‘And now?’
‘I’m leaving the country. Knox knows too much, and he’ll talk. I’ve arranged a private plane. Do you want to come?’
‘I’ve not done anything wrong.’
Ten minutes later, Archie Adamant attempted to pull out of the driveway, only to find it blocked by two police cars. Quickly, he was bundled into one of the vehicles, his hands cuffed.
‘Where are we going?’ Adamant said.
‘Challis Street Police Station. Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Cook has some questions for you.’
A plane waited at a nearby airport for a passenger who would never come.
***
Archie Adamant did not enjoy the trip to Challis Street Police Station, that was plain to see on his arrival. ‘You’ll regret this,’ he said to Isaac when they met.
‘Mr Adamant, we needed to act with urgency. Certain information has come into our possession which identifies you as a person of interest.’ Isaac felt no need to say any more. Adamant had a Queen’s Counsel coming to the office to represent him. Barry Knox, without the financial resources of the other man, had only a local lawyer.
In the first interview room sat Barry Knox; in the second, Archie Adamant. Outside, in the police station’s reception area, were Abigail and Howard Adamant. ‘You can’t believe our brother is guilty of such crimes,’ Abigail said.
‘The proof is there. We can prove who killed Helen and James Holden, also the flatmate of one of the prostitutes. They link back to your brother. It’s up to him to convince us otherwise.’
Barry Knox waited impatiently. He regretted hiding the gun in his flat, realising that he should have dumped it in the river not far from where he lived. He had always been reluctant to throw anything away, including old magazines and old newspapers, and now it was going to haunt him.
Isaac and Larry entered Interview Room 1. Across from them, Barry Knox and his lawyer. Isaac informed Knox of his rights, the procedure that would be followed during the interview. Knox nodded his head weakly; his lawyer too. Neither of the two police officers believed the lawyer would be able to achieve much.
‘Mr Knox, the weapon discovered hidden in your flat has been positively identified as being used to kill Helen Langdon and James Holden. It has also been used to kill another woman.’
‘I didn’t kill anyone,’ Knox said.
‘The weapon’s in your flat. It’s hidden in a cavity in the wall, and the area concealed and painted over.’
‘I didn’t put it there.’
‘Your fingerprints are on the paintbrush that our crime scene examiners found in the laundry. Your continual denial does you no credit. We have sufficient proof for a conviction.’
‘Are my client’s fingerprints on the gun?’ the lawyer said.
‘No. The gun is clean,’ Isaac said.
‘Then you only have circumstantial evidence, not proof.’
‘No jury will accept that Mr Knox did not know the gun was in his flat, sealed behind a false façade, his fingerprints on the paintbrush, a pot of paint as well.’
‘My client will maintain his innocence.’
‘If that is what he wants. We’ve Archie Adamant in the other room. No doubt he’ll be more than happy to blame someone else.’
‘Mr Knox, why do you continue to deny this?’ Larry said. He could see Knox wavering, wanting to indicate to his lawyer that he was ready to confess, the lawyer pressing on his client’s arm to stay still and to let him deal with it.
‘My client has no more to say.’
‘He’s guilty, we can prove it, and if he doesn’t talk, then Adamant is going to place all the blame on him,’ Isaac said.
‘Very well, I killed Helen and Holden. I didn’t want to, but Adamant, he was insistent,’ Knox said.
‘You could have refused.’
‘I wanted to.’
‘Then why?’
‘Adamant knew about my cheating him on the money the club was making. He threatened me with the Aberman solution.’
‘You knew about Ben Aberman in the garden?’
‘I knew he was dead. I was never sure where he was buried, although I suspected it was the garden. Gus said it was, but with him, I could never be certain.’
‘Why weren’t you certain?’
‘Gus wasn’t the brightest, and maybe Adamant had told him to tell me, a warning.’
‘This is the older Adamant?’
‘Yes, Gerald. He was a tough bastard. Always nice to your face, the sort of man who’d help old ladies across the road. But the man had an evil side. He’d have enjoyed watching Aberman suffer, and then Ugly Pete shooting him in the head.’
‘Were you there?’
‘Not me. I didn’t have anything to do with Aberman’s death.’
‘Tell us about Archie Adamant.’
‘He’s worse than the father. Gerald was likeable, but the son’s not. The son, he phoned me up, tells me that that Helen had murdered his father in cold blood. He wants revenge.’
‘Did he care that much about the father?’
‘Archie, I doubt it.’
‘How do you know all this?’
‘A week after Aberman died, Helen phoned me up. She had left the club by then. We met a few days later.’
‘You’ve known all these years?’
‘Not all of it, but over the years other bits of information have fallen into place. Helen, she’s confused, not sure what to do. We meet over a few weeks, formulate this plan.’
‘The death of Gerald Adamant?’
‘Helen, she’s a great actor. She knew she’d need to get close to the man, to make him suffer for what he had done.’
‘Did she love Aberman?’
‘He treated her well.’
‘Why did she phone you?’
‘You don’t get it, do you? Aberman’s dead, Helen’s still alive and so am I. Neither of us doubts that Gerald Adamant is capable of arranging someone’s death. We start spending more time together, end up sharing a bed. After a couple
