Behind Dead Eyes (DC Ian Bradshaw #2) - Howard Linskey Page 0,89
me to a private charity event at a golf course and that was very rude of her, don’t you think?’
‘That why you set your thugs on her,’ asked Bradshaw, ‘and damaged her car – or are you going to say you had nowt to do with that too?’
‘I don’t know any thugs and I’m not the sort to bear grudges against a woman, even one who seems obsessed with me … but if I was the type to take exception to someone I wouldn’t mess about just spraying their car.’
‘Who said it was sprayed?’
‘You said it was vandalised. Round here they would key it or spray it. I assumed it was one or the other.’
‘You’re right though,’ admitted Bradshaw, ‘that’s not really your method. Sickening beatings and the occasional murder are more your style.’
‘I’ve never been convicted of giving anyone a beating. I was arrested once for murder,’ McCree conceded, ‘but the jury knew it was a stitch-up. The judge was very critical of Northumbria Police in his summing-up. He realised they were trying to frame me because they had a long-standing grudge against me.’
‘And why is that, I wonder?’
‘When I was a young man I kept bad company for a while and did some things I shouldn’t have. I was a bit of a tearaway but I’ve changed now and I’m a successful businessman. You lot resent that and you want to put me away for something I never even did. It’s scandalous.’
‘In that case it might be a good idea to avoid harassing a journalist. You might bring the wrong sort of attention to yourself. So lay off her from now on.’
Jimmy McCree folded his huge arms and stared right back at the detective. ‘Or?’
‘You’ll make an enemy of me,’ said Bradshaw, ‘and you wouldn’t want that.’
When the words came they were a low snarl that reminded Ian Bradshaw of a dog that was only kept back by the chain it was fastened to. ‘And I could say the exact same thing back to you, bonny lad. I’ve been threatened before and you’re not the first police officer to do it, but I’m still here and they’re all gone. You should bear that in mind. Now get out of my house before I forget you are a guest in it.’
He rose to show Bradshaw his time in McCree’s home was at an end. Big Jimmy escorted Bradshaw to the front door and saw him through it. Before he closed the door he said, ‘And please give my regards to Miss Norton. Tell her I hope she has a nice day.’
‘Yes?’ The voice was rasping and disembodied, a Dalek speaking from the intercom on the outside wall of the care home.
‘It’s Tom Carney,’ he said, ‘and I brought a woman.’
There was a moment’s pause, followed by a buzzing sound from the intercom and the door clicked open.
Tom and Helen stepped inside and walked down an empty, brightly lit corridor until an unassuming man in his thirties emerged from an office halfway along it and intercepted them. ‘This is Helen Norton,’ explained Tom, ‘a colleague of mine.’
The man nodded. ‘I’m Dean, pleased to meet you. Councillor Jarvis vouched for you, so that’s good enough for me.’ Then he said, ‘Just a quick word with you before you go in, if you don’t mind?’ They followed him to his office.
‘Thanks for bringing your colleague. No male is allowed in here unsupervised without a female unless he is a member of staff. That’s for the girls’ protection. I hope you understand. Usually a female member of staff would accompany you but there have been cuts so we can’t spare anyone today. We didn’t want to delay you, so we’ll let you speak to the girls one at a time in their rooms, as long as you stay together. They know you’re coming.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Tom. ‘How does it work here? Are the girls allowed out on their own?’
‘Of course,’ said Dean, ‘it’s not a prison and the girls here are older but we do operate a curfew. They are expected to be in by nine p.m. We have rules and they lose privileges if they break them.’
‘Right,’ said Tom, ‘we’ll begin then.’
‘Be careful,’ Dean warned, ‘all of these girls have had a very hard start to their lives and as a result they are all quite …’ his eyes narrowed as he searched for the right word ‘… vulnerable.’
‘We’ll try not to upset any of them,’ Helen assured him.