Page 146 of Dead Vengeance

I’m fast with the answer I know will unseat him most effectively. “I wasn’t told, I was shown.”

The colour drains from his face, but he keeps that touch of a smile plastered there. “What do you mean you were shown? There can’t be anything.” Twice as loudly, he reiterates, “There are no leads!” as if that will make it all go away.

“It was you,” I pursue. “I saw you there, in that kitchen, drinking coffee next to his dead body. I heard them ask you, should we tell the family? Ongoing investigation, you said.”

He takes a long moment, and I can practically see the panic mechanism scouring his mind for an answer. Yet all he comes up with is, “I’m not at liberty to discuss ongoing investigations.”

“So you admit it then?”

“I don’t admit a thing,” he snaps. “This is preposterous.” Before he can even suck in another full breath, he adds, “If you have evidence, you need to provide it. To me. Directly to me. As the investigating detective in charge of the case.”

A loud laugh escapes me. “Just how stupid do you think I am? No chance I’m giving you that.”

His chair slams back against the wall as he stands. “And for what purpose? What is it you want?”

“The truth!” I shout at him. “I want to know what really happened to my brother. Why was he there? Why did you leave him like that? He was working for you, I know he was.”

His hands fall on his hips, and he lands a cautious glance on the door. He could go out there. We’re in a building full of cops. It would be so easy to get us out of here.

But he doesn’t. And that can only be for one reason.

He doesn’t want them to know. He doesn’t want anyone to know.

“I’m not here for your job,” I tell him, even if that tastes like ashes in my mouth. This man shouldn’t have a job, not one like this that affects people, changes and ruins lives. “I just want the truth because…” Tears sting my eyes. I did not want to cry. Not here in front of him. But when I try to say the words, a huge lump forms in my throat, calmed only a little when Archer’s hand on my arm soothes me. “My mum’s going to call you tomorrow. Because that’s the anniversary of his death. And that’s it. That’s all I want from you. Tell her the truth. Tell her he was working for you. Tell her he wasn’t a bad person. Please, just tell her he’s gone. Tell her where to find the body so we can bury him.”

Cold, callous, he immediately says, “If I knew where he was—”

I slam a hand down on the table and shout, “Don’t try to bullshit me! I have… I have footage of you. There at the scene. And if you don’t do this—”

“You don’t have footage,” he snarls. “If you did, you’d present it. You’d bring in proof, and you wouldn’t be asking me to make that call. Need I tell you that threatening a police officer carries a minimum sentence of—”

“Fuck your sentence,” I yell, rising to my feet. “And fuck you too! Don’t you have any humanity? Can you even imagine what this has done to us?”

He pushes his lips into a white line, but his eyes remain just as hard as ever. “Listen, I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sorry your brother was involved in some bad shit. And I’m sorry that trail went dead years ago.”

“It did not!”

He speaks louder, over the top of me. “But whatever you thought you were going to achieve here today, it stops now. It’s time to go.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“You are, or I’m going to arrest you—”

“I’m going to The Guardian first,” I say, leaning across the table. “I’ll offer them an exclusive. And if they don’t want it, it’s the BBC. And on and on, all the way down to the Daily Mail. And not just that. I’m going to demand a full coronial inquiry—”

He outright laughs at me. “Only the coroner can instigate a coronial investigation.”

“Well, they were there, weren’t they?” I press, while he buries his forehead in his palm. “Someone was there. I saw them come and take the body. All while you stood there doing nothing. Someone will talk. Someone will tell us—”

“Okay. Listen.” Another long glance at the door, and his voice drops as low as I’ve heard it since we walked in. “I’ll make the call, all right?”

All the air and anger inside me is sucked away. That’s it? I did it? “You will?”

“Present your new information,” he says, “and I’ll work with you on this. Of course I will.”

The wily fucker. “What, and give you time to delete it? No way. Not until you’ve phoned her.”

Immediately his voice rises again. “What am I supposed to tell her if you don’t show me this new evidence you supposedly have?”