Clown Town полностью

“I’m to do all the work, eh? All right. What happened was, the rumour factory got into business. Mutterings on Fleet Street. The Sunday Times investigation. Panorama. All of it accompanied by absolute rebuttals in the House and complete stonewalling outside of it. As for the Park, well, the Park did what the Park does and denied Pitchfork absolutely, dismissing the rumours that the Service had aided and abetted a psychotic murderer as sectarian venom designed to undermine the Agreement. While we were cast out into the cold, because nobody, and especially not the Park, likes having reminders of its guilt hung round its neck like a four-headed albatross.” He paused. The other three heads of the burdensome bird remained fixed as they were: Daisy’s staring into space, Al’s looking straight at him and Avril’s concentrating on the floor, though likely seeing something that wasn’t carpet. “Then time’s winged whirligig brung in its changes, and one sacred day Dougie Malone was killed, thanks be to God, and in the ten years since the whole topic’s dropped off the agenda, which hasn’t improved our situation any. And what I’m wondering now is—what I’m wondering now is, have the three of you been listening to a word I’ve said?”

It was Al who answered. “That we have.”

“And?”

There was more mutinous silence.

“I said—”

“We heard you,” said Al. He glanced at Avril.

Avril said, “‘Not even a record of who was present.’”

“I’m glad you were paying attention.”

“And yet you told us who was there.”

From outside came the noise of a wailing child, carried past their window at the speed of a trundling pram.

Al said, “How, exactly?”

CC, no longer the rambling tutor but the professional fact deliverer, said, “The late David Cartwright, presumably unknown to anyone but himself, recorded the proceedings. He kept the tape hidden in a box-safe among the books in his library. It turned up at college a few weeks ago when his library was delivered there.”

“And you’re the only one who knows about it?” Avril said.

“About the contents, yes.”

“But not the box?”

CC said, “His grandson knows. There’s a smart girl working in the library, she put him on to it. But as far as they’re concerned, the box has been destroyed, and all it held was dirty pictures.”

“That’s weak,” said Avril.

“It only has to hold a little while.”

“. . . Why so?”

“I’m not a great believer in things happening for a reason. But in this instance, it seems quite clear we’ve been given an opportunity to achieve redress.”

Only Daisy was unbothered by this, and remained staring into space.

Al and Avril shared a look.

Al said, “What are you saying, CC? You want to make this stuff public? Because I’m not sure you’ve thought through the implications.”

“I think I have.”

“If there was wrongdoing—Christ, what am I saying? We know there was wrongdoing, we were part of it. We were Operation Pitchfork. Malone might be dead, but his deeds live on, yes? If we make this public, force the Park to admit its complicity in murder and torture and all the rest of it, where does that leave us? Because I don’t want to be making headlines my time of life.”

Avril said, “Have you found religion, Charles? Or a black spot on your lung? Because whatever it is, this urge to make a clean breast, bear in mind you’re not the only one this involves. If you go to the wall, we all go.”

“No one’s going to the wall. Can I make that clear? I have no plans to go down in flames, and if I had, I wouldn’t take you with me.” CC raised a palm, as if inviting a high five, then let it fall. It was an oddly theatrical gesture. “But we’re in possession of proof of something the Park has long denied, that it was responsible for an operation which gave a madman free rein to indulge in carnage. They need to know we have it. And we need to know what they’re prepared to offer to keep it in its box.”

“So. Just so we’re on the same page. You want to blackmail the Park about the details of an operation we were part of.”

“Who better?”

“To threaten we’ll go public—”

“With proof.”

“Go public with the details of an operation we helped implement.”

“That involved at least thirteen murders. That we know of.”

“And rape,” said Daisy. “Let’s not forget rape.”

Avril said, “No, CC. It’s madness.”

“We’ll be waving a stick, that’s all. All they need to know is, we have a stick. And they’ll back down.”

“And what does backing down look like? You expect an apology? ‘We’re sorry we made you work with a piece of human detritus like Dougie Malone?’ We agreed to do it, CC. We might not have liked it, but that was never in the job description, and it’s late to complain about it now. We knew what we were getting into.”