THE FACELESS MAN an absolutely gripping crime mystery with a massive twist (Detectives Lennox & Wilde Thrillers Book 2)

by HELEN H. DURRANT

  “But why admit what he’d done? He could have bluffed it out,” she said.

  “We both knew he was involved, and I wanted to know how. He told me the truth. He didn’t see it as risky, since he had no intention of letting me walk out of that flat alive. Turns out he’s not so charming after all.”

  “Are you and Col okay?”

  “Col’s in hospital. We all got into a bit of a scuffle and he was stabbed in the arm, but he should be fine. I’ll give you chapter and verse when you’re back.”

  “Seems I can’t leave the pair of you alone for a minute without you getting into trouble. Give me an hour.” Chuckling, she ended the call.

  He’d no sooner finished talking to Jess than his mobile rang. It was Sasha from the Reid.

  “Want to see something interesting?” she said. “Believe me, it’s worth getting down here to watch.”

  Harry had intended to go the hospital and check on Col, but he could do that later. In any case, there was every possibility that he was in surgery right now. “Something on that disk from the spy camera?” he asked.

  “Yes. And it’s just what you need.”

  Chapter Forty-six

  “There’s hours of everyday comings and goings on that SD card,” Sasha said, “mostly in Dean’s office at the Commodore. At first I thought there was nothing of any use — but then I found this.”

  Dean must have placed the camera up on top of a cabinet, as it took in most of the office. It was dark outside, so it was late. Nadia Nasir came in carrying a box and locked the door behind her.

  “There’s no sound, but you can plainly see that she’s upset,” Sasha said.

  Nadia was crying, in a right state. She tugged at Dean’s arm and kept looking at Calvert’s office next door. Dean shook his head and appeared to be calming her down. Nadia pointed to a cupboard, then made a grab for the handle. Dean pulled her away.

  “Wonder what she’s after — the drug delivery that went missing?” Harry said.

  “Possibly. Now watch this.”

  Nadia opened the lid of the box she’d brought in. Inside were several blocks of what looked like heroin, each individually wrapped in plastic. Harry squinted at the image. The substance in those plastic packages was pale brown in colour. Had to be heroin.

  Nadia removed three of the blocks, stuffed them into her coat pocket and closed the box. Just then Agnes Wright, the manager at the Commodore, walked in. Nadia stood back as the woman spoke to Dean and then picked up the box from his desk. She and Nadia exchanged a few words, Agnes put the box into her shopping bag and left.

  “She took it!” Harry exclaimed. “But where does that leave Calvert?”

  “Disappointing I know, but he’s not on the video at all. You need to get me that computer from Calvert’s desk so I can check the IP address. Also, I could do with a look at Dean’s desk — it may still have traces of heroin on it.”

  They’d need a search warrant for that. Calvert would know Hugh was in custody and wouldn’t want them finding anything to connect the two. “Even if we tackle Calvert, he’ll deny it, blame Dean most likely.”

  “Your best bet is this Agnes Wright woman. She’s obviously involved with the drugs. Get her to talk to you.”

  Sasha was right. He had a lot of questions for Agnes Wright. He left the Reid, picked up a uniformed PC from the station and drove to the Commodore hotel.

  * * *

  The reception area was busy. “Agnes Wright?” he asked the girl behind the desk.

  “She’s busy in her office this morning.”

  Harry wasn’t up for an argument. He simply showed her his warrant card.

  Within a few minutes, Agnes Wright bustled through. She wasn’t looking pleased. “This had better be important, I’ve work to do.”

  “So have I,” Harry said.

  “Whatever it is, I can’t help you.”

  “I think you can. I suggest we continue this down at the station, where we can do things properly.”

  Agnes Wright shook head. “You’re wasting your time. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

  Harry escorted her to the car and sat her in the back with the PC.

  “I want my solicitor,” she said. “I’ll give you his number and you can arrange it.”

  Fair enough. Whatever it took to get her talking.

