‘And,’ added Larcombe, ‘their accents will make them easier to trace.’
‘Good work you two, and Paula, of course. You’re becoming an invaluable member of our team, Paula,’ Dan said, glancing at Oliver.
‘Okay,’ he continued, ‘you three know what you’re doing for the rest of the day. So, over to the Ryan Carr death. Sally.’
Sally flipped open her notebook. ‘Nathan Solomon is in custody, arrested last night for stealing from the university with intent to supply a known dealer, etc. We have kept him in overnight as a suspected manufacturer of the drugs sold to Ryan Carr and Lee Bateson, but he flatly denies having made the drugs himself. He says he delivers the jars to Garrett, whole.’ She looked up from her notebook for Dan to continue.
He looked each member of the team in the eye. ‘You all need to be aware that Solomon is sole carer for a mentally and physically ill mother. I believe that he has been physically and sexually abused over many years by Moss Garrett, judging by the reaction when we mentioned Garrett’s name. Solomon said it has been going on for a long time. They were at school together, although Solomon is a couple of years younger. He’s absolutely terrified of Garrett. He spoke in the present tense when he said that Garrett rapes him.’
Cries of shock came from Lizzie and Adam.
‘He’s a monster, Garrett,’ muttered Lizzie. ‘I wish I’d got a good kick into his head myself last Friday night.’
Dan looked pointedly at DCS Oliver. ‘For this reason we have to make Solomon and his mother subject to the Protected Persons Service in order to have any chance of getting him to talk. I have reason to believe, based on Garrett’s past record, that neither Solomon nor his mother would be safe if they testify without that protection.’
Oliver made a note. ‘Leave that with me, I’ll need to get back to you.’
‘If you could make it fast, ma’am, that would be appreciated. I need to offer Solomon something, and I really need to let him go today. I have a plan to use him as bait for Garrett, if he agrees. Then we might get enough on Garrett to hold him. I don’t want to go off half-cocked on this.’
‘It’s very dodgy ground to use a possibly vulnerable suspect-slash-witness as bait, DI Hellier.’
‘I know, ma’am, but I can’t think of what else to do. Solomon must be ready to deliver the chemicals to Garrett soon, and I need to be able to see that transaction, and best of all, catch them making the drugs.’ He looked around the table. ‘Anybody else got any bright ideas, I’d like to hear them.’ Nobody spoke.
Lizzie Singh raised her hand. ‘Ryan Carr’s funeral is fixed for Wednesday, ten am at the crematorium, sir. Who do you want to attend?’
‘You, me and DS Ellis?’ said Dan. ‘I don’t think we need a big show, just a presence.’
Lizzie nodded at Sally. ‘Sir,’ she said.
‘I followed Garrett back to the gym yesterday again,’ said Sam, ‘and he followed the same routine as last Thursday, but no drug exchange. Makes me think they have a set day. Steroids on Thursdays, MCat for Friday night? It would make sense for Garrett to receive the chemicals in time for making up a new batch ready for the weekend, wouldn’t it?’
‘Good thinking. So, if I can get Solomon to tell me when the next delivery is due to take place, and go ahead with it, we’ll be able to verify his story that he’s just the delivery boy, and find out what Garrett does with the drugs.’
‘And where he makes them,’ added Sam.
‘And who exactly is making them if it’s not Solomon,’ said Lizzie.
‘Because,’ said Dan, ‘whoever is making the drug is a real amateur, and children are dying thanks to his or her incompetence.’
Oliver stood up. ‘Give me a few minutes to talk to the assistant chief constable regarding funding, and I’ll get back to you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, good work.’ She left the room at a pace.
Dan watched her go. She was brilliant. As soon as he laid out the problem she went off to make the solutions happen. ‘Thanks, ma’am,’ he shouted after her.
‘Okay, Sally and I will go back to see Solomon in an hour or so, give him time to have breakfast and fret a bit. Sally, will you call Paul Fowles and ask him to sit in again, please?’
Dan looked at the rest of his team. ‘I think you all have yesterday’s reports to write up. I’d like them on my desk before you go off chasing anything else today.’
