‘What was he like?’
‘Dark hair, cut short. Medium height, sort of thin, but built tough. All knuckles and muscles and veins, you know? Southern accent, maybe like a gyppo.’
‘A traveller?’
‘Maybe. Thing is, there was something about him, the way he carried himself, the look in his eye. He was like …’
‘Like what?’ Fegan asked.
‘You,’ Tom said. ‘He was like you.’
67
‘Where’s the other fella?’ the Traveller asked, his eyes still raw.
‘I have asked my colleague to sit this one out,’ Gordon said.
‘Why’s that, then?’
Gordon arranged his pen and notepad on the table between them. ‘Because his presence was required elsewhere,’ he said. ‘Let’s proceed, shall we?’
The Traveller smiled. ‘Ready when you are.’
Gordon did not return the smile. ‘I’m curious as to what contacts you might have in Belfast.’
‘No comment.’
‘We’ve recovered only one weapon, and two clips of ammunition, during your arrest and subsequent searches. We suspect another party may be hiding items for you somewhere in the city.’
‘No comment.’
‘We’ll shortly have permission to search your hotel room. Are we likely to find anything incriminating there?’
No comment.’
‘If you cooperate with us now, tell us what we might find there, and where we might find it, that will be taken into consideration in our recommendations to the Public Prosecution Service.’
‘No comment.’
Gordon hit the stop button on the twin-deck tape recorder. He stood and came around the table. He perched on the edge, folded his arms across his chest, and looked down at the Traveller. ‘I miss the old days,’ he said.
‘That right?’ the Traveller said.
‘That’s right,’ Gordon said. ‘The days before the Police Ombudsman and the Human Rights Commission. Back then we could be a little more … well … vigorous in our interrogations. We used to do all sorts, and nobody minded. I put away a lot of scumbags in my time, most of them based on confessions. You should’ve been around then, seen where that “no comment” nonsense got you. I’m a Christian, you know.’
‘Good for you,’ the Traveller said.
‘Yes, it
‘That was handy,’ the Traveller said.
‘It was indeed, son. You see, I hold my beliefs very dear. I live and breathe by them. But when it comes to someone like you, or any of those toe-rags I put away back then, my beliefs cease to apply. Because you’re an animal. The good Lord above has no more regard for you than for a pig in a slaughterhouse, and neither do I.’
The Traveller feigned offence. ‘Here, now, there’s no—’
‘Shut your mouth.’ Gordon leaned close. ‘We don’t do things the way we used to. I never saw it as torture, just rigorous interrogation. But the bleeding hearts and the politicians took a different view, so that’s that. But it’s not too late to turn the clock back. You’re already looking pretty rough, so I wouldn’t have to worry about leaving too many marks. Now you start talking to me, son, or you’ll be getting a lesson in the police procedures of yesteryear. Understood?’
The Traveller said nothing.
Gordon gripped the Traveller’s face in one meaty hand. ‘Understood?’
The Traveller shrugged.
Gordon took his hand away, wiped it on his trouser leg. ‘Right, then,’ he said. ‘Let’s get back to it.’
He returned to his seat and started the tape recorder.
‘Now,’ he said, taking his pen in hand. ‘Who is your contact in Belfast?’
The Traveller grinned. ‘No comment,’ he said.
Before Gordon could react, the door opened and the pale cop stepped in. The Traveller kept his stinging eyes fixed straight ahead. The pale cop approached Gordon, bent down, whispered in his ear.
Gordon stopped the tape recorder, coughed, and followed the pale cop out of the room.
The Traveller ran his tongue across his upper lip and smiled.
68
‘Shit,’ Lennon said.
‘I’m sorry, there’s no one else,’ Gordon said.
‘I’d rather stay here.’
‘Nobody knows where “here” is,’ Gordon said. ‘You won’t even tell me, so how could anybody else know? Look, I need an officer of your experience on scene for the search. The hotel management are waiting. The only other officer I could send in is Dan Hewitt.’
‘No,’ Lennon said. ‘I’ll do it. I’ll be there in half an hour.’
‘Good lad,’ Gordon said.
Lennon went into the living room and sat down on the couch beside Marie. Ellen dozed in her lap as late-night music videos played silently on Roscoe’s huge television. ‘I’ve been called away,’ he said. ‘But I’ll stay if you want me to.’
‘Go,’ Marie said. ‘I don’t need a guard dog.’
‘You’ll be safe,’ Lennon said. ‘Roscoe has this place done up like Fort Knox. The door’s got two locks and a chain. It’s rock solid. Besides, no one knows you’re here.’
‘That Roscoe knows,’ she said.
‘I trust him.’
‘I don’t,’ Marie said.
Lennon took the Glock from its holster. He held it out to her. ‘Here.’
Marie stared at the gun. No,’ she said.
‘Take it,’ he said. ‘It’ll make you feel better.’
‘I very much doubt that,’ she said.
‘It’ll make
‘I wouldn’t know what to do with it.’
‘It’s easy,’ Lennon said. ‘You just pull this back to chamber a round. Then you point it and pull the trigger.’
‘I don’t want it,’ Marie said.
‘Take it.’ He held it in front of her. When she didn’t take it, he stood and crossed the room. He reached up and placed it on a shelf, too high for Ellen to reach. ‘It’s there if you need it,’ he said. ‘But you won’t.’
Marie didn’t answer, just watched him from the couch as she rocked their sleeping daughter.
‘I’ll be an hour, two at most,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back. I promise.’
69
The sound of heavy boots slapping the tiled floor jerked the Traveller from his doze. His body ached from lying on the thin mattress. He sat upright in the dark, sniffed, and wiped his one uncovered eye. He listened.
