‘Hughenden, the drug syndicate, Rodrigo Fuentes, and there’s still Vicenzo Pinto.’
‘Maybe, but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope. The man knows the drug syndicate’s reaction if he grasses.’
‘The Stewart solution.’
‘Exactly.’
The initial plan had been to interview Hughenden and O’Shaughnessy concurrently, looking for discrepancies in what they said, but that had been dispensed with. Isaac had felt that a few extra hours behind bars would remind O’Shaughnessy of what he had experienced in the past, what was to be his foreseeable future.
Len Donaldson and Isaac entered the interview room where Hughenden sat. He had been joined by Adam Galbraith, his lawyer. Isaac knew the man, having grown up in the same part of London.
‘DCI Cook, pleased to meet you.’
‘And you, Mr Galbraith.’
Neither man acknowledged their childhood friendship. Isaac rectified the situation. He went through the formalities and to his first question. ‘Mr Hughenden, I have known Mr Galbraith for many years as a friend. Do you have any objection to his representing you?’
‘No.’
Isaac knew that it had been necessary to state a possible conflict which may have been used in Hughenden’s defence at a later time.
‘Very well. We have formally charged Devlin O’Shaughnessy with the murder of Dougal Stewart.’
‘Why am I here?’
‘There are no charges against you yet, but you are a known friend of O’Shaughnessy, and he was apprehended in your house.’
‘He was a friend, no more. What he does or did is none of my business.’
‘Until proven otherwise.’
‘My client is here voluntarily to assist the police,’ Galbraith, a short man with horn-rimmed glasses, said. ‘It is not for you to imply that he is by default, due to a friendship, guilty of any crime.’
‘That’s understood. However, it is this friendship that continues to give us concern. Why was O’Shaughnessy at Mr Hughenden’s house today?’
‘He stopped me in the street,’ Hughenden said.
‘You could have phoned us.’
‘How? Devlin was standing in front of me and insisting we go to my house. You’ve seen him. He’s not the kind of person to argue with.’
‘What did he want?’ Donaldson asked.
‘Money.’
‘Did you agree?’
‘What else could I do? He had a gun.’
‘Your friend?’
‘He was desperate, not thinking straight. And besides, the police came barging in. You could have knocked on the door instead of breaking it down.’
‘We’ll deal with that later,’ Isaac said. Hughenden sat back on his chair, aiming to maintain the look of self-assuredness.
‘Mr Hughenden, I put it to you that Devlin O’Shaughnessy made contact with you not out of friendship but due to your both being involved in a major drug trafficking syndicate in this country.’
‘You are not in a position to make such remarks without proof,’ Galbraith said. Isaac remembered him as a little underweight child, not as the sharp lawyer that he had matured into.
‘O’Shaughnessy was one of the foot soldiers, not an officer,’ Isaac said. ‘He will be interviewed soon. The man is about to go to prison for first-degree murder. He has every reason to tell us all that he knows.’
‘You’d strike a deal with him?’ Galbraith asked.
‘If he cooperates it will go in his favour at his trial.’
‘My client is innocent of all charges. Your aspersions are ridiculous.’
‘Mr Hughenden, do you wish to make a statement?’
‘Yes. I have a jewellery shop in Notting Hill. Due to its success, I have managed to purchase several investment properties, one of which is the house in Bayswater that I rented to Devlin O’Shaughnessy. He was a tenant who became my friend. I admit that it is an unusual friendship in that he is obviously a hardened criminal, whereas I am not.
‘I was unaware of his return to crime after leaving prison the last time, and his apparent involvement in the death of a man came as a complete surprise. I have not seen him since then, and his meeting me today was unexpected. I can tell you no more.’
‘I believe we’ve exhausted this interview. Is my client free to go?’ Galbraith asked.
‘Not yet,’ Isaac said. ‘We will need to conduct a full search of Mr Hughenden’s shop.’
‘What for?’
‘Stolen merchandise,’ Donaldson said. ‘There will be a warrant issued.’
‘I’ve got nothing to hide,’ Hughenden confidently said. Isaac could see beads of sweat on the man’s forehead.
‘Is my client free to go after that?’ Galbraith asked.
‘He will be required to stay here until we have concluded our interview with Devlin O’Shaughnessy,’ Isaac said.
‘This is preposterous. My client is an innocent man who was forced by another to go to his house. The subsequent police siege resulted in significant damage to my client’s home, and now you say that you are going to search his shop. This amounts to police intimidation.’
‘Unfortunately, this amounts to good policing. We will hear from Mr O’Shaughnessy first before we decide on your client.’ Isaac said.
Len Donaldson knew he had something to report back to his senior at Serious and Organised Crime Command. He had seen the perspiration on Hughenden’s forehead as well, a sure sign of nervousness.
Chapter 16
Devlin O’Shaughnessy was calm when he entered the interview room, not fifteen minutes after Alex Hughenden had left it. Isaac went through the formalities, Larry sitting to his left.
O’Shaughnessy had been charged with murder. The interview was related to that, not drug trafficking, and Len Donaldson was not required. Not that Donaldson wanted to be as he had plenty to be getting on with. First, he had to see his detective superintendent and to brief him on the situation, which for once looked promising.
Donaldson knew that once they had a crime they could pin on Hughenden, then the drug syndicate would be his next target. If Hughenden was charged and in custody
