Hard Evidence

Moffett's body had been lowered, the rope cut down from the three-hundred-year old beams that spanned the ceiling. Bonner stood to one side as a police photographer finished taking shots of the deceased. Moffett's face was stained purple with the blood pooling in the loose skin. His eyes were dull and his tongue protruded like an obscene gesture. Campbell brushed a hand angrily in the air as a fly buzzed past, and turned to Bonner.

'Where is Dr Walker?'

'On her way, ma'am.'

She sighed and looked at her watch, then glared back at Bonner. 'And more to the bloody point, where's Jack sodding Delaney?'

Bonner shrugged as Campbell's mobile phone went. She snapped it open. 'Campbell?'

She listened, her lips tightening with anger. 'Bring it in. All of it.' She snapped the phone shut and glared angrily at Delaney as he walked into the room. 'Your phone switched off, was it?'

Delaney shook his head. 'Must have been out of range. I called in; Dave Patterson gave me the shout.'

'Obviously. Or you wouldn't be here, would you?'

Delaney picked up on her tone. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Campbell nodded to the body on the floor. 'Alexander Moffett. What do you know about him?'

'Just what I was told by Slimline.' Delaney shrugged again. 'Television producer. God slot. Sunday morning, singing children, all that. Now dead.'

'He certainly is that.'

Delaney looked at Moffett's grotesque corpse. 'Was it suicide?'

Campbell looked at him for a long moment. 'Did you know him personally, Jack?'

'I don't think I went to the right school.'

'Just answer the bloody question.'

Delaney's eyes flattened. 'What going on, Diane?'

'You've never met or had dealings with Alexander Moffett?'

'You have a point to make, why don't you just make it?'

Campbell held up a piece of paper. 'His suicide note.'

'And?'

'And in it, Detective Inspector Delaney… in it he tells us why he committed suicide. It says that you were blackmailing him.'

Delaney gritted his teeth angrily. 'I never met the man.'

'Not only that, but you were selling him cocaine and turning a blind eye to the party games he played with young children. The private films he made.'

Delaney nodded, the penny dropping. 'Ah.'

'For money, Delaney. Lots of money.'

'And you believe this?'

'Why would he lie?'

Delaney shrugged. 'And why would he kill himself now?'

'Because he has a young child of his own, Jack. Coming up to her ninth birthday. She lives with her mum, but he has access. And he was scared of what he might do.'

'He told you this?'

Campbell held up the sheet of paper. 'All in the letter.'

'Convenient that it's typewritten.'

'He couldn't live with himself any more so he thought he'd make amends.'

'It's all bullshit, Diane.'

Campbell glared at him. 'Don't call me that.'

'How am I supposed to fit into all this?'

'Jackie Malone. It all comes back to her.'

Delaney looked over at Bonner, but Bonner's face was impassive, unreadable. He looked back at Campbell. 'Go on?'

'Alexander Moffett didn't just make shows for Sunday morning television.'

'I'm listening.'

'He made all sorts of films. Pornography. Like Sin Sisters, for example, starring your old friend Jackie Malone.'

'What's that got to do with me?'

Campbell carried on, ignoring him. 'The thing is, he made other kinds of films too. Films for a specialised market. Kiddie porn and other very nasty stuff.' She held up a DVD case. 'Jackie Malone dying.'

Delaney went very quiet and Campbell gave him a hard, flat look. His phone suddenly rang, shattering the silence. Delaney answered it before Campbell could object.

'Delaney?' He could hear Kate's worried voice on the other end of the phone and kept his face neutral as she spoke.

'It's Kate. Someone's setting you up for the murder of Jackie Malone.'

'It's in hand. Don't say anything to anybody, okay? I'm dealing with it.'

He clicked the phone off.

'Who was that, Jack?'

'If it is any of your business, it was my sister-in-law. Some of your people have been questioning her.'

'Standard procedure. You know how it works.'

'Anybody upsets my daughter and they'll have me to deal with.'

'Let's get back to the kiddie porn, shall we, Jack.'

'It's got nothing to do with me.'

'We found copies in your flat.'

'You've been to my flat?'

Campbell's look was pure granite. 'Yes, we've been to your flat.'

'You had no right.'

'We had every right. We had a warrant and we found the cocaine.'

Delaney shook his head angrily. 'Jesus Christ, Diane, half a dab.'

'I told you not to call me that. And damn near a kilo is a little more than a dab. I told you to talk to me, didn't I? About Jackie Malone, about your relationship with her.' She shook the suicide note at him and pointed at Moffett. 'And now this sick dead fuck is saying you killed her.'

Delaney sighed, resigned. He could see the way this was going, but couldn't see a way out of it, for now. 'This is a set-up, Diane. I didn't take that cocaine, it's a plant. I've got nothing to do with those films or with Moffett. I've never even heard of him. And I sure as shite had nothing to do with Jackie's murder. You know that!'

Campbell shrugged angrily. 'You've left me with no choice, you stupid prick.'

'Just do it then.'

'Detective Inspector Jack Delaney, I am arresting you on suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.' She turned to Bonner. 'Cuff him and take him in.'

Bonner shrugged apologetically and held out the cuffs. Delaney turned round and held out his wrists, looking back at Campbell. 'Is this going to affect my promotion?'

'Just take him away, Sergeant.'

Bonner led Delaney out of the room as Campbell glanced down at the dead body of Alexander Moffett and shook her head. She looked at the shell-shocked uniforms who were gathered about the room.

'And for fuck's sake, someone give me a cigarette.'

Outside, Delaney walked ahead of Bonner and a uniformed officer to a waiting car. As Bonner opened the door for him to get in, Kate drove into the driveway and jumped out of her car.

'What the hell's going on, Jack?'

'Unpaid parking fines.'

Kate rounded on Bonner. 'Eddie. Come on. What's going on here?'

Bonner shook his head. 'It doesn't concern you, Dr Walker.'

Delaney looked at her impassively. 'He's quite right, there's a dead man in there. Stick with him.'

Kate turned back to Bonner. 'Where's Campbell?'

'She's inside. Not in a good mood.'

'It's not going to improve any.'

She turned sharply on her heel and walked into the house. Bonner put his hand on Delaney's head, bending him into the car. Delaney sat in the back and Bonner turned to the uniform. 'I can take it from here, thanks, Jimmy.' The policeman nodded and headed back towards the house. Bonner walked around and got in the front seat, firing up the engine. He tilted the rear-view mirror so he could see Delaney's face.

'What's going on, Jack?'

'You tell me.'

'That's not the way it works. You know that.'

Delaney held up his hands. 'Not really. Not used to sitting in this position.'

'I had to put the cuffs on.'

'Sure you did.'

'She wasn't a happy bunny, Cowboy. No point both of us pissing her off.'

Delaney nodded his head and looked out the window. 'You reckon this good weather will hold?'

'We'll make an Englishman of you yet.'

'Not in this lifetime.'