by M A Comley
“No, you’re right. We were told that she and her husband had left the hotel first thing yesterday and travelled to Portsmouth.”
“Oh really? Well, it must have been a brief trip because she was here at the hotel last night, making a bloody nuisance of herself just like on the night I was with Tina.”
“You better fill us in and quickly.”
“I came up with the idea of using a disguise, if only for my own benefit. I got the impression that you thought I was losing my mind.”
“I didn’t, but I can totally understand how that doubt crept in. Go on—so you thought up this disguise, booked yourself into the hotel, and?”
“And... I sat in the bar and observed. What I saw left me dumbfounded. A man walked into the bar and sat down for a drink—not just any man. He was the man I told you about in the strange car that Tina and I stumbled across near the first hotel. Don’t you think that’s a remarkable coincidence, Inspector?”
Sally looked at Jack, who nodded. “Yes, very strange and intriguing. I have to ask why you didn’t ring us straight away, Megan.”
“Because I was inquisitive as to where it would all lead. Anyway, when he came in, he joined the owner of the hotel, this Cleo woman, at the bar. The same woman you were told had left for Portsmouth only that morning.”
“Curiouser and curiouser. Are you saying they knew each other?”
“Damn right, they did. I was sitting inconspicuously a fair distance away, so I couldn’t eavesdrop on what they were talking about, but I’d say they knew each other intimately. She downed several large drinks with him, and he left the bar not long after.”
“Okay, then what?”
“She finished her drink and then left, too. She caused some shit at reception, which was rather embarrassing. The receptionist ended up crying in the toilet. I tried to console her. She said her boss always treated the staff that way. She returned to the desk, and I went through to the restaurant for dinner. Cleo followed me into the empty restaurant and started chatting me up, kissing, and cuddling me. It was all too much, especially after she pulled the same act on Tina and me the night before. She’s not right in the head, that one, or maybe this is her way of abducting people.”
“That’s a pretty big claim, Megan. We need something more substantial than just your side of events to tackle her.”
“I knew you’d say that. What about the hotel’s cameras? Do you think they’ll help to back up my story?”
“We can certainly look into it. Jack, why don’t you go in and ask for the footage from yesterday and today. Tell them it’s part of our investigation.”
Jack opened the car door and before he got out said, “How, or more to the point where, are we going to check the footage? Back at the station?”
“Hmm... good point. If there’s something on there, then we should act upon the evidence without delay. Maybe ask the reception to show you the footage now.”
“I can try. What’s the betting she tells me the camera is out of action?”
“Just go and see. Deal with anything she flings at you. I need that footage as proof.”
Sally and Megan watched Jack march up the steps and disappear into the hotel before they continued their conversation.
“I have to tell you this, Megan. While I’ve had my doubts about the authenticity of your story, I’ve found myself reconsidering that, especially after the tenacity and bravery you’ve shown by coming back here in disguise. If a person had anything to hide, they wouldn’t do that. If Tina is here, we’ll find her. You have my word on that.”
“Thank you, Sally. It means a lot that you believe me. Do you think they might be holding Tina in one of the hotel rooms?”
“I have no idea. Let’s see what Jack comes up with and go from there. What was Cleo’s reaction when you turned down her advances last night?”
“I’m not really sure. I didn’t stay around long enough to find out. I rushed up to my room, rang you, and barricaded myself in until I came down for breakfast this morning. I didn’t want to meet the same fate as Tina during the night.”
“You did the right thing. Hold on, I’m going to ring the station, see if we can find anything out about Cleo. I wonder what her surname is. My team can find that out.” Sally rang the station. “Stuart, can you do me a favour? Do a quick background check on the owners of the Elsa Lee Hotel, quick as you can.”
Jack rushed across the car park, discs in hand. “I’ve got them. The receptionist seemed pretty eager to part with them, too.”
“Right, where can we watch them quickly, Jack, any idea?”
“We need someone with access to a DVD player. I have one at home of course, but that’s miles away.”
“Can’t we just knock on a nearby house and ask to borrow their DVD player?” Megan asked, trepidation evident in her voice.
“She has a point,” Jack replied.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. Hop in the driver’s seat, Jack. I’m not leaving the car here.”
Jack pulled out of the car park and into the drive of the house a few doors down, which had a car outside the front door. He left the vehicle and returned, wearing a smile. “We’ve struck lucky. The guy is an ex-copper. He’s only too willing to help out.”
The three of them piled into the man’s living room. He shook hands with all of them and left the room to give them some privacy.
“Can we look at the disc from yesterday first?” Megan asked.
“I intend to,” Jack replied.
Sally and Megan sat on the sofa while he inserted the disc into the machine and switched on the TV. He ran through the disc until Megan shouted, “Stop! Go back a bit. There, that’s the man’s car.” She let out a long breath. “Thank God for that.”
“That’s excellent. Well, that’s one piece of the puzzle in place. Jack, can we try and locate the owner’s car? Let’s see if they get in their car at all, if they really did go to Portsmouth.”
