Most Gracious Advocate (Terrence Reid Mystery Book 4)

by Mary Birk

  At the pub, they talked about the cases in progress, funding, and various other day-to-day office matters until their food came. Harry doused his chips with vinegar, his beefburger with ketchup, waiting for the other boot to drop.

  “Anything bothering you?”

  Harry took a chip, forced a smile. “No, sir.”

  “You seem a little distracted lately. Not your usual genial self.”

  “Just busy, sir.”

  Reid nodded, picked up half of his roast beef sandwich. “How’s homeownership?”

  “Good, thanks. Sir.”

  “And the new living arrangements?”

  How had Reid found out? “Excuse me?”

  “Your tenant? Allison?” At his blank look, Reid added, “Jack told me. So, how’s it going?”

  “Just fine.”

  “Not too much togetherness?”

  “Why? Did she say something?” Had she complained about him to Reid? What could she have said? He chewed his sandwich, and tried to look as if he didn’t have ground glass spinning in his stomach.

  “No.” Reid took a bite of his sandwich.

  Harry let out a breath. “It’s fine. We hardly see each other. Perfect for landlord-tenant relations.” He gave the grin he thought would be expected, then decided he needed to set boundaries with Reid as well. “How about you, sir? Your home life going well?” Turnabout to you, Harry thought. “Oh, right. You told me not to concern myself with your family. Sorry I asked.” He paused, then added, “Sir.”

  “I’m sorry about going off on you about that, Harry. Not that it excuses my behavior, but I was under a lot of stress. And, as it turns out, you were right.”

  Harry wasn’t sure what to say to that. “No problem. Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

  “No.”

  “Then I suppose this is about you being moved to MI-5.”

  “You’ve heard about that?”

  “Who hasn’t?”

  “It’s not a sure thing, but yes, in a way, that’s what I needed to talk to you about. I’ve put you up for promotion to Detective Inspector. I want to make sure if I’m assigned elsewhere, we have things in place for you to take over leading the team.”

  Harry put down his beefburger. “I’m speechless.”

  Reid smiled. “That might be a first. We need to get you moved up in the ranks as quickly as possible. You did well on your DI exam, but the brass wants interviews. I’ve set them up for tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Good. Also, I’m planning to expand the team, so we’ll be bringing in some more people. I’ll want you to supervise that process.”

  “All right.” Harry could hardly keep his excitement from bursting out.

  “One more thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “If I leave, you’d officially become Allison’s supervisor. For many purposes, you already are. You’ve trained her, shown her the ropes, and I know both she and I have relied on you to bring her along the ranks. The two of you may wrangle now and then, but I sense that underneath, you respect each other.”

  Harry tried to detect where this was going. “She’s a good copper.”

  “She is. I want to make sure that you’d be comfortable in a supervisory position with her.”

  “We work well together.” They always had, work wasn’t the problem. But he was a big boy; he wouldn’t jeopardize Allison’s career, or get her transferred because he’d developed an irrational crush on her, or because her idiotic idea had caused them to be in a mess right now.

  “I know we don’t generally share a lot about our personal lives, Harry, but you know more about mine than almost anyone else. I count you as a friend as well as a colleague.”

  Harry blinked, surprised. Although Reid over the years had shared small bits of things he was going through, Harry didn’t know if he’d have said Reid and he were friends.

  “In that regard, I hope that if there is anything I can do for you, not just as a colleague, but as a friend, you’d feel free to ask of me what I’ve asked from you.”

  “Sure.”

  “If I do end up leaving, and there was a problem with you being the formal supervisor of any member of our team because of a personal relationship, I would, of course, make sure to either take that team member with me, or get her a good position elsewhere in the ranks—making sure, of course, that it would be in Glasgow.”

  Harry realized Reid was talking about Allison, and that he hadn’t been as successful as hiding his feelings as he’d thought. Harry took a bite of his sandwich to buy time before he had to speak. He washed it down with a gulp of tea. When he could talk, he made sure his voice was flat. “I appreciate that, guv, but I doubt if that will be an issue.” He forced himself to give one of his trademark grins to lighten things up. “Depending, of course, on who we hire on for the team in this next wave.”

