Revenger

63

Dipak Sharma was a smart guy. He knew that Ajay Panu’s confession was rubbish, and he knew that the police knew that too. But there it was, in black and white, given without any improper pressure from the officer doing the interview, and so it had to be dealt with. Then there was the matter of the illegal shotgun that had been in Maninder Panu’s possession. It had been used to kill eight people, and he had to deal with that, too. So when Keane told him that she could make all that trouble go away, if only his clients would tell him everything they knew about the man who had actually carried out the shootings, and fabricated the explosive device that had killed all the victims in the Lion Market, well, he didn’t need a second invitation. His clients were advised to give the police their full cooperation.

Half an hour later a police technician was seated at a computer screen, putting together an image of the man suspected of being both the second Lion Market shooter and the person responsible for the fatal explosion. Both Panus and Chrystal Prentice had helped compile the image.

‘Get it out to the media, right away. I want it on every website, every TV channel, every front page — now!’ Keane said when the image was done.

And then she looked again at the face and realized that she had seen it herself, less than an hour earlier. She called Walcott over, pointed at the screen and said, ‘Does he look familiar to you?’

Walcott shrugged. ‘Should he?’

‘Look again. Think about Tommy’s…’

‘Oh shit.’ Walcott gasped. ‘He was right there, in front of us. I mean you…’

‘Yes… I bumped into the Second Man. He was right there and…’ she shook her head in disbelief, ‘… I actually apologized to him.’

‘You want me to get the car again?’

‘Yes… we’re going back to Tommy’s. If our man was there, then we need to know why.’