by Val Penny
“Really? I told you all I can remember before.”
“Please? Just in case we’ve missed anything or written something down wrongly. It would help us catch this bastard.”
“Then let’s do it. Could you pass me my orange juice, Rachael? I’ll wet my whistle, and we’ll get going.”
Mel and Rachael watched as Eileen wriggled to a more comfortable sitting position in her bed and took a sip of her drink.
“Where do you want me to start?”
“Perhaps with how you met.”
“It was through a dating agency a work colleague found for me. She put the app on my phone.”
***
“She’s quite consistent. Everything she said yesterday matched with what she told us today, right down to the angle that the photo was taken to show him as having long legs and the golden Labrador dog,” Mel said. “Personally, I prefer cats, but that’s another matter.”
“I wonder if he did that thing where most of what you say is true, so the lies are easier to remember.”
“Like what?”
“Like living in North Berwick, saying he lives with his cousin, rather than a brother, telling her he lived in a fancy house on the outskirts of town instead of a converted flat that’s part of what was a grand house.”
“Like John Hamilton, who wouldn’t know truth or a lie if it hit him in the face.”
“Just like that. Or he lives with his cousin in a fine house on the outskirts of a town, just not North Berwick.”
“She did tell us one new thing today. Frederick told her he was brought up by his uncle and his uncle was a vintner.”
“Yes, that was new.”
“Wasn’t Felix Buchanan brought up by Lachlan’s family?”
“How would I know that?”
“And although the late earl wasn’t a vintner, he did own a vineyard in Spain and another in Australia. He was very knowledgeable about wine, brandy, and that sort of thing.”
“How would you know?”
“When Tim and Bear get together with men they were at school with, they gossip like old women. I’ll check with Bear, but I’m sure I remember him saying that.”
“I didn’t think he and Tim were at school with Lucky.”
“They weren’t. Lucky and Felix went to Fettes while Tim and Bear were at Merchiston Castle with Simon and Robin Land. But all around the same time. I think Felix and Robin are a bit younger, but not by much.”
“So they’ve known each other for a long time?”
“Yes, and from what I have heard about Lucky and Felix, they wouldn’t know how to tell the truth any better than John Hamilton. I want to make sure Hunter is aware that Eileen met Frederick through a dating app. I think that might be important. Do you think John would use a dating app?”
“I don’t know. I wonder what John’s brother’s like,” Rachael said.
“I hope he’s not like John.”
Rachael laughed. “I know what you mean. By the way, talking about bad boys, did you tell the boss about Jamie’s shenanigans against his neighbour?”
“Fuck. I forgot. Remind me to type out a report when we get back to the station.”
***
Hunter wandered into the incident room to find Tim in the corner making coffees and teas for the team. “Got any biscuits?” he asked.
“Jaffa Cakes or hobnobs.”
“You can’t beat a hobnob,” Hunter said as he picked a couple out of the tin.
“You just come in here to nick our biscuits, or were you actually looking for me?”
“The latter. I’ve just got a report from Mel that Jamie Thomson is causing trouble with his neighbours.”
“They’re not going to hold the front page for that, boss. Jamie could cause an argument in an empty room.”
“True enough. Apparently the couple want to move, and he wants to speed them up so that he and Linda can move into the other half of Frankie’s semi.”
“I’d want to move if I lived next door to Jamie too. But where do I come in?”
“He held his hands up to letting a mouse loose in the porch. Frightened Mrs Morrison half to death.” Hunter smiled. “But he claimed he didn’t leave the dead cat on their doorstep.”
“Dead cats don’t sound like Jamie’s style, boss.”
“I didn’t think so either. Then Charlie’s got a report today that the couple’s car has been keyed while it was sitting in their driveway, and their living room window has been plastered with oil.”
“No way Jamie would damage a car like that, boss,” Tim said. “You want me to go and talk to him? I could try and find out what’s really going on.”
“Mel says he’s working today. Swing round to Thomson’s Top Cars on your way home and find out the lie of the land.”
“That’s a long way for a short cut, but I’ll go.”
***
“Hi Blondie, please tell me you want a new car. I’m dying here. We need the business, don’t we Frankie?”
“Always. We’ll even throw in a free spare tyre.”
“Good try, but no new car today, Jamie. But I do want to talk about a car.”
“Those bloody Morrisons, isn’t it? Have they reported me? Bastards. How many times do I have to tell them? I didn’t key their fucking car.”
“Any idea who did?”
“Hold on a minute. Frankie, have you got our crystal ball, or did it get broke when we were playing marbles? I don’t know, for fuck’s sake man, get a grip.” Jamie strode towards his office.
“Not so fast,” Tim said. “You keep your ear to the ground. Your dad’s in the big house and he heard the Morrisons want to move before their house goes on sale. Come on, Jamie, what’s happening? Did you grease their windows?”
Jamie grinned at Tim. “Look, I’ll hold my hands up to messing their windows, but no way I damaged their car. I couldn’t do a thing like that.”
“No, I doubt you could.”
