Geoffrey bent, holding his face. Jim stood over him. “I’m not letting you fuck me over again, Geoff.”
“I had to do it,” said Geoffrey.
Still bent over, Geoffrey rugby tackled Jim, pushing him back toward the greenhouse. They moved slowly. Here were two men who still knew how to fight, but at a much gentler pace. Eventually, Jim’s back hit the greenhouse. Geoffrey pulled back his fist and lunged but Jim moved to the side, leaving Geoffrey to punch the glass, breaking it and cutting his hand. With the panel broken, Geoffrey improvised, putting his arm inside the greenhouse, picking up a pair of secateurs and turning to face Jim.
“What are you gonna do, Geoff?” shouted Jim. “Prune me?”
Slowly pacing backward, Jim picked up a waist-high spade that was propped against the greenhouse. The two old men were in a standoff, each holding up his horticultural weapon of choice toward the other.
—
Carol and Margaretarrived at the entrance to the roof sweaty with adrenaline. The door was ajar, and the police cordon had been pulled aside. They looked at each other.
“Ready?” said Carol.
“Wait,” said Margaret, taking a makeup mirror out of her handbag and wiping ketchup that had been there for God knew how long from the side of her mouth.
“What are you doing?” said Carol.
“If I’m about to die, I want to look my best.”
“You look lovely.”
They opened the door and found the action already in progress. Carol and Margaret headed for Catherine and planted themselves beside her, watching the two men the whole time. Margaret offered Catherine a Percy Pig, which she silently refused.
“What’s going on?” said Margaret.
“We found Jim in the greenhouse watering some cannabis plants. When we saw each other, he punched Geoffrey. Now they’re in some kind of standoff,” Catherine whispered. “It feels like an old fight, like they have history.”
“They do,” said Carol, biting the ear off a Percy Pig.
“You ruined my life,” said Jim.
“You ruined your own life,” said Geoffrey.
“You could of helped me. I asked you for help, Geoff,” said Jim.
“Couldhave,” said Geoffrey. “Could havehelped me. You see, people shorten ‘could have’ to ‘could’ve’ and then they think that ‘ ’ve’ is ‘of,’ but it is actually, as I say, ‘couldhave.’ ”
“Jesus Christ, you’re such an arsehole,” said Jim.
“Right,” said Catherine. “I’m completely lost. What are they talking about?”
“Grammar, I think,” said Carol.
“No, before that,” said Catherine.
The three women were standing in a row, watching the action. From behind, you might think they were waiting for a bus.
“Right. So. Jim was a police officer,” said Carol. Jim turned toward her. “Stop me if I go wrong at any point, boys. Jim was a police officer and he went undercover with the McConvilles, who were big around here back in the day.”
Catherine was conscious that Geoffrey was taking small, nervous steps forward, slowly moving the standoff toward the roof’s edge.
“I’m listening,” said Margaret, putting more sweets into her mouth.
“How did you find all this out?” asked Catherine.
“Margaret took me on a little trip to MI5. We had a look at Jim’s file,” said Carol.
