Free Confessions of a Police Constable by Matt Delito Page A

particular one has had just about every component upgraded, though – high-end everything.’
    â€˜Did you do the upgrades for him?’ I asked.
    â€˜Nope,’ he replied. ‘I’ve never seen the bike before.’
    â€˜Is it hard to replace a flat tyre?’ I asked.
    â€˜No! Not at all.’
    â€˜It seems to me that this bike would have been owned by a bike lover, wouldn’t you say?’
    â€˜Yeah, definitely. It came in super-clean. Seems as if the kid really loved his bike, definitely kept it in pristine condition.’
    â€˜So, forgive me if I’m asking a silly question – if someone is a huge bike fan, wouldn’t they just replace their own inner tubes?’ I asked.
    â€˜Yeah, I suppose so. But people are weird, y’know,’ he shrugged.
    â€˜I don’t suppose you have CCTV, do you?’
    â€˜Are you joking? We’re CCTV’d to the rafters. I’ve got several bikes in here that are worth thousands and thousands of pounds; no way would I not have CCTV,’ he said. ‘In fact, I already took a look at the footage of the guy who brought the bike in, and of the fellow who nicked it.’
    â€˜Can I have a look?’ I asked.
    â€˜Sure,’ he replied, and waved me to the back of the shop.
    It took me all of six seconds of the first video to recognise the lad who had brought the bike in for repair.
    â€˜I’ve got some bad news for you,’ I said. ‘That’s Tommy, he’s a drug addict and a notorious bike thief around here.’
    â€˜Seriously?’ the owner said. ‘I’ve seen him around the shop several times. He’s never stolen anything,’ he added, before pausing for several seconds. ‘I don’t think …’
    â€˜It doesn’t mean anything,’ I added. ‘I haven’t heard of him getting nicked for a good while, perhaps he’s taken the straight and narrow …’
    The shop owner shrugged and queued up the next video.
    â€˜Here you go,’ he said. ‘The guy had a funny accent. German or something. He came in to buy a lock, but then he spotted the bike …’
    The video didn’t have sound, but it was unusually clear for CCTV. Surprisingly so, in fact. A lot of the CCTV footage we see is utterly useless, and some of it looks like it has been scrambled to hell and back, as if the entire file has been run through the blocking-out filter they apply to genitalia in Japanese pornography. Not that I would know what that looks like, of course.
    In the video, I could clearly see Kees getting more and more aggravated. At one point, he simply takes the bike out of the rack, rips off a label that was zip-tied to the seat and starts pushing the bike towards the doors. The shop owner quickly blocks his way, but Kees runs his bike into the owner, before taking a swing at him with the lock he is holding in his hand.
    â€˜Stop there for a moment,’ I said, and took a closer look at the shopkeeper. ‘Did he hit you with the lock?’ I asked him, looking at his face carefully.
    â€˜Yeah. He didn’t hit me properly, though. That would have hurt,’ he replied, as he lifted his hand to his face, rubbing his chin.
    â€˜Your eye still looks a bit swollen,’ I said, thoughtfully.
    â€˜Yeah, well, I’ve had worse,’ the shopkeeper said grimly. I looked at him, waiting for the rest of the story.
    â€˜Rugby,’ he said, and grinned.
    I smiled back.
    â€˜Hah, yeah, that makes sense,’ I said. ‘Would you excuse me for a moment?’
    I went back to the van.
    â€˜Kees, do you have any receipts or anything for the bike?’ I asked.
    â€˜Do you have an iPhone?’ he replied.
    â€˜What for?’ I asked, confused.
    â€˜I love my bike,’ he replied, ‘and I’ve kept a blog of all the work I’ve done on it. The website I keep for my bike has all the receipts on it as well,’ he