You know what I mean. Youve sat on hard wooden chairs with a policeman the other side of the table many, many times. You know the drill too well youre a professional. With another man I might pussyfoot around use a bit of psychology, maybe but that wouldnt work with you, would it? So Im not going to do it. Therell be no tact, no psychology with you. Im going to crack you like a nut, Rearden.
Youd better remember Judges Rules.
He gave a sharp bark of laughter. See what I mean? An honest man wouldnt know Judges Rules from Parkinsons Law. But you know, dont you? Youre a wrong un; youre bent.
When youre finished with the insults Ill go, I said.
Youll go when I say you can, he said sharply.
I grinned at him. Youd better check with Brunskill first, sonny.
Where are the diamonds?
What diamonds?
That postman is in a bad way. You hit him a bit too hard, Rearden. The chances are hell cash in his chips and where will that put you? He leaned forward. Youll be inside for so long that youll trip over your beard.
I must say he was trying hard but he was a bad liar. No dying postman could have busted that window in the Kiddykar office. I just looked him in the eye and kept my mouth shut.
If those diamonds arent found itll go hard for you, said Jervis. Maybe if the diamonds turn up the judge will be a bit easier on you.
What diamonds? I asked.
And so it went on for a good half-hour until he got tired and went away and the uniformed man came back and took up his old stance in front of the door. I turned and looked at him. Dont you get corns? Isnt this job bad for your feet? He looked at me with a bland face and expressionless eyes and said exactly nothing.
Presently a bigger gun was brought to bear. Brunskill came in carrying a thick folder bulging with papers which he put on the table. Im sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr Rearden, he said.
I wouldnt like to bet on it, I said.
He gave me a pitying, though understanding, smile. We all have our jobs to do, and some are nastier than others. You mustnt blame me for doing mine. He opened the folder. You have quite a record, Mr Rearden. Interpol have a fat dossier on you.
Ive been convicted once, I said. Anything else is not official and you cant use it. What anyone might have to say about me isnt proof of a damned thing. I grinned and, pointing at the folder, quoted: What the policeman said isnt evidence.
Just so, said Brunskill. But its interesting all the same. He mused over the papers for a long time, then said, without looking up, Why are you flying to Switzerland tomorrow?
Im a tourist, I said. Ive never been there before.
Its your first time in England, too, isnt it?
You know it is. Look here, I want an attorney.
He looked up. I would suggest a solicitor. Have you anyone in mind?
From my wallet I took the scrap of paper with the telephone number on it which Mackintosh had given me with this eventuality in mind. Thatll find him, I said.
Brunskills eyebrows lifted when he read it. I know this number very well hes just the man to tackle your type of case. For a man whos been in England less than a week you know your way around the fringes. He put the paper on one side. Ill let him know youre here.
My throat was dry from smoking too many cigarettes. Another thing, I said. I could do with a cup of tea.
Im afraid we cant run to tea, said Brunskill regretfully. Would a glass of water be all right?
Itll do.
He went to the door, gave instructions, and then came back. You people seem to think that we spend all our time in police stations drinking tea running a continuous cafeteria for old lags. I cant think where you get it from unless its from television.
Not me, I said. We have no TV in South Africa.
Indeed! said Brunskill. How curious. Now, about those diamonds. I think that...
What diamonds? I broke in.
And so it went on. He shook me more than Jervis because he was trickier. He wasnt stupid enough to lie about something I knew to be true, as Jervis had done, and was better at the wearing down process, being as persistent as a buzzing fly. The water came a carafe and a tumbler. I filled the tumbler and drank thirstily, then refilled it and drank again. Brunskill watched me and said at last, Had enough?
I nodded, so he reached out and took the tumbler delicately in his fingertips and carried it out. When he came back he looked at me sorrowfully. I didnt think youd fall for that chestnut. You know we cant fingerprint you until youre booked. Why did you let us have them?
I was tired, I said.
Too bad, he said sympathetically. Now, to get back to those diamonds...
Presently Jervis came into the room and beckoned to Brunskill and they stood by the door and talked in low voices. Brunskill turned around. Now, look here, Rearden; weve nailed you. We have enough evidence now to send you up for ten years. If you help us to get back those stones it might help you when the judge sentences you.
What diamonds? I asked tiredly.
His mouth shut with a snap. All right, he said curtly. Come this way.
