Your Life or Mine

by Vicki Bradley

  ‘Thank you,’ Loxton said, glad Lena was taking her seriously, even if Kowalski wanted to dismiss it all. ‘Has anything come back from the search of the sewers?’

  ‘So far, nothing,’ Kowalski said. ‘But we’ll keep looking, it’s a massive area to cover.’

  Lena opened up her laptop and showed them the profile she’d compiled at the time of the Szyman´ski killings. It was eerily similar to the brief profile she’d made for Emma’s murderer.

  ‘Do you really think this is linked back to Szyman´ski?’ Kowalski said. ‘I know I thought there was a second killer, but there were no further murders. Why would they come here?’ His face was filled with concern.

  ‘I don’t know but perhaps the killer came here and worked with Barratt,’ Lena said. ‘And then when Barratt was put in prison they stopped again, preferring to work in a pair. But Szyman´ski’s death has prompted them to start up again. Someone did try to break Barratt out. And even the Polish cleaner recognized the signs of Szyman´ski’s work at Emma’s crime scene.’ Lena stared at Kowalski for a moment and he looked embarrassed that he hadn’t brought Szyman´ski up earlier.

  ‘Can you see if your profile of the current killer matches Kevin Harding?’ Kowalski asked.

  ‘I thought you were against psychological profiling?’ Loxton asked.

  ‘At this point I’m desperate enough to try a psychic,’ Kowalski said. ‘And even to entertain the idea that this is linked to a dead Polish serial killer.’

  Loxton nodded in agreement. The desperation was starting to get to her too.

  * * *

  ‘Let’s get Harding charged for the police computer misuse and keep him in tonight, but I think he’s our man for Emma’s murder and the abductions.’ Winter was stood with Loxton, Kowalski and Lena in the interview observation room, Harding on the other side of the two-way mirror, oblivious to their presence. ‘I got a friend in the army to send me Harding’s military background on the hurry up and its confirmed that he was SAS. He was dishonourably discharged for taking a firearm home and threatening his then girlfriend with it. He’s lucky he didn’t go to prison, but the military police dealt with it, and we know how they like to keep things in house. They blamed it on the action he’d seen in Afghanistan and severe post-traumatic stress disorder.’

  ‘He fits your profile perfectly,’ Kowalski said to Lena.

  Loxton studied Harding through the two-way mirror. Harding was sat up straight, his eyes moving around the room, as if looking for weak points so that he could escape. ‘We should keep an open mind, sir, like you told us to,’ Loxton said. ‘It could be this Szyman´ski’s Avenger. Harding seemed scared of him when we mentioned his name. I get the impression Harding was meant to take the fall, but when it’s come to it, he’s almost bottled it. He seems to be protecting Szyman´ski’s Avenger.’

  ‘Harding fits the profile,’ Lena said. ‘Ex-military, PTSD, previous violence against women and we have a link. He took your personal details off the police HR system. And he’s worked in both Walworth and Camberwell police stations. He knows the layouts.’

  ‘But why did he take Kowalski’s details?’ Loxton asked. ‘That’s what I don’t understand. And it’s too easy. He left us a breadcrumb trail; this killer wouldn’t be that stupid.’

  ‘Sometimes we get lucky,’ Kowalski said. ‘And you heard him in interview; he said he was interested in me because I helped put Szyman´ski away. Sometimes they make a mistake and get sloppy.’

  ‘I think Dominik and Lena are right, Alana,’ Winter said. ‘Szyman´ski’s Avenger is just some troll on the internet; there’s plenty of them.’ Winter shook his head. ‘But I’ve got the tech guys trying to track down where he was posting from. They’re trying to track his IP address, but it’ll probably end up being dodgy cash only internet cafés who have no CCTV or somewhere abroad. What we do need is some more concrete evidence to prove Harding was responsible for Emma’s murder and the abductions to get the courts to keep him in. Let’s double check if there are any links between Luke Pearce and Kevin Harding,’ Winter said.

  Loxton felt sick thinking that Pearce had made contact with Emma simply to gain her trust, so he’d be able to kill her more easily in some sort of weird pact with Harding. It seemed far-fetched that there could be two people as evil as each other working together, but, then, serial killers had been known to work in pairs.