  Reid’s return smile was only surface deep, and Harry knew his friend hadn’t been fooled.

  Answering the question that hadn’t been asked, Harry gave up. “It’ll pass, guv.”

  Reid nodded. “Shall we discuss getting you ready for your interviews?”

  Harry took out his little notebook. “I’m all ears, guv.” This time his grin was real.

  * * * * *

  Harry nodded at PC Barlow, acknowledging him and the little brunette police constable who was with him. PC Layla Kogan looked familiar, and he realized she was one of the floaters Oscar had been using.

  He’d sent Barlow out to pick up Chick Stephens, and now the ugly bastard was sitting in the conference room at High Street, handcuffed and pissed off. Stephens looked like a mean Humpty Dumpty, totally bald except for a strange fringe of white hair that stuck out around the perimeter of his neck, like a ragged imitation of one of those ruffles royalty used to wear. His knuckles were scratched dark with prison tattoos and an ugly scar crossed the left side of his face from underneath his eye to his mouth.

  “Thanks for bringing him in. I’d like for you two to stay until I’ve finished with him. If I decide to hold him, you can take him to remand, or if I don’t, you can take him back where you found him.”

  Barlow said, “Yes, sir.”

  Allison had gotten up and come toward Harry, notebook in hand, obviously thinking she’d be in the interview room with him.

  Harry shook his head. “I’m covered, Allison. I’ll have Kogan sit in. You and Barlow can watch the interview on the monitor, if you want.”

  Allison looked like he’d hit her, but gave a quick nod. “Mike, you go ahead and watch, if you want. I’ve got other work I should be doing.”

  Harry, feeling guilty, but knowing he had to keep his distance from Allison for both their sakes, held the door to the interview room open for PC Kogan.

  Chapter 48

  “WHY IN GOD’S NAME did they have to kill the Frost girl here?” Walter Von Zandt crossed his legs and lit a cigar. “Those Arab thugs are positively stupid. Couldn’t they have waited until they got back to that shitehole of a country of theirs?”

  His son, Henry looked as troubled as he felt. “You need to cut off ties with that group.”

  “I agree, at least for now. The police are too interested. After Tabby’s sale, we can close things down in Scotland. I’m staying somewhere safe until Saturday. Once the money is transferred, I’ll be gone.”

  The idea for his wildly successful entrepreneurial endeavor involving securing young women for rich men in third world countries had been given to them originally by his Nigerian arms customers. When they’d visited him in Scotland, they insisted that they be provided women for the nights they were there, and had been pains in the arse about wanting virgins—white virgins, not easy to find. But when they’d said how much they were willing to pay for what they wanted, Von Zandt had been astounded, and recognized the incredible opportunity. He’d never heard of anyone offering this kind of money for untouched pussy.

  Rebecca, who’d run his brothels for years, had taken the ball and r
un with it, and they’d made easy millions. At first, he’d not been able to figure out how to get untouched American girls without putting too much at risk, so he’d settled for young girls from Bosnia, but they’d commanded a lesser price. Then Rebecca came up with the fake chat room to lure American virgins, and they’d been pretty much able to name their price.

  Because of the excellent choices they’d made in selecting the girls, as far as Rebecca had heard, until Lizzie Frost, all of the purchasers had been pleased. He should have known Lizzie would be a problem. She’d fought the acceptance of her new reality vehemently. Even after he’d thought he’d subdued her, she hadn’t given up. When Albert reported that Lizzie collapsed before she’d even reached the boat, he’d resigned himself to refunding the money. He didn’t know if she’d killed herself on purpose, or it had been a freak accident.

