Beyond The Law Box Set

by Tom Benson

  “Wait here for a few minutes, and I’ll give you a call.”

  “Right ... I’m Zulu One-Four, Sir.”

  Eddie nodded his thanks and thought back to the days when he was so eager.

  Ten minutes later, the DCI stood on the edge of the track, looking forward to where it cut through a grassy field. He was five metres from the side of the field, and glad he’d slipped into his protective gear. This location was indeed a crime scene.

  A few metres to his front were two male corpses that had been providing sustenance to wildlife through the night and the carrion-feeding birds in the dawn. Ahead and to the left, there was an old ruin with a burnt out car sitting outside. All the tyres had exploded during the blaze, and each was now a black mess at one of the four corners.

  Not far from the car was what looked like another body, which was still providing a meal to a variety of carrion bird species. The main track passed the ruin and the car wreck and led to a narrow path with another high hedgerow.

  Eddie lifted his handset to his lips. “Hullo Zulu One-Four, this is Monroe.”

  “Zulu One-Four.” Fleming’s voice was loud and clear.

  “We have a major crime scene here. Tie off incident tape across the track where you are, and then drive back to the main road and stop anything coming in unless it’s our guys.”

  “Got it, Sir,” Fleming said.

  Eddie made a call to the local Communications Room. He informed them the original call was genuine, and an officer should pay a visit to the dog-walking pensioner who’d called after arriving back home.

  He requested the Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) and his team. DCI Monroe assessed the scene from where he stood, and pulled out his phone. He spoke briefly to an officer who worked out of Pitt Street.

  .

  8:45 am

  At various places, small, numbered yellow stakes were hammered into the ground, and separate areas were taped off for detailed forensic examination. The grass area to the front, behind and around the ruin was taped off but appeared mostly undisturbed.

  Apart from the bodies, there was little physical evidence of a fire-fight. The forensic team would have their work cut out for them, but this was the type of scene most of them lived for, and rarely investigated.

  Eddie stood at the edge of the track and looked at the ruin. A few paces away were the markings to show where the first two bodies had lain. Eddie noted the entry wounds had been on the right side of the heads. He gazed across the field towards the small copse to the north.

  “Okay,” he said aloud. “Maybe it wasn’t all done up close.” He started to cross the field but stopped when he heard a familiar voice calling to him. He turned. “Well, hello Detective Inspector Hughes,” Eddie said as the smiling woman approached. He noted she was wearing covers and white overall.

  “Hi Eddie.” The DI stepped closer, and the pair embraced briefly. They accepted that they would be seen by the local team.

  “Congratulations on your promotion, Amy.”

  “Thank you. It still feels strange. I’ve only held the rank for a couple of months, and I’ve been away, as you probably know.”

  “Yeah, I know. I wondered if you’d be changing departments or staying within Organised Crime. It was why I said in my call; I’d appreciate you coming up here personally. I didn’t want to discuss this with anybody else.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Shall we walk, and I’ll listen?”

  “Good idea,” he said, and they set off across the field.

  “While we’re walking you can explain the involvement of drug enforcement.”

  “Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “There was an anonymous call about this ruin. I think the call was intended to do a couple of things.”

  “Like what?”

  “First of all, it was intended to draw in the wrong department, to cause confusion and delay.”

  “You mean whoever called knew there was going to be a shooting incident, but they wanted you to arrive thinking it was a drug-related, shooting incident.”

  “That’s pretty much what it looks like at first.”

  “At first ...?” Amy said. “You sound very cryptic.”

  As they headed toward the copse, Eddie explained the first call was considered a hoax. It was sometime later when an elderly man called after walking his dog. Eddie told Amy his initial thoughts about the scene of the incident, and the lack of any drugs.

  By the time they reached the tiny patch of woodland with its nearby grassy track, Amy was fully appraised, and looking around the general area.

  She said, “It strikes me you already have a perpetrator or perpetrators in mind.”

