by Lee Weeks
Sandra walked away muttering to herself, ‘No way am I going to fucking London, when I’ve got enemies right here in my own house.’
Chapter 61
‘The officers said they went in to find him hanging.’ Carter stood before Bowie’s desk shaking his head sadly. ‘Bloody hell, did you apply too much pressure on him? Did you have any inkling he was suicidal?’
‘No. We hadn’t even begun to put pressure on. We were relying on us finding out where he transported the shipment. This is bad news. We hadn’t even told him we knew that he must be involved.’
‘How is his wife?’
‘She’s got family liaison with her. She had just arrived in Plymouth when he was found.’
‘Why Plymouth?’
‘Apparently, Manson wanted her and the kids to go away for a few days.’
‘Can she tell us any more than that? Does she know about Manson’s business?’
‘I’ve briefed the family liaison. It means we have access to the property here. We can have a good look. I’ve got an officer in there discreetly going through all Manson’s paperwork. I’ve had news from Della that we only have three days left to try and pull this deal together.’
‘You got it in hand?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Do we have word about which docks the shipment’s coming in at?’
‘This is a different cartel and it’s up to them to get loaded their end in Mexico, probably, so I don’t know. But we hope to when it arrives on UK soil. They must tell Della that.’
There was a knock on Bowie’s door.
‘Sir?’
‘Willis? How are you feeling?’ Bowie frowned. ‘You look like you need to sit down or fall down. Take a chair.’
Carter pulled one up beside him for her to sit down.
‘I thought you were staying in bed for the rest of the day,’ he said.
‘I feel much better; I wanted to come in and see what I can do about Inspector Ross. I can’t forgive myself for just leaving him out there.’
‘You didn’t just leave him, Eb. You appraised the situation and you made a decision based on that.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Bowie turned to Carter.
‘What’s the latest from the National Crime Agency?’
‘They’re not telling us anything.’
‘Then we have to accept that Ross is safe, he is working.’
‘What about Francisco?’ Bowie asked Willis as she sat down. ‘Did you discover anything?’
‘We found plenty that needed to be taken further. I’ve already submitted my report on it and have made sure that my findings have been sent to the attention of the top man out there. He’s got back to me to say they’re upping their search and they will keep me informed. I heard about Manson,’ said Willis, looking at Carter.
‘Yes, we are going to have to rely heavily on Della. She may have to actually deliver the diamonds in person.’
‘What about your informant?’ Bowie asked Carter.
‘Melvin’s death was brutal. It was meant to be laid at my feet. They wanted me to see it first. I think this was Marco. He knows I’m a copper. He knew about Melvin. He knows what I look like. This is meant as a warning to me and to all those who might think about talking to me. It’s working down there, people have clammed up.’
‘This was the very situation we said we’d try to avoid,’ said Bowie. ‘You better stay away from Bethnal Green. Let someone else handle Melvin’s murder. Willis, you can take it on.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ Willis stood and left.
After she left, Carter asked: ‘You sure? This is her first case as an SIO.’
‘I’m sure. She’s methodical, she’s dispassionate. She’s perfect for this. Plus, it will make her feel better for the disappearance of Ross. Will you pick up Marco?’
‘I’ve asked Della to get us some DNA of his for us to match to the murder scene. We need him on the outside for the deal to go through. He is the nearest thing we have to Tony himself. If we close Marco down too soon, we’ll never flush Tony out.’
‘I can’t see how we will get him to leave his villa. It will have to be something massive to force him out of there,’ said Bowie. ‘Plus, the Spanish police will have to look the other way.’
‘I think that’s the only part of the plan that’s a given for me,’ answered Carter. ‘I’ve been hearing a lot about corruption among the officers.’
‘If there is going to be a war between the Mendez and the Zapata cartels, should we try to round them up first?’ asked Bowie.
‘We daren’t risk this deal not happening. If we want Tony we have to wait.’
‘How is Maxi Seymour?’
