The Killing (33 page)

James felt down, lolling around on his own while things spiralled off in all kinds of exciting directions without him. He realised that the mission was drawing to its end and he wondered if Kyle and the others were still going to be blanking him when he got back to campus.

Then he remembered Hannah and sent her a text saying that he was sorry about the way he’d behaved earlier on. She didn’t reply.

15:52

After retiring, Alan
Falco
and his wife had moved out to
Southend
on the Essex coast. John and Ray had taken forty minutes to drive out from east London.

‘Nice house,’ John said, as they walked up a row of steps to the front door.

Ray pointed out the sticker in the back window of
Falco’s car:
Another Satisfied Customer of TARASOV PRESTIGE MOTORS
.

When nobody answered the doorbell, John went up on tiptoes and peered into the back garden. The next-door neighbour gave John a fright as he shouted over the wall.

‘The old boy’s a bit deaf. He’s out in the greenhouse.’

‘Thanks,’ John smiled.

He opened the wooden gate into the back garden. Ray followed him across a neatly mowed lawn and into a huge greenhouse stuffed with flowers.

‘Mr
Falco
?’ John asked.

Falco was in his late fifties, but looked older. The grey beard, open-necked shirt and braces fitted Millie’s description of him seeming like a nice old stick.

‘Beautiful plants,’ John said. ‘Must take a lot of work.’

Falco smiled. ‘I have a lot of time on my hands, Mr …?’

John left Ray to flash his warrant card. ‘I’m Inspector
McLad
, CIB. My colleague is Mr Jones.’

‘CIB,’
Falco
smiled. ‘Have I been a naughty boy?’

‘Statements relating to the death of Will Clarke,’
McLad
said, cutting straight to the point. ‘Do you remember taking any?’

‘Or taking bribes from Leon
Tarasov
to lose them?’ John added.

The old stick’s face tightened up. John pulled a cassette recorder out of his pocket and pushed the play button.

‘
I don’t understand how you’ve got yourself worked into this state over the car, Michael. But whatever’s behind this, you’ve got to learn to control yourself. The last time you lost your cool like this, you ended up throwing Will Clarke off a rooftop. I don’t know how you’ve got the face to come in here trying to scam me after that. You’d be doing life if I hadn’t got Falco to deal with the witness statements
.’

Falco didn’t know where to put his face.

Ray broke into the evil smile of a man who knows he’s got his victim by the balls. ‘Mr
Falco
, we’ve gathered some good evidence that Michael Patel killed Will Clarke. Probably enough to secure a conviction. But if you stand in court and admit that you took money from Leon
Tarasov
to cover for Michael Patel, our case will be rock solid.’

Falco realised he was being offered a deal that might save himself from spending the remainder of his life in prison. He phrased his words carefully, in case John or Ray were covertly recording the conversation.

‘Hypothetically,
 
if
 
there was a way I could help you two gents, I’d want
 
complete
 
immunity from prosecution. Not just for this, but for any other stuff that came to light as a result of a CIB investigation into corruption at Palm Hill police station.’

16:18

Millie
Kentner
and Greg Jackson headed into Palm Hill police station. They were confident that they’d gathered all the evidence they needed:

 (1) The two boys who claimed they’d seen a man on the roof.

 (2) Another boy who’d bumped into Michael Patel coming off the staircase.

 (3) Michael’s suspicious handling of Will’s obviously dead body.

 (4) Recorded conversations where Michael and Leon openly talked about the murder.

 (5) Most importantly, Alan
Falco’s
willingness to testify that Leon had paid him to destroy the statements taken from the boys after Will’s death.

The pair headed up to the community policing office on the second floor and found Michael standing by the photocopier.

‘Michael,’ Millie called, breaking into a friendly smile. ‘Would you mind stepping into my office for a moment? I’ve got Greg Jackson from CIB with me.’

‘James Holmes and CIB,’ Michael groaned. ‘That’s
 
just
 
what I need after the day I’ve had.’

‘What happened to your nose?’ Millie asked, as she led the sergeant towards her office.

‘Walked into a door.’

Millie sat in her chair as Greg pulled a set of handcuffs off his belt and spoke.

‘Michael Patel, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Will Clarke. You do not have to say anything, but whatever you do say may be taken down and used in evidence against you …’

Michael looked aghast as Millie checked the time on her watch. Over at Palm Hill, two uniformed officers were driving on to the car lot to arrest Leon
Tarasov
.

20:30

James and Dave’s stuff was going back to CHERUB campus in the grey surveillance van. John was helping James carry everything downstairs when Liza
Tarasov
bumped into him on the balcony.

‘What’s going on, James?’

James was holding a portable TV. ‘The cops arrested Dave at the same time Pete and Leon got nicked, so I’ve got to go back to the children’s home.’

‘Permanently?’

‘I guess,’ James nodded solemnly. ‘My social worker just blew her stack. I was only allowed to live with Dave if we behaved ourselves, but we’ve been here less than a month and we’ve both been arrested. Dave’s already on parole, so he won’t be coming out in a hurry and I can’t live here on my own.’

‘That’s really sad,’ Liza said sympathetically. ‘It was nice having you two around. You livened the place up.’

The TV was straining at James’ arms, so he put it down on the ground between his legs. ‘I think I upset Hannah this morning. I sent her a text, but she didn’t reply.’

Liza nodded. ‘Hannah phoned me. I got the whole story and you’d better
 
not
 
be cheating on her. She’s been through a lot this past year.’

James shrugged. ‘She’ll be better off with me out of her life.’

‘I think she still likes you.’

