by Lee Weeks
‘How can he do this to me?’
‘I don’t know. But rest assured: I’m looking after your interests, Della. And, maybe it’s best this way for now, give things a chance to settle down. As soon as things calm down, I’ll get it signed back to you, I promise, and I’ll make sure I look after it for you in the meantime.’
‘Why does he even want Eddie’s business? What does he need it for?’
‘He says he wants to see it expand.’
‘Expand? Bollocks! He wants to launder money through it, I expect. You be careful, Laurence, he’ll have you breaking the law before you know it.’
‘I’ll be careful.’
‘He’s a bastard taking that away from me.’
‘I know. I understand, Della, but it’s not gone. I’m caretaking it for you. I’m going to give it back to you when I can, promise. You know, I’ve always been fond of you, Della.’
‘Eddie would be grateful to you, Laurie.’
‘I’m doing this for both of you, but especially for you, Della. You deserve it: you were a loyal wife to Eddie. He didn’t deserve you.’
Laurence caught Harold up as they came through passport control and out into the Arrivals lounge. They didn’t get far before they were escorted by police officers and driven to Archway Police Station.
Della put the phone back on the bedside table and sat staring at it. What were these drop-in comments people kept making about Eddie? What did Laurence mean, Eddie didn’t deserve her? Eddie was a good man. They had a wonderful life. They laughed, they loved. They had everything when they were together. That last thought struck her: when they were together. Who was he the rest of the time? She went back to the safe in the dressing room. She had just a few documents left in there now. They included the detailed drawings of the villa. Della had written everything else she needed to know from Eddie’s correspondence in her phone, in her notebook, in emails, in code. Della had been busy. She picked up the phone and rang Carter. It went straight to voicemail.
Chapter 25
Willis finished reading the post-mortem results on her way into the interview room.
‘How were things in Marbella?’ she asked.
Harold stared coldly back at her from across the table. His face was blotched from alcohol, tiredness. He shook his head.
‘None of your business. What was it about – picking me up from the airport? We’ve had a difficult few days – I need a rest. I don’t need to be hounded by you lot. You have no fucking respect.’
‘No swearing, please. We’re not hounding you, Harold. We’re keeping family members up to date with the way the investigation into your brother’s murder is going.’
Harold switched his attention to Ross. He stared back. He picked up a pen and began writing notes while still maintaining some eye contact with Harold.
‘How about Tony?’ asked Willis. ‘Did he have any ideas who could have done it? You must have discussed it.’
‘Why should he? He’s the same as the rest of us – we don’t know who did it.’
‘We’ve been running through some theories, there’s one that we’re working on – that maybe Eddie was killed in a case of mistaken identity. After all, Tony is not just hiding from the police in that villa. He’s hiding from the cartel he ripped off, isn’t he?’
Harold was listening hard while pretending to stare out at space. He swallowed. He wiped an irritating trickle of sweat that had begun at his temple and was now beginning its descent, doglegging its way down.
‘No comment.’
‘The cartels are not people to mess with. I’m surprised you decided to come back here. I thought you’d also be hiding away in Tony’s villa. After all, if they killed Eddie, they won’t hesitate to kill you.’
‘Eddie’s death had nothing to do with Tony or me.’
‘So why did they torture him?’ She passed over more photos. ‘What did they want to learn from him?’
‘I have no idea.’ Harold’s face was beginning to solidify, turn white.
‘We have just received some test results back on Eddie. He didn’t die when they fired a bullet into his brain.’ Harold looked up expectantly, waiting. ‘He died from stress on his heart. He suffered a heart attack while he was being tortured, minutes before the gun was fired into his skull. But, we’ve been wondering why someone wanted it to look like he’d been executed.’ Harold shook his head. He was thinking things through. ‘Any idea? What does that sound like to you, Harold? A botch job? Who would want information that badly from Eddie? Who, Harold? Who are they?’
