January Window

38

After Sean had gone, and I was alone again with Maurice in suite 123, I told him about the fifty grand I’d found in the freezer and then explained my theory about what had happened to Zarco: that someone had pushed him out of the kitchen window.

‘There’s a tiny blood stain on the beam immediately below this window,’ I said. ‘That must have been how he got the blow to his head.’

‘Makes sense,’ said Maurice. ‘It certainly explains why the door on that maintenance area was locked from the outside. Because no one opened it.’

‘And it explains why no one spotted someone as famous as him going down there in the first place; because he didn’t. At least not using the stairs.’

‘But why do you believe that Paolo Gentile found the sunglasses exactly like he said he did?’ asked Maurice. ‘Maybe he was lying. Maybe he and Zarco argued about something. The bung, perhaps. Maybe it was him who pushed Zarco out of the window.’

‘It’s true they’d argued about the bung before,’ I said. ‘I saw them arguing about it at a service station in Orsett. But the bung was paid, after all. The cash part, anyway. So they could hardly have argued about that.’

‘Yes, but he did fuck off to Milan that very same day. He didn’t even hang around for the match. And that’s exactly what I’d have done if I’d topped Zarco. Caught the next flight home. Once someone is in Italy, it’s not so easy getting them back here to face charges. If you’ve got money there you can give the Italian law the runaround. Look at Berlusconi. He’s got away with it for years.’

‘I still don’t buy it, Maurice. It was Zarco who persuaded Viktor Sokolnikov to use Gentile on the Kenny Traynor transfer, instead of Denis Kampfner. Viktor was a golden goose for an agent like Gentile. There’s no telling how many golden eggs Zarco could have persuaded our mega-rich proprietor to lay for our Italian friend. I just don’t see Gentile doing it. He had too much to lose by killing him.’

‘All right. That makes sense.’

‘Now Viktor, on the other hand...’

‘Don’t tell me you fancy Viktor for it,’ said Maurice.

‘I don’t know. Maybe. There’s a YouTube video of him nutting his fellow oligarch, Alisher Aksyonov, live on Russian television. He looks like he means it, too. If Viktor had found out about Zarco buying shares in SSAG he might have been angry enough to hit him.’

‘But he was with the people from RBG when Zarco went missing, wasn’t he?’

‘Only some of the time. On Saturday afternoon, before the match, when Phil Hobday came to tell me that Zarco had gone missing, he told me that Viktor was looking for him, too. But yesterday, when I spoke to Viktor in my office, he told me he was with the guys from RBG for the whole afternoon. One of them is mistaken. Or lying.’

‘Fucking hell, Scott. Be careful. You’ve only just got this job.’

‘Listen, someone was in here with Zarco. I think whoever it was sat down and had a cup of coffee with him. There were just three mugs in the dishwasher, which was still on the first time I came in here. A dishwasher cycle’s a pretty good way of getting rid of your fingerprints. So, suppose that Viktor found Zarco in suite 123; maybe they sat down over a coffee and Zarco decided to confess all to Viktor, who went nuts. Frankly, who could blame him? On the evidence of what’s on YouTube there’s no doubt that Viktor can handle himself. And that he’s got a temper. By his own admission he used to be a rather more hands-on businessman than he is now. That is, hands on someone’s coat lapels.’

‘Yeah, but why would he ask you to investigate Zarco’s murder if he was the one who did it? Doesn’t make sense.’

‘I’ve been wondering about that. But it’s not like I’m Lord Peter Wimsey, is it? I’m just some cunt in a tracksuit. So perhaps I was only supposed to muddy the waters for the police and stop them from finding out that he killed Zarco himself. Which, so far, has worked rather well, wouldn’t you say? I mean the cops don’t know shit about what really happened. They’re outside, playing Jacques Cousteau, looking for a murder weapon — a blunt instrument that doesn’t even exist. The only metal pipe that hit Zarco on the head was the one weighing several tons below the kitchen window. Without what I know, the cops don’t know anything very much. They don’t know about this room, Paolo Gentile, the bung on Kenny Traynor, the cash in the freezer, the shares bought in SSAG, and the fact that Zarco was feeling nervous about Viktor Sokolnikov. At least he was according to Toyah. She’s afraid of him, too. And here’s another thing, Maurice.’

