by L M Krier
'His loyal fans will support him, but would venues want to book someone with this kind of rumour about him? And if he doesn't get his day in court, he can't name names to bargain with, and he can't trot them out in public in a courtroom to save himself. He's tainted now, surely? So even if he went to the papers with names, would anyone believe him?'
'A different way of throwing him to the wolves?' she asked, her tone reflective. 'A bit far-fetched, don't you think? Not to mention a colossal gamble to take. And it would still mean that the leak came from somewhere within the force, or the CPS.'
'To me, it makes as much sense as thinking either Inspector Turner or myself would break this news to the press,' Ted said firmly. 'And there are plenty of rumours about police officers and lawyers being involved in child abuse.'
'There will, of course, be an official investigation into where the leak came from,' she continued. 'In the meantime, we have to hope that the seizure of computers might just throw up something to help with our ongoing case.
'That will be all for now, gentlemen. Except, Inspector Darling, if I could just have a few more minutes of your time?'
Kevin threw Ted a sympathetic glance as he stood up and left him sitting there, wondering what else he had done wrong. When Kevin had left and closed the door behind him, the Ice Queen turned her attention back to Ted.
'You seem to have left rather early this evening, Inspector,' she said. 'I was surprised to hear that you had already gone when I was trying to contact you.'
Ted mentally gave himself another kick in the behind. He'd been running the self-defence club for so long, with the full knowledge and support of DCI Baker, that he had quite simply forgotten to mention his standing commitment to the Ice Queen. He hoped she wasn't going to raise objections to it. He never allowed it to interfere with his work and always stepped down and let Trev run it when necessary.
'Ma'am, yes, I apologise, I should have told you,' he said. 'I run a self-defence club for children at the local martial arts club I attend. We set it up to help combat bullying in schools and it's had a lot of success.'
Even the Ice Queen looked impressed. 'That sounds like a good initiative.'
'There's no charge to the children, the club covers the cost of the use of the dojo and Trevor and I run it as volunteers. The young boy Flip, Philip, who first told me about Aiden going missing, is a keen member. In fact he told me he used the techniques we taught him when he once went with Aiden on one of his trips,' Ted told her.
'You certainly have my support on this,' she said, to Ted's surprise, 'as long as it still leaves you the time to catch our killer or killers, as I feel confident you will. You have an excellent track record, Inspector. Don't let me down on this one.'
Ted checked his watch as he left the station. He hadn't been as long as he feared he might be. He would have missed much of the kids' self-defence session by the time he got to the dojo, but he could still be in time for the adults' training session.
He could swing by the house to grab his kit and change quickly out of his suit. Then he woulddrive to the dojo rather than walk, as he and Trev usually preferred to do. After a day like today, he needed a fast and furious session of martial arts more than ever as a release for tension.
CHAPTER Twelve
Inspector Kevin Turner didn't often venture up into Ted's territory. He certainly seldom burst into his office uninvited as he did that morning.
'Bloody hell, Ted,' were his opening words. Then, as he sank into a chair, by way of emphasis, he added, 'Bloody hell! I'm not even going to offer to tell the Ice Queen this one. I'm going to hide behind you while you tell her then I'm going to run away very fast.'
Ted looked up from his paperwork. 'Care to stop talking in riddles and tell me what the problem is, Kev?'
'We've just had a call downstairs. A taxi driver's been found shot, quiet corner of a car park down by the viaduct,' Kevin told him. 'Apparently it looks like a very professional job. Two shots through the window, no robbery, nothing like that. Please tell me this is nothing to do with your line of enquiry and if it is, how the hell did word get out of who you've been talking to?'
'It must be a coincidence,' Ted said, with more optimism than he felt. 'I'll get down there straight away. Are your officers on the scene?'
'Everyone's on their way. I think I'll come with you on this one. I want to put as much distance as possible between me and the Ice Queen if she thinks there's another leak of information from this nick,' Kevin told him.
