by Joy Ellis
‘Shall I get Travis or Stuart in? Get one of them to give us a ball park guess on the chances?’
‘Yes.’ Nikki suddenly shook her head. ‘Second thoughts, no, don’t. Let’s run it past Vinnie Silver. He’s a security boffin, so he’ll know what kind of crook uses that sort of method.’ She paused. ‘He is still around, isn’t he?’
‘Yes, he rang me half an hour ago. He’s organised what he called a “virtual command post” for us to monitor the cameras that he’s set up, and once he’s shown us that he wondered if we needed him anymore. I told him to come in and see you. He should be here any time now.’
A few minutes later Vinnie was sat next to them. They swiftly filled him in on what had transpired and his face filled with an expression of disbelief.
‘Sorry, guys, but I’d say there’s little doubt that the same skilled operative did both jobs. It’s far from simple, and to do it in exactly the same way is, well, almost impossible.’
‘But that means that Magda Hellekamp’s death and Snipe are connected.’ Nikki drew in a gasp of air. ‘But we know that the Operation Windmill killer used a team of crack professionals to support him that must have cost a fortune!’
‘I’ve been thinking about that team, what did you call them? Rent-a-Crook?’ Joseph nibbled on the inside of his cheek. ‘And something has been bothering me about the attacks on us.’
Nikki looked at him unblinking. She had a sneaky feeling that he was going to say exactly what she was thinking.
Joseph looked from her to Vinnie. ‘It started with a fire, set by a very competent arsonist. The fire investigator called him very clever and said that he was no amateur.’
Nikki nodded then added, ‘Followed up by a complex, deliberate and lethal hit-and-run carried out by a professional. And someone who dared to take the stolen vehicle that he used to my place and park it in my barn.’
‘After using steam and special cleansers to render it free from all trace evidence.’ Joseph finished off.
Vinnie joined in. ‘Your cars, your phones and your homes have been placed under surveillance. Okay, maybe not using the most hi-tech spy-ware, but using very efficient and almost untraceable gear.’
‘Then someone calmly walked into the nick, froze the CCTV and tampered with my car.’ Nikki felt her eyes narrow. ‘And we still don’t know how he opened the car without the alarm going off.’ Her face tautened, ‘Or what has become of our old colleague, Brian Faulkner, whose blood was used.’
‘And some evil sod placed a vicious acid in a bouquet of flowers causing indiscriminate harm and suffering.’ Joseph’s face was full of bitterness when he spoke those words. ‘That’s terrorism.’
‘And Tamsin’s phone was stolen very professionally in a cleverly organised ruse to derail her plans and send her to your place,’ Vinnie put in.
‘And don’t forget the dummy bomb in Joseph’s shed.’
‘And the scam to send Dave’s life savings round the world on the trip of a lifetime.’
Nikki let out a long whistle. ‘So, we have murder, attempted murder, arson, theft, deception, money laundering, cybercrime, abduction and terrorism. What does that tell you, my friends?’
‘That it’s not the work of a single criminal,’ Vinnie stated. ‘Your Snipe has employed a crack team to get at you, all experts in their different fields.’
‘Rent-a-Crook. Is that possible?’ Joseph’s voice was low.
The more Nikki thought about it the more possible it became. As Vinnie said, no one man could be so adept at all those different crimes, unless he was some kind of super villain. No, Snipe had help, professional help. ‘But he’d need money. Lots of money,’ she murmured, almost to herself.
‘Possibly, but not necessarily,’ Vinnie said quietly. ‘You know what Rent-a-Crook’s cybercrime department did with Dave’s accounts. As long as Snipe had a moderate sum to put down, he could use them to ‘generate’ as much as they needed. And another thing, Snipe could be on Rent-a-Crook’s payroll. You never know, they might even give staff discount!’ He gave a short bark of laughter. ‘Mind you, I reckon some of his crooked mates might jump at the chance to take a pop at the police, purely for the love of it.’ He leaned back in his chair, tilting the front legs off the floor and the grin faded. ‘But that doesn’t answer why he’s doing it in the first place. All that crap about compensation. What the hell is that about, and excuse my language, but who is the fucker anyway?’