He made another coffee and contemplated the two whiteboards, sitting on the wall side by side. Just a few things had to fall into place to solve both cases, he could feel it. He checked his watch and headed back to his office to read reports, write up his own, and wait for Oliver to work her magic with the ACC.
* * *
He took the stairs up to DCS Oliver’s office. Time to see if he could offer witness protection as an encouragement.
Stella looked up from her computer as he arrived. She nodded him towards a chair. ‘She’s on the phone to Assistant Chief Constable Bishop now, Daniel. Can I give you a cup of coffee and a shortbread finger?’
‘Stella, you are like my guardian angel. I’d love one.’ He sat down and drew out his notebook. If Solomon co-operated, they could have a team ready to go in and arrest Garrett before there was any more dodgy MCat on sale on Friday night. He sipped the coffee, chewed on the biscuit, and tried to imagine where the drugs could be manufactured, and if not Solomon, who could be making them. It would be great if it was Garrett himself, but Dan didn’t think he had the wit. His elder brother? That might be worth pursuing. If so, they may need a search warrant for the house as well as the barn. He rang Ben Bennett and told him to amend the requirements of the search warrant to include the whole of The Retreat, grounds and buildings, and then to get out to the court and stalk the magistrate until she signed.
Julie Oliver opened the door and beckoned him inside. She looked grim. ‘I have got permission to put the pair of them into witness protection,’ she said, ‘but I had to endure thirty minutes of earache about money. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do,’ she said, scrubbing her hands through her short hair until it stood in spikes. ‘How can we police the county on no money?’
Dan nodded politely, telling himself yet again to be careful what he wished for as far as promotions were concerned. I bet this is what she’s been so down about. ‘It’s ridiculous that we have to go through this very time we need a bit of extra cash, ma’am. It’s not as if we’re squandering it.’
She shrugged and walked back to her desk. ‘Well, we’ve got it this time. I’m just hoping we won’t need to use it because Garrett will be serving a very long sentence.’
‘I still think we’ll need to get them away. He won’t forget who grassed on him.’
‘Okay,’ she gave a weary sigh. ‘Off you pop, then, I’ve got some DCI applications to plough through. But I want in on the takedown, okay?’ She gave a ferocious grin, ‘I want to see this one put away myself. Stella!’ she yelled, waving him away.
Outside Oliver’s door, Dan smiled. Nobody liked a desk job, really. He did want to speak to her about the DCI job, but when would be the right time? He had to get a move on, before she shortlisted.
He used Stella’s phone to ask Bill Larcombe to prioritise the safety of Solomon and his mother. It was imperative that they remove her to safety before Garrett suspected anything. ‘I want you to accompany Solomon back home later today, if I can drag you away from Bog Bodies. Collect some stuff for her and him from the house. Empty the fridge and make sure they haven’t got a cat or anything. You know, toiletries and stuff.’ He put the phone down with a frown. They’d removed Solomon’s mobile phone as soon as he was taken into custody. What if Garrett had tried to ring, or Solomon had missed an arranged meeting?
He dashed down to the front desk and got the sergeant to release Solomon’s possessions. The light was flashing on the front of the phone. Dan signed out the bag and took it with him.
Sally was waiting outside the interview room. ‘I’ve asked for him to be brought up
.’
‘Great, let’s see if we can persuade him to talk this time.’
‘Right, you’ve been up to see DCS Oliver then? Have we got Protected Persons on board?’
‘Just. I need to ring them before I go in to the interview, just to alert them to the special needs in this case. Then we can release Solomon on bail and get him away from here. Assuming he talks, that is.’
‘I’ll ring them. You kick off the interview, and I’ll join you,’ she said, and hurried away down the corridor.
Dan held the door open as Solomon came up from the cells. He was pale and unshaven. ‘Good morning, Nathan, take a seat please. I need to continue the interview from last night.’
On cue, Paul Fowles, the solicitor, entered the corridor talking quietly into his phone.
Dan left Solomon alone in the room and took Fowles by the elbow into an empty room. ‘We have strong reason to believe that Nathan Solomon has been serially abused by Moss Garrett,’ he said.
