by Anita Waller
Sally nodded as she listened to his words. She had felt fractured inside by seeing Freya’s distress, and Roberts’ explanation had calmed her mind a little.
‘I don’t think you’ll get anything out of Freya, but talk to the boys. Mark, Dom, have you anything you can tell DI Roberts?’
Again, the twin connection was obvious as they looked at each other as if making up their minds if they should speak.
Mark spoke first. ‘I don’t think we’ve anything new to say. All we did was find a body. There was nobody else there, just us, the six of us. I remember Freya being sick, because she was so upset, and when we’d sorted her out, we came to tell you. After that, you took over. There really was nothing else.’
Roberts nodded. ‘And which twin are you?’ He made a quick notation in his notebook, more to make Mark think he’d said something significant than anything else, then turned to his brother.
‘Sorry, I’m Mark.’
Roberts turned to the other boy. ‘Dom?’
‘Exactly the same. It was as Mark has said, I can’t think of anything else. We saw the body, we stayed with him ’til you came, and that’s it.’ And then, Dom changed. ‘You leave Freya alone. She can’t tell you anything more than we can, but she’s in a state over Ella.’ He was angry, and it showed.
‘I’ll leave Freya in her little house, I promise,’ Roberts said quietly. He was beginning to realise that even if these kids did know something, they certainly weren’t going to reveal it, and it wasn’t through fear. It was through togetherness, and that wouldn’t be broken.
They finished their drinks and stood to leave. Roberts thanked them all, shouted bye to Freya, and Sally escorted them through the kitchen and towards the front door. ‘I would have sent you down the side of the house,’ she laughed, ‘but it’s all locked up. Nobody’s getting to our kids.’
‘You think that’s a possibility?’ Roberts was quick to jump on her words.
‘Yes, I do. Ella has gone, Daryl is injured. It doesn’t take a genius to recognise they were targets, does it. We’re living on our nerves, John and I, and trying not to let the kids see it. I know they’re fed up of playing in the garden all the time, but I can’t take the risk. I’m going to contact Janey Walker and Carl Clarkson to see if the other two can come down here for the day tomorrow. I can watch them all, and I know they’re missing each other. They have a brilliant friendship, and I won’t let the evil scum who have caused all this be the winners.’
‘I don’t know if this helps ease your mind a little, Sally,’ Roberts said, ‘but we’ve stepped up patrols in this area. Like you, I’m worried that the children are being targeted. You’ll see a lot more squad cars, so have a little faith in us. Oh, and tell Dom and Mark I knew they were having me on, I can tell which boy is which.’
Sally laughed. ‘I wasn’t going to correct them. They can be who they want to be, their choice. And you did stress how informal it was…’
Carl Clarkson didn’t look too impressed when Roberts arrived, but he led him through to the back garden where Daryl was reading.
‘Good book?’ he asked and sat down by Daryl’s side.
‘It is. It’s the fourth Rick Riordan. Dad keeps saying I’ll bankrupt him.’
‘Go to the library.’
Daryl laughed. ‘Not likely. I’d have to take them back when I’ve read them. These are keepers. I want the whole set, so Dad keeps going on Amazon and grumbling. Funny how he’s reading them as well, though.’
‘You okay with your dad, now?’
There was a hesitancy in Daryl’s words. ‘I think so. He doesn’t seem like the same person he was when Mum was here.’
‘That’s because he’s had to step up, Daryl. Some dads come to it later in life. That’s probably the case with your dad, because he saw how close you and your mum became. Perhaps he felt a bit left out. Was he?’
Daryl nodded. ‘I suppose so. He never seemed to be around when we had to do anything. Always with that boss of his.’
‘Boss?’
‘Dunno who it is. He calls him the boss.’
‘Do me a favour, Daryl, don’t tell your dad you’ve mentioned his boss to me; he might not like it, and I don’t want him falling out with you because you’ve told me. Okay?’
