill his ex-wife he wouldn’t think twice about shooting a copper. There were three unmarked cars and a van parked in the street as well as officers posted discreetly at the rear of the building. All of the officers at the scene were armed.

‘It could be hours before he comes out,’ Higgs said.

‘So we’ll wait.’

‘Guy Wilder’s brief was just arriving as we left. He’ll do his nut.’

‘Let him.’

Higgs gave a self-satisfied kind of smile as if she was pleased by the prospect of having Hugo Pinner standing around twiddling his thumbs – or maybe she was feeling smug about something else entirely. Valerie suspected that her sergeant didn’t always play by the rules, that she was the type of officer who liked to cut corners, believing that the end always justified the means.

‘What do you reckon, guv? Is Morton Carlisle an accomplice or a hostage?’

‘Hard to say, but I don’t reckon he’s as squeaky clean as he likes to make out.’ Valerie had taken an instant dislike to Carlisle, but she still wasn’t sure whether that was down to the man himself or the business he ran. There was something creepy about all those dead, stuffed animals, something that made her flesh crawl.

‘I wonder why Street chose here,’ Higgs said.

‘Because it’s the last place we’d think of looking. He probably got a kick out of hiding right under our noses.’

Valerie was pretty sure that he’d be down in the basement, the most secure part of the building and the most difficult to penetrate. If they broke in through the front or the back, he’d hear them coming – there was bound to be someone listening out – and officers could be targeted, picked off one by one, as they passed through the door. Another option was to seal off the area and let Street know that they were there, but that might create a hostage situation that could go on for days. So, for the moment, she had decided to sit it out. There was a different kind of risk in waiting for him to come to them – that a member of the public might get hurt – but hopefully it would all be over in seconds. They would have the element of surprise on their side.

‘Guv,’ said Higgs, shifting forward. ‘Look who it is.’

Valerie smiled as she saw Solomon Vale striding down the high street, walking quickly in their direction. ‘Well, fancy that,’ she said. ‘Another staunch member of the firm coming to help out in his boss’s time of need.’

Solomon Vale went up to Beast, tried the door, which was locked, and rattled the handle. He peered in through the glass. He rang the bell, stood back. Then he stepped forward again and hammered on the door.

‘Jesus Christ!’ Higgs said. ‘What the hell is he doing?’

Valerie frowned. Vale couldn’t be drawing more attention to the place if he tried. What was he playing at? It didn’t make sense. Unless…. She suddenly wondered if they’d been sussed, if this was some sort of distraction technique while Street tried to get out round the back. Snatching up the radio, she warned the officers at the rear of the building to be alert. But then, after peering briefly through the door again, Vale appeared to give up. He gave the handle one last rattle and started walking away from the shop.

Valerie didn’t know what was going on, but she had to make a fast decision. ‘Let’s take him,’ she said. She got on the radio again, put out the order and sat back and waited.

Thirty seconds later, Solomon Vale had been swiftly and discreetly removed from the high street and installed in the back of an unmarked car. He hadn’t put up a struggle. Although he was a big man, he knew when he was outnumbered. He also knew when to pick his fights.

Valerie climbed into the car beside him. ‘Solomon,’ she said. ‘How nice to see you again.’

Vale lounged in the corner of the seat, his arms folded across his chest. ‘No need to go to all this trouble, Inspector. You want a date, all you got to do is ask.’

She smiled thinly back at him. ‘You want to tell me what you’re doing here?’

‘Now how about that for a coincidence? I was just going to ask the very same question. Here I am, walking down the street, minding my own business and next thing…’

‘Why were you trying to get into Beast?’

‘Same reason anyone wants to go there. I was looking to buy me a nice stuffed parrot to cheer up the living quarters.’

‘Nothing to do with Chris Street, then?’

To give him his due, Vale made a pretty good job of looking surprised. ‘Chris? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Don’t mess me about, Solomon. I’m really not in the mood.’

Vale glanced towards the shop and then, as if a light had suddenly dawned, he gave a light mocking laugh. ‘What, you think Chris is in there?’

‘Isn’t that why you’re here?’

‘I’ve already told you why I’m here.’

‘And we both know that that’s a load of bullshit.’

Vale placed a hand over his heart. ‘Aw, now you’re hurting my feelings, Inspector, and just when I thought we might have a future together.’

Valerie gave a snort. ‘Well, sorry to disappoint. And sorry to inform you that for the foreseeable future at least, you’re going to be sitting down Cowan Road police station. If Chris Street is in there, we don’t want you tipping him off.’

