Cold Courage

by Pekka Hiltunen

  The move from the flat took place in a tumult of tension and confusion. Originally they had planned that Paddy and his assistants would leave immediately. But now Paddy had changed his mind.

  ‘That bloke is so slippery that he might get out of those ropes pretty quick.’

  They decided that Scott and Anderson would stay to guard him for at least half an hour. No customers usually came to the flat that early.

  Lia led the women down the stairs. Knowing the seriousness of the situation, they did not make a sound.

  They carried their hastily packed bags to the camper van, where Berg was waiting. Paddy watched their progress and then went to his own car, ready to follow them.

  Berg beamed at the women.

  ‘Welcome aboard! We’re going to have a lovely couple of days together,’ he said loudly.

  Despite her tension, Lia had to smile. Berg was the perfect contrast to what the women had just left behind.

  Berg watched while they all found seats, and then he moved up front. Lia started to come up next to him, but Berg shook his head.

  ‘You’re needed back there.’

  Of course. He’s right.

  Lia returned to sit with the women. As the vehicle started and glided slowly forwards, she introduced herself. ‘I’m Lia. From Finland.’

  It was a strange drive.

  The women peered out the windows at London. They had all been in the city for years, but still they pointed at the famous sights as if they had never seen them before. Soon Lia understood what was new to them: they were driving through it all for the first time as free women.

  Now they look like places they could actually visit some day.

  They headed for Catford. On Sangley Road, Berg parked the camper van a little distance down from number 182 for safety’s sake.

  Lia and Berg asked Elza to accompany them, and Paddy joined them on the street.

  ‘Mr Helicopter,’ Elza said in greeting.

  ‘Just call me Paddy.’

  At this, Lia realised that they had never had time to be properly introduced.

  Paddy said he had just called Rico, who was in Leyton keeping an eye on the Eastern Buffet. Everything was in good order. Kazis Vanags was in his shop.

  They circled the building again to the back garden. With Paddy in the lead, they approached the rear door of the house cautiously.

  Lia nodded to Elza, who knocked on the door. Elza only managed to say her name and a couple of sentences before a cry came from within.

  They all jumped. Then they realised that it was a joyful noise. Daiga Vītola’s daughter Ausma began speaking.

  ‘They want out right now,’ Elza said. ‘They’re just afraid because they were told that the doors and windows are primed with explosives.’

  Lia glanced at Paddy and Berg. They had remembered the threat as well.

  ‘I still don’t believe it,’ Paddy said.

  They had described the place to Berg earlier, and it did not take him long to come up with a solution.

  ‘Inside there has to be a fuse box with a mains breaker. Ask them to turn it off,’ he told Elza.

  While the women searched for the master switch, Berg fetched one of his tool boxes from the campervan. This one contained more gadgets than his basic tools.

  From inside the house, the women announced they had switched the electricity off.

  Berg pulled out the small device Lia had already seen him use at Gareth Nunn’s flat. Berg pointed the gadget at the house, and lines appeared on the small display.

  ‘Since the mains electricity is off, there shouldn’t be any sources of current inside. Unless the bomb has its own battery or its power is connected somewhere else,’ Berg explained.

  Slowly he scanned the door and windows. No sign of an electrical field showed up on the device, just the same flat line.

  ‘Clear,’ Berg said.

  Of course it was possible that a booby-trap that didn’t require a power source had been attached to the door or window. But no one really used anything like that any more. They were bloody-minded systems that tended to decide on their own when to explode.

  ‘I’m ready to bring them out.’

  From his pocket, Paddy produced the set of lock picks he had used previously to open their route to the helicopter. After looking at the lock, he chose a tool.

  The lock resisted. Paddy worked intently, and a minute later came a click as the bolt opened.

  Paddy pushed the door wide open, and they looked at the two women standing together, wrapped in each other’s arms in fear.

  When no explosion came, the women’s expressions relaxed. The younger of them let out a shriek and threw herself at Elza.

  The older woman stared at them all. Then she burst into tears.

