restaurant.’
‘Straight businesses?’
‘As a die.’
‘Jesus! I hope they kept the foundations light. You never know what you’ll find buried under one of Emerald’s houses.’ Or who, I thought, but didn’t bother to add that.
Teddy laughed and ordered more beer. As the barmaid served us I turned and looked through the big windows of the bar at the empty, rain-swept streets and shivered despite the warmth inside.
‘So where does Bim come in?’ I asked when fresh beers arrived in front of us.
‘They’ve been enemies for years. Now Uncle Watkins got legit pubs and a restaurant it’s open warfare. You know how it started?’
I shook my head.
‘Sprouts, man.’
‘Sprouts?’
‘Fucking brussels sprouts. Bim used to supply uncle with fruit and veg years ago, when he had his old place. One Christmas there’s a delivery of brussels sprouts. I mean a truckload. Stupid guy in the kitchen takes them in and signs for them. Uncle hits the roof. He’s ordered a bag of sprouts, like, you know, fifty pounds. Gets a gross of bags. Tries to send them back. Bim won’t take them. I swear those sprouts went across London from New Year to Easter. And man they’re starting to go rotten, like they’re almost liquid and they stink. But those two guys are so stubborn neither will give in. Eventually Uncle has them dumped on Bim’s front lawn. His wife near had a fit. They almost started a shooting war over a couple of grand’s worth of vegetables. That’s how crazy they are. Bim don’t like black men, especially on his turf.’ He blew air. ‘Man, it’s anybody’s turf out there, right?’
‘Right. So tell me all about this lock up in Wandsworth.’
Teddy shook his head sadly. ‘Uncle doesn’t own it, just rents it. At one time he was thinking about running a cab firm from down there. He would have had a workshop and offices, but nothing came of it. The rent is dirt cheap, it’s on a long lease from the railway, and he just never bothered to let it go. He stores old shit down there. It’s just a dump really.’
‘And?’
‘And when Lupus and I were checking last night, everything was cool. I drove down there.’
‘On your own?’ I interrupted.
‘Yeah, we split the premises for speed. We needed to work fast. It was the last place I went to. I didn’t even realise anyone else outside the firm knew about it. It only gets used once in a blue moon.’
‘Someone knew.’
‘Someone did, and to let me go in and come out again before they planted the gear.’
‘What exactly happened?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Just that. What did you do? Run me through it.’
He thought for a second. ‘I went down around ten. I had my own car. There’s a slip road off the Wandsworth Road. Our place is the last arch, right where the road ends. Then there’s a bit of pavement, some grass, a fence and the back of a council estate. It’s dark down there, the street lights are crap. I parked the car facing the door, headlights on full. There’s a set of big double doors that open right up so’s you can drive a truck in, and there’s a small door set into one of them. The little door is locked by a Yale and a padlock. They were both tight. I had the keys and I opened up, put the lights on and took a look round. Like I said, it’s a dump. Boxes and crap everywhere. It didn’t look as if anyone had been there for months. I checked the downstairs office and the little one upstairs too. There was nothing there I could see. I swear there was nothing there. I mean, man, I didn’t even know what I was looking for, but there was definitely no drug paraphernalia. It was quiet and bloody freezing. I locked up again and left, and went straight to Uncle’s to stay like he asked me to. I sat up ‘til three watching TV and got my head down on the sofa. At six Old Bill came in with sledgehammers. You know the rest.’
‘Someone knew you’d check.’
‘Looks like it.’
‘Who exactly?’
‘Whoever tipped Uncle.
‘Straight businesses?’
‘As a die.’
‘Jesus! I hope they kept the foundations light. You never know what you’ll find buried under one of Emerald’s houses.’ Or who, I thought, but didn’t bother to add that.
Teddy laughed and ordered more beer. As the barmaid served us I turned and looked through the big windows of the bar at the empty, rain-swept streets and shivered despite the warmth inside.
‘So where does Bim come in?’ I asked when fresh beers arrived in front of us.
‘They’ve been enemies for years. Now Uncle Watkins got legit pubs and a restaurant it’s open warfare. You know how it started?’
I shook my head.
‘Sprouts, man.’
‘Sprouts?’
‘Fucking brussels sprouts. Bim used to supply uncle with fruit and veg years ago, when he had his old place. One Christmas there’s a delivery of brussels sprouts. I mean a truckload. Stupid guy in the kitchen takes them in and signs for them. Uncle hits the roof. He’s ordered a bag of sprouts, like, you know, fifty pounds. Gets a gross of bags. Tries to send them back. Bim won’t take them. I swear those sprouts went across London from New Year to Easter. And man they’re starting to go rotten, like they’re almost liquid and they stink. But those two guys are so stubborn neither will give in. Eventually Uncle has them dumped on Bim’s front lawn. His wife near had a fit. They almost started a shooting war over a couple of grand’s worth of vegetables. That’s how crazy they are. Bim don’t like black men, especially on his turf.’ He blew air. ‘Man, it’s anybody’s turf out there, right?’
‘Right. So tell me all about this lock up in Wandsworth.’
Teddy shook his head sadly. ‘Uncle doesn’t own it, just rents it. At one time he was thinking about running a cab firm from down there. He would have had a workshop and offices, but nothing came of it. The rent is dirt cheap, it’s on a long lease from the railway, and he just never bothered to let it go. He stores old shit down there. It’s just a dump really.’
‘And?’
‘And when Lupus and I were checking last night, everything was cool. I drove down there.’
‘On your own?’ I interrupted.
‘Yeah, we split the premises for speed. We needed to work fast. It was the last place I went to. I didn’t even realise anyone else outside the firm knew about it. It only gets used once in a blue moon.’
‘Someone knew.’
‘Someone did, and to let me go in and come out again before they planted the gear.’
‘What exactly happened?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Just that. What did you do? Run me through it.’
He thought for a second. ‘I went down around ten. I had my own car. There’s a slip road off the Wandsworth Road. Our place is the last arch, right where the road ends. Then there’s a bit of pavement, some grass, a fence and the back of a council estate. It’s dark down there, the street lights are crap. I parked the car facing the door, headlights on full. There’s a set of big double doors that open right up so’s you can drive a truck in, and there’s a small door set into one of them. The little door is locked by a Yale and a padlock. They were both tight. I had the keys and I opened up, put the lights on and took a look round. Like I said, it’s a dump. Boxes and crap everywhere. It didn’t look as if anyone had been there for months. I checked the downstairs office and the little one upstairs too. There was nothing there I could see. I swear there was nothing there. I mean, man, I didn’t even know what I was looking for, but there was definitely no drug paraphernalia. It was quiet and bloody freezing. I locked up again and left, and went straight to Uncle’s to stay like he asked me to. I sat up ‘til three watching TV and got my head down on the sofa. At six Old Bill came in with sledgehammers. You know the rest.’
‘Someone knew you’d check.’
‘Looks like it.’
‘Who exactly?’
‘Whoever tipped Uncle.
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