“Stephanie Sir, Stephanie Baker.”
“Yes of course, and her rank?”
“Detective Sergeant, she was recently promoted.”
“Good, show her in and then I will proceed to the next person of the same rank who is on the case.”
“Is there a point to starting with the rank of D.S. Sir?”
“I thought I had explained that already.”
“What I meant was that we do have two other Detective Constables doing more than their share of the legwork. You know, phone calls, doorstep interviews to allow D.S. Baker to optimise her analyses.” Renton wanted to delay the interview with Stephanie until Gibson had arrived, as he would be next. He also wanted to brief them on what this was all about now that he knew of Cousins exclusion from the interrogation of the Newcastle staff.
The two late arrivals wanted to ask questions but there was no time for that. Renton told them to stick to the script of evidence, even though that was still scant. They congregated at Adams’ desk just as Bradstock waved at the Boss to join Stephanie in his office.
“Well, we have covered a lot of ground and D.S. Baker tells me that Frank has gone completely silent since his declaration that there would be no more killings. Thank you Stephanie, that will be all for now.” When she had left the office Renton offered further clarification about Frank.
“He did say he’d not claim any more victims, but it was put across with the caveat that we respected the genuine posts that he was to make, differentiating them from internet trolls and copycats. He also said he wasn’t going to contact me by phone anymore, but that has just changed. He rang yesterday to ask for help in finding one of the people he has treated – the one who helped us find the toe in the woods after delivering the finger. This chap has disappeared from the Mission where he lived and I’m worried for two reasons.”
“I am all ears.”
“The man, who Frank refers to only as Friend, is in a fragile mental state and if anything nasty befalls him we will lose a valuable conduit to Frank’s agenda. Secondly, I’m concerned that if he broke his silence to ask for my help, he may react badly to any harm which this Friend suffers. That’s why we can’t rely on the victims staying at five. He considers Friend to be a victim of some kind already. We need to tread carefully.”
“I see. Mmm, very well, please ask D.S. Gibson to join me.”
*
D.C.I. Gilbert had made a potential breakthrough with Kennedy. When confronted with the dilemma of returning to Salford and another visit from the police to question the management over Hendricks’ murder, he began to bargain. Gilbert indicated that he would have to agree to being a witness if required, as well as furnishing information about the names on the list. The promise of witness protection and future anonymity appealed more than being thrown back into the piranha pool, and time was important. He wanted to gauge Gilbert’s intent by talking about only one on the list, claiming he didn’t know the others.
“Sol Greenwood is a contract man. I don’t know him personally, only through this man, Howard Freeman, who is on your list. I was told he only works outside the ring on a fee basis. When Hendricks got my name from a fixer in London, he came to see me. I’d never seen him in my life before that, but Howard Freeman had always been a reliable source. Freeman had been approached by one of his lenders on behalf of Hendricks, who had been refused credit everywhere, and had resorted to the perils of the street sharks. He needed a seven figure sum upfront, and in cash, to get the drug boys off his sister’s back. She’d not delivered on a sell to a few gangs. When this was checked out by the Baron in London he was convinced of her scam, but she’d moved house and they couldn’t find her at first. Hendricks was referred to me by Freeman because there was the potential of a juicy cut for providing money from outside the Capital. I recommended it to the management in Salford and they agreed after checking that Hendricks had a strong business, and therefore the ability to pay this loan back at a very lucrative interest rate, it was only a short term cash-flow bind he needed help with. It didn’t turn out like that. Hendricks’ sister had been tortured by the drug dealers, and one of the things she coughed up was the promise to get the money from her brother to settle the debt. They didn’t believe he would prejudice his business for her, as she was by now totally addicted to heroin. Hendricks was told by them that they wanted a share of the business for a knockdown price, so they would lever their debt out of him as equity. It was simple and had the benefit of being a legitimate earner. When he refused they had his sister clipped. He caved in to their demands