Guts for Garters

by Linda Regan

  Like any other seventeen-year-old girl, Zana’s bedroom was covered in pictures of boy bands, photos of herself with friends, and family photos. There were some of her wearing her hijab, and one of her without it. Georgia leaned in and studied that photo. Zana was eating an ice-cream and smiling, her long dark hair tumbled around her shoulders and down to her tiny waist. ‘She was beautiful,’ Georgia said turning to look at the mother.

  There was no answer or reaction. Georgia moved to the next photo. It was Zana with another dark-haired girl. This girl had white streaks in the front of her hair.

  ‘Who is she?’ Georgia asked the mother.

  ‘That is the Turkish girl,’ the father answered in a clipped tone.

  ‘Melek Yismaz,’ his wife added quietly, as her eyes turned to watch Stephanie.

  Stephanie was sitting behind a small desk in the corner of the room where Zana’s laptop was. She had it open and turned on. ‘Do you know her password?’ She asked the mother.

  ‘No.’

  Georgia and Stephanie exchanged a look. ‘We’ll have to take it away for a bit, but we’ll bring it back,’ Stephanie told her.

  Georgia was looking at the multitude of pictures of the group One Direction that surrounded the walls. ‘Try One Direction, or a combination of,’ she said to Stephanie.

  Stephanie typed the letters. It wouldn’t open. She tried it a few different ways, still having no luck. ‘We’ll take it with us,’ she said. ‘TIU will open it.’

  Mr Ghaziani turned and walked out of the room.

  ‘You don’t happen to know the names of the boys in the band, do you?’ Georgia asked Stephanie.

  ‘I know that one’s called Liam, and one’s Harry,’ she said. ‘Lucy likes Liam.’

  ‘Try them both,’ Georgia suggested.

  Liam sent the computer whirring into life.

  Stephanie speedily scrolled through the icons, then clicked on documents, and scrolled through them.

  ‘Would it be possible to get a glass of water?’ Georgia asked the mother.

  There was a moment’s pause and then the woman said, ‘Would you like tea?’

  ‘Three sugars for me,’ Stephanie said cheerfully. ‘Many thanks, and no sugar, or milk, for my inspector.’

  The mother glared at Georgia and then left the room.

  Georgia closed the bedroom door behind her and moved quickly back to Stephanie, whose fingers were going nineteen to the dozen on the computer.

  ‘Just school stuff and music files, so far,’ she said, flicking through them, then closing them, then clicking on the Pictures icon. The photos screen whirred up, and Stephanie speedily opened each file. Family pictures at first, then another called ‘G’. This was all pictures of Zana and Melek, dressed in high heels, modern clothes, and full make-up. The next picture was of Zana kissing a boy. ‘This guy’s familiar,’ Stephanie said peering in closer.

  Georgia moved to look. ‘That’s Burak Kaya,’ she said. ‘Our murdered gang boy. Alysha Achter’s info is right as usual. Looks like Zana was very involved with South London Rulers.’

  ‘And look at this,’ Stephanie had clicked on the next file, it had been titled War. The first photo showed Zana with a swollen eye. The next one with blood running from her nose, and the next was a picture of her arm and upper back, where the skin was crinkled, bright red, and blistering, clearly having been burnt. The burn seemed to be in the shape of an iron.

  There was a noise from down stairs and the sound of a male voice they didn’t recognise. ‘The brother’s back,’ Stephanie said.

  ‘Take the computer,’ Georgia said, pulling the lead from the wall.

  The bedroom door opened at the same moment, and Wajdi Ghaziani put his head around the door. ‘I was told you wanted to talk to me,’ he said staring at the laptop in Stephanie’s hands.

  He must have taken the stairs five at a time, Georgia thought, proof enough that there were things on her laptop that they didn’t want the police to see – the burn on Zana’s body being one of them.

  ‘Yes, come in and close the door, please,’ she told him.

  He obeyed, and walked over to sit on the edge of Zana’s bed, his eyes still glued to the computer that Stephanie was holding.

  ‘Do you ever use it?’ Stephanie asked him.

  He shook his head.

  ‘So it’s all Zana’s documents?’

  He shrugged and nodded.

