Guts for Garters

by Linda Regan

  Georgia sighed loudly, but said nothing. She had more important things on her mind. ‘You spoke to Alison, though?’ she asked her.

  ‘Yup, about an hour ago,’ Stephanie now had her mouth full of crisps and sprayed as she spoke. ‘She was leaving McDonalds, and on her way to Battersea to pick up Wajdi. That’s when she told me Melek was making an official statement against Harisha for rape, and she wants him charged.

  ‘That is music to my ears,’ Georgia said, indicating and turning into the main road. ‘So where is Melek now, if Alison has gone to pick up Wajdi?’

  ‘Waiting in the McDonalds. Alison will go back and get her after Wajdi has been picked up, and then bring her to the station to take an official statement.’ She tipped the last of the packet into her mouth and then crushed the empty bag in her hand sending a few crumbs over herself, which she unconsciously brushed off and onto the floor of Georgia’s car. ‘So we can hold Celik, officially while we test his clothing, that could take up to thirty-six hours, giving us time for forensic testing on the silver charm, and more time to find something at the Wilkins flat to charge him with murder.’

  ‘And pigs might fly,’ Georgia said sarcastically. ‘He wouldn’t have murdered them himself. He’d have ordered their killing.’

  ‘My money is on the Ghazianis being right in the middle of this, and they’re also at the station. Once we’ve got Wajdi, we can try and find how it all fits.’

  Georgia nodded her agreement. ‘The day is getting better,’ she said, then unable to ignore the crisp packet that Stephanie had scrunched into a ball in her hand, she added, ‘Put the crisp bag in the plastic bag in the glove compartment would you, and take it into the station and bin it, I don’t want the smell of stale prawn cocktail over my car.’

  ‘I’ll leave it in Harisha Celik’s bed,’ Stephanie grinned.

  Celik answered his door dressed in dirty jeans and a shirt that looked like he’d worn it rolling in mud. He paused momentarily when he saw the two detectives, giving Georgia the moment to lodge her foot in the door so he couldn’t close it.

  ‘Now what the fuck?’ he shouted at her. ‘I’m bored with all this shit.’

  ‘Where have you been in last few hours?’ Georgia asked him.

  ‘In bed, sleeping.’

  ‘Dressed like that?’

  ‘Is it any of your fucking business what I sleep in, or are you making a pass at me?’

  ‘We want you to come to the station and answer a few questions.’ Stephanie told him.

  ‘I did that yesterday.’

  ‘Different questions,’ Georgia snapped. ‘There have been developments.’

  He threw his eyes northward and glared with a bored expression across his unshaven face. ‘Such as?’

  ‘Two people have been murdered on the Aviary, this morning,’ Stephanie told him. ‘Do you know an old couple called Mr and Mrs Wilkins?’

  ‘No, why should I? I don’t live there.’

  ‘Think carefully, Mr Celik,’ Georgia’s voice was cold. ‘Accusations have been made against you, and lying in a murder investigation carries a custodial; as I told you before, with your previous record, a heavy custodial.’

  ‘I’ve just said.’

  ‘We would like you to come and answer some questions,’ Stephanie said again.

  ‘So either you come of your own accord, or we arrest you?’ Georgia asked. ‘My patience is running thin.’

  He rolled his eyes. ‘I’ll get changed.’

  ‘No, as you are,’ Georgia said grabbing his arm.

  He resisted, pulling out of her hold. ‘Take your fucking hands off me …’

  ‘Harisha Celik, I am arresting you in connection with the murders of Albert and Vera Wilkins,’ Georgia said, reading him his rights.

  Stephanie was patting his pockets. ‘Have you got your door keys?’

  Before he had time to answer, she’d found them. Georgia pulled his two hands behind his back and clipped handcuffs on him. Two uniformed police moved in to flank them as Georgia and Stephanie walked him down the path and Stephanie turned him towards Georgia’s car.

  ‘Not in my car,’ Georgia said nodding to the uniformed PCs, who guided him towards the police wagon.

  Harisha had clocked Georgia’s car. He turned to her as he climbed into the back of the police wagon. ‘Nice car,’ he said. ‘Hope it don’t get nicked.’ He made it obvious he was clocking the numberplate, then looked back at her. ‘I’d hate to think what would happen if joyriders borrowed your nice car for an hour or so. People do all sorts of things in nicked cars.’

