Miss No One Mark Ayre (children's books read aloud TXT) 📖

“Exactly,” said Ndidi. “So I knew nothing, and I told Norris and Kilman, my bosses, about the heist, and they didn’t suspect anything was up. They had no idea it was a diversion…”

Breaking off, Ndidi didn’t get so far as laying out his suspicions. Nor did he have to.

“You think my knowledge levels make me untrustworthy?” Abbie surmised. “I know more than you or the police, which indicates I must be working with Orion. Yeah?”

“Something like that.”

“Only if that were the case, why would we be having this conversation? We’ve already emptied your boot, taken what Orion wants. In which case, the only reason to lure you into my car would be to take you off somewhere quiet to murder you. Is that what you think’s going on?”

“The thought had crossed my mind.”

“More than crossed it, by the looks,” said Abbie. “But you got in anyway because what choice did you have? Getting back what I took is your only hope of saving your daughter. If you didn’t get in the car, Isabella was definitely finished, at which point your life wouldn’t be worth living anyway.” She glanced at Ndidi. “That about the size of it?”

“Pretty much,” said Ndidi. “Like you said earlier, I failed to protect my wife. I lose Isabella as well; life’s not worth living.”

“Trusting me is your only hope.”

To this, Ndidi did not respond. Perhaps he was afraid his voice would crack with fear if he did. The thought that Abbie might murder him was terrifying, not because Ndidi feared for his own life but because it meant Orion would have no reason to keep Isabella alive. That was the thought that brought the Detective to the brink of a panic attack.

Abbie shook her head. “I was able to join the dots and work out what was going on tonight faster than anyone else because I had vital information everyone else was missing. Predominantly, the name of the perpetrator.”

“Orion Becker?”

“Right. I’ve already explained my involvement with the Becker clan and my research on their gang, their family, and their exploits. That foreknowledge put me on the front foot in discovering what was going on the moment I so much as suspected the eldest of Margaret’s children was involved. Neither you nor any of your cop friends had that advantage. I also knew corrupt police officers were seemingly working both sides of this heist. I was suspicious that anyone could entice officers in Lucky Draw’s pocket to play traitor to those dangerous crooks. Again, your superiors didn’t have that information.”

Abbie took a turn. Christine's flat wasn't far, so Abbie didn’t have long to explain. Something she wanted to do, having decided it was the best way to win Ndidi’s trust and get him to play ball.

“Once I knew Orion was involved, I couldn’t convince myself the robbery made sense. This is a fugitive, one of the most wanted men in the country. So few jobs could I believe would entice him to put his head above the parapet and risk arrest. Although I tried to persuade myself the casino was one, it wouldn’t wash. And that was before I considered the issue of corrupt cops switching sides as mentioned, plus the compounding of your involvement. As well as the corrupt cops Orion already has to do his bidding, he gets a new detective under the thumb. But does he ask you to keep the cops from the casino? No. Quite the opposite: he wants you to ensure they’ll be there.”

Abbie shook her head, frustrated at herself in the story's retelling.

“When you consider all that,” she said, “it isn’t surprising I worked out what was going on before the police. What’s surprising is that it took me so long. In fact, I may never have worked it out before coming to you this evening if not for a throwaway comment made by one of my allies. Because when you consider why Kilman was shot, the only reasoning that fits with what you then asked of your superiors isn’t that Orion was worried Kilman would quash the heist but that he would quash it too quickly. A sizeable portion of the police force clearly had to be out of the way for as long as possible; ipso facto, the heist was a diversion. The actual job was taking place elsewhere. Once you accept that, everything falls into place. Orion didn’t have to convince the corrupt cops to switch sides because he's working with rather than against Lucky Draw. He’s paid them for the use of their building for the heist and for the benefit of their cops while he’s in town. That also explains why he didn’t pull out when it was clear Lucky Draw had to know what he was planning."

In the distance, Abbie saw Christine's block. Another minute and they'd be parking, making their way up to where their new prisoner was now held. Hopefully.

“That explains how you knew the heist was a diversion,” Ndidi said, his tone suggesting he begrudged even this small concession. “It doesn’t reveal how you knew Orion’s real intentions, who was in the boot of my car, or how you knew she was with me at all.”

“All simple to explain but to take the latter point first, I suspected you were involved beyond getting the police into place for the heist. Orion risked a lot kidnapping your daughter and murdering her poor au pair. He’d want his money’s worth.”

Ndidi closed his eyes. His face twisted with annoyance.

“I don’t mean to make light,” said Abbie. “But I need to be clear about why I acted the way I did. I suspected you still had a part to play, so when I visited you earlier—“

“Broke in and threatened me with a gun,” Ndidi said.

“That’s the occasion. And while we were chatting, my ally was planting a tracker in your car.”

That was actually the second tracker they’d placed, the first before Ndidi returned home. After seeing Ndidi’s anger at the news of the car tracker, Abbie decided