Chapter 57
It really is almost certainly nothing.
Felicity is behind her familiar desk when Steve arrives. Surely she wouldn’t have killed the man with blond hair and calmly returned to work?
The whole idea is ridiculous, but Steve has to check. Somebody killed the hitman, and it’s not immediately apparent who. It’s not crazy to speak to someone who had both a photo of the man and a grudge. He’ll join Ernesto straight afterwards.
‘Hello, Steve,’ she says, as he sits opposite her.
‘I need to ask you something,’ says Steve. ‘And I need you to be honest with me.’
‘How intriguing,’ says Felicity.
‘Listen,’ says Steve. ‘Depending on what you say, perhaps it doesn’t even have to leave this room.’
It’s okay, Felicity is a grown-up. She’ll understand that he has to check.
‘It’s just –’ Steve hears a noise from the kitchen. ‘Who’s here?’
The question answers itself as Tony walks into the room with two cups of tea.
‘Hello, stranger,’ says Tony. ‘Kettle’s just boiled if you want one?’
‘I’m okay, Tone,’ says Steve. ‘Flying visit. Just need a chat with Felicity.’
‘Right you are,’ says Tony, and puts Felicity’s tea down on her desk. He walks over to an armchair and sits.
‘Might need some privacy,’ says Steve.
‘I’m not here,’ says Tony.
‘You are here,’ says Steve.
‘Pretend I’m not,’ says Tony. ‘I’ll just zone out.’
‘It’s We Solve Murders business,’ says Steve.
‘It’s his favourite armchair though,’ says Felicity. ‘And if you want to talk about Connor Brooks, then we both want to hear it.’
‘There’s nothing you wouldn’t want Tony to hear?’ Steve asks.
‘Nothing,’ says Felicity. ‘I have no secrets from Tony.’
‘You bought a packet of chocolate Hobnobs and didn’t tell me,’ says Tony.
‘Because you would have eaten them,’ says Felicity.
‘That’s what you’re supposed to do with them,’ says Tony. ‘Back me up, Steve.’
Steve mustn’t get drawn into this. Does Felicity have a gun?
‘I’m not here to talk about chocolate Hobnobs,’ says Steve. ‘Although Tony is right.’
‘They were for guests,’ says Felicity. ‘And he would have eaten the whole packet.’
‘You should always have a guest packet and an eating packet,’ says Steve.
‘That’s what I said,’ says Tony. ‘Anyway, I’m not here.’
‘Felicity,’ says Steve. ‘I have to ask you –’
The phone rings. Felicity holds up a finger to stop Steve and answers it.
‘Hello, We Solve Murders, how may I direct your call? … No, we’re not a bookshop …
No. I promise you … It would be a good name, yes …
I’d suggest Waterstones or TG Jones … TG Jones …
it used to be WH Smith … I don’t know … yes, it’s still WH Smith at the sta–’
Steve takes the receiver and puts it down. ‘Felicity, do you have a gun?’
‘A gun?’ says Felicity. ‘Do I have a gun?’
‘Yes,’ says Steve. ‘I need you to tell me the truth.’
‘Why would I have a gun?’ says Felicity. ‘Are you hearing this, Tony?’
‘Gun?’ says Tony. ‘Of course she doesn’t have a gun.’
Steve believes Tony. He is not a good liar.
‘I wouldn’t be nicking Hobnobs if she had a gun,’ Tony adds.
‘Why are you asking, Steve?’ says Felicity.
‘The man in the alley,’ says Steve. ‘The blond man?’
The phone rings again, but he has Felicity’s full attention now. She cuts the call off.
‘That’s who beat me up?’ asks Tony.
‘Yep,’ says Steve. ‘He was shot a couple of hours ago. Outside Rosie’s place.’
Felicity nods. ‘That’s why you were asking if I had a gun?’
Felicity stands and walks over to Tony’s chair. She kisses his forehead.
‘Shot dead?’ asks Felicity.