  Getting the situation calmed down and Henriete and Ausma Vītola out of the house took about ten minutes.

  At first they were talking so feverishly with Elza at the back door that Paddy led them all inside to avoid attracting additional attention. Then they had to collect their things. They did not have much, but they hadn’t packed since they had not known when they would be getting out.

  Before leaving, Henriete also wanted to thank Lia, who was embarrassed by the outpouring of gratitude. After shaking Lia’s hand several times, Henriete took her in her arms and hugged her.

  Lia stood in the unfamiliar house, which had been these women’s prison for so many months, and embraced Daiga Vītola’s mother. She had to wipe tears from her eyes.

  Now I know why I had to do this. If only for this one moment.

  When Henriete and Ausma were finally ready, Paddy carefully closed the back door of the house. They moved back to the campervan. Elza and Henriete were speaking together seriously.

  They’re talking about Daiga. And about what will happen now.

  When the three women waiting in the vehicle saw Ausma and Henriete, a renewed wave of frenzied conversation and hugs ensued. Everyone was talking over everyone else.

  Lia could see there was no point in attempting to convince the group to sit quietly in their seats. Elza noticed her concerned expression.

  ‘You sit there in the front seat,’ Elza said. ‘We need a little time to work some things out, and no one will have time to translate for you.’

  Lia abandoned the commotion in the back to sit with Berg up front.

  Berg started the camper van, and this time Paddy drove ahead of them, as if to break a trail, leading them towards the main road that would take them out of London. When she glanced in the rear-view mirror, Lia saw the group of women sitting close together talking, holding each other by the hands, laughing and crying.

  If only for this one moment.

  38

  When they had been on the road for approximately an hour, Paddy rang Lia.

  Scott and Anderson had notified him that they had closed up the flat on Vassall Road behind them. They had bound the guard again, but he would probably get free during the course of the afternoon.

  ‘That’s enough,’ Lia said.

  She then rang the police exchange and asked them to connect her to Detective Chief Inspector Peter Gerrish.

  ‘I have a tip about the Holborn Circus and Hyundai murders.’

  ‘We have other officers collecting public tips. I can connect you to…’

  Lia interrupted.

  ‘You ask Gerrish whether he wants to accept a tip from Lia Pajala.’

  Half a minute passed and then the call went through.

  ‘Gerrish.’

  ‘This is Lia Pajala. Do you remember me?’

  ‘I do. What do you have?’

  ‘A tip. The one I talked about before.’

  She told him that in Leyton was a shop named the Eastern Buffet that sold precisely the same combs they had found with the remains of the woman in the white Volvo.

  ‘Is that so? Interesting. Is that all?’ Gerrish asked impatiently.

  ‘No. The first victim’s name was Daiga Vītola and the second’s was
Anita Klusa. They were Latvian prostitutes.’

  The line fell silent.

  ‘Where did you get this information?’

  ‘That I can’t say. But in about an hour I’ll be able to tell you more. Then you need to be ready to make an arrest. It would be best to do it quickly, because he’s most likely behind both murders.’

  ‘Hold on. You know of someone who could be a suspect for both murders?’

  ‘Yes. But I can only tell you more in about an hour. You just prepare to make the arrest.’

  ‘Why do you think you can order the police around?’

  ‘I don’t think anything of the sort. I’m just offering you tips. In return for what you told me before.’

  ‘If you have reason to suspect someone of these women’s murders, it is a crime to delay providing that information to the police…’

  ‘I’ll ring you in an hour. Be ready.’

  Lia rang off. Mari’s plan required self-confidence, and, from somewhere, Lia found it.

  She rang Mari’s number and gave a report on events so far.

  At 12.52 p.m. Paddy pulled into a campsite, followed by Berg with the camper van.

  The Twineham Green Caravan Site was small, and it was so close to Christmas that no one else was there. It was a stark sight: a few bare trees, a concrete building for the showers and toilets, and the site attendant’s hut. The camp host was astonished to have so many vehicles show up. Berg parked on a pitch near another, smaller camper van, which was waiting at the edge of the campsite area.

