by David Evans
“They have other girls but I don’t know who.”
Stainmore raised her eyebrows again. “Come on Lyudmyla, you must know.”
She exhaled heavily. “I don’t know. Helena, she tell me there are more girls in another house, but I don’t know names or where they are.”
Stainmore paused for a few seconds, then opened the file she had brought with her. “Okay. One more picture for you to look at.” She pulled out a photograph and passed it across to Lyudmyla. “I think you know this man.”
The girl took hold of it then immediately put it face down on the table.
“Be honest with me.”
She looked at Stainmore, eyes moist. “Yes,” she said.
“Can you tell me who he is?”
“You know who he is. It’s Chris. He come regular to see me. And now he’s dead. He was in the paper. Shot, they said.”
Stainmore picked up the photograph and placed it back in the envelope. “What was your relationship?”
She looked puzzled. “Relationship? He come for sex. We have good sex.”
“Nothing else?”
“Like what?”
Again Stainmore paused. “Was that why you telephoned the police?”
Once more Lyudmyla looked puzzled.
“To report fifty-seven Luxor Grove. ‘Disgusting sex parties’?” Stainmore quoted.
She looked away.
“It was you wasn’t it?”
Finally, she looked back at Stainmore. “They will kill me too.”
“Who will?”
The girl remained silent.
“Seeing the reports in the paper of Chris’s murder, you think you know who was responsible?”
“Can I have that drink please? Coffee, black with sugar.”
Stainmore held her gaze for a second. “Okay,” she said with a grim smile. “But if you want me to help you, you’ll have to help me.”
With the female uniform back in the room alongside Lyudmyla, Stainmore went upstairs in search of her boss. She found him coming out of Interview Room 2 with Darby.
“How’s it going, guv?”
“It isn’t,” Strong responded, thrusting his hands deep into his trouser pockets. “Clammed up, demanding a solicitor. You?”
“There is another house but she claims not to know where or the names of any other girls. She reckoned Helena knew, though. She got a bit emotional when I showed her Baker’s photo. Reckons they used to have ‘good sex’, whatever that was.” Stainmore glanced at Darby who was smirking but ignored him and looked back to her boss. “Anyway, she’s spooked. I think she has an idea who shot him. It definitely shook her up when she saw it splashed all over the papers and I think that’s why she made the call to Denholme’s mob.”
Just then, Newell strode up the corridor. “Guv,” he said, “just got hold of the scientist at the ballistics lab. The bullets recovered from the bodies of Chris Baker and Helena Cryanovic were fired from the same gun.
Strong pulled his hands from his pockets and clenched his fists. “I knew it.”
“So all we’ve got to do is find the gun,” Newell suggested.
“Easier said than done. Have you seen Vince?”
“He was in the CID room on the phone.”
“Right. Let’s go see what he might have for us.”
“I’ll get Lyudmyla a coffee and see what else I can tease from her,” Stainmore said, heading for the stairs.
In the incident room, Denholme was replacing the receiver when Strong, Darby and Newell entered.
“Any news on Mirczack, Vince?”
“According to our boys, he’s out of the country. We talked to Immigration and he took a flight to Riga from Leeds/Bradford on Tuesday. There’s a flag on him so as soon as he’s checked in on a return, they’ll let us know.”
Strong thought for a moment. “Riga, that’s Latvia isn’t it?”
“That’s right. We think he has connections there.”
“That’s where the containers were headed from Felixstowe. What about Stella? What was she able to tell you?”
“Got her statement here.” He held up some sheets of paper. “Basically, she worked only one shift with the other team. From what she can remember, there were four of them. She could remember three of their names, all presumably false, and struggled to remember the fourth. As with the Luxor Grove team, Szymanski brought them in and took them back. But she never heard where they lived.”
“Shit, we need to find them. If they’re locked in like the others, well … You sure Stella didn’t have a clue?”
Denholme spread his hands wide. “I tried all sorts to see if she could remember the minutest detail; had they mentioned anything they passed, a shop, a building site, but there was nothing.”
“Have you released her?”
Denholme nodded. “Thought it best. I can always get hold of her again if I need to.”
“Colin,” DCS Flynn appeared at the door. Strong walked towards his boss and followed him out into the corridor.
“The warrant’s been signed for Luxor Grove and the team are on their way. How’re things progressing?” Flynn asked.
“Slowly, sir. Szymanski’s not saying a word now.”
“What about the women?”
“Kelly’s back in with Lyudmyla. She’s the one that Baker used to visit. She obviously knows more than she’s already told us. Luke’s speaking to the other two.”
“You know we’re going to have to get Immigration involved?”
Strong leaned back against the wall then looked away from Flynn for a second. “I know. But once we do that, we won’t get much more from them. They’re definitely frightened. From what Kelly said, Nadia and Katerina have families back in Estonia, which, if my O Level Geography serves me well is right next door to Latvia which is where we think Mirczack is at the moment.”
“I can probably delay Immigration until the morning,” Flynn offered.
“In the meantime, what do we do with them? I can’t let them back to the house. They’re not technically under arrest.”