Ted smiled. 'Anyone would think you were afraid of her. I'm sure she's a pussy cat really. Your car or mine? I'll see you down in the car park. I'll put my head round the door of the witch's den and hope she doesn't throw me out of the window.'
As Kevin went off in search of a vehicle, Ted headed to the main office. Several of his team were out but Sal was at his desk, as was Steve, working away on the computer as usual.
'Just had a call about a shooting,' Ted told them. 'Taxi driver, shot dead at the wheel, near the viaduct. I'm on my way down there now with Inspector Turner. I'll call in when I know who I want working on this.'
Sal jumped to his feet, his face anguished. 'I'll go.'
'No Sal, I don't want you anywhere near this,' Ted told him.
'But sir, my cousin Khalid …' Sal said pleadingly.
'Precisely. That's why I don't want you there. I'll let you know as soon as I get down there if we have any ID on the victim,' Ted said. 'It may be totally unrelated to what you've been working on but I don't want you showing your face anywhere near the scene if it is. It could put you at risk.' Then he added, 'I will call you Sal, I promise, as soon as I know anything.'
Ted headed to the superintendent's office, tapped at the door and waited for the Ice Queen's command to enter. Once inside, he lurked as close to the door as possible, hoping to make a quick getaway.
'Ma'am, we've just had a call. A taxi driver's been shot dead. No further information at the moment, no indication if this is in any way connected to our enquiries. It looks like a hit job rather than a robbery,' he told her. 'Inspector Turner and I are both on our way down there in case there's a link. We'll keep you informed.'
She looked up sharply at the news. 'See that you do, Inspector. If this is in any way linked, I want to know immediately. Any hint of a possible leak or another bungled operation will reflect very badly on this station.'
Kevin was waiting for him just outside the entrance, the engine of the area car running. He put the blue light on as they set off, giving him a clear run through traffic on the short drive.
The car park was close to Stockport's famous brick viaduct. As they arrived, they could see that a quiet corner was already taped off and there were signs of activity everywhere. Kevin drove across and stopped just short of the tape. Beyond it they could see a taxi parked.
Professor Nelson was already on the scene. She looked up as Ted and Kevin approached her.
'Morning, Inspector,' she said. 'My goodness, senior officers from both uniform and CID? I'm assuming there is more to this than just a random shooting?'
'Good morning, Professor,' Ted also opted for being formal in public, following her lead. 'Have you met Inspector Turner? There is a possible link with our other ongoing murder. What can you tell us so far?'
'Your sneezing chappie was here earlier to certify death. So far I've just had a cursory look. Two bullet wounds to the head from short range, very accurately done. The first officers on the scene tell me the takings appear to be untouched,' she told them. 'I'm just about to arrange for his removal. Quite excited about this one, ballistics is a bit of a thing of mine.'
Ted smiled to himself. It just confirmed his mental image of Bizzie Nelson as one of the huntin', shootin' and fishin' crowd. He wondered if she owned a Purdey, like her predecessor.
'Time of death?' he asked optimistically.
'No idea with any certainty,' she said briskly. 'Best I can do for you with what I have seen so far is probably some time late last night
. I'll let you know more accurately as soon as I can. At least you shouldn't have any trouble with ID,'' she told them as she prepared to leave. 'If the dead man is the driver of this taxi, his photo ID is hanging up inside.'
Both Ted and Kevin had gloved up as soon as they arrived on the scene. Kevin opened the passenger door of the taxi and reached in to take down the driver's ID badge hanging there, which he showed to Ted.
'I see your earlier “bloody hell” and raise you an “oh shit”,' Ted said. 'Mohnid Ahmadi, the driver Sal has been talking to. The driver who claimed to know about getting paid to pick up kids and deliver them to the paedos. The Ice Queen will really love this. And it's your turn to tell her.'
'Rock-paper-scissors?' Kevin asked hopefully, before both men went into professional mode and started arranging the enquiry. As promised, Ted's first priority was to get straight on his phone to Sal.
