Trespass (P.I. Johnson Carmichael Series - Book 2)

by Stephen Edger

  ‘Were you close to D.C.I. Martin Saunders?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say we were close. I had a lot of respect for him, and he was the sort of copper who knew how to get the job done. He told me he thought I had those same qualities.’

  ‘Can you talk me through how you got involved in Saunders’ team?’

  ‘I’m sure it is all in my personnel file.’

  ‘There are printed words in your file but it’s not the same as hearing a first-hand account. In your own time.’

  Carmichael sighed, ‘I was working out of C.I.D. at Notting Hill nick in West London. I had a couple of lucky breaks and before I knew it I was being transferred to this task force.’

  ‘There must have been more to it than that. Please elaborate.’

  ‘Okay,’ he sighed, ‘well, I played a part in breaking up a few local rackets, and I guess it got me noticed.’

  ‘You solved ten cases in six months; I’ve read your file. It’s a pretty impressive record. I can see why it would have got you noticed.’

  ‘If you’ve read my file, why do we need to go through this rigmarole?’

  ‘Is that how you see this? A rigmarole?’

  ‘You tell me! You’re the one asking me questions you already know the answers to.’

  ‘You seem very defensive, Mr Carmichael. There isn’t anything you’re trying to hide is there?’

  ‘No…like what?’

  ‘How would I know?’

  ‘I have nothing to hide.’

  ‘Good, then you won’t mind answering my questions will you? Now, why don’t you tell me about your first meeting with D.C.I. Saunders?’

  Carmichael thought back.

  ‘I was at a pub around the corner from the nick on a Friday night after shift. I was playing pool with one of the team when he walked in and offered to buy me a drink. He introduced himself and said he had been given the green light to put together a new team to help break down organised crime in London. He told me he had heard good things about me and wanted to know if I was interested.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I told him I would give him a decision the following week.’

  ‘And that was it?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘That’s interesting, as other members of the team we’ve spoken with had to undergo an interview and demonstrate certain skills. Nothing like that happened to you?’

  ‘No,’ he lied.

  The truth was: Saunders had turned up at the bar just as a fight had broken out outside the pub. Carmichael had heard the ruckus from inside and had gone out to break it up. A man had pulled a knife on another and was trying to stab him. Carmichael had approached both men, punched the first and disarmed the second before knocking him unconscious too. The barman had told him the rest of his drinks were on the house for the night, and it had been then that Saunders had approached him. He had said he needed a certain kind of officer; someone who wasn’t afraid to take chances and use bravery over procedure. He had said he was impressed with the way Carmichael had broken up the fight without nonsense and wanted him in the team. Carmichael had asked for a pay-rise and been offered an extra five thousand a year: it had been a no-brainer.

  ‘Why did you agree to join Saunders’ team?’ Patel persevered.

  ‘He told me it would be good for my career, and to be honest, I was bored of the run-of-the-mill shit that I was dealing with in Notting Hill. I wanted a new challenge.’

  ‘Did D.C.I. Saunders provide any guidance on how you should approach your work in the task force?’

  ‘I’m not sure what you’re getting at.’

  ‘Did he ever give you any specific instructions or a manner in which he expected you to behave?’

  ‘Other than following the handbook, no.’

  ‘So he never told you to do whatever it takes to get information?’

  Carmichael sat forward, ‘Martin Saunders was a good cop. You hear me? He doesn’t deserve to have his name muddied by some snot-nosed kid like you.’

  ‘I have no intention of muddying anybody’s name, Mr Carmichael, I merely wish to understand the operational parameters in which you were guided to work.’

  ‘We were told to do things by the book.’

  ‘Okay, well let’s move on. What can you tell me about the night Janus Stratovsky went missing? You were on duty right?’

  ‘That’s right. It was a pretty quiet night in the office from what I can remember.’

  ‘So you never went anywhere near the Kitty Klub in Soho?’

  ‘Not that I recall,’ Carmichael lied.

