Read Online Borrowed Light by Graham Hurley - Free Book Online Page B

at her. This was a game and they both knew it. As a veteran D/C, Winter had taught Suttle every trick in the
     investigative book. Rule one: don’t admit anything unless you absolutely have to. Rule two: if in doubt, change the subject.
    ‘That boss of yours …’ Lizzie was ladling rice onto a couple of plates. ‘Whose idea was it to tap up the
Guardian
?’
    Winter blinked. As far as he knew, the interview with Baz had yet to make it into print.
    ‘You know about that?’
    ‘Yeah. It’s in tomorrow’s paper. It’s a feature piece so it’s on the
Guardian
website already. You want a look?’
    She gave him a plate and disappeared into the lounge at the front of the house. Winter got off his stool and peered at a number
     scribbled on a pad beside the phone. By the time Lizzie returned, he was tackling the fried rice.
    ‘Delicious,’ he said.
    
     ‘The boy doesn’t know what he’s missing.’
    ‘That’s what I tell him. Here.’
    She put the laptop on the breakfast bar and angled the screen towards Winter. The photo of Mackenzie must have been taken
     in the restaurant at the Royal Trafalgar. Winter recognised the stretch of Southsea Common through the window and the grey
     lick of the Solent beyond. Bazza had adopted his statesman pose for the benefit of the snapper. He was even wearing a tie.
    ‘You’ve read it?’ Winter glanced at Lizzie.
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘He sounds quite plausible. A referendum for an elected mayor? Giving Citizen Joe a proper shout? Blowing the cobwebs off
     local government? Returning power to the grass roots? I don’t know who’s been feeding him all this stuff but he’s certainly
     ticking the right boxes.’
    ‘And you think it might happen?’
    ‘Depends. There’s a general election next year and Labour are going to lose. That probably puts the Tories in. Have you read
     their proposals for local government?’
    ‘Of course I haven’t.’
    ‘Then maybe you should. They’re going to offer referendums just like this one to the ten biggest cities in the country. For
     exactly the reasons your boss is talking about here. So …’ she shrugged ‘… if it works in Birmingham or Leeds, why
     not Pompey?’
    Winter was impressed. To date, if he was completely honest, he’d regarded Bazza’s political ambitions as an ego trip, or maybe
     some kind of wind-up. Lizzie Hodson, it seemed, was telling him he was wrong.
    ‘So you think it’s doable?’ Winter wanted to know.
    ‘I think there might one day be a referendum, yes.’
    ‘And you think Baz might be the man for the job?’
    ‘I think this is exactly the kind of city that might take a step like that, yes.’
    ‘You’re serious? Bazza? Lord Mayor? Big car? All that bling they wear?’
    ‘Sure, Paul, but power too. Real power. That’s what turns him on, isn’t it? Or are you telling me that Tide Turn is just window
     dressing?’
    Winter steadied himself. This conversation was fast turning into an interview.
    ‘Bazza loves this city,’ he said carefully. ‘Always has done, always will. He wants to do the best by it. He wants to get
     it sorted.’
    ‘Are we still talking Tide Turn?’
    ‘Yeah. And one or two other things.’
    They looked at each other, amused, an unspoken acknowledgement of what Bazza’s toot money, carefully washed, had done for
     the likes of Southsea. The quietly tasteful café-bars, largely Marie’s doing. The Royal Trafalgar with its fourth star. A
     whole raft of jobs for kids from Portsea and Somerstown who’d otherwise be up to all kinds of wickedness. And now Tide Turn.
    ‘So …’ Lizzie gestured towards the laptop again ‘… no wonder the
Guardian
are impressed.’
    ‘They gave him an easy ride?’
    ‘It’s much worse than that. They seemed to believe him.’
    ‘No mention of –’ Winter frowned ‘– the 6.57?’
    Lizzie peered at the screen a moment. ‘“A passion for football and a talent for mixing with all kinds of people took Mackenzie
     to