Fightback by Steve Voake

lifting the driver’s car keys a whole lot easier. As Kier palmed them into his pocket, he watched the arresting officer tap a code into the security lock and then he was ushered down a corridor into an interview room. The room was empty apart from a table and two plastic chairs.
    â€˜Have a seat,’ said the police officer.
    Kier thought about dropping him right there and then, but in the end he decided against it. After all, the guy was only doing his job. He walked around to the far side of the table, pulled out the chair and sat down.
    â€˜So, introductions. My name is Police Constable Doyle. Do you want to tell me yours?’
    â€˜It’s Richard. Richard Smith.’
    â€˜Address?’
    â€˜Er, 5 Station Road.’
    â€˜Whereabouts?’
    Kier thought about the names he had seen on the tube map.
    â€˜Finchley.’
    Doyle looked at him.
    â€˜Is that true?’
    â€˜You can check it if you like.’
    â€˜Oh, I will.’
    Go on then , thought Kier. But Doyle stayed where he was and wrote Richard Smith, 5 Station Road in his notebook. Kier wondered idly if such a place existed.
    â€˜So. Do you want to tell me what you were doing in the bank?’
    Kier shrugged.
    â€˜I was walking past and I heard a bang, so I went in to see what was going on. You know. Just curious.’
    â€˜OK. So how do you explain the fact that, when officers arrived at the scene, they found you standing in the middle of the bank holding a shotgun?’
    Kier turned his hand over and studied his fingernails.
    â€˜I can understand how that must look.’
    â€˜I’m sure you can. Particularly as you then went on to fire it.’
    â€˜Acci dentally .’
    â€˜That’s not the way I heard it.’
    â€˜No? How did you hear it?’
    â€˜I heard you dropped your phone and fired at it deliberately.’ Doyle shook his head. ‘You realise you were seconds away from getting killed?’
    â€˜Wouldn’t be the first time,’ said Kier, and then immediately wished he hadn’t. Chiang was right. He really did have to learn the value of silence.
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    â€˜Nothing.’
    â€˜You’re a part of this gang, aren’t you?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜That’s what you meant, isn’t it?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Come on, Richard, stop playing games with me. It will be easier for everyone concerned if you just start telling the truth. What was your role in all of this? Were you the lookout?’
    â€˜Like I said, I was just walking past.’
    â€˜We have witnesses, you know.’
    Kier closed his eyes and revisited the moment when he had first made his move. Everyone had been face down on the carpet, except for the cashiers collecting the money out back. The guy was definitely bluffing. No one would have seen what had happened.
    â€˜So go ahead and ask them. I’m sure they’ll tell you the same thing.’
    â€˜Then how do you explain the fact that you were holding the gun when the officers arrived?’
    â€˜I can’t.’
    â€˜OK,’ said Doyle, putting his notebook aside for a moment. ‘You know what I think, Richard? I think that you’re not like those other two out there. The truth is, I can’t figure you out. You seem like a bright kid who’s somehow got mixed up in all this. But the problem is, you’re holding something back from me and I don’t know what it is. And unless you tell me, I’m not going to be able to help you.’
    Just for a moment, Kier was caught off guard by this unexpected kindness. He could tell that Doyle was being sincere, that he genuinely wanted to throw Kier some kind of lifeline. But there was no way Kier was going to take it, so he stayed silent.
    Doyle sighed.
    â€˜Listen, Chief Superintendent Tyler is on his way over here and he doesn’t see things the way I do. Believe me, the only things he’s interested in are his crime