‘I’ve got a business to run. You can’t just barge in here,’ Domett said. He was dressed casually, an open-necked shirt, a pair of jeans. He was sweating, not unexpected as the room was hot, and the fan in the corner didn’t work. Not much worked in that office, Isaac conceded, not even Domett.
Isaac cast a critical eye over the man, vaguely remembered a fellow trainee from the past with body odour and bad breath.
Another man came into the office. He was dressed formally, and he wore a bow tie.
‘Jerome, there’s an address out in Hampstead, a company dinner. You’re accompanying the person,’ Domett said.
Jerome, the two police officers saw, was a black man, almost as tall as Isaac, his close-cropped hair greying. He was a good-looking man, one of the men on the Gents for Hire website.
‘Male or female?’ Jerome asked.
‘The name on the credit card is Lesley, or it could be Leslie. Take your pick.’
‘Fair enough. The normal rate?’
‘The normal. It’s dinner, that’s all.’
Jerome looked over at Isaac. ‘Are you new here?’
‘Detective Chief Inspector Cook, Challis Street Homicide.’
Larry could tell that Jerome had not seen him as another escort. He was slightly insulted by the man’s assessment. Domett had said that he was occasionally hired out, and compared to him, Larry was sure he was a more impressive figure. But Isaac and Jerome stood out. If they had not been there in the office, Isaac and Larry would not have picked Jerome as a man who sold himself.
‘Not trouble, I hope,’ Jerome said.
‘I thought your people never came to the office,’ Larry said to Domett.
‘Jerome lives locally. We sometimes meet up for a beer after work; a friend, not that I have many,’ Domett’s reply.
‘What about you, Jerome? What’s your story?’
‘Is this a bust? It’s only dinner, that’s all.’
‘We weren’t born yesterday, and besides, that’s not why we’re here. Did you know Colin Young?’
‘If he worked for Nick, then no.’
‘As I said, nobody comes here, only Jerome.’ Domett leaned over from his chair. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I’m busy. Unless you’ve got a warrant, then I’ve got the right to ask you to leave.’
‘If there’s nothing else, I’ll go,’ Jerome said.
‘We checked you out,’ Isaac said to Domett after Jerome had left the office, closing the door behind him.
‘And what did you find? How I resigned from the police force? There’s no blemish against my name.’
Domett continued to email and message, not looking away from his computer and phone, his back to Isaac and Larry.
‘We made a few enquiries at your last police station,’ Larry said. ‘It seems you had a bit of a reputation.’
‘I was tough, so what? I got results, arrested more than my fair share.’
‘That’s the official line. Detective Chief Inspector Harry Galsworthy, remember him?’
‘Tough bastard, wasn’t shy of slapping the occasional villain.’
‘He reckoned you were taking backhanders from the pimps, looking the other way, getting freebies from the girls.’
‘He’s lying.’
‘Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, but we’d take his word over yours,’ Isaac said.
‘Look here, Isaac,’ Domett said, swivelling his chair around and resting his elbows on his knees. ‘It was a tough station, tough neighbourhood. We didn’t have any of your gentlemen villains, the same as you do in Challis Street, up around Kensington and Bayswater. Our villains were hard men who gave as good as they got.’
‘We’ve got enough of those, but that’s not what we’re talking about, is it?’
‘It is to me. It’s easy to cast an aspersion, to claim that a police officer was on the take, another was handy with his fists, another was screwing the local whores, turning a blind eye to the people traffickers, the drug pushers.’
‘We know the drill, but Galsworthy said there was proof.’
‘If there was, then why wasn’t I charged?’
‘According to him, you had a good record, although he didn’t rate you as a police officer. But you had arrested more than a few in your time, occasionally doctoring your notebook to get a conviction.’
‘Supposition, hearsay, just nonsense. I played it fair, others didn’t. I was framed, forced to take the blame for others in the station, even your precious DCI Galsworthy.’
‘We verified it with another source.’
‘Name? Who is this malignant piece of filth?’
‘That person remains nameless. What we do know is that on account of your arrest record, the fact that the station would be subjected to an audit, one rotten apple spoiling the barrel, a decision was made for you to resign voluntarily.’
‘I was still framed.’
‘We’re not forming a judgement here, but we want the truth from you. Is that too much to ask for?’
‘I still can’t help you with the “specials” that Colin Young serviced.’
‘We’ve moved on from them at this time,’ Isaac said. ‘We’ve remanded a woman for Colin Young’s murder, but my sergeant doesn’t believe it’s her, and Inspector Hill’s not so sure, either.’
‘Then why remand her? Insufficient proof means no conviction.’
‘We don’t hold with falsifying the evidence, something that your record indicates you’re capable of. We want the murderer, not someone we can stitch up for the crime.’
‘Then why are you here? I’m not a murderer, and yes, they asked me to leave. The sacrificial lamb for the good name of the police station and the chief superintendent. A hearing into my supposed misdemeanours would have sullied his copybook.’
‘Did you know that Colin Young’s real name was Barry Montgomery?’
‘Why? Should I?’
‘Domett, if you don’t stop answering a question with a question, we’ll haul you and your pathetic arse down to Challis Street. Now, one more time. Did you know that he was also known as Barry Montgomery?’
‘A lot of them have other names, nothing special in that.’
‘Answer the question.’
‘Once, when
