The driver nodded. ‘Did the bastards get away?’
‘Don’t worry about them — they won’t get far.’
The officer looked upset. ‘I tried to run the gunman down, but I missed.’
‘You did a good job. Your motor’s a write-off so the Commissioner might be pissed off with you,’ the Colonel joked.
The officer smiled. ‘You Sweeney lot are full of bullshit.’
The Colonel patted the officer’s shoulder. ‘That’s what I like to hear — a woodentop who respects us detectives. If you don’t mind, I think your mate needs me more than you do.’
Kingston and Cam tried in vain to jimmy open the front passenger door of the police car, but it was badly buckled from the crash and wouldn’t budge. There was structural damage to the building, and bricks and debris were still falling, so they had to get the officer out quickly rather than call the fire brigade to cut him out. Cam went inside the vehicle and held his jacket up against the passenger door window while Kingston smashed and cleared the glass away with the crowbar. They were then able to lift the officer, who was still unconscious, through the window, away from the car and damaged house.
‘How is he?’ the Colonel asked Kingston.
‘His breathing is shallow and rasping — he might have damaged his ribs when the crash occurred. I can’t see any bullet holes in him, but he’s got a deep narrow wound to the right side of his head, which could be from a bullet.’
‘The ambulance should be here soon.’
‘Where’s Tennison?’
‘Speaking to a woman who might be a witness. She got the right hump when I just called her “treacle”.’
Kingston laughed. ‘Well, that’s her nickname sorted then.’
The driver of the Cortina approached the estate within the speed limit and pulled up at the far end of a row of garages, where they couldn’t be seen through any residents’ windows. The man who’d fired the shotgun at the bank was looking over his shoulder out of the rear window.
‘No sign of the rozzers.’
He then put the shotgun under a towel in the travel bag, which also covered the cash box. The Irishman got out and opened the end garage for the Cortina to drive in. Once the vehicle was inside he closed the garage door and all four men quickly removed their donkey jackets and blue coveralls, under which they were wearing casual clothes. The driver opened the boot and removed a petrol can, then he and the others threw their robbery outfits into the boot. The man who had led the robbery got the travel bag containing the cash box from the rear seat. He opened it and the Irishman placed his Luger under the towel.
The Irishman opened the garage door and the leader, along with the man who had fired the shotgun, walked slowly off the estate and down the street. When they were out of sight, the driver waited for a minute before pouring petrol over the discarded clothes and the interior of the Cortina. He then removed a Zippo lighter from his pocket, opened it and flicked the spark wheel to ignite the wick. He threw the lighter into the boot of the car, causing a loud woomph as the coveralls and donkey jackets caught light, then shut the boot lid and closed the garage door. He and the Irishman left the estate on foot and, once in Blake Hall Road, walked off in the opposite direction to the other two men.
Jane approached the young white girl, who was in floods of tears and clutching a mixed-race baby to her chest. Her face was pale from shock, she looked about seventeen and her blond hair was tied in a side ponytail. She was wearing a black Puffa jacket, white T-shirt, bell-bottomed jeans and brown boots.
‘Hi, I’m Detective Sergeant Tennison. Are you OK?’
‘The police car nearly hit me and my baby.’
She wiped her nose with the sleeve of her jacket. Jane sat beside her on the wall, got a tissue out of her pocket and handed it to the girl.
‘What’s your name — and your baby’s?’
‘Mine’s Abby Jones, and he’s Daniel. He’s only eight months old and got a rash, so I was taking him to the doctor’s in the High Road.’
Jane got her pocket notebook and pen out of her jacket pocket and started asking questions. Abby said she’d just turned seventeen and lived with her parents at 6 Leybourne Road, which was off the bottom end of Woodville Road. She explained to Abby that the men in the car the police were chasing had just committed an armed robbery at Barclays Bank in the High Road.
‘Did you see what happened here before the police car crashed?’ Jane asked.
‘Yeah, some of it.’
‘I don’t want to keep you too long if your baby’s not well, but it would be helpful if you could tell me what you saw.’
Abby explained she was walking up Woodville Road to the doctor’s surgery when she heard a car crash and tires screeching. She’d looked up and saw a brown car coming towards her, which was swerving from side to side down the road.
‘Did you see how many people were in the car?’
‘Three, maybe four people, I think, but I don’t know for sure — they passed me so quickly. The car hit that parked car over there, then skidded to a halt. A big tall man got out of the front passenger side, then I heard the police siren and saw the police car coming down the road—’
‘Sorry to interrupt you, but can you describe the man who got out of the car?’
‘Not really. He had a mask on his face.’
‘When you say a mask, do you mean a balaclava?’
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
‘Did this man have a gun?’
Abby nodded and trembled as she clutched Daniel to her chest.
‘When I was looking at the police car I heard some bangs and looked back down the road. I could see the man in the mask holding up a gun and shooting at the police car... I was terrified I might be shot and screamed, which made Daniel start to cry, then I heard a loud bang like a firework going off and saw the police car skid across the road towards me... I just managed to pull Daniel’s pram out of the way in time — the police car was inches from hitting him.’
‘Can you describe the gun, and which hand the man held it in?’
‘Only that it was black, and I think in his right hand.’
‘Do you know how many shots he fired?’
Abby thought about it before answering.
‘Three, I think, but maybe four. It all happened so quickly I can’t be sure.’
‘Did you see anyone else with a gun?’
‘Yes, there was another person who got out of the car — his gun was longer, with two holes at the end.’
Jane knew from the description that this man must have been holding a sawn-off shotgun, and what Abby thought was a firework going off was the shotgun being fired.
‘Can you describe him?’
‘No, he had a black mask on as well, but he was shorter than the man who shot at the police car.’
‘An officer in the crashed police car was on the radio at the time the shotgun was fired, and I heard the bang on our radio. It must have been terrifying for you to be in the middle of it all,’ Jane said to console Abby.
‘It was, but I don’t think the man in the balaclava fired his gun.’
‘Are you sure?’
Jane wondered if Abby was so frightened she’d become confused about what had happened.
‘I didn’t see him until after the police car crashed — so he must have got out of the car after that happened.’
‘What did the man with the shotgun do?’
‘He followed behind the man with the small gun, who was walking towards the crashed police car with the gun raised towards the policemen.’
‘Then what happened?’
‘The smaller man held his bigger gun towards the big man’s back. I think he said something as the mouth hole on his mask moved, but I couldn’t hear what it was. Then they got in the car and it drove off.’