  Lia and Berg told the women in the back that for the next few days they would have the use of the smaller motor caravan as well as the larger one they were in. All told the two vehicles held beds for ten.

  ‘Berg and I will stay here with you,’ Lia said. ‘Berg does snore, so we may have to cast lots to see who sleeps with him.’

  The women were excited to get out and stretch their legs, even if the place was just a bleak caravan park.

  Lia and Berg learned Elza’s companions’ names: Alise, Kamilla and Rozalinde. The women also wanted to tell them the names they used as prostitutes. The name had to be simple so the client could remember it, and it had to sound Eastern European. Kamilla had chosen to be Anya. Alise was Elena. Elza was Olga, and Rozalinde used the name Katya.

  Amidst all the buzz of conversation, it took Lia a moment to realise something was wrong.

  She couldn’t see Daiga Vītola’s mother Henriete anywhere.

  Attempting to contain her anxiety, she searched the area. Kamilla and Rozaline were smoking outside the large camper van. Elza and Daiga Vītola’s daughter Ausma were sitting talking in the smaller vehicle. Berg was chatting with Alise about British television shows and adjusting the large camper van’s TV aerial.

  Lia checked both toilets. No one.

  Paddy was sitting in his car making a call on his phone. Lia waited for him to finish and then went to tell him what was worrying her. Together they went through the entire campsite and both camper vans again. There was no sign of Henriete anywhere.

  ‘I don’t think she’s disappeared here at the campsite,’ Paddy said.

  He had been in his car the whole time and could see the camper vans and the people moving about around them. If Henriete had gone off for a walk, Paddy would have noticed.

  ‘Let’s ask Elza,’ Lia suggested.

  They could see instantly that Elza knew what was up.

  ‘No, Henriete isn’t here. She decided not to come.’

  ‘Where? When?’ Lia demanded.

  ‘When we left Sangley Road. She wanted it that way.’

  ‘Why? What does she intend to do?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I imagine she intends to have it out with Vanags over Daiga and Anita’s deaths.’

  Lia and Paddy stared at each other, speechless.

  ‘Damn it. Does she have a weapon?’ Paddy asked.

  Elza nodded.

  ‘What weapon? Where did she get it?’

  ‘A pistol,’ Elza said. ‘I don’t know what kind. It was the Vassall Road guard’s gun. I took it when you tied him up.’

  ‘Damn, damn, damn!’ Paddy cursed, turning around on the spot.

  ‘I looked for a gun, but when I didn’t see one, I assumed that he didn’t have one,’ he said to Lia.

  ‘Do you know that Henriete could end up dead because of this?’ Paddy snapped at Elza.

  Elza looked at him and then at Lia for a long time.

  ‘I know, and so does she. She decided this herself.’

  Lia felt as if the entire situation had turned upside down. She rang Mari and explained the new state of affairs.

  ‘Do you have any specific idea what Henriete intends to do?’ Mari asked.

  Lia asked Elza, who shook her head.

  ‘Good,’ Mari said. ‘She probably won’t go out looking for the Eastern Buffet, since she doesn’t know London. But she could be waiting on Sangley Road to see whether Vanags comes there after hearing the prostitutes escaped.’

  ‘And I’m supposed to ring Gerrish and tell him about Vanags soon.’

  ‘Ring him now. Ring right now. Maybe they’ll have time to arrest him. And in the meantime, you can pick up Henriete and get her to safety.’

  Lia’s hand was shaking as she dialled the police exchange number again.

  ‘Detective Chief Inspector Peter Gerrish. He’s expecting my call. This is Lia Pajala.’

  Reaching Gerrish took only a moment. Lia began telling him Vanags’ name, but Gerrish interrupted.

  ‘The owner of the Eastern Buffet shop you mentioned. We looked it up. Why do you suspect he killed these women?’

  ‘That’s what my source told me. That’s all I can tell you. I don’t have any evidence.’