  In heavy traffic, the drive from the Commodore to Ryebridge station took nearly an hour. The long journey seemed to calm Agnes down. When they arrived, Harry left her in an interview room with the PC. She’d given him the number of a Manchester solicitor. It would take him at least an hour to get here, and that was provided he wasn’t busy. Harry decided to go and get a statement from Hugh Devereaux.

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Hugh Devereaux was sitting with the duty solicitor. He looked pretty relaxed for someone about to be charged with committing multiple murders. He gave Harry a smile.

  “Right, Hugh,” Harry began. “Time you and I had a chat. Treating you all right, are we?”

  “This place is a dump. The building is out of the last century and has heating to match, but then you work here so you know that. Do I have to use the solicitor you arranged?”

  “No, we can get you your own, I just need his name.” Harry said.

  “I’ve never needed one before.” Hugh grinned mischievously. “What about that man Connor? He’s okay, so I’ve heard.”

  Harry remained straight-faced. “He’s out of town, I’m afraid.”

  “Okay, I’m happy with this one then. It won’t make any difference anyway.”

  “You mustn’t feel you’re not being properly represented, Hugh. I don’t want any complaints.”

  “I’m not sure what you want from me, but I’ve already said I did it,” Hugh said. “I’m sure you’ll search my belongings. There’s a notebook among my things in the packed suitcase. Gruesome, I know, but the names of the dead are all in there. There are some who’d say noting down my kills is risky, but I’ve always done it, ever since my first victim. Call it a compulsion, name and amount paid, that’s what you’ll find.”

  “You’re confessing? Just like that? No persuasion needed? I’m surprised. I thought you’d fight me all the way. Have you discussed this with your solicitor?”

  “No point,” Hugh said. “I’m guilty and I don’t doubt you’ll have evidence. All you’re short of is my DNA.”

  “True,” Harry said. “Well, we also need the boots you wore when you killed Dean, and those expensive outdoor gloves. We’re keen to match them with a boot print you left in the mud near the boating lake, and the gloves left fibres on Roebuck’s hands.”

  “There’s always something. Forensics are just too damn good these days. No CCTV though, I’m very careful on that front.”

  “You certainly put your all into your work, I’ll give you that. Even took a beating to account for the bruises on your face. Going above and beyond that was.”

  Hugh laughed. “Ah, those lads. I gave them all a tenner and they jumped at the chance of thumping some posh bloke.”

  “Very clever. It worked too.”

  “DNA, you said. Where did you get that from?” Hugh sounded interested but detached, as if he were discussing some everyday problem.

  “You had a fight with Roebuck. He punched your face and chipped a tooth. We found it.”

  “Very good. I still haven’t had that fixed.”

  “Who was paying you?” Harry asked.

  “You know the answer to that, Harry.”

  “I want you to tell me. Say his name for the tape, Hugh.”

  “Ricky Calvert.” Hugh said nothing for a few moments. “You do realise that has just sealed my death warrant? I’ll be dead before the day is up.”

  Harry put that down to Hugh being dramatic and dismissed it. “Unlikely. You’ll be safely locked in a police cell.”

  “Oh, you don’t know Calvert. He’ll find a way.”

  Harry leaned forward in his chair. “Then give me something I can use
against him.”

  “I know very little. I killed for him, that’s all. I wasn’t part of his other activities. I know he imports drugs, from Turkey mainly,” Hugh said. “Once the shipments arrive in port, they’re put in the van that delivers the clean linen for the hotels.”

  Harry already knew that much. Roebuck had been one of those drivers. “D’you have any names?”

  “No. The only names I was interested in were the targets. What else Calvert got up to was none of my business.”

  “Something went wrong,” Harry said. “A delivery went missing and that’s what started this entire series of killings. The two in Scotland, they worked for Calvert. He must have suspected they were involved. He suspected that the girl, Nadia Nasir, had taken the delivery from the hotel and given it to her sister, Lana Midani. Roebuck botched the whole thing, that’s why he had to go.”

  Hugh shrugged. “Calvert doesn’t like mistakes. He cleans up quickly and thoroughly. You should look out for Ms Midani, he’s bound to set the dogs on her, have another go. And then there’s me. There’s no way he’ll let me live. I know too much.”

