‘You’ve got nothing on me,’ Foster said.
‘You’re a man with a record. How many times have you been charged with assault, how many convictions?’
‘I’m a violent man, but it doesn’t make me a killer.’
‘Mr Foster, you know who the men are who gave Aberman the money, the men who wanted it back. Aberman, we know, was not a person to be intimidated. That’s why you went to work on him in Bray, why you killed him, and why you and Gus, the doorman at the Dixey Club, buried Aberman in the garden. Gus is going down for enough years as it is. He’ll identify you as the killer if it reduces his sentence. And what about your fingerprints at the house?’
‘I wore…’
‘Gloves, is that what you were about to say?’
‘My client is not in a position to continue this interview. I am requesting that this interview is reconvened at a later time when Mr Foster has had a chance to change his clothes and to have a shower.’
‘I don’t think Ben Aberman had such courtesy when he was being beaten and tortured by Mr Foster,’ Isaac said.
‘My client vigorously denies his involvement.’
‘Mr Foster, we will be charging you with the murder of Ben Aberman. The person who buried the body with you will testify it was you who was the murderer.’
‘I’m innocent.’
‘The only way you can hope for some leniency is if you tell us who were the other men at Dixey’s the night you took Aberman. We know there were three. Who were the other two? And who or what is the organisation that Aberman signed the clubs over to? What is Helen Langdon’s significance in this?’
‘My client needs time to consider his position,’ the legal aid said.
‘Thirty minutes.’ Isaac said.
Chapter 19
Isaac took the opportunity of a break in questioning Ugly Pete to phone Larry.
‘I’ve found a weapon at Ugly Pete’s house,’ Larry said. ‘It took me a while. I just followed the dust in the house, found a clean spot. It was there, under a floorboard.’
‘Forensics, how long before they can give us a positive that it’s the weapon that killed Ben Aberman?’
‘It’s fitted with a silencer. Not legal in the UK, but Ugly Pete wouldn’t care. I’ll take it to Forensics myself. We should have an answer today.’
‘The man’s playing tough. He doesn’t want to admit to anything.’
‘If he’s convicted of Aberman’s murder, he’s not likely to see freedom for a long time.’
The interview reconvened. Isaac had more ammunition with which to get the reluctant man to talk.
‘My client wishes to make a statement,’ the legal aid said. Isaac thought he was too young to be a solicitor.
‘When he’s ready,’ Isaac said.
‘I, Peter Foster, did not kill Ben Aberman. I knew of the Dixey Club, having been there on a few occasions. At one time, I was hired to visit the club in the early hours of the morning with two others. I do not know their names. The purpose of the visit was to escort Mr Aberman to his house in Bray. There was a Mr Slater present. After we had delivered the man, I left.’
‘Is that it?’ Isaac said.
‘That’s all I’ve got to say,’ Ugly Pete said.
‘Your solicitor has not advised you well. Although in his defence he does not know of your history, nor of certain facts. Before we go any further, let me outline what we know,’ Isaac said. ‘We have found a weapon at your house. Hiding it under a floorboard was not enough to deter Detective Inspector Hill. It is fitted with a silencer and is almost certainly the weapon that killed Ben Aberman. We do have a bullet from where the murdered man was buried. Also, we have Guthrie Boswell’s testimony that Mr Foster killed Aberman, and that he and Mr Foster buried the body in the garden.’
‘I had to do it,’ Foster said, leaping to his feet.
‘Why?’
‘If I hadn’t shot him, they would have shot me.’
‘That’s not a defence,’ Wendy said.
‘I received this phone call. The man’s insistent it’s a pickup, a roughing up, make him sign a piece of paper. Nothing more, I swear it.’
‘Your speciality?’
‘That’s what I do. Men such as Aberman get down in the dirt. They don’t like it when they’re called to account.’
‘Why kill Aberman?’
‘I don’t know, but that’s what I was told to do.’
‘By who?’
‘Slater.’
‘And he’s dead.’
‘I only ever received text messages to be at a certain place at a certain time. The money’s paid into my account.’
‘You had the gun. You could have refused.’
‘Not with the people Slater represented.’
‘Which people?’
‘People who stay hidden, people who would have me killed. That’s the truth.’
‘Who are they?’
‘I don’t know. You can keep me in here for as long as you like. I can’t tell you any more.’
***
Linda Holden closed her father’s morality campaign office the day after Ugly Pete was charged with the murder of Ben Aberman. One week later her brother, John, was dead.
‘He’d been depressed for some time,’ Linda said when Isaac met her at her family home.
‘Your mother?’
‘She’s not been the same since our father died, almost reclusive.’
‘Why was your brother depressed?’
‘With John, you couldn’t be sure. He’d attempted suicide before. This time he stepped in front of a train. He wanted to let us know that the guilt lies with us.’
‘And does it?’
‘My mother feels guilt, I don’t. John was a weak person, always ready to blame his problems on others. Our father had no time for him.’
‘Was it mutual?’
‘They rarely spoke, and once Helen had made it clear she did not want