Jack whizzed through the disc and eventually spotted a black woman and an older man getting into a car.
“There! That’s her, and that looks like her husband, too.”
“Right, is that yesterday’s disc still, Jack?”
“Yep. Okay, let me search the other one now. There’s no disputing the evidence now, boss.”
Sally nodded and withdrew her phone from her pocket. “Exactly. I’m going to call for backup and obtain a warrant for both addresses, this hotel and the flat in Portsmouth.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” Megan piped up.
Sally nodded.
“If you’re going to swarm the place, do you think you should hit the first hotel in Swaffham at the same time? They’re obviously in cahoots.”
“Good idea. Hey, have you ever thought of becoming a detective?” Sally asked jokingly. The thoughtful expression that appeared on Megan’s face told Sally she had. “We’ll talk after this investigation is over.”
An hour later, uniformed police swarmed the Elsa Lee Hotel. Sally organised the men into teams and told them what was expected of them and who they were looking for. En masse, they entered the reception area. The startled look on the receptionist’s face was priceless. She reached for the phone on her desk.
“Do that, and I’ll arrest you for interfering with an investigation. What floor is your boss’s room on?” Sally asked.
“I’m sorry. I was only going to call my boss down for you. I don’t want trouble. I’m a good girl. I have nothing to do with this. Please, don’t hurt me or deport me.”
“Stop panicking. Let us do our job, and hopefully, no one will get hurt in the process,” Sally instructed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Megan remove her wig.
The receptionist gasped. “You! You come back for your friend?”
Megan shot a glance in Sally’s direction. “That confirms it. Tina was here with me.” Megan turned back to the receptionist and demanded, “Where is she?”
“Please, I do job here. Not get involved in what else goes on in h
otel, I promise.”
“All right. Tell me where I can find the owner, now!” Sally ordered.
“Fifth floor. Room 510. She and her husband have a suite. But she also has a room she keeps for herself that her husband knows nothing about.”
“Where? The number, quickly!”
“607. No one else is allowed in there. No cleaners. No one.”
“Right, do you have a key to that room?”
The receptionist shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter. You, stay here. Make sure she doesn’t warn anyone,” Sally instructed a female officer, who shot round the desk and stood next to the scared receptionist.
“Jack, we need to make multiple attacks at the same time, on rooms 510 and 607. You lead the team on 510. I’ll take 607.”
“I’m not happy about this, boss. I should be with you, especially if that’s where you think they’re holding the girl.”
“I’m not having a debate, Jack. Let’s go!”
The group of uniformed officers ascended the stairs. Sally and her team left Jack and his colleagues on the fifth floor as she rushed up to the sixth. She located the room and stood back to enable one of the burly officers to break down the door. He did so without much effort, then four officers rushed into the dark room. Sally switched on the light and followed them. Lying on the bed, bound and gagged, was a young woman, her eyes wide with fear. Sally knelt beside her and slipped the gag over her chin. “Are you Tina?”
“Yes, oh my God. I’m so glad you found me. They said they were going to kill me. Where’s Megan? Is she all right? This wasn’t supposed to happen, not like this.”
“Can one of you untie her?” Sally asked the officers.
The slight female PC began tugging at the ropes binding Tina’s hands and feet together. Once she was free, the woman sat upright on the edge of the bed and frantically rubbed her wrists, trying to get the blood to flow properly.
“What did you mean, Tina?” Sally asked.
“One word. I said one word wrong, and she turned on me. She’s bloody crazy, I tell you.”
Sally frowned. “Who’s crazy? Megan?” She wondered if she’d totally misread the woman who’d instigated the investigation after all.
“No. Cleo. She put me up to this. She forces me to befriend people on Facebook and to bring them here. I owe her a lot of money, a debt I’m paying off for my father. He used to work here as a barman. She’s evil with a capital E, that one.”
“Is this the first time you’ve enticed someone here, Tina?”
Her chin dropped onto her chest. “No, it’s the third time.”
“Where are the other girls? I take it the other two people were also women?”
“Yes, young girls, barely out of their teens. I have no idea what happened to them. My job was to deposit them at the hotel and leave.”
“So, why did that change this time? You booked into the hotel with Megan, didn’t you?”
“Cleo insisted she wanted to change things. She’s a risk-taker, always pushing things to the edge.”
“How do the first hotel owner, Peter, and the driver fit into this? He is involved, isn’t he? The rabbit incident wasn’t a figment of Megan’s imagination, was it?”
“As far as I know, Peter met Cleo at a hotel function, and they hit it off. They found each other attractive and shared their desires with each other. Cleo came up with this plan to entice Megan here once she saw our conversation on Facebook about Megan looking at properties in the UK. It was me who suggested she search in this area. Peter roped his friend, the driver, into the crazy scheme. He thought it would add extra fear value.”
“I see. Did you suggest staying at the first hotel?”
“Yes, I helped Megan search suitable hotels in the area and suggested the country hotel,” she admitted.
“What was Cleo’s ultimate intention? To harm Megan?”
