'In bed with flu. And the DI's got himself snowbound up a Cairngorm. So that leaves nobody in the place but you and me, Joe.'
'I know the song. Maybe I should wait for my brief,' said Joe.
'You want to be banged up till morning that's your privilege,' said Chivers.
Shoot, thought Joe. One of the uniforms must've ear-wigged his conversation with Butcher; not hard, as Joe's indignation had made him echo much of what the little lawyer had said.
Tomorrow morning!' he yelled. 'You can't do anything till tomorrow morning? Butcher, we're not talking car- insurance claims any more.'
'I know, Joe, and I'm sorry. But there's this dinner in Cambridge, and I'm the main speaker, and I'm planning to stay over
'Oh well, if you're planning to stay over, don't you worry yourself about me!' said Joe.
'Hopefully, you haven't done anything to worry about,' said Butcher. 'Just tell Woodbine the truth. He knows which side his bread's buttered on. You'll probably be in bed before I am.'
'Not from what I hear about them dirty dons,' said Joe.
'Don't get cheeky. I'll call you soon as I can, OK?'
'I get it. Don't ring us, we'll ring you. What happened to kill the other lawyers, then call us?'
Not the cleverest of things to say. And he'd already said it, or something like it, earlier this evening, as he was soon to be reminded.
'Nose looks sore, Joe,' said Chivers sympathetically. Joe didn't like it. Cops were like hospital nurses. The more helpless you were, the sooner they started treating you like you were five and backward.
'It's fine,' said Joe, though his nose was twingeing like it knew it was being talked about. 'Listen, is it true Potter's dead?'
'Surprise you, does it? Well, these things happen, Joe. It's not like on the movies. Fight starts. You go in there chopping and twisting, next thing someone's seriously hurt. Or worse. Specially when you've had the training.'
Training? What the shoot does that mean?'
'It means one of my boys going into the sports centre for Mr. Takeushi's advanced class saw you coming away from the beginners' session.'
'And that makes me a killer?'
'Shows you've got the inclination maybe.'
'Yeah? And what does the advance class show about your boy? That he wants to be a mass murderer? It's self-defence, that's all. The whole philosophy is nonviolent.'
Mr. Takeushi would be pleased to know that his words if not his techniques had made some impression.
'Nonviolent, eh? So why were you shooting your mouth off about killing lawyers, Joe?'
'Figure of speech,' said Joe. 'It's from Shakespeare.'
'Shakespeare?' said Chivers in mock admiration. 'Didn't know you had such classy tastes, Joe. Now which play would that be in? Macbeth where the king gets killed? Or Othello where the black guy kills his wife? Or Hamlet maybe where everybody kills everybody else? Lots of killing in Shakespeare. Turns you on, does it?'
'When does this get official, Sarge?' asked Joe. 'I mean, I've come here voluntarily to make a statement and as it sounds like a serious matter, I thought you'd have been wanting to hear it while it's still fresh.'
He waited to see if Chivers would suggest his presence wasn't voluntary. He could see the man was tempted, but while he might be a fascist he wasn't a fool and in the end all he said was, 'We appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Sixsmith. Let's get the tape running, shall we?'
Joe told it like it had happened. Chivers probed his story for a bit then, with the unconcealed reluctance of a man leaving the warm pub where he wants to be for the cold night air which he doesn't fancy, he began asking questions based on the possibility that Joe could be telling the truth.
'Did you see anyone else in the building but Ms lies and Mr. Potter?'
'No.'
'Did you see or hear anything which might have suggested there was someone else in the building?'
'Don't think so.'
'Come on, Sixsmith. A footstep, a creaking board, an open door. Anything.'
'Like I say, I don't recollect anything. But I'll work on it.'
'What about outside? When you arrived and when you left, did you see anyone hanging around? Or anyone at all?'
'No. The Row was empty. No one walking. No cars parked. Except mine and Ms Iles's. It was six o'clock in Christmas week. All them businesses would be shut for the duration.'
'What about the park?'
Joe thought.
'Didn't see anyone,' he said. 'But I wasn't really looking.'
'So there could have been someone in the park?'
'Could have been King Kong up a tree, but I didn't see him,' said Joe.
