As Jack measured the space for the chest of drawers they had also purchased, Maggie asked him about another of her concerns.
‘Will you be seeing him again?’
Jack zapped his tape measure home as if he’d stopped listening.
‘I’m talking about Adam Border. From what Josh said, he sounds like a nasty piece of work. And he’s still on the wanted list for God’s sake.’ She thought Jack was going to argue, but instead he said simply, ‘I have no intention of seeing him again.’
‘Good. That’s one thing I don’t have to worry about, then,’ she said before going downstairs.
Once she was gone, Jack frowned to himself. He seemed to find lying to Maggie very easy these days.
The next morning, after a brief meeting with the governor, two prison officers led Josh down the dank stone corridors to the inmates’ wing, where he was to meet the prison doctor before talking to a group of prisoners in the library. The pervading stench he had smelt many times before was present: the rancid mixture of stale vegetables, Dettol and urine. Together with the constant screams and howls from the prisoners in their cells, it gave the place a hellish feel. In the hospital wing, Josh found a young Asian man talking to Janet.
She was checking over a trolley laden with medications and instructing a female nurse in how to ensure they were actually taken by the inmates and not retained in the mouth to be spat out later and sold to other prisoners.
After briefly making eye contact with Josh, she introduced him to Doctor Zardari and Josh explained what he wanted to talk to the prisoners about.
Zardari shrugged his shoulders. ‘You’re welcome to try, of course, but I doubt it will be of any benefit. Nurse Williamson has warned them many times about the dangers of using drugs smuggled into the prison which could be mixed with anything. The prison staff try to separate the new arrivals from the hardcore users, but they are so short-staffed that it is virtually impossible to protect them.’
Josh nodded. ‘Well, I’m going to see if I can get their attention anyway.’
Janet finished with the medication trolley and gestured for Josh to accompany her to the prison library, accompanied by two prison officers. She walked ahead briskly as they passed through numerous gates, each requiring the control room to unlock one bolt before Janet unlocked a second with a key from a chain attached to her belt. Josh was eventually ushered into a shabby room with walls of battered paperbacks lining the shelves and a semi-circle of folding chairs in front of a whiteboard.
Josh opened his folder and started sticking photographs onto the board. After a few minutes, a disappointingly small group of men dressed in prison-issue denim jumpsuits shambled in and sat down. The library doors were locked. One uniformed officer stood beside the prisoners, while the other stood to one side with Janet. Josh took a deep breath and began to speak.
Maggie leaned across the kitchen table and gave Jack a kiss. ‘You handled your mum perfectly, thank you.’
They’d waited until Penny had got back from dropping Hannah off at a playdate and then invited her to sit down for a coffee. Jack had explained why he didn’t want anyone else living in the house, while assuring Penny that he had nothing against Marius personally, and had then announced — to Maggie’s surprise — that he intended to return to work the following week. Realising that she would be left running the house on her own, Penny had suggested getting in a cleaner, so she could focus on the children.
‘I can ask for cleaners at the hospital,’ Maggie said.
‘I’ll do the same at the station,’ Jack nodded.
Maggie clapped her hands. ‘Right, let’s get started. I’ll write a little advert.’
‘And I’ll go and do some grocery shopping. I’ll just get that list on the fridge door,’ Jack said. He drove off, giving Maggie a cheery wave, happy to have an excuse to get out of the house. It was time to go and see Adam Border again.
Josh was beginning to feel that Janet had been right. When he’d described the horrifying effects of xylazine, the only reaction he got from his audience was when one of the prisoners asked if he’d brought any with him because it sounded like the business. Then a couple of them started doing zombie impressions. And before he was able to get things back on track, his time was up.
A young blond prisoner helped Josh take down his photographs. As they stood by the board, Josh quietly asked the boy who the main drug dealers were on his wing. The boy was nervous and said he wasn’t sure, but that some prison staff could not be trusted.
‘You mean they’re supplying the drugs to the prisoners?’ Josh whispered.
The boy looked around furtively then nodded. ‘One of them is the main supplier.’
Josh started putting the photographs back in his briefcase. ‘All I need is a name.’
Janet clapped her hands. ‘Come on, Eric. It’s time to get back to your cell, love. I’ve not got all day for you to chit-chat.’
Eric nodded and shuffled out without looking back at Josh.
Janet turned to one of the officers. ‘I’ve got to go back to the hospital wing. Can you escort our guest back to the main gate?’
‘Thank you,’ Josh said, zipping up his briefcase.
‘Well, I told you it would be a waste of time. Having seen our lovely inmates and the state of this shithole, I’m sure you appreciate why I want to get the hell out.’
Josh smiled. Maybe not a complete waste of time, he thought as he followed the officer out.
Jack quickly bought the items on Maggie’s shopping list, and then drove to Adam’s studio in the old school drill hall. The barrier was down, so he parked up and was about to go and lift it when he saw a Mercedes sports car parked next to the mud-splattered jeep. He hesitated before walking around the barrier and heading towards the drill hall on foot.
Jack paused when he heard raised voices. There was a boarded-up window with a chink left at the bottom. Bending down, he looked into the studio and could see Adam Border’s cowboy boots. There was another man, wearing stylish fawn trousers and highly polished ankle boots. Then he saw Adam kicking out and putting his heel through a canvas on the floor.
‘You are a fucking greedy son of a bitch. I’m not prepared to do any more than what we have already commissioned. I want out.’
‘Come on, Adam, I’ve offered you double the price we agreed,’ the other man said calmly. Then his voice hardened. ‘And I say when you can leave.’
Adam picked up the painting and hurled it aside furiously. ‘You think I care about your threats? Never mind warning me, I am warning you... I will fucking slit your throat if you do this to me again. Take your cash and shove it up your arse. I am not for sale.’
Again, the softer-toned man said something, but all Jack heard was Adam shouting for him to get the hell out. Jack moved fast, running back to his car and making a quick exit.
After returning to his B&B, Josh packed his bag, paid the bill and walked to Janet’s. He saw no one as he headed along her street and turned into her drive. There was no security camera at her front door; the last CCTV was on the main road near his B&B, but he made a detour to avoid it. He opened the main front door in seconds, with a set of skeleton keys, then walked quickly up the stairs to Janet’s flat and, this time, took his time to open her flat door as she had two different locks fitted. He felt vulnerable standing on the landing, but luckily no neighbours appeared.
Inside the flat, he stood listening for a minute with his back against the door. Silence. For his size, Josh moved stealthily, even with his bad leg. He first searched the kitchen, pulling open drawers in the cheap cabinets and feeling along the tops. He even did a search of her fridge-freezer, often a hiding place for drugs, but it was mostly filled with microwave dinners.