Crime and Confession Learn English through story level 2

when a criminal is arrested

one of the first things that happens is

the interview at the police station

questions and answers

the detective asks the questions

and the criminal answers

or not

some of them won’t say a word

others talk and talk

and talk

ian is a great talker he wants to tell

the detective everything

from beginning to end

every

single detail

it was tony’s idea

ian says

moving about in his seat

tony’s my brother

two years younger than me

but he was always the clever one

it was all his idea

i just went along with it

he’s still trying to get comfortable

it’s not easy to get comfortable in the

interview room

the detective could tell him that

he could tell him about the chair he’s

sitting in

it’s a special interview chair

with its front legs just a little bit

shorter than its back legs

very uncomfortable

so

tony says to me one day he says

ian

this is one plan that cannot fail

and he tells me about it

we spend a long time talking about it

and i’m trying to find things wrong with

it

but it’s good

it’s a really good plan

that’s why i’m here

it was just

too good

ian looks around again

studying the walls looking for two-way

mirrors secret listening spy holes

the one thing he hasn’t expected is the

quietness

it’s 11 30 on a weekday night

and the police station is like a ghost

town

ian wants to see lights action

lots of police uniforms

yet again in his life he’s disappointed

he goes on with his story

tony had noticed the slip road

he drove from fife to edinburgh most

saturday nights

taking a car full of friends for a night

out

on the a-90 road south of the fourth

road bridge

tony saw the signpost for the slip road

department of transport

vehicle check area only

that’s what started his idea

the next morning he went back and drove

up the slip road which took him to a

kind of roundabout in the middle of

nowhere

he stopped his car and got out

there was grass growing in the middle of

the road

he didn’t think the place got used much

there was a hut nearby and another slip

road went back down onto the a 90 road

he stood there for a while

listening to the noise of traffic below

him

and the idea slowly grew in his mind

you see

ian went on

tony had two guards uniforms at home

he’s always had the idea of robbing some

place and always knew those uniforms

would be useful

and one of his old friends a man called

malk was good at getting false papers

so tony brought him in

have you got a cigarette

the detective points to the no smoking

sign

but then raises his eyebrows and says

okay

he gives ian a packet of ten and some

matches

thanks

ian lights up a cigarette

breathes noisily

so you see

he goes on

it was all tony’s idea and malk

well

he’d done this kind of thing before

i was just family

that’s why tony brought me in

i’m not saying i wasn’t part of it

i mean

that’s why i’m here now

i just want it in the police report that

i wasn’t the leader

the clever one

i think i can agree with that

the detective says

aren’t you going to write all this down

asks ian

we’re trained boy

we remember everything

so

ian nods

goes on with his story

the interview room is small and airless

it smells of all the people who have

told their stories in there

a few of the stories were even true

so we drive up this slip road a few

times

nobody notices us asks what we’re doing

tony’s happy about that

and the plan is fixed for last wednesday

why a wednesday the detective asks

ian shakes his head

tony’s idea he said

he moves around again in his chair

remembering wednesday night

tony and ian were dressed in the

uniforms

tony had a friend with a big truck

it had been easy to borrow it for the

night

the story was they were helping someone

move house

they took the truck up to the roundabout

left the car near the bottom of the slip

road

malk was dressed like a truck driver and

he and ian waited by the truck

tony went back down to the a90

stood by the department of transport

sign

and used a torch to stop a lorry on the

road

then he told the lorry driver to drive

up the slip road

to the vehicle check area

when he got there the driver would see a

man in uniform ian

interviewing a truck driver

malk

that way the real driver wouldn’t think

anything strange was going on

it was just normal department of

transport interviews

it worked ian says

that’s what’s so amazing

the driver brought his lorry up to the

roundabout

stopped it and got out

tony comes driving up gets out of his

car says he wants to check the cargo

the detective has a question

suppose the cargo had been bananas or

fish or something

we send that lorry on and stop another

one

until we get something we can sell

but

we were lucky first time

washing machines

24 of them

300 pounds each

we just got them into our own truck and

away we went

ian stops

you’re wondering about the driver aren’t

you

there were three of us remember

we just tied him up

left him in his lorry

we knew he’d get free in the end

tony had two lock-up garages and we took

the washing machines there

we were already thinking about who we

could sell them to

there’s a man we knew name of andy

horrigan who does

bits of business

doesn’t ask questions you know

i thought maybe he’d be

interested we wanted to be careful who

we sold to see

when the news got out about the robbery

on the a 90

ian stops again for a minute

of course

we’d already made our big mistake

one mistake

ian asks for another cigarette

his hand is shaking as he lights it

he can’t get it out of his head the huge

bad luck of it

before he’s said a word to andy horrigan

horrigan has a question for him

heard anything about a robbery on the

a90

washing machines

off the back of our lorry

i didn’t see anything in the newspapers

ian had said

which was true

all three of them had been surprised by

that

why hadn’t the robbery been in the news

