'Don't be too sure,' JP had warned prophetically. 'You may not have shared my ideas on what made a good story, but you were always free to write it in any way you chose.' He picked up Deacon's copy on Peter Fenton, which was lying on the desk, and isolated the final two pages which discussed why Billy Blake had died in Amanda Powell's garage. 'I can guarantee you won't get these last seven hundred words into print. I know you want to go public on why and how the poor bastard died, but there's no way the new lot will risk being sued, and particularly not by a prisoner on remand. It's too damned contentious. It almost certainly infringes the
'Would you have risked it?'
'Of course. I'd argue that the matter isn't
'Even more reason to publish and be damned. Then if and when we raised enough steam to force a prosecution, I'd make hay out of the fact that our efforts resulted in her being convicted of
'And if the magazine got taken to the cleaners for libel?'
'We'd have served a kind of justice, both on her
Deacon pressed the messages button on his answering machine. 'Barry's been arrested again,' said Greg Harrison's unemotional voice. 'Drunk and disorderly right on our doorstep this time. His mother's adamant she won't have him back, so he wants to give your address in case he's bound over. You're going to have to sort this, Mike. He says he only gets drunk because he's in love with you.' There was a short pause.
Lawrence's voice next. 'I'm so sorry, my dear fellow. I see your article has had its teeth drawn. How very disappointing for you. I know how much you wanted to demonstrate that Billy's life had a purpose. Is it any consolation to think of him as Terry's mentor? In the end, surely, that is where Billy's true value lay.'
As the messages came to an end, the emptiness of the flat began to make itself felt. Picasso's