‘Yeah, he’s fine physically — I’ve just left him after we had a few beers. I wasn’t going to speak with you until morning, but I thought it would be best to do it in private, away from all the prying eyes and ears at the station.’
As he dragged on his cigarette Jane couldn’t think what was so important and curled her legs beneath her on the big chair.
Bradfield leaned forward.
‘We grilled Terry O’Duncie yesterday and he started to open up a bit, then refused to say anything more until he’d spoken to a solicitor. We’d denied him any contact or a phone call on the grounds we thought he might tip off Dwayne Clark, who it seems has done a runner. He spent the night in the cells but the idiot late-shift duty sergeant forgot to mark up the sheet and tell the night shift he wasn’t allowed any calls.’
‘Sergeant Harris was late shift,’ Jane said, trying hard not to sound pleased that Harris had messed up.
He nodded and told Jane that the ‘cock-up’ by Harris allowed O’Duncie to phone a bent solicitor called Cato Stonex who represented a lot of big drug dealers and got paid large sums of money to help them make up false defences. It transpired that O’Duncie told Stonex that he had been assaulted by DS Gibbs and also alleged that some of his money had been stolen.
‘It’s only his word against yours and DS Gibbs’s though?’
‘Not quite, Cato Stonex got a doctor in to see O’Duncie, and he diagnosed a recently broken nose. Stonex then went straight round the squat and took statements from a number of people who said that his ruddy nose was fine until we visited him and they heard us threatening him. Worse still is the young girl who was in bed with him says she saw Spence punch O’Duncie for no reason.’
‘That can’t be true — I was taking her downstairs,’ Jane said guardedly.
‘Exactly and that’s very important. Spence did nothing more than accidentally trip O’Duncie up as he tried to escape, which caused him to stumble and break his nose on the edge of the bedroom door.’
Bradfield stubbed out the cigarette and looked towards the kitchen area. ‘I wouldn’t mind that whisky now, straight with ice, please.’
Jane got up and went to the cabinet, still unsure exactly why Bradfield had come to see her. She removed a cut-glass tumbler and poured a good measure of whisky before adding two ice cubes from the fridge.
‘Spence and me wanted to interview O’Duncie again today,’ Bradfield said as she handed him his whisky and curled up again in the chair. ‘But his prick of a lawyer Stonex alleged his client had been seriously assaulted and some of his seized money stolen. The rubber heelers are now investigating and wouldn’t let us interview O’Duncie until they spoke with him.’
‘Sorry, who are the rubber heelers?’
‘A10 department, set up by the Commissioner Sir Robert Mark. So-called because you can’t hear them coming. They’re a group of specially selected officers from uniform and detective branches brought together to investigate and stamp out corruption in the CID. They wanted to know how much money was in O’Duncie’s wardrobe and who counted it, so obviously I had to tell them you did and they wanted to see your paperwork and property-store invoice for the amount.’
Jane looked worried. ‘There wasn’t any missing, was there?’ she asked nervously.
‘That’s the problem: they couldn’t find your list in the investigation files, or a property-store invoice, so I need to know where they are and how much money was there.’
Jane turned pale. ‘I put the list in the bottom drawer of the desk I was using.’
He took a deep breath and sighed. ‘OK, that’s fine, but where’s the bloody property-store receipt?’
‘I don’t know, sir.’
‘What do you mean you don’t know?’
‘Sergeant Harris might have it as he put the money in the property-store safe...’
‘I bloody well know it’s in the safe because A10 checked and counted it today. They obviously think someone may have nicked some of it after we returned to the station, that’s why they want your list, to check it against the money in the safe.’
‘I hadn’t finished counting all the money or checking the serial numbers against Mr Collins’ list, sir. DS Gibbs said I could go home and then Sergeant Harris insisted I cover the front desk. He didn’t come back for over an hour and I totally forgot to ask him for the receipt so he should have it.’
He took a long sip of the whisky. She was really nervous and could see he was annoyed, but was surprised he didn’t shout at her. Truth was he knew he was partially to blame for not counting the money with Spencer Gibbs at the time or as soon as they returned to the station.
‘Harris was off today as well so let’s hope he counted the money and put the receipt somewhere safe, though knowing him I doubt it.’
Jane felt queasy and unsure what to say. She was worried that if any money was missing she’d be accused of theft and dishonesty.
‘Well, it went from bad to worse. O’Duncie also told A10 that DS Gibbs slipped some money into his pocket during the search, which I know for a fact he didn’t. No doubt they think I’m bent as well. What really pisses me off is that O’Duncie actually tried to blackmail us. Anyway, when they interviewed Spence they noticed he had bruised knuckles on his right hand and jumped to the conclusion it was because he thumped O’Duncie. With that and the money allegation they suspended him from duty pending further enquiries.’ He sipped his drink and rattled the ice.
‘I’m really sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble, especially for DS Gibbs and you,’ Jane said, close to tears, fearing her career might be over before she’d even finished her probation.
He could see how upset she was and spoke softly. ‘Hey, don’t look so worried. A10 can think what they like, it doesn’t scare me. They’ll strut about and ruffle a few feathers, but believe me everything will be OK and Spence will be reinstated. In this job you sometimes learn the hard way; O’Duncie and his solicitor are just trying to muddy the waters and it was me that cut corners, not you.’
‘Has he admitted that Julie Ann was at the squat for those missing two weeks?’
‘Right now he’s admitted fuck all, but I want the money thing sorted and you to check all the notes for sequential numbers first thing in the morning, then we can get them off to fingerprints branch. If by the luck of God a few match the serial numbers Mr Collins gave us, and we get his or Julie Ann’s dabs on them, then we got Terry O’Duncie in the frame for her murder and A10 off our backs.’
‘So is Terry O’Duncie the Big Daddy character?’
‘Nope, we got a call from Manchester CID and it appears Joshua Richards is Big Daddy. He was arrested for assault and banged up without bail. He’s a nightmare bastard apparently and probably why everyone is scared to death of him. He might be the guy that got Julie Ann pregnant, or it could be O’Duncie; truth is we will never know. Richards is out of the frame for her murder but I’d say he’s Terry O’Duncie’s supplier and that’s how Julie Ann knew Big Daddy.’
‘What about Dwayne Clark?’
‘He’s the sidekick runner for Richards and O’Duncie admits knowing him. He’s gone into hiding and so far we can’t break his alibi that he was in Coventry at the time of Julie Ann and Eddie’s deaths.’
He finished his Scotch and placed the glass down on a small coffee table.
‘We need something on O’Duncie to break him so he’ll talk.’
‘I hope it’s the money.’
‘Yes, but you have to understand that when you are asked to do something you must finish it, whether or not the duty sergeant wants you to cover the front desk. Any problems with Harris you come to me, do you understand?’
She couldn’t believe he was still letting her stay on the investigation and was worried at one point he might tell her she was suspended.