The Burning Man

by Paul Finch

  Heck nodded. ‘I agree, Sonja. Absolutely I agree. Trouble is … that’s a pack of lies, isn’t it?’

  She looked perplexed. ‘What the hell are you talking about? You weren’t sodding there!’

  ‘One minute ago you mentioned the word “flamethrower”, which indicates to me that you actually saw a lot more than you’ve just admitted to.’

  Again, she shook her head. ‘I know about the flamethrower because I saw it in the news.’

  ‘If you’re worried that giving us a full statement will endanger your position with regard to the custody of your kids,’ Hayes said, ‘we’ve spoken to one of the duty solicitors at Bradburn Central. And they don’t think it necessarily will. Pole-dancing, lap-dancing … they’re legitimate lines of work these days. Lots of women who do it have kids, families.’

  ‘Bet those other women haven’t got my dodgy background though, have they?’

  ‘Cooperating with a police investigation into a series of murders will be to your credit,’ Heck said. ‘How would that suggest you’re anything other than an upstanding citizen?’

  ‘And if I don’t cooperate I suppose it’ll be exactly the opposite? I fucking knew it!’

  ‘I didn’t say that, Sonja.’ He made calming gestures with his hands. ‘I’d rather you helped us because you want to help us.’

  ‘And who’s going to help me?’ she demanded in a near-shriek. ‘What happens if you lock this nutcase up but his mates come after me? What happens if I’m put on some kind of kill-list? What’ll the chances be of getting my babies back then?’

  Heck had to admit that this situation was complicated. There was only so much he could do to reassure her. Whatever action they took, the road facing her was rocky.

  ‘As things stand, if you give us something we can use, you’ll go into Witness Protection,’ he said. ‘There’s no reason I can think of why you won’t be able to take your kids with you.’

  ‘But there’s nothing I can fucking give you!’ she insisted, shrieking again. She was amazingly quick to irrational fury, which was often indicative of a disturbed mind.

  ‘Sonja, have you taken anything today?’ Hayes asked. ‘I mean, it’s obvious you’ve had dependencies in the past.’

  ‘I’m clean now, I swear it! I’m completely clean!’

  ‘Well, calm down then, because you’re not helping yourself or us.’

  ‘That’s what I’m saying!’ the girl blurted, more tears spilling down her cheeks. ‘I’m no good to you in this. All right, yeah – I saw his face. But it was covered with oil and soot, and I only got a glimpse –’

  ‘Hang on!’ Heck interrupted. ‘You saw his face?’

  ‘Course I did.’

  Heck glanced at Hayes, who looked equally surprised.

  ‘Isn’t that why you’re here?’ Mindy-May asked.

  ‘Well, yeah … but wasn’t he wearing a helmet?’

  ‘He had something like that on – at first,’ she said. ‘When I ran into the shop, the whole place was burning, floor to ceiling. But there were big gaps in the flames. And I saw him standing in the middle. He had this flamethrower-type thing. He’d just finished using it, squirting fire out like it was from a hosepipe. And then he just stopped, and he lifted the front part of his helmet up.’ She slumped onto a stool by the dressing-table, weak, almost lifeless. ‘I think it was only then when I really cottoned on to what was happening. I saw Les and Barrie on the floor, burning … And him, that monster … he was looking down at them, and all around … and there was this smile … the Devil’s smile, I tell you … It was the most evil thing I’ve ever seen. It was like it made him so happy, you know … what he’d done. And those lads were still screaming. And he was so fucking happy about it …’

  ‘He’d lifted his visor up so he could look properly, you mean?’ Heck said. ‘So he could admire his own handiwork?’

  ‘More than admire. Jesus, he was getting off on it. And then he saw me, of course.’ Her voice cracked; fresh tears streamed from her eyes. ‘At first, it was like he was … totally shocked. Like he hadn’t known there was someone else in there. Anyway, I turned and ran like the clappers. There was a fire-door at the back of the shop. It was hanging open, the whole door-frame was burning. But I had to go through. I knew he’d burn me too if I stayed. I got through it like a whippet, I’ll tell you. I was only half dressed, but I just ran and ran and ran. Oh, Christ …’ She broke down into shoulder-heaving sobs.