  Eddie glanced down as Amy reached into her black shoulder bag and produced a cylindrical object of about fifteen centimetres in length. A quick tug, a click, and it became a miniature telescope of around thirty centimetres.

  She didn’t speak, but held the device up to her right eye and looked down across the field towards the back of the old building. Her lips curled as she panned across the area.

  “Aye Cap’n,” Eddie said, grinning. “I do indeed have perpetrators in mind.” He looked towards the distant building and then at his SOCO team who were searching the area. “When did you start carrying a telescope?”

  “Since our old boss Sam gave a talk at Tullieallen,” she said, handing Eddie the instrument, which he lifted to his eye. Amy reached into her bag again.

  “Christ, Amy,” Eddie said as he lowered the telescope and looked down at the map Amy was unfolding. “You might become Sam Griffiths.” They both laughed.

  “About three hundred metres,” Amy said, orientating the map to the view directly ahead. “The distance makes it close enough for a good sharpshooter to hit the target, but too great distance for the target to return accurate fire.”

  “You have become Sam,” Eddie said. “Is the quiet, industrious young woman I used to know still in there somewhere?” He was pretending to joke, but he was impressed. It made him feel sorry about the way he used to look at her as a sex object. Those things happened when they had both worked in Strathclyde Police HQ in Pitt Street.

  Amy smiled and glanced at Eddie. She too thought back for a moment to the same period in her career. Eddie had been a detective sergeant, and she had been a constable, content to help the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) whenever she could.

  It had been evident to Amy back then; she would have to work twice as hard for recognition. Being fit in more than one sense was a bonus, but it didn’t give the young police officer credibility. Only hard work and results would achieve the result she wanted—she strived to reach them and did.

  Eddie said, “If I was to come right out and ask for an honest opinion, would you humour me?”

  “Try me?”

  “Before I say too much,” Eddie said and used the telescope again briefly. “I know you were a big fan of a small team of vigilantes back in ’96.”

  “Go on,” she said, “I’m not recording our conversation.” They both laughed.

  “Okay,” he said. “From what I’ve told you, would you say it could be them?”

  “Yes,” she said instantly, accepting her telescope to take another look at the main track where it cut across the view to their front.

  “Yes,” Eddie said. “No explanation?”

  “It was a closed question. You asked if I thought it could be them, and I do.” The telescope collapsed with a click, and it slipped into the bag with the folded map. Amy turned to face her old friend. She looked him in the eye. “Now Eddie, you tell me why you thought it might be them, and if you’re anywhere close, I’ll tell you why I agree.”

  “Before I do,” Eddie said and pursed his lips as he turned away. “I owe you a big apology.”

  “An apology, for what?” she said.

  “Before I got my promotion and posted out, I acted like shit towards you, and I’m sorry.” His eyes became slits as he met her gaze and then turned away. He was at her mercy.

  Amy w
aited for him to face her before she spoke in quiet, even tones. “Do you mean for all those times you stared at my chest, my legs, or made lewd remarks without giving a toss about my feelings?”

  “All of the above,” he said. “I was trying to be all macho, but until Sam pulled me up, I had never considered how hurtful it was. After the kidnapping incident and your counselling programme, I never got to see you again before my posting.”

  “Hey,” she said and winked. “Don’t punish yourself. I’m a big girl now. It might not be the right way to behave at work, but I know how you Neanderthals think.”

  “If there is ever a way I can make it up to you, just tell me. Okay?”

  “I will,” Amy said, and her lips parted, producing dimples in her cheeks. “In the meantime, I want to hear why you think this was a vigilante hit.”

  Eddie sighed. “I know since ’96 there have been occasional crimes that we believe are down to the vigilantes, but I distinctly remember when I worked with Sam, he pointed something out to me.” He turned to face Amy. “Sam told me he knew when it was Hawk and his team. Their modus operandi was not to kill needlessly—they only killed if it was necessary.”

