Echo

'Bad plan. That person would have died long before she did.' He stood up. 'Are you going to let me tell the sergeant what you've told me? Depending on what he says, you may want a solicitor with you when he questions you. And you'd better be prepared for the fact that Glen Hopkins will be asked to confirm that he gave you those cards on Friday. Are you ready for all that?'

'Will they let me go if I tell the truth?'

'I don't know.'

'Where will I go if they do? I can't go home.' His eyes welled again. 'I'd rather stay here than go home.'

Godalmighty! Just don't say it, Deacon. 'You can use my sofa while we sort something out.' We-ell ... It was Christmas...

And...

Barry knew who Billy Blake was...

Harrison was skeptical. 'You're being naive. I know the type. It's the classic profile of a sex criminal. A repressed loner with an unhealthy appetite for spying on people. Lives with his mother but doesn't like her. Can't make adult relationships. First offense is exposing himself in public. We'll be banging him up for rape and/or child molestation next.'

'On that basis you'll be locking me up as well,' said Deacon with a friendly smile. 'I'm a loner. I disliked my mother so much that I didn't speak to her for five years. I can't make successful adult relationships-as evidenced by my two divorces-and the worst offense I ever committed, judging by the thrashing I received, was when I bought a pornographic magazine at the age of twelve and attempted to smuggle it into my house with the intention of admiring my erections in front of a mirror.'

The sergeant chuckled. 'It's a serious point, though. You were twelve, Barry's thirty-four. You were going to practice in your bedroom, he was practicing in somebody else's garden. At twelve, the damage you can do to someone else is hopefully limited by your size. At thirty-four, you're likely to be very dangerous indeed, particularly if you're thwarted.'

'But you can't charge him with what he might do. At worst, you've got him for trespass and indecency, and that's not going to keep him off the streets for long. Look,' he said persuasively leaning forward, 'you can't label a man a pervert for one aberrant episode. It wouldn't have happened if Glen Hopkins had kept his stupid ideas to himself, or if Barry had had more sense than to try something he wouldn't enjoy. The poor guy's hopelessly confused. He loved his father, who died when he was ten, he's terrorized by his mother, and he's just paid a hundred quid to lose his virginity to a woman who treated him like a lump of meat. On top of all that, Terry and I got him drunk-for the first time in his life as far as I can make out-and he found himself watching live sex inadvertently.' He gave a low laugh. 'Then you turned up on his doorstep this morning and scared him out of his wits because he thought Amanda must have seen him. He only went back for his photographs, for God's sake, and had a quiet wank in her absence because he was still aroused. Is this really the profile of a classic sex criminal?'

Harrison tapped his pen against his teeth. 'He was trying to break into Mrs. Powell's garage. Where does that fit in?'

Deacon frowned. 'You haven't mentioned that before.'

'It's how we caught him. Her neighbors reported a possible intruder, and we sent out a patrol car.' He pushed a piece of paper across the table. 'It's all there in black and white.'

Deacon read the incident report. 'This man's described as six feet tall, thin, and wearing a dark coat. Barry's about six inches shorter, fat, and the only coat I've ever seen him in is a blue anorak. It's in his cell at the moment.'

The sergeant shrugged. 'I wouldn't rely on that description. The neighbors are in their eighties.'

Deacon studied him with amusement. 'God help you if my mother heard you say that. Surely you can see there were two different men? You've nicked the easy one-the wally-my best advice, if you want a result, is to look for the tall guy.'

'If he exists,' said Harrison cynically.

Terry was bored to distraction by the time Barry and Deacon emerged from the inner recesses of the police station. 'You've been two hours,' he said crossly, pointing to the clock in the waiting area. ' 'What did Barry do, then? It must have been something pretty bad if it took this long to sort.'

Deacon shook his head. 'He was watching Amanda's house, and got nicked in mistake for a man who tried to break into her garage half an hour earlier. It's taken all this time to establish that he doesn't answer to the description of a tall, skinny bloke in a dark coat.'

'No kidding! You want to get Lawrence on to it. He'd soon sort these bastards out. That's harassment, that is, banging up a bloke for no reason. You all right, Barry? You don't look too good.'

Deacon shoved him through the front door into the freezing evening air before the desk sergeant could set him straight. 'Barry's coming home with us,' he murmured in Terry's ear. 'His family kicked up rough because we sent Harrison round there this morning, so I've said he can sleep on the sofa for a day or two. Do you have a problem with that?'

'Why would I?' asked the boy suspiciously.

'It'll be crowded with three of us.'

'Do me a favor,' he said scornfully. 'The warehouse was crowded.' He looked expectantly at Barry who had followed them out. 'I hope you can cook, mate, because Mike's sodding useless. He can't even boil an egg without burning it.'

Barry looked nervous. 'Only self-taught, I'm afraid.'

'Yeah, well, me and Mike ain't been taught at all, so you get the job.' He jerked his head impatiently towards the car. 'Let's get going, then, shall we? I'm starving. You realize we ain't had nothing to eat since seven o'clock this morning?''

While Terry escorted Barry into the kitchen and kept him captive there until he cooked something edible, Deacon took the telephone into his bedroom and made a call to Lawrence. 'I'm sorry to keep bothering you,' he said, 'but I need some advice and I don't know who else to ask.'

'I'm honored,' said Lawrence.

'You haven't heard what the problem is yet.' As briefly as he could he related the details of Barry's arrest. 'I persuaded them he deserved a second chance, so they gave him one hell of a bollocking and released him. As long