Blood Bought

by Robin Roughley

  'Like who?'

  Bannister drew his shoulders back, his chin jutting out. 'Me.'

  Lasser was in the process of lifting the plastic cup from the table but it slipped from his hand in shock and spilled all over the scarred surface.

  'Shit!' he spluttered, leaping to his feet and dashing across the room to grab a handful of paper towels from the window ledge.

  Bannister watched him mop up the hot chocolate. 'So, what do you say?'

  Lasser dabbed at the spillage as he tried to fathom out how to answer.

  'I'm not talking abroad but we could have a few days camping in the Lakes or even Scotland.'

  'I don't think so.'

  'Why not?' Bannister asked, the disappointment evident in his voice.

  Gathering the wet tissue, Lasser dumped it into the bin and sat back down. 'You already said it's good to get away from the town and the people you work with.'

  'OK then, if you won't go with me then why not go alone, that way you have a break from the people you work with and meet new ones.'

  Suddenly, Lasser could see what Bannister was trying to pull and he allowed himself a slight smile. 'Perhaps when we've caught Minnie Beddows killer and Clark…'

  'And then there will be another case to solve and you will get stuck into that as well and you will have another excuse not to take some R and R.'

  Lasser thought about denying it but then he gave up and folded his arms.

  'Look, Lasser, I know you think I am being a pain in the arse, but when I tell you to take a break it isn't just me who's asking.'

  'What are you talking about?'

  'Carole Henson feels the same way.'

  'You've been talking about me, is that it?'

  Bannister stretched his legs under the table. 'Henson is on the ball – we both know that – and she makes it her business to monitor the team. She makes sure people get the rest days off if she can. She keeps charts, records of hours worked, and you are top of the sodding list for not taking time off.'

  'I…'

  'Now, she has told me more than once to sort it and yet every time I ask you, you tell me to bugger off and she is starting to think that I can't do my bloody job.'

  'Just tell her I'm fine.'

  Bannister leaned forwards in his chair. 'You think I haven't told her that? For a while it worked but now she's asking me every day to sort it, so for God's sake take a week off and give me a break!'

  Lasser looked at his boss and then tilted his head slightly. 'I'll tell you what, I'll have a word with her and explain that I don't need one. I'll tell her you asked me more than once, so you don't get any flack and…'

  'So, now you intend going behind my back and making me look like a prize fucking tool?'

  Lasser raised an eyebrow. 'She isn't hassling you, is she?'

  Bannister jabbed out a finger 'Suppose you think you're being bloody clever?'

  'I saw through you easy enough.'

  'I'll suspend you!' Bannister growled.

  'On what grounds?'

  'On being a pain in the bastard arse and not taking a hint.'

  Lasser thought for a moment as Bannister fumed. 'OK, once we've found Minnie and Archer's killers I'll take a break, you have my word.'

  'You're forgetting Clark.'

  Lasser shrugged.

  Bannister narrowed his eyes and then nodded. 'Deal.'

  'So, what do you want me to do today?'

  The DCI scratched at his chin. 'Do you have any idea why those bastards killed Archer?'

  Lasser fiddled with the cigarettes in his pocket and then suddenly Bannister was on his feet. 'I'm gasping for a fag, let's head outside.'

  Lasser didn't argue, just followed him out of the station and around the corner of the building in an effort to escape the savage wind. Seconds later, they were both puffing frantically on the cigarettes, the smoke being torn by the wind and dissipating in an instant.

  'We know Archer was on King Street at the same time Minnie Beddows vanished and now he ends up dead,' Bannister said, flicking up the collar of his jacket.

  'I knew Archer for over ten years, and in the past, he was one of the go-to guys if you wanted to know anything.'

  'Did he know you were looking for him?'

  Lasser cupped the cigarette in his hand, his face pinched against the wind. 'I guess one of the working girls could have told him. I had his number stored in my phone and normally he'd answer straight away but this time he just ignored it. I left half a dozen voicemails asking him to contact me, but he never did.'

  'Then you see him alive in the flat?'

  'He was standing by the window, I shouted through the letterbox and then the three dickheads came through the door at the top of the stairs.'

  'Did Archer have many enemies?'

  'Nah, he used to deal a little weed and pills but to be honest I think he'd stopped all that, and besides, he was only dealing to a few mates, so he was never hard core.'

  'Which means he could have known something about what happened to Minnie.'

