outside the club the previous night filled the screen. There was no sound and the picture was black and white and slightly hazy, but the images could be made out well enough.
The doormen could be seen arguing with a young man dressed in a stripy shirt. He looked drunk and was acting aggressively as one of the doormen began to search him. When the scuffle broke out the man started to throw a few decent punches at Tony Devlin, the smaller of the two doormen. Then Harry Knight, Devlin’s colleague, waded in and the fight moved off to the left of the screen. Both men knew the limits of the cameras installed outside the club and obviously knew where to go to get out of sight of them. Only the man didn’t let them get that far and as he finally realised he wasn’t going to win against two bigger men and was about to make a run for it, Knight decked him with a wicked right hook that almost took the poor sod’s head off. Then Devlin, obviously pissed off that he hadn’t been able to take the man out by himself, kicked the bloke in the head four times. Luckily this had happened late on and there wasn’t a queue of customers witnessing it who could testify and leave both Knight and Devlin without a leg to stand on in court.
“As you can see,” Purvis said, “it quite clearly shows the bloke didn’t have a knife and Devlin and Knight didn’t do this off camera. It’s lucky the police didn’t request the recording before now. At least I’ve had time to work on it.”
“Nash got you doing a little job ‘off the record’, has he?” Riley asked. That’s how Nash referred to it. ‘Off the record’ was Purvis being asked to put his computer skills to use for illegal means; hacking; spying; manipulating evidence. No one who worked for Nash was totally legit. He wouldn’t allow it.
“Watch.” Purvis ejected the disc, inserted another and tapped a button on the mouse. Seconds later, a second piece of footage began to run.
At first Riley thought it was identical to the first, but then he noticed that this time the figures were slightly larger than on the previous recording.
He watched as the doormen frisked the man again. Saw the scuffle break out, move off to the left...
And all three men disappeared off screen before Knight had even thrown the punch that began the brutal assault.
“Clever, clever,” Riley said.
“Nash doesn’t pay me for nothing,” Purvis said. “I enlarged everything by ten percent apart from the time counter in the bottom corner. The whole incident’s off-screen, cut and deleted, and I doubt the police will have the footage analysed to see if it’s been tampered with. They’ll just take it as gospel. This now won’t prove or disprove anything. It’ll be his word against the doormen’s.” Purvis stopped the footage and ejected the disc. “That’s when he can talk again. Devlin and Knight broke his jaw – amongst other things. Anyway, why are you here so early?”
“Just finished a few jobs myself.” Riley pulled out the envelopes full of cash. “Time to see the boss.”
“Hold on, I’ll come with you,” Purvis said. He snapped the disc containing the original recording in half and dumped it in the bin. Then he grabbed the doctored disc and a second one that lay beside the computer, shoving them both into cases. He got to his feet, buttoned his suit jacket and ran a hand through his short brown hair to make sure every strand was in place.
“You seem a bit over keen to see him,” Riley said.
“It’s not Nash I want to see.”
“Oh, of course not.” Riley smiled, feeling sympathy for his friend. The situation he was in was tragic. It was his own fault – but tragic. “I take it both of them are here.”
“They’re decorating the place for tonight. Well, Sandra is, Wendy’s just running around excited.”
Riley grinned at the thought.
“Then let’s go.”
Both men headed along the corridor. They passed the staff changing rooms and toilets, and the kitchen
The doormen could be seen arguing with a young man dressed in a stripy shirt. He looked drunk and was acting aggressively as one of the doormen began to search him. When the scuffle broke out the man started to throw a few decent punches at Tony Devlin, the smaller of the two doormen. Then Harry Knight, Devlin’s colleague, waded in and the fight moved off to the left of the screen. Both men knew the limits of the cameras installed outside the club and obviously knew where to go to get out of sight of them. Only the man didn’t let them get that far and as he finally realised he wasn’t going to win against two bigger men and was about to make a run for it, Knight decked him with a wicked right hook that almost took the poor sod’s head off. Then Devlin, obviously pissed off that he hadn’t been able to take the man out by himself, kicked the bloke in the head four times. Luckily this had happened late on and there wasn’t a queue of customers witnessing it who could testify and leave both Knight and Devlin without a leg to stand on in court.
“As you can see,” Purvis said, “it quite clearly shows the bloke didn’t have a knife and Devlin and Knight didn’t do this off camera. It’s lucky the police didn’t request the recording before now. At least I’ve had time to work on it.”
“Nash got you doing a little job ‘off the record’, has he?” Riley asked. That’s how Nash referred to it. ‘Off the record’ was Purvis being asked to put his computer skills to use for illegal means; hacking; spying; manipulating evidence. No one who worked for Nash was totally legit. He wouldn’t allow it.
“Watch.” Purvis ejected the disc, inserted another and tapped a button on the mouse. Seconds later, a second piece of footage began to run.
At first Riley thought it was identical to the first, but then he noticed that this time the figures were slightly larger than on the previous recording.
He watched as the doormen frisked the man again. Saw the scuffle break out, move off to the left...
And all three men disappeared off screen before Knight had even thrown the punch that began the brutal assault.
“Clever, clever,” Riley said.
“Nash doesn’t pay me for nothing,” Purvis said. “I enlarged everything by ten percent apart from the time counter in the bottom corner. The whole incident’s off-screen, cut and deleted, and I doubt the police will have the footage analysed to see if it’s been tampered with. They’ll just take it as gospel. This now won’t prove or disprove anything. It’ll be his word against the doormen’s.” Purvis stopped the footage and ejected the disc. “That’s when he can talk again. Devlin and Knight broke his jaw – amongst other things. Anyway, why are you here so early?”
“Just finished a few jobs myself.” Riley pulled out the envelopes full of cash. “Time to see the boss.”
“Hold on, I’ll come with you,” Purvis said. He snapped the disc containing the original recording in half and dumped it in the bin. Then he grabbed the doctored disc and a second one that lay beside the computer, shoving them both into cases. He got to his feet, buttoned his suit jacket and ran a hand through his short brown hair to make sure every strand was in place.
“You seem a bit over keen to see him,” Riley said.
“It’s not Nash I want to see.”
“Oh, of course not.” Riley smiled, feeling sympathy for his friend. The situation he was in was tragic. It was his own fault – but tragic. “I take it both of them are here.”
“They’re decorating the place for tonight. Well, Sandra is, Wendy’s just running around excited.”
Riley grinned at the thought.
“Then let’s go.”
Both men headed along the corridor. They passed the staff changing rooms and toilets, and the kitchen
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