and this was his biggest mistake. Shortly after the share transfer went through, Greenwood was ordered to seal off the exposure by setting up Hendricks’ elimination. Greenwood had spotted visitors coming to see Hendricks, who had virtually become a recluse. He confessed to Greenwood that one of them was from the London police, and this caused Sol to back off for a while. When this was followed by one of the officers from the Newcastle squad, he was told to act quickly, hence the ‘suicide’ arrangement. That went wrong because someone tried to get into the house, and must have set off the alarm. Sol had apparently already concussed Hendricks, and had to act fast. He couldn’t just leave the car engine running and hope he didn’t wake up. He always carried handcuffs and decided to fasten him to the wheel and tie his feet. He said he was about to leave through the rear garage door when he heard the alarm being disabled, and a voice shouting for Hendricks. He had to turn off the engine and get the hell out of there. It was only when he read the papers that he found out that the neighbour had a key, and had been told Hendricks was away on business. I thought this was quite funny at the time when Freeman told me about Sol’s panic-stricken exit, but the management in Salford were really pissed that I’d almost put them on a collision course with these drug people. They were also very unhappy that I’d recommended a loan which Hendricks didn’t take out. They gave me a warning about my future. I am not talking about a blot on my employment record, more of a promise to move me on to the afterlife. Now I can’t go back there.”
“Well that’s a very interesting story Carl, but there’s something troubling me. Why would Hendricks have the alarm set when he was in the house himself, or with this assassin?”
“I can only imagine it was because he wanted to remain reclusive, even to his neighbours, by pretending to be away.”
“Yes, but if he let Greenwood in, he would have set it off by doing so wouldn’t he?”
“Maybe he disarmed it when Sol rang the bell.”
“Ok, so who reset it then?”
“I see what you mean. That is strange.”
“I’m afraid I will have to figure that out before I can rely on your disclosure.”
“Christ, how long will that take?”
“As long as it takes I guess.”
*
Friend had informed Man of his wish to help the police. It did not go down too well. The disagreement reached the ears of the Mission manager, who tried to placate them. Man told him not to interfere. When the manager persisted Man punched him and then hit him across the side of the head with his walking cane. The brass head produced a serious gash and as he fell to the floor Friend struck Man with an almighty right hook to the chin which knocked him out cold. The staff couldn’t revive the manager and called an ambulance. Man eventually staggered to his feet to be told the police were on their way. He tried to make a sharp exit but was collared by the vice-like grip of Friend. When the ambulance crew arrived even they could not revive the manager, and he was whisked away to A&E. The police took Man, Friend and a couple of the staff who had seen the entire incident, back to the station for questioning. Renton was quizzing Stephanie in the canteen about her session with Bradstock when the desk informed him of the melee at the Mission. “Shit, that’s all I need right now. You haven’t told me yet, right? Come on Steph let’s get back to the office.”
Chapter 15
Bradstock didn’t know what to make of Sam Gibson. He wasn’t accustomed to one w
ord answers to questions which were designed to loosen the tongue. The interview only lasted a few minutes. He then called for Adams, and began with an invitation to explain the jaunt he had heard of from Sam.
“He seemed reluctant to elaborate on this trip to London, perhaps you’d oblige. On the face of it, without any background context, it appears to be a rather desperate action to connect a third party to a person who may be one of the victims. I would like to share your zeal, proceed.”
Adams was acutely aware that he needed to avoid any suspicion of entering Hendricks’ house illegally. “Sam had second thoughts about the guy’s veracity after I’d popped a few theories at Hendricks about his sister’s disappearance. I went to check him out again and his account fell apart.” Just as he was about to get to the more tenuous visit to the casino in Salford, without knowing whether Sam had disclosed it, Renton interrupted their chat.
“Ben there’s a D.C.I. Gilbert on the line for you. He says it is extremely urgent.” Adams picked up the phone and listened to the whole story without saying a word. This annoyed Bradstock immensely. When the call ended Adams resumed without revealing his delight.