ian could see that horrigan knew the

reason why

and ian could also see in horrigan’s

face that it wasn’t good news

it wasn’t in the newspapers and it never

will be says horrigan

he goes on to explain why

and ian feels his life coming to an end

he runs to the lock-up garage finding

tony there

tony already knows

it’s written on his face

they have to move the washing machines

throw them away

somehow

somewhere

fast

but they don’t have the truck anymore

where can they get a truck

wait a bit

tony had said

starting to think again

eddie hart doesn’t want the washing

machines does he

he only wants what he put in them

eddie hart

the name made ian’s legs go weak

steady eddie was mr big in dundee

a man who controlled most of the

criminal business in the town

the stories about him would make your

hair stand on end

if you made steady eddie angry

you didn’t wake up again the next day

and now

hurricane had said

eddie was looking for blood

he was in the drugs business

and needed to move drugs around a lot

what he did was this

he hid the drugs in fridges

washing machines

dryers freezers

and his lorries went up and down the

country

all they needed was a few false papers

it just so happened that tony had

stopped one of eddie’s drivers

and now

eddie wanted blood

but tony was right

find the drugs

get them back to eddie

and maybe

eddie wouldn’t kill them

so they started pulling the packing out

of the washing machines

taking the backs off searching for

hidden packets

they went through

every machine

in both garages

checked them once

twice

three times

and found

nothing

wait a bit

said tony

he started counting the machines

there was one missing

the brothers looked at each other

then ran to tony’s car

at mark’s mother’s house

malk had just fitted her new washing

machine

mark’s mother was as pleased as anything

she had a crowd of neighbors in her

kitchen

my boy so

good to me she was telling them

he saved his money and bought me this as

a surprise

even ian knew they were in real trouble

now

everyone in town would get to hear about

the new washing machines

and everyone meant

eddie hart

tony and ian took malk outside and

explained

malk went back inside

pulled the machine out again and started

taking the back off

his hands were shaking so much it took

him a long time

but

at last he had the back off

and began to pass

brown paper packets to tony and ian

tony explained to the neighbors that

these were just heavy things used in

packing to stop the machines shaking in

the lorry

like bricks

one neighbor asked

and when tony agreed with her sweat

running down his face

she added another question

why cover bricks in brown paper

tony beyond explanations put his head in

his hands

and wept

the detective brings back two cups of

coffee

one for himself one for ian

he’s been checking things

using the computer

making some phone calls

ian sits

ready to tell him the end of the story

we had to think of a way to get the

drugs back to eddie

he has a nightclub in dundee

we drove up there night before last

and put the drugs in one of the rubbish

skips at the back of the club

then we phoned the club and told them

where to find the packets

the problem was that their rubbish skips

are emptied at night

so sometime

that night the skip got emptied

and

and it was me who made the phone call

and there were two numbers in the phone

book

i meant to phone the office number but i

got it wrong and phoned the other number

which is a phone by the bar

anyway

someone answered

i said my piece and put the phone down

maybe it was a customer

maybe they went outside and got the

drugs for themselves before the skip was

emptied

maybe

they thought

i was crazy or

something

ian’s voice is shaking

he’s almost crying

so mr hart didn’t get his drugs back

the detective guesses

ian nods

and now your brother and mark have gone

missing

eddie’s got them says ian he must have

and so you want us to protect you

the detective asks

i’m in terrible danger

ian says

i mean

there’s a price on my head now

you’ve got to help me

the detective shakes his head

if somebody needs protection we can do

it

he says but there’s no report of a

robbery of washing machines on the a 90

yes

we would love to catch mr hart and put

him in prison

but there’s nothing to prove

that mr hart is doing anything criminal

the detective moves his chair closer to

ian

you see

i know that you lost your job after

arguing with your boss

and you told your boss that your brother

would come and break his bones

i found that out from the computer

what i didn’t find in the computer

was anything about washing machines

drugs in brown paper packets

or

missing persons

ian jumps up from his seat begins

walking around the room

you could go to the place where they

empty the rubbish skips

if the drugs are there you’ll find them

or

or go to the garages

the washing machines will still be there

unless

steady eddie’s taken them

don’t you see

i’m the only one left who can speak

against him

the detective is on his feet now too

i think it’s time for you to go home son

i’ll take you to the door

i need protection

the detective comes up to him again

his face very close to ian’s

get your brother to protect you

his name’s

billy

isn’t it

the one who breaks bones

only you can’t do that can you

because you haven’t got a brother called

billy

or a brother called tony

the detective stops

begins again

you haven’t got anybody ian

you’re a nobody

these stories of yours

that’s all they are

stories

come on now it’s time you are home

your mum will be worried about you

she got a new washing machine last week

ian says softly

the man who brought it to the house

he said he was late because he’d had to

stop at a checkpoint

it is quiet in the interview room

quiet for a long time

until ian begins weeping

weeping for the brother that he’s just

lost again

you