  ‘We will be taking it, for a bit. It may help us find out what happened to your sister,’ Georgia told him, taking him in as she spoke. He too had very dark hair and dark features, was around eighteen years old, dressed in jeans, a dark sweatshirt with a hood, expensive trainers, and carrying an iPhone in his hand, and, he looked nervous.

  ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Stephanie said to him.

  ‘I was supposed to look after her, keep her out of trouble,’ Wajdi said at the same time as the mother called out from the outside for the door to be opened. ‘I failed,’ he added. He stood up and opened the door for his mother who was carrying a large tray with a teapot and two china cups, a bowl of sugar, a jug of milk, and a plate of chocolate biscuits.

  She placed the tray on the bed beside her son and glared at him as she started to pour the tea. Georgia put her hand over the tea strainer. ‘Thank you,’ she told the woman. ‘We’ll do that.’

  The woman looked at her, then said, quietly, ‘Very well.’

  She settled on the bed beside her son.

  Georgia was becoming impatient. ‘Rather than ask your son to accompany us to the station, for everyone’s sake, it will be easier to talk to him here,’ she told her.

  The woman nodded. ‘Please,’ she said.

  ‘In private,’ Stephanie snapped, not bothering to hide her irritation.

  The woman nodded, looked at her son again, and then walked to the door. Just before she left the room, she turned back, ‘I am respecting your wishes, so please you respect ours. We would like our daughter back, to bury her. I do not want to have to beg you.’

  Stephanie nodded her head sympathetically. ‘As soon as that is possible we will,’ she told her, moving to close the door behind her.

  ‘What do you know about your sister’s friends?’ Georgia asked Wajdi.

  ‘I know I tried to keep her behaving, and she wouldn’t.’

  ‘How did you try to keep her behaving?’ Stephanie asked.

  ‘I used to tell her, if she hung around with people like Melek Yismaz, she would come to harm.’

  ‘Tell us about Melek Yismaz,’ Georgia asked him.

  Stephanie had plugged the laptop back in and was now flicking through the picture file again.

  ‘She’s a skank who hangs around with the SLR gang. They’re the biggest and most dangerous gang around Camberwell.’

  ‘Does the name Burak Kaya mean anything to you?’

  Wajdi nodded. ‘He was one of them.’

  ‘How well did she know him?’

  He hesitated, before answering, ‘Too well.’

  ‘They were lovers?’

  His voice became angry. ‘In his dreams.’

  ‘Did you hate him?’

  ‘I hated him hanging around my sister. I told him to leave my sister alone.’

  ‘But he didn’t, did he? So what did you do then?’

  Another silence. Then he shrugged.

  ‘First of all you took it out on your sister, that’s right isn’t it?’ Georgia pushed.

  ‘That’s not right, no,’ he snapped at her.

  ‘So do you know how she got these bruises?’ Stephanie asked, turning the computer round so he could see the photos they had found of Zana’s bruised face and burnt arm.

  Another pause, then he said quietly, ‘Ask Melek Yismaz.’

  ‘Where will we find her?’

  He raised his voice again. ‘How would I know? If I knew I would find her myself. She led my sister astray, and now Zana is dead.’ He buried his head in his hands.

  ‘Your father seems more concerned about
family reputation than your sister’s welfare,’ Georgia said.

  He lifted his head. ‘My sister was a skank.’

  ‘Your point?’

  ‘We are Muslims.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘You wouldn’t understand.’

  ‘Yes, I would, and I do,’ Stephanie raised her voice. ‘I understand your sister has suffered an agonising death. We intend to find out who did that to her. So what can you tell us about that, Wajdi?’

  He glared at her, then he said quietly, ‘I gave her the odd slap, to keep her in line. She needed it.’

  ‘These are serious bruises.’ She clicked another photo. ‘And that is a burn?’

  ‘I didn’t do that to her.’

  ‘Do you have any idea who did?’

  A look of panic spread across his face. ‘You think I killed her because she was a skank?’

  ‘Did you?

  ‘No.’

  ‘You just said that you kept your eye on her,’ Georgia pushed. ‘So it must have made you very cross when she disobeyed you.’

  He didn’t answer.

  Georgia stood up, leaving the untouched tray of tea on the bed. ‘Don’t go far,’ she said, nodding to Stephanie to take the laptop. ‘We will be back. In the meantime I want you to get me a list of all her friends, everyone she knew and hung around with.’