‘I think Maxi is okay. He’s gone back into detective mode. Marco has only been to see him the once. He’s going to be told when he’s needed. He’s gone back to the day job for now.’
‘And what about Roland de Soir?’
‘He’s complaining like hell about staying in a three-star hotel with no gym and no room service.’
Chapter 62
‘I got you some sunglasses,’ Willis said as she handed them over. She had the look of someone racked with guilt.
‘Hey, these are great. I asked Cabrina to get me some, but she’s bound to forget.’
‘How is she doing?’ Willis asked Carter as he caught up with her, and they walked down to Robbo’s office together.
‘Finally having a nice time. She’s found a group of other London girls and she’s fitted in fine. I knew she’d be okay.’
‘When does she come home?’
‘She has another week yet.’
Carter put his new sunglasses on. ‘How do I look?’
‘Like you’re wearing knock-off Ray-Bans. Better not wear them in the sunshine: they’ll probably burn your eyes.’
‘Thanks for the gift. Got anything else, like poisonous confectionery?’
‘All out of that, I’m sorry.’
‘Willis, stop a minute. Look at me, tell me how you’re feeling.’
‘I feel like shit.’
‘Physically or spiritually?’
‘Both.’
‘You actually still look rough. I think you should—’
‘Don’t tell me to go home. I don’t want to be there. I feel like I let Ross down in a way that I would never have let you down. Would I have just got back on a plane and left you? No way.’
‘Stop going over it, Eb.’
‘I worry that he’s been kidnapped. We met a lot of hostility from the locals out there. A timeshare conman, Peter Tully, who had one of Eddie’s villas, he had a go at Ross. He has influential friends, they all do. Money buys anything, it seems. There are a lot of powerful villains with police in their pockets. How do we know that he just didn’t get taken and murdered for daring to cross Tony Butcher?’
‘Give yourself a day or two to work this out, Willis. You’ll get there; you always do. But, right now, you’re still in panic mode. There were inconclusive results back from your blood test, so we don’t know whether you were drugged or not. Now, it probably doesn’t matter a whole lot.’
‘There were opportunities to slip something in my drink, but I don’t know why anyone would. It’s not as if I was on a date.’
‘Which makes it even more likely it was Ross himself.’
‘Why?’
‘To stop you asking questions. To make sure you wouldn’t know anything. Perhaps he was thinking, I’ll be kind, I’ll give her a way out of this situation and get her on the plane home. She won’t be able to endlessly go over it with her colleague and endlessly blame herself.’
‘Perhaps that’s it. He left me with his daughters’ presents from Spain. If I took them around to his ex-wife’s and gave them to her, she might tell me if he’s been in touch.’
‘You want to do it, you go ahead, but don’t expect too much. Concentrate on the here and now. You now have to head up the investigation into Melvin’s death as well as the workload you have already
. I need you to let this go. You want my opinion? Ross is a clever guy. This is some plan he has going.
Chapter 63
Willis knocked at the terraced house in Clapham.
A pretty woman answered, tall with curly hair pinned up on top of her head. She had on a hippy, tie-dyed top and leggings. She was barefoot and very pregnant.
‘Sorry to bother you. Is it Belinda?’ Willis said. The woman nodded. ‘I’m a colleague of David’s, your ex-husband.’
‘I know who David is.’ She smiled. ‘Please come in. I’m having tea and cake, come and join me. Has he sent you?’ ‘No, no, he hasn’t. I hope I’m not disturbing you. I’d love some tea.’
‘You’re not disturbing me at all.’ She led Willis into the kitchen. Its walls were plastered in kids’ drawings. It was cluttered and messy. It had the smell of freshly baked cake.
‘Please sit; I’ll get you some tea. Milk and sugar?’
‘Yes to both, please.’
‘Here.’ She cut Willis a slice of banana loaf fresh from the oven.
‘When are you due?’ asked Willis eating the cake straight away.
