The Killing Tide

by Lin Anderson

  ‘The assumption is the girl’s bona fide,’ he said. ‘At the moment we only have her word for that. Have we run a check on the name Nadia Kowalski? She says she’s Polish.’

  ‘We’re on to that. Nothing back as yet,’ Janice told him.

  ‘Mark had left a memory stick for me with his Afghan friends. What’s on it probably brought about his death.’

  ‘So we’ve got them?’ Janice’s eyes lit up.

  ‘If we’re permitted to pursue it,’ McNab said. ‘I’m due for the boss’s interrogation now. See you in the interview room.’

  As he rose to leave, Janice had a last question for him. ‘What happened about Cleverly?’

  ‘I haven’t changed my opinion,’ McNab said. ‘Despite Jack Winters’s fine words.’

  McNab was a full hour with the boss, aware that everything he said would also have to be written into his report.

  ‘Hugo Radcliff? You think that’s the killer’s real name?’ the boss said.

  ‘According to Jack Winters, it is. Although I suspect Hugo will have numerous aliases. What his actual role is within the organization isn’t clear. Nor that of his girlfriend, Ms Richardson.’

  He told DI Wilson about the photograph of the two of them together in her apartment.

  ‘Ollie suspects they may have begun the company. Hugo in charge of the games, she in charge of the locations. But Go Wild’s much bigger and more international now. God help anyone trying to unravel the connections, the personnel and the money involved.’

  He’d already explained the role Mark’s Afghan team had played in freeing Jack and himself, although he’d missed out the bit about them carrying weapons. Now he told the boss that they were still intent on looking for Hugo.

  When the disapproving look appeared, McNab added, ‘They promised if they located him, they would report it to me, sir.’

  ‘And not the Met?’

  McNab shrugged. ‘The Met were giving Mark a hard time because of his investigation when they should have been supporting him. His friends aren’t about to forgive and forget that, sir.’

  ‘Right,’ the boss said. ‘It’s time you spoke to our survivor.’

  ‘They’re here?’

  He nodded. ‘I asked Rhona to pick them up from the heliport. Thought a friendly face might be in order. I’m pretty sure Dr MacLeod’s influence has played a part in getting them here.’

  Janice was already in the interview room when McNab arrived. ‘How’d it go with the boss?’ she said.

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘I’ve asked for the girl to be brought in first.’

  She was small and slightly built. Pretty too. McNab could see why she would have been offered the original job with Go Wild in Ibiza. She began her story there, explaining in some detail what she thought happened at the parties. She gave the locations they were held in and names of the chief organizers, plus the fact that she’d realized after a while that the women involved had likely been trafficked.

  ‘And you?’ McNab had interrupted her at that point. ‘Were you there of your own free will?’

  ‘Initially, yes, but it became apparent after a short time that quitting the job wouldn’t be easy.’

  They moved then to her post on the first boat. ‘It was made clear,’ she said, ‘that I no longer had a choice where I went.’

  She gave details of the luxury yacht Hibiscus, which had cruised the Med, occasionally docking in the south of France or on the north coast of Africa. ‘Clients were all male and very wealthy, many of them from the Middle East. Sex parties. Some of the women I saw arrive, I didn’t see leave.’

  She bent her head at this point, surreptitiously wiping her eyes.

  Finally, they came to the Orlova. McNab had been in no hurry, knowing that he would have likely formed an opinion of Nadia by the time they got there. The two earlier locations could be checked to see if they were still in operation, but if deaths had happened there, it would be difficult to prove.

  The Orlova was different.

  Neither Ava nor Nadia was aware of the video footage they had of the fight and its finale. As far as Nadia knew, she was the only witness left alive to what had occurred on board that night.

  ‘Tell us what happened on the Orlova,’ Janice said.

  Nadia gathered herself as though about to recall a nightmare. ‘We were somewhere in the Atlantic when two guests came aboard. A man and a woman.’

  ‘How were they brought to the ship?’