‘Very,’ says Steve. ‘Six bullets.’
‘Good,’ says Felicity. ‘It wasn’t me, I promise you that. But good.’
‘Bit much, six bullets,’ says Tony. ‘He was only a young lad.’
‘I have to ask what you were doing this morning,’ says Steve. ‘About half eleven. That’s when they heard the shots.’
‘I was with Tony,’ says Felicity.
Couples, in Steve’s experience, often give each other alibis. ‘He was with me.’ ‘She was in all evening.’ You can usually tell the liars. Either the alibi is too vague, or the alibi is too complicated.
Steve turns to his best friend. ‘And what were you doing together, Tony? You weren’t at work?’
Tony looks at Felicity. Steve looks at Tony.
‘Neither of you were at work?’ says Steve. ‘When the hitman was shot?’
This question hangs in the air for a long moment.
‘There’s a horse,’ says Tony.
‘A horse?’ says Steve.
‘I saw him the other day, out near Beaulieu,’ says Tony. ‘And I came back and I said to Felicity, it’s the damnedest thing, Phil, but I’ve just seen this horse, and he looks exactly like Harry Kane.’
‘The England footballer,’ says Felicity.
‘I know who Harry Kane is,’ says Steve. If Tony is lying to save Felicity, then he’s definitely chosen ‘too complicated’ over ‘too vague’.
‘And I was kicking myself,’ says Tony, ‘because I hadn’t got a photo of him, and I thought the local paper might like it, so I woke up this morning, and I was getting ready for work, I really was, I’ve got a VW Polo in at the moment, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the horse, so I said, I’m just going to head off, and Felicity says, you’re going to find that horse, aren’t you?
And I said, no, you know, I’ve got this VW Polo that won’t behave, and she said, don’t lie to me, Tony Taylor, and I said, okay, I’m going to look for that horse, I can’t stop thinking about him, and she said, I’ll come with you, and I said, but you’ve got work, and, full disclosure, Steve, she says, I can take the morning off, and we jumped in the car and drove to Beaulieu to look for Harry Kane. ’
Tony has gone straight through ‘too complicated’ and out the other side. If Steve heard this in an interview room he’d know it was a lie, but this is Tony Taylor.
‘Anybody see you?’ Steve asks.
‘Shouldn’t have thought so,’ says Tony. ‘We were mainly in fields.’
Steve doesn’t know what to think.
‘You want to see a picture of him?’ Tony asks.
‘You found him?’ asks Steve.
‘Of course we found him,’ says Tony. ‘Where do you think he’d have gone? Southampton?’
Tony scrolls through his phone then hands it to Steve.
‘Jesus Christ,’ says Steve. ‘He really looks like Harry Kane.’
‘That’s why I had to go back,’ says Tony.
‘I get it now,’ agrees Steve.
‘The Southampton Mercury are going to put it on their Facebook page,’ says Felicity.
The next photo is a selfie with Felicity, Tony and Harry Kane the horse in the middle.
One final check. Steve opens the data attached to the selfie photo.
It was taken this morning at 11.55 a.m. There was absolutely no way Felicity could have shot the man in the ditch.
The question of who did, then, is still open.
Steve gives a slight bow to Felicity. ‘You understand why I had to ask?’
‘Of course,’ says Felicity. ‘We’re a detective agency. Go and catch whoever did it. And thank them from me.’
Steve gives her a hug, then gives Tony a punch on his good shoulder. ‘If you need me, I’ll be at The Hunter’s Rest, catching a bad guy.’
Steve walks out into the fresh air. He’d had to check, he’d had to. But of course it wasn’t Felicity. Steve knew that all along. But he’s still a copper at heart, and you have to keep your options open. Of course she didn’t shoot Tony’s attacker. Of course she doesn’t have a gun.
Although, as he gets into his car, Steve realizes that, despite him asking her a number of times, Felicity didn’t actually deny having a gun.