Enough Rope: A Hakim and Arnold Mystery (Hakim & Arnold Mystery)

by Barbara Nadel

  He took a deep breath. ‘Tom always led. He was the best at everything. We all admired him. Couldn’t understand why Tom’s stepmother didn’t want him. He said it was because she was a greedy, gold-digging bitch. Just young, you know. Tom’s dad divorced his mother so he could marry her. Tom reckoned they were going to have more children and stuff.’

  Mr de Vries clearly had a nose for ‘gold-diggers’.

  ‘Tom’s dad was always out of the country. He left him in that house in Spitalfields with the housekeeper . . . Laila . . .’

  Did he smile a little when he mentioned Laila Malik?

  ‘Who was sleeping with him,’ Vi said. ‘Don’t think his dad reckoned on that, do you? What did Tom say happened to his mum?’

  ‘She’s in rehab.’

  Aka a council flat in Poplar. Tom had been quite the convincing fantasist.

  Vi said, ‘I ask again, did Harry arrange his own kidnap to impress Tom de Vries?’

  George reddened. ‘Tom wasn’t a monster, you know!’

  ‘I never said he was.’

  ‘Harry knew his parents had money tied up in property.’

  ‘That’s where most people have their money.’

  ‘No.’ George looked at his father. ‘You understand, don’t you?’

  Dr Grogan looked old. When she’d first met him, Vi had thought he was probably about fifty. Now he was looking bad for seventy.

  ‘George, I have told you we are very lucky to have inherited wealth,’ he said. ‘I’ve also told you that unless you work, you won’t get anywhere in life. I’m a GP—’

  ‘Because you wanted to do that,’ George said. ‘But granddad was a stockbroker. You could’ve—’

  ‘Did Harry want money from his mum and dad on his own account?’ Vi cut in.

  ‘No. Not really. None of us did.’

  ‘So it was mainly about Tom de Vries wanting to run away with his housekeeper.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And for Harry to prove himself and all of you to show off how clever you were. Just like the boys in Rope.’

  George Grogan said nothing.

  *

  ‘It’s a cocktail,’ the doctor said.

  For the first time in ten years, Paul Venus held his wife’s hand. She didn’t pull away.

  ‘Present in your son’s system we’ve found alcohol, ketamine – which I’m sure you’ve come across as a police officer,’ the doctor continued. ‘Cannabis and something called krokodil.’

  Paul briefly shut his eyes.

  ‘This is—’

  ‘I know what it is, doctor.’

  Tina pulled her hand away. ‘I don’t.’

  Paul said, ‘Doctor . . .’

  ‘It’s a cheap heroin substitute,’ he said. ‘Very rare in the UK, it’s made and distributed in Russia by crime syndicates. Basically, it’s codeine cut with household cleaners, engine oil, whatever comes to hand that has the capacity to get a person high.’

  ‘And Harry’s taken this?’

  ‘Or someone has administered it to him. There are also signs of violence,’ the doctor said. ‘Which is why we’re asking for your consent to operate. Harry’s brain is swelling and we have to relieve the pressure.’

  Paul said, ‘Of course.’

  But Tina needed to know more. ‘Is it risky?’

  ‘Every surgical procedure carries a risk, Mrs Venus,’ the doctor said. ‘But the reality is that if we don’t operate he will die.’

  21

  ‘Shazia, you should go to bed, you look wiped out.’

  ‘I’m OK.’

  She was curled up in a chair, staring at the TV, saying nothing.

  It hadn’t been a nice day for her, locked in with the Huqs. They’d only left her alone when she’d said she had college work to do. Mumtaz remembered it well. One of the reasons she’d jumped into marriage so eagerly had been to get away from her parents and their stifling protectiveness. They were lovely people who meant well, but could drive a person who wanted to be alone a little mad.

  Laila Malik had finally consented to be represented by a solicitor and so Mumtaz had got out of the police station at six. Then she’d had to go and pick up Shazia, and of course spend some time with her parents. It had been a long day. Then her phone rang. It was Lee, so she walked into the kitchen to make sure she wasn’t overheard by Shazia. The girl knew her mother was involved in a kidnap investigation; she didn’t need to know more than that.

