Page 88 of The Dead Come to Stay

“Thank you, Sheila.” She’d been his best asset; Newcastle police didn’t forget one of their own and so far, all their needs had been fairly accommodated without a rumble.

“You really are okay?” she asked, eyeing the scrapes.

“Honest,” he said, patting them dry and leading the way to their suspect. He looked worse for wear through the one-way glass.

“I’m glad you didn’t render our suspect unconscious for his trouble.”

“He’d deserve it. By the way—you’re faster than you look.”

“Thanks, I think,” MacAdams said, opening the door.

Dmytro didn’t look up; he kept his eyes on the table in front of him. Green did the usual and started the tapes rolling.

“Do you want to tell us why you ran?” MacAdams asked.

No eye contact, but Dmytro rubbed at his nose.

“You were chasing me,” he said.

“Then maybe you want to tell us why you tried to kill a police officer with a motorcycle?” Green asked. A bit heavy-handed, maybe, but it certainly got a startle response.

“I didn’t!”

“You might have.”

“I didn’tmeanto—he was just standing there.”

“Yes, Dmytro,” MacAdams interrupted. “A detective showed you his badge and told you to stop. And you were going to run me over for ‘just standing there.’ You’re already in about as much trouble as youcanbe in. So, I’ll ask again, why did you run when I asked about Rose?”

“I don’t know anyone named Rose.”

“We have your mobile; you’ve been sending texts to Rose for two days,” Green said. Technically, they hadn’t managed to hack it, but they had Rose’s foster mom as witness.

“I just—She’s just a girl I met.”

“So you do know Rose,” MacAdams added. “Do you know she was arrested along with a boy named Benny?”

Dmytro looked at the ceiling, a despairing sound in his throat. “You arrested her? She didn’t even know why she was doing it!”

“No. But you do.” MacAdams picked up the report from York. “A fortune in stolen artifacts. And that’s just what we seized. Your pals got away with more.”

“I don’t even know them.”

“You’re working for them,” Green said. “We’ve already taken your photo to the job training center. We know you’ve beengrooming couriers.Walkers, you were calling them. Poor kids with no prospects. Kids like Rose.”

“It’s not like that! They weren’t supposed to get involved...” Dmytro’s words had begun to run over each other, his accent thick with emotion.

“They weren’t supposed to getcaught,” MacAdams corrected. “But they did. And that’s not all; you understand that Ronan Foley is dead, don’t you? You realize that all of you—and all those you brought into this mess—are in danger?”

Dmytro dropped his eyes again and went silent. MacAdams had brought images of Foley, graphic ones. He hesitated to show them; the boy seemed fragile.

“Listen to me, Dmytro. I need to find out who killed Foley so I can protect the others. Rose. Anje. The girl in the sketch Sergeant Green showed you. It’s not over until we know who is responsible.”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t.” When Dmytro raised his head again, it was clear he was crying hot tears. “I just wanted to get my family out.”

MacAdams exchanged a glance with Green.His family?

“Do you mean... from the Ukraine?” he asked.