When she turned into the street where her car was parked, she didn’t see them at first, but as she approached her little Corsa, four figures – or so she thought – seemed to detach themselves from the shadows into the light and move towards her. Her first thought was to stand and face them down. Surely her warrant card would be protection enough? Then she remembered what had happened to Mimosa, and the things Jade had just told her. Gerry wasn’t much of a fighter, but she was a hell of a runner.
So she turned and ran.
She became immediately aware that they were coming after her, and heard one of them yell out, ‘Hey, Ginger! Stop, bitch. Tariq, you get the car.’ Then she felt a sudden sharp blow high on her shoulder. It almost felled her, and she stumbled and cried out in agony as the pain spread throughout her upper body. She had not thought they were close enough to get her, but one of them had hit her with an iron bar or a baseball bat or some such thing. For a moment, she lost her footing and staggered this way and that, like a newborn lamb, trying desperately to remain on her feet, to keep moving, her centre of balance wavering. If they caught her now she knew she’d be dead.
Somehow, she managed to keep going, get upright and find her footing, her rhythm, again. Now all she had to do was speed up and keep running through the pain that was clouding her vision.
She crossed a main road and still heard them behind her, though she thought they were receding into the distance. She had no idea how many of them were following her. She put on speed again and narrowly dodged a car, felt the draught of it whizzing by. She wasn’t sure if it was them or not. Then she zig-zagged through back alleys and narrow streets of grim terraces until she couldn’t hear anyone behind her any more. Her shoulder throbbed like hell and her breath came in rasping gasps, but she kept going, round a corner, through a ginnel, even jumping a fence at one point. Her old hurdles coach would have been proud of her, she thought. She was almost certain there was no one behind her now, that she’d lost them, but she wouldn’t slow down just yet. She had an idea of where she was, could see another main road ahead at the end of the narrow street she was running on, some shops, cars rushing by. She knew where she wanted to be.
Finally, Gerry crashed through the front doors of Wytherton Police Station and immediately saw three or four officers come to the counter to see what the hell was going on. There was no way she could go any further without the inner door code, but the chase was over. Her pursuers had long since given up. She rested her palms on the counter and took a deep breath. She was aware of the door opening beside her, and just before she fell to the floor, of strong hands grasping her, voices shouting out, and a pain sharp as a knife cutting through her shoulder.
Superintendent Carver arrived about an hour after Gerry, who was wrapped in a blanket drinking her second cup of tea by then. The painkillers from the station’s first aid kit had already kicked in. The police doctor had examined her and said her shoulder blade was most likely cracked, but he didn’t think it was seriously fractured. He improvised a brace and sling, as Gerry insisted she needed to stay and talk to her boss, then made her promise to go to A & E and get X-rayed as soon as she had done so. She knew he was bending the rules by allowing her a little time, and she was grateful. The police bureaucracy could be touchy about insurance and work injury issues. She had also convinced the duty sergeant to send a patrol car to the old house to try to find Jade, though Gerry felt certain she would be long gone by now.
Superintendent Carver was followed after another half hour or so by Banks and DI Cabbot. Gerry had never been so glad to see anyone before. Friendly faces at last. Well, almost. Carver looked as if he’d just swallowed a dog turd, and even Annie’s face seemed hard and unsmiling, but the first thing Banks did was bend over her and ask if she was all right. Gerry could have kissed him. Not that that she fancied him, or anything, but she was just so relieved that someone cared. Whatever kind of idiot he thought she’d behaved like – and she was fast coming to believe that she had been foolish – he was first of all concerned about her welfare.
Carver ushered them into his office, which was a lot messier than Banks’s, piled high with reports and bulging file folders, coffee cup rings all over, an array of framed family photographs on the shelf above the filing cabinets. Gerry was amazed to see that the two children pictured, about six and seven, were almost identical to their father. ‘So what the bloody hell have you lot been up to on my patch now?’ Carver began. He spoke with the pent-up wrath of a man who’s been reining himself in for too long already, not to mention dragged out of his bed, and he was clearly upset that Gerry had refused to talk to him until her SIO arrived.
