Career Opportunities (1/5) A Joe Geraghty story

(1/5), (2/5), (3/5), (4/5), (5/5).

ONE - 1.30PM

I was sat on an amplifier in the band's rehearsal room on Wincolmlee, secreted away on Bankside, a decaying industrial area of Hull. In front of me was the city's hottest band, Witham, presumably named after the area on the edge of the city centre. Talk about a lack of imagination. From the way they were lounging around the room, I assumed I was meant to be impressed. I smiled politely and asked what I could do for them. 'Steve Hollins.' The man stood up and offered me his hand. 'We need your help.' He was a short, fat man, in his mid-thirties. The manager. 'We've got a problem and we haven't got long to sort it out.'

I nodded, encouraging him to continue. My partner, Don Ridley, had taken the initial call. Together we ran a small private investigation office in the city. People only contacted us when they had problems. 'I assume you know all about these guys?' Hollins asked me.

I nodded vaguely but my interest in the band's music was limited. Everybody knew they were the biggest music sensation since the Arctic Monkeys. I'd heard the breakthrough singles and even bought the debut album. The music press had hailed it as the first classic of the 21st century but it sounded like a case of the emperor's new clothes to me. The hits chugged along nicely enough but the rest of the album was padded out with filler. My music of choice is punk and ska; music which stands for something. The transparency of Witham didn't really do it for me. 'It's been a rollercoaster' he explained.

'It's been what, eighteen months?' He looked for confirmation from the band. One of them eventually nodded. 'When I first saw the band, they were playing the country's toilet venues and releasing badly recorded demos onto the Internet.' He shook his head in amazement. 'But I heard something in them and to cut a long story short, I got them a proper deal. The single took off and the album was last year's biggest seller. Amazing really, how the public can take a band to their hearts.' Everything seemed to be a dream for them. I smiled. 'So what can I do for you?'

'The boys have just finished recording the new album and it's even better than the first, I can tell you.' The room fell silent. All eyes were on me. Hollins cleared his throat. 'The master-tapes have been stolen.' 'Stolen?' 'That's right. Obviously there's no end of people who'd pay an awful lot of money to get their hands on them. If we're not careful, they'll be leaked onto the Internet before we know it.'

And people will be downloading them for free, I thought. I understood the problem. 'It's a fucking nightmare' said one of the band. I couldn't see which one it was through the darkness at the back of the room. 'And them cunts release their new record tomorrow.' I looked at Hollins. 'Them cunts?' 'Don't worry about it.' He explained that the band's arch-rivals were releasing their new album tomorrow. It'd been a race between them to get their follow-up records out, but they'd lost. 'It's not a race. It's about getting it right' Hollins explained.

'A bit like Oasis and Blur?' I suggested 'or The Beatles and The Stones?' 'The important thing is we need those masters back, or we've wasted six months hard work.' He stood up and circled the room. 'There's a complication.' There's always a complication. I waited for him to explain. 'We fly off to America shortly, so we need them back by tomorrow. 'Tomorrow?'

'I'm afraid so. Unfortunately, the media have got wind of the situation. To settle things down, I've arranged a press conference for tomorrow lunchtime, at which I hope you can hand the masters over to us.' I had less than 24 hours to locate them. Don and I were good at our job but it was a big ask. Before I had chance to ask how on earth I was supposed to do this, Hollins walked across the room and sat down next to me. 'Don't look so worried, Joe. I can tell you exactly who has them.'

Continued ...(2/5)

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