  According to Albert, the men had scooped up the fallen Lizzie, and taken her on to their boat. She must have died soon afterwards. Why hadn’t they dumped her body in the ocean? Unless, he thought with a late-dawning clarity, the body dump had been a message to him. Fucking heathens. Maybe they expected him to contact them about the refund. If so, they’d be waiting a long time.

  “You should leave now, Father. I’ll take care of closing things up here.”

  “I’ll wait for the money. Tabby’s film has the bids up to almost three million pounds.”

  “That’s unbelievable.”

  “She’s worth it. I’d like to get another one like her to keep for myself.” Von Zandt eyed his son. “You could use someone new yourself. That shrew wife of yours can’t be much fun.”

  “Greta’s not that bad. She’s good with the kids.”

  Von Zandt took a drink of whiskey. “Each to his own. Tell you what. If I buy Tabby back after whoever buys her is tired with her, I’ll share her with you. You’ll see why I think she’s so unique.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “In the meantime, I need you to get rid of Rebecca.”

  “Get rid of her? You mean kill her?”

  “Can you think of any other way?”

  “Don’t we need her anymore?”

  “She has an inflated idea of her own worth. I’m not bringing her with us to Spain, and I’m not giving her a cut of what we’re getting for Tabby.”

  “You want me to do it myself?”

  “Isn’t that what I said?”

  “But I’ve never done that sort of thing.”

  “There’s always a first time for everything.”

  “How?”

  “Use your imagination.”

  “Does she suspect?”

  “Of course not. She thinks she’s indispensable.”

  “Don’t you have anyone else who can do it?”

  “You want a share in the money, don’t you? You need to earn it.”

  “There have to be easier ways.”

  “Trust me, you’ll do fine. You’ll also have to handle Tabby’s delivery and get rid of any evidence at the house.”

  “What exactly are we talking about?”

  “For one thing, the guards need to be taken care of. As does Chick Stephens. The police pulled him in for questioning today. He kept his mouth shut, or so he says, but I don’t want to take chances he changes his mind and decides to talk.”

  “Taken care of? You mean paid off?”

  Von Zandt gave his son a pained look. “You think paying people off ensures they’d won’t talk?”

  Henry looked overwhelmed. “You want me to kill them too?”

  “What choice do we have? They know too much. But don’t get rid of the guards until you go to get Tabby on Saturday. I don’t want to take any chance in case she decides to escape. Rebecca and Chick, you need to take care of before that.”

  “I’m not sure . . .”

  “You’d better get sure. Fast.”

  After his son left, Walter Von Zandt allowed himself to briefly consider his options for the evening, although he knew he’d go to Tabby. He couldn’t stay away.

  * * * * *

  Allison bought the first shout for the team, using money the guv had given her. They were all at the Pink Elephant tonight, except for the guv, of course, along with the floaters that had helped with the searches. They’d earned their shots and pints with their work this week.

  At the table with Harry, Frank, Oscar and her, sat Boyle, Dyksarma, Barlow, along with Layla Kogan. They exchanged stories about what they’d found, laughing about the strange sexual paraphernalia the elegant Cassandra Conrad kept in her closet. Even Oscar laughed at Dyksarma’s description of some of the more outrageous equipment, but Harry kept looking at his phone.

  “You make it sound like no one’s ever done a search before, Dyksarma.” Harry’s voice was impatient. He’d downed his own whiskey, then reached over and took Allison’s from in front of her and drank it in a gulp.

  “Sorry if I’m boring you, Harry.”

  “Yeah, well, some of us have other places to be.” He picked up his phone again, seeming engrossed in whatever he was reading.

  Allison grabbed her empty glass back. “Some of us are interested in more than our text messages. Maybe you’d better leave, Harry, if your ladybird is getting testy at you having a pint with your work mates. We’ll catch you up tomorrow.”

  Harry put down his phone, and took a long pull of his pint. “Excuse me, DC Muirhead, if I’m not attentive enough for you.”

  “I don’t care if you listen or you don’t, Harry. Just be quiet so the rest of us can.”

  He glared at her.

