Broken Lines by Jo Bannister Read Free Book Online

wishing to be personal, Mikey, you’re not exactly Arnold Swartzer-whatsit yourself.’
    Mikey’s brow cleared. ‘Oh, that. He got out before we hit the digger. I’m not sure if he jumped or fell, but the door opened and he was gone. I never saw him again.’
    â€˜Oddly enough,’ said Shapiro, deadpan, ‘neither did anyone else.’
    Mikey shrugged. ‘There was a lot going on, Mr Shapiro, and it was dark. And Mr Donovan was too busy trying to haul me out of there to be looking round. I don’t blame him for that,’ he added generously. ‘He saved my life, I won’t hear a word against him.’
    â€˜Oh Mikey,’ said Shapiro with heavy irony, ‘he will be touched.’
    â€˜I don’t know if he had help with the story or if he’s brighter than he looks.’ Shapiro was stirring his coffee lugubriously, staring into the muddy vortex as if seeking wisdom. ‘But actually it’s quite clever. He’s not saying Donovan’s wrong, just that he didn’t see everything. That’s plausible – first he was on the floor of the shop, then he was chasing the van up the road, then he lost sight of it going into Chevening. He didn’t see the crash, he could certainly have missed seeing this putative second party legging it immediately afterwards. You wouldn’t have to disbelieve Donovan’s account to accept Mikey’s.
    â€˜Then, this putative second party looked sufficiently like Mikey that even a reliable witness could be mistaken. If I ask Kumani whether the robber was wearing a navy-blue coat or a charcoal-grey one he’ll look at me askance and say that wasn’t the bit he was concentrating on. And Mikey’s coat and gloves were burned in the van, so we’ll never know if Donovan’s blood was on them. Any more than we’ll know if that’s why Mikey got rid of them, though we may suspect as much.’
    Liz regarded him over the tray. As a Detective Superintendent Shapiro had his coffee served in cups on a tray instead of in a plastic mug with no saucer. That, and the salary, was the only difference promotion had made. ‘Are you telling me you think Mikey Dickens didn’t rob Ash Kumani at gunpoint and floor Donovan in the process?’
    Shapiro’s glance was dismissive. ‘Of course not. Of course the little sod did it – there was no second party, he was alone in the van. But he’s come up with a story that’s going to take some disproving. I’d be interested to know if that was his idea or if Ms Holloway fresh from London offered suggestions.’
    Liz shrugged. ‘Hardly matters, does it? Whoever the Dickenses went to would need to earn their oats. We’ll just have to earn ours as well. We need a witness, someone who can say if there was one man or two in the van after it left Kumani’s. Someone else may have seen it earlier, but I can only think of one person who certainly saw it, and closer than anyone else. Do we have a statement from Mrs Taylor?’
    â€˜A rather cursory one. She was still pretty upset when Mary Wilson saw her, she got down the basics and left it at that. Maybe by now she’s a bit calmer. Anyway, it’s a simple enough question, either she saw how many people were in the van or she didn’t. Do you know her, Liz? – she teaches at Brian’s school.’
    Liz nodded. ‘We’ve met. A pleasant enough woman; maybe a little intense. I’ll go and see her, see if she can help. If she can say there was definitely only one man in the van, we’ve got him.’
    â€˜And I’ll tell Donovan.’ Shapiro’s nose wrinkled as if he’d bitten into a lemon.
    â€˜It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it,’ said Liz stoutly.
    Donovan took the news with a kind of savage amusement, as if life had taught him to expect no better. ‘So that’s it, is it? He robbed Kumani at gunpoint, he