Legacy of Lies

So far no sound of ru

‘What now?’

‘You come with me.’

Harry went.

‘That was a shot.’

‘A what?’ Da

‘That’s because it wasn’t,’ she told him. Of course, Da

‘Ki

He was making for the door. Naomi threw herself in the direction of the sound and grabbed at him. ‘No, stay up here. In the study. Da

‘Yes, but there’s not much credit on it.’

‘You don’t need it for the nines. Quick now. We’ve got to contact Fine.’

Patrick led the way and they piled into the study. Naomi locked the door.

‘What if he shoots the lock?’ Patrick said.

‘The desk. Do you think you could move it between you? I can help if you tell me where I’m going.’

‘Give it a try.’

The desk was heavy, antique oak, They struggled between them to drag it across the rugs and bare floorboards, hating the noise it made, though Naomi guessed that Ki

It wasn’t easy persuading the woman but Naomi persevered. To her profound relief, Fine’s voice was soon on the phone.

‘He’s here. Downstairs and he’s armed. One shot fired. I’m in the study with Patrick and Da

‘Hang tight,’ Fine said. ‘The cavalry’s on its way.’

Ki

‘In the study, I think,’ Harry said. ‘The door locks, none of the others do.’

‘Come on out,’ Ki

‘Da

‘Two of us,’ Da

‘Don’t know what he has in mind but … Yes, dad, we’re both fine. What’s going on?’

‘Marcus is hurt.’

‘Enough. Your notes, Marcus said you kept notes.’

‘And Marcus was wrong,’ Harry said patiently. ‘The police took everything away with them last night.’

‘He’s telling you the truth,’ Patrick shouted through the door. ‘The police said it was evidence and they had to have everything. Sergeant Fine has it all.’

‘Then we’d better talk to bloody Sergeant Fine,’ Ki

‘I know his number,’ Harry agreed.

From inside the room they heard two sets of footsteps retreating down the stairs.

‘So,’ Naomi said, ‘the gunshot was probably Marcus. Alec must be out of action in some way and Harry’s lied about how many of us there are.’ She relayed this to Fine. Below, they could hear the murmur of voices as Harry spoke on the phone.

‘He’s coming in on the other line,’ Fine said. ‘Hold on.’

Moments later he was back. ‘Naomi, we’re only minutes away, hang tight. Armed officers will be maybe ten minutes after us. Ki

‘True, but he’s already proved himself ready and willing to use his gun. Reg, I think he’s lost what little balance he had.’

‘You’re there on scene, Naomi. I’ll take your point. I’ve told him I’ve arranged for the paperwork to be brought to Fallowfields. I don’t think he believes me but it might buy us a breathing space. What’s happening now?’

‘I think they’re coming back up the stairs.’

She fell silent, listening. Ki

The sound of sirens distracted him. Fine was coming in mob-handed, Naomi thought.

They heard Ki

‘He’ll either force us out or force his way in,’ Naomi said. ‘Patrick, ordinarily I wouldn’t advise trying to fight back, but I think this man’s beyond reasoning with. We may have to do just that.’

‘Right. Look, there’s some stuff hanging on the walls. A snooker cue, some kind of Indian club thing. Da

Naomi heard them climbing on chairs, pulling objects down from the walls, felt something placed in her hand. ‘What’s this?’

‘Rusty. Hope your tetanus is up to date. It’s a fancy knife.’

‘Patrick, I’m more likely to stab one of you. Da

They could hear Ki

‘We need a plan,’ she said. ‘If he gets in, we need to think what we’re going to do.’

Down in the kitchen Alec was sawing through the tea towel ties that bound him to the chair. While he gave Harry ten out of ten for nerve and on the spot thinking, it was proving very hard to manipulate the knife enough to have any real effect on the tough cloth. He wasn’t getting very far.

Beside him, Marcus was whimpering in pain. ‘Hold on, you heard the sirens, the police are here. Naomi must have called them.’

‘What can they do? He has a gun.’

‘So do they, Marcus. So do the police. Lots of guns.’

He knew he sounded impatient, but could not help himself. Marcus’s wailing was getting on his nerves. He tried to remind himself that the man was in pain, but it was still getting on his nerves. Painfully, he sawed the knife against the cloth. Painful because he kept missing the linen and jabbing himself in the wrist. He felt a bunch of fibres give. It gave him just a little more room. He twisted the knife in cramping fingers and tried again. One by one the fibres parted but it was so terribly slow. So awfully, numbingly slow.

Ki

Da

‘Help me,’ Patrick said to Da

Ki

‘Now,’ Da

Then she heard Ki

She knew only that she had heard someone fall.

‘Naomi!’

‘Harry, is everyone …?’

‘We’re all OK. You’d better give me that though.’ Gently, he took the gun from her hand. ‘Um, Patrick, make it safe will you?’