Shape of Snakes

Sailor's Rest in '95.'

Danny eyed me with understandable suspicion. 'How do you know he's the one who nicked Alan?'

'A neighbor of ours in Graham Road told me,' I explained. 'Libby Williams?' He shook his head. 'She knew I was interested in anything Mr. Drury did, particularly if it concerned an ex-pupil.' I tucked my hand companionably into the crook of Sam's elbow to soften the blows of revelation. 'I had several encounters with him before we moved abroad. He's probably the most corrupt person I've ever met ... a thief, a liar, a bully ... and a racist. Quite the wrong sort of man to be given a police uniform.'

A mirthless laugh escaped Danny's mouth. 'He sure as hell stitched Alan up. Okay, I'm not saying my brother was an angel, but he was no drug pusher. A user, maybe-never a pusher.'

'What happened?'

'I don't know the exact details ... I was just a kid at the time ... but Ma said Drury nicked him in a pub one night, and dropped four ounces of hash into his pocket while he was slapping on the handcuffs. He was a right bastard. If he couldn't get you for one thing, he'd get you for another.'

'What had Alan really done?'

Danny made fists of his hands and punched the knuckles against each other. 'Couldn't stay out of a fight, particularly when he was drunk. Took the whole damn police force on one evening and laid about him like a good 'un, never mind he was only fifteen.' A reminiscent smile curled his mouth. 'He got five thousand quid compensation for it.'

'That's some trick,' said Sam.

'Not really. Al's injuries were much worse than the coppers'. Three broken ribs ... boot marks all over him from the kicking they gave him ... internal bleeding. You name it, he had it. The only problem is'-Danny sent a stone flying with a well-aimed toecap-'Drury had it in for the Slater kids from that moment on. He arrested us all at one time or another.' He rubbed his arm in tender recollection. 'And gave us a damn good thrashing whenever he got the chance.'

'So what was Alan actually convicted of?' I asked curiously. 'Possession or assault on the police?'

Danny frowned. 'Dealing, I think.' he said vaguely. 'But it was a stitch-up whichever way you look at it. They reckoned he was a bad influence on the rest of us, so Drury had him put away till he calmed down. He's been straight ever since ... so I guess it worked.'

I wondered if any of it was true, or if it was a story the family had invented for public consumption.

Sam turned to me with a puzzled look. 'And this Drury is the man who was staring at you?'

I nodded. 'I think he was trying to work out who I was.'

'Well, he'll know by now. I paid by credit card.'

'Yes.' I agreed. 'That's why we went there.'

He looked away, racing to put the pieces of his own personal jigsaw puzzle together. 'So what's the plan?' he asked as we approached the car. 'Do we walk up to this thug and confront him? Or do we behave with civilized disdain?'

'We behaved with civilized disdain last time,' I reminded him.

'You may have done,' he snapped irritably, inserting his key into the car door. 'I didn't know him from Adam. All I saw was a middle-aged prick ogling my wife.' He frowned at us across the roof. 'If you're intending to talk to him about the robbery you won't get anywhere. Larry said he wasn't remotely interested when Sheila tried to raise it with him. He just became extremely offensive and reduced Sheila to a nervous wreck.'

I exchanged a quick glance with Danny and saw only curiosity in his eyes. 'I want to unsettle him a little,' I said. 'Make him wonder what three ex-residents of Graham Road are doing in his pub.'

Sam shook his head, clearly unimpressed. 'Yes, but why? What are you expecting to achieve? There's no reason to think you'll be any more successful than Sheila, and I'm not keen to end up in the middle of a screaming match in public.'

Danny spoke before I could answer, after shoving his hands into his pockets to protect whatever was there. Cannabis? I wondered. 'I've done my best to put distance between me and Mr. Drury these last ten years,' he grumbled, 'and I'd be well pleased if he thought I was dead.'

I gave a noncommittal shrug. 'Okay, we'll go somewhere else. I always planned to confront him on my own anyway. He doesn't scare me ... or not as much as he'd like to think.'

I was lying of course.

Sam took up the gauntlet as I hoped he would, albeit reluctantly since he obviously thought I was planning a scene, while Danny muttered that the issue had nothing to do with being scared and everything to do with common sense. He asked me if we intended to drive him back to the sculpture park afterward, and when I said we would, he brightened visibly and tucked something down between the cushions of the backseat before we left the car.

When we reached the Sailor's Rest, Sam chose a table near the harbor wall and eyed the other customers warily to see if he recognized anyone. 'Just try to keep your voice under control,' he muttered irritably. 'You get very strident when you talk about Annie.'

'Not anymore,' I said, switching my attention to Danny and asking him to come inside with me. 'Sam can guard the table,' I told him, 'while you and I sort out the drinks.'

'What you mean is, you want the ferret to see the rabbit,' Danny muttered despondently as I led the way across the cobbles to the front door of the pub.

I smiled, liking him a great deal. 'Rabbits plural,' I said. 'We're both in the same boat. But there's strength in numbers ... any rabbit will tell you that.'

'So who's this Annie you get strident about?' he asked as we paused on the threshold to let our eyes adjust from brilliant sunshine to the Stygian gloom inside.