‘I will tell you the same as I told you before. I left him at ten-thirty in the morning outside the café. I don’t know where he went and I don’t know what he’d got himself into.’
‘We don’t believe you. We’re wondering if Tony had something to do with it. And by Tony I mean you and Tony, after all, you’re his deputy, aren’t you? Surely you know his every move. Or maybe not. We know about the missing Mendez cartel money. You must have known the cartel would come looking for it. What was Eddie’s job? To try and feed the cartel with a lie? Did Eddie even know about the missing cocaine that wasn’t really missing, was already being cut and sold on the streets? And, what about the money? Did he walk straight into the trap? Did you let him walk into it, Harold?’
‘No comment. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Ross showed him a photo of Marco. ‘Let’s talk about this man.’ He showed him another photo of Harold and Marco together.
‘No comment.’
‘This was taken a week before Eddie was killed. This man is called Marco Zapata. He is the son of one of the cartel families in Colombia, not just any cartel family. You don’t seem surprised at anything I say. It wasn’t a surprise that the Mendez family probably tortured and executed your brother because you sold him down the river. They were never going to believe your bullshit about the cocaine never having reached the UK, were they? They were never going to swallow the one about the Amsterdam connection having shafted you. They could see for themselves that there’s enough pure cocaine on the streets that has their own brand stamped all over it. So then you try telling them that the money went missing. You really think they’re stupid, Harold?’
‘No comment.’
‘Actually, let me rephrase that: does Tony really think you’re that stupid, Harold? Obviously he does, because he’s allowed you to sacrifice your brother for the missing money. Greed over flesh and blood. Isn’t that right, Harold?’
‘No comment.’
‘Well, you can rest assured, Harold, when you meet the same fate as Eddie, or when Sandra or Laurence does, because surely it must be a matter of time. Then Detective Sergeant Willis here and I will have the self-satisfaction of knowing we tried to prevent it happening but you didn’t cooperate. You better inform Sandra she’s going to need twenty-four-hour protection when she steps outside the villa, maybe even inside it, and that will probably still not be enough. If you were prepared to cooperate with us fully, then we would give her that protection. But, so long as you continue to insist this has nothing to do with the cartels, your brother Tony and a drugs war, then there’s nothing we can do. You’re a sitting target. But this could be your lucky day, Harold – I’m in a position to offer you a deal.’ Willis looked Ross’s way, Carter was talking in her ear: ‘What the hell? He’s here to make a deal. He’s supposed to be just an observer in there. What’s going on, Willis?’
‘Okay, thanks for coming, Harold,’ Willis said as she pushed back her chair.
‘Wait a minute, wait a fucking minute,’ Harold said as he stayed where he was. ‘I want to hear what this monkey has to say.’
‘I am in a position to offer you a deal. I work for the National Crime Agency.’
‘I know who you are. I’ve seen you before.’
‘We know that Tony is a ticking time bomb. Now, he’s going to make a move to go way up the ladder in the cocaine dynasty but he’s not going to make it. Tony has overstretched himself
and getting Eddie killed proves it. He’s so keen to aim for the stars he’s forgetting to protect the earth his feet are standing on. Tony will not succeed in this. Marco is not what he seems, and it will all come tumbling down around the Butcher family’s ears. You help us to set up a trap for Marco and the cartels and we’ll guarantee you a prison sentence of less than fifteen years. That’s the best we can do – you can be out in seven on good behaviour. Tony will never know it was you. We’ll make sure you’re caught at the same time.’
Chapter 26
Carter was waiting for them in the observation room. Harold had already left.
He stopped Ross in the doorway. ‘What the hell did you just do in there?’
‘I did what I was instructed to do. I had the power to offer Harold a deal.’
‘What happened to working together? What happened to good old-fashioned rules of conduct here?’
