Rachel couldn’t face the idea of kicking her heels so she spoke up. ‘Boss, can I go to the grandma? Me and Janet?’
Janet gave a little nod, happy to go.
‘Fine by me,’ Her Maj said. ‘Get the CCTV from Bobbins as well.’
‘One thing,’ Janet said, ‘when I asked Noel about the gun, he was… confident. Like he knew that was safe.’
‘You’ve got a gun,’ the boss said, ‘you’ve commissioned a crime, you live in a tower block. You’ve not hidden it at home. Where’d you put it?’
‘Gran’s,’ said Kevin, which earned a laugh.
‘Or you get rid,’ said Rachel, ‘give it to someone to look after.’
‘That’s common practice in the gangs,’ Lee said.
‘Except Tweedledum and Tweedledee aren’t affiliates as far as we’ve been able to tell,’ the boss said, ‘nor do they have a wide social circle, judging by their phone book contacts and Facebook pages.’
Janet groaned.
‘You may well groan,’ the boss said, ‘a load of racist, homophobic codswallop with photos of this pair as avenging warriors. And atrocious punctuation. Gives new meaning to the fact that we are all descended from apes.’
‘We know they’re pally with the EBA,’ Mitch said, ‘they could have associates there to take the weapon.’
‘Or they flog it,’ Rachel said.
‘It could be an urban myth,’ Kevin spoke up, ‘but some of the kids are saying the Perrys set fire to a cat.’
A collective moan went up from around the table.
‘On that cheery note,’ the boss said, ‘I’ll leave you to get on with it.’
As expected, Eileen Perry, the grandmother, was insistent that her grandsons had been with her on Wednesday evening. She was a tiny woman, with crooked teeth, oversize specs and arthritic hands, the knuckles swollen like spring onion bulbs.
‘They was here,’ she said, arms folded in the hallway. Janet noted that she’d allow them over the threshold of the small terraced house but not any further.
‘What time did they arrive?’ Janet asked.
‘Teatime.’
‘Which is when?’
‘Five,’ she said, ‘around then.’
‘And when did they leave?’ Janet said.
‘Thursday.’
‘What time?’
‘Don’t know. I was at work.’
‘You work?’ Janet said.
‘Cleaning,’ she said flatly.
‘Did they go out at all?’
‘No.’ Eileen Perry sighed.
‘What did you do?’
‘Watched telly,’ she said, with a note of disbelief at the question – what else would anyone ever do of an evening?
‘What about Tuesday, the day before, did you see them then?’ Janet asked.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘they were here then and all.’
Wind it up and it walks, thought Janet. ‘Thank you, Mrs Perry, if you think of anything else, if there’s anything you remember,’ she stressed the word, just the right side of polite, ‘do get in touch.’ She held out her card.