'But this is murder, Frost. We've got a confession. I want them arrested and charged.'
Frost took another drag on his cigarette. 'The son's given us a statement, but it's all a bit vague and he hasn't got all his marbles. We'd be wasting our time taking him and the old girl to Court.'
'That's for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide, not you. Do we know who the victim was?'
'Not yet. All we've got is his first name and we know the approximate date he had his last leg over, but that doesn't help much.'
'Doesn't help much?' echoed Mullett in mock incredulity. 'It narrows things right down. Do something positive for a change. Go through the old records until you find him.'
'We've been through them once,' said Frost.
'Then go through them again,' snapped Mullett. He smiled inwardly. He was feeling pleased with himself and was already mentally composing the conversation he would have with the Chief Constable: Yes, I took the case over, sir. Frost was getting nowhere so something had to be done. We've got a confession, we know who the victim is, all 't's crossed and 'i's dotted.
Hanlon and Burton came into Frost's office and sank wearily into chairs. Their clothes were dusty and they looked fed up.
'We went through all the missing persons for the year before and the year after,' said Hanlon. 'Only two Dereks, one a fourteen-year-old kid, the other a married man, both returned home after a couple of days. I didn't expect to find anything. We've already been through them once.'
'Never mind, Arthur,' said Frost. 'If you had found something the second time round I'd have chucked it away. Mullett's bloody smug enough as it is.' He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'But who the hell was he?'
'He might not have lived in Denton,' suggested Burton. 'We could circulate other Divisions.'
'I can see them wasting their time digging through ancient records for us,' said Frost. 'They'd do what I would have done - not look and say they couldn't find anything.' He squirted a salvo of smoke rings up to the ceiling. 'My gut feeling is that he lived or worked in Denton. He had to be within travelling distance of his bit of nooky. The old girl wasn't a bad looker in those days, but even if you were a nipple buff, you wouldn't travel too many miles for a leg over.'
'He could have come by car,' suggested Hanlon.
'Then it would have been parked outside the house, Arthur, and neither the woman nor the son could drive so they wouldn't have been able to get rid of it.' He opened the file and flicked through the pages, then abruptly slammed it shut. 'Why are we sodding about with this? He's been dead forty years and no-one's missed him and we've got a serial killer to try and catch tonight. You two go home and get some kip. I'll see you back here just before midnight.' He stuffed the file back in his drawer, put his feet up on the desk, leant back in his chair and closed his eyes. He'd have a couple of hours' sleep in the office, then get things ready for the night's decoy operation.
He didn't hear the door open. 'Working your fingers to the bone as usual, Frost?' sneered a sarcastic Mullett.
Frost opened his eyes and dragged his feet from the desk. Flaming Hornrim Harry had a genius for turning up at the wrong moment. 'You want me, Super?' he grunted.
'I've been expecting you to report back to me with the identity of the skeleton.'
'Oh, sorry, about that,' yawned Frost. 'We had no joy. Couldn't trace him.'
'Rubbish,' snapped Mullett. 'No-one goes missing without it being reported. I want a name and I want it tonight!' He spun on his heel and stamped out.
'I'll give you a name!' spat Frost to the closed door. 'Four-eyed bastard!' He froze as the door opened almost immediately. To his relief it wasn't an angry Mullett coming back, it was Liz Maud.
'Tonight's operation, Inspector. You want women as decoys?'
'That's right,' nodded Frost.
'Put my name down.'
Frost hesitated. He already had enough volunteers, but knew the poor cow was itching for a chance to prove herself before going back to her old rank.
'All right Liz, you're on. Tart yourself up and we'll see you in the incident room at midnight.'
Chapter 20
The incident room was filled with a fog of eye-stinging cigarette smoke. Frost, on his usual perch at the corner of the desk, was on his second packet of the day. As he smoked, his brain churned over and over again his strategy for the night's operations, testing the seams, looking for the flaws that always seemed to be lurking in anything he was involved in.
