The Price, page 21
My words stung, I could tell, but he didn’t say anything back. Instead, he nodded and looked down at his feet.
‘Show me.’
I got up and walked into our room where Tabs lay asleep in her cot. George followed behind and I quietly opened the wardrobe and moved a jumper I had placed over a shoebox. Pulling the box out, I removed the lid and showed George the stacks of stolen cash. I expected him to say something about the risk, the danger, the stupidity of my actions. But he didn’t.
I hoped he was going to say he was going to try harder to save us, so I could too, but he stayed silent. It seemed our fate was sealed.
‘So what’s next?’ he asked, unable to look at me.
‘We have to do something online, as a couple again, to try to find new supporters. We have a little over four days. But George, she has to be well enough to fly. We need to get her on that plane before that.’
‘So we make a new video.’
‘And I need to find one more place, one more business. One more job.’
‘There has to be some at his garage.’
‘I looked; I couldn’t find anything. But it doesn’t make sense.’
‘Why? he asked.
‘Mantel would want it close. I’ve no doubt he might have some at his home but …’
‘But?’ George asked.
‘But after the break-ins, he’s afraid. He has a family, right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘He has kids, too,’ I said quietly. ‘That’s why I was so sure he would have some at the garage rather than at his place.’
‘Wait,’ George said, his mind racing.
‘What?’
‘I know where it is. I’m sure of it. He has a hatch in the floor of his office.’
‘A hatch?’
‘Yes. I couldn’t work it out before, but I’m convinced it’s a storage space.’
‘How do you know?’
‘The day I took the car to book it in, I saw Mantel getting up from the floor in his office. I didn’t know what he was doing, but what if he had a secret compartment somewhere.’
It made sense. He was there the most and would want his money nearby.
‘George, it’s possible, but even if you’re right, he’ll be waiting. We need to find another place.’
‘Clara, I’m sure of it.’
‘But I’ve been there. If there is money there, he’ll no doubt move it.’
‘He can’t, not yet anyway. It’s a crime scene. There are too many people watching.’
‘The police won’t stay long. And then he can do what he wants.’
We both fell silent, thinking, and in the silence he sat beside me, so close our thighs touched. His warmth acted like hope.
‘I’ve got it,’ he said, moving away. ‘I’ll get 24-hour surveillance on him, but somehow we’ll make sure he knows the police are watching. He’ll think he is smarter than us for it. Like we are waiting for him to do something that incriminates him. I suspect he’ll stay away from the garage when he’s not working. He’ll not move anything knowing we have eyes on him.’
I thought about it; it might work.
‘George does this mean you’re going to help?’
‘You say you can see her fifth birthday? I can’t see past the cancer, but I want to be able to.’
‘Me too.’
‘You started this for her. Together we’ll finish it. We need a final video to try and keep the donations flooding in. It will get us closer and then we’ll have less to find from Mantel.’
I nodded; it made sense, we had a plan. ‘And us? What about us?’ I asked. He didn’t answer and as I was about to say something more I heard the ping of a message from my burner phone, which was still in my coat pocket.
Retrieving it, I saw there was one new message.
‘Who is it? George asked.
‘Mantel.’
‘What does it say?’
‘It says he and I need to talk. There’s an address.’
‘What are you going to tell him?’
‘I don’t know, but I need to tell him something.’
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
George
‘I don’t like it, Clara.’
‘Me neither, but what choice do we have? We have to see this through, for her. I’m going to have to go and meet him.’
‘When? Now?’
‘What choice have I got?’ she said.
‘Yeah, I guess so,’ I agreed.
Clara began to type. She sent the message and one came back within seconds.
‘He was waiting for you.’
‘Yeah, he was.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘He’s desperate,’ Clara replied. ‘He wants me to meet him at the warehouse.’
‘Is it safe to go back to the warehouse?’
‘I don’t know, I hope so.’
‘I’m not sure about this. It’s remote, isolated. It feels too risky.’
‘Then what should I do?’
‘What if …’ I started, an idea forming. ‘What if you tell him we are watching. I said we would need him to find out we had surveillance on him. What if you warn him about it.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes, tell him you need to meet elsewhere, as the police are watching the warehouse.’
She thought about it for all of a second and then told me it was a brilliant plan. Mantel would see she was working for him, in deep, and warning him that he was being watched would only make her seem less likely to be a suspect in his eyes. She could get Mantel to trust her, and then we could use it against him.
Her fingers moved fast as she messaged him, and I leaned in to read it.
It’s not safe to meet there, George has you under surveillance
He pinged back quickly.
Why are you telling me this?
Because I have to help my daughter. I need money. If you and I are seen together, it won’t do either of us any good. You said you would pay me to keep him off your scent
He didn’t message back as fast this time and we waited an agonising two minutes.
‘Why isn’t he replying?’
‘He is weighing up his options,’ Clara said.
Finally, it came.
Where?
Come to the bookshop tomorrow morning. Come inside, like you are shopping, we’ll find a place to talk in there
Won’t your husband be there?