  ‘By helicopter.’ She hesitated. ‘We were housed in containers on deck. Sometimes we would see arrivals from there.’

  ‘Go on,’ Janice said.

  ‘There was another arrival, later on. A man, who I’d seen before. In fact, he recognized me from the Hibiscus. He took me to their room and introduced me.’ She was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘They offered us as extras, if required.’

  ‘You took part in some of the games?’

  ‘We had no choice.’ Her face darkened.

  ‘What was this man’s name?’

  ‘He went by the name Hugo. I don’t know if that was his first or last name.’

  ‘Tell us what happened that night.’

  ‘It was strange. We knew something was about to happen because Hugo was there. Guido served the couple dinner. They were already dressed as Vikings by then. None of us got to watch the games, but we could hear them. The screams of the audience went all over the ship. That was how we knew something was wrong. The lights went out, the noise stopped. Then real screaming started.’

  ‘Where were you?’

  ‘In my hiding place.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Hugo had used me in the arena before. I didn’t want it to happen again. Guido, the others . . .’ She stumbled there, obviously distressed. ‘When I eventually came out, there was no one there. He’d killed them all.’

  ‘Did you go to the arena?’

  She shook her head. ‘Not until later. Then, when I got through the maze and saw them, I was sick. The storm had really hit by then, so I went back to my hiding place. I thought I was going to die anyway.’

  ‘Why didn’t you come out when the Orlova was boarded?’

  ‘When I heard the helicopter, I thought they’d come back to clear up the bodies after the storm. I knew if I came out they would kill me too. So when Dougie broke into my room a few days later, I attacked him.’

  The story had holes, but none of them pointed to the girl being involved with the deaths and they had the footage to show that.

  When McNab checked with Janice, she gave a small nod indicating she too was satisfied.

  They thanked Nadia and let her leave the room.

  ‘What do you think?’ McNab said.

  ‘She’s traumatized but with help and support she’ll make a good witness.’

  ‘No lies?’

  ‘She avoided the truth on occasion. Dr MacLeod says her DNA was on the couple’s bed. I think she was made to have sex with them and other guests too.’

  ‘Hugo had the means and the opportunity to kill them,’ McNab said. ‘But what was the motive?’

  ‘Pleasure? Or he was paid to do it? Or he killed them as a warning?’ Janice tried.

  ‘Or all three together,’ McNab said, recalling his own brush with Hugo.

  They had Ava in next. McNab hadn’t laid eyes on her since their meal with Rhona. Back then she’d been concerned and still trying to decide her course of action. The woman who walked into the interview room no longer had misgivings about why she was here or what she intended doing.

  Taking a seat, she reached into her pocket and drew out a memory stick. ‘I should have given you this before but Mark asked me not to. I believe he was killed because of what’s on here.’

  ‘You withheld information from a police enquiry?’ Janice said.

  ‘I kept my word to Mark,’ she said. ‘If you want to charge me for doing that, go ahead.’ Speaking directly to McNab, she asked if he had met with
Mark in London prior to his death.

  McNab didn’t see any reason not to tell her the truth. ‘He was staying where you told me he would be. With Abu-Zar and Firash.’

  Her expression changed at the sound of those names. ‘He was with friends then,’ she said, as though that was a comfort to her.

  ‘Before he died, he’d gone to meet someone without telling Firash,’ McNab said. ‘Have you any idea who that might have been?’

  She thought for a while, then said, ‘It could have been any of the contacts on there.’

  McNab wondered if the information given to Ava would be the same as Mark had left for him.

  The preliminaries now over, Janice asked her to tell them everything that had been said between herself and Nadia.

  Ava took a deep breath, then began her tale.

  73

  Rhona and Bill had watched both interviews from the neighbouring room.

  ‘What do you think?’ Bill said when they were over.

  ‘That Nadia’s telling the truth, but not all of it. In particular, about what happened during her meeting with the dead couple. As for her being the one who was sick after the event, the tinned food she’d been eating in her hideout was present in the analysis of the vomit.’