“We haven’t got a budget for a B&B. Besides, you won’t want them disappearing into the night. You’re going to have to do the best you can in the soft interview suite.”
Strong looked heavenward as he pondered this. Before he could respond, Ormerod appeared.
“I’ll leave that with you, Colin,” Flynn said, turning on his heel and walking off in the opposite direction.
“Thank you, sir,” he said quietly to his retreating back. Looking to his DC, he sighed, “Tell me you’ve got something positive to tell me.”
As Strong walked back into the CID Room, Ormerod began to report, “From what Kath Milner told me outside, they’re both pretty scared. When she was alone with them they weren’t talking much to each other but when they did, obviously it was in Estonian. From their mannerisms and body language, they seem dazed by their situation, they don’t know what will happen next. The blonde one, Nadia, seems the most upset. She was tearful and Katerina was trying to console her. They did get animated at one point, Kath said. That was when they mentioned Mirczack’s name a couple of times.”
“How did you get on with them?” Strong asked.
“I took it gently. I think it helped having Kath there as you suggested guv. They confirmed Lyudmyla’s story that on the Thursday in question, Szymanski changed their night off and took them in. Helena had been on the scene for about three months. She seemed close to Szymanski but that had cooled about two weeks ago, around three or four days before she was last seen.”
“What about other girls and other houses?”
“They claim to know nothing. Never seen anyone who might work different days to them and have never heard of another house. Seems like Szymanski and Mirzcack kept the two teams completely separate,”
“What about Baker? Did they recognise his photo?”
“Yep. Said he was a regular with Mariana, I mean Lyudmyla. But something else, they said he would often be in conversa
tion with Szymanski. It didn’t seem to be just small talk type of chat. Sometimes they were discussing things intensely. Baker seemed uncomfortable at times, they thought. Quite observant, those two.”
“Did you bring up the subject of the parties at the house?”
“Briefly. They coloured up when I mentioned them. Seemed nervous and embarrassed.”
“Did they say who organised them?”
“Mirczack.”
Stainmore appeared at the door at that point. “Guv, I think you might want to hear this,” she said.
“Lyudmyla?” Strong enquired.
Stainmore nodded and disappeared back into the corridor.
“You’d best start getting formal statements from those two,” Strong said to Ormerod as he picked up a notebook and made to follow Stainmore out into the corridor. “Gently does it. They may be hungry too.”
“Right.”
Strong hesitated at the door. “Oh, nearly forgot with all this going on, Luke, but any news on that other Misper, Maria Brownlow, the streetwalker from the market place?”
“Nothing, guv. I’ve been over to the CCTV centre to see if we could get better stills from the cameras but nothing that would allow us to zoom in on the van’s number plate or get a better shot of the driver.”
Strong left and followed Stainmore down to the Ground Floor Interview Room. “She was talking a bit more about Baker,” she said. “Turns out she knew quite a lot about him.”
Lyudmyla was smoking a cigarette when Stainmore returned to the room with her boss.
“You shouldn’t be doing that in here,” Stainmore told her, looking at the female uniformed constable.
“I did tell her,” the constable said.
“Don’t worry about it.” Strong looked to the ceiling then took a seat. “There’s no smoke detector in here.”
Stainmore sat down at the table. “Lyudmyla,” she said, “you remember DCI Strong from earlier this afternoon?” The girl nodded. “Can you run through what you just told me, for Mr Strong’s benefit?”
“Sure.” She blew out smoke then dropped her cigarette into one of the polystyrene cups on the table. It hissed as it was extinguished by the coffee dregs. “Chris, he comes to see me, first time, three maybe four months ago. He was very nice, not like some of the men. He also use his real name. Not many do, I think. But also we talk about his work. He tells me he works for big insurance company. A bit later, Szymanski, he talks about his car insurance to be renewed. I tell him Chris works here and maybe he might get a good deal. That’s what starts all this.”
“Go on,” Strong encouraged, jotting down a few notes.
“I don’t know details but I think Szymanski gets information from him. Mirczack then wants to know from Szymanski.”
“What sort of information?”
“I can’t be sure but I think they blackmail him for names and addresses. I think to do with cars. They say they know where he lives and they will tell his wife he comes to Sensations if he don’t tell them.”
“So Mirczack is pressurising Szymanski to get information from Chris. From his work you think?”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time this happened?”
Lyudmyla furrowed her brows as if in thought for a few seconds then said, “That week when we see Helena for the last time. He came in that night, the Tuesday, I tell you about when Szymanski bring her in. Chris came in that night also. He give Szymanski a piece of paper with some writing. He’d gone when Mirczack came later. I told you they had big argument – Szymanski, Mirczack and Helena.”
Strong looked at Stainmore who nodded confirmation before he turned back to the girl. “Do you think this argument was something to do with Chris?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I tell you I could not hear.”
Strong leaned back in his seat and studied the girl. “Lyudmyla, how did you come to be here?”
“You mean here,” she pointed to the table. “Or in this country?”
“In Yorkshire.”
She looked all round as if avoiding any eye contact then reached into her jacket pocket. Pulling out her cigarettes, she looked enquiringly at Strong.
