Part 27 (1/2)
”The pederast?”
”The very man. There's a cop that's bent all ways up.”
Something crawled up my back, leaving a trail. The gun lay in Brady's lap, forgotten, but a gun isn't the kind of thing you forget for long.
”Jesus f.u.c.king Christ.”
”Relax, Rigby. Galway's no friend of mine. We've been watching him for the last year but we've never been able to finger him properly. Something like this, you want to get your facts right. Put him away for the full stretch.”
I nodded, dumb.
”Galway's been creaming off the top for a long time now. The c.o.ke comes into the country, every now and again we stop some and most of that gets destroyed. What isn't destroyed, the cheap c.r.a.p, goes back on the streets. Depending on the streets, a blind eye can be turned. If it's going into Ballymun, say, no one says f.u.c.k all. Keeps the natives from getting restless.” He shrugged. ”They call it pa.s.sive policing. Got it from New York, the time they brought in zero tolerance. Works a treat, too. If it starts filtering out anywhere else, though, anywhere outside Dublin, or Cork or Limerick, bells start ringing. Galway's tripped a couple of alarms already.”
”So what was all the Tyson bulls.h.i.+t about yesterday?”
”Jesus, Rigby.” Brady ran a hand through his hair, took a deep breath. ”We're down here to keep an eye on Conway, the Flatliners. That's what Galway thinks. Then Imelda Sheridan gets her throat cut and we get pulled onto that, it's too much of a coincidence. Meanwhile, Galway is trying to keep me out of Conway's face, because they're both tight with Sheridan. Which suits me, because I'm keeping tabs on Galway.”
”And Galway's moving c.o.ke onto Sheridan.”
Brady picked at his teeth with a dirty fingernail.
”Yes and no.”
”Yes and no?”
”Fact is, there is no c.o.ke. As far as Sheridan knows, he's reeling in a deal with Galway. We're not sure how much to kick off with, but we think it's in the region of half a million. That's what Sheridan thinks. We know Galway doesn't have a half million in c.o.ke, because no one could turn a blind eye to that much gear going missing.”
I wasn't surprised. I had all the blind eyes going.
”So Galway hears that some bloke wants to exploit a niche in the market. He throws out some hooks and Sheridan bites, they set up a deal.”
”But there's no c.o.ke.”
”But there's no c.o.ke. That's where Eddie comes in. Eddie puts the bounce on Sheridan, tells him he won't go public about the c.o.ke if everything's kept sweet. Sheridan does his sums and reckons its still worth it. Eddie takes the money and runs, splits it down the middle with Galway, they're laughing. Sheridan's left twisting in the wind and not a dry f.u.c.king eye in the house. Who's he going to call, Ghostbusters?”
My stomach turned over.
”Except Sheridan doesn't play ball.”
”Which is when Eddie pays his wife a visit, and she winds up with a hole in her throat.”
I noodled that around, trying to work out how I should feel. Nothing suggested itself.
”I still don't see where I come into it.”
”Wake up, Rigby. You were the fall guy. Galway put Conway onto you so you'd start digging on his wife. When Imelda Sheridan gets investigated, you're the man with the blackmail motive, the negatives to prove it.”
”And Gonzo put Galway wise about me.”
”Correct.”
I was going to vomit. Three nights running, it was a record.
”So how come they turned on Gonzo?”
”No one turned on him. Eddie took too many pills. s.h.i.+t happens.”
”Convenient. Who took the pop at me?”
”Galway.”
”Galway?”
”Not Galway himself, he wouldn't get his hands dirty. But it was his call.”
Something in his tone gave it away.
”You knew? Brady? You f.u.c.king knew he was going to take a pop? You sat back and let him try to f.u.c.king kill me?”
”Relax, Rigby. Jesus.”
”Relax? You c.u.n.t, I'll f.u.c.king ”
I was halfway across the seat, not knowing what I was going to do when I got all the way there, when he bounced the b.u.t.t against my temple. I slumped back in the seat, shaking.
”Yeah I knew, of course I f.u.c.king knew, I jarked the f.u.c.king gun myself. Only for me you'd be slabbed out. So get f.u.c.king grateful and do it fast.”
My voice sounded hollow.
”There's no way you could have done that without clearance from upstairs.”
There was another pause. When he spoke he sounded slightly robotic.
”We are encouraged to show initiative in the field.”
”Bulls.h.i.+t.”
He abandoned the pretence.
”Believe what you want, Rigby, I give a f.u.c.k. You're alive, stop whinging.”
I rolled another smoke, trying to think.
”So what happens now?”
”What happens now is we find Galway. Sheridan took Conway out, so Galway's next, which is why Galway is running scared. We figure he'll lie low for a couple of days, bail out of the country with the rush after New Year's. We need to get to him before he gets out. Once we have him, we'll have Sheridan testify that Galway was in cahoots with Conway. Galway won't squeak about Sheridan and the c.o.ke, because we'll cop him a plea that gets him off the Imelda Sheridan beef, which Gonzo wears.”