  She asked, ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Harry Venus has to have surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.’

  ‘Poor boy. Where are you?’

  ‘At home. Seems the kids cooked up the kidnap to get money out of Venus.’

  ‘Yes. As far as I can tell, that does seem to be the case.’

  ‘And yet, I wonder . . .’

  ‘Wonder what?’

  ‘Well, they can’t have wanted it to end like this. I don’t understand why it did.’

  ‘I imagine we’ll find out when DI Collins is finished with George Grogan. You know he’s talking?’

  ‘Yes. What about the woman?’

  ‘Laila. She’s got a solicitor now. I think she’s finally realised how much trouble she’s in. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman look so hurt. When she was told what Tom de Vries told his grandmother about going away on his own, her face just collapsed. Why did he do that?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Lee said.

  ‘Weren’t they supposed to be in love?’

  Mumtaz heard him sigh.

  ‘Anyway, I’ll be back in the office tomorrow,’ she said.

  ‘Good. I may be out most of the day,’ he told her.

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘I’ve got to go over everything with Venus.’

  ‘Won’t he be at the hospital?’

  ‘He’s asked me to see him at nine. If he cancels he cancels. I’ll let you know.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘You all right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good.’

  He ended the call. When he’d gone, Mumtaz looked down at the phone for a little while and then walked back into the living room. Something wasn’t right.

  *

  ‘Tom and Harry had a fight.’

  ‘What about?’

  The first ransom drop, via a dodgy PO box on Brick Lane and organised by Laila Malik, had gone well. But then things had soured.

  ‘Tom’s girlfriend,’ George said. ‘Harry groped her.’

  ‘Did Harry tell you that?’

  ‘No. Tom did. Harry said Tom was lying.’

  ‘You believed Tom?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Laila Malik had told it differently. Tom, she’d told Tony Bracci, had wanted to get more money out of the Venuses. It had been so easy the first time and he’d got a taste for it. Harry had wanted it to stop. He’d told Tom that he could have all the money they’d already got, but he couldn’t demand any more. He’d said it ‘wasn’t fair’. Tom had accused him of losing his nerve – which he had. Then when Harry had tried to leave the house in Spitalfields, they’d fought. That was when Harry had ended up confined in a wardrobe. Laila, by her own admission, had helped Tom tie him up.

  ‘How’d that turn into an actual demand for more money from Superintendent Venus?’ Vi said.

  ‘We were angry at Harry.’

  ‘You and Charles Darrah-Duncan?’

  ‘Yes. Tom didn’t deserve that. We went to see him.’

  ‘At Princelet Street?’

  ‘Yes. He’d tied Harry up. He wanted to go home but Tom said he’d rat on us if he did. Then we’d all be in trouble. Harry said he wouldn’t and he denied groping Laila. But we didn’t believe him.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because Laila said Harry had groped her. She was furious.’

  ‘Where was Harry when you went to the house?’

  ‘In a cupboard. He was a bit bashed up. It wasn’t easy to see. But Tom said that if Harry was going to behave like a cunt then he d
eserved to be treated like one.’ George looked at his father. ‘I’m just saying what Tom said.’

  ‘So what happened then?’

  ‘Tom said that we could get more money out of Harry’s dad. Then he could go away and Dan, er, Charlie and I could have some too. He said he’d keep Harry at Princelet Street and then let him go when he left the country. He said Harry would never know that Dan and myself had benefited too.’

  ‘What, a kid who’d been accused of something he, and now Miss Malik, says he didn’t do, was going to be allowed to go free to grass up the lot of you?’

  George said nothing.

  ‘Or do you believe that Harry would have kept shtum? Can’t work it out myself. Either he was an honourable Reeds man, not hitting on his mate’s girlfriend, or he wasn’t. What was he?’

  George remained silent.

  ‘Or can’t you answer now you don’t have Tom here to do your thinking for you? I think that once Harry had said he didn’t want to fleece his own parents again, his days were numbered. And when Tom invested some of the money he’d made in drugs to keep Harry quiet . . .’

