Free A Shot In The Night (John Harper Series Book 2) by Edward Holmes Page B

you’ve got what you want.”
    “If
it means anything to you sir; I aint in the police anymore.  I work as a
private detective and it has come to my attention from a client that Tom
Morrison wasn’t the shooter of Joey Boulton.  I have no intention of letting
that boy go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit and over the course of my
investigation I have found out that you too don’t believe he did it,” I’d given
him as much as I could and I felt it may have been too much information.
    “‘Over
the course of your investigation?’  Hell man, it’s only been a couple of days,”
Fraser said, “I know who hired you and I’m pretty sure I know who told you what
I suspected.  Morrison used to come down here when he was younger, his mum’s
house ain’t two streets over.  He’s fallen in with the gang but he isn’t a
killer.”
    “What
makes you say that?”
    “I’ve
trained enough men to know who have that look.  You have it for example. 
You’ve seen death and you didn’t blink.  It wouldn’t surprise me if you’d even
been on the delivery end,” Fraser said in a calm delivery.
    I
closed my eyes and rubbed the ice on the top of my head and then stared back at
him, “I worked murders; I’ve seen the worst man has to offer.  However if this
is all you have to go on then it has been a waste of my time coming here.”
    “It’s
not all.  Morrison was here when someone shot up my place.  He was passing when
he saw one of my fighters, Chris Tyler, who is a friend of his and he came in. 
We were closing up and as we went to leave someone opened up on the gym.  No
one was hurt but it came as a bit of fright to a lot of the lads, one of them
being Tommy.”
    “After
something like that some people become aggressive or need the comfort that
owning a weapon provides,” I replied.
    Fraser
shook his head once, as if head movements cost money and he was saving for a
rainy day, “That’s not what I saw.  Morrison isn’t a shooter.”
    “Then
who is?”
    The
two of them looked at each other and Tony shrugged ever so slightly before
Fraser spoke, “You’re looking for one of the gang members who is connected to
Big Saul.”
    “I
thought Big Saul has connections to all the gangs if he even exists.”
    “Saul
exists alright.  He is from around here but made enough money to move out of
the country.  One of the ways he stays out of the public eye and the attention
of the police.  He’s connected to this somehow, either as a rival looking to
disrupt his trade or maybe he’s just pruning the weeds of his organisation but
I assure you he is involved,” Fraser said in a manner that suggested I not
question his words.
    I
rubbed my jaw thankful that Micky had not been tall enough to land heavy blows
on my face, “I am I to understand you know this Saul character?”
    “You
don’t get a name like his without a reason,” Tony said, “Saul used to fight
here before he took to the business.  He learnt what pain was like and he
learnt what was needed to win.  The police never stood a chance against him.”
    Whilst
he said that I kept an eye on Fraser who seemed surprised his cut man would say
so much to a stranger, and an ex-cop at that.  He didn’t stop him though which
meant that he respected Tony’s words enough to let him speak.  I needed more
information though if I was going to find the real shooter and help the
Harrison boy, “So I take it that Saul isn’t his real name?”
    They
exchanged glances then Fraser answered, “I ain’t telling you anymore about
him.  We might not like the man but we respect him and he doesn’t mess with
us.”
    “You
say he doesn’t mess with you but by your gym got shot up by someone linked with
your old boxer.”
    “I
doubt he would have let anyone shoot at us.  If I had to guess, I’d say the
person who shot here was after one of the fighters.  People fall out with each
other all the time, that’s the way of life on the street,” Tony