The confessionWhen a criminal is ar

The confession
When a criminal is arrested, one of the first things that happens is the interview at the police ststion. Questions, and answers. The detective asks the questions, and the criminal answers – or not. Some of them won’t say a word; others talk and talk … and talk.
Ian is a great talker. He wants to tell the detective everything, from beginning to end, every single detail…
‘It was Toy’s idea,’ Ian says, moving about in his seat. ‘Tony’s my brother, two years younger than me, but he was always the clever one. It was all his idea. I just went along with it.’
He’s still trying to get comfortable. It’s not easy to get comfortable in the interview room. The detective could tell him that. He could tell him about the chair he’s sitting in. It’s a special interview chair, with its front legs just a little bit shorter than its back legs. Very uncomfortable.
‘So Tony says to me one day, he says: “Ian, this is one plan that cannot fail.” And he tells me about it. We spend a long time talking about it, and I’m trying to find things wrong with it, but it’s good, it’s a really good plan. That’s why I’m here. It was just too good …’
Ian looks around again, studying the walls, looking for two-way mirrors, secret listening spy holes. The one thing he hasn’t expected is the quietness. It’s eleven-thirty on a weekday night, and the police station is like a ghost town. Ian wants to see lights, action, lots of police uniforms. Yet again in his life, he’s disappointed. He goes on with his story.
Tony had noticed the slip-road. He drove from Fife to Edinburgh most Saturday nights, taking a car full of friends for a night out. On the A90 road south of the Forth Road Bridge, Tony saw the signpost for the slip-road:
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT
VEHICLE CHECK AREA ONLY
That’s what started his idea. The next morning he went back and drove up the slip-road, which took him to a kind of roundabout in the middle of nowhere. He stopped his car and got out. There was grass growing in the middle of the road. He didn’t think the place got used much. There was a hut nearby, and another slip-road went back down on to the A90 road. He stood there for a while, listening to the noise of traffic below him, and the idea slowly grew in his mind.
‘You see,’ Ian went on, ‘Tony had two guard’s uniforms at home. He’s always had the idea of robbing some place, and always knew those uniforms would be useful. And one of his old friends, a man called Malc, was good at getting false papers, so Tony brought him in. Have you got a cigarette?’
The detective points to the NO SMOKING sign, but then raises his eyebrows, and says, ‘OK.’ He gives Ian a packer of ten and some matches.
‘Thanks.’ Ian lights up a cigarette, breathes noisily.