‘He told me about that night. He and Ugly Pete had worked Ben Aberman over, Ugly Pete cranking the handle of the generator. Gus, he can be soft sometimes. He goes into the other room, disturbed by the smell of the burning flesh, Aberman arching off the chair. Five minutes later, Ugly Pete comes out and tells him it’s all over.’
‘What’s all over?’
‘Aberman, he’s signed all the documents. Gus checks on the man. He’s tied to the chair, his head flopped forward. Gus walks around to the front, sees the bullet hole.’
‘A gun would have made a noise.’
‘It had a silencer.’
‘He would have heard something.’
‘Gus’s hearing is not great. He may not have heard.’
‘Gus has admitted to burying Aberman. Why are you telling us?’ Isaac said.
‘I’m protecting myself. Gerald Adamant was the man behind the scenes. He was more dangerous than anyone else. A man devoid of any emotion, other than self-aggrandisement. What people thought of him was all-important.’
‘And his son, Archie?’
‘I’ll not testify against him.’
‘In that case, you’ll go to jail for the murders of six people.’
‘You can’t prove it,’ Knox said. Isaac and Larry could see that the man was rattled. Isaac knew that if he played Knox off against Adamant, one of them would break.
‘Mr Knox, I’m arresting you for the murders of Helen Langdon and James Holden.’
‘I’ve got a club to run. I don’t have time for this.’
‘Your doorman, he can deal with it. Larry, get the crime scene examiners over here and at Knox’s home. You can check as well, see if you can find any weapons. Mr Knox shot Slater and his receptionist, also Daisy and Gwendoline’s flatmate. We need the weapon.’
Chapter 27
Barry Knox lived better than Larry had expected. He had a three-bedroom flat on the other side of the River Thames, in Greenwich, not far from the Greenwich Meridian, the line of zero degrees longitude.
Gordon Windsor’s crime scene examiners were already on the site. The CSEs focussed on any evidence that would tie in Knox to any of the murder sites. Difficult, considering that very little had been found at any of them, bar the occasional hair, the lint from a piece of fabric. With the CSEs in one room, Larry moved carefully around the flat. There was no sign of a woman being resident, although the place was tidy. Realising that the CSEs would focus on the more obvious, Larry looked for hidden areas, loose tiles, a floorboard that creaked. After thirty minutes he hadn’t found anything. He was preparing to leave when above him, just close to the front door, he saw an area of fresh paint. He called over Grant Meston, Windsor’s deputy. ‘What do you reckon to this?’ Larry said.
Meston took a step ladder the team had brought with them. He climbed the three steps and tapped on the area. ‘It sounds hollow,’ he said.
Larry phoned Isaac. ‘Keep Knox on ice. We need fifteen minutes.’
Meston took photos of the area before carefully using a sharp knife to find a crack. ‘Here it is,’ he said. Gingerly, he continued until he had removed a small square of plasterboard. Inside, a cavity with a package wedged in tight.
More photos and then the package was removed. It was placed on the table in the kitchen and slowly unwrapped. Inside was a gun with a silencer. ‘It’s the correct calibre, Glock 17, 9 mm,’ Meston said.
‘Can you confirm it’s the murder weapon?’
‘Not here. It’ll need Forensics.’
Larry phoned Isaac once again. ‘We’ve found a weapon. Forensics will check it out.’
Isaac turned to Knox who was waiting for his lawyer to arrive. ‘Detective Inspector Hill has found a gun at your flat.’
‘It’s for protection.’
‘Hidden behind a painted area in your flat? It’ll be a couple of hours before Forensics confirms it as a murder weapon, long enough for your lawyer to try and save your arse.’
***
Archie Adamant was panicking. The doorman he had installed at Dixey’s after Gus’s arrest had phoned him: Barry Knox was in police custody, charged with murder.
Archie knew he did not have his father’s natural ways with people and most had found him to be rude and boorish. However, he did have an innate ability to survive. He visited his sister in her part of the substantial home. ‘Helen murdered our father. I found out some months ago.’
‘How?’
‘She had told Holden. He told me.’
‘Why?’
‘I knew the man. He thought I was the same as my father, full of magnanimity.’
‘But why would she tell Holden? She had convinced everyone of her innocence.’
‘According to Holden, she was in love. She did not want her present jeopardised by lying to the man.’
‘But why did he tell you?’
‘He thought he could trust me. He had trusted our father.’
‘Holden was a naïve man. Did you kill him?’ Abigail asked.
‘Do you think I’m capable?’
‘Capable enough to find someone to do it for you.’
‘She murdered our father,’ Archie said.
‘Our father was becoming old and irrational. He could have written us out of his will at any time. Does Howard know about Helen?’
‘What does he matter? He’s only the spawn of that gold-digging woman that our father married.’
‘And Slater, what about him? What did he know?’
‘He knew too much for too long.’
‘Did you kill him? You’re a good shot.’
‘You know the Adamant motto,’ Archie said.
‘Unwritten, but our father taught us well: get others to do your dirty work, and for you, an Adamant, to bask in the glory of piety.’
‘They’ve arrested Barry Knox, the manager at Dixey’s.’
‘Did he kill Helen?’
‘Yes.’
‘On your authority?’
‘I had no option. If Holden knew the truth, so would others. Helen was committed to telling all, and with it would come the checking, and
