“He’s right, you know,” Paolo said. “That young girl probably wasn’t the first and definitely wasn’t the last. I’m sure once we have enough to arrest Pete Carson many of his other victims will come forward. It’s possible there will be a charge to answer, for you and your former band mates.”
Don nodded. “I knew that was a possibility, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take. I should have done the right thing years ago. You have no idea how bad I feel that I’ve left it until now.”
Paolo held out his hand. “Thank you for telling us. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
They shook hands and Paolo left. As he went down in the lift he wondered what had caused Dave’s reaction. He’d never seen him so aggressive with a witness.
He found him in the car.
“What was that all about?” Paolo asked, getting in and adjusting his seatbelt.
“All what?”
“The way you spoke to Don.”
“He covered up for a bloody kiddie fiddler, Paolo. I don’t know how you could stand there and be polite to him. It’s because of shits like him that abusers get away with it. No one says a bloody word when they should.”
“Dave, is there something you want to talk about? Something I can help with?”
Paolo waited, but Dave shook his head.
“Nope. Not a thing. Let’s head for home.”
Paolo realized he’d have to let it go, but vowed to be there if ever Dave decided to open up.
“Well, that’s another piece of the puzzle in place,” he said as Dave pulled out of the hotel car park.
Dave nodded. “Pete won’t have stopped. There’ll be many other victims. It’s a pity we can’t put an ad in the paper asking them to come forward.”
“We do at least have another lead to follow. We can find out from the children’s home how the hell that young girl ended up in Pete Carson’s bed in the early hours of the morning. Thanks to Don we know which home it was. I have a feeling there’s a very sordid story waiting to be uncovered in that place.”
His phone rang and he pulled it up to look at the screen. He didn’t recognise the number, but it was a Bradchester one.
“Storey.”
“Hi, this is me,” a voice whispered so softly Paolo had to press the phone firmly to his ear to make out the words. “Angela, from Albania/UK/Albania Haulage. I have to see you. I can’t speak now, but I really need to talk to you.”
“I’m on my way back from London. Can we meet this evening?”
“Um, no, I can’t. What about tomorrow? I can pretend I’m going to the supermarket. Can you meet me at the Zero coffee shop in the shopping centre? It’s right next to the elevator when you come in from the car park on the ground floor? Say ten past one? If you get there first, can you try for a table right at the back so that no one can see us?”
“Sure thing, I’ll do that. But can you tell me what it’s about?”
“I think our trucks are being used for smuggling people into the country.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
1st November (morning and afternoon)
On his way into work Paolo noticed the headlines were once again concentrating on Lucy Bassington. It seemed someone claimed to have seen her in London. He couldn’t help but remember the old traveller’s words. Would the newspapers be so interested in her case if she hadn’t been pretty, blue-eyed and from a middle-class family? His heart said of course they would, but his head knew that wasn’t true. Putting such thoughts to one side, he entered the station. He needed to bring his team up to speed.
Half an hour later, he was leaning against a desk at the front of the main office. He’d finished his talk, covering his visit to London with Dave.
“So, all in all, it was a very positive trip and it’s given us a bit more to substantiate our suspicions about Pete Carson’s predilections. Before I move on to the next bit of news, does anyone have any questions?”
His heart sank. He should have guessed George would be the first to wave a file in his direction. Please let it be something positive this time, he thought. George’s negativity was having a serious effect on some of the younger officers. No matter how many times he raised the issue, George was adamant there was nothing wrong.
“Yes, George?”
“Surely we have enough now to bring Pete Carson in for questioning?”
Paolo shook his head. “Afraid not. You know what will happen if we move too soon. He’ll arrive here with an expensive solicitor in tow and we won’t get a word out of him. If we wait until we have some solid evidence…”
“But we have!” George interrupted. “We’ve got the blood on the gates and drive, we’ve got Don Carmichael’s testimony and we know Pete Carson is a kiddie fiddler. What more do you need?”
“George, you know better than that. You’ve been in the force long enough. Don Carmichael’s statement has already been sent down to London. That rape, if it happened, bear in mind we only have one person’s word for it at the moment, but let’s say it did take place, that rape was out of our jurisdiction. We can’t do anything apart from notify the specialist child protection section in London. They have said they’ll treat it as a priority and will be looking into the care home where the girl was living at the time.”
“That’s shit! You’ve given away our strongest hand.”
“No, George, what I’ve done is enlist the help of a crack division trained to deal with cases from years back where the abuse has only just come to light. They’ve promised to share with us anything that would impact on our current case.”
George flipped the file he’d been holding onto his desk. “As long as they do. You know what they’re like down in London. Real glory boys. All about the spotlight and polishing their halos in public.”
Paolo was about to issue a reprimand when he remembered what had caused the break-up of George’s marriage. His wife had left him for a London-based CID officer.
“I think we have to let them get on with it, George. It’s now their business, but what’s happening here in Bradchester is ours and we need to concentrate on that.”
“Exactly!” George said. “We’ve got the blood evidence. Even a high-priced solicitor won’t be able to ignore that. We’ve got evidence.”