Nikki had no answers. But she had the feeling that for the first time in a long while, they were on the right track. She glanced out of the office window and saw Yvonne still working on the whiteboards. Someone wanted compensation, and she was sure that person was within touching distance. ‘Okay, you two. We are agreed on this. Although I don’t know what the hell the connection between our two cases means, it has to mean something. So let’s go share it with the troops.’
* * *
Most of the others had been stood down for the night, but Yvonne and Dave still laboured away in the almost empty CID room. Through the DI’s office window, Yvonne could see the boss and the sarge still talking to Joseph’s friend. A little earlier they had shared their thoughts about Snipe using the international criminal agency that they had nicknamed Rent-a-Crook, as back up. It made perfect sense to her. Trouble was they still didn’t have an ID on Snipe.
Yvonne sat back, pulled out her phone and tried Cat’s mobile number. After a couple of rings, the girl answered. The line faded a little, but the signal was fair.
‘How’s life in solitary?’
‘Bloody awful!’ Cat didn’t mince her words. ‘Now I feel so much better, I’m going stir-crazy! Even the nurses are starting to look like foreign spies! Still, I should be out either tomorrow or the next day.’
Yvonne smiled. ‘That’s brilliant news. And heavens, the team certainly misses you! Niall and I are doing our best, but we are foot soldiers, not detectives. I’m far more comfortable outside, people and situation-watching. I like to see faces in front of me, not a computer screen.’
‘I’m sure that’s true, but you have one hell of a policeman’s nose when it comes to gut feelings. The boss is always saying that you’re the best there is when it comes to hunches.’
‘Well, they haven’t served me too well this time.’ Yvonne sighed. ‘My first intuition was the French family, but I’ve sat with them and talked to them, and I guess I’m wrong there.’
‘No dodgy characters in the family tree?’
‘Not one. And although they were all still gutted by what happened to James, and then William, their anger was somehow tempered, sort of diluted down to hurt and sadness.’
‘That’s what you’d expect as time passes. I’ve seen it before. The raw pain gives way to a different kind of grief.’ Cat paused, then added. ‘I’ve been looking at William French too, only using some of Travis’s sites. I have to admit that William came over as a very well-balanced and reliable young man, until his father was murdered. Blogs and postings on the Internet all recognise him as a genuine, all-round good guy.’
Yvonne agreed. ‘It was as if someone threw a switch, and the peacemaker, the quiet, honest lad turned into a dark and vengeful warrior.’
‘Then lost it totally and hit the bottle.’
‘And anything else he could get his hands on.’ Yvonne grunted. ‘And not being a regular user, the chemicals would have had a much stronger effect on him, poor little devil.’
‘Well, I’ll keep looking. If you have a feeling about that family, I’m with the guv’nor regarding your hunches so I’ll run with it. I trust your instincts even if you don’t.’ She exhaled. ‘And I’ve nothing else to bloody well do here, have I? God! I want to get back to work!’
Yvonne felt the girl’s frustration pulsating down the phone. ‘Hang on in there, kid. Just a day or so and you’ll be a free woman again. But you haven’t told me how you’re really doing? I mean physically?’
‘Fantastic. The facial dressing came off this morning and hell, Yv
onne, I was scared, but it’s okay. Honestly, it’s going to be one heck of a lot better than I feared. If it wasn’t for this wound infection, I’d be home by now. But still, the doc reckons that the antibiotics are getting on top of it.’
They talked for a bit longer and then Yvonne hung up and sat staring into space.
Gut feelings were a strange phenomenon. She knew that it was a mistake to ignore them, but for the love of Pete, she couldn’t fathom why she felt so twitchy about William French.
It was like reading a page on a report, and knowing that there was a spelling mistake somewhere but you couldn’t identify it. Or knowing that someone had just told a lie, but you couldn’t prove it. It was that feeling of unease in the night when you are about to walk into a dark alleyway and the foreboding you feel before you enter a silent, derelict house. Yvonne drew in a deep breath. It was all that, but subtler. Much subtler.
