Chapter 4

"Interview with Anthony Rourke started at 1:15 PM, 14 October 1999. Those present, DS John Boulton, Sun Hill CID"

"Special Agent June Gowan, FBI, operating under order of Scotland Yard"

"Tony Rourke, you have the right to a solicitor present."

"For the benefit of the tape, Tony Rourke was found at Switcher's Night Club at 3:15 AM. In his possession was a suitcase containing a large amount of marijuana and ecstasy." John leaned forward in his chair and looked Rourke squarely in the eyes.

"Where did you get the drugs, Tony?"

Tony Rourke was in a lot of trouble, and he knew it. He was sweating profusely. The ecstasy had long since worn off, but he still had the problem of needing a heroin fix. He stared at the tracts in his arms, the telltale black and blue marks. Under the fluorescent lights of the interview room they seemed to have a life of their own, pulsating blue and purple, red and black. His mind drifted back to a time when he was a young boy living on the Bronte estate with his Auntie Mo. Life was good then. Suddenly he heard a loud noise. It was that ginger git's voice which was creating the words in front of his eyes, which was so unpleasant. Tony needed more heroin.

"Tony, where did you get the drugs?" John was shouting now, as Rourke appeared to be dazing off into a stupor.

"I found them in a dumpster." Rourke flashed a stupid smile and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

"Oh come on Tony, do you really expect us to believe that?" John was getting angrier by the second. "Especially when we have pictures of you receiving the suitcase underneath Basal Bridge, not more than a half-hour before you turned up at Switcher's Night Club."

The revelation of the photographs took a minute to sink into Rourke's addled mind. When it finally did happen, he started to cry. "Oh shit," Rourke mumbled, putting his head in his hands. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

"So who was it then, Tone? Anyone we know?" Boulton was pleased to be making the little worm squirm.

"If I tell you, they'll kill me. I can't tell you." Rourke shifted about in his seat.

"If you don't tell us, they'll still kill you. Now that you've been nicked, they'll have your head bashed in the moment we let you out. That is the way these guys work, Tony." June smiled warmly at Rourke. "Help us, and CPS may help you. Don't help us, and the only help you'll get is if God sends his angels to intervene. Come on, Tony. We're the best hope you have."

Rourke stared at the ceiling, counting the holes in the suspended ceiling tiles. 'This is the worst pain ever, this is as bad as going to hell. I wish I was dead,' he thought to himself. 'I so wish I was dead.'

"His name is Charles Spire. That's all I know."

John jotted the name down on a scrap of paper. "Where does he live, Tony?"

"I don't know! I gave you his name! I said that's all I know!" Rourke was beginning to get agitated.

"How you contact him?" June smiled reassuringly at Tony.

"I don't contact him. He contacts me on my mobile. I don't know his number. I don't know anything about him."

"How did you come to work for him, Tony?" John's voice was noticeably more relaxed now that the hard part was over with.

"My dealer put me in touch with him. Said it was a way I could earn money to support my habit. I can't get a job you know, it seemed easy enough. Pick up these suitcases and go to different clubs and pubs to flog the gear. None left over at the end of the night. I got 5% of the profits. Easy."

"And who's your dealer, Tony?" June cocked her head to one side and picked up her pen.

"Ben Bryant. Main man on the Bronte. I'm sure you guys have heard of him."

"'Course we have. Ben and I are mates. Kind of." The sarcasm in John's voice was as thick as treacle.

"You've done well Tony. We'll talk again." June smiled, and stood up.

"Interview terminated at 2:13 PM."

* * *

June walked out of the interview room with John close on her heels. "June, I really think we need to talk."

"Not now, John, I'm busy."

"With what?"

"Are you ready to go then, Agent Gowan?" Reg Hollis appeared around the corner, dressed in full uniform, dangling the keys to a panda in his hand.

"Inter-Branch Compliance, John." She flashed him a smile that would melt butter. "Coming Reg, let me just put my paperwork down. Oh and John, run checks on the names which came up during the interview."

June disappeared around the corner into CID's office. John glared at Reg. "Problems Sarge?" Reg asked.

"Yeah. You." It was almost as if a thundercloud appeared over John's head, and if he could he would have struck Reg down with a bolt of lightning. John legged it across the hall to the 'Little Sergeant's' Room.