A chorus of wolf whistles dragged him from his thoughts . . . WPC Polly Fletcher in a short tight skirt and an even tighter sweater swaggered into the room. She wiggled and gave Frost a suggestive wink. He winked back at her, his nose twitching at the pungent perfume she had doused herself with. 'Where did you get the scent? It smells like the stuff they use to deodorize cats' litter trays.' She grinned. Inwardly he was a ferment of doubts. God, what if it all goes wrong and we end up finding Polly's mutilated body dumped in a ditch somewhere? Too many people were relying on him, and reliability was not one of his assets.
He was snatched out of his introspective gloom when Liz Maud, a long blond wig concealing her dark hair, made her entrance and the wolf whistles soared. Heavily made up, she had squeezed into figure-hugging red trousers and a clinging black sweater, over which she had draped an artificial leopard skin coat. Swinging a long strapped handbag from side to side, she sauntered over to Frost. 'How do I look?'
'I'm selling my Viagra,' said Frost. 'I don't need it any more.'
'Only two girls?' asked Hanlon.
Frost nodded. 'We keep this tight and simple. We don't want to flood the area with maverick toms, it might get Chummy suspicious. And thanks to Mullett, we've only got two cars per girl which is the absolute minimum if we're going to play it safe.'
At that moment Mullett strode in. Everyone, except Frost, sprang respectfully to their feet. 'Come to inspect the troops, Super?' Frost indicated the two girls. 'You're the expert, what do you reckon?'
Mullett squeezed a sour smile. 'They look very . . . er, nice,' he said weakly. He turned to the assembly. 'A few words. This is an important and expensive operation. I've had to go on my knees to County to get the expenditure authorized and my head will be on the chopping block if we fail. So let's have a successful, cost-effective and speedy outcome.' To a thin ripple of applause and what sounded suspiciously like a slow hand clap from Frost, he gave a brief nod and marched out.
Frost slid off the desk. 'The fact that Mr Mullett's head is on the chopping block must make it very tempting for you all to want to sod things up, but we've got to deny ourselves that pleasure. There's an even more sadistic bastard out there, torturing and raping, and it's up to us to stop his larks once and for all.' He turned to the large street map of Denton Pinned on the wall behind him. 'This is how we're going to play it. If anyone spots any weaknesses in my foolproof plan, for Gawd's sake shout; sometimes my infallibility goes pear-shaped.' He pointed to six coloured pins. 'There are six public phone boxes in the red light areas and we're going to use them all in turn. We don't want Chummy getting suspicious because all calls come from the same two phones. We've got two pseudo toms.' He nodded to Liz and Polly. 'And four cars, which is all that the cheeseparing budget generously donated by our Divisional Commander runs to. Liz and Polly, you've each got a list of cab firms to phone and destinations to be taken to. When we are all in position, and not before, you each phone the first firm on your list and ask to be taken to the first destination on your list. When the cab turns up, surveillance car number one will follow you every inch of the way. At your destination, you will get out and wait until the cab drives off, then the tailing car will pick you up and take you back to the next phone box, and so on. We've got two cars on stand-by in case anything goes wrong. From time to time we'll swap cars so it won't always be the same one tailing you. But these spare cars have another important function. If, at any time, the tailing car sees that your cab is deviating from where we know you asked to be taken, the other
cars will be called in to augment the tail. All clear up to now?'
Nods and murmurs of assent.
'Good. Now, we've got one prime suspect.' He waited while photographs were circulated. 'That's Tom Jackson. Liz arrested him once, so she won't be calling his cab firm. That pleasure goes to you, Polly - If Jackson answers a call, I want both cars to follow, and I want you to be on your guard, Polly. I don't think he's our man, but I've been wrong before, so we don't take any chances.' He jabbed a finger at Detective Sergeant Hanlon who had raised his hand. 'Yes, Arthur?'
'The two cars you've got in reserve, Jack. Wouldn't it be safer if they both tailed the cabs all the time, then if anything happened to one, the other could immediately take over?'
'It would be safer, Arthur, but it might blow the whole operation. At two in the morning there's hardly any traffic on the road. A cab with two cars following its every move could stick out like an eager dick. If our bloke has the slightest suspicion there's something funny going on, he won't play ball.' He turned to Liz Maud who now had her hand up. 'Yes, Liz?'
'When we get in the minicab, do we sit in the back or next to the driver?'