  He was about to protest, but Georgia put her hand up to silence him. ‘As you say, you watched out for her.’ She held his gaze. ‘So you will have followed her and you’ll know who she hung out with. I want a list of them, all her schoolfriends, her enemies, everyone that knew her. I’d like the information by tomorrow at the latest.’

  Wajdi turned his head and stared at the wall.

  Seven

  20:00

  ‘I left my ceiling half done this morning,’ Georgia said as she clicked her seat belt into place. ‘That all seems so long ago.’

  ‘It’s been a long day,’ Stephanie agreed. ‘Fancy a pub supper and a few drinks, instead of takeaway?’

  ‘Certainly do,’ Georgia said turning to her friend. ‘But just one vodka as I’m driving. Where do you fancy?’

  ‘Friar’s Arms?’

  ‘No,’ Georgia shook her head. ‘Too near the station. Let’s get completely away from work, just for one hour.’

  ‘The Crown in Wandsworth, then, that’s always quiet, and the food’s good.’

  Georgia nodded, and then pulled her mobile phone from it pouch. She was about to settle it into its hands-free holder in her car, but changed her mind. ‘I’ll just call Alysha Achter first. She might be able to get an address and phone number for this Melek Yismaz, and info on her. TIU might take a couple of days. I’ll tell her it’s worth a hundred quid.

  ‘A hundred?’ Stephanie argued. ‘I reckon for that, she should catch the killer for us.’

  ‘I worry about her.’

  ‘I worry about you. If you weren’t so adamant that you weren’t the mothering kind, I’d say you were broody.’

  Georgia flicked Stephanie a glance, but didn’t answer.

  Alysha picked up.

  ‘We are also looking to trace a girl called Melek Yismaz,’ Georgia told her. ‘Have you heard of her?’

  Alysha paused, giving no indication she’d heard the name. ‘You are asking a lot of me,’ she said after a second. ‘I’ve been asking round ’bout Zana Ghaziani for you. People get wind of me asking all these questions, and then I’m in danger. You only gave me twenty in paper. Is that all my life’s worth?’

  Georgia had clicked the phone to speaker, so Stephanie could listen in.

  Stephanie shook her head.

  ‘I told you, I’m always just a phone call away,’ Georgia assured her. ‘Any hint of trouble and you call me. No matter when, I’ll be there.’

  Stephanie lowered her eyes and shook her head again.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, all that,’ Alysha said dismissively, ‘What happens if someone gets to me before you do? Forgot all the kids around here that have died helping you, have you?’

  Georgia flicked a glance at Stephanie.

  ‘You don’t know what it’s like living round here, you truly don’t,’ Alysha continued.

  ‘Then tell us,’ Georgia interrupted.

  Alysha said nothing.

  ‘Alysha, you already said Harisha Celik was your worst nightmare. We need your help to put him away. Then he is out of your hair. For that I need to trace a girl called Melek Yismaz.’

  Alysha became silent.

  ‘If you don’t know her, or haven’t heard of her, we need you to ask around and track her whereabouts for us.

  ‘How much will I get?’

  Stephanie glanced to Georgia.

  ‘Hundred pounds,’ Georgia told her.

  Stephanie shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  ‘She hangs out with Harisha Celik,’ Alysha said. ‘So when do I get the corn?’

  ‘Tomorrow. But I need her address,’ Georgia said sharply.

  ‘Ask Harisha Celik.’

  ‘She’s his girlfriend?’

  ‘Yup. So, go ask him, if you can find him.’ She paused and then added, ‘What I heard is that he has a lock-up, somewhere at the edge of this estate. Reckon he keeps stuff in there.’

  Georgia turned to Stephanie. ‘What do you mean by stuff?’ she asked Alysha.

  ‘Weapons, maybe, but I can’t say for sure. I just heard that, when I asked around about Zana Ghaziani.’

  Georgia looked at Stephanie again. ‘I need to know where this lock-up is.’

  ‘No one knows exactly. I asked, but no one knew for sure. But what I heard was that it was near here, that’s all I know.’ There was another silent pause and then Alysha said, ‘He’ll have a key though, at his flat, no doubt. So, find that key, and you’ve got the lock-up. I heard there are machetes in there, too.’

  ‘Who did you hear all this from?’ Georgia asked still looking at Stephanie.

