The Exhibits in Mrs Salmon's Waxworks

by Tim Ellis

  Her eyes opened wide. 'Quigg would never say any of those things. Someone is trying to frame him.'

  'That may very well be the case, Ruth. I don't associate him with having such extreme views, and you know I've always supported Inspector Quigg. However, the videos . . .'

  'You mean there are more than one?'

  'Dozens, I'm afraid. As I was saying, the videos and posts are already out there infecting the internet. As it stands, he has brought the Metropolitan Police Service into disrepute and as such he has already been suspended. I also have no choice but to suspend you as well. Professional Standards have been asked to look into the case as a matter of urgency.'

  'Suspend me!?'

  'You live with Quigg. If any of this turns out to be true, then no one will believe you didn't know.'

  'There is nothing to know. Quigg does not make pornographic videos, and he has no left- or right-wing views. In fact, he has no views worth mentioning at all.'

  'My hands are tied, Ruth. I'm sorry. Let Professional Standards do their job. If, as you say, someone is trying to frame him, then he'll be exonerated and everything will return to normal.'

  She stood up. 'I resign. I should never have taken this job in the first place. All you did was muzzle me. Well, I will not be muzzled anymore. You think the EncroChat operation has solved your corruption problem, but it has not. Already there is another communications network taking on new subscribers. Soon, it will be like the arrests never happened. Goodbye, Charles.' She stormed out, walked along the corridor to her own office, collected her things and called Spud.

  'Yes?'

  'I am ready to go home for the last time, Spud. After today, I won't be needing your services.'

  'Five minutes. Wait in the lobby.'

  Chapter Twenty

  Lucy put her right arm up around Petty Officer Ramona Relish's neck, pulled her down, kissed her and stuck her tongue into the woman's mouth.

  Relish pulled away. 'What the hell? I'm trying to give you mouth-to-mouth here.'

  Lucy opened her eyes. 'And very nice it was too. Sorry! I thought my luck was in.'

  'Maybe later,' Relish said.

  Lucy tried to sit up.

  Relish pushed her back down. 'Not yet.'

  She saw her father with a group of odd-looking men standing around staring at her naked breasts. 'Getting a good eyeful, are you?'

  They shuffled about as if they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

  Relish zipped her up. 'Perverts!' she said. 'Go and wait outside.'

  They shuffled off.

  'How do you feel?' Jack asked her.

  'Betrayed by my own father.' She looked at the skin between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand and said to Relish, 'There's a microchip in my hand. Can you take it out while you're sitting there doing nothing?'

  Relish felt for it and said, 'It'll hurt?'

  'So does being betrayed by your own father.'

  'It wasn't the best birthday present I've ever bought you.'

  'It's the only birthday present you've ever bought me. If I wasn't such a wonderful and likeable person, I'd think you were trying to get rid of your one and only.'

  'You're alive, that's what matters.'

  'No thanks to you. What happened? Among other things, my captors were ready to torture me before they received a phone call, and then they couldn't get away fast enough.'

  'As far as I know, they were using encrypted phones with a communications software called EncroChat . . .'

  'I've heard of it.'

  'They thought it was secure. Unfortunately for them, the NCA and French Gendarmerie hacked into it a while ago and have been monitoring their communications. This morning, they ran a Europe-wide operation and arrested over seven hundred and fifty criminals, which included members of the enterprise, the Board of Directors and the European Investors.'

  Lucy nodded. 'That makes sense. There was a man and a woman here. After receiving that call, they made sure I'd die if they didn't come back by putting a blood-sucking needle in my leg and then left me here.'

  'They won't be coming back.'

  'Didn't Ruth know about Encrochat?'

  'Apparently not.'

  'Ow!' Lucy yelled.

  'Keep your hand still,' Relish admonished her, making a small incision in the skin and wriggling the end of a pair of forceps into the wound to pull out the microchip. 'I did say it would hurt.'

  'Yes, but you didn't say you'd enjoy it.'

  'This is Petty Officer Ramona Relish,' Jack said. 'She's a Medical Technician late of the Royal Navy. She's the one who saved your life. Without her medical skills, you'd be food for the worms.'