  ‘The body of Janus Stratovsky was recovered in a burnt out black cab in Brixton. Did you know the area well?’

  ‘Sure, I used to go running all over London to keep in shape.’

  ‘There were rumours as to your involvement in Stratovsky’s murder weren’t there?’

  ‘That’s in the file too. You know that I was investigated by the Complaints Investigation Bureau at the time.’

  ‘You were suspended during the C.I.B. investigation weren’t you?’

  ‘That’s correct.’

  ‘And what was the outcome?’

  ‘I was exonerated.’

  ‘Do you know what led to them investigating you?’

  ‘Some of my less open-minded colleagues pointed the finger at me.’

  ‘You sought damages for unfair dismissal after you resigned from the Met; do you believe that the C.I.B. investigation into you was racially-motivated?’

  ‘The investigation? No. The finger pointing that led to the investigation: yes.’

  ‘There were suggestions made that you were quite aggressive in your handling of suspects and snitches.’

  ‘Is that a question or a statement?’

  Patel sniggered.

  ‘I’ll re-phrase. Was there any truth in the allegations that you were aggressive in your handling of suspects and snitches?’

  ‘What exactly are you trying to accuse me of? You think I killed Janus Stratovsky? Hmm?’

  ‘No, no, Detective Constable Don Hoffman already gave you an alibi. He said the two of you were in the office most of the night playing poker for matchsticks. He said you didn’t get a single call-out all night. That is right isn’t it?’

  Carmichael blinked twice. So drunk Don had claimed they were together all night; it was probably easier than admitting he was too drunk to remember what happened.

  ‘So, why are you looking to speak to me if you know I didn’t do it?’

  ‘You may have seen in the press that the man charged with the murder of Stratovsky, Arthur Baxter, has had his conviction overturned due to re-examination of the D.N.A. evidence used in the original trial. Well that has led to the case being reopened. Our team has been asked to review all the events leading up to the conviction and that’s where you and the task force come in. Victor Stratovsky always believed the hit on his brother was by one of the other families and there is no reason for us not to follow the same line of thought. What can you tell me about the rival organisations in London at the time? What was the reason the Stratovskys were chosen as the focus of your investigation over any of the other organisations operating in London at that time?’

  ‘I wasn’t involved at the very start I’m afraid, so I don’t really know why that group was chosen. I suppose they were one of, if not, the biggest families in the city at the time. There wasn’t much they weren’t involved in.’

  ‘Would it surprise you if I said since that since the death of Nikolai Stratovsky, the Romanian Lupei family have come to prominence?’

  Carmichael shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘The Lupeis were pretty small-fry when Janus was murdered but there were some mumblings on the street that they could have been responsible. From what I understand, Robert Draganovic, who was Nikolai’s right-hand man, has been spotted in their presence and is helping them pick up where the Russians left off.’

  ‘That’s the problem with organised crime: you remove one limb and anot
her sprouts up almost immediately.’

  ‘So you didn’t have any dealings with either Artur or Emil Lupei while you were on the task force?’

  ‘Sorry, no.’

  ‘When Janus’ body was discovered, did you have any suspicions as to who might be responsible? Did your snitches say anything?’

  ‘I was suspended within a week of the body being discovered so I didn’t have the chance to do any digging.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Patel nodded.

  ‘I have one final question about Janus Stratovsky, if you’ll indulge me? The part of Brixton he was found in was notorious as a hang-out for homosexuals. Did you ever suspect that he might have been…’

  ‘Gay? Janus? Not that I was aware of. He was always surrounded by beautiful women so I never suspected. I mean, anything is possible. Just look at Ronnie Kray, right?’

  Patel packed his things up and thanked Carmichael for his time.

  ‘Here’s my card, in case you think of anything else,’ Patel said, handing over a business card.

  ‘Do you think you’ll find out who really killed Stratovsky?’ Carmichael asked as Patel opened the door to leave.

