Unravel a Crime - Tangle With Women (17 page)

Brakespeare shook his head.
“The Boss is still Adrian Miles?”

“
Chief Prosecuting Solicitor
for Birmingham. The same.”

Again Brakespeare shook his
head. Should he have known? No, the Masons had never really interested him. He
had been invited with his wife to one or two Ladies Festivals, and had enjoyed
them, but the Lodges he had been to were populated by small business men and
shopkeepers, revelling in the ceremony and trappings of Freemasonry. He assumed
that there were Masonic Lodges, where the members came from a higher strata of
society; wasn’t the Duke of Kent the top man? Like the Round Table, compulsory
socialising had never appealed to him.

Joe was nodding his head as if
to make sure that he had made his point clear.

“…
.and so?” asked Brakespeare.
Joe pulled his chair close to the table and indicated that Brakespeare should
do likewise. He lowered his voice for full effect.

“
Well, the story is that when
Masters discovered that the National had lost so much money just before it
became a bank, he needed someone to carry the can, because he had been dangling
carrots in front of Schumacher Weinstein, the big American investment bank .”
Joe paused. “He couldn’t let them know that it was his commercial decisions
which had lost the money, and so he had to find someone to blame; just as he
did with you and your partners..”

A spasm ran through
Brakespeare. Joe’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“
So Masters asked the Chief
Constable – who is also in the Masons - to investigate; implied that his staff
in London had been up to no good and doing things behind his back. The Chief
didn’t want to do it. Said it was a civil matter, but Masters wouldn’t let go.
Seems he’s higher up in the Masons than the Chief, but the Chief has
aspirations too. They say he wants to become Commissioner of the Metropolitan
Police, and to get that job you have to have the right connections. He seems to
think that the Masons will help. Whether that’s true or not I don’t know.”

“
Doubt it.” said Brakespeare.

“
Anyway it seems that Masters
hinted to the Chief that he is well connected with the Government and that one
good turn deserves another, so the Chief put a couple of coppers on the job.”

“
Just two coppers – no senior
officers.”

Joe shook his head. “Masters
didn’t realise that of course – at first. You know one of them.”

“
Do I?” Brakespeare asked.

“
Durkin. You remember him.
Used to be in the Vice Squad, and then got involved with one of the brasses on
the Coventry Road. The young black girl, Shay, Shay. Shayleigh Watts.”

“
Him?”. Brakespeare now could
place Durkin. Why had he not recognised the name before. Durkin had been a
Sergeant and an enthusiastic member of the squad. He preferred to target the
pimps who ran the vice girls, rather than the girls themselves, but had
succumbed to the gratitude that Watts had had to offer when her pimp, who had
beaten and bullied her, was sent to prison for living on immoral earnings.

One of Durkin’s jealous
colleagues had informed on him, and he had been demoted and banished to the
outer reaches of the Black Country.

Joe continued the tale. “Well
he was a good cop, and had been mouldering at Old Hill Cop Shop, so the Chief
thought that he ought to do the investigation. It would help fill his time.
Might even get him his sergeant’s stripes back, and the pension that goes with
them.

Durkin to go and see Masters,
who apparently told him more or less what he wanted out of the investigation,
and even how he should go about proving the case.”

“
If I remember Durkin
correctly, he wouldn’t have liked that.”

“
He didn’t, but the Chief had
thrown him a lifeline, and so he had to do his best.” Joe paused again for
effect, and took a long sip from his Guiness without taking his eyes off
Brakespeare..

“
Can I get you another?” asked
Brakespeare.

Joe shook his head. “I’m
taking it steady.” He looked at his watch. “Another three and a half hours to
closing time, and we’ve got a match in the morning.”

“
So what did Durkin think?”
asked Brakespeare.

“
No case to answer.” Joe
shrugged. “Masters was furious, and when he found out who Durkin was, or rather
had been, he created hell. Told the Chief that he was in dereliction of his
duty. The Chief got pissed off and asked the Boss to have a look.”

“
Did he?”

“
No, he had a word with
Durkin, and gave it to me.”

Joe looked very satisfied at
having been entrusted with such a politically sensitive case – as he thought.
To Brakespeare’s mind, the Police had simply been going through the motions
with what was a hopeless case, and the Boss had tried to get rid of it..

“
And you couldn’t find
anything wrong.”

“
No, and believe me I looked.
Could have been a winner for me.”

Brakespeare could believe
that. It would have elevated Joe above car accidents and dangerous drivers.

“
So what happened then?”

“
Well, Masters threw all his
toys out of the Pram. Pulled every string and rang every bell that he could in
the name of the National, and managed to get the file sent to London.

“
Ludgate Hill?”

“
Head Office, yes. Something
political went on. Whether or not it was the Masons or someone in Government………”

“
Or both?”

“
We don’t know, but the next
thing that we hear is that the case is up and running, and us in Brum get a
black mark.”

“
The Boss won’t like that.”

“
He certainly didn’t. He
always wanted to get to London himself; get into the Director of Public
Prosecution’s office. He reckons he’s blown that.”

Brakespeare was thinking
furiously. “Unless I can win the case.”

Joe was never a one for the
quick reaction, and he stared at Brakespeare as the issue slowly wafted through
his mind. He eventually spoke.

“
That’s true.”

“
Why didn’t you think that
there was a case Joe?”

“
Well, firstly they reckoned
that your man Newberry was part of the company, Clear something wasn’t it?”

“
Clearfield.”

“
Well there were no records of
that that I could see. Nothing at Companies House”.