  ‘Here and there. Can’t tell you exactly, but you know from past experience, that what I hear is sound, and that what I hear I pass on to you.’

  There was another thoughtful pause, during which Georgia held Stephanie’s eyes. Both knew, if the information was correct, then the net was over Harisha Celik.

  ‘I hope you can find that lock-up,’ Alysha said after a second. ‘Help us all out, that will. Another scum off our estate if you put him away; but I’m in real danger if anyone knows I passed all this on.’ Again she paused, as if thinking before saying, ‘So what’s happening? You coming round again tomorrow with my corn? You be real careful. I don’t want no people seeing you keep coming here, and getting wind I’m talking to feds.’

  ‘I’ll be careful,’ Georgia assured her. ‘I’ll ring you tomorrow.’

  As soon as Alysha clicked off from the call, she immediately turned to her three lieutenants who were sitting around her feet, on the floor of her thirteenth floor flat. Tink was painting Alysha’s toenails in a shade of bright purple as she listened. Panther was drinking from a bottle of beer and stifling her laughter. ‘You really doing this well, girl,’ she told Alysha as she clicked off.

  Lox had been taking everything down in a pink notebook.

  ‘You def made sure the lock-up is clean? No sign of no blood nowhere, or DNA, and there def ain’t no weapons left in it?’ Alysha asked Panther.

  Panther nodded. ‘It’s done, we cleared it all, an’ then checked and then double-checked after. There ain’t nothing in there to say we been in it. All the weapons are in his tunnel.’ She laughed, a big hoot of a laugh. ‘Harisha Celik ain’t ’alf gonna get a scare. He’s gonna think there are ghosts at work. Not that he can get in there, with Lox’s new lock.’

  ‘He might be locked up before that,’ Lox said. ‘Wiv luck. Then, we can take possession of all the gear, plus what’s down there. That lot gonna be worth a lot of paper, when we sell it.’

  ‘And when Marcia nicked her dad’s builder’s van to drive you to the tunnel with all the gear, you made sure all the s
tuff got cleared from the van, and then you sprayed that van too?’ Alysha checked again with Panther.

  ‘Yup, Queen. It’s clear,’ Panther nodded. ‘The machetes are safely inside that shit Harisha Celik’s tunnel. Lox broke the lock, and she put our lock on it, so SLRs will have to break that lock to get into the tunnel.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Lox confirmed. ‘We was hurrying, though, cos we thought SLR would have soldiers about, guarding the joint, but we never saw none.’

  ‘Not till we got back here. They’re all over the bloody shop, round here,’ Tink said. ‘They’re on our case, looking to get us for what we done to Burak.’

  ‘Not for long,’ Alysha told them. ‘We just gotta stay low in here, till the feds pick up Harisha. Which they will, cos I shopped him real good over the lock-up, and now we got his weapons in the tunnel, we got a backup, to get them all sent down.’

  Tink looked up from dabbing the overlap of nail polish from the side of Alysha’s toe. ‘There was a lot of machetes and guns in that consignment,’ she said. ‘I went down and up a lot of times to get them in there.’

  Panther nodded. ‘She had to go down a lot of a few times, cause she could only carry so much at the one time.’

  ‘It’s one ’ell of a drop, even when you’ve got the rope round your waist, then you have to lower yourself into the tunnel,’ Tink told her. ‘So it’s an armful at a time. The guns are in the empty crates down there, and the machetes are wrapped. They’re all dead safe. Perfect timing for the feds to arrest Harisha.’

  ‘There weren’t no SLR crew nowhere,’ Panther said shaking her head. ‘We was prepared to knock the fuckers out, but never saw not one. Harisha has def sent them over ’ere, looking for us,’ she told her. ‘So it were a synch. Tink put the weapons in there, and I hauled her in and out.’

  ‘The padlock weren’t no problem, neither,’ Lox told her, ‘SLRs will get a shock when they can’t get into it, ’less they break my lock, and they’ll have a job doing that.’

  ‘You’ve all done so good,’ Alysha told them. ‘That black fed is bringing me round a ton tomorrow, not a lot, but the funds are building.’

  ‘The street girls are bringing in loads with the crack they’re selling to their punters too, so we’ve got a big kitty from our cut of that,’ Panther said, looking at Lox, who was the money holder, for confirmation.