“Not yet, we don’t. We’re still waiting to hear back from the lab people. They weren’t at all hopeful there was enough blood collected to run the tests to prove anything conclusively. Until they give us something solid to act on, that blood evidence might just as well not exist.”
“So he might get off the hook even though we know that kid was probably in his place?”
At George’s words, a babble of conversation broke out. Paolo waited for the murmurs to die down before continuing. Looking around the room, he made eye contact with each officer in turn.
“Don’t worry, we won’t let Pete Carson get away with anything. I give you my word, if he’s involved, we’ll get him, but our main priority is catching the traffickers. I’m pleased to say we’ve finally caught a break on that.”
Another murmur broke out, but this time it sounded positive. Several officers sat up a bit straighter, leaning forward to hear what Paolo had to say.
“We have a contact in Albania/UK/Albania haulage who Dave and I are meeting up with today. She says she has information pointing to them being involved in people smuggling. This could well be the tipping point for us. Solid information at last.”
Paolo and Dave arrived half an hour early at the shopping centre, just so that they could make sure of a table at the back, but they needn’t have worried. It seemed that everyone wanted to sit out on the concourse, watching the world go by.
The tables inside were empty, but they walked to the rear anyway and took a table behind a supporting column. They were completely hidden from passers-by.
“I hope she doesn’t look in and think we’re not here,” Dave said.
Paolo smiled. “More to the point, I hope the waitress realises we’re here. The coffee smell
s good.”
Dave laughed. “What world do you live in, sir? Waitresses in a coffee shop? Not a chance. I’ll go and order for us. What would you like?”
“Coffee,” Paolo answered. “What else?”
Dave picked up a menu from the table next to them and handed it to Paolo.
“Most of these sound like meals. Any chance of a straightforward white coffee?”
“I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not making any promises,” Dave said.
He came back a few minutes later and handed Paolo a cardboard cup. Paolo took a sip and was amazed. Coffee heaven. He might need to come here on a regular basis.
They’d almost drained their cups before Angela arrived, cardboard cup in hand. She sat next to them, with her back to the room. Paolo noted how scared she looked.
“Don’t worry; no one can see you from outside. This table is nicely tucked away.”
“Yes, I know, but still…” She shrugged. “I’m not really cut out for this cloak and dagger stuff. I can’t stop long. I only get half an hour for lunch and had to tell my boss I needed some extra time so that I could go to the supermarket.”
Dave pulled out his pad and waited.
“Just relax,” said Paolo. “Drink your coffee while you compose yourself. Then tell us what makes you believe the trucks are being used for people trafficking.”
Angela nodded and took a sip.
“It all started after you’d come to show those images around. I overheard my boss say something to one of the drivers that sounded a bit odd at the time, but I didn’t really think anything of it, you know? Odd, but not suspicious.”
“What did you hear?” Paolo asked.
“The boss was talking to Sam; he’s like the head of all the drivers. I think he’s been part of the company since Mr Redzepi started it.”
“Sam?” Paolo asked. “Not Albanian?”
Angela shook her head. “No, I think he’s from Leicester, or somewhere near there. I get the impression he’s got some sort of stake in the business. I believe he’s related to Mr Redzepi’s wife, but I’m not certain. I’ve not been there that long, so don’t know all the ins and outs. Anyway, I had to take some papers for signing and heard voices, so I waited outside the office. Mr Redzepi can get a bit funny about being interrupted when he’s got someone with him. I heard him say, ‘We’ll have to leave the next shipment for a while. I don’t think it’s safe at the moment.’ Then they went on to talk about something else, so I went back to my desk to wait for Sam to come out.”
Dave stopped writing. “How did you know it was Sam?”
“I recognised his voice, but also he had to walk past my desk to go out to his truck, so I knew it was definitely him.”
“But it wasn’t that incident that made you suspicious?”
She took another sip of coffee, the cup quivering in her hand. “No, it was a number of things. Just small stuff, nothing on its own looking out of place, but when you add it all together, it didn’t feel right. I did a bit of digging and found there was more money coming in than we’d actually done trips for.”
“What makes you think the extra money is coming from people smuggling?” Paolo asked.
“Nothing! I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t think the money was coming from anything in particular. I just thought maybe Mr Redzepi was holding back on the tax return, that was all. But then yesterday morning I overheard another conversation.” She blushed. “I deliberately eavesdropped this time.”
“Go on,” Paolo urged when she fell silent.
“I won’t have to go to court or anything like that, will I?”
“I don’t know,” Paolo said, “and that’s the honest truth. It all depends on what you tell us and what happens as a result.”
She looked uncomfortable, as if she wished she hadn’t called in the first place.
“Look, I don’t think I want to say anything else. I shouldn’t have…it’s nothing to do with me. I’m sorry. I’d rather go, if you don’t mind.”
Paolo knew he had to say something to get her to stay. They could watch the business, but there was more chance of catching them in the act if they had some solid information to work with.
“Please don’t go,” he said. “Children as young as six and seven are being smuggled in to be passed along to paedophile rings. Please help us put a stop to it.”