  ‘I don’t know anything about drugs.’

  ‘He didn’t even wait for Superintendent Venus to leave the next lot of ransom money at the drop site. He just took Harry’s key, let himself into his dad’s flat, assaulted Mr Venus and took the cash.’

  *

  ‘For me it was the thought of never having to come back,’ Laila said. ‘I just wanted to be with him, alone. Free to be in love. But for Tom it was different. I tried not to think about it. But I knew.’

  ‘Different how?’

  Tony Bracci was knackered, but the latest report on how Harry Venus was doing had been bad. He had to find out the truth for the boy’s sake.

  ‘He had this idea he could commit the perfect crime. He showed me a film.’

  ‘Was it Rope?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe. It was about two men who kill another man and they think they’re really clever. But they’re not, I told him that. But he said that he could do better. He said the men in the film made mistakes. He said he wouldn’t.’

  ‘What did you feel about having Harry Venus locked up in the house?’

  She shook her head. ‘I didn’t like it. But if Tom and I made enough money to go away . . . One night, when I went to visit my parents, they left him alone. All night. That was cruel.’

  ‘And yet why should you care?’ Tony said. ‘He was going to be murdered wasn’t he?’

  She turned away. ‘I didn’t think about it,’ she said.

  ‘Making you as selfish as your boyfriend,’ Tony said. ‘Well matched, you pair.’

  *

  ‘Tom said we could do it once more,’ George said. ‘He was on a roll. Dan and I thought that we’d all go and get the money Superintendent Venus was going to leave in the cemetery in Barking. But Tom went on his own, and when he got back he told us he’d actually attacked Harry’s dad in his flat instead. He laughed about it. He thought it was funny to use Harry’s keys to get in. He didn’t give Dan or me any of the money. That was when he said we could do it once more.’

  ‘Greedy Tom.’

  He ignored her.

  ‘But then Harry’s father wanted to see some proof he was alive before he parted with any more money. I hadn’t thought about him being a policeman much before, but then I started to. I said to Tom that I thought we should just stop. It was getting too dangerous. I said that he could leave the country with Laila and I’d make sure that Harry didn’t talk.’

  ‘By killing him?’

  ‘No!’ He turned to his father. ‘I wouldn’t kill anyone.’

  His father said nothing.

  ‘No, I’d make sure that Harry didn’t say anything. He was involved, just like the rest of us, so it was unlikely he’d talk. How do you tell your parents that you hate them enough to fake your own kidnapping? Harry knew his parents felt guilty about their separation and what it might have done to him. The truth is he doesn’t care about that, but he knew his dad wouldn’t go to the police if we told him not to because he would be too scared about what might happen to Harry.’

  ‘Because he loves him,’ Vi said.

  ‘I guess.’

  George was frightened, and so it was possible that he was coming over as cold because he was scared. It was also possible that he really was callous. Just not as callous as Vi knew Tom de Vries must have been. His father, who hadn’t shown the slightest bit of emotion when she’d spoken to him, was finally on his way back to the UK. Maybe it was genetic.

  ‘How did Tom react to your suggestion?’

  ‘Not well.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘He cut me out. Said if I wasn’t with him, I was against him.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I left. Went back to my brother’s and then went home.’

  ‘What about Charlie/Dan?’

  ‘Oh he stayed with Tom,’ George said. ‘But only until they’d made the DVD of Harry, then Tom told him to fuck off.’

  ‘Didn’t Tom worry about Charlie alerting someone about Harry? Even if you didn’t know that he was drugged up to the eyeballs, if your mate helped make that DVD then he must’ve known.’

  ‘He knew Dan wouldn’t blab.’

  ‘Because Reeds boys don’t, or because Charlie was terrified Tom’d tell the world he was gay? Is Charlie in love with Tom, George? Just out of interest?’

  George said nothing.

  ‘And now you’re here,’ Vi said. ‘After you lied to me and your parents about who you were with in London. To be honest with you George, I’m inclined to go along with your mum and dad about Tom de Vries. God rest his soul, but he was not someone I’d want my sons to be mixed up with.’

  She saw Dr Grogan very faintly smile.

