Crowns and Codebreakers (17 page)

Minnie could feel her heart playing drums against her chest. Flora was watching her silently. Piotr, Andrew and Femi all looked tense.

Could she make this right?

It was down to her to try.

She had an idea, but it would be a gamble. She took a deep breath.

‘I’m not going to untie Marcus,’ she said. ‘I don’t trust him. I don’t trust you either. Here’s what’s actually going
to happen. You will drive to the warehouse on the industrial estate. You will bring Gran and Sylvie with you. I want to know that you haven’t hurt a single hair on their heads. Then, and only then, will you get the T-shirt back.’

There was a long pause. Would she agree?

Then Anthea spoke. ‘I will be at the warehouse in seven minutes’ time. I want you to stand outside, alone, with the T-shirt ready. Anything else and I will reverse right out of there with the hostages. Is that clear?’

‘It’s clear.’

The line went dead.

Minnie’s arm fell to her side, the phone cradled loosely in her fingers. ‘Anthea Swift is on her way.’

‘We heard,’ Flora said. ‘She wants you alone. Jimmy won’t agree to that.’

Jimmy.

Minnie had forgotten that Jimmy was on his way. Would he come in and take over? Would he spook Anthea and make her drive off with Gran and Sylvie like she’d threatened?

Was there any way he would let her stand alone and hand over evidence? He had to, otherwise it would be Gran and Sylvie who would pay the price.

She heard the sound of a police siren approaching.

Minnie ran outside, with the others right behind her. Flora checked her watch. ‘We’ve only got six minutes before the police commissioner gets here,’ she said.

A police car pulled into the drive and headed towards them. It stopped by the curb, in plain view of the road.

‘They can’t park there,’ Minnie said.

Both front doors opened and Jimmy stepped out; a woman in police uniform got out too.

‘Hello,’ she called in a sickly sweet voice. ‘What have you little ones been up to?’

Minnie looked at Piotr in horror; the woman clearly thought they were still in nursery. Jimmy strode over to them. He was harassed, his forehead creased with worry. ‘Right,’ he said, ‘you had better tell me exactly what’s been going on. I want to hear everything.’

‘There isn’t time. You have to move your car! Hide it,’ Minnie begged.

The woman strolled towards them. She had a wide smile. ‘So you’re the wonder children I’ve been hearing so much about from Jimmy. I’m his beat partner, Helena. Now you’ve made Jimmy very worried. What’s all this we hear about Sylvie chasing bad guys on her own?’

‘Five minutes,’ Flora said. Her voice betrayed her panic.

Minnie glared at Helena. ‘Will you stop talking! I have something important to say.’

‘Hey!’ Jimmy said. ‘That’s rude and uncalled for.’

Minnie forced down a scream of frustration. Why wouldn’t Jimmy just listen to her? ‘Sorry,’ she managed to say. ‘But you don’t understand. We need you to hide your car, then hide yourselves and record everything that happens here in the next ten minutes. If you do, you will have all the good solid evidence you need.’

‘Evidence for what?’ Helena said.

‘Evidence to prove that Police Commissioner Anthea Swift is in charge of an international art smuggling gang that uses little kids to carry messages, and kidnaps grandmothers to get their way.’

Jimmy and Helena looked stunned. They froze, their mouths open, as though time had suddenly stopped.

‘Four minutes,’ Flora said.

Minnie looked Jimmy right in the eye. She tried to look as determined and honest as she possibly could. ‘Please, Jimmy, please, you have to trust me.’

Jimmy closed his mouth. He gave a swift nod. ‘Helena, move the car.’

‘But they can’t be right,’ Helena said. ‘They can’t be.’

‘Move the car. Take it behind the next building and park out of sight. Then run back here. Run, OK?’

Helena sighed, but ran back to the car and got in.

‘Minnie, are you sure about all this?’ Jimmy asked.

‘You’ll see yourself,’ Minnie said. ‘She’s on her way here to take the evidence.’

‘Well,’ Jimmy said. ‘In that case, we’d better be ready.’

‘Two minutes,’ Flora said, checking her watch.

The car was hidden, but the crowd outside the warehouse was too big.

‘Flora, Andrew, you need to take Femi inside and keep him safe,’ Minnie said.

Femi was still holding his green T-shirt, cradling it like it was his lost teddy bear.

‘Femi, please can I take your T-shirt back, just for a bit?’ Minnie asked.