'That's a good point,' said Frost. 'I hadn't thought of that.' He looked around. 'Anyone got any views on this?'
'It's safer if they sit in the back,' said Burton firmly.
'Yes,' agreed Frost, 'but we're not going for safety. We want the bastard to make his move.' He shook the last cigarette from the pack and stuck it in his mouth. 'Unless it's obvious he's expecting you to sit in the back, then take the seat next to the driver. Now, it's important you don't show your hand too soon. If he squeezes your titties, or ventures above the stocking top, don't flash your warrant card. Do what any self-respecting girl would do, knee him in the goolies and get out without paying. The odds are it won't be our bloke; titty-squeezing is small beer when you lust for stubbing fags out on a soft white belly.'
Polly's hand shot up. 'You say don't jump the gun, Inspector. At what point should we let him know we're policewomen?'
Frost expelled smoke. 'At no point, Polly. He shouldn't know you're a cop until we make the arrest. We need hard evidence. He takes these girls somewhere, ties them up, tortures and rapes them. Unless we know where he takes them, we've got nothing. Ideally, we want to follow you right up to the point where he drags you into his hideaway. And then, providing Mr Mullett doesn't decide we can't do any more overtime and calls us all back, we burst in and rescue you.'
'Will we have radios?' asked Liz.
Frost shook his head. 'They'd be a dead giveaway. You'll each have a mobile phone. Many toms carry them, so it won't look out of place. Any trouble, use it. I don't care if it means you blow your cover, your safety comes first. Any more stupid, time-wasting questions?' He looked around. 'No? Right, we've got an hour before we need to move off, so let's all nip up to the canteen and get ourselves something to eat.'
He watched them file out, chattering excitedly to each other, then took one last look round the empty incident room before switching off the light. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was going to go wrong, he just knew it. Something was going to go terribly wrong.
Frost stifled a yawn and looked at his wrist-watch. Getting on for a quarter past three, time when all the decent toms were tucked up in their beds and the rubbish emerged to pick up any rough trade that might be going, jackals after the lion's leavings. Not much point spending Mullett's overtime money by hanging around any longer. Despite Frost's forebodings, everything had been going like clockwork; the girls made their phone calls, were picked up, tailed, to their correct destinations, then brought back again. Things had gone so well, he just knew nothing important was going to happen tonight and good-looking toms, swinging their handbags at this hour of the morning, were going to look very conspicuous.
DC Burton, at his side, was staring through the windscreen, watching Liz Maud who had just been dropped off by the tail car and was waiting a couple of minutes before making her next phone call.
'Let's call it a night,' Frost began when Button's fingers suddenly tightened on his arm. Frost's head came up. 'Yes, son, I see it.' His radio paged him. The other surveillance car. They had seen it also.
A metallic grey Peugeot slithered round the corner, stopping at the end of the road. Its lights went out.
'Can you clock the registration number?' Frost asked, scrubbing at the windscreen with his coat cuff. Burton shook his head. It was too dark. Very slowly, the Peugeot began to inch forward. Frost frowned. 'What's he up to?' The car shuddered to a halt by the phone kiosk and a burly man in a black zip-up jacket got out and approached Liz. They could see him talking to her, but she was firmly shaking her head. Suddenly, he grabbed hold of her arm and tried to drag her towards the car.
'This is it,' exclaimed Frost excitedly, clicking on his radio. 'All units stand by. Be ready to follow a metallic grey Peugeot 605, no registration details yet.' He squinted through the windscreen, puzzled at what he saw. 'What is she playing at?' Liz was resisting. She had pushed the man off and was walking quickly away. 'Go with the nice man,' pleaded Frost.
Burton, his hand on the door handle, was getting ready to run across to her assistance. 'No,' ordered Frost. 'Wait!' As he spoke the man chased after Liz and grabbed her again and again Frost had to restrain Burton. 'Wait, son.' He couldn't make out why Liz wasn't going quietly. She knew they would be tailing. Then a shrill, animal-like scream of pain shivered the air. Liz and the man were struggling and he hurled her to the ground.
