‘You’re bleedin’ popular!’ grunted one of them.
‘It’s my good looks. Madley can’t resist,’ replied Brady.
The brute scrunched his face into a frown as he tried to figure out whether to deck Brady or not.
‘Wouldn’t if I were you,’ Brady dryly commented, noting the readied fist.
He walked into the office, leaving the henchman confused and frustrated.
‘I heard the good news,’ Madley coolly stated.
He was stood with his back to Brady looking out the ceiling-to-floor window.
Brady joined Madley and looked out at the scene below and immediately regretted it. The promenade was full of Saturday night drinkers. A group of pissed, raucous girls in knicker-high skirts and bra tops zigzagged their way across the road followed by leering lads. Taxi cars beeped at them as they tottered across the road, gesturing and mouthing obscenities at the cars.
‘Scotch?’ Madley asked as he headed over to the drinks cabinet.
Brady nodded. He knew he’d already had enough to drink, but he had a feeling he was really going to need this one. He turned and looked out at the rowdy gathering below.
‘Business seems good, Martin.’
‘I do all right out of it,’ Madley answered.
‘Yeah.’
Madley joined Brady with the drinks.
‘I was surprised that you got someone for that girl’s murder,’ Madley stated. ‘A convenient open and shut case,’ he added with a tinge of cynicism.
Brady looked at him. He had his face turned to the window, seemingly intent on the people below. Brady knew better; Madley was always on his guard.
Brady shrugged.
‘I didn’t think you were like the rest of them.’
‘What do you mean?’ Brady asked, confused.
‘Don’t take the piss with me, Jack. We go too far back for that.’
Brady took a drink and thought about it. He savoured the Scotch as it slid down the back of his throat. If he wasn’t mistaken it was a Talisker malt, flown in from the Isle of Skye. Madley had expensive tastes; he had a lot to make up for given his childhood.
‘I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,’ Brady answered.
Madley questioningly looked at Brady, his glinting brown eyes narrowed.
Brady held his gaze.
‘You know as well as I do that that poor sod didn’t kill the girl,’ Madley quietly stated.
‘What the fuck are you saying, Martin?’ Brady demanded.
‘You know exactly what I’m saying. You lot tied that case up so damned fast that it has to be a set-up. You didn’t want anyone spending too much time on it because you knew it would eventually lead back to Jimmy.’
‘What do you mean?’ Brady asked nervously.
Madley turned and looked back out of the window.
They stood in silence watching the drunks in the street below.
Brady kept quiet. He was scared shitless of what he was about to hear. He knew he could turn and walk out, leaving things as they were: Ellison arrested for the murder of his pupil. Did it really matter if he hadn’t actually killed her; hadn’t he already done enough with his sordid hands to warrant life in prison?
Brady knew most would turn a blind eye, but not him. Madley knew that, as did Matthews. Brady had an unfailing sense of duty.
‘You’ve got the wrong man, Jack, and you know it,’ Madley quietly stated, as he kept his eyes fixed on the black, tumultuous sea.
Brady didn’t say a word.
He took a drink and waited for the malt to slowly numb him.
‘Why else would you have turned up?’ Madley questioned.
‘I… I don’t know …’ muttered Brady.
‘He was here with the girl,’ Madley stated.
Brady felt sick.
He hadn’t expected this; he had been certain that Matthews must have had some sort of run-in with Madley the night of the murder. But that was it.
‘Thursday night, she was here with Jimmy. He was all over her. I just took it she was another one of his slappers. I thought she was a bit young, but then again, it was Jimmy. You know better than anyone what he’s like. The bastard can’t keep his dick in his trousers.’
Brady gripped his whisky glass to steady himself.
‘I’ve got it all on security tape if you don’t believe me,’ Madley added.
‘Why? Why are you doing this?’
‘Whose money do you think paid for that big house of his in Earsdon? A copper’s salary couldn’t pay for that kind of lifestyle, Jack, and you know it,’ Madley asserted. ‘Why else did you turn up yesterday? You knew, but you didn’t have the balls to ask me outright.’
Brady couldn’t disagree with Madley. He was right, he had known. Matthews’ lifestyle couldn’t be maintained on a copper’s salary. And he had known all along that was where Madley came in.
Brady looked out of the window. The horizon was as black as the sea.
‘You’ve got no choice, Jack,’ Madley said, breaking the heavy silence. ‘Not now you know.’
‘You’ve still got to convince me first,’ Brady evenly replied.
Madley smiled. ‘Yeah, still the same old Jack.’
Madley took Brady’s empty glass and walked back over to the drinks cabinet.
‘I take it you’ll be needing another?’
Brady nodded. ‘When can I see the tape?’
‘The package on my desk is your copy.’
Brady looked over at the desk. Two identical large, padded brown envelopes lay unopened.
‘Who’s the other one for?’ Brady asked, feeling his leg starting to flare up.
‘Let’s say it’s my insurance. I don’t know if I trust you to make the right decision. If I was in your position I don’t know what I’d do. So, in case you decide to put your friendship first, then I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. I’m sure your boss will be interested in Jimmy’s little problem.’
Brady felt his throat tighten as he looked at the sealed packages. He knew it was pointless grabbing them and making a run for it; not that he could with his leg. He knew Madley would still have the original and no doubt, multiple copies.
Madley returned with two refilled glasses.
‘You look like shit, Jack,’ Madley stated.
‘I feel it,’ Brady muttered as he took the glass. He then took a deep gulp.
‘Go on, I’m listening.’
‘As I said, Jimmy was all over her. She didn’t seem to mind though, but then again she did look pissed.’
Brady wasn’t surprised, given the amount of alcohol the lab results found in her.
‘Jimmy then asked me for the use of one of my private rooms,’ Madley said as he gestured towards the ceiling.
Brady knew that Madley had luxurious living quarters on the third and fourth floor, despite having a six- bedroom house on Marine Avenue. Not to mention the farmhouse in the wilds of Northumbria.
‘Why not use your hotel next door?’ Brady asked. Madley also owned the Royal Hotel as well as the two clubs in town.
‘Exactly what I said, but he claimed he didn’t want to be seen checking in with her. Never bothered him before, but I understand why now,’ Madley answered.
Brady thought it over. It didn’t sound like Matthews.
‘Are you sure he didn’t just want to take her upstairs so she could sober up before he took her home?’ Brady asked.
‘No,’ Madley firmly answered.
