The Reckoning

by Jane Casey

  ‘I’m sure it was popular.’ Again, Belcott looked past me. ‘Wouldn’t have thought it of you, Rob. It was a real eye-opener when we started watching the film clips.’

  I suddenly felt cold. ‘Film clips. From inside my flat.’

  ‘You and Langton going at it like bunnies. It was good of you to leave the lights on – that night-vision camera work gives me the creeps. It always reminds me of a nature documentary and that’s not what you want when you’re thinking about knocking one out.’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘Do you want to see? The site’s been pulled by the host company but I took the precaution of downloading the clips to my machine. I was thinking of raffling a look at them to raise money for the next Police Dependant’s Trust appeal.’ He turned the monitor around and showed me the files on his desktop. Each had a thumbnail picture and I could see enough to know that Belcott had seen far more than I would have wished. ‘Want to see more?’

  ‘You absolute fucker.’

  ‘I got them taken down. I’ve protected your honour, Kerrigan. You should be on your knees thanking me.’ His manner left me in no doubt about what I was supposed to be doing while I was down there to show him my gratitude and I took a step towards him, not really sure how much damage I could do in a room full of police trained in restraint techniques, but willing to have a go nonetheless.

  ‘All I need to do is click and everyone can see what I’ve seen. Gather round.’ He aimed that at everyone else in the team. ‘Roll up, roll up for the greatest show on earth, if you like watching a bit of old-fashioned shagging.’

  ‘That’s it. I am going to hurt you.’ I stepped around Belcott’s desk, the red mist preventing me from thinking about the consequences. I wanted to rip his head off.

  Rob was too quick for me. He bent down and unplugged Belcott’s computer. ‘Plug it back in and regret it, Belcock. I’m having it wiped by IT under my supervision.’

  Colin Vale was nodding enthusiastically. ‘That’s what I told him we should do.’

  ‘Spoilsports.’ Belcott grinned at me. ‘Never mind. I’ve got my memories.’

  It would take buckets of bleach to make me feel clean again. I moved away from him, my fingers still twitching with the desire to do him some serious violence.

  ‘Did you trace the wiring to Chris Swain’s flat or did something else tip you off?’ Rob asked.

  I had to give him credit for still being able to focus on the case; he was presumably as bothered as I was about the invasion of our privacy, and the ramifications which were only just beginning to sink in. Our relationship was common knowledge. Godley might have ignored the kiss he’d seen at the hospital if he was feeling kind, but when the entire squad knew about our relationship, he couldn’t exactly turn a blind eye. One of us would have to volunteer to bow out. I was listening to Colin Vale’s answer, but most of my brain was dealing with the realisation that I had run out of road.

  ‘We had our suspicions that someone at Maeve’s house was involved because the IP address for the person who posted the material came back to somewhere near there. We weren’t able to pinpoint it before we went to do the search.’ A nervous glance at Belcott. ‘We both felt it was more important to find out the level of intrusion into Maeve’s personal space and whether it was common to other flats in the same building.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘The flat above hers was also wired extensively, as was the top floor. It was clear that the wiring stemmed from the right ground-floor residence. Nothing was found in the flat directly above that – it’s the landlord’s, I believe.’

  ‘So he was spying on Szuszanna and Brody as well as me.’ I was still feeling nauseous. ‘I thought he was friends with Brody.’

  ‘Maybe Brody didn’t mind,’ Rob suggested. ‘Actors perform. Maybe he liked being watched.’

  I pulled a face. ‘Don’t. At least Walter’s private life will remain a mystery. But he must have known what was going on. I think he tried to warn me about it. I thought it was just that he didn’t like you.’

  ‘Big of him. Presumably he was worried that interfering with a copper was a risk too far.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t for any noble reason that he wanted to stop it. Walter and I never really became close, but I wouldn’t suspect him of having many of the finer feelings.’

  Rob looked back to Belcott. ‘How did you let Swain go? Were you in too much of a rush to get warrants for the whole place?’

  ‘We just assumed it would be someone off-site. And he knew as soon as we started knocking on walls – I mean, we couldn’t do it quietly, could we? He was gone before we’d traced the first set of wires to his flat.’

