Thicker Than Water

He jerked his head to the side suddenly, a nervous gesture that flicked his long blond hair out of his eyes, and an avenue of memories opened up in my mind, so that I could see him doing the same thing a hundred times, in a hundred different places.

‘Where’s Anita?’ I asked him.

‘Why?’ Richie snapped back.

‘Because Matt’s in jail.’

This seemed to be news to Richie, and it gave him a moment’s pause. He blinked twice, staring at me. ‘What for?’ he demanded at last.

‘Murder. Kenny Seddon’s murder.

Richie laughed, but it was from incredulity rather than amusement. ‘Kenny’s dead?’

‘Yes.’

‘Kenny Seddon is dead?’

‘Still yes.’

‘And your brother did it?’

‘Well, that’s where me and the official version part company,’ I said. ‘I don’t think he did. He was in the car with Kenny - they’ve got his prints on everything up to and including the murder weapon. But he says he didn’t kill him, and I believe him.

Richie shook his head in wonder. I waited for him to say something, but he took out his fags again and lit up first. ‘I don’t care who did it,’ he said, blowing smoke out of his nose. ‘I’m just glad the cunt is under the soil. That’s the best news I’ve had all year, Castor. Thanks. Thanks so much.’ His voice shook a little.

‘You’re welcome,’ I assured him. ‘But at the risk of repeating myself, where’s Anita? She was living with Kenny until a couple of years back.

Richie held my gaze for a moment, his expression turning into a grimace of remembered pain. Then he looked away, up into the branches above.

‘Richie . . .’ I said.

‘I get it.’ He waved me silent. ‘You want Nita to get your brother out of the shit by fingering someone else.’

‘Well, ideally, yeah. And if she can’t do that, then maybe she could give me some leads. Something to go on.’

‘I could ask what he’s ever done for her,’ Richie said, still staring at the sky through the interlacings of the chestnut branches.

‘Why?’

‘Because Anita’s dead.’

The words hit my stomach like slingshot stones: or rather, not so much the words as the absolute conviction with which he said them. Here we were, then: at ground zero.

And it looked like I’d come all this way on a fool’s errand.