She made to get out of the car, but then, unexpectedly, Vale said, ‘Hang on a moment. Is Ava Gold in there?’

‘Any reason why she should be?’

Vale hesitated. It went against the grain for him to tell the law anything, but there was clearly something on his mind. He glanced towards the two officers in the front seat. ‘I want a word,’ he said. ‘On our own, just you and me.’

‘That’s not possible,’ DS Higgs said from the passenger seat.

But Valerie waved her objection aside. She wanted to hear what Vale had to say and wasn’t concerned about being alone in the car with him. She’d known him long enough to be sure that he wasn’t any kind of danger to her. ‘Five minutes,’ she said. ‘And if you’re messing me about, Solomon, I’ll charge you with wasting police time.’

Higgs shot her a look ‘Are you sure, guv, only —’

‘I’m sure,’ said Valerie firmly.

Higgs reluctantly followed DC Preston out of the car. As soon as the door had closed, Valerie turned to Vale. ‘So what’s on your mind?’

‘Ava Gold,’ he said. ‘She is in there, ain’t she? She’s in there with Silver Delaney.’

‘What makes you think that?’

He leaned forward, splaying his hands on his thighs. ‘Look,’ he said, glancing at her. ‘I’m gonna tell you something and it’s God’s honest truth. Chris Street
ain’t
in there. I know that for a fact. Don’t ask me how I know ’cause I ain’t gonna tell you. Just take it from me, huh?’

‘So you just want me to walk away? What do you think, that I was born yesterday?’

‘I don’t want you to walk nowhere,’ he said. ‘What I want is for you to go in there and get Ava Gold out.’

‘What?’

‘This is serious. I ain’t messing. That Silver – she’s cracked. She ain’t right in the head. You hang around here for as long as you like, but I reckon only one of those girls is gonna come out again.’

Valerie felt a wave of apprehension flow over her. ‘Get talking, Solomon. What the hell’s going on?’

He shifted in his seat, clearly torn between his discomfort in talking to a cop and the consequences if he didn’t. ‘Okay, this is how it is. ’Bout an hour ago, I was down the Lincoln. Silver and Danny Street are in there too. He goes for a slash and his phone starts ringing. She answers it, starts talking to someone called Morton. She ain’t happy; I can see that from the look on her face. She’s as nice as pie to him over the phone though. Then, soon as they’ve finished chatting, she grabs her coat and hotfoots it out of the joint without another word.’

Valerie shook her head, still unsure as to where this was going. ‘And?’

‘Well, I don’t think nothin’ of it at the time – why should I? – but then half an hour later I give Ava a call, just to see how she’s doing and all. We’re talking when Silver turns up at her place, out of the blue, ringing the bell, and Ava says she has to go down and answer it ’cause she’s looked out the window and Silver’s seen that she’s there. “I’ll call you back in five minutes,” is what she says. So I wait for ten minutes and she still ain’t called back so I try her phone but it just rings and rings. I keep on trying, but she doesn’t answer. So I figure something’s wrong and I head down here.’

‘But why Beast? Why here?’

‘I tried Ava’s flat first, but there’s no one there. And well, there ain’t too many Mortons in Kellston so I figured it had to be this one that Silver had been talking to.’

Valerie gave a small exasperated sigh. ‘But I still don’t see why you think Ava’s in any kind of danger.’

‘Call it a hunch,’ he said. ‘But not the kind of hunch that you want to be ignoring. Silver’s involved in bad stuff. I can’t say more than that. I know she’s Danny’s girlfriend, but it comes down to loyalty, don’t it? Me and Chris go way back. He and Ava… well, he wouldn’t want to see her get hurt.’

Valerie had to make a tough decision about what to do next. She didn’t think Solomon was lying. What if he was right about only one of the girls coming out again? She opened the car door, stepped out and leaned down. ‘Stay here,’ she said.

Solomon gave a nod. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘I bet you could get that shop door opened real quiet if you put your mind to it.’

She walked down the street, her thoughts in tumult. Should she go in? Shouldn’t she? Both options could have their consequences. Quickly, she got into another car where Higgs was waiting for her.

‘Guess what, guv? A call’s just come through from the station. Noah Clark wants to talk to you urgently.’

But Valerie had other things on her mind. ‘What does he want? Whatever it is, it’s going to have to wait.’

Higgs left a short dramatic pause before delivering her news. ‘Well, what he wants, apparently, is to confess to the murder of Jenna Dean.’