  “You’ve answered your question then and confirmed your theory.”

  “Is there anything else?” Eddie said. “I’m puzzled by the number of motorbike tracks we’ve found down on the main track. I wondered if it could have been a gang of bikers.”

  “There may have been one or two bikers, but I don’t think it was a gang hit,” Amy said. “If it were angry bikers there would be more by way of bike evidence. The building exterior has no signs of a shoot-out, and it appears that some gangsters have survived.”

  “What makes you think any of them survived?”

  “Down at the track I overheard one of your forensic guys saying there were fresh blood stains upstairs. Unless one of the corpses got up and walked out here, there were others.”

  “You don’t think the blood stains could belong to one of the perpetrators?”

  “No,” she said and gazed around. “I also imagine if it were bikers, they would have sprayed their calling card on inner and outer walls of the building as a warning—not to fuck with them.”

  “Yes, I’d have to agree with you there. If somebody angered those guys, it would be like slapping a hornet’s nest. Restrained they would not be.”

  “Let’s put it this way,” Amy said. “If it were bikers and they ran out of ammunition they would have fought with their fists, heads, feet, and teeth. Not too many of today’s gangsters do.”

  Amy walked towards an area near the tree-line, and Eddie walked alongside. They stopped at the area about three hundred metres away from the building. Amy squatted down and gazed at the old manor house. “This is a bloody perfect position.”

  “Amy.” Eddie was a few metres away. “Check this out.”

  She stood, and walked across to the area between some trees. As she watched, Eddie held up some dead branches and then pointed at where there was a parallel trail of flattened grass. Both stretches of grass were only a few inches wide.

  Eddie said, “It looks like there’s been an attempt to hide these tyre marks.”

  “A weak attempt,” Amy said. “If this was who we think it was, they’re giving us clues.”

  “Which sort of clue did you find over there?”

  Amy held out her hand. In her palm were several blades of grass which had black and brown specks spread over them. She smiled and nodded towards the area.

  “Two bodies were laid there for a while, and just like the tyre marks, the area was lightly brushed with branches. These blades of grass were in the area where the muzzle of a rifle would have been, so the shooter was in a prone position, probably with a bipod.”

  Eddie laughed. “Okay Hiawatha, I think I’ll just send the forensic team home.”

  Amy raised an eyebrow at his sarcasm. “Would you do me a favour and leave this with me?” She threw the blades of powder-stained grass into the breeze, and they floated away.

  “Have you still got a contact?” Eddie raised an eyebrow.

  Amy held a slender forefinger against her lips. “The less you know, the less you have to lie.” She nodded and gazed around the area. “When we get back across the field would you put your best man up here, but ask him to keep this part of his report for you.”

  “It will be easy—Mac and I go back a long way.”

  “I know Mac. Would you ask him to tell your team there was nothing special up here? If you can, I’ll keep you in the loop if the operation gets bigger than what we see here.”

  “Okay,” he said. “I will do, complete with my new found respect my fellow DI.”

  They started to cross the field towards Eddie’s team.

  Eddie said, “If we agree it was your old friend Hawk and his team, why do you think they’ve intimated drug involvement?”

  “I might be wrong, but those guys are smart. I think they know you’re in charge of the Drug Enforcement team and they might have been bringing us together on the case. Perhaps they believe there is something much bigger going on, and this is so we’ll get in touch.”

  “Well,” Eddie said. “If they wanted to bring us together, they’ve got my vote.”

  Amy shook her head and gave him a dazzling smile. “What happened between you and the nurse?”

  “Oh we split about a year ago,” he said and shrugged. “We were like ships passing in the night, and sometimes the day. I’ve learned to throw myself into the job.”

  “Well, if you’re not attached, you could throw yourself into booking a table for two some evening.”

  “Do you know The Dumbuck House Hotel,” he said, unable to contain his excitement. “It isn’t far from Dumbarton.”