Femi frowned, but held it out with both hands. The payment label was creased and crinkled from Femi’s hug, but it was still cast-iron evidence against Anthea Swift and she was coming to get it. Flora took Femi’s hand and led him inside with Andrew.

Minnie turned to the others. ‘Piotr, Jimmy, can you stay out of sight?’

‘I want to be close enough to help should you need it.’

‘Fine,’ Minnie agreed, ‘but out of sight.’

‘Done. I’ll be on foot, at the side of the building. Piotr and Helena, you wait across the road. Everyone else, inside. Stay out of harm’s way. For once.’

Dusk was falling properly now and the low sun cast long shadows around the estate: black rectangles, like toppled gravestones. The air was colder. Night was coming.

They all split up. Jimmy slipped behind the end wall of the Swift warehouse and crouched low. Piotr and Helena ran across the street and ducked into the front porch of the unit opposite.

Minnie stood alone on the pavement, watching the drive. It was a black river leading Anthea to them. She cradled the fabric in her arms and waited.

It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of an engine approaching. It got louder, then she saw its headlights.

Omar’s white van.

It trundled on to the drive. The lights blinded Minnie for a second, then they swung past. She blinked.

She heard the doors click open, then heeled shoes tapping across concrete. Anthea Swift stood before her.

The woman still looked smart – her well-cut suit fitted her perfectly – but a few stray strands of hair were falling from her clasp and her mascara was smudged. There were signs that today wasn’t going the way it was meant to.

‘Minnie,’ Anthea said. ‘I’m glad to see you decided to be sensible. Give me the T-shirt.’

‘Not until I’ve seen my gran and Sylvie. I want to know they’re safe.’

‘They’re fine.’

Minnie’s hand tightened on the fabric. She stepped backwards. ‘No Gran, no T-shirt,’ she said.

‘Fine,’ Anthea said impatiently. ‘Omar! Get them out.’

The passenger door opened. Omar paced around the van. Minnie heard the clunk of metal as a lock was opened. Then she saw two shapes stagger to the ground.

‘Gran!’ she cried. ‘Sylvie!’

‘Minnie? What are you doing here?’ Gran’s voice called out. Minnie saw her step forward.

But Omar held out both arms – he stopped Gran and Sylvie in their tracks.

‘Now,’ Anthea said, ‘as you can see, they are well and unharmed. For now. I suggest you give me the T-shirt and they will stay that way.’

Minnie planted her legs apart and folded her arms around the cloth. ‘It’s Femi’s T-shirt, not yours.’

‘Femi is not your concern.’

‘Is he yours? Was it you who took him away from his family? Or did the Lagos side of operations do that?’

Anthea pressed her lips closed. It was clear she was getting irritated. But it was important to keep her talking.

‘Was it you who suggested digging up the heads in the royal burial site? Or did the people in Lagos come up with it? Do you know the king had nightmares?’

‘It was a business opportunity, what are a few bad dreams?’ Anthea snapped. ‘If you are sensible you will conclude this in a businesslike way. The evidence in exchange for your gran. A fair swap. Once it’s done, we can all go back to our lives as if this never happened. When I have the T-shirt, we will be filling this van with everything from the storage room,’ Anthea said. She rested a pale hand on the side of the van. ‘There won’t be a single piece of evidence that we were ever here. There will be no point in your going to the police once we’ve finished.’

Minnie nodded. No point at all. ‘I won’t go to the police after we’re done. I know when I’m beaten. I just want to know, was it you who gave the king nightmares? Or was it Marcus’s idea?’

Anthea gave a mirthless laugh. ‘Marcus? That lily-livered fool? He wouldn’t have the gumption to do any of this if I weren’t watching his back every step of the way. Of course it was my idea. Do you really think Omar and Marcus have the contacts, the power, the vision to do it alone? Now, the T-shirt.’

Minnie folded the T-shirt carefully, smoothing down the stained material. She stepped forwards and held it out.

Anthea moved closer, her hands extended.

Minnie jerked the T-shirt out of her reach.

‘Minnie,’ Anthea said, ‘please don’t play games with me. You will regret it.’

‘Anthea,’ Minnie replied. ‘You talk too much.’

She tucked the T-shirt under her arm and pulled her mobile phone from her pocket. The red light of the recording app glowed like a beacon in the gloom.

‘Jimmy!’ Minnie yelled. ‘We got everything!’

She heard footsteps running towards them – Jimmy, Helena and Piotr.