“That was the officer investigating the murder of Hendricks, Sir. He has acted on the suspect Sam and I delivered to him from Salford. Apparently this has led to information which has allowed D.C.I. Gilbert to make an arrest. I still have confidence that this killing is linked to the headless Frankenstein victim, Martha Blake. It’s good to be able to cooperate with other forces while respecting jurisdiction.”
Bradstock was impressed, and this became a pivotal moment in his inquisition. He thanked Adams and asked him to send his Boss into the office. Renton had always known that there was a high probability of a sting in the tail of this visit, and he now felt unusually vulnerable with the thin evidence they had collected. He braced himself.
“I congratulate you and your team for your thoroughness in the way you are handling a very difficult case. However, I have to tell you that I am relieving Bernard Cousins of responsibility for Frankenstein, so he can concentrate on this wretched severed arm which was found in Sunderland. I want it sorted without delay. Now, back to Newcastle, the only thing which disturbs me from what I’ve heard today is your focus. I never thought I would hear myself saying this but I believe in this case you are too focussed. You need to spread your approach. I am of the opinion that you should not have let Eva Roberts go, and that is the first thing you should correct. Now that I’m taking over from Cousins for the present, I will help you to widen our targeting of resource.”
“That’s great Sir. I’ll let the team know. It should lift morale. Do you need more detail from me?”
“Yes, but not now Jack. I’ll go to my hotel and check on how the American is doing with the Intranet. We can resume first thing tomorrow. However you can disclose Cousins’ temporary remit to your team, he is actually informing the Sunderland staff right now”
After Bradstock’s taxi had left the station, Renton wearily called the others to join him. They were eager to hear what he had to say.
“Our illustrious leader has decided to take over this case from Cousins, who will now lead the Sunderland investigation. It gets worse; Bradstock will be in ‘hands on’ mode. You know, I detest this man, I shouldn’t be saying this to you but he plays snooker with people’s careers. Bernard Cousins has done nothing wrong, and I was expecting even more changes until after you’d spoken to him Ben. What the hell did you tell him?”
“I’ve just been telling Sam and Steph. The London force has arrested Carl Kennedy, the guy we took out of the casino. D.C.I. Gilbert is going to help us with any evidence which links that case to Martha Blake. If we can pull that off, we will have two victims identified. He is also trying to find the son of Martha, so we can definitely rule him out as a third victim. If Sam can resume looking for the others we may find the connection between all five. And it’s crucial that we protect this information, as you have said, it’s the only aspect in which we’re ahead of Frank – his ignorance of our progress.”
“Ok, I agree, get on with it. Steph, I want you to come with me to see the brawlers from the Mission, and we need to check on the status of the manager, he seems to be in a bad way.”
*
The noise coming from one of the cells was reminiscent of a howling wolf. Renton feared the worst, but it wasn’t Friend. Armed with the statements of the two witnesses from the Mission, they entered the cell containing the wailing Man. He was writhing around on the floor while holding his head in both hands. There was a uniformed officer standing at the door. Renton asked if the prisoner had been seen by a doctor. A shrug of the shoulders produced an angry reaction.
“Well then, get the bloody medical man down here now.”
“Yes Sir, I was told he was mentally disturbed, and just to keep an eye on him to prevent him hurting himself.”
“Just get the doctor Son.”
Bending over Man, Renton could see a heavy swelling below one of his ears. He turned to Stephanie. “I’m no expert, but I’ve seen something like this before. Boxers often suffer broken jaws, and that swelling looks ominously like his lower jaw is unhinged. It must be driving him nuts.” Stephanie shuddered and looked away as the doctor began his examination. He confirmed Renton’s diagnosis and insisted he was taken to hospital for the correction procedure.
They switched their attention to Friend. He was apologetic about striking Man but had been worried for the safety of the manager. This tied up with the account of the Mission witnesses. Renton wanted to assure him that he wasn’t in serious trouble.