  Allison flung up her hands in defeat, and excused herself to go to the ladies. When she came out, she almost bumped into Harry who was hanging out at the entrance to the restrooms.

  “What the fuck are you doing, Allison?”

  “What’s it look like? Using the loo.”

  “How many blokes do you need to have on the hob at any given moment?”

  “On the hob? What are you talking about?”

  “Let’s count. We have Eddie Michaud, Dyksarma, Barlow, and now Boyle. We’ll not count me, as I was just practice. You’re stacking up the conquests, aren’t you? Going for championship status on shagging?”

  Allison’s hand shot out before she knew it. Harry’s cheek blossomed with a red welt and she put her hands to her mouth.

  “Oh, my God. I’m sorry.” She tried to reach out to him.

  “Yeah, me, too.” He moved away, pushing open the door to the gents.

  Allison hurried back to the table, feeling mortified. She could hardly look at any of them. Had they thought she was coming on to them? Wasn’t she allowed to talk to her male colleagues without them thinking she was promising more? Swallowing down her humiliation, she tried to act normal, not to let the tears break through.

  When Harry came back to the table, he turned to Layla Kogan, and started chatting her up. Allison looked at her watch. “Time for me to call it a night. Thanks again everyone for all your help.” Then to Oscar and Frank, “See you in the morning.”

  Jim Boyle stood up immediately. “I’ll drop you at your place.”

  Frank said, “Actually, Jimmy, I need Allison to help me get back to my place tonight. You don’t mind, do you?” He moved his wheelchair away from the table, and Oscar handed him his coat.

  Allison could have kissed them both. Outside, Frank declined her offer to drive.

  Frank backed the van out of the tight parking spot, skillfully using the custom hand-based controls. “I’ve water bottles in the small cooler by your feet, if you want one.”

  “Thanks.” She rummaged around, took out one of the bottles, and twisted the cap off.

  “What’s going on between you and Harry?”

  “I think he’s in a fight with one of his birds. It’s making him snarky.” Apparently, Harry was changing girls again. Likely Rita was pissed about Layla, and was making his life hell.

  “Are you sure living with Harry makes sense?”

  “We get along fine at
home. I don’t know what got into him tonight.”

  Frank’s van pulled up to the curb by her private entrance to Harry’s house.

  She touched his arm before getting out of the van. “Thanks, Frank. I owe you.”

  FRIDAY, APRIL 16

  Chapter 49

  ALLISON RUSHED into the High Street office, her rucksack flapping against her jeans. “Bloody hellish morning. The subway broke down again. Sorry to be so late. Morning, Frank, Oscar.” She nodded at them, turned, and stopped short at the sight of Harry on his way out from the Superintendent’s office, dressed in a well-cut charcoal suit, crisp white shirt, and silk grey tie.

  “Wow. Big date tonight?”

  He looked at her, but seemed distracted. A slight frown crossed his face and she felt suddenly embarrassed at having made such a personal remark, even though she’d done so hundreds of times before. He looked, well, different. She felt scruffy in her jeans, even though they were what she considered her dressy jeans, perfectly okay for ordinary Fridays, if she wore them with a blazer as she had today.

  Without saying anything, he got his coat from the rack by the front door and left.

  She looked at the others. “What’s with him?”

  “He’s got his interviews today.”

  “Interviews?”

  “Reid put him up for DI,” Frank said. “He took the test earlier, but his interviews are today. We’ll be taking on more officers, and Harry will be doing a lot of what the Super’s doing now.”

  “I hadn’t heard. I mean I knew he’d taken the test a while back, but not that anything had opened up.” She’d heard Harry come in last night, but couldn’t tell if he was alone, so she’d stayed in her room. Had he brought Layla Kogan home with him? If so, they’d both been gone before she got up.

  “I get the impression from the grapevine that it’s a done deal unless he screws up. The Super’s putting everything he’s got behind him.”

  “Harry deserves it.” She bit at a fingernail. “Will he find out today?”