Gerry first played them the recording, then told her story, avoiding Carver’s eyes and aiming most of her answers towards Banks, who had assumed an impassive expression. Annie appeared to be softening, too, asking for a little clarification here and there, as if Gerry were confirming what she had already suspected.
When Gerry had finished her account of the meeting with Jade and subsequent attack by Tariq’s crew, everyone remained silent for what seemed like a long time, but was probably only about fifteen seconds. Both Carver and Annie had been taking notes. Gerry had already written out the salient features with her good hand while she had been waiting, while it stayed fresh in her memory. Banks had just listened and absorbed. He hadn’t really worked on the case the way Gerry and Annie had – he had his own one to worry about – but he was technically the SIO, and the boss, so she knew that Annie had kept him up to date with developments. She wondered if AC Gervaise knew. If she didn’t by now, she would soon. And ACC McLaughlin. Maybe even the chief constable and police commissioner. Christ, she was in trouble. The only thing that could ameliorate her errors at all were a lot of luck and her actions bringing about a quick solution to the case.
‘Why did you leave her?’ Carver asked. ‘For Christ’s sake, why didn’t you bring her in?’
Just as these words were out of his mouth, the door opened and AC Gervaise and ACC McLaughlin entered. Carver stood to attention and both Banks and Annie got up to greet them. Gerry scanned their expressions for any clue as to her fate but could find nothing.
Well, Gerry thought, she hadn’t expected a medal.
‘I take it you know who the personnel involved in tonight’s fracas are?’ Annie asked Carver.
‘Some of the players. Sunny, Faisal, Ismail and Hassan are part of the Town Street business association, so we’ve met once or twice over local issues. Not that I’d say I know them or anything.’
‘Course not,’ said Annie softly. ‘Or anything about their other activities.’
Carver glared at her. ‘No.’
‘What about the girl, Jade?’ Banks asked. He noticed AC Gervaise put her hand on Annie’s shoulder and give her a look he assumed to say, ‘Cool it.’ Protocol had to be followed, Banks realised. Annie couldn’t be allowed to blow off her feelings at a senior officer in the presence of the assistant chief constable, however forgiving he might be.
‘Could be anyone.’ Carver gave Gerry a glance of rebuke. ‘It’s not as if we have her in custody to check her story.’
‘What was I supposed to do?’ Gerry said. ‘She was scared. She’s told me all she knew. She hadn’t done anything. She was the victim here, or don’t you remember that?’
‘That will do, DC Masterson,’ said Gervaise.
‘Sorry, ma’am,’ said Gerry, wrapping herself deeper in the blanket, despite the heat. It was more a matter of comfort than anything else, like the old nightshirt she liked to cling to when she was a child. ‘She told me on the phone earlier that Jade’s not her real name.’
‘Some of them like nicknames, or soap opera names,’ said Carver. ‘Sadly, not all their parents named them Schuyler, Apple or Chrystal. You say she was involved with Sunny and Faisal and that lot?’
‘She said,’ Banks corrected him. ‘You heard the recording. She was Faisal’s girlfriend, and Mimsy was Sunny’s. At first. They groomed them and the others
and pimped them. They were all underage.’
‘That’s what she says,’ Carver snorted.
‘Why?’ said Banks. ‘Do you think she was lying?’
‘All I’m saying is that sometimes these girls know exactly what they’re getting into, though they might not want it to appear that way to others.’
‘She was fourteen years old when it started, for crying out loud.’
‘That doesn’t mean a lot round here.’
‘It means she’s underage and needs to be protected from people like Sunny and his mates.’
‘They’re troublemakers, all of them. If they were going around having sex with older men for money, it was probably because they wanted to. Nobody forced them.’
‘That’s a lie,’ said Gerry. ‘And your men have been protecting the very people who groomed and abused them. Maybe they’ve been getting a nice bonus out of it all? What were Reg and Bill doing last Tuesday night?’
