They found the first address in Fleetwood. Donaldson parked outside the house, which was a semi-detached council house.
‘ What’ve we got here, honey?’
She had the relevant statements on her knees. ‘This man witnessed the robbery. He was in the shop when the gunmen burst in and fired the shotgun into the ceiling. He gave a pretty good account and some detailed descriptions which have been watered down on the amended statement.’
‘ How are we gonna approach him? He ain’t gonna like it a whole bunch when he finds out his statement’s been tampered with.’
‘ Let’s just play it by ear.’
She kissed him on the cheek and alighted from the Jeep.
Rider sat up straight when he heard the key in the lock of his cell door. The gaoler, a young PC with less than two years’ service, beckoned him. ‘You’re going to be interviewed now.’
Rider half-thought of being awkward. The idea of a few hairy-assed coppers laying into him with feet and fists, however, did not appeal to him. Ten, fifteen years before, they would have had to drag him from the cell screaming and kicking and he would have taken great delight in whacking a few of the boys in blue in the process. Times had changed. He wasn’t the hard man he once was and the events of the last few days had proved that, even though he had killed a man. It hadn’t been easy to do and as soon as the trigger had been pulled he had regretted it.
Not that he was about to bare his soul to whoever interviewed him. They would get nothing from him.
Rider stood up wearily.
The PC stepped to one side, allowed him past and followed him down the cell corridor.
He was taken to an interview room where Henry Christie was waiting for him.
Rider sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the table to Henry. At one end of the table, next to the wall, was the double tape machine. Stuck to the wall above it was the mike. The sealed tapes and various documents were on the table.
The gaoler left the room on a nod from Henry.
Henry opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when the door reopened and Siobhan Robson entered the room. She sat down next to Henry with a smile. ‘Just want to see how a professional operates,’ she whispered to him.
Henry sighed. He unpacked the tapes and slotted them into the machine.
Obviously they were going to make sure he did as he was told.
The witness was good.
Karen began by showing him a copy of the ‘amended’ statement and asked him to read it carefully. He obliged. When he had finished he looked up at them and said, ‘It might be my bloody name on top, but I didn’t say that.’ He was very precise and pointed out the discrepancies.
She showed him Degsy’s copy then. He glanced through it quickly and declared, ‘That one’s mine.’
She and Donaldson exchanged a glance of quiet triumph.
‘ What’s this all about? Why has it been changed?’ the witness asked.
‘ We’re not sure,’ Karen answered. ‘But would you mind making a further statement, telling what’s just gone on now? I know it’s a real imposition and it’ll take a while to do, but we think it’s very important.’
She looked at the witness with her big wide eyes and a smile which could have melted granite. He immediately said, ‘Yes, no problem.’
Hunt keyed in Tony Morton’s mobile number into his own and pressed the send button.
‘ They’ve just come out of the house, boss,’ he said. He gave the address to Morton and said, ‘What d’you want me to do?’
‘ Stick with ‘em,’ ordered his Chief Superintendent. ‘I want to know what the fuck’s going on — if anything.’
‘ Will do.’
Donaldson’s Cherokee pulled away from the kerb. Hunt dropped the mobile onto the passenger seat and followed.
Morton looked at the address given by Hunt with a puzzled expression. It meant nothing to him and he wondered if the two people were simply making house-calls to friends.
Hunt had also given him the registered number of the car he was following. Morton tapped the number for a second or two before picking up the internal phone and dialling down to the communications room where there was a PNC terminal.
The first interview was concluded. Rider had declined the offer of a solicitor, waiting until he knew what sort of evidence the cops had on him.
Henry, of course, was pissing in the dark against a pretty strong wind because he knew next to nothing about the case and would need to know an awful lot more about it, Rider, Munrow and their antecedents before he really began to probe.
Throughout, Rider had been non-committal. He was not exactly obstructive, but he wasn’t helpful and the interview achieved nothing.
After Rider had been taken back to his cell, Siobhan dragged Henry back into the confines of the interview room. Once behind the closed door, she cut into him. ‘You’ll have to do a damned sight better than that, Henry, if you want to keep your nose clean.’
‘ I’m new to this game. I might’ve been known to bend the rules in the past, but I’ve never actually fitted anyone up before. I’m just learning,’ he said sarcastically. ‘You’re the fucking expert.’
‘ And here’s some tips, baby,’ she snarled. ‘Let’s begin with the arrest.’
‘ I’m listening.’
‘ Verbal him up.’
‘ What? “It’s a fair cop, guv, you’re too good for me” kinda thing?’
She nodded. ‘Something like that. I’ll back you up.’
‘ You weren’t even there.’
‘ So?’ she shrugged. ‘And what about the journey back to the nick?’
‘ He didn’t say a word.’
‘ Yes, he did — he kept blabbing about how sorry he was, how he’d set Munrow up, how he’d shot him. Didn’t you hear him, Henry?’
‘ No,’ he said bleakly.
‘ I think you did… and what I suggest you do is go away and write your arrest statement to include these things. Then let me have a look at it. Then you can really start to get into the bastard’s ribs. He really did it, y’know?’
‘ He may well have done — but there’s no evidence against him.’
‘ There will be, Henry,’ she reassured him. ‘You just need to get creative.’
‘ How the hell do you sleep at night? Christ! How many times have you done this?’
‘ A few, Henry… and very well, actually.’
‘ What’s this all about, Siobhan?’ he pleaded. ‘How far does it go?’
‘ You don’t need to know, Henry. Not yet, anyway. Maybe when you’ve settled into your role, accepted the inevitable, shown you can be trusted. Maybe then, but for now, all you need to worry about is getting Rider charged with murder — and making it stick.’
They had problems finding the next house. The map didn’t seem to make sense and they drove down a few wrong turns before they eventually pulled up outside.
‘ Men don’t listen…’