  Amy lifted a business card from her jacket pocket and handed it to him. “My number is on there, but I’ll be in touch anyway if I should hear anything, drugs, or no drugs.”

  They walked down the field in silence and Eddie grinned as he slipped the card into an inside pocket. He was walking taller than usual and felt his chest expanding. At the edge of the track, a man in white overalls with blue gloves and blue overshoes approached.

  “Excuse me, Sir ... Ma’am,” he said.

  The two detectives nodded and looked at the clear bags the man was holding.

  Mac said, “We recovered these from right outside the doorway.” He held up the two small transparent bags. One contained a curly thread of orange while the other contained a tiny piece of gold.

  “What’s your opinion, Mac?” Eddie said.

  “One is a ginger hair with blood on it. The other looks like a gold filling from a tooth,” Mac said and smiled. “We have DNA, so if the person has a record, we’ll get a name.”

  Amy said, “What’s the body count so far Mac?”

  “Three Ma’am,” he said and nodded towards the fluttering ribbons of tape. “The two along near the hedgerow were both hit from the same direction, probably a long-range shot.” He turned to face the ruin. “The guy out front was shot at close range with a handgun.”

  Amy said, “You’re giving me the impression there’s more to tell.”

  Mac held up the evidence bags. “These items don’t belong to the dead guy, so there was a ginger-haired person assaulted in the same location.” He shook his head. “There are also bloodstains upstairs, but there isn’t a casualty.”

  Eddie said, “I got a call earlier from the hospital. There was a ginger-haired guy found lying on the pavement not far from here. He was walking into Balloch, and collapsed. One of my officers is with him, but he refuses to say how he received his injuries.”

  “Interesting,” Amy said and turned to the forensic man. “Thank you, Mac.”

  “No problem Ma’am,” Mac said and started to leave with the evidence bags.

  “Good work Mac,” Eddie said. “Wait there for one minute—I’ve got a task for you, mate.”

  “Okay,” Amy said. “Have we got a deal?”

  “
I’ll message you privately with any details,” he said. “What do we do when the brass start asking questions?”

  “Leave it with me. I know I can trust Sam Griffiths, and he carries influence in certain circles.” She winked. “Thanks, Eddie. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Thank you,” Eddie said and tapped his left palm against his jacket pocket. He headed over to brief his SOCO on how he’d like the report handled.

  Amy was dialling a number on her mobile before she reached the hedgerow. She stopped outside the taped area to peel off her protective gear. “Hi,” Amy said on receiving an answer. “Would I be right in thinking you’d like a meeting?” She grinned when she heard a pleasant voice from the past. “Yes, no problem, thanks. Bye.”

  15. The Six P’s

  .

  Friday 2nd July

  BTL Enterprises

  Glasgow

  Scotland

  9:15 am

  “Lest I forget,” Phil said. “Thank you all for your efforts yesterday, especially Jake, who shouldn’t be here.”

  Jake lifted his right forefinger to his lips and grinned.

  Phil turned to Rachel. “Well done on your restraint and the ability to control your demon companion.”

  Rachel said, “If we could convince Max to contain his anger, I reckon his guys would be an incredible ghost asset for the team.”

  “I only met Max for a couple of minutes,” Jake said. “I’d agree. Bikers get a bad press, but they’re a brotherhood. When you strip away the violence and blatant disregard for rules, those guys have honour and integrity—apart from guts.”

  Phil turned to Annabel, who nodded.

  “Okay Rachel,” Phil said. “We’ll have a chat after this session, and if you’d like to arrange a meeting, I’ll have a word with Max.”

  “Thank you,” Rachel said and gave a sideways glance to Jake, who winked at her.

  “Let’s get underway,” Phil said. “Think of the six P’s.” He had grinned before he reminded his small audience of the meaning of the acronym. “Preparation and Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.” He looked around at the three smiling faces and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if it’s our team, the bad guys, or the police—those six P’s have the same importance.”