“You’re not supposed to but … go on,” he said.
She lit up and blew the first drag fiercely away. “I come through agency in Vilnius. They say for 5,000 Litai, that’s about £1,000, they can get me visa and job in UK. I can come to work as waitress to start. I can pay back over time. I want to make a good future for myself. I think I cannot do that in Lithuania. But when I come I’m told I have to work to pay for the rest of the fee. I say, ‘what rest of fee?’ and they say I owe another 5,000 Litai. They take my passport and put me in house in London. They bring men to house and say if I don’t satisfy them, they will harm my family in Estonia. I say I have no family, so they say they will kill me.”
“So they forced you to have sex with these men against your will?”
She flicked her ash into the polystyrene cup. “Yes.”
“So how did you get from London to Leeds?”
“Mirczack. He come one day, not to have sex, he come to look at the girls. I think he choose me because next day, Szymanski drive me to Leeds.”
“How long ago was this?”
“About six months.”
Strong made some more notes then resumed, “You mentioned parties at the house. Can you tell me about them?”
“Sometimes Mirczack bring men to the house. Sometimes one but mostly two or three.”
“Are they different every time?”
“Mostly. But once or twice I recognise one from before.”
“Any from those who visit Sweet Sensations?”
“No, never.”
“Are these men from this country, do you think, or are they from abroad?”
“Mostly English, I think.”
“These ‘parties’, they involved Nadia and Katerina too?”
“Always.”
“And they took place in the ground floor room you showed DS Stainmore?”
“Yes.”
“And only girls from the house, or did they ever bring in girls from outside?”
“Only us,” she confirmed.
“You also mentioned a locked room in the basement. What can you tell us about that?”
She looked puzzled and shook her head. “Nothing. I have never been there. It is always locked.”
Strong paused and looked to Stainmore then back to the girl. “What would you like to happen to you now, Lyudmyla?”
“I would like to be free. I like to stay here but to work at a proper job, not this.”
He nodded. “What I’d like you to do is to give a formal statement to DS Stainmore here, just covering all we’ve spoken about. Is that okay?”
“Will you help me?” she asked looking from Strong to Stainmore and back again.
“I’ll do what I can for you.” He stood and picked up his notepad. “You must be hungry?”
She nodded.
He then turned to Stainmore. “Can you sort something out, Kelly?” He turned and left the room.
Strong rubbed his eyes as he sat in his office and considered the events of the day. It had been fast moving. Flynn had backed his decision to hold Szymanski overnight to see what the search and forensic teams discover at Luxor Grove. The girls had been fed and were being made as comfortable as possible in the soft interview suite which was kept for dealing with children, rape and other vulnerable victims. Nothing they’d found out so far could shed any light on the second house and other girls. Tomorrow, he hoped something would materialise from Luxor Grove, plus he had the briefing at Pontefract with the Meadow Woods Farm Murder Team.
He was just about to put his jacket on when his mobile rang. Bob.
“Hello, mate,” Strong said.
“Still there?”
“Just about to leave.”
“Good. See you in The Redoubt in fifteen minutes.”
“I don’t know, I’m feeling a bit …”
49
It was ten past eight when Strong pulled into the car park at the side of The Redoubt. The other elevation proudly announced that this was the start of the famous Westgate Run – a line of pubs along Westgate leading into the city. The aroma from St. Michael’s Fish and Chip shop over the road reminded him he hadn’t had much to eat all day. He entered through the side door by the toilets and cast glances into the two rooms at the back of the pub. Moving through to the bar, he found Souter already there, a pint of Tetley’s ready for him.
“What a day,” Strong said.
“Big developments then?” Souter took a pull on his pint.
“Yes and no.” Strong lifted his beer. “Come on, let’s sit down.”
“They’re in the middle of a quiz night in here.”
Strong rolled his eyes. “Great. That’s all I need.”
They walked towards one of the back rooms and stood in the doorway. To the left, a group of three women and two men were huddled around their answer sheet on the table. To their right, two seriously overweight men were chatting and opposite them another group of two men and two women were drinking and talking. Just as Strong was about to walk to the far end and sit down, the landlord made another announcement over the PA. “The next round is a music round. Question eleven; what was the name of Elvis Presley’s backing band? The name of Elvis Presley’s backing band,” he repeated slowly.
Strong hesitated. A blonde woman in the group of five, in a stage whisper offered her suggestion to the rest of her group. “Was it The Tourettes?” she said.
As one, the rest of her friends, as well as the two men at the adjacent table turned on her. “No it fucking well wasn’t!” they exclaimed, then burst into laughter.
Souter nearly spilt his pint and Strong had to turn away.
“Let’s have a look in the front,” Strong suggested, a broad smile on his face.
As they passed the bar, the landlord, microphone in hand, looked puzzled. “No fuckin’ idea why that question was so amusing,” he said.
The snug was empty, apart from a middle-aged couple sitting on bar stools, leaning against the counter with a half of bitter and a glass of white wine in front of them. They nodded as Strong and Souter entered and sat down at a table in the corner.