‘That’s enough, DC Masterson,’ said ACC McLaughlin. ‘One more remark like that and I’ll have you off the case. Is that clear?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Gerry.
‘Anyway,’ McLaughlin said. ‘How do you know the girl didn’t set you up? Lead you into a trap?’
‘I’ve thought about that, sir. It just doesn’t make sense. If Jade was setting me up, why make them wait until after she’s spilled the beans before beating me up or whatever they had in mind? She chose the meeting place. Why not tip them off I’d be arriving there so they could intercept me?’
McLaughlin inclined his head. ‘Good point,’ he said.
‘And if you heard the recording, sir, I think you’d realise she’s genuine. And she’s scared.’
McLaughlin turned to Carver. ‘This is a fruitless line of enquiry. There’s no point in further questioning the moral character of the girl. Leave that for the courts. Detective Superintendent Banks was right. No matter what her motive, she’s underage.’
‘And she’s been abused,’ Annie added.
‘Well, what do you expect me to do about it?’ Carver asked.
‘I wouldn’t have expected anything from you,’ Annie said, ‘but it surprises me you have the gall to ask the question.’
‘Don’t you dare speak that way to a superior officer!’
‘Superior?’ Annie sneered. ‘That’s a laugh. Pull the other one.’
‘Enough, I said,’ McLaughlin snapped, glaring at both Annie and Gerry. ‘I’ve already told you two. Button it before you find yourselves in even more serious trouble than you are already.’
This time Banks gave Annie the ‘calm down’ look. She frowned at him, then subsided in her chair and glowered silently at Carver.
‘Can we get back to the matter in hand, sir?’ Banks said to McLaughlin. ‘I apologise for DI Cabbot’s behaviour. She’s under a lot of strain with this case, as you can imagine. And DC Masterson has just been injured. She has a cracked clavicle.’
‘She shouldn’t be out following up dangerous leads on her own,’ said Carver. ‘Without informing me.’
‘Oh, shut up, Wilf,’ said McLaughlin. ‘Save it for later. Right now we’ve got more important things to do than worrying about covering your arse.’
Carver turned beet red but fell silent.
‘Clearly, I need to listen to the complete recording myself,’ McLaughlin went on, ‘but from what I can gather, we have some serious crimes to deal with here and now and decisive action is required. Given the information and forensics we have so far, I’d say this Sunny and his pals have to be first in line as suspects. Perhaps this Mimsy was going to blow the whistle, and they followed the van with some vague plan in mind. Perhaps it was prearranged that the men in the van would throw her out. We’ll need DNA samples to check against the ones Ms Singh took from the victim. As I see it, from what I’ve heard, there are four actions we should be pursuing immediately. We should be trying to find this girl Jade, we should be bringing Sunny and the rest of his friends in for a serious chat, we should contact West Yorkshire police to locate and bring in the cousins from Dewsbury, and we should be trying to find out who Tariq and the lads who hurt and chased DC Masterson are. In addition, we should also be trying to identify the girls Jade mentioned to DC Masterson and bring them in, too. Bring the school head teacher back from holidays if need be. Or try the social again. But that can wait until tomorrow. And it should be done carefully. They’re victims. They’re to be treated with respect and gentleness.’ He shot Carver a glance. ‘It’s no good banging their doors down in the middle of the night and dragging them off. Now, seeing as I am of senior rank here and Detective Superintendent Banks is SIO, all that’s down to us. As you’ll all be busy building cases for the next while, I’ll talk to the CPS about charges. I don’t know to what extent you want to help, or intend to help, Superintendent Carver. From what I can gather you haven’t done a hell of a lot so far except stand in the way of our investigation. I can have men sent in from elsewhere if you’re short of personnel—’
‘I’ve already got a patrol car out looking for this Jade,’ Carver grunted. ‘And I’ll see what we can do about Tariq and his mates. I think I know who they are. I suggest your team visit Sunny and the others and take them away with you to Eastvale for questioning. If you can do it discreetly, so much the better. I’m already getting the sense that people here know there’s something going on around the estate tonight, and the mood could quickly get nasty. There’s also been stories in the press, hints, as I’m sure you know. Links between your victim and the Asian community. Albert Moffat had a few things to say after his interview, it appears. None of this helps. I wouldn’t want you to be here when the riots start.’