  ‘I’ve already checked,’ Lena said. ‘There’s nothing on their phones or social media profiles linking them, but they are both Red Pill members. I haven’t actually seen any interaction between them on the site, but they could have deleted their chat room or used aliases. Then again, the site has twelve thousand members, so maybe they don’t know each other at all and it’s just a coincidence.’

  ‘Harding claims he was at home when the detectives were taken,’ Winter said. ‘I want cell siting on all of his mobiles to see where he was, although we know he’s tech savvy, so he might have left his mobiles at his flat to try to create a more solid alibi. We need to work fast if we’re going to be able to find something that will definitely convince the courts he’s the suspect. The way it stands now, there’s a chance he’ll get bailed by the court tomorrow morning.’

  ‘He wouldn’t get bailed in Poland.’ Lena shook her head in annoyance.

  ‘We’ll go to the court tomorrow and try to convince them,’ Loxton said. She felt a sense of dread that something bad would happen if Harding got out. She was sure he knew something about Emma’s death, even if he wasn’t the murderer.

  They were getting closer, but not quickly enough.

  Chapter 28

  Wednesday 2 February, 23:30

  Loxton and Kowalski entered custody, which was eerily quiet. It was getting late, and all around them behind the closed cell doors suspects were sleeping. There was hardly any activity, just the custody sergeant sat behind his computer, flicking through the custody records making sure everything was running smoothly.

  She glanced behind the sergeant and saw one of the custody staff, head back, fast asleep. She couldn’t blame her; night shifts were hard, and they got progressively worse as the years crept up on you. She remembered hardly being affected in her twenties, but now, in her thirtieth year, long hours and nights were starting to bite.

  ‘We need to charge Harding,’ she said to the custody sergeant. ‘Keep him in for court in the morning.’

  ‘Sure thing. He’s not asleep; he’s having a chat with an officer. He’s in cell twenty, right at the bottom of the corridor – as far away from the other prisoners as possible. I hate having ex-military in; they can be live wires and disrupt the others.’

  Loxton frowned. ‘An officer is having a chat with him?’

  ‘Yeah, I’ve forgotten his name. It’s fine; go through and see if he’s done. Then you can bring Harding here and I’ll charge him for the computer thing.’

  She hurried down the corridor, Kowalski following. As they turned the corner and went through another set of double doors, she heard a commotion at the end of the corridor. She threw Kowalski a look and they ran towards the noise. Cell 20’s door was wide open. What the hell was going on? She heard a shout and the noise of punches being thrown.

  She rushed through the door, lifting her fists, ready to strike. In the cramped cell she saw Harding and Anson fighting, and Anson wasn’t winning.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Kowalski said.

  Loxton rushed forward, pulling Anson away from Harding. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ she said.

  ‘This prick knows where Sarah is, I just know it. He wouldn’t fucking tell me.’ Anson’s nose looked broken.

  Loxton glanced at Harding; Kowalski was just about holding him back. Harding’s lip was cut, and he had the beginnings of a black eye.

  ‘This is not how we do things,’ Loxton said, pulling Anson out of the cell.

  ‘This is one of our own, Alana. And that animal knows more than he’s letting on.’

  Loxton sighed and shook her head. ‘What
is wrong with you?’

  ‘I love her. I thought she was your friend. We need to get him to talk. To give us something.’

  ‘Not like this,’ Loxton said, appalled.

  ‘She’s out there, somewhere.’ Anson pointed out of the barred window. ‘She could be dying of thirst for all we know, locked up somewhere alone, while this piece of shit is in here, safe and warm, moaning about the quality of the tea.’

  Loxton led him away from the cell. ‘This isn’t the way, Anson.’

  ‘I don’t know shit about your girlfriend,’ Harding called after Anson. ‘You’re a maniac. I want to complain. I’ve been assaulted.’

  ‘All right, Harding,’ Kowalski’s voice was placating. ‘I’ll get the inspector down. You’re safe now, okay.’

  ‘Safe with you lot?’ Harding was shouting. ‘He tried to kill me. Look at my eye. You lot are supposed to make sure no harm comes to me when I’m in here, not attack me when I’m trapped in this cage, defenceless.’