Daryl nodded. They went on to discuss finding Vinnie’s body, and again, Roberts came up against the wall that surrounded the children. They all said the same, and no more.
Five minutes later, Roberts and Smythe were with Janey Walker, and Sammy was excitedly telling them that he was going to the Brownlow’s house the following day. Sammy also repeated, virtually word for word, everything the others had said, and finally, Roberts and Smythe headed back to the station.
‘Tight little bunch of kids, aren’t they? Craig said.
‘Certainly are. And I still think there’s something that will come out one day. Maybe that was something, the thing that Daryl said about his dad always being with the boss. I thought Megan worked, and Carl was out of work. Strange. Worth looking into?’
‘Leave it with me,’ Craig said. ‘I’ll see what I can find. It might take a while, he’s a canny feller.’
Roberts collected a coffee and headed back to his office. He needed some quiet thinking time. He saw Smythe go straight to his computer, but he didn’t expect results. It was such a throwaway line from Daryl – his dad was always with the boss. It was probably something as simple as Carl having a job on the side that he didn’t want anybody knowing about, certainly not the people who paid him his benefits every week.
Roberts sipped at his coffee, his mind going back over the afternoon. The whole saga had clearly affected all of the children, and he knew he wouldn’t be chasing them again. Whether they knew something or not, he would have to solve this one without their help.
He finished his coffee and aimed it at the basket. The cup missed it, so he stood with a groan and went around his desk to pick it up. The phone rang.
‘DI Roberts.’
‘Yes, sir. It’s PC Marks, on reception. I have ERF on the phone for you. They have a body.’
Roberts’ mind went into overdrive. ERF? A lorry? A body in a lorry? ‘Put them through.’
‘Good afternoon, DI Roberts. My name is Michael Danbury, and I’m a supervisor at ERF, that’s the Energy Recovery Facility, off the Parkway.’
‘Yes, Mr Danbury, I know it. What can I do for you?’ Roberts grinned. So, it wasn’t a lorry with a body in it. How wrong could anybody be?
‘We have a body, sir, on our conveyor belt in the sorting room.’
Roberts sat up. ‘Lock the room down, get all the staff out and give them a cup of sweet tea; we’ll be with you in ten to fifteen minutes. Don’t let anybody touch that body.’
‘Nobody wants to, I can assure you,’ Danbury said drily.
Roberts headed for the main office. ‘Brian, Heather, Craig, with me. We’ve got another dead one. At ERF, off the Parkway.’
‘ERF?’ queried Craig.
‘Energy Recovery Facility,’ DS Brian Balding said.
‘Smart arse,’ Heather muttered.
They took a squad car and, with the lights and sirens activated, reached the facility in seven minutes.
Michael Danbury met them at the door and ushered them in. The room was empty, the conveyor belts stopped. He led them over to the end belt, and Roberts heard Heather Shaw gasp. Women always recognised a designer dress.
The black and white dress, now looking extremely grubby but instantly recognisable, was covering a body that had already begun to decompose.
‘Forensics are on the way,’ Roberts said. ‘This room will be closed for a while. Sorry if that causes problems, but we’ll let you know as soon as we’re clear.’
Michael Danbury shrugged. ‘I’m sending everybody on this shift home. This is a twenty-four-hour facility, so maybe we can pick up with the next shift. I’ll stay. If you need any help with knowing the system, I can give you details. I can also mash tea.’
The four police officers viewed the body from as many angles as they could, without touching it, and then retreated to a safe distance when the forensic team arrived.
Michael made them drinks, and they sat at a table, discussing what was obvious and what wasn’t so clear.
‘She’s got no knickers on,’ Heather said. On the conveyor belt, the dress had hiked up almost to the victim’s waist. ‘A designer dress, and no knickers.’
‘And?’ Brian Balding queried.
‘I don’t know,’ Heather conceded. ‘It seems odd. We need to check rubbish in the same area, find her knickers. They’ll be white.’
‘How the hell do you know that?’ Craig said.