  Harry stared at him in disbelief. He seemed so cool. Did he feel nothing? “Don’t you regret any of those murders?”

  “Dean,” Hugh said at once. “He was a clever lad and had a future ahead of him. I took that from him, for my own selfish reasons. He even went to see you lot, but foolishly you dismissed it all as some adolescent’s fantasy.”

  “I know,” Harry said. “I’ve got uniform searching for the report. So far no one’s managed to find it.”

  “If you had listened, he might still be alive,” Hugh said.

  “Would you really have killed Thea?” Harry asked.

  “Yes, without a second thought. Watch her, Harry. That girl lies. She wants only what’s best for Thea, and sod everyone else.”

  “You’ll most likely be moved soon,” Harry said. “The Manchester City force are after Calvert and they’ll want to talk to you. Have you ever heard of Operation Songbird? That’s the name of the investigation into Calvert’s activities, and yours.”

  Hugh looked amused. “Songbird is what Calvert calls himself, his username for when he places the ads. He’s taking the piss. He’s a clever man, Harry, a formidable enemy to have. He knows what’s going on. And you know as well as I do that the only way that can happen is if there’s a leak.”

  “Why did you move in next door to Col?”

  “I was told to, Harry. I suspect he’s being set up. Someone close to Calvert is trying to cover his tracks. Like I said, a leak.”

  Chapter Forty-eight

  The solicitor Agnes Wright had requested arrived promptly and asked for some time with her prior to the interview. Harry watched them through the two-way window until he thought he’d given them long enough. He had stills from the video on Dean’s spy camera printed out and ready. Her reaction to them would be interesting. He and a PC joined her and the solicitor in the interview room.

  “I’ll make this short, Agnes, it’s getting late.” He placed a photo on the table. It showed her holding the box containing the heroin. “What was in it?”

  “I can’t remember,” she said. “It’s just a box.”

  “It’s a lot more than that, Agnes. The box contains heroin, packs of the stuff wrapped in clingfilm. I’d like you to tell me what you were doing with it.”

  “That box had old paperwork in it, for the shredder, that’s all,” she said.

  Harry ignored this. “Were you aware that Nadia had helped herself to three of those packs before you entered the room?”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Is that why she was killed?”

  “I suspect so, and right now I don’t hold out much hope for you either. Calvert doesn’t like it when he loses stock.” Her eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere but at him. “What did you do with the rest of the heroin, Agnes? Give it back to Calvert? What did he say when he realised the delivery was short?”

  She glanced at the solicitor, who was writing in a notepad. He was from a large practice in town and expensive, but he wasn’t doing Agnes any favours. He appeared to be totally uninterested.

  “I’m waiting, Agnes. How did you explain it?” Harry said.

  “I lied,” she admitted. “I told him the entire delivery was missing. I knew very well what the Nasir girl had done, I saw her. That stuff is valuable. I asked myself why she should profit and not me. I shoulder a lot of the risk. I knew someone who’d pay me well, so I took a chance.”

  “You let Calvert believe that Nadia had taken the lot? Didn’t you know he would kill her? Didn’t you even warn the girl? Tell her the danger she was in?”

  “I didn’t think Calvert would go that far. I left it a day, thinking things would calm down. But Calvert was like a raging bull. I told the girl to run, that I’d cover for her, but Calvert got to her first. There was nothing I could do.”

  “We both know you’re wrong, Agnes. You could have come to us. If you had, Nadia might still be alive. You know what sort of man Calvert is.”

  “Yes. I’m sorry, I should have at least tried. I’ve worked at the Commodore a long time, so I’ve seen how he operates. He brings drugs into the country, distributes them to his dealers and has whoever crosses him killed.”

  “D’you have any evidence of that, Agnes?” Harry asked.

  “I’ve just told you, haven’t I?”

  “Your statement is useful but we need cast-iron evidence if we’re to send him down. We want Calvert put away for a very long time, so we need more.”