  Loxton glared at Anson. ‘I’ll have to report this. Harding will probably get bail in court tomorrow because of you. The courts will take one look at him, hear he was assaulted by a police officer in his cell and deem his life at risk if he stays in prison. They’ll think another officer or prison guard might have a go at him. He goaded you into that.’

  Anson spat some blood on the floor. ‘If they think he’s safer outside of prison then so be it. That makes my life easier. I don’t give a shit about it. About this job. About any of it.’ He waved his hand at the cell doors. ‘This can all go to hell. What’s the point of any of this, if we can’t even keep our own safe? If I can’t find Sarah?’ He strode out of custody, slamming the door behind him, and the custody sergeant stiffened.

  ‘What’s going on?’ he asked, seeing the blood on Loxton’s shirt.

  ‘There’s been an incident,’ Loxton said, her heart heavy. ‘You need to double check the CCTV, but I think Anson’s assaulted Harding in cell twenty.’

  ‘Is Harding all right?’ The custody sergeant looked panicked.

  ‘You’d best get a doctor to check him out.’

  ‘Fucking great,’ the custody sergeant grumbled as he picked up the phone. ‘It’s not the seventies anymore. Christ, I’ll probably lose my job for this. Anson just said he wanted a quick word. I thought it was part of his covert thing. I didn’t ask any questions; I didn’t even log him coming in. I’ll get in the shit for this.’

  ‘You weren’t to know,’ Loxton said, but she wasn’t really listening. Instead she was thinking about Anson, frantic to get Sarah back, willing to risk anything. Loxton felt his desperation, but she couldn’t cross lines like he was able to. Anson had become unhinged. Time was running out and she didn’t know what he was capable of.

  Chapter 29

  Thursday 3 February, 10:30

  Loxton smoothed her suit jacket and glanced at Kowalski. He looked as worried as she was, but as the knock resounded through the courtroom, he rearranged his features to one of calm confidence. She marvelled at the way he was able to put on a relaxed persona. Both of them were expecting the worst at Harding’s bail hearing.

  The judge came into the courtroom, her eyes sweeping across her domain, and then she sat. Something in the room seemed to release and everyone else sat down.

  The judge listened dispassionately as the prosecution lawyer hinted at the police’s belief that Harding was involved in the murder of a police officer and the disappearance of two other officers, but it became clear that the judge was in no mood for conjecture.

  ‘I need evidence, Mr Morley. This court doesn’t hear speculation and rumour. We deal in facts. Do you have any facts?’

  Mr Morley shuffled through his papers and glanced back up. ‘The police are still in the early stages of the investigation, Your Honour.’

  The judge shook her head. ‘It seems to me that this man is at more risk from the police than they are from him.’ She raised her eyebrows and Loxton could see the fury in them. A prisoner being attacked in a police station was a very serious thing and the judge’s eyes regarded her and Kowalski with disgust. ‘I see no alternative but to release this man on bail for trial of the Misuse of Computer Act and burglary. And he is bailed for the other matters too, but if the Crown can’t produce a stronger case than what they’ve shown me so far, I’ll be dismissing it at the next hearing.’ She nodded in Harding’s direction. Harding tried to hide his surprise and nodded back at her. The judge stood up and everyone took to their feet as well as she made her way slowly out of the courtroom.

  Harding glanced warily across at Loxton and then Kowalski, a frown on his face. Then he was led out of the courtroom by two prison guards to speak with his defence solicitor and be released.

  Mr Morley gave Loxton and Kowalski an apologetic shrug. ‘It was always a long shot.’

  ‘Thank you for trying,’ Loxton said. She and Kowalski left the court and hurried to their car.

  ‘Don’t look so worried,’ Kowalski said when they were safely inside the car and away from prying ears. ‘The surveillance officers will keep an eye on him. And who knows? If he is involved then he might lead them to where Sarah and Gabriella are being kept. He has to go and see them at some point if it’s him.’

  ‘I just hope they don’t lose him. Harding’s ex-military. He’ll be surveillance-aware. And maybe he has someone else helping him. This is risky.’ She didn’t like it. She’d rather Harding was remanded, locked up tight where he couldn’t harm anyone else.