  ‘For fuck’s sake—’

  ‘Don’t pretend you’d have done it differently,’ Belcott said warningly. ‘It’s not our fault.’

  ‘But it was our best chance to arrest him.’ Rob was glowering and I realised all of a sudden that he was truly worried about Chris Swain. The thought was about equally comforting and disturbing.

  ‘Once the Bancrofts got nicked, he must have thought it was only a matter of time before he got caught so he ran. They were major figures on the website – heroes, for what they had done with Cheyenne and Patricia and the others.’

  ‘The others?’ I asked.

  ‘We think they did the same thing to at least three other women, based on we could see on the site. But we can’t get at all of it. We’re just going on comments made by other users.’

  ‘Oh, no.’ I leaned against the nearest piece of furniture, suddenly weak. I had feared it, and DI Stone had more or less expected it, but it was still devastating to have our suspicions confirmed. And currently we had no idea how to trace them, dead or alive, or even who they had been. I imagined three other families like the Farinellis, waiting for their own miracle.

  ‘The site included a forum where users exchanged gossip, tips, that sort of thing. We were concerned that the news about what had happened to the Bancrofts would drive other contributors underground. There was evidence to preserve. We didn’t hang around.’

  I rallied. ‘You wanted a chance to look through my underwear drawer, Belcott. Don’t dress it up.’

  ‘We missed Swain by minutes.’ Belcott actually looked a little bit ashamed. ‘The more I find out about him, the more I regret it. He was one of the founder members of Zabolagee.com. He had access privileges at every level, which is how he found the Cheyenne material. Why he sent it to you and drew attention to himself is a mystery when he could have watched you more or less at will for as long as he liked. But from what he wrote about you, I’d have to say he was pretty far gone.’

  ‘I thought he just had a crush. He was pathetic. I didn’t take him seriously.’

  ‘You should have,’ Colin Vale said seriously. ‘He has a penchant for drugging and raping women. He doesn’t like it when they fight.’

  Rob was looking at me. ‘Do you remember the night you had a drink with him and Brody? You seemed a bit out of it when I got there.’

  ‘I’d had a bang on the head,’ I pointed out. ‘I’d just got back from the hospital. I was entitled to feel a bit strange.’

  ‘Did you finish your drink?’ Colin Vale asked.

  ‘I just had a few sips.’ I was thinking about it and coming to a very disturbing conclusion. ‘Oh shit. No wonder he was pissed off when I wouldn’t stay. And then you turned up, Rob.’ I started to laugh, slightly hysterically. ‘Poor Chris. That didn’t go his way at all.’

  Rob didn’t look as if he found it funny. ‘What are you doing about finding him?’

  ‘We’ve got a trace on his known credit cards and bank account. We’ve notified the police forces in areas he’s been known to live, where he has friends or family. There’s an alert out to all ports and he’s been circulated as wanted on the PNC in case someone stops him somewhere. He dumped his mobile so we don’t have live cell-site, unfortunately, and he didn’t have a car. It’s as if he was ready to drop off the face of th
e earth.’

  ‘He probably was. He must have known this day would come,’ I said. ‘He wasn’t stupid.’

  ‘We’ll track him down.’ Godley had emerged from his office without my noticing. Of course, he would know all about it already. It was an active investigation under his command. But I still blushed to the roots of my hair at the thought of what he now knew about me, and what he might have seen.

  He looked at me levelly. ‘Don’t allow yourself to worry about Swain. You’ve got the full might of the Met at your back and we won’t stop until he’s in custody. You have my word.’

  ‘I’m sure he’s got enough sense to stay well away from me.’

  ‘Maeve, you’re the first mistake he’s made,’ Rob said gently. ‘I don’t think he has a lot of sense where you’re concerned.’

  ‘Very reassuring.’

  ‘I want you worried. And careful. And in one piece.’

  I was embarrassed by the frankness with which he spoke, but then there was no reason to hide any more. Just like that, I made up my mind.

  ‘Could I have a word with you, sir?’

  ‘Now, Maeve?’ Godley checked his watch, looking hassled. ‘I’m just on my way to interview Lee Bancroft again. We’re still trying to work out who they took before Patricia. She certainly wasn’t the first, but Lee isn’t willing to cooperate.’