“As to who else has it in for them, they’ve been in with Arjun Mansoor and his lot. If they’ve crossed him, or someone else on his behalf, they’ll have a lot more than a keyed car to worry about and I’d want to move house fast if that was the case.”
“Come on, Jamie. Arjun’s still inside.”
“So’s my pop, but he still pulls the strings.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Oskar smiled as he pulled the warrant out of the envelope. This was a good start to his new post, he thought. He really hadn’t been sure that they had enough to get one, but he’d heard about John Hamilton from Colin and laid all that information out in his documentation. He’d been told about the North Berwick connection by Rachael and wove that into his petition to the court too. He was pleased with himself and hoped Hunter would be too. He bounded up the stairs two at a time to show off his success.
Nadia was speaking with Hunter. “Neither of them has come in yet, boss, but the girlfriend phoned to say John was with her all night and that his cousin claims he was in the pub, mortal drunk, because John had told him not to get back too early on pain of death,” she said. “To be honest, if they’re anything like John, I’m not sure I believe either of them, but Hector’s given me the name of the pub if you want me to stop in.”
“Yes, do that. Take Colin with you and see if they’ve got any CCTV that corroborates this guy’s whereabouts. What’s the brother’s name again?”
“Hector, boss.”
“Hector Hamilton? There’s a name to conjure with. See what you can find out, and let me know.”
“Oskar, don’t stand on ceremony, just come in, man.” Hunter waved the new DI into his office and motioned for him to take a seat. “I can tell from the grin on your face that you got your warrant. Do we have powers to search the home as well as the office?”
“Yes, we do. It’s a good start for me here.”
“Excellent. Take a team of uniforms down and you and Mel can lead the search of the office. I’ll get Bear and Neil into the house.”
“You won�
�t be there?”
“No, if it’s you, it’s someone neutral. If I’m there, John can complain that I still bear a grudge from his time here.”
“And do you?”
“Only because he brought the force into disrepute. We don’t need that.”
“Anything else you want me to be aware of?”
“Not really, but although the girlfriend and brother have phoned in, I still want to interview them sooner rather than later. You know, to see the whites of their eyes.”
“You really want to use that phrase in this case?”
“Maybe not. Now get out of here and put your team together.”
***
When Bear and Neil arrived at the flat John and Hector shared, they were surprised when a woman answered the door in a dressing gown. It wasn’t a very feminine design, so Bear thought it must belong to one of the brothers. She only opened the door a little way and peered round the side.
“What do you want? Why are all these coppers here? I’ve been on night shift, and I was just off to my kip.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Bear said. “I was led to believe that John and Hector Hamilton live here. Is that not the case?”
“Aye, they do. I’m with John, and I’m staying here now. What are you lot doing here?”
“You must be Katy,” Neil said. “John mentioned you when I met him at his office. Are you alone in the flat?”
“Yes, I’m alone, and I’m Katy. Who the hell are you?”
“DC Neil Larkin, and this is my colleague DC Winston Zewedu. We have a warrant to allow us to search these premises.”
“You’ll have to give me a minute to get dressed and tidy up. You can’t come in with the place looking like this.”
“I’m sorry, that won’t be possible. We do require entry right now.” Bear shoved the door open and instructed the uniforms to go in and search everywhere.”
“But I’ve just had a shower, I’m not decent.” The woman whined. “Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed in the bedroom.”
“I can’t leave you alone,” Bear said. “But this female PC will come into the bedroom with you, and you can get dressed.”
“No way! How do I know she’s not a dyke just getting off on watching me?”
“You don’t,” the PC said. “But it’s the best offer you’re going to get, and if you don’t want to be arrested and carted off to the station in that dressing gown, you better take it.” She followed the woman into the bedroom and closed the door gently behind them.
“That’s odd,” Neil said.
“What?”
“John said his girlfriend worked in the office and showed houses, and she said she’s his girlfriend, but she was working night shift. I don’t know any estate agents who work night shift, do you?”
“Interesting. No, Neil. I don’t. Will you take the bathroom if I do the kitchen? The uniforms can search the living room and bedrooms.”
Neil pulled on his blue latex gloves and started to look in every medicine bottle in the bathroom. He even took out the panel at the bottom of the little cupboard under the sink and was rewarded for his efforts with a sizeable plastic bag. The contents smelled like weed. He smiled and put his find into an evidence bag. There were traces of powder on the lid of the cistern. Neil lifted that with tape so it could be examined.
Bear was equally thorough and delved into every box and container in the kitchen. He was almost sorry to find the contents of the container marked ‘sugar’ that looked far too fine for sugar and not quite the right colour either. He had a horrible feeling it was cocaine. Had John fallen down into that dark place again or had his brother taken up the baton? Forensics would give him the answer. Bear looked at the quantity of the powder and wondered how John and Hector could afford so much coke.
He took the container and put it into an evidence bag. The specialists in the forensics’ lab would have to test the contents because he had to be sure of exactly what he had found and also needed to obtain an accurate identification of the powder.
