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