  ‘Shut your mouth,’ Stephanie raised her voice at him. ‘My guv’nor’s not in a good mood, and nor am I.’

  ‘You think I’m in a good mood?’ he snapped back. ‘After what you did to my flat yesterday, and what did you find, sweet fuck A, and now you arrest me again for something I know nothing about.’

  ‘You will,’ Georgia said as the uniformed PC started to close the door on him.

  ‘We’ll soon prove exactly what you know,’ Stephanie added.

  He pushed to hold the door with his foot. ‘You’ll plant something, you mean, cos you are too fucking thick to realise I’m innocent, man, and this is harassment.’

  The PC moved his foot and shut the van door.

  Georgia’s phone chirped and took her attention. She was glad. Celik was winding her up, and knowing he had raped Melek Yismaz earlier, it had taken a lot of control to stop herself landing him a hard smack in the mouth.

  The call was from was Banham.

  ‘The shop’s closed,’ he said. ‘No sign of Wajdi Ghaziani. Barry and Eric are here, but no sign of Alison either, and she still isn’t answering her phone. Have you heard from her?’

  ‘No, sir, I haven’t.’ Georgia looked at Stephanie. Stephanie shook her head. ‘Have you checked with the neighbouring shopkeepers?’ Georgia suggested.

  ‘A couple said say they saw Wajdi arrive earlier, but they didn’t see him leave. They said he rarely leaves before closing time. All said they had seen him talking to women, but all described the woman they saw him with differently.’

  ‘I’ll make a call, and get back to you,’ Georgia said.

  She clicked off and tried Alison’s number. It went to voicemail.

  She dialled Alysha’s number.

  ‘Have you got a mobile number for Melek Yismaz? She asked as soon as Alysha picked up.’

  ‘No, I haven’t.’

  ‘Well get me one, and phone me straight back, it’s urgent.’

  ‘Oh, just like that,’ Alysha said sarcastically. ‘I’ll try, but no promises and you know you owe me.’

  ‘Have you got any information on the Wilkinses?’

  ‘I’m working on it.’

  ‘Then I don’t owe you, until you deliver information. First, I need to contact Melek. It’s urgent, so I need her mobile number, like this minute. Call me back with it.’

  ‘Suppose …’

  Georgia clicked her phone to end the call.

  ‘What’s up?’ Panther said as Alysha threw her phone down on the bowed brown sofa, and looked across at Panther, who had been curled up on a bean bag opposite.

  ‘Melek.’

  Tink was sitting on a stool in front of the old wooden sideboard which stood adjacent to the door. She had been pulling a hot and steaming straightening iron down her long pink hair with speed and efficiency. She stopped what she was doing and turned back to Alysha. ‘What ’bout Melek?’

  Lox looked up from the floor where she was lying on her stomach, pink plastic calculator in her hand, adding up figures. In front of her were three tins, each with a tidy pile of notes in them, labelled children’s playground, community centre, and projects.

  ‘That was the black fed again,’ Alysha told them. ‘She’s asking for Melek’s phone number.’

  Panther put the can of Pepsi she was drinking on the table in front of her. She sat up. ‘Melek’s instructions were to ring the other fed, Alison Grainger, and tell her Celik had
raped her,’ she said looking from Alysha to Tink and Lox. ‘She’s got the clothes on, to prove it, and the cuts and bruises. Celik should be behind bars by now. So what’s happening? Why the other fed want Melek’s number? Something wrong or something?’

  ‘That black fed sounded worried,’ Alysha told them. ‘And Melek’s not rung us yet, neither.’ She clicked a number on her mobile and lifted it so the others could hear it ringing. No one picked up. ‘She ain’t answering the Alley Cat mobile we given her, neither,’ Alysha said. She started texting a message. ‘I only ’ope she ain’t in trouble again, with the SLRs?’

  ‘Yeah, she should be answering her Alley Cat phone,’ Tink said, frowning. ‘Now she’s worrying me.’

  ‘She better not be fucking crossing us,’ Lox said angrily. ‘Or I’ll do her myself, and ain’t that the truth,’

  ‘Has she answered that text?’ Tink asked Alysha.

  Alysha pushed her tongue into her cheek and shook her head. ‘Not yet.’

  ‘D’you think she’s in trouble?’

