The Tooth Tattoo(118)

From the nearside he saw that a handgun, a black automatic, was wedged in the space between the seats. Both of the dead man’s hands hung limply over his left thigh above the weapon. The fourth finger of the left was missing.

He knew better than to touch any of the car doors, all of which were unlocked. Quite an array of food packets and cans littered the back seat. A blanket was on the floor. Harry must have been using the car as his home. Forensics would have a field day.

The police siren had been getting louder and was joined by others, and now two blues and twos in quick succession swung off the Lower Bristol Road and powered towards him. He raised a hand in greeting in case some idiot failed to recognise him and used a taser.

Fortunately he was well enough known. ‘You got here fast. How did you manage it, sir?’ the driver of the first asked.

‘I’m Superman. Tell control we have a man here shot through the head who answers to the description of Harry Cornell, the guy we’ve all been looking for. We need forensics, a police surgeon to certify that death has occurred and enough tape to secure the scene. Then it’s a matter of doorstepping for witnesses. You know the drill.’

‘Has he topped himself?’

‘Unlikely, but that’s not a question for you or me. For the present we try to keep an open mind. Get on with it, would you? I’ll be in the house opposite when I’m needed.’

The response teams were trained to deal with incidents like this. No two scenes were ever the same and there was much to be done, yet Diamond’s priority had to be with the living, the people with a link to the dead man.

He called Manvers Street and told Keith Halliwell and Ingeborg Smith to get to Westmoreland Street fast to assist with the questioning.

Back in the house he asked the shocked members of the quartet to be seated. In the small front room this was only possible with Mel and Anthony perched on the arms of a two-seat sofa shared by Cat and Ivan. They could have been posing for a group photo, and a strange one it would have made, fit to be a Charles Addams cartoon. ‘Right you are, people. I need to know the sequence of events. Anthony, when did you raise the alarm?’

Cat said, ‘His landlady called me – ’

Diamond stopped her. ‘Thanks. He’s got a voice of his own. We’ll come to you shortly.’ He wanted particularly to hear from the one steadfast truth-teller of the group.

Anthony said, ‘Seven forty-five.’

‘Good. How did you come to discover the body?’

‘Looked out the window.’

‘And saw?’

‘Harry’s car.’

‘So you knew what he was driving?’

‘We all knew.’

There were murmurs of confirmation.

‘Could you see from the window that he was dead?’

‘No.’

The previous interview with Anthony at the Michael Tippett Centre had taught Diamond to take one-word answers as encouragement, better than silence.

‘Tell me what you saw.’

‘Harry’s car.’

‘Sorry,’ Diamond said, mindful of the logical process of Anthony’s thinking. ‘I already asked you that. Could you see anyone inside?’

‘Harry.’

‘And what was he doing?’

‘Leaning forward, against the wheel.’

‘What did you do about it?’

‘Went out for a better look.’

This was the only way with Anthony, patiently prising out information. The brain that was so expressive with music had to be helped to make a connected narrative in words. ‘What did you see?’

‘The bullet-hole in his head.’

‘What did you do next?’

‘Went back to the house.’

‘And?’

‘Told Mrs. Oliphant to phone Cat.’

‘Mrs. Oliphant being your landlady, I suppose. Is she around?’

‘No.’

‘Where is she?’

‘The corner shop.’

‘Shopping already?’

‘She works there.’

‘But she found time to call Cat before she left? You did the right thing, Anthony.’

Anthony didn’t register any emotion.

Diamond put one more key question to his truth-teller. ‘Do you know how Harry was shot?’

A shake of the head.

‘That’s no, is it? I want to hear you say it.’

Anthony, expressionless, said, ‘No.’

Ivan said, ‘Isn’t that obvious? He wasn’t there when it happened. None of us were. We know Harry was carrying a gun and he put it to his head and took his own life.’

‘Did I hear right?’ Diamond said. ‘You knew he was in possession of a gun?’

‘He showed it to Mel and Mel warned us all last night on the phone.’

Mel cleared his throat. ‘I decided everyone had a right to be told.’