No, he’ll be at work
Another agonising wait, an unbearable wait.
I’ll be there at 11
She showed me the message and I looked at my watch.
‘That’s a little over eleven hours from now, that gives us time.’
27TH JULY 2023
4 days until the deadline …
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Henry Mantel
Mantel had hoped that dealing with Tower and Garrett would make those he owed money to step back, understand he wasn’t to be messed with. But no sooner had the pair met their ends, someone had tried to rob him again. Tried and failed. He wondered if Clara had got it entirely wrong, or was misleading him. He could have asked her on the phone, but he needed to see her face to face, eye to eye.
From outside the study door, Mantel heard two little voices shriek with delight.
‘Uncle Tony!’
‘Hey girls. Where’s your daddy?’
‘In his room.’
There was a knock, three gentle taps.
‘Come in.’
Tony came in, closing the door behind him, much to the protest of Mantel’s daughters. ‘Your girls, Henry, they’re getting bigger every day.’
‘I can barely keep up,’ Mantel said.
‘You’ve got your hands full, that’s for sure.’ Tony spotted Mantel’s bruised neck. ‘Boss, what happened?’
‘I had a visit from DS Goodwin last night.’
‘He grabbed you?
‘He did.’
‘I’ll fucking kill him.’
‘No, no need. Let it go.’
‘He’s got some fucking balls.’
‘Tony, let it go. After what he did last night, he won’t be sniffing around any more. He’ll be off the case, it will eat him up.’
‘Okay boss.’
‘Did you get the CCTV from the garage’s hard drive?’
‘Yes, about that, there’s something there. Something you might find interesting.’
‘I’m listening.’
Tony pulled a tablet from his bag, opened an app, and handed it to Mantel. The screen was divided into quarters, each showing a grainy image from one of the four CCTV cameras within the garage. One showed the inside of the dark empty space, one showed the inside of Mantel’s office and the other two showed the exterior of the building front and back. Mantel pressed play and watched as a person came in through the rear. He saw them break the door, get inside, and move quickly towards the reception area first. They disappeared off camera for a while.
‘Where have they gone?’ Mantel asked.
‘Just keep watching boss.’
Within a minute, they were back, dashing fast and low through the workshop towards the stairs at the rear.
‘Fucker,’ Mantel hissed as he watched them head up the stairs. ‘Do you think it’s the same man as before?’
‘Maybe, it’s hard to tell.’
Mantel watched as the camera inside the office caught them pressed against the glass. They tried to open the door, and when that failed, they smashed their way in. Mantel didn’t blink as he watched them rummage around his private space. It was clear this person was neither Garrett nor Tower, but they were soon to end up like them. Having seen enough, he handed the tablet back to Tony.
‘Find this fucker, find them and bring them to me.’
‘Boss, keep watching. It gets weird,’ Tony replied, pushing the tablet back into his hands. Mantel wasn’t in the mood for cryptic clues or games, but took the tablet back anyway; it wasn’t often Tony thought anything was out of the ordinary. He saw the thief leave the office and run down the stairs, out of the building and around the back. A car approached, and a man climbed out.
‘Is that George Goodwin?’
‘Yep.’
Mantel watched as Goodwin gave chase to the thief and in the bottom corner of the quartered screen saw him grab the thief and pull them back down from the wall they were trying to climb. They began to fight, rolling in the mud, and in the struggle they disappeared around the side of the building, out of shot.
‘I can’t see anything.’
‘Just keep watching.’
After a minute, Goodwin staggered to his feet and into the view of the camera once more. He was out of breath, and he had stopped moving. Mantel leant into to watch more closely. Goodwin was saying something. He turned away from the thief, and Mantel saw from a different camera angle a police car approach. Goodwin then ran in the direction of the police car.
‘What the fuck?’ Mantel said.
The officer got out of the car, and Goodwin pointed in the opposite direction to where the thief had just stood.
‘What is he doing?’
‘I don’t know, boss. But it looks like he let them go.’
‘Why would he do that?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Do we have sound from the video, can we hear what he is saying?’
‘No, boss.’
Mantel sat back in his chair. Goodwin knew who the thief was, and instead of doing his job, he had let him go. ‘Why did he not arrest him?’ he said to himself. Processing the information, he tried to find a reason.
‘Boss, what are you thinking?’
‘Goodwin let him go because he is using him to get to me.’
Tony nodded.
‘Which makes me think that whoever this thief is, we know them.’
‘But it’s not Garrett or Tower.’
‘No, not them. Maybe it’s someone Goodwin knows.’
‘Who?’
‘Where’s Lee Sharman?’ Mantel asked.
‘I’ve not heard anything, so I assume he’s at work.’
‘Keep an eye on him.’
‘I’ll see where he is. Do you think it could be anyone else Goodwin knows?’
‘Like who?’
‘I don’t know boss, someone else from the force?’
‘If anyone else there was inclined to want to raise extra funds, I’d know. And they would work for me.’