  ‘I dunno,’ Alysha said. ‘But I ain’t giving that fed the Alley Cat mobile Melek’s on, cos their tech people could trace her, and that would put them one step ahead of us. We need to know what’s happening.’

  ‘She won’t answer if she’s still with that Alison Grainger. It may be taking longer than we fink. She might ’ave to go to the station an do it?’ Tink said.

  ‘Didn’t she say she would ask to meet her in McDonalds in Lambeth, and then bell us after?’ Lox said. ‘’S a while away anyway.’

  ‘I got an idea,’ Panther said shuffling her mighty weight forward and leaving a dent in the bean bag where she had been sitting. ‘You got Melek’s old mobile there?’

  Alysha picked it up from the table. ‘Yeah, it’s here.’

  ‘Send it a text from you. Say to get in touch with feds, that it’s real urgent, like. Say that they are looking for her, and everyone’s worried about her. Keep it simple though. Then, I’ll go and dump the phone near Harisha Celik’s flat. I’ll ring and tell you when it’s dumped, then you ring the black fed and give her that number. She’ll get them fed techs to trace it, and they’ll find it near that prick’s flat. He’ll be in the loop again, and he’ll be hot-collared for wherever she is.’

  Lox and Tink nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s good, Lox said. ‘Want me to come wiv ya?’

  ‘Yeah. Good thinking,’ Tink agreed.

  Alysha picked up the phone and started to text, her over-long finger nails working ten to the dozen. ‘I hope she ain’t doing us over, and still being his girl,’ she said looking up. ‘That would screw everything up, and we’d really have to think hard to get us out of that big mess. Don’t forget Melek knows what we done to Burak.’

  ‘I’ll just kill her if she is,’ Panther said. ‘That’ll fix her. I’ll pump ’er till she ain’t got no more blood to come out of her twisted fuck of a head.’

  ‘We all will,’ Tink agreed.

  Alysha pressed Send and looked up. ‘Suppose SLRs have seen her wiv us, and they took her. They gonna give her another beating. And if they think she’s come over to us? Alysha looked around at the girl’s thoughtful faces. ‘That could be what has happened, cos one fing’s for sure, she should ’ave belled us by now. We’ve told her she’s on trial to be an Alley Cat, an’ if that’s put ’er in danger, then we need to look out for her.’ She looked to Panther. ‘What you fink, Panth, you reckon we should go check this out?’

  Panther shook her head. ‘Not yet. Give me the phone, I’ll go dump it near Harisha’s, while I’m there, I’ll check out what’s going down.’

  ‘Where d’you reckon we’d start looking for her, if SLRs have taken her again? Lox asked.

  ‘Try all his lock-ups. ’E’s got a new one from what I hear, over near the open parkland.’

  ‘I’m coming wiv you, Panth,’ Lox told her. ‘You ain’t going alone, case it’s dangerous.’

  ‘We’ll bell you as soon as we’ve dropped this mobile round Harisha’s, an’ then you bell the black fed wiv the number,’ Panther told Alysha.

  ‘I’m on it,’ Alysha nodded.

  ‘An we’ll put the word out while we’re out. An’ if she’s in trouble, we’ll round up,’ Panther said. ‘No fucker gets one up on the ACs.’

  The girls all high-fived each other.

  Stephanie organised two female PCs to take a patrol car over to McDonalds in Lambeth. They had the description of Melek, their instructions were to pick her up and bring her back to the station.

  Georgia had left word that under no circumstance was Harisha allowed to know Melek was anywhere in the station, and to make sure this time there was no possibility he could bump into her. She had made a rape allegation against him and it was their responsibility to protect her.

  As soon as Georgia arrived back at the station she rang the station sergeant to check that Harisha Celik had been stripped and his clothes had been sent to Forensics for testing. She was told that was in hand. She then rang the lab herself and begged for the earliest possible result on the DNA from the foetus that was found in Zana’s post-mortem. She was told they were doing their best. She thanked them, as politely as she could muster, having heard the phrase a million times before during a murder enquiry, and asked them again to make it top priority, along with Harisha’s clothing.

  Then Banham rang with an update. He had spoken to all the neighbouring shopkeepers, but no one had actually spoken to Wajdi this morning, although some say they saw him earlier, most said they had seen a woman, or maybe even two, go into Wajdi’s shop, but none could accurately describe Alison.