‘She’s a classy looking lady. You can tell she was beautiful, even at this stage of decomposition. If she’d worn any coloured knickers, they would have shown through on the white sections of the dress. If she wears white ones, they don’t show through on the white, and definitely not on the black. Simple, isn’t it, when you’re a genius?’
‘Right,’ Roberts said. ‘As soon as forensics have finished, we need to get into the stuff on that conveyor belt. If the knickers are there, and despite Heather’s brilliant summing up they might not be, there might also be some rubbish, letters or something, that will tell us the location of the bin that she was dumped into. It’s going to be a long night, so if you need to let anybody at home know, do it now.’
Phones were taken out of pockets, messages were sent, and replies were received.
Even Michael Danbury joined in the activity; he hadn’t had anything as exciting as this for a long time. It did briefly occur to him that if the body had been put in black plastic bin bags, it might have escaped their notice, but it was clearly this woman’s lucky day.
Chapter 21
Carl felt jittery. Time was fast approaching when he and Kenny would be leaving for Grausohn’s penthouse. He checked through the list of names and addresses for the kids and knew it looked feasible. Grausohn would be dead anyway, before he could act on any of it.
The glass fitted comfortably in Carl’s pocket, unwashed and wrapped in kitchen roll. He would have to be more than careful when he removed the paper. No part of his hand must touch the sparkling crystal. He had promised Daryl he would take care of things; he was doing exactly that.
Aileen walked with him to the door. She leaned against him for a moment. ‘You can still back out of this, you know,’ she whispered. ‘You don’t have to do it.’
‘I do. I have to get Daryl away from all of this, start to be a proper dad.’
‘And me?’
‘We’ll discuss us when I’m safely home, and Grausohn is dead. While he’s alive, there can be no me and you, or me and anybody. If we don’t kill him tonight, he’ll come for me. And probably Daryl. I don’t doubt Kenny will come out of it smelling of roses, but I won’t. I’m handing over a list of fictitious names and addresses. That’s why I can’t back out.’
Aileen nodded. ‘I’ll be waiting. And if you’re not back by ten, I’ll also be panicking. Take care, Carl.’ She kissed him, and he headed down the path towards his car.
His hands trembled all the way to Kenny’s house. Carl wanted to be sick, and he kept touching the pocket with the glass in it. He liked Kenny; he didn’t like the fact that Kenny had killed Megan, said nothing and had tried to kill Daryl. Without the bravery of his mother, Daryl would be dead now. Kenny had to pay.
Carl arrived with time to spare, and Kenny invited him in. ‘You need a drink?’ he asked.
Carl shook his head. ‘No, I’m good thanks. Just want to do it and get out of there.’
‘We’re coming out of the basement. There’s no CCTV round there. Then, it’s a quick jog to my car, and we’re clear.’
‘You make it sound so easy…’
Kenny laughed. ‘Tell me that when we’re trying to lift that big bugger over the balcony. Remember, Carl, when this is done, we’re free. If somebody muscles in and takes it over, they’re not getting our services ’cos we won’t be here. Right, to get back to lifting him, we can tackle it one of two ways. Either knock him out first or go for his knees to lift him.’
‘Knock him out? We going in carrying a baseball bat, then?’
‘He’s got one, keeps it under his desk. If we knock him out, he becomes a dead weight; if we stand either side of him at the balcony, we grab his knees and chuck him over. We’re big lads, Carl, we should be able to lift him. But if he’s unconscious…’
‘You’re right. We’ve got to go for chucking him over while he’s conscious.’
‘For definite?’ Kenny asked.
‘For definite. Come on, let’s go and get it done.’
Billy followed them to the door, concern etched into his features. ‘Take care, you two. There’s a lot riding on this.’
They nodded, neither wanting to speak. Full concentration was needed from this point on.
Kenny parked his car a few yards from the original place he had decided would be safe. They got out and walked towards the basement entrance, nerves gone, determination taking over.
‘I’ve not been down here before,’ Carl said.