  I backed down instantly; it wasn’t a conversation I had really wanted to have anyway. ‘After that.’

  ‘Fine.’ Godley began to walk away, then stopped. ‘Have you spoken to Lee?’

  ‘Not since the initial interview. Before he was a suspect.’

  ‘Want to give it a try? It can’t hurt for him to see a fresh face.’

  ‘Of course.’ I could feel Belcott’s death stare on my back as I walked out with the superintendent. Suck it up, you little creep.

  ‘He’s been asking about you.’ Godley sounded embarrassed and I suddenly knew what was coming. I got in first.

  ‘You want me to flirt. Act the bimbo.’

  ‘Hard questioning isn’t getting us anywhere. You’re better than that, obviously, but—’

  I smiled, but without humour. ‘“The end justifies the means”, as DI Derwent would say.’

  ‘Machiavelli said it first.’

  ‘I doubt he meant it the way Derwent does.’ We had reached the door of the interview room. I took off my jacket and undid a couple of shirt buttons, then shook my hair free from its clip, hating Godley for asking me to do it, hating myself for not saying no. If I got Lee to confess, it would be worth it, I told myself. ‘How do I look? Unprofessional?’

  ‘Wildly so.’ Godley handed me a folder. ‘Pictures of possible victims. They disappeared in the right time frame; no sightings since.’ It was a depressingly fat folder.

  ‘Thanks.’ I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. ‘I’m ready.’

  Godley opened the door, saying to me over his shoulder, ‘I still don’t think it’s a good idea – oh! Mr Bancroft. You’re here already.’ Another anxious look in my direction. ‘I didn’t realise.’ And the Oscar goes to …

  I took small steps as I walked into the room instead of my usual leggy stride. I looked nervously at Lee Bancroft, glanced at his solicitor, then stared at him again with all the acuity of a rabbit gazing at a pair of headlights.

  ‘Mr Bancroft. Or – can I call you Lee?’

  ‘Maeve.’ He smiled. ‘It’s nice to see you again.’

  ‘Let’s get this interview started,’ Godley snapped, pretending to be irritated as he poked at the tape recorder.

  ‘You’ve been watching me,’ I said very softly, my eyes as big as saucers. This is for your ears only, Lee. I want to talk to you and only you. ‘I had no idea.’

  ‘We enjoyed the show. And we enjoyed meeting you.’ Another smile. ‘Sometimes simple pleasures are the best.’

  ‘Is that what it was? A simple pleasure?’ I allowed myself to look distressed, biting my lip. ‘I just didn’t have any idea.’

  ‘Stop chatting, Maeve, and do your job.’ Godley switched on the machine and recited the preamble, sounding bored, as if he was rushing through it. He flung himself into a chair beside me and I barely acknowledged his presence, staring into Lee’s eyes as if I had been hypnotised.

  ‘You might as well begin.’

  ‘Oh. Okay.’ I opened the folder and closed it again, flustered. ‘We wanted to ask you about some other missing women.’ I looked at Godley quickly, as if for guidance.

  ‘Who else did you kidnap?’ the superintendent demanded. ‘We know there were more, Lee. It wasn’t just Patricia and Cheyenne.’

  ‘No one worth talking about.’

  ‘There were three of them, weren’t there? We’ve found references to them on the website. Three women who we haven’t traced. What happened to them, Lee?’

  ‘I have nothing to say to you.’

  Godley had been leaning on the table; now he sat back in his chair with an air of resignation.

  ‘Maybe …’I sounded hesitant. ‘Maybe you could tell me what happened. With the women. So I can understand. I want to understand.’

  He gave a tiny shrug, as if he was annoyed by the question but amused enough to indulge me. ‘They suffered from built-in obsolescence. We had our fun and then we were done with them.’

  ‘If they were alive, they’d have complained to us about what you did. Wouldn’t they?’

  ‘Maybe. Some of them liked it.’