'Sod tailing him,' said Frost. 'Get him.' He chased after Burton, yelling into the radio for assistance as he did so. A second man had now got out of the Peugeot. Something silver flashed in the moonlight. A knife. Another bloody knife! Two in one night.
Burton put on a spun of speed. 'Drop it' he screamed
The second man spun round, seeing the DC for the first time. He jabbed the knife menacingly. 'Stay out of this, sonny!' Then he gave a grunt, his eyes rolled upwards and he dropped like a stone as Frost's torch cracked down on his head.
They didn't give him a second glance as they ran over to the black-jacketed man, who was straddling Liz and had his fist raised ready to smash into her face. Burton grabbed the wrist, feeling with his free hand for the handcuffs in his pocket. As the man threatened to buck Burton off, Frost grabbed a handful of hair, yanked the man off Liz, then smashed his face hard against the pavement. As Burton snapped on the cuffs, Frost gave it another bang for luck, before turning his attention to Liz Maud. 'You all right, love?'
'I'm fine.' She rose to her feet and brushed down her clothes, then she prodded the black-jacketed man with her foot. 'Do you see who it is?' Frost rolled him over and shone his torch on a bruised and blooded face. 'Mickey Harris!' he said. 'Nice to see you again.' Frost looked at the other man who was rising unsteadily to his feet, shaking his head and rubbing the bump on his scalp. Harry Grafton. 'Which of you bastards hit me?' he demanded.
'No-one hit you, Mr Grafton,' beamed Frost. 'You tripped and fell.'
Burton had dragged Mickey Harris to his feet. The man was spitting blood and wincing with pain. 'I want a doctor. That bloody cow kicked me in the goolies.'
'Was it you screaming?' asked Frost. 'I thought it was her.'
'And I'm suing for assault. You handcuffed me then you smashed my face on the pavement.'
'Tut, tut,' reproved Frost. 'Policemen don't do things like that. We tried to stop you falling but you tripped and accidentally banged your head on the pavement three times.' His expression hardened. 'I thought I told you to leave the toms alone, Mickey?'
'She offered me her services and I refused. That's why she kneed me.' He spat out bloody saliva. 'My tooth's broken.'
'There's a coincidence,' said Frost. 'That young tom you beat up, her tooth was broken as well.' He turned to Liz. 'What happened, love?'
'He threatened to cut me up if I didn't move off of Harry Grafton's territory,' said Liz.
'Just a minute,'
called Grafton, pushing his way between them. He tugged a wad of notes from his wallet and stuffed them in the pocket of Liz's coat. 'There's a hundred quid there, darling. Keep your mouth shut, stay stum and I'll double it.'
Frost snatched the wad of notes and shook his head in mock reproof. 'Oh dear, oh dear, you've done it this time, Harry. Bribing a police officer to withhold evidence, in front of witnesses too.'
Grafton blinked in astonishment. 'Police officer?' He peered at Liz, who pulled off the wig. 'Remember me?' she asked Mickey Harris.
Grafton turned to Frost in protest. 'There's no way you'll get away with this, Frost - this is entrapment.'
'We are going to get away with it,' Frost replied. 'We didn't entrap you. We were here on an entirely different case.'
'Anyway, I never knew she was a police officer.'
Frost 'tut-tutted' again. 'She called out, "I'm a policewoman." ' He pointed to the group of police officers who were now watching the proceedings. 'In the earshot of all those unimpeachable, unbiased witnesses who will swear on stacks of bibles-'
'You're a bastard,' snarled Grafton.
'You're upset,' smiled Frost, 'so I shall put that down to a momentary lapse of good taste.' He jerked a thumb. 'Take them to the nick: armed with a deadly weapon, assaulting a police officer, attempted bribery of a police officer and dropping blood and bits of broken tooth on a public footpath.' He watched Jordan and Simms bundle them into the car and drive off. 'Well, not a bad result, even if it wasn't the one we were after. Let's call it a night and try again tomorrow.'
Police Superintendent Mullett studied the overtime claim form Frost had presented and winced. The third consecutive night without a result and the overtime bill was soaring. 'This isn't good enough, Frost. All this money expended and nothing to show for it.'
'We can only dangle the bait,' said Frost. 'We can't force him to swallow it . . . he picks his own time.'
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