  She gave Gerrish the address to Vassall Road. The police were sure to find evidence linking at least one of the murdered women to that flat.

  ‘Pick up Vanags from his shop for interrogation. And his companion from that flat.’

  ‘Do you know whether he’s armed?’

  ‘No, but I would assume the worst. You have to hurry. I assume he’ll try to destroy any evidence in the flat.’

  Gerrish thought for only a few seconds.

  ‘We’re going to speak again,’ he said and then rang off.

  Lia rang Mari back.

  ‘Go to Sangley Road. Henriete may not listen to you, but she’s sure to listen to Elza,’ Mari said.

  Elza did not resist when Lia asked her to come along. Paddy, on the other hand, was reluctant.

  ‘We aren’t a strike force of some kind. We’re talking about a woman who’s been held prisoner for over six months and is out of her mind with grief. And Vanags might be there too. Not a good combination.’

  But he didn’t have any better suggestions.

  ‘Let’s go. And hope nothing has happened yet.’

  Leaving the other women for Berg to keep track of, they set off in Paddy’s car.

  The mood in the car was tense. The journey still took more than an hour, even though Paddy sped most of the way. Mostly they were quiet, lost in their thoughts.

  ‘I don’t know whether Henriete knows how to use a gun,’ Elza said. ‘She asked me where she could get one. I had it in my purse just in case. I hadn’t thought of giving it to her.’

  Lia could see on Paddy’s face that he felt like shouting at her. But Paddy controlled himself.

  They were only five kilometres from Catford when Lia’s mobile rang. It was DCI Gerrish.

  ‘Kazimirs Vanags isn’t at the Eastern Buffet,’ he announced. Vanags had left the shop about an hour earlier, in a terrible rush, had said the young woman who stayed to watch the place.

  ‘That’s bad news,’ Lia said.

  ‘Where else can we find him? Will there be others at the Vassall Road flat, and are they armed?’

  ‘I would imagine he would have gone there. And yes, there could be others. He seems to have several assistants who help him run the prostitution ring, all of whom you might
call professional criminals.’

  ‘Right. If you hear anything…’

  ‘I’ll ring you straight away,’ Lia said.

  Paddy swore again when he heard that Vanags had escaped the police.

  ‘This could go badly wrong for a lot of people now.’

  ‘But not for the women at the Twineham Green campsite,’ Lia said. ‘He won’t find them there.’

  Elza cast Lia a small, thankful smile.

  Paddy parked the car on a side street near Sangley Road and turned to speak to Elza.

  ‘I’ve already taught Ms Pajala here a little about operating in dangerous situations and how to take instructions. We’re not just rushing in there. You both walk behind me and only talk if I say it’s OK.’

  Elza nodded.

  From the outside, number 182 looked just as deserted as before in the pallid afternoon light.

  Paddy walked slowly round to the back garden and approached the door cautiously. Lia and Elza followed behind him. At the door, Paddy motioned for them to crouch against the wall on either side of the doorway.

  ‘Ask if anyone is there,’ Paddy said to Elza.

  ‘Henriete, vai tu tur esi?’

  No answer.

  Elza made to stand up, but Paddy stopped her with a wave of his hand.

  ‘Again.’

  Elza raised her voice. ‘Henriete? Vai tu tur esi?’

  A reply came from somewhere inside the house. ‘Elza, tu?’

  It was Henriete. Elza engaged in a short conversation with her and then translated.

  ‘She says we should come inside. She says there are things we need to know.’

  Paddy and Lia looked at each other hesitantly. Lia grabbed the door handle. The door opened, although Paddy had left it locked.

  When they stepped into the living room, they heard Henriete moving around in the adjoining room.

  ‘Come here,’ Henriete yelled in English.

  Paddy pushed the bedroom door open. They saw Henriete standing against the wall. From her left shoulder ran a trail of blood.

  Henriete was holding a large handgun, aiming it across the room. She would not for a moment take her eyes from the point she was targeting.