  'This is going to hurt as well,' Relish said, as she pulled the cannula out of Lucy's left arm.

  'Ow!' Lucy yelled. 'They kicked you out for torturing your patients, didn't they?'

  'Stop being a baby.'

  'What about me?' Jimmy Crisp said, craning his neck over the dental chair. He yawned. 'I'm feeling a bit tired now.'

  'You will,' Relish said. 'You've lost about two pints of blood.'

  'Who the hell's that?' Lucy asked.

  Jimmy grinned. 'A willing donor. You have two pints of my love blood inside you.' He licked his lips. 'I have other things that you'd enjoy having inside you as well.'

  Lucy stared at Jack. 'Who are these perverts you've brought with you?'

  'Homeless ex-military. They're helping us.'

  'What about the Chairman and the Shadow Board?'

  'Don't know.'

  'We still have work to do then, don't we?'

  'I do. You need to go home and take things easy until you're fully recovered.'

  'I feel like a new woman.'

  'I doubt that.'

  'And those two bastards who were going to torture and kill me are still out there. I'd like to get my hands on them.' She tried to sit up, but her eyes rolled upwards in her head like the reels on a slot machine and she flopped back down again. 'Shit! What the hell happened?'

  Relish grunted. 'You came over all stupid. I'm wondering if your brain was starved of oxygen for longer than three minutes. Stay where you are until I tell you to move, stupid.'

  'I'm impressed with your bedside manner. God! My head's pounding and I feel sick. Did you bring a marching band with you?'

  'You were dead when we found you,' Jack said. 'Ramona dragged you back from the other side. Also, you've had two pints of Jimmy's blood, and your chest pounded for a couple of minutes. I'd say you were pretty lucky just to have a minor headache.'

  'Oh! I feel really lucky.'

  'There you go then.'

  'And there's nothing minor about my headache.'

  Relish stood up, pulled the canula out of Jimmy's arm, stuck a plaster over the wound and helped him to sit up. 'Ready to have those teeth removed, Jimmy?'

  He gave a nervous laugh. 'Yeah, right!'

  'Ask one of the others to come in and help Jimmy to the van, Sir?'

  'Of course.'

  Kincaid appeared still carrying the bolt cutters.

  'Help Jimmy to the back of the van, will you, Kenny.'

  'Okay.'

  Once Kenny and Jimmy had gone, Ramona helped Lucy to sit up. 'Stay there for a minute until your body adjusts.'

  'We salvaged your bike by the way,' Jack said.

  'That's good.'

  'Are you all right in yourself? They didn't do anything to you, did they?'

  'No, they didn't do anything to me. If it hadn't been for that phone call though . . .'

  'Well, you're safe now.'

  'I heard them talking when they thought I was still unconscious.'

  'Talking about what?'

  'The man said, "Vulture77 is the password".'

  'For what?'

  'They never said. I assumed they both knew what they were talking about.'

  'Not much use then?'

  'I suppose not.'

  'Well, let's get you home. You need to rest.'

  'Now you come
to mention it, I do feel bloody knackered.'

  Between the two of them, Jack and Relish helped Lucy to stand and guided her out of the container.

  'Sergeant,' Jack said to Birdwhistle. 'You know what to do.'

  'Yes, Sir.'

  As they walked Lucy to the van, the others set fire to the pile of drugs and shut the container doors.

  Once they'd arrived at the house on Goldhawk Road, Jack and Ramona helped Lucy in.

  'Are you staying?' Lucy said to Ramona.

  'I wasn't planning on it.'

  'I think you should. Just in case I have a relapse.'

  'A relapse of what?'

  'Stupidity.'

  'From what I've seen, there's certainly a high probability of that.'

  'So, you'll stay?'

  She glanced at Jack. 'Is that all right with you, Sir?'

  'Can't do any harm. My motto is always, "Better To Be Safe Than Sorry".'

  'I thought it was "Who Dares Wins"?'

  'They're interchangeable.'

