John and David walked along the town's back streets in silence.
David said nothing for a time, but his eyes never left John's back as he walked at a fast pace. "You can at least tell me where we're going."
John shook his head. "Why?"
"It'll give me some idea of how far I have to walk in these shoes."
John stopped and grinned as he gave David's shoes the once over. "How much did they cost?"
"One-hundred and ninety pounds. Made to measure."
John fixed David with a stare. "My leather shoes cost ten, which is a lot of money. You have two choices, take your shoes off or keep moving."
"You lead, and I'll follow."
John increased the length of his stride.
Thirty minutes later, the church and its graveyard were half a mile ahead. Eventually, John crossed the road, entered the site, and made a beeline for the mausoleum.
"I know this place," said David gasping for breath. He made a show of checking the time. "The church owns it.
"Great observation, considering there's a church less than fifty yards away."
David shook his head. "I intended to buy and develop the site, but when I discovered that before you can start building, you have to pay for an archaeological survey, a bat study and some weird thing to do with newts, I changed my mind. It wasn't worth the aggravation."
"Lucky for us, you didn't. Watch your step. There are rabbit holes everywhere. Step in one, and you'll snap your ankle." John deliberately led David through the long wet grass.
David trailed behind, complaining the grass was ruining his shoes. "How much further?"
John laughed as he pointed. "The mausoleum."
"Care to tell me why?"
"You'll find out soon enough.
John took a deep breath at the entrance to the mausoleum and unlocked the two padlocks. "Welcome to my secret. I've overalls for you in my bag. Whether you wear them is up to you, but you'll ruin your suit if you don't. Get your arse in here. I need to close the door."
John opened his bag and tossed a pair of blue overalls at David. He pointed. "Stand over there while I lift the metal cover on the floor."
David's eyes scanned the walls. "I don't see any coat hooks?"
"Give me your coat." John laughed as he shoved it like a used rag into his bag. "Those who usually stay here lie on their backs in coffins with their arms crossed. I doubt if they ever needed a coat hook." From his holdall, he removed two hand and head torches.
"Okay, follow me." John dropped into the undercroft and moved out of the way. "Come on. We are here to work; it's not a guided tour."
David sat on the edge of the entrance hole and warily lowered his body until his feet touched the ground. He ducked under the rim and sidled towards where John stood upright.
"You might be able to see better if you turned your torch on."
"I'm not used to crawling around underground."
John shrugged. "Get used to it because if you agree to my proposition, your team will be working in this drain for hours."
John watched David inch his way through the undercroft, and their progress was slow. He was breathing hard, and the torch shook in his hand.
"I guess the great David Little is afraid of the dark or confined spaces. Which one is it?"
David, his eyes wide. "Shut the fuck up and keep moving."
"Watch your head when we enter the storm drain."
In silence, they walked through the tunnel.
A family of rats hurried out of their way. "Friends of yours?" said John.
David remained quiet.
Twenty minutes later, John stopped and pointed. "That's the outer wall of the bank's vault. Eighteen inches of reinforced concrete, and it's more than forty feet below the surface."
David let the beam from his torch drift across the concrete. "Are you sure the bank is on the other side?"
"I guarantee the vault on the other side of this lump of concrete contains thousands of deposit boxes. Your job is to get through the concrete, empty the boxes and give me my share."
"What about alarms?"
"None for the vault. Those fitted cover the bank entrance doors and offices, the lift and the vault door. As you know, trigger any alarm, steel shutters drop and seal the place tighter than a drum."
"Can you confirm this?"
A huge grin filled John's face. "I was the senior police officer consulted on security."
David rubbed his hands in excitement. "And now you've turned rogue. How on earth did you find this?"
"During my investigations into the sick mind of a priest who raped far too many boys in the undercroft. Didn't you notice the monks' cells? They date from when St Mary's included a monastery. The priest took his special boys as he called them into the cells and raped them. When our forensic team undertook their investigation, I went for a walk and discovered the hole in the storm drain and bingo. As a good copper, I reported my findings to the bank, and as you can see, they took no action."
David rubbed his hand across the cold concrete. "How thick did you say this is?"
"Eighteen inches, give or take an inch."
"We will need the best drills, cutting equipment and much more. Leave this with me, and I'll get back to you. You've earned your commission."
"I'll give you two weeks, or I'll have a word with your competition. I'm sure they will be happy to steal this from under your nose."
"You're a bastard. Anything else I need to know?"
John tugged at his right ear lobe. "You can only work on hacking the concrete Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights."
"Why?"
"In the quiet of the night, the cleaners would feel the vibrations from the drilling and banging."
"Not a problem. I'll have one of my team watching. Whoever I choose will tell us when the cleaners leave."
"It's safer at the weekend."
"Leave the details to me."
John glanced at his watch. "Regarding noise transmission, I suggest we do a trial run."
David frowned. "I'll give it some thought. Can we leave now?"
John smiled to himself. David Little was on the hook.
Twenty minutes later, as he clambered into the mausoleum, a hot and irritable David sighed with relief and breathed in the cool fresh air.
John tossed him his coat and dumped the torches and headgear back in his bag.
Together they exited the site via the church gate.
When David's car drew alongside them, John's face filled with contempt. "Your driver is better than I thought. I never saw him tailing us."
"Want a lift?" asked David.
"I prefer to walk but don't forget, you have two weeks."
"It will work out, and you'll have your villa with a private swimming pool in Spain. Trust me."
***
John felt drained when he arrived home. While seated at the kitchen table, John knew it was time to clear Jackie's clothes from the house. Why he had not done it before, he could never understand. A thought crossed his mind that there might be for him another way. He grabbed a pen and paper from a kitchen drawer and wrote a note for Gillian.
Hi Gillian.
My house has never been cleaner, excellent work. Please remove my late wife's clothes from upstairs and deposit them at a charity shop of your choice. I'll pay you for your time.
Thank you
John.
Satisfied if there were any problems, she would contact him. He placed the sheet of paper in the centre of the table.
With a beer in his hand, he dialled Angela's number. Frustrated with no reply, he shrugged and returned the receiver to its cradle. Another beer consumed, he made sure the doors were locked and set his intruder traps.
Weary, John climbed the stairs, folded his clothes onto a chair, and slumped onto the bed. For a while, he lay thinking, Do I have a future?