Read Online Written in Blood by Chris Collett - Free Book Online Page A

chauffeur.’
    ‘Self-justification? Ryland had a point to prove where O’Connor was concerned. There’s no doubt that at the time of his conviction O’Connor was spending a lot of time in the company of some major league drug dealers. They split into two factions soon after his arrest, and he may have been innocent of the original crime, but it looks as if he made contact with one of his old acquaintances after the dust had settled.’
    ‘Or they got in touch with him,’ Mariner said. ‘Why have the press dubbed it a revenge killing?’
    ‘It’s not in the public domain yet, but the killers used the victims’ blood to write a message to that effect on the window. The two factions are rivals in an ongoing tit-for-tat turf war, as violent and deep seated as the one going on between the Johnsons and the Burger Boys on your patch. The MO is a perfect example of a drug-related hit executed by one of these gangs, identical to the others there have been in the last couple of years. The only deviations are the fact that in this case the innocent bystanders happened to be VIPs and the unusual location.’
    ‘How’s that explained?’
    ‘The drugs were in the car being shifted around London until the Rylands’ trip to Oxfordshire interrupted the transfer. The assassins must have seen it as a golden opportunity. They were right to. Out in the sticks nobody saw or heard anything.’
    ‘But why would O’Connor get involved in that stuff again and risk what must have been a steady job?’
    Flynn clearly hadn’t anticipated this interrogation, but he played along. ‘Why does anyone get involved with drugs? It’s bloody lucrative. Ryland might have employed O’Connor, but it was only as a driver. He wouldn’t have been paid much, would he? And it was the perfect cover for moving drugs around. Who’s going to stop and search a diplomatic car? He might have only done it the once. Perhaps he was presented with the right offer and was tempted.’
    Seemed like a nice guy, the girl in the bookshop had said.
    ‘And are you happy with the theories?’
    ‘Like I said, I don’t know all the details, I’m only on the secondary investigation team, but from what I know, it’s where all the evidence points. They wouldn’t be following that line for nothing.’
    ‘So if it’s that straightforward, why involve Special Branch at all?’
    ‘Ryland’s position. The Home Office has to make sure we get it right, especially with him.’
    Mariner had a feeling that it wasn’t quite all, but Flynn’s tone implied that he’d no more to say.
    ‘So what else can you tell me about Ryland?’ Mariner asked instead.
    ‘Recent history? Probably not much more than you already know.’
    Mariner felt a sudden unbearable surge of anger. ‘Well at least I know now why he pissed off and left us. He must have been an ambitious son of a bitch.’
    ‘You don’t know that. Maybe there was good reason—’
    Mariner’s glare cut him off. ‘Like what?’
    Flynn gave an impotent shrug. ‘He kept your photographs. You must have meant something—’
    ‘Sure. So much that in over forty years he couldn’t be arsed to get in touch or come and see me. Not exactly living at the other end of the planet, was he?’
    ‘You have no memory of him at all?’
    ‘No.’ Despite the emphatic reply, something niggled at Mariner; a vague recollection that he could hardly give substance to. At his mother’s funeral Maggie, a friend of hers, had mentioned a limousine she’d seen pulling away from their flat shortly after Mariner was born. The two men sat through a long silence.
    ‘Does this mean I’ve got half-siblings?’ Mariner said at last.
    Flynn shook his head. ‘There are no kids. The people we’ve dealt with most have been Ryland’s mother, Eleanor Ryland, and his staff. Diana doesn’t seem to have much family either, apart from a sister who lives abroad. She’ll be flying in for the inquest. Oh, and they had a dog; company for Mrs Ryland