  ‘To be honest,’ replied Patel in a whisper, ‘there’s not much appetite for solving the case. One gangster bumps another off, just saves the taxpayer money, doesn’t it? If the case remains unsolved, who’s it going to hurt, huh?’

  Carmichael watched him leave and let out a huge sigh of relief. It felt like a chapter of his life had finally closed. Then he remembered the reason he had come to the station in the first place: Tony Green. If Mercure wasn’t going to take action, then he would have to do something about it himself.

  44

  Carmichael thumped his fist hard on the door of the house in Honeysuckle Road.

  ‘I know you’re in there Tony, you might as well just let me in. I’m not going away.’

  It was dark now and the orange glow from the street light did little to disguise the amount of maintenance that the street required. He thumped his fist on the door again, causing it to shake.

  ‘If you prefer we can talk through the door. I’ll make sure I speak up nice and loud so that all your neighbours can hear about the kind of man they’ve been living near.’

  The door opened fully. Tony Green was in the frame, his hair un-brushed; his face with at least three days’ worth of bristles. He was wearing the same t-shirt as when Carmichael had spotted him earlier.

  ‘What the fuck do you want now?’ he snarled.

  ‘We’ll discuss that inside,’ Carmichael retorted, pushing past him and into the living room.

  Green slammed the front door but made no attempt to evict him from the property. Instead, he lit up a cigarette and sat down at the small table.

  ‘I know,’ Carmichael started.

  ‘You know what?’

  ‘I know why you paid Carl to warn me off; why you didn’t want me digging into your family’s affairs.’

  ‘Oh yeah? Why’s that then?’

  He smiled at Green’s false bravado, ‘To keep your dirty little secret quiet.’

  ‘Oh no,’ he mocked. ‘You’ve caught me. I’m claiming incapacity benefit but I’m still able enough to whack one off while watching a porno. Shall I come quietly now? No pun intended.’

  ‘I’m sure all your neighbours know you’re a wanker, Mr Green. No, the secret I’m talking about is the identity of the man who sexually assaulted Beth Roper in September nineteen eighty-nine. You remember that night, don’t you? Tell me, though, had you planned the attack for long or was it a bit spur of the moment?’

  Green inhaled deeply on his cigarette and ignored the question.

  Carmichael moved around the room and picked up a picture of Nathan.

  ‘Chip off the old block, wasn’t he? Did it make you proud when you read about all the things he had done? Hmm? I bet you pictured each attack yourself and imagined how you would have done it differently. Of course, you wouldn’t have been dumb enough to get caught, would you?’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Sure you do, Tony. You know, Lauren’s story was so compelling that, for a time, she had me convinced that it had actually been Nathan she had seen raping her mother. But she was mistaken, wasn’t she?’

  ‘Y’know, I might just have to call the police as what you’re doing is bordering on harassment.’

  ‘Really? Surely, we’re just two men catching up on old memories, right? It was the eyes that stuck in Lauren’s memory for so long. They were etched on her dreams. Intense is how she described them. I look at them now,’ he leaned in closer to Green, ‘and they look dead to me: sad and pathetic.’

  Green exhaled a cloud of smoke in his direction, causing Carmichael to take a step backwards. He then extinguished his cigarette in the saucer and lit another.

  ‘Beth described her attacker to Lauren. She said he stank of whisky and stale cigarettes. Sound like anyone you know, Tony? She also said he was strong, but looking at you, maybe I was mistaken. I mean, you’re just a weak old man, aren’t you. You probably need those little blue pills to get your pecker up, right?’

  ‘You’re very imaginative, Mr Carmichael. Has anyone ever told you that?’

  ‘Was Beth your first?’

  Green stared off into the distance, a smirk developing on his face.

  ‘Ah, Beth Roper, she was…different.’

  Carmichael stopped still. His intention on arrival had been to goad Green into admitting what he had done, but it had happened sooner than he had expected.

  ‘Oh yeah? How did it happen?’