‘Yeah, but I’ll be in a children’s home. A few weeks after that they’ll ship me off to a foster home and that could be anywhere. It’s better just to leave it: you know, fond memory and that.’

John emerged from the flat, holding a sports bag filled with Dave’s clothes.

‘Come on, James. Help me out here.’

James looked at Liza and felt sad. ‘I’d better go. Tell Hannah that I said I’ll always remember her, OK?’

Liza nodded as James picked up the TV. ‘I will.’

‘So is Max about?’ James asked. ‘Do you reckon I should stick my head in your flat and say goodbye to him?’

‘I wouldn’t,’ Liza said. ‘It’s a nuthouse in there. Max is sobbing his little heart out about Uncle Leon and Pete getting nicked. Auntie
Sacha’s
really upset, because bloody Sonya started a big row with her, blaming Uncle Leon for everything.’

James smiled a little. ‘That explains why you’re out here. I’m sorry about your uncle.’

‘Sonya’s right about one thing,’ Liza shrugged. ‘Uncle Leon’s like Teflon: nothing ever sticks to him. He’ll probably be home in a few hours.’

‘I hope so,’ James lied. ‘Anyway, I’d better carry this downstairs before I do myself an injury.’

‘Yeah, later James,’ Liza said, as he waddled towards the staircase holding the TV.

Thursday 00:02

James was heading up the M11 in the van when his mobile
rang:
Hannah calling
. He stared at the display, picturing Hannah on her bed, lit up by lava lamps with her orange toenails. He wondered what kind of mood she’d be in and what she wanted to say, but he didn’t answer. When the phone stopped ringing, James slid off the battery, pulled out the SIM card and snapped it in two.

‘That’s another phone number I don’t have to remember,’ James said, grinning at John but feeling sad inside.

John nodded, without looking away from the gloomy lanes of traffic. His eyes looked puffy, like he needed a good night’s sleep.

James slid a nylon wallet out the back of his jeans and ripped the Velcro apart. He went down the little zip-up pocket, took out the SIM card he used on campus and slotted it into his phone. After turning it on and looking at the intro message – which Lauren had changed to
 
U*Suck
 
months earlier – he flicked through the saved numbers and gave himself a shock:
 
Bruce, Cal, Connor, Gab, Kerry, Kyle, Lauren, Mo, Shak
.

Apart from Lauren, nobody on the list was speaking to him. He flicked up to Kerry’s number and thought about sending her a text. The kiss had worked two nights earlier, so he figured he should try. But what should he write?

He typed
 
SORRY
, deleted it, then typed it again. After deleting again he got halfway through
 
I APOLOGISE
 
before deciding that it sounded too pompous. James wanted to tell Kerry how she made him feel special. How she wasn’t the fittest or most beautiful girl in the world, but that he wanted to be with her more than anyone else.

James realised what he really wanted to say and typed it
out:
KERRY, I LOVE U
.

He spent a full minute with his thumb over the send button before he felt brave enough to press it.

00:18

James’ phone beeped. There was an envelope on the screen:

1 SMS from Kerry:

WE NEED 2 TALK :)

CU AT BREAKFAST. K.

The Cops

The end of the CHERUB investigation into Leon
Tarasov
was just the beginning for RAY
McLAD
and GREG JACKSON of the Complaints Investigation Branch (CIB).

It took six further months of investigations for their team to root out and gather evidence against fifteen corrupt officers who had been based at Palm Hill police station over a twenty-year period.

Five of the fifteen officers were forced to resign. Nine others were arrested and charged with serious corruption offences, such as taking bribes, tampering with evidence and running a protection racket in association with Leon
Tarasov
. One of these officers was acquitted of all charges. The other eight were successfully prosecuted and received prison sentences ranging between two and nine years.

The final corrupt officer, ALAN FALCO, was not charged with any offence. His testimony was instrumental in successfully prosecuting his former colleagues.
Falco
was forced to move from his
Southend
home following a series of anonymous threats, an arson attack on his car and waking up to find the word
 
grass
spray
-painted on his greenhouse.

Disillusioned with her police career, MILLIE KENTNER took a two-month leave of absence. After considering her options – including an offer to become a handler at CHERUB – Millie decided to continue working for the Metropolitan Police. She successfully applied for a transfer to CIB and is now in charge of an undercover squad that specialises in rooting out corrupt police officers.

The Robbers

LEON TARASOV and MICHAEL PATEL faced charges relating to the Golden Sun Casino robbery and the subsequent murder of WILL CLARKE.

Shortly before his trial was due to start and in the face of overwhelming evidence, Leon
Tarasov
pleaded guilty to all of the robbery charges against him and to three others relating to covering up the murder of Will Clarke. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

Michael Patel maintained his innocence. Following a three-week trial, an Old Bailey jury found him guilty of both the casino robbery and of murder. The judge described Will’s murder as ‘
The most repugnant act committed by a serving police officer we are ever likely to encounter
.’ She recommended that Michael not be considered for release until he had served at least eighteen years of his life sentence.

The recordings made during the CHERUB sting operation were used during the trial, but they were presented as evidence collected by Millie
Kentner
and the CIB team. The role CHERUB played in the operation was never revealed. Leon and Michael both suspected that they had been manipulated on the day of their arrest, but were unable to prove anything.

It was suspected, but never proven, that PATRICIA PATEL was an accomplice in the Golden Sun Casino robbery. She did face charges relating to the laundering of £220,000 in cash – her husband’s one-third share of the robbery proceeds. In the light of her young daughter and previous good character, Patricia received a two-year suspended prison sentence.