  “He’s secretive, clever,” she said. He could see she was becoming upset. “There’s very few at work who know about that side of his business. I’ve never seen anything in writing, or on his computer. He doesn’t even keep a desk diary.”

  “How do the deliveries get here?” Harry asked.

  “By ship, in a container, and then by road. I know that much. He gets the laundry van to pick up the stuff at a motorway café and truck stop on the M62. Last winter when we had all that snow, it got delayed. He was on the phone to the driver most of the day.”

  “Which driver was that?”

  “Roebuck. He used to do the pick-ups.”

  “D’you know when the next delivery is scheduled?” Harry asked.

  “Friday,” Agnes said. “He’s already told one of the security staff that he’s to take Roebuck’s place. The poor sod thinks he’s collecting new bed linen.”

  Harry would give Weeks this information and let him deal with it. Calvert was his problem after all. “Does Calvert suspect that you had anything to do with the missing consignment, Agnes?”

  “No. If he did, I’d be dead by now. He thinks Nadia took the lot.”

  “What have you done with it?” he asked.

  “It’s hidden at home.”

  “I want you to take time off until we get the proof we need to convict Calvert. First, I want to know exactly where on the M62 this café is and then a plainclothes officer will take you home. You’ll give him the heroin and stay inside until you are contacted by an officer from Manchester.”

  Agnes nodded. She stood up, ready to leave.

  “You do understand, Agnes, don’t you? You must do as I’ve said.”

  “Will you keep watch on my house?” she said.

  “Yes. We’ll make sure you don’t come to any harm. One more thing. What happens to the drugs when they arrive at the Commodore?”

  “Calvert puts the delivery in a huge safe in his office. It’s hidden inside a cupboard. If you didn’t know, you’d never guess it was there.”

  Agnes and her solicitor left the room. She’d just given him their way in. Wait for Friday’s delivery and then search his office. He needed to speak to Weeks.

  Chapter Forty-nine

  Day Nine

  The following morning, Jess was back at her desk. She smiled up at Harry when he arrived. “Miss me?”

  “And some. I didn’t realise you were so useful.”

>   She grinned. “Cheeky sod. I went to see Col last night, didn’t see you there.”

  “I rang him instead. By the time I’d finished here I was knackered. Yesterday was full on and then some.”

  “I’ll let you off then. Anyway, Col’s doing okay and already getting bored. He wants to come back, but that’s out of the question for a while.” She gave Harry a long hard look. “He did ask if you were looking after the flat properly.”

  Harry pulled a face. The truth was, he’d not had a chance to do much tidying up and the place was a mess. “I’ll have it back in shape for when he comes home, never worry.”

  Harry gave her a quick rundown of the previous twenty-four hours. “Weeks is going to watch for the delivery to be picked up on Friday and he’ll follow the vehicle back to the Commodore. He’ll have a search warrant ready and raid the place.”

  “What about our killer, your friend Hugh?”

  “He’s not my friend, and he’s being transferred to Manchester today. Weeks wants to interview him, see if he can add anything to the body of evidence they’ve gathered on Calvert.”

  “You have been busy. I don’t know. I turn my back and you solve the case. You’re just after all the glory, aren’t you?”

  “If there’s any glory going, I suspect it’ll be Weeks and his team that get it. Operation Songbird belongs to them, we’ll simply get a brief mention in a report no one reads.”

  “Not fair, is it? Weeks and his team sat on their arses while you worked yours off and Col got stabbed. Does that mean case over as far as we’re concerned?”

  “Looks like it. We took a killer off the street, Jessie, that’s what matters. We should be pleased with ourselves. Who picks up the credit is secondary to keeping people safe. Speaking of which, I need a word with Hettie.” He picked up the office phone and called the Reid. “Have you done a search of Devereaux’s flat yet?”

  “I’ve got a team on it now.”

  “There’s a notebook, a list of the people he’s killed. You’ll find a metal box in the wardrobe — the key’s hidden in a carton of juice in the fridge. It’s another piece of evidence and it might help with the unsolved cases.”