  ‘Could she have been involved in their deaths?’

  ‘Forensic evidence suggests she wasn’t. But she was familiar with the killer and had met him before in the other locations.’

  ‘Which makes her an even stronger witness,’ Bill said. ‘One he wouldn’t want to take the stand.’

  ‘What will happen to Nadia?’ she asked as they made their way back to his office.

  ‘She’ll be put under protection until we can bring this to trial.’

  Which couldn’t happen unless or until they took Hugo Radcliff into custody.

  ‘Do the Met know you have her?’ Rhona said.

  ‘They do.’

  ‘Then they’ll ask that she be sent south,’ Rhona said. ‘Although she would be safer staying here.’

  Bill nodded, indicating he too was concerned about that.

  ‘They can’t put the lid on all of this. Can they?’ Rhona said.

  ‘Jack Winters told McNab that the Met plan to continue their investigation, despite pressure from on high.’

  The news outlets were still running the Orlova story and its association with Go Wild, but how long would that last? Especially if owners of the companies might be implicated in the fallout. The BBC had closed it down, Channel 4 had dipped in a toe, then retreated, and an army of bots were at work on social media describing it as Russian fake news.

  When she repeated these thoughts to Bill, he said, ‘None of that changes what we or the Met do. We pursue the criminals, regardless of what those in power say or do. Meanwhile, we have a suspect in custody for our fire death. Plus we have proof of who killed two of the victims on the Orlova. And a key witness to Go Wild’s activities on board that ship.’

  It sounded impressive, but would it be enough?

  Back at Bill’s office now, they found McNab and Janice waiting for them.

  ‘You were watching, sir?’ McNab said.

  ‘We were. Nadia will make a credible witness once we catch the perpetrator.’

  ‘That’s what we wanted to talk to you about, sir,’ McNab said. ‘In view of the likelihood of Nadia being taken south, DS Clark and I have a proposal.’

  Rhona looked from one of them to the other, wondering whether McNab was talking for himself or both of them. A quick glance from Janice told Rhona that she was fully on board.

  ‘Go ahead, DS Clark,’ Bill said.

  ‘We know that Hugo Radcliff was in the habit of visiting Glasgow for the bare-knuckle fights. The man McNab spoke to there indicated he’d seen him before. We believe Olivia Newton Richardson may have accompanied him, perhaps even on that occasion, hence the discovery of her handbag with the fire victim.’

  McNab came in at that point.

  ‘I pissed him off that night, sir. So when he discovered that I was nosing about in London, he had me picked up. I only got away because Jack Winters, who was one of his bodyguards, risked his cover to save me. The fact that I was involved in Jack’s rescue will only have made matters worse.’

  He paused there, until Bill said, ‘So what are you proposing, Sergeant?’

  ‘We could try and lure him back here, sir.’

  ‘And how exactly would you do that, Sergeant?’

  74

  Fear had its own particular scent, McNab thought. It was also infectious. It could permeate a crowd like a rapidly replicating virus, making them all turn and flee. Or it could be swallowed up by courage, seemingly against all the odds.

  Some men felt no fear. The posh fucker was definitely one of that breed. Those not wholly psychotic in nature moved between the two states.

  The man before him, McNab believed, belonged in the latter camp, because he could smell his fear from where he sat.

  ‘Charlotte Weiner’s parents couldn’t identify their daughter’s remains,’ McNab told him. ‘It’s impossible to recognize someone when they’ve been burned to a crisp. And the smell,’ he added. ‘You can’t rid yourself of the smell of burnt human flesh. It stays with you forever. But then you probably know that.’

  He was silent for a moment.

  ‘The thing is, some folk think that firing a body destroys all the evidence of who killed the victim.’ He gave a derisory snort of laughter. ‘They’re wrong, of course. In fact, we have evidence of the killer all over that crime scene.’

  Willis, having avoided looking at him directly, now shot him a quick glance.

  ‘We also have the evidence collected from that room. And from the female victim. We know who was in there. Who tied her up. Who raped her.’