‘Oh, fuck. I don’t think I want to know.’

‘Viktor gives me the job of replacing Zarco as manager of London City. One of the top jobs in football. I’m on the same money as Zarco, plus bonuses. Viktor even gives me a valuable portrait of Zarco to help sweeten the deal. To incentivise me, he says. Now suppose I do find something out. Something that incriminates Viktor himself. What do I do? Naturally I don’t go to the cops. He knows I hate the cops. According to Viktor, that’s one of the very reasons he asked me to play sleuth for him. Because he knows I won’t rat him out to the law. So if I do find something, the chances are that I’ll then do one of two things. Either I’ll have it out with him and he’ll persuade me to keep my mouth shut; perhaps he’ll try to bribe me, I don’t know. Or I’ll suppress the evidence altogether in the interests of my oh-so-generous employer and of course my own bright future with this football club.’

‘Hold up a minute.’

‘What?’

‘There’s a third alternative here that maybe you ought to consider, boss. That Viktor Sokolnikov doesn’t bribe you or persuade you to keep your mouth shut. Instead he puts the frighteners on you. He threatens you. Some of those bodyguards who work for him, they’re very scary guys. I was in the steam room at Hangman’s Wood with one of them and he’s got more fucking tattoos than a beach in Ibiza. Proper Russian Mafia tattoos, too. None of that “Mum” and “Dad” and “Scotland Forever” bullshit. These are tattoos that mean stuff to those in the know. You mark my words, boss: if you have it out with Viktor you might just disappear. This is the East End of London, remember? People have been disappearing round here since the princes in the Tower. Someone shoves you in that river one dark night, you might never be seen again. It’s not just me who thinks so. That’s what the Leeds fans were singing about Zarco when we went to Elland Road. Remember? The fans might not have known about Zarco’s photograph in the grave we found out there, but it didn’t stop the flat-capped bastards from filling in the gaps, so to speak. He’s getting murdered in the morning/ Ding Dong the bells are gonna chime/ Vic and his mafia/ Will soon fucking have ya/ And get you to your grave on time.’

‘I’d forgotten that.’

‘All I’m saying is, be a bit careful, yeah? This isn’t handbags on the pitch with Mario Balotelli, boss. You’re up against someone with a very murky past. I watched that Panorama special on Viktor. He’s got more skeletons in his fucking cupboard than the Museum of Cairo. So, promise me you won’t accuse him or anything daft like that, not without speaking to me first, eh?’

‘Fortunately all the evidence is very circumstantial,’ I said. ‘So unless I find some real hard evidence I’m not about to do anything crazy.’ I shrugged. ‘But the fact is, I’m still going to have to consider my position here.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘I mean that if I do finally conclude that the person who killed João Zarco was the proprietor of this club then I can hardly remain here working for him. That would be impossible. Quite apart from anything else I’d always wonder if the reason I got the job was to keep me on side. But the fact is, I loved Zarco. I might not be able to tell the police about it but I couldn’t be around someone who’d killed Zarco, or had him killed. You do see that, don’t you? It would be a betrayal of my friendship for Zarco. He may not always have been entirely honest but he was always a good mate to me. And that’s what counts, Maurice.’

‘Would he have done the same for you? I don’t know.’

‘It’s what I think that matters, Maurice. It’s my bloody conscience that’s affected here, not Zarco’s. When I was in the nick I read Dante’s Inferno. Being in a hell like Wandsworth it seemed appropriate. Dante places Brutus and Cassius in the worst part of hell because they chose to betray their friend, Julius Caesar, rather than their country. I feel much the same way about Zarco.’

‘All right, I get that. But how will you decide? If Viktor’s guilty?’

‘I don’t know. I suppose I’ll keep my ears and eyes open for some clue as to his guilt or innocence. And then, when I’ve thought about it for a while, I’ll make my decision. To leave this club, or to stay.’ I shrugged. ‘That’s something real I can do. There won’t be a big reveal in the fucking dining car or the library when I’ve decided what really happened. I’ll just resign. Simple as that.’