Chapter Thirty-Four
As Magee entered McAlister’s office, he was met by Ian Pendry, a solicitor. Displeased, he said, ‘I’d rather hoped to talk to Mr McAlister alone. I wanted a private conversation.’
‘Well, he asked for me to be here.’
Magee sat down, annoyed at the solicitor’s attendance. ‘Mr McAlister, have you any idea why I am here? The presence of your solicitor indicates a certain degree of expectation on your part which I feel to be unwarranted.’
‘I have instructed my client to remain silent, Chief Inspector. Until we know what this is all about that is.’
Magee looked thoughtfully at McAlister who, in turn, was staring vacantly at his desk. Magee transferred his gaze to Pendry. It appeared that McAlister had no wish to speak.
Magee sat resolute, arms crossed. ‘I'm not here to charge your client, Mr Pendry. I just want to talk, in private preferably and certainly off the record. I'm not sure your client would wish me to speak in front of anyone else, including yourself. I just want him to help me with my enquiries, but anything he says will not go outside this room.’
‘Perhaps you would care to explain your enquiries then, Chief Inspector?’
Magee took a photograph out of his jacket pocket and placed it in front of McAlister.
McAlister gasped, looked up into Magee's eyes and said, ‘You know what happened then?’
‘Not everything, sir. But I do know there’s a maniac intent on killing everyone in this photo. Furthermore, if you follow the order of the murders, you’ll see the killer has a fixed seating plan. Bear in mind Keith Gibson was supposed to have been victim number four.’
McAlister stared at the photograph, mouthing the names of the victims. His eyes widened. ‘So I’m next?’
‘It looks that way, sir. Yes.’
‘Do you know who the killer is?’
‘Not yet. I have my suspicions, about the motive, that is. Revenge seems the most likely reason. But as to the killer’s identity, no, I’m not quite there yet.’
‘You know what we did then?’
‘No, but I get the impression it’s all to do with the deaths of Nick’s wife Maliwan and her brother Jook.’
McAlister nodded. ‘It was all so unnecessary.’
Pendry looked horrified. ‘Please, Des! I must warn you, you're not obliged to say anything.’
‘It doesn't matter, Ian, the Chief Inspector must know he can't press charges. There's no evidence and it's beyond his jurisdiction isn't that right?’
‘Quite right, sir,’ Magee responded. ‘What happened in Bangkok all those years ago isn't my concern, though I'd love to hear the story, I have to admit. However, I’m only concerned with the present, not the past. What has been going on in the last two weeks is my only concern. I want it stopped.’
McAlister sighed, ‘You can't stop ghosts, Chief Inspector.’
‘This killer is no ghost. He, or she for that matter, is very much alive.’
‘I didn't mean that kind, Chief Inspector. I meant ghosts from the past, skeletons in the cupboard, deeds done and regretted later. They haunt your life and catch up with you in the end.’
Pendry protested. ‘Des, please, this isn't necessary.’
‘Sod it, Ian. It doesn't matter now. I'm dead anyway, isn't that right, Chief Inspector?’
‘You could have police protection, sir.’
‘Is there any point? He'll get me in the end.’
‘Don't you want to live, sir?’
‘And face a political death? Politics is my life. I couldn't face the scandal. I'm sure that . . . Geoff . . . feels the same way.’
‘He does, sir, if that makes you feel better.’
McAlister giggled nervously ‘Perhaps we'll go out together. The press would love that, wouldn't they? Two archenemies finally joined in death, like a second-rate movie.’
‘Let me help you, sir. Agree to protection. We can catch this maniac with your cooperation.’
‘Chief Inspector, I die physically if he gets near me, I die in court if you catch him. Heads he wins, tails I lose. I don’t think I could cope with a trial. Whoever it is, if he knows about Mal, Jook and what we did in Tibet then he’ll give testimony and tell the whole world. I couldn’t live with that, surely you can see that?’
Magee was temporarily at a loss for words, his mind racing. Tibet? McAlister had said Tibet, hadn’t he? No one had said anything about Tibet before. What had happened in Tibet for god’s sake? He blinked hard and said, ‘He would be dismissed as a crank.’
‘Oh, come on, don't be so naive. The press would investigate. They would do some research, the same way as you no doubt have done already. They would find enough evidence to support the killer's case. What are the chances of ten ordinary men becoming millionaires within a few months of being photographed together? That in itself is too much to be a coincidence.’
‘As it's almost over, sir, would you mind telling me the story? Just out of interest that is, I’d really like to know what happened in Tibet.’
‘Yes, Chief Inspector, I would mind very much. I'm sorry, but I've lived with some nasty memories these last eighteen years. I’ve never told anyone, not even my wife or children, especially not them in fact. We were ambushed, you see, but we hunted them down and killed them, like animals. No mercy! Then there was Mal, Jook and the Chinese soldiers; madness, murdering them out of greed. Don't you see, Chief Inspector, I should have told the world years ago about what happened. But I kept quiet. I lived a lie for all this time. How often have you heard me on the floor of the Commons spouting my pacifist beliefs? What would the press say if they knew I was a thief, that I’d killed someone?’