‘Sod it!’ She stared at her notes on the French family. ‘Come on, Yvonne, get a grip. There’s something here. There has to be! So what am I missing?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Joseph stared at the dregs of his coffee and decided that his failing brain cells needed another, a stronger one. As he walked to the vending machine, he went over a call he had just taken from Yorkshire. The last sighting of Windsor Morton had been five days ago, in a trucker’s cafe outside Hull. So he had been heading in their direction.
‘Got the same idea, Bunny? More caffeine?’ He had not noticed Vinnie walking up behind him.
Joseph nodded and fished in his trouser pocket for some more change. ‘Black, three sugars?
Vinnie nodded. ‘Good memory. And your boss would like a top-up too.’ He leaned against the side of the machine and looked carefully at Joseph. ‘Are you quite sure that you and her are not having a fling?’
‘I’d know, wouldn’t I?’ Joseph shot back, with what he hoped was a flippant air. ‘No, Vinnie. We are close, but as friends and colleagues. We’ve been through some pretty heavy stuff together and . . .’ He shrugged. ‘I care about her. I care a lot, but that’s all.’ He looked directly at Vinnie, but could not quite read what his old friend was thinking.
‘Then you’re a fool, Bunny-boy.’ Vinnie heaved in a long breath. ‘I’ve seen her look at you and I’d give my eye-teeth for someone to look at me like that.’
Joseph looked down at the coffee dribbling into the beaker. ‘Like what?’
Vinnie raised his eyebrows, then shook his head. ‘I give up. There’s none so blind, isn’t that what they say? But I’d watch out, soldier, cos if you ignore what’s right in front of your nose for too long, someone else might not be so lily-livered!’ He took the beaker from Joseph and grinned broadly. ‘I never thought that Joseph Easter would be a wuss when it came to romance. You were one of the bravest guys I ever had the privilege to fight alongside, but put you in front of a beautiful woman, and a bowl of porridge would have more guts!’
‘Don’t push it, Vinnie. That woman has gone to hell and back over the last few years and she cremated her only daughter just weeks ago. Even if I did think there was a chance of something between us, and I don’t, do you think she’d welcome that idea right now? And smack in the middle of a murder enquiry? One that is affecting us all? Get real, man. I’d scare her off in seconds, and maybe ruin a great friendship and working partnership too.’
‘Ah-ha! And there you have it in a nutshell. You are scared! Scared to lose what you already have, even if it is second best.’ Vinnie was in his face. ‘I think you should get real, Joseph Easter, or prepare to lose something amazing.’ He raised his coffee in a salute. ‘Think about it. Even if you’ve never admitted it to yourself before, think about it now. Take time off from crime and think, before it’s too late.’
As they walked silently back towards Nikki’s office, Joseph’s reverie was broken by a shout.
Dave’s voice rang across the CID room. ‘Sarge! There’s been a sighting of Stephen Cox! On the Carborough Estate.’
Joseph dumped the coffee on the nearest desk and ran for Nikki’s office.
When he got there she was on her way out, car keys in hand. ‘Heard it! With me.’ She beckoned to Dave, ‘and you, and Yvonne too. Come on.’ She paused, then called across to Vinnie. ‘Stay here! We need to talk again as soon as we’re back.’
‘Can I come with you? Another pair of hands and all that?’
‘Sorry, Vinnie. This guy is dangerous.’
‘And I’m not?’
‘You may well be, but you are a dangerous civilian. It’s more than my job’s worth.’ Nikki threw him an apologetic smile, and ran towards the lifts. ‘Joseph, find out more details from the desk sergeant while I bring the car to the back door, okay?’
Two minutes later, Nikki’s father’s old car was flying out of the gates. ‘By the sound of it he was in the vicinity of Archie Leonard’s place.’
‘Alone?’ Nikki swung the big Countryman onto the main road leading to the Carborough.
‘That hasn’t been confirmed, but he could have been with two others. He was spotted by a uniformed officer answering a domestic violence call nearby.’
‘What’s he doing going near the Leonard family? Has he got a death wish?’ asked Yvonne. ‘If Raymond Leonard sees him he’ll be wearing weights and swimming vertically in the Wayland River before midnight.’
