‘Do you know when or where the wedding is?’
He shook his head.
‘Have you ever heard them talk about a robbery?’ Teflon asked.
Nick looked offended. ‘If I had, I would tell you. Mind you, sometimes when they talking, and I go to the table, they stop suddenly — so maybe they don’t want me to hear what they saying.’ He made to get up. ‘If that is all, I need to start cleaning up now.’
‘There’s just a couple of other things—’ Jane started to say.
Nick sighed. ‘I already tell you all I know.’
‘Do you know what types of cars any of the men drive?’ she asked.
‘I far too busy to look out the window and see what they drive.’
‘The newsagent’s on the corner of Moorfield Road — do you know the owner?’ Teflon asked.
‘Si, Paki Pete, he a good guy.’
‘Is he trustworthy?’
Nick nodded. ‘One hundred percent.’
‘I notice you had an advert in the window for a waitress,’ Jane said.
‘Si, but nobody applies yet. Why you ask?’
‘Would you be willing to let me work undercover in your cafe for a few days?’
He looked surprised. ‘Is no an easy job, and might be obvious to these men you after them if you make a mistake, you understand?’
‘I did quite a bit of waitressing before I joined the police, so I know how to take orders and serve tables.’
‘OK, if it help you find the bastardi who shoot the policeman, the job is yours. When you want to start?’
‘Monday morning?’
‘OK, I see you here at six, you can have a little practice, familiarize yourself with the menu, then we open at seven.’
He got up to show them out.
As soon as they got back to Tottenham Police Station, Teflon checked the names George and Carl Ripley on the PNC, on the assumption that they might be father and son, while Jane rang Cam to update him.
‘Me and Teflon have spoken to Nick and—’
Cam wasn’t listening. ‘Murphy wants everyone back here now for a meeting.’
‘Why, what’s happened?’
‘I can’t explain it all on the phone. Let’s just say there’s been a few interesting developments.’
‘Did you get a result on that phone number or the Wilson twins?’
‘Yes, and I’ve spoken to the two children’s homes.’
‘What did they say?’
‘I’ll tell you when you get back.’
‘You haven’t done it, have you?’ she snapped.
‘I have, Sarge, so stop getting your knickers in a twist and get back here.’
She was about to make an angry retort, but he’d put the phone down.
‘Everything all right, Jane?’
‘That bloody Cam’s a rude, lazy sod.’
‘I won’t argue with that.’
‘Still, looks like the others have got some good results. Murphy said he wants us all back at the office asap, so we better get going.’
‘I’ve run the name George Ripley on the PNC with a forty-five to fifty-five age spread and got a few possible hits—’
‘Leave it for now, we’ll have to do it back at Rigg.’
Teflon shut down the computer.
‘Looks like your gut feeling about what the Wilson sisters told you was right.’
Jane thought back to what Kingston had said about Murphy.
‘I hope so... But something tells me the road to getting our suspects charged and convicted is going to be a long and bumpy one.’
Chapter Twenty-Three
When Jane and Teflon walked into the office, they instantly felt the buzz of excitement in the room. Everyone looked focused as they got on with their work, whether it was on the phone or even just typing up their reports of the morning’s events. The first thing she wanted to do was have it out with Cam, but he was making notes while on the phone. She was surprised when the Colonel, who was writing some notes, looked up and gave her an approving nod.
‘All right, Sarge?’
‘Yes, thanks. How’d it go with Frank Braun?’
‘Good. I was wrong about him being hooky; I think he’s straight up.’
She wanted to ask him what he’d found out, but he looked busy and she knew she’d find out in the meeting anyway.
Dabs was standing next to Stanley, who was talking on the phone.
‘How was the snooker?’ she asked.
‘We played three frames: first one Stanley bets me a pound and loses, so he says double or quits, and I won the next two frames as well. The only thing positive for Stanley was meeting Aidan O’Reilly.’ Dabs grinned.
‘Why was that?’
Stanley nudged Dabs. ‘Nip over to the fax machine, they’re just about to send over the results and want to know if they’re coming through our end. Give us a shout when it starts printing off.’
‘Sorry, Jane.’
Dabs brushed past her to get to the fax machine.
She sighed; it looked like everything would have to wait until the meeting. Cam finally put the phone down and she marched over. Before she could speak, he handed her an information sheet.
‘That’s the result from the Post Office on the phone number—’
‘And the Wilson twins?’
‘That was the children’s home I was just talking to. There’s a few things about them that don’t add up and I—’
‘What do you mean “don’t add up”?’
‘It’s just that they might not be who they say they are.’
‘Are you playing games with me?’ She glared at him.
‘For fuck’s sake, I did what you asked and you’re still moaning.’ He picked up a notepad and tore off the top sheet. ‘They lived in St. Cuthbert’s, a Catholic home. The address and phone number’s on there — you can ring them yourself if you don’t believe me.’
He walked off towards Murphy’s office before she could reply. She was sure he was going to complain about her to Murphy. She watched anxiously as he knocked on Murphy’s door and opened it, but didn’t go in.
‘Everyone’s back in the office, Guv.’
‘Thanks, Cam, we’ll be out in a second.’
‘Guv wants to start the meeting,’ Cam said loudly.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their chairs towards the center of the room.
Jane felt bad for misjudging him.
‘I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. What did St. Cuthbert’s say about the Wilson sisters?’
Cam shook his head. ‘I’ll tell you after the meeting.’
Murphy strode into the room, followed by a subdued-looking Kingston.
‘Right, I’m going to ask the Colonel and Bax to start.’
He nodded to the Colonel to start, but the fax machine began whirring and humming as it printed off an incoming fax.
‘Somebody turn that bloody thing off!’ Murphy barked.
‘It’s some urgent information I requested. It shouldn’t take long,’ Stanley said.
Murphy sighed. ‘Carry on, Colonel.’
‘We spoke to Frank Braun and it’s safe to say he’s no longer a suspect,’ the Colonel said. ‘I examined the documents for both his vehicles, and everything was in order.’ He held up the inspection paperwork. ‘But this little beauty is the inspection for his Cortina and I seized it as evidence.’
‘You just said his vehicle documents were in order,’ Cam said, looking puzzled.
‘They are, but the garage stamp on the inspection was “GR Motors Ltd”, located in Lordship Lane and close to Bruce Grove.’
Bax took over. ‘We did a casual drive past and the premises has a front, with about twenty high-end second-hand cars on it, like Jags, Mercs and BMWs. At the back there’s a servicing, inspection and repair garage, as well as a separate office area, where, according to Braun, a young receptionist called Tina works.’