The team of uniformed officers found a large stash of cash in a drawer by the window in the living room, bagged it and marked it up. The female officer found traces of a white powder on the dressing table in the room Katy shared with John. When she went to put tape over it, Katy blew it away.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“That’s just my make-up. You should try it; you’d look miles better.”
The PC didn’t reply, but used the tape anyway. She knew the woman’s breath wouldn’t have removed every particle of whatever was there.
When Katy finished dressing, Bear told her that they needed her to come to the station to answer some questions.
“But I told you, I was on night shift. I’m knackered.”
“You can have a sleep in the cells if you like, but I can’t leave you here.” Bear led the woman gently by the arm, out to one of the waiting cars. You sit in the back with her, will you, Neil?”
***
Oskar and Mel had as much difficulty finding a parking space as Nadia did the previous day. Unfortunately, neither of them had her skill, so their walk to John’s office was much longer.
Oskar checked the building before they entered to see if there were any other exits, but it appeared the only door was the one onto the main street. They walked in and were greeted by a young woman on reception who had a golden Labrador curled up at her feet.
“May I help you?” she asked Oskar.
“Yes, we’re looking for John and Hector Hamilton. Are they in?”
She looked at her switchboard. “John is on the phone, but Hector is free. Who shall I say is here?”
“DI Krol and DC Grant from Police Scotland.”
“Gemma, can you put a call through to head office? Oh, hello, who have we here?” The man speaking was nearly six feet tall. He had regular features that gave his face a pleasing symmetry. However it was his dark brown hair and full dark beard that first caught the officers’ attention. Then he fixed his gaze on Oskar, held out his hand and said, “Hector Hamilton, how can I help?”
It was only then that Oskar noticed the man’s dark brown eyes and long eyelashes. Those eyes are wasted on a man, he thought. He pulled out his ID and showed it to Hector.
“Hello Mr Hamilton. DI Oskar Krol and DC Grant. We’re here to search your premises.”
“I don’t think so. What on earth would give you that right?”
“This warrant, sir. If you just sit there, we won’t be long.” Oskar said, and waved in the uniformed officers.
“I’ll ask John to finish up his call,” Gemma said.
“That won’t be necessary, Miss.” Mel flicked a switch on her exchange board. “See, all done. You sit over there beside your boss while I search your desk.”
John came charging out of his room. “What the hell, Gemma.” He looked around at the policemen walking in. “What the fuck is going on?” He caught sight of Mel and recognised her. “What are you lot doing here? God in heaven, haven’t I suffered enough at the hands of bloody Hunter and his team?”
“The court thinks not. We are conducting a search in terms of this warrant,” Mel said.
John snatched the document out of her hands.
“Fuck. This is for the office and the flat.”
“Indeed, it is. Now if you sit over there beside your brother, we’ll be as quick as we can,” Oskar said.
“I’ll need to phone my girlfriend. She’s in the flat alone after her nightshift.”
“You’ll be too late,” Oskar said. “Our colleagues will already be there. Don’t worry. They’ll introduce themselves.”
Oskar moved into the small toilet to the left of reception and was disappointed not to find anything suspicious hidden in the cistern. Then he heard Mel shout to him.
“You got an evidence bag?”
“Yes. Here. What have you found?”
“Money. I’m not sure how much. Can you count it with me?”
“It
’s just a deposit a client left with us for their new house,” John said.
“Surely in terms of the money laundering legislation, you shouldn’t accept this much cash.”
Mel and Oskar found the sum to be five pounds short of ten thousand pounds.
“That’s a strange amount,” Oskar said.
Both John and Hector looked at Gemma.
“I took a fiver to get the milk this morning,” she whined.
“Very professional.” Oskar labelled the evidence bag and put it away.
“I’m new.”
“You’re bloody fired,” John growled.
“Boss, I’ve found this in the desk drawer,” PC Scott Clark shouted from John’s room. He held up a small bag of white powder.
“Old habits die hard, John,” Mel said.
“Bag it and tag it. We’ll send it to the lab,” Oskar said. “Not enough to supply.” He muttered to Mel.
“No bloody way that was in John’s desk. Your boys planted that,” Hector shouted. He stood up and lunged towards Oskar, who deftly caught his wrist and wrenched it up his back. As they stood toe to toe, he whispered in Hector’s ear. “Bad idea to attack a Pole who’s trained to fight a Russian army,” he said. “Mel, cuff him, and we’ll take these three into the station for questioning.”
“What about the business?” John asked.
“I just got you a half day,” Oskar replied.
***
Colin knocked on Hunter’s door. He didn’t wait for a reply before he walked in and told Hunter that John, his brother, and the receptionist had all been brought in for questioning.
“No,” Hunter said.
“I haven’t asked a question yet,” Colin said.
“You’re going to ask if you can interview John. I saved you the bother of saying it. You can interview the receptionist with Neil.”
“Thanks a lot, boss.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hunter stuck his head around the door of the incident room. He saw Tim sitting, gazing into the middle distance, instead of looking as if he were working.
“Young Myerscough,” he said. “You are looking particularly unfocussed. Want to go for a ride?”