‘What about Goodwin’s wife?’
Mantel laughed. ‘Clara? No, no. Didn’t you see how afraid she was when she came to the warehouse. No, she ain’t got it in her.’
‘But she needs cash.’
‘And I’m paying her to work for me now. When I first met her, she was a rabbit in the headlights. She’s a desperate mother, nothing more. She ain’t got it in her. I’m going to meet her this morning.’
‘Is that a good idea?’
‘She’s with us now. She gave me a heads-up that her husband was placing surveillance on me.’
‘She did?’
‘Yeah, she did. She overheard him saying he was getting people to watch me, and she told me.’
‘Why?’
‘She’s on the payroll now, for information.’
‘Boss, she was one of them. You can’t trust her.’
‘She needs me to keep quiet about how she’s earned some of that money for her daughter. And she wants to earn more. She isn’t one of them, not now. She’s one of us.’
‘Want me to come with you?’
‘No, go to the garage, make sure everything is as it should be. See what Lee is up to.’
‘And if I see George Goodwin?’
‘Don’t speak to him, just carry on with your business.’
Tony nodded and left the room, and Mantel listened as his kids made a fuss of Uncle Tony before he left. Once he had, Mantel got ready to leave. He would tell Clara about the video, about what her husband did, see what she had to say. If she wanted him to keep quiet, she needed to do more than warn him about whatever George was doing. She was going to have to find out who that man was her husband had let go.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Clara
I checked my phone; three minutes to eleven.
My heart pounded and no matter how often I wiped my palms, I couldn’t stop them feeling clammy. I needed to calm down, Mantel would see straight through me otherwise. Mum was nervous too. She didn’t say as much, but I could tell by the way she chatted with the customers in the shop. Her usual flowing conversation was clipped, polite but short, and she still couldn’t look me in the eye. She stayed by the till at the front and I sat at the back, with Tabatha, nursing a cold cup of coffee. George had wanted to stay nearby, quietly waiting in the flat, but I told him to go. If Mantel discovered he was there, we would come unstuck. It was better to be safe, so he reluctantly left for work. The police were at the garage, investigating the scene, and he agreed to go there, show his face, stay if he was allowed.
Two minutes.
I fussed with Tabs, but she was tired, and falling asleep in her pushchair. I rocked her gently. A customer came over and took a seat in the café area and Mum bustled over to serve them. I heard the front door to the shop open, and watched as Mantel walked in. I stood and pushed the buggy to Mum, handing over responsibility for Tabs.
‘I’ll be quick.’
She didn’t respond, and as I walked towards the door which led to the staffroom, Mantel followed and without saying a word, came inside. No one saw, no one cared. To customers, strangers, nothing seemed out of place. With the door fully closed behind us, I walked towards the small table.
‘Want to sit?’ I asked.
‘No, I’m not staying long,’ he said, leaning against the wall. ‘You know someone tried to rob me last night?’
‘I heard something about it this morning.’
‘Think it’s connected?’
‘I don’t know, I hope not.’
‘Why do you hope not?’
‘Because then I was wrong about Garrett and Tower.’
‘Do you think you were wrong?’
‘Honestly, no,’ I said, hoping the fact I was lying didn’t show.
Mantel studied me, his eyes hard and unreadable. It unnerved me, and he knew it. ‘Mrs Goodwin. Last night, your husband was at my garage.’
‘What?’ I said feigning shock.
‘This surprises you?’
‘Yes. He didn’t tell me.’
‘Seems you two have some major communication issues.’
‘We’re going through a lot.’
‘Yeah, I suppose you are.’ He still held my eye. ‘I got some CCTV from outside my garage. It shows your husband let the thief go.’
‘Let him go? You saw that?’
‘He misdirected other police officers, sent them the wrong way. I’m wondering why he would do that, why he would let him go?’
‘I don’t know. Can you send me the footage so I can take a look?’ My heart was galloping in my chest. I needed to check exactly how much Mantel had seen. I needed to look like I was trying to understand what my husband was doing, but more than that, I needed to know what he knew.
‘I can get it to you,’ he said. ‘DI Goodwin, why did you tip me off about the surveillance?’
‘Because if you get arrested now, I’ve no doubt you’ll drag me down with you.’
He nodded. ‘Glad we’re on the same page. Find out what your husband is up to, find out who he was speaking with. And find out who he let go last night, and why.’
‘I’ll try my best.’
‘I don’t want your best, DI Goodwin. I want your word. We both have things to lose here. You more than me.’
‘You have my word.’
Mantel lingered a tad longer than I would have liked, and for a moment I was sure he knew something. But he didn’t say anything else as he left, other than that the CCTV would come to me shortly.
Once he was gone, I walked back out to the shop floor and straight over to Tabatha. Mum looked at me for the first time that day, and I smiled weakly at her.
‘Clara, please tell me you’ve got this under control,’ she said quietly. ‘Now I know who he is, I don’t want that man in my shop again.’
‘I know, I’m sorry, there was nowhere else to meet.’
