Dead Ball by Tom Palmer (snow like ashes series .txt) 📕

just keep the film. Save it. It proves something.’

‘What?’

‘The taller man. He’s the England keeper, Matt McGee. He’s talking to the other man, Dmitri Tupolev. It might be evidence.’

‘Evidence?’

‘Please, just keep it. This call’s costing two pounds a minute.’

‘I don’t care how much it costs. What I do care about is that you’re safe.’

‘I’m safe,’ Danny said. Something made him smile.

‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure.’

‘In that case,’ Charlotte said, ‘I’ve got news.’

‘Yeah?’ Danny wondered what she could have to say to him. The first thought that jumped into his head was that she was going to announce she had a boyfriend. The idea horrified him.

‘That stuff you told me about McGee,’ she went on. ‘At the party.’

‘Yeah?’

‘About him knowing that guy. The criminal?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Well, I told the police. They didn’t realize McGee and Barnes knew each other. They had no link. So they only went and raided Barnes’s properties. They’d been looking for an excuse anyway. And guess what?’

‘What?’

‘They found the presses – for the counterfeit money – and loads of dodgy cash.’

Danny’s heart began to thump. ‘And the guy, Barnes?’ he asked, hopeful.

‘And him. They arrested him and some others.’

‘Brilliant. But what about McGee? Did they say anything about him?’

‘Not officially.’

Danny paused. ‘But… unofficially.’

‘Well, the officer who I gave the information to says one of the men they arrested has said something that clears McGee. Sort of.’

‘Brilliant,’ Danny said.

‘Is it?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I want him to be clean.’

‘So what’s he up to with this Russian guy, then?’ Charlotte asked. ‘If he’s so clean.’

‘I’m not sure,’ Danny said, as an owl hooted in the depths of the wood.

‘But you think?’

‘He could be taking a bribe to throw the game,’ Danny said. ‘It looks like that. But it’s not true. I’m sure… well, almost sure.’

Charlotte said nothing for a moment. Then: ‘Where are you, Danny?’

Danny knew she’d heard the owl hooting. ‘In a wood,’ he said.

‘Why?’

‘I’m hiding.’

‘So you said. Who from?’

‘A Russian billionaire’s private army,’ Danny replied.

Charlotte paused again.

‘You said you were safe. Danny. I’m worried. I… care about you.’

Danny wanted to say the same thing back. He cared about Charlotte too. A lot.

‘I’m safe,’ he said. ‘Trust me. I’ve not lied to you, have I?’

‘No,’ Charlotte said. ‘But all this detective stuff you do. You need to be careful.’

‘I am.’

‘You’d better be. If you don’t come home alive, I’ll kill you.’

‘OK,’ Danny said, the grin still on his face long after Charlotte had put her phone down.

TUESDAY

FOLLOWING McGEE

Tuesday. The day before the big game.

Danny had breakfast with Holt. He decided to try some of the Russian food on offer today. Blini, which were long soft eggy cakes. And some small balls of jelly that looked like jam. Danny ate some of the blini. They were OK. Then he tried the jam. He nearly spat it out. It was really salty. Or fishy. He couldn’t tell. He grabbed a cup of tea to take the taste away. Now he felt sick.

‘I’ve got some more stuff to do this morning,’ Holt said, eyeing him, but not mentioning the food. ‘An interview with an official. But he wants me to go alone.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Danny said. ‘I reckon I’ll do some sightseeing this morning.’

‘I’ll be free this afternoon,’ Holt said, frowning. ‘How about we check out some more places in the guidebook? Get some presents? Can you wait?’

Danny could still feel a tension between them from last night. But neither of them had acknowledged it.

‘OK,’ Danny said, smiling. He might get his mum and dad presents today. Maybe something for Paul and Charlotte. But there was no way Emily was getting a Russian doll.

‘In fact, shall we go and have a look at the stadium later this afternoon?’ Holt suggested. ‘Try and get in to have a look round before it’s overrun with security tomorrow?’

‘Sounds good,’ Danny said.

Danny had decided to be friendly with Holt. He didn’t want to play the grumpy child any more. He knew Holt had a job to do. And, although he had big questions to ask about what Holt was up to, he knew now was not the time. One of his dad’s favourite detectives was called Maigret. He’d always wait for the right moment to ask a question. Even though he’d known what to ask for hours, even days. That was what good detective work was about. Timing.

‘How about I come back at midday?’ Holt asked. ‘We’ll find somewhere to have lunch. Can you amuse yourself in the hotel until then?’

Danny nodded. He hoped he’d have his appetite back by then.

Lunchtime arrived and passed. Holt phoned at 1 p.m. to say he’d been delayed. Danny decided to be brave. He was on his own in a city where barely anyone spoke English. He could have sat in his room. Waited all day. But there was something he really wanted to see in Moscow.

Lenin’s tomb.

He ordered a sandwich from room service and then went out into the city.

He didn’t want to see Lenin’s tomb because he was a big fan of Russian history. He knew Lenin had been the first leader of Russia after it’d had its revolution. But that was about it. The thing was, he’d read about Lenin’s tomb in the guidebook. You could go in and see his body. His actual dead body. A body that had been dead for eighty-five years.

The body was in a building called a mausoleum. Something about that appealed to Danny. It was horrible. Really horrible. But he couldn’t resist.

The guidebook had said that you could see his face and that his ears were all withered and tiny. Also, that loads of parts of his body had been replaced with wax and that some people thought Lenin was pretty much all wax now.

Gross.

Danny set off. The hotel was quite close to Red Square. According to the map he had to walk over the river, past a large cathedral with golden domes, take a right along the river and he’d be there.

Coming along and then across the river had