  Of course they did. ‘I really need to know who they were, Lee. For their families. For my own sake – I’m under a lot of pressure here.’ I flicked my eyes sideways to where Godley was sitting. Please help me because the big bad boss is bullying me. Only you can save me …

  ‘I’d like to help. But I don’t recall.’

  ‘Maybe these will jog your memory.’ I opened the file again and laid three photographs in front of him. ‘Pick out the women you recognise, Lee.’

  He shook his head, but it was a no that meant ‘I don’t recognise anyone’, not a refusal. I laid out another three pictures.

  ‘What about these?’

  The pictures were of variable quality, some blurry with enlargement, others pin-sharp studio portraits. One was a wedding photograph and it made me feel physically sick when Lee laid a finger on it. ‘That one. I think her name was … Sadie.’

  ‘Sally,’ Godley said. ‘Not Sadie. She was twenty-three.’

  Lee nodded. ‘Separated from her husband. Looking for fun.’

  ‘What did she find?’

  ‘That there was a certain pleasure in being obedient.’ His tone was terrifyingly matter-of-fact.

  ‘Where is she now?’

  He gave Godley a cold stare for interrupting. ‘You’ll have to find her, won’t you?’

  ‘We need some idea where to look, Lee. She could be anywhere. Did you leave the body somewhere, as you did with Cheyenne? Did you bury her? Burn her? Dump her in water?’

  ‘We buried her.’

  ‘Where?’ Godley again.

  ‘You’ll have to work it out.’

  ‘Did you keep her at your uncle’s house?’ I don’t know what put it into my head; maybe because they had seemed so comfortable with death, with corpses, with their own slaves in their own world. ‘You didn’t want to part with her, did you? Not when you owned her, body and soul. Even though all you had left was the body.’

  ‘Not stupid, are you?’ He didn’t look pleased at that idea.

  ‘It was a lucky guess.’ Godley glowered at both of us. ‘Where at the house? Outside?’

  ‘Somewhere away from the house itself,’ I said softly. ‘Somewhere that wasn’t overlooked so the neighbours didn’t see you bury her. But somewhere you could see easily so you could keep an eye on her.’

  He smirked instead of answering and Godley nodded, making a note. We would search the ground for signs of disturbance, for traces of decomposition in the soil. We would find her. If I was right.

  ‘Will you look at more pictures
for me?’

  ‘Pictures of you?’

  I didn’t have to fake the heat that came into my cheeks. ‘Please, Mr Bancroft.’

  ‘Lee.’

  ‘Lee, then. What about these? Take your time.’

  ‘Her. Linette.’ He tapped a picture of a pretty girl with very short hair. ‘She was Drew’s favourite.’

  ‘That’s two. Who was the third?’

  Lee leaned across the table and grabbed the folder, pulling it out of my unresisting hands. He leafed through the remaining pictures in a bored way before stopping. ‘Angela. She was the oldest of them. That was the problem. It took too long to persuade her to fall into line.’

  ‘What happened to her?’ I said, not really wanting to hear the answer.

  ‘I can’t recall.’ Lee gave me a tight smile. ‘I don’t think it was very interesting. She’s not around any more, anyway.’

  ‘You told us Patricia was dead too.’ Godley sounded angry. ‘How do we know you aren’t lying again?’ ‘I’ve told you where to find the bodies. Dig.’ He was still staring at me.

  ‘Why did you return Cheyenne’s body and not the others?’

  Lee looked past Godley at the blank back wall and sighed.

  ‘I think I know.’

  ‘Would you like to share with us, Maeve?’

  ‘Because they never really owned her.’ I looked nervously across at Lee. ‘That’s right, isn’t it? You didn’t want to keep her because she wasn’t yours. So you put her back where you found her.’

  ‘More or less. She was a mistake. We didn’t like mistakes.’

  ‘Why didn’t you bury your uncle too?’

  ‘He died naturally. We needed the house but he’d left it to charity. We couldn’t tell anyone he was dead, so we just left him there and pretended he was still knocking about. If we’d got found out, we’d just have lied and said we didn’t know he was up there. Seemed fair enough. If we’d buried him, we’d have had a lot more explaining to do.’

  ‘Very clever,’ I said, dropping the wide-eyed look and allowing just a little of what I really felt for him into my voice.