  ‘Customers would go in and out,’ Georgia told him. ‘That just confirms that Wajdi was there at some time this morning, but it doesn’t confirm at what time, so doesn’t put him in the clear for the Wilkins’ murders.’

  ‘I’m keen to find Alison,’ Banham said.

  ‘Of course,’ Georgia said as politely as she could muster. ‘And I’m keen to find out who murdered four people.’ He was beginning to irritate her. The press were swarming around the station asking about the latest murders. She had three prisoners locked in cells, all needing interviews, she was expecting a rape victim to arrive, and half a dozen forensic tests needed chasing.

  ‘She isn’t answering my calls,’ Banham said.

  ‘I’ve asked my snout to get me Melek’s mobile number,’ Georgia told him. ‘As soon as I get it, I’ll call her. Uniform are on their way to pick her up anyway and bring her in. Alison put in a request for that, apparently, as she was leaving McDonalds. And I’ll get Wajdi’s description circulated to all patrol cars in the area.’

  ‘She should answer her phone?’

  ‘She may still be with Melek at McDonalds,’ Georgia said. ‘And I think McDonalds at Lambeth has a basement, so she may not have signal. Or she could have gone, and left her phone behind.’

  ‘Can you phone TIU to put a trace on her number and get back to me,’ he said.

  ‘Shall we wait until uniform pick up Melek, they’ll be back with her in about fifteen minutes. Also I am waiting on getting Melek’s mobile. I’ll try that when I get it, we can then ask her …’

  ‘No. Do it now,’ Banham barked. ‘TIU will tell us if she’s turned her phone off, or if she’s out of range, if not they’ll tell us exactly where she is.’

  Georgia took a breath in. ‘Listen, guv, as a friend,’ she said softly. ‘She just might need you to back off a bit. I’m more than sure she’ll be in touch soon.’

  He raised his voice. She could hear panic in his tone as well as anger. ‘I told her to keep in close touch. I am her boss as well as her boyfriend, and that was an official order. She has only just returned to murder investigations. I need to keep my eye on her.’

  ‘You also told her not to go to the post-mortem,’ Georgia reminded him, ‘And she did.’ Georgia immediately bit her tongue. She knew shouldn’t have said that. ‘Sir, I know she’s newly back in this department, but she is a very experienced detect
ive, and she can look after herself.’

  There was a pause and then Banham shouted, ‘She’s pregnant.’

  It took a few seconds for Georgia to take that in. ‘Oh,’ was all she could think of to say. She just wasn’t good in emotional situations.

  ‘She’s carrying my child. I want to know where she is.’

  Georgia looked across at Stephanie and signalled for her to pick up the phone and listen in, although Stephanie could probably hear from where she was, as Banham was shouting loudly enough for the whole station to hear.

  ‘Stephanie and I are going to interview the Ghazianis now,’ Georgia said, unsure what else to say. ‘I’ll get onto TIU first, and then back to you as soon as I hear from her.’

  ‘I’m on my way in,’ he told her. ‘I’ll interview Harisha Celik with you while I’m waiting on TIU. If I don’t hear from Alison in the next fifteen minutes, I’m calling Indie 999, to get the ’copter out.’

  Stephanie and Georgia looked at each other. ‘Just hold fire, Guv, see what TIU can find out,’ Georgia said realising she had to keep him calm. She fully understood, because of the murder of his first wife and baby, why he was panicking. However, she also knew that any moment Alison could ring, or stroll in to the station, and the DCI would look a complete fool, especially if he had called out the 999 police helicopter search. ‘I’ll talk to you when you get here, sir,’ she added.

  As soon as she clicked off she turned to Stephanie, ‘What’s your ex in TIU called, is it Greg?’

  ‘Er,’ Stephanie had to think for a moment. ‘I’ve got two in that department, Greg was one, yes, and the other is Ralph Stenet.’

  ‘Blimey, who’d have thought you’d have a fling with Ralph Stenet!’ Georgia said, trying to contain her giggles. ‘He’s only about four feet tall!’

  ‘He’s cute! Well, he was at the time. I think.’

  ‘Whatever. Just get on to one of them, and get a trace them to put a trace on Alison’s phone, tell them Alison must never know. That’ll keep the DCI calm for a bit. Four bloody murders, and the DCI’s decided to have an emotional wobbly.’