‘Count yourself lucky,’ was Kenny’s dry rejoinder.
The lift arrived, and the men stepped in. It was one minute to eight.
At eight o’clock, they entered Grausohn’s office.
‘Evening, boss,’ Kenny said cheerfully. ‘Told you he was doing a good job. Full names and addresses. Tomorrow, we can probably have one of the kids here.’
‘Evening, Kenny, Clarkson.’ He held out his hand. ‘The list?’
Carl took the envelope out of his inside pocket, lifted the flap and carefully pulled it out by using his fingernails. He wanted no fingerprints on it. He handed it over.
Grausohn looked at it for a while, then lifted his head. ‘We go for the girl. She’ll be easier to break. These are accurate addresses, Carl?’
‘They are, boss. Took some getting though.’
Grausohn opened his drawer and handed Carl an envelope. ‘There’s five thousand in there. There’ll be more, if we get the information we want out of any of these kids on this list. Okay?’
Carl took the envelope and slipped it into his pocket, making sure the glass was once again disguised. ‘Thanks, boss.’
‘Now,’ Grausohn said, ‘drinks?’
Kenny nodded. ‘That would be good’
‘Carl?’
‘Whisky for me too. Thanks, boss.’
Grausohn poured the drinks and handed them to the two men. Carl took a small sip. He wanted no alcohol in his system that night.
Grausohn came out from behind the desk, carrying his glass, and rolled his bulk around the room, heading for the lounge. ‘Do you smoke, Carl?’
‘I do.’
‘Cigars are on the coffee table. We’ll smoke out on the balcony.’ Grausohn placed his glass on the coffee table and took a cigar out of the box. Both Kenny and Carl helped themselves to a cigar and placed their drinks at the opposite end of the coffee table. There had to be no confusion as to which drink was Grausohn’s and which was theirs.
‘There’s a lovely sunset tonight,’ Grausohn said, leaning against the wrought iron railing. He felt hands around his knees, and his huge body rose. His cigar fell over the edge, as he scrambled for some sort of purchase on the railing, but to no avail. His huge belly rested on the rail, and the two killers heaved him over.
They stuffed their cigars in their pockets, poured the whisky down the sink and quickly washed the glasses, careful not to add fingerprints while drying them.
‘You go and hold the lift open,’ Carl said, ‘and I’ll put these glasses away.’
Kenny ran for the door, and Carl took out the glass he had brought from home from his pocket. He carefully removed the kitchen roll and placed the glass on the coffee table at the side of Grausohn’s. A quick glance around showed him all was good, and he legged it for the lift. Kenny was standing with his back to the edge of the door, holding it op
en.
It descended to the basement at speed, and they ran.
Two minutes later, they were accelerating away, heading for Kenny’s home.
The team was busy sorting through rubbish at the facility when the call came through of a jumper from the exclusive flats.
‘Brian, ring the station and get two PCs in here to help you. I’m taking the others with me. We’ve a death at Cardale Apartments.’
‘Suspicious?’
‘With our luck at the moment, probably. Balcony fall.’
Roberts took Heather and Craig with him and set off to visit the grand apartment block where you needed real money just to ring a doorbell, never mind live there. As a result of this exclusivity, there was a lot of activity, and Roberts walked up to the forensic team who had only been away from the ERF for an hour.
‘You lot out trawling for customers, or something,’ he joked.
And then, he saw the body. It was a huge man, massive in every area.
‘Do we have a name?’
‘According to his wallet contents, he is called Nicolas Grausohn. Mean anything to you?’ Ray Sandler asked.
Roberts shook his head. ‘Not at the moment. Anything suspicious about it?’
‘I’ll know more when I get him back in the lab. Thank God for trolleys on wheels, or I’d be doing the autopsy right here.’ Ray lifted one of Grausohn’s arms and looked at his nails. ‘No sign of a fight, but how do you fall off a balcony by accident? Especially when you’re this size. At first glance, I’d say he took his own life, but we’ll see.’