  ‘So state of play now is that Harry Venus is critically ill and at the moment we have to hold Tom de Vries responsible for that, because as far as we know he was the last person to see Harry before we found him. But you and Charlie Darrah-Duncan and Miss Malik also had a hand in this.’

  ‘Harry wanted to be kidnapped! He offered! To kidnap himself . . .’

  ‘And you helped him,’ Vi said. ‘I am going to charge you, George. I’m also going to tell you that you’re about as Übermensch as I am, which is an insult and I’d like you to take it that way.’

  *

  ‘My parents live in Wanstead,’ Laila said. ‘I still go to the old gym I used to use when I lived there sometimes. These days it’s full of Russians. They sell anything you want.’

  ‘So you got the drugs?’

  ‘Tom didn’t want to go out on the street and get them.’

  Tom de Vries, far from a heroic Übermensch, had just been manipulative, Tony thought.

  ‘I thought it was better for him to be quiet.’

  ‘What, giving him a drug that would rot his skin off? You do know what krokodil is, don’t you?’

  ‘He said it was a heroin substitute,’ she said.

  ‘What, your Russian mate?’

  ‘He’s not my mate. He was just some guy. Russians own the gym now, so they all go there and they all peddle drugs.’

  ‘Bit of a generalisation . . .’

  ‘They’re quite open about it.’

  ‘Whatever. You bought krokodil, ketamine . . .’

  ‘That can really—’

  ‘Don’t care. And cannabis . . .’

  ‘I already had that,’ she said.

  ‘Of course.’

  He looked down at his notes. It was amazing how quickly the love goggles started to come off Laila Malik’s face as soon as she realised that she was facing charges of child abuse. But Tony still felt that she was holding something back.

  ‘What happened on that last day you were with Tom?’ he said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You said when I first met you that Tom had “gone”. You didn’t say where and you told us he was alone. But now we know he must’ve taken Harry with hi
m. Why?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘We also know that he went to his nan’s, which is close to where he died. It was in her garage that we found Harry Venus.’

  ‘Alive.’

  ‘Just about.’

  ‘Tom didn’t ever say he was going to kill him. Not to me.’

  ‘Which proves what?’ he shrugged. ‘Where did Tom tell you he was going, and why?’

  She took a moment. ‘He told me he was going to give Harry back.’

  ‘To his parents?’

  ‘I assumed so.’

  ‘So why didn’t you tell us that right from the start?’

  She began to cry.

  Tony, to her solicitor’s disgust, showed his impatience. ‘For Christ’s sake!’

  ‘DS Bracci!’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said to the solicitor, who was at least thirty years his junior, ‘but between her lies and her boyfriend’s lies . . .’

  ‘I didn’t know where he was going!’ Laila Malik said. ‘He said he was going to meet someone.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘I don’t know. But then he said he’d be back and we could leave.’

  ‘For where?’

  ‘We’d go to the airport and just go – anywhere.’ Her eyes teared up again.

  ‘And Harry? What would happen to him?’

  ‘I don’t know! But after he left, I realised that Tom had taken all our money—’

  ‘Superintendent Venus’s money.’

  ‘Yes. And then he didn’t come back.’

  She cried again.

  ‘And now he’s dead!’

  *

  Vi pulled a face. ‘Is this coffee or what?’

  ‘I think it’s “what”, Guv,’ Tony Bracci said.

  ‘Fuck.’

  They sat down at a random table in the empty canteen. Outside the sky was black. Vi didn’t dare look at her watch.

  ‘What do you think about this third-party thing then, Tone?’

  ‘Well, someone killed Tom de Vries and it wasn’t Happy the alkie, was it?’

  ‘No, that would’ve been tough for him with a broken wrist,’ Vi said.

  ‘So who?’

  ‘Brian Green’s mobile number’s on the bedroom wall . . .’

  ‘Who Harry knows.’

  ‘And which Lee Arnold must’ve seen when he was in the house on his own while you brought Miss Malik in,’ Vi said. ‘And he’d recognise it, because he knows Brian. We all know Brian. But he’s not mentioned it to me.’