‘Best place,’ muttered Joseph. ‘Let’s hope Raymond sees him before we do.’
As they approached the estate, Joseph saw two chequered police cars ahead of them, then he heard their radio crackle into life advising the cars of the areas to patrol.
‘We’re very close, so we’ll go directly to Archie,’ said Nikki. ‘Maybe he already knows that he has something nasty in his neighbourhood, but if he doesn’t, then we should warn him.’
‘Ma’am! Wait!’ Yvonne clutched Nikki’s shoulder over the back of the driving seat. ‘Pull up! I’ve just seen a shadow where there shouldn’t be one!’
The car slid to a halt, and before anyone could say anything more, Yvonne was out and running.
Joseph threw open the back door, leapt out and raced after her, calling back as he ran. ‘Guv! This is probably just some kid scared by the police presence. You go see if Archie is okay. And if this is Cox, he’s running away from Archie’s place! Not towards it!’
The narrow lane led along the rear of the houses in Archie’s street. There were tall wooden gates and fences between them and the poky yards and gardens attached to the back of the properties. It wasn’t as grim as it used to be, but it was still dark and unwelcoming. Ahead of him, Joseph could see the outline of Yvonne, running flat out and far faster than any woman of her age should have been able to. Joseph was pretty fit, but he was still out of breath when he caught her up.
‘Down here!’ she gasped. ‘I swear it’s Cox! He’s just gone over that fence immediately ahead of us!’
‘Then we need to get him fast, because that alley leads back to the main road.’
One after the other, Yvonne and Joseph heaved themselves over the high fence. ‘There!’ Yvonne pointed, and Joseph saw a figure slip from the shadow of an old garage and make a dash for the road some 100 yards ahead.
As he ran, Joseph remembered that the man had once been a professional footballer, and he clearly still kept himself in shape. He was running like the wind, but Joseph felt a rush of adrenalin and took off after him like an Olympic sprinter.
‘Come back here, you bastard!’ called out Joseph. ‘You and I have a score to settle!’
Maybe he heard a reply, or it could have been his own rasping breath, but somehow, just like Yvonne, he knew it was Stephen Cox’s feet that were slapping rhythmically on the pavement ahead of him. ‘Radio for back up!’ he yelled to Yvonne, and he saw her lessen her pace and pull out her radio.
‘Go, Sarge!’ she called back. ‘Don’t let him get away.’
He knew that he was gaining on his adversary, but the road was very close now, and Joseph had the horrible feeling t
hat a car would be waiting. What the hell had Cox been doing? He felt a chill of concern for Archie Leonard.
Just a few more yards!
They burst from the lane with Joseph’s outstretched hand close to the runner’s shoulder. Light from the street lamps shed an unreal amber glow into the darkness. Joseph willed his body into one last push, and he grabbed at the man’s jacket. As his fingers closed around the smooth material, he was side-swiped by a blow that made him think of his last university rugby match, the one that had broken three ribs and punctured a lung.
Air blasted from his chest and he went to the ground with a bone-jarring thud. As his watering eyes focussed, he looked up and saw someone standing over him. He also saw another man, arm raised and ready to pole-axe the next person to emerge from the alley.
‘Yvonne! Look out!’ His voice was barely a rasp, but it was enough.
As he took a vicious kick in the ribs from his assailant, he saw her break her headlong run, sidestep and grab at the man’s raised arm.
Even as pain burnt through his body like wildfire, he took delight in hearing the satisfying crunch of a dislocating shoulder and the scream of agony that followed it.
‘Leave them, you idiots! Get us out of here!’
Joseph’s throat went tight and dry as he recognised the voice. He rolled over, gasping as his ribs came in contact with the hard ground, and saw the man who had tackled him hauling his injured mate from Yvonne’s grip.
‘The bitch has done my fucking shoulder in!’
‘Get in the car or I’ll do the other one myself!’ Cox opened one of the back doors of the 4x4, then ran around to the driver’s side. ‘Sorry, Joseph, I’d love to stay and go over old times, but don’t worry, we’ll meet again.’