  Lasser took another pull and nodded in agreement.

  'And whoever took her spotted Archer and knew him and decided to kill the bugger before he could talk,' Bannister said.

  Flicking the cigarette away, Lasser immediately lit another one, leading to Bannister raising an eyebrow.

  'At first, we thought she'd been snatched and murdered by one person, but now we know she was at the woods at some point and then dumped less than a quarter of a mile away from the mattress and shit,' Lasser said lifting a shoulder against the wind.

  Bannister looked at him, he could see the anger burning deep in his eyes.

  'Three people turned up to kill Archer, perhaps they were there when Minnie died,' the DCI suggested.

  Lasser latched onto the words… and suddenly it made sense. Archer must have seen someone on the street, someone who had put the fear of God into him as they took Minnie Beddows away.

  After watching the CCTV footage on King Street, and seeing Archer on the corner, Lasser had tried to find him but to no avail. That had been the reason the Bunting brothers had been raided but even they had no idea where he had been hiding.

  In the end Randal Archer had been forced back to his high-rise home, and now it seemed obvious that his flat was being watched, ending with him dead and his brains smeared over the top of the metal bin, his blood dripping to the rubbish-strewn floor.

  'We need to get up to the hospital and have a word with the guy who came at you with the bat,' Bannister said as he dropped the stump to the floor and stamped on it.

  'Do you want me to come with you?'

  'No, you chase up Clark, we need to find out what the hell he was doing in those woods and if there was anything dodgy going on at that gym he went to.'

  'Will do.'

  'And lend me a couple of cigarettes, I've run out.'

  Pulling out the pack Lasser checked inside before handing them over. 'I've got another twenty in the car,' he explained as Bannister pocketed the pack.

  Half a minute later, they were in their respective cars, Bannister driving away with another cigarette clamped between his teeth.

  28

  Odette could feel the despair in the room, Minnie Beddows's parents sat side by side on the sofa, their eyes haunted as Odette explained about their daughter's shoe being found in the woods.

  Sally Wright stood by the door, hands folded in front, her face solemn.

  'Are you saying there was more than one bastard involved in my daughter's murder?' Frank Beddows asked, his lips trembling with emotion, his hands gripping his knees.

  'To be honest, Mr Beddows, at this present time we are not entirely sure but it's a possibility that we are looking into.'

  Deborah Beddows closed her eyes, the tears running down her cheeks.

  Her husband's face grew red with fury. 'Have you found the bastard who dragged her into that car yet?' he demanded.

  'Not yet, though I can assure you we are doing all we can to trac
e the vehicle.'

  'But King Street is always busy, someone must have seen him drag her into the bloody car!' his voice went up a notch.

  Odette didn't point out that Minnie had more than likely got into the vehicle of her own free will.

  'And now you're telling me that she was taken to these woods and passed around like some common whore!'

  Deborah Beddows started to shake in distress as her mind conjured images of her precious daughter trapped in darkened woodland with faceless men, all fighting like rabid animals to get to her.

  'I know this is extremely difficult, but I wanted to make sure you knew about the developments, and I promise you we will continue to investigate until we find those responsible for your daughter's death.'

  Frank looked at her, his fury rising with every second. 'If I ever find out who they are then I promise you I will kill each and every one of the bastards,' he snarled.

  Odette rose to her feet. 'We'll be in touch,' she replied as she left the room with Sally on her heels.

  Once outside, they walked down the drive to their respective cars, the wind tugging at their hair.

  Beeping off the alarm on the Audi, Odette opened the door before turning to Sally. 'You've spent time with the parents, have they let anything slip about Minnie?'

  Sally shook her head. 'Nothing. If she was taking money for sex, then they knew nothing about it.'

  Odette nodded, her face thoughtful. 'Hardly surprising I guess.'

  'I've asked about old boyfriends, but according to the parents apart from the father of the children – who did a runner to Spain – she only ever had one proper boyfriend and his alibi checks out.'

  Odette looked back towards the house and pictured Minnie Beddows, a young mother, walking up the garden path with her two children in tow going to pay their grandparents a visit.

  'We still have no concrete evidence that she was a prostitute,' Sally said as the wind gusted along a street made up of neat bungalows.

  Odette looked at her and nodded, when they had searched Minnie's home they had found a stash of cash hidden in an underwear drawer. It had been a neighbour who had planted the seed that Minnie had been taking money for sex.