Anthea gave a scream of rage and lunged for the phone. Omar grabbed Sylvie and tried to run. She screamed and bit and struggled and swiped at him. Gran laid into him hard with her well-stuffed handbag. He
couldn’t get more than three steps before Helena threw him against the side of the van and pinned his arms behind his back.

Anthea’s hand gripped Minnie’s wrist tightly, the two struggled together. Then, Jimmy whipped the phone out from between them.

‘I’m sorry, ma’am,’ he said, ‘but this phone needs to be taken into police evidence. I’m also sorry to tell you that you’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to a solicitor –’

‘Don’t you dare read me my rights!’ Anthea yelled.

Jimmy put a heavy hand on Anthea’s shoulder and guided her to stand beside Omar. The sound of wailing police cars drifted towards them through the night air.

The next thing Minnie knew was that Gran had enveloped her in the strongest, longest hug the world had ever known. She was squeezed like the last bit of toothpaste. Gran was half-laughing, half-crying.

‘It’s OK, Gran, it’s OK.’ Minnie’s words were muffled by Gran’s heaving shoulders.

‘It is not OK.’ Gran finally released her hug, but still held Minnie’s arms tightly. ‘What terrible things are happening! Why are you here with these awful people and not studying with Sylvie? You know, she has been so
brave tonight.’ Minnie groaned inwardly; it seemed spending time with Sylvie had made Gran like her more, not less.‘Oh, look, the terrible people are under arrest, at last.’

The squad cars had circled the van and more officers were depositing Anthea and Omar into the backseats. Marcus was escorted out of the unit, flanked by two policemen.

Gran pulled Minnie back into a hug. ‘Sylvie has been brave, and you have been brave, and Piotr and Andrew and Flora. My beautiful, brave granddaughter.’

Minnie wrapped her arms tight around Gran.

‘The best thing is,’ Minnie said, ‘I’ve found your hibiscus tea.’

‘Turn it left. No, other left. That’s it. To you. Wait!’ Dad held one end of the bed frame, while Mum’s assistant, Bernice, tried to persuade the other end that it wanted to fit through the doorway. Minnie didn’t think there was any chance it was going to go, and then, seconds later, Dad found the right angle and the bed was in the corridor. Bernice had said it would be perfect for her son, who was too big for his cot.

The empty space in Minnie’s room looked weird. There were dimples in the carpet where the bed legs had been. Suddenly it seemed that her floor was big enough to play football on. She could even open her wardrobe door if she wanted to.

Gran was leaving.

There was the sound of a commotion in the hallway.
More people, hurried greetings, the thump of Bernice dropping her end of the bed.

Minnie stuck her head out of her room to see what was going on.

Jimmy was in the corridor, trying to help carry the bed and climb over it at the same time. It looked as though he were trying to skip with sticks.

Gran had heard him too. She came out of the living room. ‘Jimmy!’ she said warmly. ‘You’ve come to take me away?’

He took off his hat. ‘Good morning, Mrs Adesina, I certainly have.’

Now that it was actually time, Minnie felt hollow, her chest empty as a drum. She dashed across the hall and launched herself at Gran, squeezing her as tight as she could. The scent of spice and flowers, the rough scratch of Gran’s cotton dress against Minnie’s cheek, felt like home.

‘Oh!’ Gran gasped. ‘It’s all right. You will see me every day, won’t she, Jimmy?’

Jimmy had hurdled the bed – Minnie could hear Dad and Bernice squabbling as they tried to get it down the stairs. ‘Yes, of course you’ll see your gran,’ he said. ‘The
flats are right beside the police station, on the way to your school. You can pop in every day.’

‘You can do your homework at my kitchen table!’ Gran said, patting her shoulder.

Minnie let go of Gran. It was nice she was still going to be in the country, but sad that she wouldn’t be sharing a room any more. Jimmy had helped find her a place of her own, with lots of other older people nearby and a matron on call if she needed help. Minnie knew it was for the best, but it still made her feel wobbly.

‘A cup of tea before we go,’ Gran said.

In the kitchen, Mum was packing up a cardboard box of food to help Gran settle in. Gran lifted her tea from the top of the box and put the kettle on. Jimmy sat at the table. Minnie put herself in charge of finding biscuits.

‘So, Jimmy,’ Gran said, ‘tell us everything. What’s been going on with the case?’

It had been nearly a week since the night at the warehouse. Minnie knew that Anthea, Marcus and Omar had been arrested, but it had been a few days since they’d heard any more.