I followed, the meat in a sandwich between Brunskill and Jervis. They escorted me to a large room occupied by a dozen men lined along one wall. Jervis said, No need to explain what this is, Rearden; but I will because the law says I must. Its a line-up an identification parade. There are three people coming in to see you. You can insert yourself anywhere in that line, and you can change your position in the intervals if you like. Got it?
I nodded and walked over to the wall, putting myself third in line. There was a pause in the action and then the first witness came in a little old lady, someones darling mother. She went along the line and then came straight back to me and pointed at my chest. Thats the one. Id never seen her before.
They took her out, but I didnt bother to change position. There wasnt any point, really; they had me nailed just as Brunskill had said. The next one was a young man of about eighteen. He didnt have to go all the way along the line. He stopped in front of me. Thats im, he said. E did it.
The third witness didnt have any trouble either. He took one look at me and yelled, This is the boyo. I hope you get life, mate. He went away rubbing his head. It was the postman not nearly as dead as Jervis would have me believe.
Then is was over and Jervis and Brunskill took me back. I said to Jervis, Youd make a good miracle-worker; you brought that postman back to life pretty smartly.
He gave me a sharpish look and a slow smile spread over his face. And how did you know that was the postman?
I shrugged. My goose was cooked whichever way I looked at it. I said to Brunskill, Who is the bastard of a nark that shopped me?
His face closed up. Lets call it information received, Rearden. Youll be charged tomorrow morning and youll go before a magistrate immediately. Ill see that your solicitor is in attendance.
Thanks, I said. Whats his name?
By God! he said. But youre a cool one. Your solicitor is a Mr Maskell.
Thanks again, I said.
Brunskill whistled up a station sergeant who put me in a cell for the night. I had a bite to eat and then stretched out and went to sleep almost immediately.
It had been a tiring day.
Two
I
Maskell was a short, stout man with shrewd brown eyes and an immense air of dignity. He was introduced to me just before the charge was laid and did not seem at all perturbed at the prospect of acting for a criminal. The law is a strange profession in which ordinary morality goes by the board; a well liked and generally respected barrister will fight like a tiger for his client, who may well be a murderer or a rapist, and will receive well-merited congratulations on an acquittal. Then he will go home and write a letter to the editor of The Times fulminating about the rise in crime. A schizophrenic profession.
I said as much to Maskell once when I knew him better. He said gently, Mr Rearden, to me you are neither guilty nor innocent the people who decide that are the twelve men in the box. I am here to find out the facts in a case and to present them to a barrister who will conduct the argument and I do it for money.
We were in court at the time and he waved his hand largely. Who says crime doesnt pay? he asked cynically. Taking all in all, from the court ushers to his Lordship up there, there are at least fifty people directly involved in this case, and theyre all making a living out of it. Some, such as myself and his Lordship, make a better living than others. We do very well out of people like you, Mr Rearden.
But at this time I didnt know Maskell at all. It was a hurried introduction, and he said hastily, We will talk in more detail later. First we must find what this is all about.
So I was taken and charged. I wont go into all the legal language but what it all boiled down to was robbery with violence an assault on the person of John Edward Harte, an employee of the GPO, and the theft of diamonds, the property of Lewis and van Veldenkamp, Ltd, valued at £173,000.
I nearly burst out laughing at that. It had been a bigger haul than Mackintosh had expected, unless Mr Lewis and Meneer van Veldenkamp were trying to sting their insurance company. But I kept a straight face and when it was over I turned to Maskell and asked, What now?
I nearly burst out laughing at that. It had been a bigger haul than Mackintosh had expected, unless Mr Lewis and Meneer van Veldenkamp were trying to sting their insurance company. But I kept a straight face and when it was over I turned to Maskell and asked, What now?
Ill see you in the Magistrates Court in about an hour. That will be a mere formality. He rubbed his chin. Theres a lot of money involved here. Have the police recovered the diamonds?
Youd better ask them. I know nothing about any diamonds.
Indeed! I must tell you that if the diamonds are still shall we say at large? then it will be very difficult for me to get you out on bail. But I will try.
The proceedings in the Magistrates Court were brief, lasting for about three minutes. They would have been even briefer but Brunskill got on his hind legs and argued against the granting of bail. The diamonds have not yet been recovered, your Honour, and if the prisoner is released on bail I fear they never will be. Further, if the prisoner had not been apprehended last night he would have been in Switzerland this morning.
The magistrate flapped his hand. You think the prisoner will jump bail?
I do, said Brunskill firmly. And there is one thing more, the prisoner is in the dock on a charge of violence and he has a police record in which violence figures largely. I fear the intimidation of witnesses.