  'I think I'm having a relapse.'

  He leant over and kissed her on the forehead. 'Glad to have you back, Lucy. I'll see you both in the morning. We need to get back to work before they re-group and come after us again.'

  'Us?'

  'Me, more like.'

  ***

  Duffy reached the Buffalo Steakhouse first, found an empty table, sat down and ordered a glass of red wine.

  Quigg came in shortly afterwards and kissed her on the back of the neck. 'You're looking like a goddess as always, Duffy.'

  'Very kind, Sir.'

  He called the waiter over and ordered a shandy.

  'Have you looked at the menu?' he asked her.

  'Are you in a rush? I thought we were having a romantic meal for two?'

  He smiled. 'And we are. Take as long as you want. I have all the time in the world.'

  She picked up the menu and began examining her options.

  The waiter brought his shandy.

  'Thanks,' Quigg said.

  'Are you ready to order, Sir?'

  'Give us a couple of minutes.'

  'Certainly.'

  Quigg rifled through the menu. He already knew what he wanted. Given the choice, he would always choose the steak – it was his favourite meal.

  The waiter returned.

  'Ready, Duffy?'

  'Yes. What's the fish of the day?'

  'Salmon, Madam.'

  'I'll have that with new potatoes and peas, please.'

  'And, Sir?'

  'The ten ounce sirloin – medium rare – with triple cooked chips, peas and black pepper sauce.'

  'Certainly, Sir.'

  The waiter left.

  Duffy's mobile vibrated.

  It was Lucy.

  'Is it important?'

  'Life or death.'

  'What?'

  'Where are you?'

  'The Buffalo Steakhouse with Quigg.'

  'A secret assignation?'

  'I have something to show him.'

  'You'll get arrested.'

  'Well, it was nice talking to you.'

  'Get me two boner kebabs and two cans of coke on your way back.'

  'Two?'

  'I have a guest.'

  'A guest?'

  'There seems to be an echo on my phone.'

  The line went dead.

  'Who was it?' Quigg asked.

  'Lucy. We have to stop off at the kebab shop on the way back to get her two doner kebabs.'

  'Two?'

  'She has a guest.'

  'A guest! Who?'

  'No idea.'

  'Well, I need to have words with Lucy Fifi . . .'

  'She'll kill you if she hears you calling her that.'

  'I've been suspended because she fell asleep on the job.'

  'What do you mean?'

  He told her about the pornographic videos and the extremist posts under his name, and how Lucy was meant to have stopped them from ever being published. 'So, I need to have serious words with Lucy Fifi.'

  'And you've been suspended?'

  'It's hard to believe, isn't it? I mean, pornographic videos – when do I ever get the time to have sex with other women? And as for extremist views! I have no views of any kind about anything – everybody knows that. I know the Chief is doing what he has to do. Professional Standards will investigate and find me innocent of all charges, you'll see. The trouble is though, it'll take time. In the meantime, my investigation has been handed – lock, stock and smoking barrel – to DI Singh. He couldn't find a pig in a poke, and they're easy enough to find. Not only that, I'm worried about Rummage.'

  'Why?'

  'That's just it – I don't know. There's something not quite right going on with her, but she's keeping schtum. I was working on her, but now . . .' He shrugged. 'I can't have any contact with her.'

  'I have something here that will get you back in the Chief's good books.'

  'Is this what you wanted to show me?'

  'Yes.' She slid one of the notebooks out from the plastic bag she had propped up against the leg of the table and passed it to him.

  'What is it?'

  'Take a look.'

  'Is this to do with your disappearing lady?'

  'Yes and no.'

  'I'm impressed with your decisiveness.' He opened up the green notebook. 'January – December 2015. Uh huh! So, it's five years old. Project Gigi. Sounds a bit weird.' He read the neat writing, examined the drawings, looked at the photographs, and then skimmed through the other five projects – Helen, India, Jackie, Kayleigh and Linda. 'Is this for real?'