‘I rather gathered that yesterday. He’s a mess, isn’t he? So will you be sending this case to CPS?’
‘I would prefer not to, just yet. He’s agreed to co-operate, so we will have to prosecute him for stealing, but that should be non-custodial.’
‘Good,’ said Fowles. ‘It wouldn’t do anybody any good to lock him up.’
If only we always had a choice, thought Dan. ‘And he’s the only carer for his disabled mother, so that should also go in his favour. I want to release him on bail this afternoon.’
‘Tell me you’ve got somewhere safe for him to go to?’
‘We’ll have somewhere by this afternoon. Bill Larcombe will go home with Solomon and help get him ready to leave.’
‘Right, that’s good news. Shall we get started?’
Sally arrived with a tray of hot drinks and stood next to Dan and Paul Fowles looking through the window at Solomon. ‘Makes me so angry to see people like that. Vulnerable and ripe for pigs like Garrett to use as their playthings,’ she said, pushing the door open with her shoulder.
Solomon accepted the coffee with a small smile. ‘Is there sugar in?’ he asked. ‘Only I hate coffee without sugar.’ He took a tentative sip, and sat back, satisfied that it was sweet enough. ‘Thanks.’
Fowles settled himself with his legal notepad and Sally gave a thumbs up to the custody sergeant to start the recording.
‘So, if it’s okay,’ said Solomon, hands folded round the hot mug, ‘before we start, can I ask what you are offering for me and my mum?’
‘You seem to have regained a bit of composure since last night,’ Dan said.
‘Yeah, well I’ve had time to think, haven’t I? First night I’ve been on my own ever, really. I need to know that me and mum will be alright before I tell you anything. That you’ll put us somewhere where he can’t find us. I really mean that,’ he said. ‘Moss has always known where to find me…’ His poise faltered. ‘And… and I can’t rest if he’s out there, looking for me. Okay?’
‘I understand. If you help us to catch Garrett, then we will put you into our witness protection scheme and we’ll protect both you and your mum for as long as we need to. New town, new job, new names, whatever it takes. But we have to nail Garrett, and the manufacturer.’
‘Okay, okay.’ He looked at Dan and Sally. ‘You know, I don’t want to trust you. It’s hard to accept that you’re good cops, not like the ones who took my dad.’
Sally raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat, ‘We’re definitely not the secret police. This is Devon, not Serbia. Look, your Mum is ill, she hasn’t got over your dad disappearing and you’ve been under immense strain. Do this for her, for both of you.’
‘When dad was taken, they came and got him and took him back with them. Off the doorstep. He was in the resistance in Yugoslavia, and they found him here. We thought we were safe. But people like us, we’re never safe.’ His hands started twisting once more.
‘This isn’t thirty years ago, Nathan. We’ll look after you both. You have to trust us.’ She glanced at Dan, who decided it was time to change the subject.
He put the bag of Solomon’s belongings on the table and removed the phone. ‘Will you check the messages, please? Can you tell me if Garrett has tried to contact you?’
Solomon scrolled through his messages and missed calls. ‘Three missed calls, last night,’ he said.
‘Were you supposed to be getting the chemicals over to him last night?’
‘Yeah, but I can take them tonight, if I say mum was ill and had to go into hospital. He can’t check that for himself, can he?’ he asked, a note of panic back in his voice.
‘No, don’t worry. That’s a good plan. We’ll work out what you can say to him.’ Dan scribbled in his notebook. ‘So you don’t make the stuff yourself? Really?’
‘No! I already told you, I just get him the stuff.’ Solomon shook his head vigorously. ‘I don’t get any cash or anything. If I give him what he needs, he goes a bit easier on me.’ He looked up at Dan. ‘That’s all, I swear.’
‘Okay, let’s say I believe you. Go through the handover process. Where and when do you meet?’
‘I put the jars in my backpack. I’ve padded it out so it’ll hold four jars safely. Then I walk or cycle over to The Retreat once it’s closed for the day and the place is quiet. Usually Mel is seeing to the animals, which keeps him out of the way, and I take the stuff into the barn, and wait there until Moss arrives. Then he either tells me to go, or…’ he screwed up his face in an effort not to cry.