‘Nothing. If I had talked to you about it first, you would have had to take it to Chief Inspector Bowie and it would have slowed it down again. Eddie Butcher is dead and you are no nearer to catching his killer. Plus, we are not getting to Tony fast enough; we’ll lose this opportunity. We believe that this is all about Tony’s new connection with the Zapata family. We know for a fact that Marco is the black sheep of the family. We think he’s trying to ingratiate himself with his family and he’s doing it on the back of Tony’s megalomania. If we don’t hurry, Tony is going to get killed by the Mendez family, or by the Zapata or even by Marco. We don’t know how far his ambitions stretch.
‘They must have put their own time limit on the missing money and it’s already passed because they’ve executed Eddie just to show Tony they are coming. Harold knows this is true. He’s an old man now; he wants his pipe and slippers. He’s not going to see it into next week unless he gets help.’
‘He’s never going to tell us any more than he has already,’ said Carter.
‘Maybe, but Harold knows he’ll be safer inside jail than out of it,’ Ross said. ‘He can buy a lot of protection inside and he can contain it. Out here? He’s a sitting target. Tony will have ordered Harold to organise the wiping-out of any of the Mendez cartel here. Harold will use the young gangs to do that. It will be a bigger bloodbath on the streets than we’ve seen. Plus, there will be no going back afterwards. Once vendettas start between these gangs, they escalate. They’ll want a big bit of the new Zapata pie. They have the chance to be on it right from the start. That’s a hell of an opportunity for these young gangs. But Harold will be thinking that it’s a lot of work for an old man. He doesn’t need any more than he’s got already. He’s probably thinking, he could downsize easily to a smaller mansion and live the rest of his life playing golf. If I was the Mendez cartel I would have strengthened numbers over here in the last two months since the money went missing and I would assume that’s why the death squad is setting up its stall here. They’re anticipating a lot of work.’
Carter was thinking it through. Willis knew him well enough to know that he approved of Ross’s actions. He would have done it himself if he’d had the authority.
‘So, what else have NCA authorised you to do that you’re waiting to surprise us with? What else have you got in the bag?’
‘It’s an ongoing situation,’ replied Ross. ‘We would be willing to make a few deals, compromise a few notches on the ethical scale to get Tony and to stop the carnage he inflicts on the UK. We have to throw everything at it now before it’s too late and we end up with a bigger drug problem, gang problem, organised crime problem than ever before. This is the chance now to stop Tony and the cartels.’
‘I wonder if Harold will go for it,’ said Carter. ‘He seems to have already written off any chance of justice for Eddie. He’s not even looking for it. He must know that it doesn’t exist. Tony’s obviously managed to work his way out of responsibility just enough to leave Harold thinking that the investigation into Eddie’s death is now closed.’
‘What about Laurence?’ asked Willis.
‘I think it’s time to give him a reality check,’ said Ross.
Chapter 27
Billy Manson parked his white Range Rover on the harbour at Ramsgate. He picked a box from the back seat and headed up the hill to Fredo’s Ristorante.
‘Billy!’ Connie was preparing the tables for the lunch service. She greeted Manson warmly. He walked in carrying the box and put it on the bar while he went in for a hug.
Connie held on to him. ‘How’s it all going?’ she asked, pulling back to observe him. ‘You look tired, Billy. You been looking after yourself?’
‘I’m okay, Connie, don’t worry about me. How is Della coping? I haven’t wanted to bother her. But send her my best wishes. She knows where I am if she needs me.’
‘Thank you, Billy. She’s struggling but she’s a tough cookie, as you know. How are Jo and the kids? Looking forward to Christmas, I expect. Can you get time off? You must be very busy now, doing Eddie’s work as well as your own?’
‘The kids are very excited. Look, we are thinking of going away for a month; we could do with a break. Plus, I don’t know what will be happening with the business.’
‘What do you mean? Surely it will continue? It’s such a fantastic thing you have going there.’