‘I’m not for a month but I’m enormous, aren’t I? Must be a whopper. Best not to think about it.’ She grimaced. ‘It’s a bit late to back out now, isn’t it?’ She smiled as she manoeuvred herself into a chair to sit at the table opposite Willis. The wooden table had scribbles from pens and marks from hot plates. It was the kind of kitchen that Willis felt at home in. It was a million miles away from any kitchen she’d ever been in before but it made her instantly feel like moving in. Her mind was already trying to work out why Ross threw all of this away. Was it just too perfectly laid-back for Mr Immaculate? Or did Ross actually have a self-destructive button that was bigger than his brain?
‘Has he sent you over to give his excuses? Is it work?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Held up? Holding on? Holed up?’
‘Sorry?’
‘He comes up with some remarkable excuses sometimes. He’s supposed to pick up the girls after their ballet class this afternoon. I thought he was coming back from Spain in plenty of time. It doesn’t matter, I suppose. I was going along, anyway, to watch them; but he usually lets me know.’
‘When did you speak to him last?’
‘Yesterday afternoon. Is there something the matter?’
Willis shook her head. ‘I was in Spain with him. I came back but he stayed out there. He’s just hard to get hold of, that’s all, and he left me with a present he’d bought for his daughters.’ Willis handed over the carrier bag and Belinda pulled out the dresses.
‘Oh, they’re going to be so happy with these. That’s typical of Dave: he remembers the small things and forgets the big.’ She looked to Willis for empathy. Willis shrugged.
‘Sorry, I don’t know David well. We’ve only just started working together.’
‘How long will he be in Spain for?’
‘I have no idea, I’m sorry.’
‘I tried to get hold of him,’ said Belinda, her forehead creased as she tried to read Willis’s expression and struggled to decipher it. ‘His phone keeps going to voicemail,’ she added.
‘Yes, I know. I’ve been trying too.’
‘Is it something to worry about?’ asked Belinda, smoothing the round of her tight tummy as the baby shifted. ‘I mean, have you come to tell me something awful has happened to him? Is this baby going to have a dad when it comes out?’
‘No, we don’t really know what happened at the moment but I am sure it’s nothing to worry about.’
‘He does quite a lot of secretive investigations. He speaks God knows how many languages. He’s a genius, really. We could have made a fortune if he’d decided not to take such a moral-minded career.’ She smiled at Willis’s worried expression. ‘Only joking.’
‘I’m sure we will find out what has been going on soon. I just wanted to come and give you these dresses. Sorry, did you say Ross is the father?’
‘Yes, a bit of a relapse night and we always were fertile.’
‘But you’re with a new partner?’
‘Oh yes, don’t worry.’
Willis shook her head. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like it was personal to me. I’m not in any way involved with David. It’s just he mentioned how supportive your new partner was. I thought this must be his.’
‘My new partner is a woman – Adele – and, yes, she took a bit of talking round, when she found out that David is going to continue to be in our lives, but it’s all settled down now. We’ll be okay.’
‘That sounds very . . . adult,’ Willis said, although she was not sure what she was supposed to say. It actually seemed a mess, to her.
‘Does it? Can’t think why. David is such a child. He loves his intrigue and his secrets. Like right now? He doesn’t realise how bloody annoying it is, just to disappear. Thank you for bringing these over. The girls will be thrilled. Please, Ebony, can I have your number? Will you ring me when you hear from him and tell him to get in touch straight away.’
‘I will. Thanks for the cake.’
‘It was nice to meet you.’
‘Good luck with everything, Belinda.’
Chapter 64
Robbo was waiting for Willis when she got back to the station.
‘You feeling any better? You’ve got some colour back.’
‘A little, yes.’
‘Maybe it was sunstroke you had.’
‘Could have been, I suppose. What’s it like?’
‘Cold and yet burning up, vomiting, sweats. Stomach pains.’