Sally leant across the table and patted his arm. ‘How long have you had this arrangement?’
Solomon stared up at the polystyrene tiles yellowing on the ceiling. ‘It’s June now, so I started last year, just when the students were going down for the summer. It gets quiet in the labs over the summer, so I didn’t have a problem. It’s harder in term-time. I have to go to different labs on campus.’
‘Interesting,’ said Dan. ‘I wonder why, after months of making MCat successfully, it suddenly fails so catastrophically that a boy dies?’
‘I don’t know. I really don’t know,’ said Solomon, an edge of panic in his voice again. ‘I’m getting the same stuff each time. It’s…’
‘Go on,’ said Sally. ‘Tell us what you think. You’re the chemist.’
‘If he cuts the drug with something, you know, to make it go further, well, that could be what’s changed the composition.’ Solomon swallowed. ‘Or, if someone is making the stuff and hasn’t got the levels of each chemical right, well, that can cause serious stuff. Like the heart could stop, or there could be massive damage to the liver and lungs. Or they could blow the whole place up.’ He stared at the table top. ‘That boy dying was so bad.’
‘That’s a pretty accurate description of what happened to our dead fifteen year-old,’ Dan said. ‘So do you think it’s someone other than Garrett making up the drugs, or he’s cutting it with something bad?’
Solomon folded his arms across his chest and looked at the ceiling again. ‘I reckon he’s cutting it, because everyone does, but the guy making it up isn’t experienced. That’s why there’s a mistake been made. It just can’t be Moss, he hasn’t got a clue.’
‘That’s very useful, thanks.’ Dan made a note. Had they banged up any dealers, or found any dead in the last month or so? Had Moss changed his manufacturer? ‘Do you know what he does with the chemicals after you leave?’
‘No,’ Solomon said. ‘He worries me sick sometimes. He has no idea how dangerous the raw chemicals can be until they’re cooked right. And I doubt if he takes any care not to let them bang into each other. Sometimes, I wish they would,’ he added, under his breath.
‘Just not yet, alright?’ said Sally, and smiled at him. ‘You’re doing really well, Nathan.’
‘Okay, let’s move on to this evening,’ said Dan. ‘What time will you ring him?’
‘Soon as you give me my phone back, and I’d better make it good.’
‘Do it now, leave it on speak
erphone, and we’ll be silent.’
Solomon grimaced and said, like a child, ‘Do I have to?’
‘I’m afraid so,’ said Dan, ‘we need to hear exactly what he says. Tell him you can’t be there until after eight o’clock, that’ll give us time to get our surveillance team in place.’
‘I still have to see him again, though, don’t I? He’ll know. He’ll know what I’ve done.’
‘Hold on, Nathan,’ said Sally. ‘Moss Garrett may be many things, but he’s not psychic. Just sound worried about your mum and tell him you’ll be over there a bit later after you’ve visited her in hospital. Easy.’ She picked up the phone and handed it to him.
37
Lizzie Singh pushed back against her chair and stretched her arms above her head. ‘Two hours we’ve been tracking down the Kiwis, and what have we got to show for it?’
‘Bugger all,’ Adam Foster muttered.
‘We’ve only just got going,’ said Paula. ‘I’m looking at farm work temping agencies for three years before 2006. You never know.’
Lizzie yawned. ‘It’s so stuffy in here.’ She got up and pushed the windows as far open as she could. ‘It’s night in New Zealand, so I can’t hassle them yet. I’ll send an email and ask for a call back. It’s great to be able to give them a name.’ She looked over to the corner where Sam was virtually invisible behind his super-sized screen. ‘What are you up to Sam?’
‘Sergeant Larcombe put me on DVLA car registrations. I may have something soon. Could do with a nice, fresh coffee,’ he said, staring at Lizzie and raising both eyebrows.
Lizzie made a face and smiled at Adam Foster, ‘Last in makes the coffee. No,’ she said, ‘on second thoughts, I make better coffee. Last in gets the biscuits.’
‘About time we had someone new in this team,’ Adam grunted. He grabbed his wallet and headed for the door.
Death on Dartmoor Page 20