The Last Enemy Read Online Free

Malichea.’
    The door opened and all eyes turned towards DS Aziz as she came back into the interview room.
    ‘For the tape, DS Aziz returns to the interview,’ said Bullen.
    ‘I’ve told Ms Graham where you are,’ Aziz said to Jake. ‘She said she’s arranging legal representation for you.’
    ‘Did she say if she’d got hold of Gareth Findlay-Weston?’ Jake asked.
    ‘She didn’t volunteer that information and I didn’t ask her,’ said Aziz.
    ‘I should have made the call!’ said Jake angrily.
    ‘The phone call has been made and she’s been notified,’ said Bullen flatly. ‘Now, can we return to the matter in hand. You were talking about something called the Order of Malichea.’
    Jake glared at him. He wanted to pursue the business of his phone call, demand that he be allowed to speak to Lauren, but he knew arguing about it would just slow things down. He needed to get out of here as fast as he could.
    ‘Yes.’ Jake nodded.
    ‘Are they a religious order?’ asked Bullen.
    ‘They were,’ said Jake. ‘They died out in 1539.’
    ‘And this person you went to meet, they had a copy of this book?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Jake. ‘I doubt it. It’s very rare, and people have been searching for it for years.’
    ‘Why?’ asked Bullen.
    ‘Because of the information it contains.’
    ‘What information?’
    ‘It’s said to be a list detailing where each of the books from the Library of Malichea were hidden,’ said Jake. ‘You see, the books in the library were forbidden.’
    ‘Dirty books?’ asked Bullen.
    ‘No,’ said Jake. ‘Nothing like that. They were scientific texts, written over hundreds and hundreds of years. Right up until the library was hidden in 1497 by the monks. They hid the books because the sort of sciences described in them were considered heretical by the Church at the time, and if they were found . . .’
    ‘Yes yes.’ Bullen nodded impatiently. ‘Can we get back to the present time. Today. So, you went to Muswell Hill?’
    ‘Yes. I got there just before half past one and waited, but no one turned up. Then, at a quarter to two, I got a text from them saying they couldn’t make it after all. So I drove back home.’
    ‘Through Crouch End Broadway?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Jake. ‘That’s the most direct route to Finsbury Park from Muswell Hill.’
    ‘So you would have been in Crouch End Broadway at about 2 p.m.?’
    ‘No. I was driving through Crouch End Broadway about ten minutes or so before two o’clock. As I’ve told you already, I left Muswell Hill at a quarter to two. The road was pretty clear.’
    ‘We’ve checked with the CCTV cameras in the area, and they show your car in the area of Crouch End Broadway at 1.54 p.m.’
    ‘OK. So it was six minutes to two.’
    ‘But you were in the area. You could have parked . . .’
    ‘But I didn’t! Look, check my mobile phone records. You’ll find the text I told you I got telling me the person couldn’t make it, and the time. Quarter to two.’
    Bullen nodded.
    ‘We will,’ he said.
    ‘And I never had a meeting of any sort scheduled with Alex Munro,’ Jake repeated firmly. ‘So, like I say, if my name’s in his diary for this afternoon, then it’s obvious that someone’s framing me. Especially when you add in the mystery person who fixed up the meeting in Muswell Hill, and then cancelled, knowing full well I’d be getting to Crouch End right at the time Munro was being killed. It’s a set-up!’
    ‘Who would want to frame you for Mr Munro’s murder?’ asked Bullen.
    Loads of people, thought Jake. Nearly everyone I’ve ever met who’ve been involved in the Malichea business.
    ‘I don’t know,’ admitted Jake. ‘But it wouldn’t surprise me to find out it’s the same people who stole my bag today.’
    Bullen frowned.
    ‘Stole your bag?’ he repeated.
    ‘Yes.’ Jake nodded. ‘From the British Library. You can check. Their security people said they’d be reporting it to the police, and