  Sookie hurried over, and wrapped her arms around her.

  ‘It’s OK,’ Heck said. ‘Take a sec. Can we get you a brew, or something?’

  ‘I’m all right,’ she sniffled, making a visible effort to get herself together. ‘Thought – I thought he’d come after me, you see. That’s why I just kept running, I was that frightened.’ She shuddered violently.

  ‘How much of a look at his face did you actually get?’ Hayes asked.

  ‘Like I say, it wasn’t that good – it was black with soot. Too much glare from the fire … my eyes were blurred with sweat, tears.’

  ‘When you say he was black with soot – could that have been an optical illusion caused by the glare?’ Hayes asked. ‘I mean – could he actually have been a black guy?’

  The girl hung her head. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘If he was grinning, did you see his teeth?’ Heck wondered. ‘Anything odd about them … like maybe one was a different colour from the others?’

  ‘I didn’t notice that … maybe I wasn’t close enough.’

  ‘Okay,’ Heck said. ‘How big was he?’ I mean across the shoulders?’

  ‘He had all this heavy gear on –’

  ‘Yeah, but you stood face to face with him, Sonja. Was he a big guy, was he brawny – I mean, like a boxer?’

  ‘I don’t think so … but I didn’t hang round to check.’

  Heck glanced at Hayes again. Thus far, it was a no-go on ruling Marvin Langton either out or in.

  ‘Do you remember much else about him, Sonja?’ Hayes asked. ‘For example, could you help a police artist make an e-fit?’

  Mindy-May dabbed at her eyes with a tissue Sookie had extricated from her cleavage. ‘I’ll – I’ll do my best. But I don’t think I saw enough for that.’

  ‘You can look at some photos too, yeah?’ Heck said. ‘See if anything strikes you?’

  She nodded tiredly, but suddenly became alarmed again. ‘What happens to me if you get him? If I give you a statement, I’ll have to give evidence, won’t I?’ Again, her voice rose. ‘For fuck’s sake, I’ll have to face him across a court! And then there are his bleeding mates!’

  ‘You seem very sure he’s got mates, love,’ Hayes said.

  Mindy-May looked bewildered the DI could ask such a question. ‘Isn’t that what this guy is? Some kind of gangster, like a hitman? That’s what they’ve been saying on the telly.’

  ‘We don’t watch the telly, Sonja,’ Heck told her. ‘We want facts, not speculation.’

  ‘Unless you’re telling us you actually recognised him as part of a crew?’ Hayes said.

  ‘She doesn’t know any crews,’ Sookie put in. ‘She never has contact with any of that stuff.’

  ‘Whether he’s part of a crew, or not … even if he doesn’t have any mates, I can’t face him in court!’ The girl shook her head frantically. ‘Not some bloke who thinks it’s funny to set fire to you!’

  ‘Listen, whoa.’ Heck palmed the air again. ‘Video-link testimony is sometimes admissible. Maybe you could speak from behind a curtain. There’re lots of ways we can protect your identity these days.’

  ‘Whatever happens, you can’t stay here, love,’ Sookie said gently. ‘You know that.’

  ‘I just … no!’ With new energy, Mindy-May tore loose from the older woman. She stumbled across the room, crying again. ‘I can’t do it …’

  ‘Sonja, there are loads of reasons why you must,’ Hayes said firmly. ‘Not least because he knows you saw him. That means he may have been looking for you all the time we
have. Suppose he’d got here first? What if you refuse to cooperate with us now, and we leave you be, and he comes to see you later on tonight? When you’re all in bed?’

  ‘Come with us, Sonja, and help us put this madman away,’ Heck said, ‘and trust me, the world will seem like a much safer place.’

  It didn’t take a lot more than that.

  The girl wailed some more, and wept on her friend’s shoulder, but increasingly she listened to their coaxing and cajoling. When the decision finally came, it came suddenly and without warning. Mindy-May had clearly felt the walls closing in. The mere fact she was in hiding would have prevented her participating further in the custody battle for her children, so that was a losing strategy in the long run, and it was anyone’s guess how close the police were to apprehending the Incinerator anyway. At least this way she’d be on the inside. Everything would be above board. And, as they’d said, she’d be safe. Or safer.

