Mirror Man by Jacques Kat (ereader for textbooks txt) 📗

of if they got the warrant, they wouldn’t find the guns. I was going to remove them after we were done here and take them home for safekeeping. I’d been trying to think of a way to get them home without anyone seeing, and this was the perfect opportunity.

‘Great. Pete has filled me in on the majority of what happened, and I’ve got snippets from the police. Is there anything you’d like to share with me?’ he asked.

I hummed. I’d been holding back from telling Mum, Grandad, Tina, and Pete much about what I was thinking and feeling. I didn’t want to worry them or tell them more than they needed to know, for their own safety. And in truth, I felt like my head was going to explode sometimes.

‘It will be just between us,’ Mr Mercier added.

I bit my lip. ‘The Suit. The man who killed Mr Phillips. He’s haunting my thoughts and dreams,’ I told him hesitantly, though I was relieved to finally say it out loud.

‘I see.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And this is the man the police have been unable to track down?’

I nodded.

‘Okay, John-Michael. Don’t you worry now.’

We sat in silence until detectives Lightman and Green walked in. They turned to each other as they entered. I imagined they were giving each other bemused glances, just as Mr Mercier said they would.

‘Mr Mercier. Nice to see you again,’ said Detective Lightman. ‘I didn’t know you were the Chester’s solicitor.’

‘What business is that of yours?’ he answered.

‘Well… I,’ the detective stammered.

‘None, is it? Now, let’s get on with what we’re here for, shall we?’

Wow, Mr Mercier is good! I thought. My knee bounced under the table, fuelled by the passion Mr Mercier seemed to exude.

‘Yes… yes, of course.’ Lightman moved to switch on the tape recorder that had been placed on the desk, when Mr Mercier interrupted his action by putting his hand up.

‘Why are you attempting to record this? I thought we were here for a statement, not an interview,’ he asked.

‘It is, but…’

‘But nothing. I hope you haven’t asked my client to attend under false pretences?’ he asked, tapping his brown brogues on the floor.

‘Well, no…’

‘Good. So, it remains off,’ he told them.

‘We do have some further questions to ask and depending on the answers we may consider further action against John-Michael,’ offered Detective Green.

Mercier scoffed. ‘We’ll see about that. It remains off.’ He indicated back to the recorder. ‘Get on with the statement, detectives.’

‘Yes, Mr Mercier,’ they replied in unison.

There was a knock at the door, and WPC Thompson brought in a tray of drinks.

‘Hope you’ve put two lumps in mine,’ said Green.

‘Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a couple of those lumps, never mind sugar lumps, aye, sweetheart,’ said Lightman. He made a clicking sound with his tongue and tapped her backside.

I was embarrassed by his action, but WPC seemed to ignore the violation.

Before she left, I quickly peered at her reflection in the mirror, and she winked at me. I knew it wasn’t the time to smile, so I forced it down and held it in my mind to see me through the rest of the interview.

We had to go over the statement three times before Mr Mercier was happy with it. The detectives became exasperated with him, but I was glad to have him here handling all the difficult questions. Once the statement was completed, they had more questions for me. They took their time with phrasing each one to prevent Mr Mercier from interrupting them endlessly.

‘John-Michael… This “Suit” gentleman that you’ve told us about… We’ve been unable to locate him, and we’ve been unable to find a single person who remembers seeing the man fitting your description,’ said Detective Green.

‘And?’ asked Mr Mercier. ‘Where are you going with this, detective? Surely you aren’t going to blame my client for your ineptitude in being unable to locate the suspect. Now, do you have a question, or not?’

‘Yes, I do,’ Green snapped. ‘I think John-Michael made it all up, and this “Suit,”’ he said, using air quotes, ‘is a figment of his imagination. A made-up story to cover his tracks. Everyone knows he’s not right in the head.’

I chewed on the inside of my cheek at his words.

‘To start with, you haven’t asked a question, and secondly, are you a psychologist, detective? Have you studied this exemplary man’s family background, his childhood, his school years, his conduct at work?’

‘Well… no—’

‘Then I’ll kindly invite you not to slander my client. I can see your incompetence in finding the suspect has led you to clutch at straws. Now, do you have a murder weapon?’

‘No, but we’ve an idea of the weapon used.’

‘And? Do you suspect my client to be in possession of said weapon?’

‘It’s unlikely. You’ll be hard-pressed to find one around here,’ he said, sitting back.

‘But not impossible,’ added Detective Lightman.

‘I highly doubt my client has been hunting down a rare weapon to murder his employer. Come on, detectives, you’ll have to do better than that. Mr Chester here is an upstanding citizen with no record and a stable job for the past few years. What else do you have? Because that will never stick with the CPS.’ Now he sat back in his chair. I could see him smiling in the mirror.

‘He has a motive,’ said Green.

Mr Mercier chuckled. ‘Go on, then, convince me of said motive.’

‘Mr Chester stood to inherit the shop and the flat above. Is that enough motive for you?’

‘Oh, nice work, detectives.’ He clapped his hands slowly. ‘I’d get that tossed out in thirty seconds flat. Mr Chester was unaware of the inheritance he was to receive upon Mr Phillips’s death. It was written into the will that he should receive notification of the inheritance upon his thirtieth birthday and not a moment earlier, should Mr Phillips still be living. Also, I can get statements from both witnesses to the will within the hour, should you need them. I do believe one of the witnesses is a colleague of