“
Again, they say that he had
money in the company. Again nothing that I could see, except a meaningless
scrap of paper. Then he was supposed to have carried out dodgy valuations and
the only evidence of that was the word of some other surveyor, White, is it?”

“
Black”

Joe grinned. “Near enough.
Well I could see that if the Defence got another surveyor to say that Black was
wrong, a prosecution would get no-where. Which surveyor is to be believed?”

He had finished his succinct
summing up of the case, and sat back and folded his arms.

Brakespeare looked
thoughtfully at Joe. “Well, that’s more or less the conclusion I’ve come to,
except…” he hesitated and Joe looked expectantly at him. “Joe this is just
between us O.K.?”

“
On the Holy Mother’s life”

It was Brakespeare’s turn to
lean forward in a conspiratorial manner.

“
There is one thing which may
tilt things the defence way. We’ve done an analysis of Black’s valuations. He’s
all over the place. At a time when property values have been falling, he has
some values rising and none of them at the same rate.”

“
So Black’s evidence is all
bollocks.” said Joe.

“
Round and bouncy.”

“
The Boss will be pleased.”

“
Joe, you mustn’t tell him.
This is confidential.”

“
Haven’t you told London yet.”

Brakespeare hesitated; of
course he had just written to the C.P.S telling them all this.

“
It’s early days Joe. I don’t
want to play all our cards just yet, and if Masters knew that we’re be talking
about the case - if the Boss told him – the shit would really hit the fan and
we’d all find ourselves being investigated for attempting to pervert the course
of justice.”

“
He and the Boss don’t speak
apparently. Hate each other’s guts now.”

“
But if it got around the
Masons.”

“
O.K. point taken. Still sounds
as if you’re on a winner my man. Best of luck, and if you do want any help…?”

“
I’ll bear you in mind”, said
Brakespeare.

They both emptied their
glasses.

“
Well better hit the road.
Nice seeing you again Joe.”

“
You too Jonny. I’ll keep my
ears open on this one. Mind how you go. As I said, the Boss will be pleased.”

“
Joe, keep Mum.” Brakespeare
pleaded.

Joe winked and shook hand
before returning to the saloon bar.

Brakespeare felt elated as he
pulled out of the Pub car park, across Bourton Road, turned left down High
Street and along Oxford Street towards Chipping Norton. So he was on the right
track, or at least they were on the right track, thanks to Lisa’s figures. As
Joe had not noticed the discrepancies in Black’s figures? It was likely that
the C.P.S. in London had not either. If that was a case the letter would come
as bombshell.

There again, if Joe were right
and the prosecution was being brought under pressure from Masters, they were
not going to drop the case lightly. Indeed for all sorts of extraneous reasons
they could not drop the case. That meant that his letter was unlikely to have
any effect. Damn.

He thought of telling Newberry
about the meeting with Joe to, but decided against it. There was no point in
raising his hopes. They might well have to see this one through to the end.

The same went for Lisa and the
partners. He could not tell them because the story was bound to get back to
Newberry. It was probably an unethical conversation anyway, and if Masters
found out, he would no doubt be on the telephone to the Solicitors Regulation
Authority demanding that Brakespeare had his Practising Certificate revoked
again!

The rest of the journey
through Chipping Norton, Buckingham and to Milton Keynes passed in this lighter
mood as he went through Joe’s tale time and time again in his mind. He imagined
the conversations that must have taken place between the Chief Constable, the
Chief Prosecuting Solicitor and Masters. If what Joe said was right, Masters
must have some connections very high up to get this prosecution. It couldn’t be
the Americans as the whole exercise was to mislead them.

Moreton in the Marsh had been
the halfway point in the journey, but he made the next 50 miles to Milton
Keynes in just over an hour, as the Friday homeward traffic had long since
reached it’s destination. The three bedroomed semi-detached house which he
shared was in Furzton on the west side of the City, and he pulled the little
Fiat onto the driveway. His was the only car. That meant that Trevor was not in
and was possibly away on an Open University Field course. Mel didn’t have a
car. Was she in?

He took his suitcase out of
the car and opened the front door with his key. The house was quiet. No it
wasn’t, there was someone in the bathroom. He collected a pile of post from the
hall and went up to his room.

“
That you Mel?” he called, and
unlocked his room. He wished that he had left it in a tidier condition. He sat
on the bed and flicked through the post. It was mainly unwanted advertising.
Nothing of either interest or importance. He suddenly felt flat.

The bedroom door burst open.
It was Mel in a short bath robe.

“
Johnny, I‘ve been wondering
what happened to you.”

Brakespeare stood up and she
flung her arms round him, smelling sweetly of bath oil and shampoo. Mel was
obviously in one of her affectionate moods, and he held her closely to him,
swaying gently from side to side with her and feeling the soft pressure of her
firm beasts on his chest.

He pushed her away. “Have you
been missing me?”

She didn’t answer. She was as
gorgeous as she had been when he had left her in his bed at the beginning of
the week.

Brakespeare sat her down next
to him on the bed, and explained all that had happened during the week. Mel was
a good listener when she wanted to be, and he enjoyed the way her mobile face
registered the ups and downs of the week, only he didn’t tell her about Joe
Gargan. He also said very little about Lisa and nothing of his drink with her.

“
And you’re going to get this
criminal acquitted?” Mel asked, almost in awe.

“
Not a criminal Mel, just a
slightly odd human being – a bit like yourself.”

Mel roared with laughter.
“That’s me man, the oddest of the odd.”

“
So where have you been up
to?””

“
Well I got this contract to
dance on this TV show in London; only it was 5 shows and we did them all back
to back; a day to learn, a day to rehearse and a day to record. We were at it
15 hours a day.”