  ‘If I’m going I have to go now … to the nick, I mean,’ she sniffled. ‘Like you said, he could be on his way here already.’

  They were eager to comply. She dragged a dress and a coat on, pulled the hood up, worked her feet into some flat shoes, and allowed them to escort her downstairs. There they waited in the hall, while Heck opened the front door and checked that the coast was clear. Another damp, chilly evening greeted him, but there was no movement on the street.

  ‘OK,’ he said quietly.

  Hayes slipped across the road, fishing out the keys to her Ford. She jumped in, switched its engine on and eased it over to the other kerb, pulling up in front of the house.

  ‘Go,’ Heck said, patting Quinnell’s shoulder.

  ‘G’bye, pet,’ Sookie said from the stair, tearfully, but Mindy-May had already left, Quinnell hustling her across the pavement and into the back of the Ford.

  Heck didn’t immediately follow. He told Klebworth and Finnegan to wait for him outside, and headed back into the brothel’s lounge, where Scott Cowley, his cheek bruised and nose and lips crusty with dried blood, sat on the couch, hands still cuffed behind his back.

  He watched sullenly as Heck dug something from his jeans pocket. Then, to his surprise, was yanked to his feet and turned roughly around.

  ‘Who do you think the Incinerator is, Scott?’ Heck asked.

  Cowley shrugged. ‘Obvious, isn’t it? One of Lee Shaughnessy’s. Right bunch of psychos he runs with up on the Lawkholme. The Britannia Boys … Jesus wept.’

  ‘That’s why you’re so frightened, is it?’

  Though Cowley looked more irritated than frightened.

  ‘We never had anything to worry about before,’ he said disgustedly. ‘We’re an independent outfit. We had nothing to do with Vic Ship and his Manchester mob. He’s never even offered to buy us out. But the moment Shaughnessy finds out we sheltered Mindy, it’s over for us.’

  ‘You know for a fact it’s Shaughnessy, then?’

  Cowley eyed Heck contemptuously. ‘I’m not grassing him up, if that’s what you’re asking.’

  ‘But you know it for a fact?’

  ‘You don’t need to know it, it’s obvious. Every fucker’s saying it.’

  ‘So you don’t know it?’

  ‘What’s your game, eh?’

  They locked gazes, Heck wondering if he was seeing anything in the pimp’s eyes aside from brute animal ignorance and suspicion, and deciding that he wasn’t.

  ‘You and Sookie keep your gobs shut,’ Heck said, ‘and I see no reason why any of this needs to get out.’

  He wasn’t entirely sure about that, of course. Someone somewhere had tipped him off – and it remained to be seen who, which wasn’t a comforting thought, but whoever that person was and for whatever reason, they’d wanted the girl safely in police custody. It was thus a safe bet they wouldn’t also seek to send the Incinerator here. Cowley didn’t look convinced, however.

  ‘You telling me your firm isn’t as leaky as a bucket full of bullet holes?’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m telling you,’ Heck replied. ‘And I’m telling you something else too.’ He inserted the handcuffs key. ‘I’m cutting you loose.’

  The pimp looked even more suspicious. ‘Why?’

  ‘Coz you’re obviously a decent bloke and I’m all broken up about hitting you.’ The bracelets came free and Heck shoved them back into his jacket. ‘Christ’s sake, Scott … I’m sure you can’t be all brawn and no brain at all. Think about it.’

  Cowley rubbed at the weals on his fat wrists. ‘Uh … I …’

  ‘OK, well, there’s clearly no time for that ponderous process. So here’s the deal … which is non-negotiable, by the way. You say you’re not a grass, and that’s fine – keep saying it. If anyone’s actually listening. But the reality is, from now on, you work for me.’

  Cowley’s brow furrowed. ‘I don’t get you.’

  ‘I have snouts all over the country, Scott. And I consult them every so often, usually with very specific requests for intel. I don’t do gossip, I don’t do chat – it’s strictly the business end of things. And guess who’s going to be my main man in Bradburn?’

  ‘No fucking way. I said I don’t grass, didn’t I!’

  ‘The alternative’s simple. I get the local vice team onto you. The Blaymire Close operation then disappears up its own fundament, and you with it.’

