Revenger

57

Di Keane had been leading Maninder Panu through the events of the evening, and was becoming progressively more frustrated by his obvious evasions, when Brian Walcott appeared at the interview-room door and indicated to her to join him. She followed him out into the corridor and there he told her, first, that Ajay Panu had claimed to be the second shooter and, second, that he had called for a lawyer. ‘The brief’ll be here any minute,’ Walcott said.

‘I’d better get a move on, then.’

‘I reckon so, ma’am.’

Keane was perfectly capable of acting like a bloody-minded copper when the need arose: like now, for instance. She sat down opposite Maninder, looked at him without a shred of human kindness in her face and said, ‘You’re in a lot of trouble.’

His liquid brown eyes widened in alarm. This was the last thing he’d been expecting. ‘Me? What have I done wrong? I’m the victim! My shop was attacked. People tried to kill me. Why am I the one in trouble?’

‘Let’s start with the shotgun that was found on your premises — the one used to kill a number of individuals in and around your shop. Would you care to account for that?’

‘I don’t know how it got there!’

‘Did you buy that gun?’

‘I don’t remember.’

‘Buying a gun is hardly something you’re likely to forget,’ Keane said. And then, for the first time, she softened a fraction and offered Maninder Panu a tiny crumb of comfort, saying, ‘I don’t blame you if you did,’ before snatching it away with her next breath. ‘Of course, it was highly illegal. You could get ten years in jail for owning that gun, did you know that?’

The look of horror on Maninder’s face indicated very clearly that he did not.

‘But you were afraid,’ Keane went on. ‘The riots keep getting worse. I can understand how a man in your position might feel vulnerable — in need of a little protection.’

Maninder nodded in vigorous agreement, ‘Yes, that is true. I did feel vulnerable.’

‘So you acquired a fully-loaded Mossberg 590 shotgun…’

‘I wasn’t the only one! Lots of people had them.’

‘Maybe, but yours killed at least eight people. Can you tell me who was firing that gun, Mr Panu?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘That’s odd. You see, someone’s actually admitted firing the shotgun.’

Once again, Maninder was caught off guard: ‘Really? Who?’

‘Your cousin, Ajay Paninder.’

‘No, I don’t believe you! He would never say that!’

Keane remained entirely impassive. ‘Your cousin is in very real danger of being tried for the murder of those eight people, Mr Panu. He freely confessed to my colleague DS Walcott that he had shot two people dead. Six others were killed with the same gun, and unless you can tell me who else might have committed those murders there’s every chance that he’ll be convicted of those killings too, and spend the rest of his life in jail.’

‘But he didn’t do it!’

‘I repeat, that’s not what he says.’

‘No! No!’ Maninder exclaimed, his voice becoming high-pitched in his distress. ‘He has never shot a gun. He is a good man. He would never kill another human being.’

‘Well, if he didn’t shoot those people, who did?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘That’s not much good to your cousin, I’m afraid,’ said Keane. ‘But I’ll tell you what. I’ll make it easier. We know there was another man in the shop. We know this despite the attempts made by you, your cousin and Miss Prentice to deny the existence of this individual.’

‘What man? How do you know?’

‘Because we’ve been very busy, Mr Panu. We now know the identity of the man who introduced himself to Miss Prentice as “Snoopy”. We believe he served in the special forces. The man who accompanied him probably had a similar background. He is an exceptionally dangerous individual. We have to find him before he kills again.’

‘But he saved us! We would have died — all of us! He may be a dangerous killer to you, Inspector. But I owe my life to him.’

‘So you agree that he exists?’

Maninder nodded disconsolately. ‘Excellent,’ said Keane. ‘So now why don’t you do yourself and your cousin Ajay a favour and tell me what you know?’

‘If I tell you what I know, will you drop the charges against Ajay?’

‘Well, I can’t either bring or drop charges. But clearly, your cousin can hardly be a suspect if we can establish that the shootings were committed by another individual.’

For all his weaknesses, Maninder Panu was a natural trader. Now that he knew he was in a position to negotiate, he immediately felt more confident. ‘And what about me?’ he asked. ‘What will you do for me?’

‘We will be very grateful for any help you can give us that leads to the arrest of our prime suspect,’ said Keane. ‘Once again, I can’t make any promises. But I’m sure we’ll have much more important things to worry about than how a gun did or did not happen to come into your possession.’

Maninder looked at her shrewdly, trying to work out whether he could sweeten the deal any further. He concluded that it wouldn’t be possible; not right now, at any rate. For the first time he seemed to relax into his chair. ‘Then, in that case, I will tell you—’

‘Absolutely nothing.’

The voice came from the door to the interview room. A smartly suited Asian man — in his late twenties or early thirties, Keane guessed. She muttered, ‘Shit!’ under her breath as the man came into the room, extending his hand.

Keane got up. ‘And you are…?’ she asked, though she already knew at least half the answer.

‘Dipak Sharma,’ the young man said. ‘I am Mr Panu’s lawyer, and you won’t need me to tell you that my client is not saying a single additional word until I have had a chance to confer with him… in private.’

Walcott was waiting in the corridor outside. ‘Sorry, ma’am,’ he said. ‘I tried to slow him down, give you as much time as possible, but he wasn’t having it.’

‘That’s all right. Nothing you could do. It’s just frustrating, that’s all. I was this close to getting Maninder Panu to talk.’

‘You still will,’ Walcott reassured her. ‘Meantime, I’ve got some good news. We just got a call from St Thomas’ Hospital. Paula Miklosko’s back in the land of the living: conscious, aware of her surroundings…’

‘Is she talking?’

‘Just about.’

‘Then the Panus can wait. Get the car. We’re off to Tommy’s.’