Buried (DC Jack Warr #1) - Lynda La Plante Page 0,116
back and relaxed.
‘So what do you want to be when you’re older?’
Darren looked at Jack as if he was stupid. His hard eyes seemed to say, I ain’t getting older.
Jack slipped to the edge of his seat and leant towards Darren. The man by the door tensed as he readied himself for a potential assault.
‘When I was adopted ‒’ Jack’s words made Darren’s eyes widen ‒ ‘I was saved from experiencing any of this. You’ve not been lucky so far, Darren, but what happens next is up to you. You either join a gang – being protected and feeling like you belong somewhere. Or you stay on your own and, in the end, be better than all of them. A respected man doesn’t shout and throw his weight around, Darren. A respected man is quiet and calm . . . and terrifying. Because you never quite know what he’s capable of. Be that man. Smile . . . and they will never see you coming.’
Jack smiled, his eyes crinkling to prove he was being genuine.
He stood quickly, making Darren jump a little. Then he held his hand out for Darren to shake. Darren stood, and shook Jack’s hand. Jack held on.
‘DC Jack Warr. Remember the name. You ever need anything, you let me know.’
By the time Jack left the room, Darren was a different person.
*
Jack walked the battleship-grey corridor towards the squad room, thinking through everything they had. Laura would have sourced an image of the coach and a licence plate by now, although that would more than likely have been changed. And based on the time of day Darren was arrested, Jack’s latest hunch was that Julia and the coach were probably heading north to get to Europe, rather than using Dover. Jack was buzzing – he’d single-handedly worked out how and where the women were travelling, and how they were transporting the money. Now what they needed were the false names the women were travelling under – then they’d have them. Then they’d have solved the biggest train robbery in history.
Jack entered the squad room with an uncharacteristic spring in his step and came to an abrupt halt. Maggie was sitting in Ridley’s office. She should have been in bed, resting before her night shift. Jack slowed to a snail’s pace.
Maggie stood to meet him.
‘Penny called.’
She was looking at Jack in exactly the same way he imagined she looked at the relatives of dying patients, with an air of professionalism that allowed her to speak without becoming emotional.
‘Charlie’s in hospital in St Lucia. DCI Ridley knows and he’s agreed to let you go.’
CHAPTER 34
On the interview table in front of Geoffrey was a pile of tissues, and Ridley was seriously considering whether to send Laura for a second box. Normally, an interviewee would get upset when asked a specific question, or when reminded of details that were worrying them, or just before they were charged with something. But Geoffrey was simply mourning the woman he loved with all of his heart and soul. He had been a client of Ester’s since the mid-eighties and, when she got out of prison for the murder of Dolly Rawlins, he had volunteered to take her in. He hadn’t been the most exciting man in the world, personality – or sexuality-wise – but he’d been a very fast learner and, in the end, Ester and Geoffrey had made a formidable team. Between them, they’d alienated half of the Isle of Wight with their elaborate antics – Ester had once taken Geoffrey to the post office on a diamante dog leash. They’d thought it was the funniest thing in the world.
‘What can we do to help you, Mr Porter-Lewis?’ Ridley asked. ‘Would you like a drink?’
‘Sparkling water, please,’ Geoffrey whispered.
Ridley rolled his eyes and sent Laura to the canteen.
‘You know you’re not in any trouble, right? We don’t think Ester revealed her plans to you, so all we really want to know is whether you have any idea where she was heading after Southampton.’
Geoffrey shook his head in a series of short, sharp movements.
‘She never loved me,’ he sniffled, blowing spit bubbles as he endeavoured to smile. ‘I gave her half of my life and all of the love I had, but she never loved me back. I was OK with that because she liked me – and Ester never liked anyone.’ He paused long enough for Ridley to inch towards the door. ‘Love would have been an awfully big adventure, if only she’d allowed me to