‘Des, for Christ's sake,’ Pendry interjected. ‘Careful what you say, I beg you.’
‘Leave it, Ian! I could have stopped this madness eighteen years ago, but I didn’t. That's my sin. I've relived that part of my life a thousand times at least. Each time I try to convince Geoff that it isn't worth it; that life has to come before money. Each time I lose the argument and slowly watch Mal die, her body turning red in front of me as bullets rip her apart. If I'm to die then that's god's punishment.’
‘It's not god's punishment, sir. It's man’s punishment. One man, I believe, and he has no right to take anyone’s life. Even with a judge and jury, I would dispute man's right to take life.’
‘But that's just the point, Chief Inspector. He knows we’re all guilty. He is the judge, jury and executioner, all in one.’
Magee insisted, ‘He has no right to take your life, sir.’
‘And we had no right to take their lives. We started it, someone else is finishing it. I'd say that's pretty fair justice. An eye for an eye, as it were.’
‘So you won't tell me about it?’
‘No!’
‘May I ask who you think the killer is?’
‘John Mansell of course. Maybe along with Nick Price, they were partners after all.’
‘Why them?’
‘Because they lost so much more than we did.’
‘And just where can I find John Mansell?’
‘Sorry, no idea. We never kept in contact.’
‘I need to trace him.’
McAlister’s forehead broke into a frown. ‘You wouldn't ask through the press, would you?’
‘No. I've promised Geoff not to go public.’
McAlister’s face scrunched up. ‘I’m sorry, I don't understand.’
‘I promised Geoff that I would not reveal anything to anyone else. Your secret will stay with me even if you die.’
‘You've spoken to Geoff about everything?’
‘Yes I have.’
‘The story won't come out? Ever?’
‘No. Not from my lips anyway. But I can't promise anything with the killer though, once I catch him. I doubt whether a trial could be held in secret.’
‘So I'm free?’
‘Free to die. Yes, sir. The choice is yours. Geoff's made his choice. I was hoping y
ou would think differently.’
McAlister grunted. ‘Well, well. Good old Geoff. For once, he's been unselfish. How uncharacteristic.’
‘Actually, I'd call it very selfish, sir. Geoff wants to go to the grave with his reputation intact, with an unblemished record.’
‘Can't say I blame him.’
‘So you'll do the same?’
‘Yes! Yes, I think I will, Chief Inspector. For the first time in many a year, I'm on Geoff's side.’
‘Des,’ Pendry butted in. ‘I don't understand who or what you’re talking about, but it sounds as though you're treading on dangerous ground. It sounds to me as though you're involved in some conspiracy. I beg you to tell the truth, we'll expose this corrupt officer of the law, you'll get immunity from prosecution if you use the House to make your allegations.’
‘Mr Pendry!’ Magee shouted. ‘I can assure you that I am not corrupt. I take great offence at that allegation!’
‘Ian, please, leave it be. I doubt whether Magee is corrupt, in fact I'd say he's quite the opposite. Quite the gentleman aren't you, Magee? You could make a fortune if you sold your story to the press or blackmailed us. Yet I imagine you’ve sacrificed several principles for the sake of the country. Is that right?’
‘Precisely. I've just had a very trying chat with Geoff. He drew a gun on me. I believe he’d actually planned to kill me. Can you believe that?’
McAlister chuckled, perhaps at the mental picture of the Home Secretary pointing a gun at Magee ‘He always was a mad bastard!’
‘I managed to convince him that I had honorable intentions.’
‘In that case, Magee, I'll believe you as well. That must have been a really interesting chat.’
‘Interesting is hardly the appropriate word. Nerve-wracking, maybe.’
‘So, what do you intend to do now, Chief Inspector?’
‘May I ask where you live, sir?’
‘In Chelsea. Why?’
‘Well, assuming you’re next on the list, I'll arrange for some local officers to be posted to protect you. They won't know exactly what's going on, merely that there's the likelihood of an attack on you. Perhaps we can use the excuse of terrorists?’
‘That's fine, Chief Inspector. My family is used to that.’
‘I still want to stop this maniac. And I want to be close at hand if and when the strike occurs.’
‘Will you kill him?’
‘Execution you mean? No, I wouldn't do that for anyone.’
‘But if he's shot dead resisting arrest?’
‘Then that would be an accident, sir. If we had to shoot him, we would aim to maim, not to kill him, sir.’
‘Perhaps you could ask your men to . . .’ McAlister let the sentence trail off unfinished.
‘No, sir, I could not. I do not want to be accused of murder.’
‘What a shame. Sorry, Chief Inspector, it was just a thought.’
‘I think I should go, sir, just in case you try to put any more ideas in my head.’
‘Geoff would be indebted to you if your aim wasn't too good,’ McAlister continued.
‘No doubt, sir, but my aim is fine, thank you.’
Magee rose and left the condemned man in peace. He looked at his watch. Twelve forty, plenty of time for the press interview he’d never arranged. Nice bluff, he thought, as he walked away from the Parliament building. Now then, he mused, what’s all this about Tibet?