'It's not your cousin,' was the first thing he said, and heard Sal's immediate sigh of relief. 'But it is your driver, Mohnid Ahmadi. Shot in the head, takings are still there. Who's in the office to send out?'
'Me and Steve are still here, Sgt Hallam and Virgil have just come back in,' Sal told him.
'Send them down here, can you. There are uniform officers on site but I want some of the team as well, asking around. There may be witnesses, I want them finding as soon as. I'll be heading back in shortly with Inspector Turner. We both need to bring the superintendent up to speed on this as soon as possible,' he said, with a pointed look at Kevin as he said it.
Kevin grinned at him and made the rock-paper-scissors hand signals in rapid succession as Ted rang off.
In the car on the way back, Ted said, 'Seriously, I'll brief her about this. If anything has gone wrong, it's gone wrong from my end so it's only fair. But you owe me one.'
* * *
The Ice Queen was anticipating his return. Ted went in and sat down, then laid out what he knew so far, as succinctly as possible.
'And you're confident that DC Ahmed took all precautions not to be identified as an officer?' she asked.
'He's a good and experienced member of the team, ma'am,' Ted told her. 'He went to great lengths not to be seen leaving the station before meeting up with his cousin. I can't at the moment see, if this has occurred as a result of a leak of information, where any such breach could have come from.'
'So what are your initial thoughts?' she asked.
'One of two possibilities. The first, and most obvious, is that someone somehow knew he had been talking to the police and wanted to silence him. The second, from a completely different angle, he was not targeted because of that but because his actions had lead to the death of the boy Aiden.'
The Ice Queen nodded agreement. 'That has occurred to me, too. An execution, a retribution. But that also requires the killer to have knowledge of his involvement and from what you describe of his behaviour, he has been very cautious in sharing information with anyone.
'The boy had no family at all, from what you have told me. So who would be likely to take such action on his behalf? And again, how would they know of this driver's involvement?'
'Someone higher up in the ring? Housekeeping, because things went wrong? Maybe this is the first time there's been a fatality and people are starting to panic, cover their tracks,' Ted suggested. 'That's all I can offer for now, ma'am. I need to get back to the team and see what else we can come up with.'
CHAPTER Thirteen
Mike Hallam and Dennis 'Virgil' Tibbs arrived on the scene shortly after Ted had left. They took time to liaise with the uniform officers on the scene before going looking for witnesses. Virgil knew the area well, Mike Hallam was still relatively new and still finding his way round.
'Do you want to try the shops and offices over there, Sarge, just on the off chance? I'll go and take a look over by the arches,' Virgil told him. 'There are often homeless people dossing there, it's just a possibility one of them may have seen something.'
Hallam nodded and strolled across the car park. They'd been told the body had probably been there since the night before so he wasn't optimistic, but they had to start somewhere. Virgil headed over to the furthest corner of the car park towards the arches of the viaduct.
There were a few sleeping forms, wrapped up in an assortment of old clothes and cardboard. One man was sitting up, watching him. The morning was chilly and damp and he was huddled inside a sleeping bag but still looked cold.
'I'm DC Tibbs, making enquiries into an incident which happened over there last night, on the car park,' Virgil told him, showing his warrant card. 'How long have you been here?'
The man looked at him. His eyes were bright, but the face was streaked with ingrained dirt, and his hands and fingernails, in his fingerless gloves, needed a good wash. His hands were clasped tightly round a can of extra strong lager.
'What year is it?' the man asked.
'No, I meant have you been here since last night?' Virgil said.
'I have,' the man replied. He was younger than Virgil had at first thought and his voice was well-spoken. 'There was mix-up with my booking last night at the Palace Hotel, so here I am.'
Virgil squatted down to his level, intrigued by the man. 'Did you see anything last night, over there?' he jerked his head over to where tape marked out the crime scene, where the taxi was parked.
'I might have done,' the man said warily.
Virgil sighed and reached in his back pocket for his wallet. 'If I give you a tenner, will you spend it on drink and drugs?'