Angela looked up. “No, oh no, that can’t be right. What I heard was about men. I’m sure it was. Not children.” Tears filled her eyes. “My daughter is six. Please don’t tell me they use kids the same age as Natalie.”
Paolo shrugged. “I wish I could lie to you, but I can’t. Please, Angela, tell us what you overheard.”
Her lip trembled and Paolo wondered which way she would go, but then she nodded.
“I saw Sam go down to Mr Redzepi’s office. I’d figured out by now that whatever was going on, he was right in the middle of it. So I waited until he’d been in there a few minutes and then picked up some papers I needed Mr Redzepi to sign and went and stood outside the door.”
Paolo noted Dave scribbling furiously to keep up. They worked well together. He nodded for Angela to continue.
She looked at her watch. “I have to go, so I’ll just give you the bare bones of what I heard. Sam is going to Albania and bringing back some men to work over here, they said men, not children. The men are sold on to some other people. I don’t know who, but Sam and Mr Redzepi keep the passports so that the workers have no way of getting home again.”
“When does this happen? Did you manage to find out?”
Angela was already getting to her feet.
“Yes, the truck arrives at Hull, coming via Rotterdam, on November 15th. I have to go. Please don’t get me involved if you don’t have to. Surely if you catch them with the people hidden in the truck, you won’t need me?”
Paolo stood up. “I promise you, if I can keep your name out of this, I will. You’ve given us some really valuable information. Thank you.”
She turned and almost ran from the coffee bar.
“Come on, Dave, back to the station for us. We need to get in touch with our colleagues in Hull. Finally, we’ve got something tangible to work with.”
They arrived back at the station. To give Dave time to type up his notes, Paolo called for his team to assemble in half an hour. He went into his office and picked up the phone to find out who dealt with people trafficking in Hull, but before he could dial out, CC came in.
“Sorry to disturb you, sir, but we’ve had a call from the homeless shelter. Someone called John wants to speak to you. He left his number and says it’s urgent that you call him back as soon as you come in. It’s about Michelle.”
She put the paper on his desk.
“Right, thank you, CC. I’ll do that right now. While I’m busy with John, could you find out for me who we need to liaise with in Hull to have a lorry stopped and searched as it leaves the ferry? I’ll fill you in on the exact details in the meeting.”
“Sounds good, sir. I’ll get the names and numbers for you.”
He waited until she’d closed the door and then dialled the number she’d left. A man’s voice answered almost immediately.
“John, here.”
“Hello, John. This is Detective Inspector Storey. You left a message for me to call you. Something to do with Michelle?”
A long sigh greeted his words. “Oh, thank God you’ve called. You have to do something. Ten minutes ago a black car pulled up outside. Two men jumped out and grabbed Michelle while she was having a smoke.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
1st November (afternoon/evening)
Paolo ended the call and raced into the main office.
“Our witness, Michelle, has been picked up. It sounds like she’s been grabbed by Bekim and Edar. They must have found out she was the one who gave us the identikit details. Dave, you need to take my place here and outline what we learned from Angela. CC, have you found the names and numbers for the people we need in Hull?”
“Yes, sir, I have them here.”
“Good. Pass the info to Dave and grab your jacket. I want you to come with me to see what we can find out from John at the shelter. The rest of you, gather round Dave. He’ll allocate tasks to each of you after he’s brought you all up to date on the latest developments.”
He headed towards the door, but was stopped by George. “What do you want me to do?”
“Sorry, George, I have to go. Dave will fill you in.”
“He’s not my superior, sir,” George said, with too heavy an emphasis on the sir for Paolo’s liking.
He leaned in towards George and lowered his voice so that the officers nearby wouldn’t be able to overhear.
“I know he isn’t, but he was there with me when we spoke to an informant. He was the one who took the notes and probably noticed even more than I did because he took those notes. All of which means, if I can’t be here, then he is the best person to pass on the information and decide who should follow up on what and when.”
George shook his head. “Smacks of favouritism to me.”
Paolo sighed. He really didn’t need this. “I don’t have time right now, but when I get back I need to talk to you. This constant griping has to stop.”
He turned back to the room. “CC, you ready?”
She handed over a sheet of paper to Dave. “Yes, sir. I was just explaining my scribbling so that Dave could follow it.”
“Good, let’s go. The more time we mess about here, the less chance there is of finding Michelle before something happens to her. I have a really bad feeling about this.”
Paolo parked his car behind the church and jumped out as soon as he switched off the engine. He barely gave CC time to get out before pressing the button for the central locking.
“Sir, if you don’t mind my saying so, you seem to be taking this a bit personally.”
Paolo stopped midstride and turned back to face her.
“I know I am. She trusted me, CC. She put her faith in me and now she’s God knows where with people who didn’t hesitate to kill a child in the hospital. The same bastards who shoot kids full of drugs and farm them out to perverts. What do you think they’re going to do to someone they think grassed them up?”
Someday Never Comes (#2 - D.I. Paolo Storey Crime Series) Page 19