The extent of the involvement of the punctilious jewellery shop’s owner in the drug trafficking was unclear. There was a Mr Big, and that was who Serious and Organised Crime Command were after. DCI Cook and his team could have the accolades for solving the murder of Dougal Stewart, a minor drug smuggler, but Donaldson knew the big fish was still out there, waiting for him to bring him in.
He had been dealing with organised crime for eight years, and each year its inroads into the crime of London increased. What had been the trafficking of a few women from Eastern Europe for prostitution had transformed into drug smuggling amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds a year, and now criminal gangs were smuggling illegal refugees into the country as well. Donaldson did not dwell too deeply on such matters. He had one job to do, and that was to bring down whoever was controlling Hughenden.
The visit to the jewellery shop was to be a joint effort between Isaac’s team and Donaldson’s. A warrant had been arranged, and it was only waiting for the teams to meet up.
Not that this concerned Isaac Cook and his DI. They were both in with O’Shaughnessy and his lawyer.
‘My client strenuously denies all charges,’ Adam Galbraith said. O’Shaughnessy was using the same lawyer as Hughenden. Isaac could see that the man was not going to be successful this time.
‘Mr O’Shaughnessy, you have been charged with the murder of Dougal Stewart, commonly known as Dave.’
‘You can’t prove it,’ O’Shaughnessy said, his tattooed arms folded in an act of defiance.
‘Unfortunately for you, we can.’
‘How? I barely knew the man.’
‘We have a signed confession from Vicenzo Pinto identifying you and Steve Walters as the two people who murdered Stewart.’
‘And you believe him?’
‘We also have your fingerprints on record. They match those found at the murder scene. The evidence is overwhelming. Either you or Walters killed Dougal Stewart in a warehouse not far from here.’
‘You’re framing me.’
‘There are only two alternatives for you,’ Isaac said.
‘What are they?’ O’Shaughnessy asked.
‘I suggest caution in what you ask,’ Galbraith said, directing a look at the man sitting alongside him.
‘Why? I’m not guilty.’ From what Isaac could see, this apparently intelligent man was reverting to type, criminal type, in denying everything.
‘Today, you held off the police with a loaded weapon. Do you deny this?’
‘I’d drunk a couple of beers. They caught me at a bad time.’
‘An innocent man would have come down to this station and answered all questions. I put it to you that you are a guilty man and you know it. This posturing of yours in this room is non-productive. Mr Shaughnessy, you are going to jail for the murders of Dougal Stewart and Rodrigo Fuentes.’
‘I never killed him.’
‘Who?’
‘That Brazilian.’
‘Are you admitting that you were a major player in the distribution of large quantities of illegal drugs?’
‘I’m admitting to nothing.’
‘DCI, how much longer is this going to continue?’ Galbraith asked.
‘Until your client starts telling the truth.’
‘My client has said all that he can on this matter. He is innocent of all crimes.’
‘He can deny them,’ Larry said, ‘but we’ve got enough proof to put him away for the next fifteen to twenty years.’
‘Five, ten, fifteen, what difference does it make?’ O’Shaughnessy said.
‘Why?’ Larry asked.
‘Cancer, that’s why. I’d rather spend my last few years enjoying myself, but if the police are determined to lock me up for a crime I didn’t commit…’
‘But you did commit these crimes. We have enough proof. Your continuing procrastination will serve no purpose.’
Galbraith could see that the interview was not going well. ‘Could we have a break, say twenty minutes?’ he asked.
‘Fine,’ Isaac replied.
***
‘Devlin, I can’t defend you here,’ Galbraith said after Isaac and Larry had left the interview room.
‘I’ll not grass.’
‘Not even to save yourself?’
‘They’re right. They’ve got me fair and square. Whatever I say, I’ll be convicted.’
‘What about Steve Walters?’ Galbraith asked.
‘What about him?’
‘Where is he?’
‘Up north somewhere.’
‘You’ve had no contact?’
‘He’s phoned me once or twice, but he’s staying where he is. I can’t blame him. I should have taken what money I had and made a run for it.’
‘Then why didn’t you?’
‘Greed, I suppose. I knew Alex Hughenden had plenty and I thought some of it would be better in my pocket. He’s always played fair by me, and I knew he’d agree.’
‘You could have phoned him.’
‘I wanted to see the house. For once in my miserable life, I was living well there.’
‘Are you going to continue to maintain your innocence?’
‘I’ll not grass, especially not on Alex.’
‘Then you will not walk on the street as a free man again.’
‘It looks that way.’
***
Once the two police officers had returned, Galbraith made a statement on his client’s behalf. ‘My client maintains his innocence of all charges and will strenuously defend himself in a Court of Law. He will not speak further on these matters and will devote his time to his defence.’
Isaac had hoped for more, but if the man intended to remain silent, then so be it. He would at least stand trial for murder, with a one hundred per cent certainty of conviction.
To Isaac, he and his team had solved the murder of the man whose torso had been found in Regent’s Canal. Richard Goddard was elated and phoned Isaac to offer his congratulations.
‘There’s still Pinto and Fuentes,’ Isaac said.
‘You’ve already stated that it’ll be hard to pin Fuentes’ murder onto O’Shaughnessy.’
‘He killed him; I’m certain of it.’
‘At least the man’s inside for
