The Boudicca Parchments

Chapter 21

“I said I dealt with him — not that I killed him.”

“But you let me believe that you killed him.”

Sam Morgan could see that HaTzadik’s anger was not assuaged by this feeble excuse. Neither was that of Baruch Tikva, who had never liked him. Technically it was true. He had been careful to avoid saying that he had killed Daniel Klein, perhaps because he didn’t want to admit that he had tried but failed.

He had covered his tracks brilliantly, phoning Crimestoppers and effectively setting up Daniel to take the rap. But he didn’t want to emphasize that. He wanted to portray himself as a man who knew that he was doing, not an incompetent buffoon.

“I killed Martin Costa and used the fire to cover up his injuries. As far as the police are concerned, he died in the fire. And they think that it was Daniel who caused the fire. That’s why he’s been arrested.”

“He can still talk!”

“Yes but he doesn’t know anything, so there’s not much he can talk about! The picture he got is far too blurred for him to read the manuscript.”

“Don’t be too sure of that!” said Baruch Tikva. “I have heard of this man before: he is not going to give up.”

Morgan was on the back foot and he knew it. Baruch Tikva was a big man and he could be quite menacing when he was angry.

“Trust me, right now reading a blurred image sent to his phone is the least of his worries. He’ll be more worried about clearing his name. And also I heard on the news that he lost his phone in the fire.”

HaTzadik was still angry.

“I want him dead!”

“There’s no way I can kill him now. He’s behind bars and they won’t let him out on bail… not for murder.”

“Can’t you get to him in prison?”

“No way. It’s not like America. And a murder suspect will be in a Category A wing.”

“What’s that?”

“High Security. That means he’ll be impossible for me to get at.”

“I don’t mean you. Can’t you contact the family of another prisoner and get them to do it? By offering them money?”

Morgan didn’t even hesitate in his reply.

“That would be almost impossible. They have CCTV cameras in British prisons. It would be very hard to kill some one undetected.”

“But a life prisoner would have nothing to lose. They don’t have the death penalty in England.”

Morgan smiled at HaTzadik’s naivety.

“They don’t have life either — except in rare cases. In England, life doesn’t mean life. Sometimes they can get out in as little as five years. But not if they commit another murder. The last thing any prisoner wants to do is lengthen his sentence by committing a murder for which he’s bound to get caught.”

Morgan could see the irritation on Shalom Tikva’s face — as well as that of his son, who spoke even better English. But there was nothing he could do. They had to face the facts.

“Is this Daniel Klein single?”

This made Morgan rather edgy.

“Why?”

“Leverage?”

“He’s divorced. His ex-wife is in America. But I don’t think threatening her is going to make any difference. I don’t think there’s any love lost between the two of them.

The older man turned to his son and said something in Hebrew orYiddish. The younger man replied.

“Did they have children?”

Morgan was becoming increasingly concerned by the direction this conversation had taken off in.

“No.”

Baruch Tikva said something to his father. HaTzadik replied.

“Ani rotseh sheh’ata tisa le’Anglia. Yesh li avoda ktana bishvilkha la’asot.”

Morgan didn’t understand, but a rough translation of his reply would be:

“I want you to go to England. I have a little job that I want you to do.”