‘Robbo, that’s enough,’ said Pam as she came round to see Willis. ‘Main thing is you’re on the mend.’ She felt Willis’s forehead.
‘Sit down to be on the safe side,’ Pam said. ‘I’ll get you a glass of water.’
‘Okay,’ said Robbo, ‘let’s crack on with the investigation into Melvin Pratt’s murder. The post-mortem is in. Bet you’re sorry you missed that.’ He smiled. Willis nodded absent-mindedly. She didn’t get the joke and she never minded the dissection side of things.
She opened the file and looked at the body diagrams. There were five in all. Normally, one would suffice.
‘Dr Harding couldn’t fit all his injuries on one page, so she apologises, but, to make it clear, she’s split them into burns, blunt traumas, superficial wounds and deep wounds. You want a few minutes to look at those?’
‘Yes, I think I will need it.’
‘Good, I’ll get a brew on. Pam?’
‘Skinny latte, please.’
‘Don’t take the piss, Pam, white or black?’
‘White.’
‘That’s a terrible way to die,’ Willis said when Robbo came back with the coffee. ‘The person who inflicted this kind of pain is the type of killer I’ve never met before. He laid out tools, like a tradesman. According to Sandford, he went through Melvin’s kitchen, looking for what he needed. There were several empty aerosol canisters. He seems to have used anything volatile, any alcohol he could find, to set Melvin alight, like making a home-made blowtorch.
‘Yes, this was brutal and forensic. This man saw how far he could damage the human body and then took it further. Harding estimates the injuries were inflicted over a period of five hours.’
Willis was crouched over Robbo’s desk as she went through the details. ‘God, I wouldn’t want to be reading reports like this every week.’
‘Could happen if we don’t close the cartels down.’
‘Yes, it’s happening in Spain.’ Willis’s eyes met Robbo’s and both knew what the other was thinking.
‘Ross will be okay, I’m sure.’
She nodded, even though she knew she didn’t agree.
‘No signs of a break-in but it looks like Melvin often left the door open.’ Willis continued going through the report. ‘So it wasn’t necessarily someone he knew. But it doesn’t look like he was followed home from the pub. Someone waited. This happened an hour after the man upstairs heard him coming home drunk. The
n he said he heard loud noises at just before twelve.’
‘Looking at these statements, we’re not short of people who saw Melvin that night,’ said Robbo.
‘It’s a lot like Eddie Butcher’s. It’s from the same school of torture. Someone likes his blowtorch.’
‘CCTV from opposite the pub picks out Harold Butcher talking to him outside and it looks like he gives him something. Melvin was found with a rolled-up bunch of twenties – I’m guessing that’s what Harold gave him. I think we can count Harold out of the equation for this murder. We know this isn’t his style.’
‘For me, the man who jumps out as capable is Marco,’ said Willis.
‘Della’s managed to get us a sample of Marco’s DNA and his fingerprint. We already have Harold’s and a few other villains’ from the pub that night on file. We will see if the DNA from the murder scene matches Marco’s from the sample Della got us.’
‘Have you met Della yet?’
Robbo shook his head. ‘She’s staying in one of our flats down the road. Carter sees her. He’s the only person she has daily contact with.’
‘Is she being followed?’
‘Not directly. She insisted she can’t be. The surveillance on the flat in Shoreditch shows her comings and goings there. We have to leave her to do things the way she sees fit. An awful lot is resting on her.’
‘I’ll head down to see the site now,’ said Willis. ‘And I’ll talk to the locals, get a feel for things.’
Chapter 65
Della was adding a backpack and a woolly hat to her outfit locked in the wardrobe. She had picked up her passport now and that was stowed in the cupboard as well. She had decided to move it from Shoreditch. She would keep it locked in the car from now on. She could always abandon the car at the airport. The main thing was that she was ready to run. She looked at the passport and was impressed. It was an older-style one, easier to copy. Eddie had been right: the contacts he’d given her all knew what she needed.