“Yes, we understand the manager was trying to stop Man from trying to bully you into going with him. Do you know where he wanted you to go?”
“No, I just told him I wanted to stay at the Mission.”
“Why do you think he got so angry?”
“I said I didn’t want to see him again. He said that was not possible.”
“Do you think he was asked to bring you to see Best Friend?”
“I am not allowed to see Best Friend anymore.”
“I’ve not spoken with Best Friend since you ran away from the house, but I know he’ll be worried about you. I think he’d like to see you to make sure you’re ok. If he calls me again would you like me to ask him about this?”
“Yes. I miss him.” Stephanie sat beside him and asked how long it was since he first met Best Friend. “I can’t remember; he took me from the hospital.”
“Do you remember which hospital?”
“No, I was kept in my room.”
“Was this a bad time for you?”
“Yes, that is why Best Friend helped me. It took a long time but I don’t know how long.” He was beginning to show signs of stress so they backed off. Renton asked if he would like some chocolate and the smile returned. They left to go to the hospital, but the visit was in vain. Upon arrival they were told that the manager had died – a blood clot in his brain. Both Stephanie and Renton were saddened, yet used to being told of unnecessary deaths.
“Jesus Steph, this means that we have to arrest Man, which hospital did they take him to?”
“I don’t know. I’ll phone Adams at the station and get him to check with the doctor.” It took a while for him to reply.
“He was sent to the R.V.I. - Aren’t you there already?” She said they were and thanked him. When they checked with admissions they were given his ward number. He wasn’t there and hadn’t officially discharged himself.
“Just sod’s law isn’t it? He probably walked out as we came in. Ring uniform Steph and get them on to this pronto, I’m going to see the doctor who examined him.” The doctor was just as surprised as Renton.
“He won’t get very far. I gave him a lot of morphine because of the pain he was in, after I reset his jawbone. There’s also a crack on the same side in his cheekbone, which we will have to look at again when the swelling subsides a little. Perhaps we should search the hospital and the grounds because the d
osage of morphine was intended to put him to sleep; I had to give him enough to knock out a horse.”
The uniformed officers were diverted to the hospital grounds while Renton and Stephanie helped in checking out the hospital interior. They found him in another ward and deduced he must have gone to the toilet and lost his way. The staff nurses were a little embarrassed but not as much as the police would have been if he had evaporated from right under their noses. A relay team of officers was posted to his bed until he could be discharged into police care once more. Man had slept through most of this charade and had no idea that upon waking he would be charged with the killing of the manager of the Mission.
*
It was highly unusual for Adams to be so belligerent. Renton knew that he was right but had one eye on Bradstock’s unpredictability. Adams wouldn’t budge.
“Listen Boss, I’m delighted with the help from London, but there’s still something not right. Why would Carl Kennedy offer up two big hitters of the drugs ring from the Colony in the Capital to escape his employers in Salford? I’ve spoken to Gilbert again and he agrees that these casino people are not equipped to handle a face-off with the organisation controlling the names Kennedy gave him. It smells of a fit-up. This neighbour bothers me as well – he was too keen to leave Hendricks’ house and let me look around, just to make coffee. He could’ve boiled Hendricks’ kettle without leaving me. It also gave me a chance to discover the body in the garage. Finally, if he was busy knocking off the alarm system, how did he not hear this Sol Greenwood switch off the car engine? And the story of him having the instant idea of handcuffing him to the wheel, then tying his feet is just bullshit. We’re being steered to where somebody wants us to go. If it’s so important for them to do this, it’s even more important that we don’t fall for it. Kennedy doesn’t need witness protection; he’s part of the plan. It’ll look worse for us if we don’t cover this move.”
“This is a big call Ben. I can see your reasoning, but Nige operates from the principle that his own survival comes before anything else. Sam is already following up missing persons, and with you gone, I’m going to have difficulty in coping with Bradstock’s fountain of wisdom on what the priorities are. Can’t you do what you have to do with Gilbert by phone?”