McLaughlin gave him a hard glance. ‘Riots are nothing new to me, Wilf,’ he said, ‘but I take your point.’ He looked towards Banks, Annie and AC Gervaise. ‘Are we all agreed?’
They nodded.
‘Right, AC Gervaise,’ McLaughlin said, ‘will you inform Eastvale HQ to make sure the interview rooms are clear and ready as we’re expecting some VIP guests in the near future, while I get on to County HQ and request a few reinforcements.’
‘I’ll get right on it,’ said Gervaise.
‘And Detective Superintendent Banks and DI Cabbot here can go and wake up this Sunny character. We’ll send patrol cars to pick up his mates, just so they don’t get a whiff of what’s happening and try to scarper.’
‘What about me?’ said Carver.
‘Perhaps you could find out what Reg and Bill were doing on Tuesday night?’ said McLaughlin. ‘And until you do, I’d suggest you keep them off active duty.’
In a way, it wasn’t too difficult to be discreet at three o’clock in the morning when Banks and Annie knocked on the door to Sunny’s flat beside the kebab and pizza takeaway. At the same time, other teams of two officers were taking in Ismail, Faisal and Hassan. It would have been a lot worse if they had had to use the big red knocker, which lay in the boot of their car. But the door was opened by a dishevelled and curious Sunny, wearing black silk pyjamas, who immediately tried to shut the door again when he saw who was there. It didn’t work. Banks already had his foot in and a simple push with his shoulder was all it took.
‘What’s up, Sunny?’ Annie said. ‘Expecting someone else? At this time of night? Tariq not reported back yet?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. You can’t do this.’
‘We’re trying to find a girl called Jade,’ Banks said. ‘And we have reason to believe she might be here.’
‘There’s nobody else here.’
‘Mind if we have a look?’ Annie shouldered her way past him and climbed the stairs.
Sunny turned. ‘Wait! You can’t just—’
But Banks prodded him and started walking up behind him, and he had no choice but to follow Annie or turn and fight. ‘It’s a missing girl,’ Banks explained, ‘and we fear she may be in danger. There’s also been a serious assault on a police officer. That gives us every right to search for
her wherever we see fit.’
‘I have rights, too, you know. I want my lawyer.’
‘We’ll sort that out later. First we need to find out whether she’s here and if she’s been hurt.’
Annie had switched on all the lights and flooded the place. It was so bright that Sunny shielded his eyes.
‘I’ll keep our friend company while you have a look around,’ Banks said, and gently shoved Sunny down into an armchair. The living room was sparsely decorated, just a few framed prints on the yellow walls, mostly charcoal or watercolour drawings, a large flat-screen TV set and a state-of-the-art stereo system. The smells of the takeaway shop below hung about the place: garlic, stale, cooking oil, old meat. There were stains on the wallpaper, which was coming away from the wall at the ceiling, and on the beige carpet.
‘Nice,’ said Banks. ‘Music fan, are you?’
Sunny didn’t reply. Banks flipped through the CDs and found an assortment of eighties to noughties dance compilations – the kind of monotonous machine-generated rhythm tracks you usually find in double jewel-cases on the wall at HMV for £1.99 or thereabouts. There were also a fair number of country and western compilations and CDs, which surprised him. Among the DVDs were several porn titles and a lot of action films, mostly Asian martial arts stuff. Banks had never heard of any of them, but it was easy enough to see what they were from their covers. No Bollywood.
When the Music's Over: The 23rd DCI Banks Mystery Page 34