  ‘I knew her, y’know. Well, sort of knew her. She worked at that Packie grocers on the main street in Portswood. I used to pop in there to buy my fags and newspaper on my lunch break. She always seemed a bit up her own arse, like she was looking down on me and some of the other customers. It was a real pleasure to wipe that smirk off her face.’

  ‘So you admit you raped her?’

  Green’s eyes suddenly snapped round and he charged for Carmichael, catching him off guard. He tumbled to the floor and watched as Green frisked him.

  ‘Where is it, you fuck? You recording me? Huh? Or wearing a wire?’

  Carmichael brushed the old man off him, stood up and straightened his tie. He had considered attempting to record the conversation but he knew it would be inadmissible in court so there was no point. His plan was to get a confession and then encourage Green to go voluntarily to the police as Benold had done.

  ‘I’m not wearing a fucking wire, you dick!’

  As if to demonstrate his honesty, Carmichael removed his overcoat and turned in a circle.

  Green clambered back onto his chair and lit another cigarette.

  ‘You planned the assault on Beth Roper then?’

  ‘Not exactly. I was out one Friday night, on my way back from a mate’s house. We’d been playing poker and drinking but I’d lost all my money and couldn’t afford a taxi. I was behind a tree having a piss when I caught the scent of her perfume. At first I didn’t realise it was her, but there was a moment when she turned and looked in my direction and I recognised her immediately. She looked scared of her own shadow and it was then that I decided I would have her…one way or another.’

  ‘So you followed her?’

  ‘I kept my distance until she turned into her road and then I had to speed up as I thought I was going to lose her. I saw her dart into one of the small blocks of flats and waited to see which one she went into.’

  ‘What about the mask and gloves?’

  ‘What can I say? I always carried them on me at the time. You never knew when you might…need them.’

  ‘Was she the first?’

  ‘The first what? My first?’

  ‘Was she the first woman you attacked?’

  ‘No, of course not. I’d had three others before, but she was the one I enjoyed the most. She was so reluctant at first but then when her little bitch of a daughter appeared, she was willing t
o do anything I commanded. She was crying when I came, you know. It was fucking incredible!’

  Carmichael’s stomach turned.

  ‘Lauren had nightmares about you for years afterwards.’

  ‘I know…she told me,’ he grinned.

  ‘You killed Lauren, then? Why?’

  ‘I went to see her, to see if she would recognise me. I found her address on the net. It was too far to walk, so I had to catch the bus. I knocked on the door, expecting there to be no answer. I could see she’d been crying when she opened the door. She wasn’t concentrating, so I told her I was a new neighbour and needed to phone the utilities company to get the electric turned on. She showed me into the living room and told me I could use the phone. She went off to the bathroom to clean herself up I think. There I was, in her house, and she had no idea who I was.’

  ‘She didn’t recognise you? Then why the fuck didn’t you just leave?’

  ‘There was something about her…maybe it was her tear-stained face…it reminded me of that night all them years ago. I felt myself growing hard and I knew I had to have her…I put on my old mask and gloves and waited for her outside the bathroom. When she opened the door I asked her if she remembered me. She screamed and then collapsed to the floor, screaming ‘No’ over and over again. I lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom, telling her it would be okay and that I’d give her exactly what she deserved.’

  Carmichael choked back the urge to vomit.

  ‘Why did you tie her up?’

  ‘She kept trying to scratch me so I tied her hands up with a bit of chord I found under the sink…oh, the noises she made.’

  ‘You fuck!’ Carmichael yelled pinning him up against the wall.

  ‘You wanted to know the truth? Well that’s what happened.’

  ‘Why did you have to kill her?’

  ‘She’d seen my face. I couldn’t possibly just let her go free after I’d finished.’

  He struck Green in the stomach and dropped him to the floor. The old man gasped for air; the wind knocked out of him.

  ‘She begged me to stop, y’know.’

  ‘You really are scum. And to think I actually suspected that it might have been Matthew continuing his brother’s ways.’