  ‘If this is about Shaughnessy, I don’t actually know anything. I’m guessing.’

  ‘I’m aware of that, and it isn’t. It’s for future reference.’

  ‘Look, I’ve never grassed before. I’d be useless.’

  ‘You’re useless anyway, mate. But you won’t need to do it often. Like I say, my enquiries will be occasional and specific, and never traceable back to you, unless –’

  ‘Unless what?’

  ‘Unless you piss me off.’

  ‘I don’t want to go on no list,’ Cowley said adamantly. ‘That’s what you lot do, these days, isn’t it? It’s all official like. There’s a book with all the snitches’ names and addresses in.’

  ‘We don’t have to do it that way. Be a lot cheaper if we don’t. My way, all you’ll be is an ear. You won’t need to call me, I’ll call you. But I’m telling you, I want something good … or this gig’s up. By the way, the same applies if I find you’ve laid another finger on Sookie – and I will. It’s not her fault you screwed up today.’

  He moved out into the hall, where Sookie watched silently from the staircase. Cowley followed him, still rubbing his wrists. Heck stopped by the entrance.

  ‘There’s one other option, of course,’ he said.

  ‘What’s that?’ Cowley grunted.

  ‘You can give up the pimp business. Go straight. Get a proper job. Be a constructive member of society.’ Heck opened the front door. ‘Then I won’t be able to touch you … will I?’

  Chapter 30

  By the time Mindy-May reached Bradburn Central, it was quite clear to her that it was as much in her interest to identify the flamethrower guy as it was in the police’s. But this didn’t prevent her voice turning whiny and peevish again, and it didn’t restrain her foul-mouthed outbursts, or the frequent scrubbing of hands through hair and frenzied wiping away of snot and tears. Partly to calm her down, she was taken to one of the station’s soft interview rooms, where she was able to provide Katie Hayes and Sally Gorton with a long and very detailed witness statement. When this was complete, an artist showed up with electronic sketchpad in hand, and began to construct an e-fit.

  Heck watched from the VDU room. At length, Gemma came and joined him. With the underworld war in Bradburn now deemed an official ‘critical incident’, she’d been ensconced for most of the day in an upstairs office with Gold Command to devise a community impact assessment. To Heck, this kind of thing, which was basically a glorified and extensive admin procedure, had always felt like a distraction from the senior detective’s real role, which ought to be the pursuit and apprehension of murderers. It was a particular irritant on this occasion, bec
ause if Heck himself couldn’t work on the Sagan case, he’d have felt better if Gemma at least was keeping a close eye on Gibbshaw and making sure he was getting things right, rather than spending half her time tangled in red tape. That said, there was no doubt that Bradburn was a town in crisis at present; tensions were high and people were frightened – and looking after the ordinary folk was not something a conscientious SIO like Gemma would ever willingly neglect. And it wasn’t as if she’d been out of touch all day; she’d heard them out regarding the undercover op on Blaymire Close and had sanctioned it straight away.

  ‘Everything go all right up there?’ she asked, watching the screen.

  ‘Swimmingly,’ Heck replied.

  ‘What have we got from her so far?’

  ‘An outfit and a crazy smile.’

  ‘We already had the outfit from the CCTV footage at the canal.’

  ‘She’s corroborated it then. She’s also confirmed that we’re only after one guy.’

  Gemma didn’t look impressed by that. ‘Let me guess … because she only saw one guy.’

  ‘It’s a persuasive argument, ma’am.’

  ‘His support team could have stayed outside the sex shop – in a parked vehicle, perhaps.’

  Heck couldn’t deny this possibility, though it felt like a slim one – what use would the Incinerator’s assistants have been parked up outside if the flamethrower had malfunctioned and the shop proprietors had gone at him with coshes?

  ‘What about the crazy smile?’ Gemma wondered.

  ‘If I’m honest, ma’am, it doesn’t promise much – not from what the girl’s said so far. But perhaps we should see what the artist comes up with before writing this lead off completely.’

  On the screen, Mindy-May was now demanding a break, aggressively complaining that she was tired and wanted to sleep. When DI Hayes suggested they get another half-hour in, the girl swore and called her a ‘fucking heartless bitch’.

  ‘She been like this all evening?’ Gemma asked.