  Willis’s reaction to each of these statements played out on his face and the scent of fear only grew stronger.

  ‘As for the handbag. It didn’t belong to the victim. But hey, the killer knew that when they put it beside her. Then there’s the lighter used to ignite the petrol. Someone got careless there too,’ McNab lied. ‘Thing is, that handbag led us places. Essentially to a company specializing in providing psychopaths with their victims. A company you work for. A company that intends for you to take the blame for everything I’ve just described.’ McNab relaxed back in his chair. ‘Unless you decide otherwise.’

  Willis’s face twitched and twisted as he tried to gather his thoughts about all of this. Eventually he came to a decision.

  ‘I didn’t kill the girl or rape her. I rented the room out. That was all.’

  ‘Who did you rent it to?’ Janice said.

  ‘Some bloke from the company that does the bare-knuckle fights.’

  ‘What did he look like?’

  He shook his head. ‘I only spoke to him on the phone, but he was from around here. Glasgow,’ he added for emphasis.

  McNab glanced at Janice. This was news.

  ‘So how come your DNA was on the girl?’ Janice said.

  His pent-up version of the story came rushing out now. How he’d gone to check on the flat before the storm hit and she was in there tied to the bed. He should have let her go, but thought he’d be in big trouble if he did.

  ‘You touched her up then left her there to die?’ Janice said.

  ‘No one had said anything about killing her,’ Willis said.

  ‘If all that’s true,’ McNab said, standing up, ‘then you might have a way out of a murder charge. If you give us what we need.’

  He looked to Janice. ‘Shall we grab a coffee and give Steven here time to consider his next move?’

  ‘What d’you think?’ McNab said as he waited his turn at the coffee machine.

  ‘He might be afraid of us, but he’s more afraid of them,’ Janice said. ‘Mark said they were everywhere. Could be he’s right. What about the memory stick Ava gave you?’

  ‘Ollie has both mine and hers for comparison purposes. He says most of the sites referenced have been c
losed down. We still have some images, short videos et cetera, but how to identify the people in them will take time, if it’s even possible. It’ll be like identifying paedophiles from just their hands. Which gives Go Wild time to close down and get rid of any of the weak links in their supply chain.’

  ‘Like Steven Willis?’ Janice said.

  ‘If he thinks he’s in danger of being dispensed with, he might agree to work with us.’

  ‘So we give it a try?’ Janice said.

  McNab’s attempt at a response was halted by a call to his mobile.

  ‘How late?’ McNab listened to the answer with mounting concern. ‘You’ve tried her phone? Okay, park up and look for them inside. If they do appear they’ll wait at the patrol car. I’ll arrange for more officers to meet you there.’

  ‘What is it?’ Janice said as he rang off.

  ‘Ava and Nadia are late showing up at the police car. The officer’s tried Ava’s mobile but it appears to be switched off.’

  ‘How late is late?’ Janice said.

  ‘Half an hour.’

  Janice didn’t look as perturbed as he felt. ‘Where did she drop them?’

  ‘The Buchanan Galleries. She saw them go inside. I should have ordered her to stick with them.’

  ‘The plan was to buy Nadia clothes. She’ll be trying stuff on. Time can run away with you when you’re doing that,’ Janice said.

  What Janice was saying was possible, even probable. The trouble was, his gut was telling a different story.

  He was suddenly reliving his walk towards Cleverly, only to find himself being thrust into the back of the black van. All in broad daylight on a busy London street.

  It had been that easy.

  If someone had been watching them in Orkney, they would know they’d flown to Glasgow. Go Wild had folk here in the city. Steven Willis had made that plain. They could have been followed from the heliport to the police station. From the station to the shopping mall.

  ‘You’re right,’ Janice said when he voiced his thoughts.

  ‘We’ll get some feet on the ground at the Galleries,’ McNab said. ‘If they turn up before that, all well and good. If not, the place has plenty of cameras. They’re bound to have been picked up on some of them.’