  'That's notebook number two. I have another five of those with six victims in each, except for the last one, which has five. The notebooks were removed in October from 23 Odger Street in Battersea by the husband of the woman who disappeared. He was a pest control operative and was fumigating the house when he found the notebooks. A couple of days after he took them, he died in a suspicious road traffic accident. A Mister Keller lives at the address. If he's still following the same timeline, he'll have abducted another woman in November and she could still be alive.'

  'What do you want me to do, Duffy? As I mentioned earlier, I'm suspended. What it means is that I'm no longer a police officer. If I even think about doing any kind of police work, I'll be dismissed from the force, prosecuted and more than likely lose my pension.'

  'I didn't know you were a coward, Sir.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'There could be a woman being tortured in that house, and all you're worried about is your career, going to jail and your pension.'

  'That's not fair, Duffy.'

  'If you're not the man I thought you were, then I might have to look for another man.'

  'You don't mean that.'

  'Don't I?'

  The waiter brought their food. 'Bon appetit.'

  'Thank you,' Quigg said.

  'Well?'

  'I'm eating.'

  'And while you're stuffing your face, a woman is chained up in a cellar being subjected to unspeakable abominations.'

  He put his knife and fork down. 'Since you started your ghostly endeavour, I'm seeing a different side to you, Duffy.' He pulled out his phone and called Rummage.

  'This is the voice of DC Rummage. If you're DI Quigg, then you need to end the call now, because the Chief said you were persona non grata and I was not to have any contact with you until Professional Standards had found you guilty as charged.'

  'I'm innocent, Rummage.'

  'I only have your word for that. And you do know I'll have to report this conversation to Professional Standards, don't you?'

  'We have a case.'

  'There is no "we", Sir. DI Singh is my boss now. And you can't take cases, because you're suspended.'

  'Not until tomorrow morning.'

  'I'm off duty until then.'

  'We have the opportunity to save a young woman from torture and certain death, Rummage.'

  'You want to drag me down with you,
is that what you mean?'

  'We're partners, aren't we? Do you want me to go into a house without back-up?'

  'But what about the Chief? What about your suspension? What about me?' She burst into tears.

  'What the hell's wrong with you, Rummage? And don't say nothing, or it's none of my business, or . . .'

  'I have nowhere to live.'

  'I don't understand. You've been here in Hammersmith for three months now, where have you been living?'

  'I did have somewhere to live, but now I don't.'

  'And why is that?'

  'I have no money, Sir.'

  'And why do you have no money? If I'm not mistaken, you're on nearly fifty thousand pounds a year, so where is it all going?'

  There was a gnawing silence at the other end.

  'Has the battery on your phone expired as well, Rummage?'

  'Painkillers.'

  'Don't joke, Rummage. As you know, I've had a bad day.'

  'I'm not joking. I had a spinal injury on the job a year ago in Kent. It's better now, but it was bad for a long time. At the start, the doctors gave me Hydrocodone for the pain, but that stopped working after six weeks, so he changed it to Morphine. Then, after a while, he wouldn't give me any more. By that time, I was taking twice the dose I was meant to be taking. In the end, I had to buy Morphine tablets from drug dealers, but soon the Morphine didn't work either. After that, I took Oxycodone, then Hydromorphone. Now, I'm taking Fentanyl.'

  'I'm struggling, Rummage.'

  'I'm the one who's struggling, Sir. I'm down to my last two tablets. I have nowhere to live, I have no money and I owe a drug dealer twenty thousand pounds plus interest.'

  'Jesus!'

  'Praying doesn't help, Sir. I've tried it.'

  'And let's not talk about you losing your job.'

  'I know.'

  'Okay! We can help each other. You come with me to this house where the woman is chained up, and I'll help you sort your problems out.'

  'Really, Sir? You're not going to report me?'

  'What would be the point in that? You're a good detective. And not only that, the Chief made it quite clear that if anything happened to you, it would be my fault. So, I have a personal incentive to keep you as my partner. Where are you now?'

  'I'm on my way to Terminal Two at Heathrow. The only thing I have left of any value is my Oyster Card, so I've been sleeping and washing there since I was evicted from my apartment last Friday.'