Page 31 of Better the Devil

‘No’ bad?’ Tyler took in the glass and metal mound with its grass roof again. ‘It looks like Bilbo Baggins won the lottery.’

Logan shot him a sideways look. ‘Who the hell’s Bilbo Baggins?’

‘The wee gnome fella, boss. Or whatever he is. From The Hobbit,’ Tyler explained. ‘You know, the book?’

‘You read a book?’

‘I can read, believe it or not.’ Tyler settled back in his seat. He sniffed. ‘OK, technically, I saw the film, but it’s the same thing,isn’t it? At the end of the day, it’s all just dwarves and whatever. Wizards.’

‘The fuck are you talking about, son?’

‘I don’t know!’ Tyler admitted. ‘I’m just saying, it’s a nice house.’

‘Aye, well, might be a dangerous one, too. Stay alert.’

Tyler pulled down the sun visor and checked his hair. ‘Don’t worry, boss. I’ll keep my wits about me.’

Logan pulled into an empty parking space. ‘Aye, well,’ he said, pulling on the handbrake. ‘You’ll maybe want to have a go at finding them first.’

They got out of the car. Tiny spots of rain floated about in the air, threatening the possibility of a much heavier downpour later.

‘Relax, boss. I’ve got this,’ Tyler assured him. He adjusted the cuffs of his shirt. ‘I’ll make her sing. She’ll be eating out of my hand in no time.’

Logan snorted. ‘God, no. No, you’re not talking to her. I’ll be doing that.’

Tyler hung back for a moment, then hurried after Jack as he headed for the front door. ‘Wait, what? What am I here for then?’

Logan reached the door, rang the doorbell, then shoved his hands into his coat pockets.

‘You, son, are here for one reason, and one reason only.’

The door opened. A plastic arrow with a suction cup on the end came flying out from inside, whistled past Logan, then hit Tyler square in the groin, immediately doubling him over.

Logan glowered at the boy in the doorway, who was currently reloading his toy bow. The look he gave him made very clear that opening fire on the DCI would be a move he would come to regret.

Taking the hint, little Jack turned and ran off, leaving the door wide open. Logan gave the wheezing Tyler a pat on the shoulder.

‘You’re here to keep the kids occupied.’

Dave watchedin silence as three storage boxes were placed, one after another, on his desk. They were heavy, too, given the grunts Sinead made as she shifted each one off the trolley.

‘What’s all this, then?’ he asked, once Sinead had slumped into a chair across from him. ‘This CID’s stuff on the family and their all mates, is it?’

Sinead shook her head, getting her breath back. ‘Just him.’

Dave lifted the lid of the closest box. A mugshot photograph of Victor Belov peered up at him from inside.

‘What, this is all Victor?’ Dave looked across at Sinead, who nodded. ‘What was he, Al Capone? Why’s there all this?’

Sinead shrugged. ‘Not sure. CID was happy to hand it over, though. I don’t think they’re exactly going to miss the late Mr Belov. Whoever did him in has probably saved them a lot of paperwork.’

‘Pity they’ve landed it all on our desk instead.’

He rummaged around and pulled out the sheet below the mugshot. It was the transcript of an interview from a couple of years ago. From the looks of it, they’d brought Victor in on a minor speeding offence, which wouldn’t normally merit an interview at all, let alone with CID.

‘They’ve been after him a wee while, then,’ Dave said.

‘After him, aye. Not very good at catching him, though,’ Sinead said. She took the only thing left on the trolley—a thinpaper folder—and passed it across. ‘That’s his full criminal record.’