'If you give me money, without me asking you to, does it not then become my money, to do with as I choose?' the man parried.
'Would a tenner help you?' Virgil asked. 'I'm a bit light on cash.'
'I take credit cards,' the man said ironically. 'When you have nothing, ten pence helps. Are you paying me for what I know or giving me money to spend as I choose?'
'Did you actually see anything?' Fascinated as he was by the man, Virgil knew he needed to be getting on and finding witnesses, rather than just talking to a loquacious derelict.
'I did,' came the reply. 'Because I am a responsible citizen, I'll tell you anyway, but your ten pounds would be very welcome for a cup of hot coffee and a bite of breakfast. And perhaps another can of lager for later on.'
Virgil handed over the note and the man palmed it deftly, in a movement which spoke of practice.
'I saw a taxi drive into the car park and pull up over there, as if it was waiting to pick up a fare. The lights were on and the engine was running. Then I saw a motorbike come out of the shadows at the other side of the car park, come up behind the taxi and stop alongside the driver's door.
'There were two people on the bike. The one at the back produced a hand-gun, silenced, I imagine, as I didn't hear much of a noise, just enough to make out there were two shots. Then the bike went off at speed, leaving the taxi there.
'The engine stayed running for quite some time. I imagine it eventually ran out of fuel, and at some time in the night the lights went out, so the battery had probably gone flat by then.'
'Did you not think to report the incident?' Virgil asked.
'Well, of course, officer, as I told you, I'm a fine upstanding citizen. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to charge my smartphone so I was unable to,' the man said, with biting sarcasm.
'Sorry, stupid of me,' Virgil said and grinned. 'Can you tell me anything about the bike or the people on it?'
'It was dark, of course, although the street-lights were on. I could see that the bike was red and that both people were wearing dark helmets and dark leathers, but no more than that.'
'Any idea of the make of bike?' Virgil asked hopefully.
The man shook his head. 'I was never a biker. Believe it or not, back in the day, I drove a Porsche.'
'And around what time was this?'
'I stupidly forgot to look at my Rolex,' came the reply.
'Would you make a statement about what you've just told me, down at the station?'
&nbs
p; 'When you live like I do, you try not to get involved in anything that happens on the streets,' the man told him. 'This patch here might not look all that inviting to you but it suits me well enough for now.'
'Is there nowhere you can go, a hostel or something?' Virgil asked with evident concern.
The man laughed harshly. 'I don't suppose you've ever spent a night in one or you wouldn't ask. Believe me, this is the Ritz in comparison.'
Virgil straightened up. 'Would you tell me your name?'
'Haven't used it in a long time,' the man said.
'What do they call you, then?'
Again the short laugh. 'My wife called me Dickhead, several times, before she threw me out and changed the locks. My employers had much harsher names for me. I was a trader, and not on a market stall. My ambitious dealings cost them rather a lot of money. Mostly I'm known as Nat.'
'It's been nice talking to you Nat, and thanks for your help,' Virgil handed him his card. 'If I can ever help you, or if you remember anything else which might be useful to me, here's my mobile number. DC Tibbs. They call me Virgil.'
This time the man's laugh was full of humour. 'Shouldn't that be “they call me Mr Tibbs”?' he asked as Virgil walked away.
It was not only the best lead they got, it was the only one. Mike Hallam had drawn a blank. When Virgil filled him in on what little information he did have, the DS echoed what the homeless man had said. Anyone out on the street witnessing a shooting was unlikely to want to get involved.
When they got back to the station, DS Hallam headed for Ted's office and found him at his desk. He briefly outlined what Virgil had come up with.
'Boss, do you think this was a killing to silence someone who was on the point of talking to the police?' the DS asked him. 'Or could it be someone who knew he was involved in delivering these kids up to the paedos, especially after young Aiden got killed like he did?'
'At this stage it could be either, Mike,' Ted told him. 'We have to keep an open mind until we get a bit more of a lead and know which direction we're going in.'