  Anson was suspended now, but he’d got what he wanted: Harding out in the open and rattled, with Anson’s team right behind him. She felt like Anson had set the whole thing up and she was worried he wouldn’t wait for Harding to lead the surveillance team to Sarah and Gabriella. Her concern was that Anson would go after Harding on his own, get him alone and try to beat information out of him on where Sarah was being hidden. And it might not go Anson’s way, either he’d be killed or Harding would, and they’d be no nearer to finding Sarah and Gabriella.

  Loxton and Kowalski drove straight from the court to Rosa Caselli’s flat. She wanted to check Gabriella’s sister was safe. Neither Loxton nor the team had been able to get hold of Jane, but at least she could try to protect Rosa. She owed it to Gabriella. Kowalski understood and had agreed to go with her.

  Loxton knocked and heard someone come to the door. Before she had a chance to call out that it was her, Rosa had opened it, oblivious to any danger there might have been. She glanced at Loxton and Kowalski.

  ‘Have you found Gabriella?’ Rosa’s eyes were desperate.

  ‘Not yet,’ Loxton said.

  Rosa’s shoulders dropped, her gaze falling to the floor in pure despair. She nodded to Loxton and Kowalski and led them into the living room.

  The flat was a mess, nothing like when Loxton had first come to visit. The curtains were drawn and the air stale. Rosa trudged to her sofa, slumping back into the cream fabric. She drew her knees up to her chest, pulling a cushion in front of her and wrapping her arms around it as if she was in physical pain.

  ‘Rosa, you need to be careful when you open the door. You need to keep the chain on.’ Loxton glanced back at the flimsy flat door. It would only take a couple of kicks to break it open.

  ‘Sorry, I forgot.’ Rosa sighed heavily, as if Loxton’s visit was another unwelcome distraction.

  ‘I thought a friend was staying with you?’ Loxton glanced around, but there was no evidence of anyone else living here.

  ‘I want to be on my own.’ Rosa was staring past Loxton, her mind clearly on something else.

  ‘But it might not be safe for you here. Is there anyone you can stay with?’ Loxton asked.

  ‘I’m fine. I prefer being on my own,’ Rosa said. ‘Why are you here?’ Loxton could tell Rosa didn’t care anymore; fear had overwhelmed her. She clearly couldn’t face a future without her sister and moving out of the flat was a step closer to accepting that new reality.

  ‘We’re here to let you know a
bout your sister’s missing person case. Luke Pearce is remanded in prison for sentencing for the road accident with the motorcyclist. He’s on technical bail for Emma Robins’s murder and is a possible suspect for your sister’s disappearance.’

  Rosa nodded dully. This wasn’t news to her. Her eyes started to drift again.

  ‘But there’s another man,’ Loxton continued. ‘A Kevin Harding. He’s been bailed for Emma Robins’s murder and has been released this morning from court.’

  ‘Kevin Harding?’ Rosa’s eye snapped onto Loxton, and for a brief moment Loxton saw her old friend’s fire in her little sister’s eyes. ‘Who is he?’

  ‘He’s a bit of a loner,’ Kowalski said. ‘Ex-military. We’re not sure if he is involved, but he’s shown up as a suspect. The court can’t keep him in; we don’t have enough evidence.’

  Kowalski’s mobile began to ring. ‘It’s Winter. Look, I’ll be just outside the front door, but I need to update him on Harding and see if he can arrange protection for Rosa.’

  Loxton nodded and watched Kowalski leave, closing the door carefully behind him.

  ‘This is serious, Rosa. That’s why I’m asking you, is there anywhere else you can stay right now until we arrange something?’ Loxton asked.

  ‘I don’t want to go anywhere else. This is where Gabriella and I live together. This is where her things are. She might come back.’ Rosa’s eyes shone with tears, but she managed to hold them back.

  ‘I know, but it’s not safe here. What would Gabriella want you to do?’ It was a cheap shot, but Loxton was desperate.

  Rosa glared at her. ‘She’s missing, so how the hell should I know?’ Colour appeared high on Rosa’s cheeks. It was something. A sign of some fight still in her.