“No. Her intention has always been to strip the girls of their belongings—or in Megan’s case, her money—and then to force them to work as slaves.”
“Slaves? Truly? Where? Here at the hotel?”
“No, she never has the girls close by. They’re transported to different parts of the country. I don’t know where exactly. You’ll have to ask her that.”
“How do you know the other minute details of the plan, Tina? And yet, you don’t know where these girls are now?”
“Cleo likes to brag about things when she’s drunk. I’ve tried several times to get the information out of her, without success. Maybe you should take a look at her apartment in Portsmouth, too.”
“Oh, we are. Don’t worry about that. Can you walk?”
Tina tried to stand up, but her legs gave way.
“Take your time. I’m going to leave you in my colleagues’ safe hands. I need to find out what’s going on elsewhere.”
“Thank you. What will happen to me? Will I be charged?”
Sally nodded. “Yes, but I’m sure in light of the evidence you can give us, a deal can be thrashed out.”
“I’m sorry. It was stupid of me to get involved.”
“On that, we agree. We’ll talk more later.” Sally walked out of the room and trotted down to the room Jack had hit with the other officers. “What do we have, Jack?”
Her partner turned his back on Cleo and whispered, “A mouthy cow who has so far tried to flirt with every officer in this effing room. Christ, she’s turning my stomach upside down. I think we should take her back to the station and let her stew in a cell for a few hours before we question her.”
Sally chortled. “That bad, eh? Let’s see what she has to say for herself first. If she doesn’t respond, then I’ll take you up on your suggestion. Tina is safe, by the way.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Hmm... well, unfortunately, it turns out she was involved in this setup, but ended up being stripped of her responsibility by Cleo.”
“Don’t touch me!” Cleo shouted.
Jack’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “See? Mouthy cow.”
Sally squeezed past her partner. “We’ll see if she’s mouthy after I’ve hit her with what I know about her disgusting setup.” She approached the woman, who had the audacity to look her up and down with interest as if she were a piece of fillet steak. “Hello, Cleo. I’ve been hearing an awful lot about you.”
“All good, I’m sure.” Cleo ran her tongue suggestively across her full lips.
“Not in the least. Tina has been most helpful in disclosing the ins and outs of your scandalous business. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Cleo shrugged and curled the left side of her lip. “She tells a lot of lies, that one.”
“Oh right. Can you tell me why I found her bound and gagged in a room, off limits to everyone else in the hotel?”
“What can I say? That one, she likes kinky sex.”
“Who are you trying to kid? There’s no point denying your involvement in this crime, Cleo. Everyone involved will be throwing the shit your way in order to save their own skin and to bargain a more lenient sentence for themselves. I guess you didn’t account for that when you started abducting these women, did you?”
“I done nothin’. All I guilty of is working my way up around ’ere. I started in gutter, and now look around you, lady—all this is mine.”
“Nothing to do with marrying a wealthy man old enough to be your father, then? I see. Silly me, my mistake.”
Cleo attempted to slap Sally around the face, but the two uniformed officers standing alongside her were quick to react and restrained her. “You know nothin’. I bet when you were little, you never knew any kind of ’ardship. Mummy and Daddy gave you everything you ever needed, yes?”
Sally shook her head. She didn’t feel the need to embark on an unnecessary debate with the woman about her upbringing. Instead, she ordered the officers to cuff Cleo and take her back to the station.
When Sally and Jack returned to the reception area, Megan was eagerly awaiting their arrival
. “Well?”
“Tina’s safe, love. But... I’m sorry to have to tell you that she was involved in the scheme from the get-go.”
Megan gasped. “What? I don’t believe you. Is that what that twisted cow Cleo told you?”
“No. Tina told me herself. Look, we’re taking Tina and Cleo to the station for questioning. Why don’t you come with us? You can give one of my team a statement and move on with your life.”
“Just like that, Inspector?” Megan looked appalled by the suggestion.
“Let us complete our job, Megan. We still have people at the other two locations to question yet. I don’t mean to sound blasé about this, but I need to start questioning these people ASAP.”
“What two locations?” Megan asked, clearly confused.
“Cleo’s apartment in Portsmouth and the hotel in Swaffham.”
“I’ve been such a fool. I trusted Tina, despite never meeting her in real life. What a complete idiot I am.”
“Nonsense. You’re not the first, and I doubt you’ll be the last person, to put blinding trust into an online friendship, Megan. Don’t beat yourself up about that. Will you go back to France now?”
“Definitely, I could never imagine this type of thing going on over there.”
Sally smiled. However, she struggled to believe what Megan had said to be the truth. That kind of thing was happening the world over, and there was very little she, or anyone else, could do about that. People would continue to use social networks to build friendships without having any idea whether they would turn out to be good or bad. The world was full to the brim of gullible people, keen to believe in a wealth of kindness in the world, when nothing could be farther from the truth. Vigilance must be the key in a world dominated by evil-plotting bastards.
THE END
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Table of Contents
WEB OF DECEIT | M. A. COMLEY | And | TARA LYONS
Web of Deceit | CHAPTER ONE