Show Me the Sky - Nicholas Hogg [79]
RS – The police know Jack Shit.
MM – Have they questioned you?
RS – Like I was a fucking suspect.
MM – And, as I understand, even Ricky Wise?
RS – Someone’s kids go missing, then you question the parents. Wanker or not, he’s the daddy.
MM – The ‘daddy’indeed. With clause 3.2, he is certainly ‘taking care of his own’.
RS – You’ve lost me, mate. Clause what?
MM – Clause 3.2: ‘Disappearance, or prolonged absence without contact with Gecko records to manage finances will result in the named trustee (Richard T. Wise) controlling all royalties.’
RS – Ricky Wise. So what? Man’s a fucking multimillionaire. I reckon he knows how to handle money. You’re forgetting Billy ain’t spoke to his old dear for donkey’s. Who else would he trust? Not fucking me. I’d piss it up the wall and he knows it.
MM – Your manager is a man with a shadowy past. As a young boxing promoter he was investigated for the manslaughter of a referee.
RS – And found not guilty. You better change your line of questioning if you don’t want his lawyers knocking on your door.
MM – Could you tell us more about Billy K’s relationship with Zdenka? Whether this could be related to the disappearance?
RS – No. I’m talking too much. We’re just pissing in the wind here. I mean, yeah, yeah, we all heard about his ‘mother complex’, but who fucking hasn’t got one? You lot really milked that. If anything, the media focus on the rift with his mam stopped them ever making it up. I know you have a job to do, all that crap, but I’m only here because you’re one of the few journalists Billy respects. At the end of the fucking day, he’s run from fame, not because he was a gifted guitarist or beautiful singer, I mean, he’s hardly running from music, is he? You say you put him on top of the mountain by writing about him, by letting the world know how great he was. But did you play the guitar for him? Did you write his lyrics or sing his fucking songs? No. He climbed to the top of the mountain by himself, then you cunts pushed him off it.
MM – OK, Ronnie, maybe we should wrap things up, I can see how upset you are about the disappearance of a friend you call your ‘kid brother’. In the hope he is out there, that he walks past a newsstand and picks up a copy of Music Matters, would you like to finish the interview with a message, a few words for the missing person, Billy K?
RS – Come home, Billy. Make music. Fuck the rest of them. Fuck ’em all. We know what it’s all about.
PART FOUR
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Anna.’
‘God! Jim. Finally. I get to hear your voice. Are you OK?’
‘Fine, fine.’
‘Where the hell are you?’
‘Right now I’m in Nairobi airport, but not for much longer.’
‘You sure you’re OK?’
‘Really. I’m just being a policeman.’
‘Wherever you’re going, Roberts probably knows already.’
‘How?’
‘He’s smarter than we give him credit. I accessed your case account and found emails from the Australian police confirming your withdrawal of cash at the airport, CCTV footage of you getting into a taxi, and a statement from the driver confirming he dropped you outside the Opera House. No problems there. But then I found a file of your previous aliases – with Charles Nash flagged live.’
‘Well, Charles Nash will be touching down at Heathrow in about nine hours from now. Perhaps Roberts is planning a welcome home party.’
‘That you’re coming home is great news.’
‘Glad to hear it.’
‘And if there is a party, it’s just you and him.’
‘Intimate. I didn’t think we were that close.’
‘Listen. He’s explicitly ordered DI Calf not to inform British or Kenyan authorities.’
‘He could have me picked up at Heathrow if he wants. Maybe he’s saving the embarrassment.’
‘Is he that caring?’
‘His, not mine.’
‘You know I’m not bothered either way. As long as you’re back. And I’m not the only one waiting on you.’
‘The fans at Heathrow.’
‘Your ex and your daughter.’
‘You spoke with Meg?’
‘And Gemma. They both just appeared in the office yesterday. Meg carried Gemma over to my desk to