‘Maybe. I was hoping Della would take it over but it seems there’s a chance Eddie either didn’t sort things out properly, in the event of his death, or there’s been some manoeuvring going on by the Butcher family. Either way, it’s not Della’s business now: it’s Tony Butcher’s.’
‘That can’t be.’ Connie was shocked.
‘I got a call from Tony himself last night, really late. I mean three in the morning, telling me that Laurence will be coming to work with me and that they really wanted me to stay on, et cetera. But it sounded like bullshit.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘No, well, I wish I didn’t, but it sounds like they’re taking over.’
Connie was speechless.
‘Look, I wondered if you’d mind looking after this box of things for me,’ said Manson. ‘It’s nothing important, just stuff of Eddie’s: personal papers and stuff. I’m not sure he’d have wanted Tony getting hold of them.’
‘Of course. Shall we give it to Della when she comes over next?’
‘I’d like to go through it with her, so if you could wait till we’re all together. There are a few things in there that I know Eddie would want me to give her myself. Some things need explaining. Eddie and I didn’t always do things the easiest way or the clearest.’
‘Of course not. You and Eddie were a great team.’
Manson walked back down towards his car and he made a call on the way.
‘Hello?’
‘Jo, it’s me.’
‘I didn’t recognise the number.’
‘I know, it’s a new phone. Use this number for me, for now.’
‘Why? What’s going on? Are you okay? You sound out of breath.’
‘I’m fine.’
‘Where did you go last night? I’ve been worried sick.’
‘Sorry. I got a call about business. I ended up shifting some materials all night.’
‘Poor Eddie. I didn’t realise they did all that to him. I read about it this morning. Why would someone do that? I feel so sorry for Della. Do the police know who did it yet?’
‘No.’
‘Billy, are we safe? I worry for the kids.’
‘We’ll be okay, Jo, but I think we should get out and have a holiday for a month until it all blows over. Get the kids packed and get us on flights to Thailand. We’ll have Christmas there. You book it. It doesn’t matter what it costs. Get us on a flight as soon as you can.’
Chapter 28
‘He hasn’t got anything worth hearing,’ Carter said in Willis’s earpiece after twenty minutes of interviewing Laurence. ‘Let’s call it a day.’
‘When was the last time you saw Eddie alive?’ Willis asked, ignoring Carter. He’d been irritable even before sh
e’d started the interview. Ross wasn’t present: he’d gone back to the day job. There was another officer standing by the door.
Laurence sighed. ‘I saw him three times when he was over here in the two weeks before his death. The last time was three days before he went missing. You know all this. I’ve told you it I don’t know how many times.’
‘What was that meeting like?’
‘It was a quick coffee to talk through some recent acquisitions I’d made. They hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped and I needed Eddie’s advice. I needed him to look them over and see how much they’d cost to renovate.’
‘Where were these properties?’
‘It’s an old warehouse in Shoreditch and a closed-down pub – the Albert, in Bethnal Green.’
Willis slid a pad and paper across the table. ‘Addresses, please.’
Laurence shrugged irritably.
‘I don’t have the exact postcodes to hand.’
‘Street number and name and area will do. We’ll call you if we need to gain access.’
‘Okay.’ He wiped his face, the strain and tiredness showing.
‘What about the business that Eddie has? Paradise Villas. Was it going as well as he’d hoped? Did you talk about that also?’
‘No, we didn’t. I never thought Eddie had problems with Paradise Villas. He had it all in hand.’
‘It wasn’t making as much money as it had done, was it?’
‘There was a lot of competition from other developers. Eddie had downscaled quite a bit. He didn’t want to work that hard any more. He’d made enough.’
‘Do you know the manager there, Billy Manson?
‘I’ve met him once or twice.’
‘How recently?’
‘Before Eddie died, when Eddie first came over in the middle of October, we’d been to see my acquisitions. We went for a drink in Shoreditch. Manson was with him when I got there.’
‘Did everything seem okay between them?’