  The woman had pulled a face, claiming she had seen Minnie in the town centre on more than one occasion hanging around on street corners and once she claimed to have seen her getting into a car. According to the neighbour half an hour later the same car had pulled up again and Minnie had climbed out and walked away.

  'Do we know any more about the woods where she died?' Sally asked.

  'We're still waiting for SOCO to report in, but it's obvious it had been used a lot and that Minnie had been there.'

  'Do you think the three men who attacked Sergeant Lasser were involved in some way?'

  Odette found herself nodding, she had been thinking about it on her way across town and she had come to the conclusion that the men who killed Archer and attacked Lasser had to have been involved.

  'I do, and thankfully Lasser managed to apprehend one and…'

  'I heard he smashed his knee to pieces with a baseball bat.'

  'News travels fast in the police canteen.'

  'Steve Black said DCI Bannister was furious…'

  'Black is the biggest gossip on the force,' Odette interrupted.

  Sally blushed slightly and nodded.

  'The main thing is Sergeant Lasser survived the attack, and as far as I'm concerned whatever it took to walk away from there is fine by me,' Odette finished before climbing into the car.

  Sally Wright raised a hand to Odette as she drove away, her face still flushed with embarrassment.

  29

  Lasser pulled onto the car park of Thorpe's gym just as his phone started to ring.

  Parking up, he pulled it from his pocket, checking the number before tapping at the screen.

  'Morning, Rog,' he said.

  'I'm just letting you know the latest on Edward Clark's computer.'

  'Nice one, what did you find?'

  'Well, he didn't bother deleting his search history or temp files that's for sure. Plus, I checked his cookies to see what sites he's been on.'

  Lasser looked at the gym, he could see a couple of big guys lifting weights, another posed in front of a full-length mirror. 'Go on, I'm listening?'

  'He spent a lot of time on a couple of chase sites.'

  '''Chase sites''?' Lasser asked in confusion.

  'Yeah, it was a new one on me as well, but there are sites out there for people who like to be chased and those who like to do the chasing.'

  'Why?'

  'Well, I've looked on some forums and there are various reasons. For some, it's a matter of pitting their skills against another individual. For others, it's the fear factor that they crave.'

  'Are we talking men chasing other men?'

  'I thought it would be like that but there were a few women on this forum who wanted to be chased. They talked about feeling the terror as if it was some kind of thrill.'

  'There's a sexual element behind it then?'

  'In some cases, definitely. I followed a few threads and when it got close to the bone they tended to come to an abrupt halt.'

  'Which means they either got scared or started to talk to one another away from the forum,' Lasser suggested.

  'Yes, well, if I had to guess then I'd say that in most cases they contacted one another privately.'

  'To arrange a meet?'

  'Possibly.'

  'And what about Clark?'

  'He was on one of the threads speaking to someone named Killjoy, then the thread simply stopped.'

  'Are you sure it was a woman he was talking to?'

  'Well, she referred to herself as 'she' but then the thread ended. I'm looking for other leads but nothing so far.'

  'Right, keep at it and let me know what you find out.'

  'Will do.'

  The screen flashed and Lasser slipped the phone into his pocket before pushing the door open. Dropping the cigarette stump to the floor he climbed out and headed for the gym.

  The same man from the previous day was on reception and he glared at Lasser as he approached.

  'Where's Thorpe…?'

  'Jesus, he only came in about ten minutes ago, I was on the shitter when he arrived.'

  'So, give him a shout, I want a word.'

  The man's scowl deepened as he walked around the counter and vanished through a set of doors on the right.

  Lasser studied the pictures on the wall of the reception area, most contained men who looked ready to explode, some had bikini-clad women fawning over them. Most of the posters were advertising supplements to help you look like a freak of nature.

  When the door opened, Lasser turned and looked in surprise at the man who approached him, he had been expecting a giant with bulging muscles and a bull neck.

  'I'm John Thorpe,' he said with a smile as he thrust out a hand.

  Lasser shook it before studying the man in front of him. Thorpe was average height, average build with a mop of brown hair, he looked to be in his early thirties, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, trainers on his feet, his skin looked tanned but not the sort you would get from a bottle or sunbed.

  'You thought I'd look like one of those guys,' Thorpe said, the smile widening as he nodded towards the posters on the wall.

  'To be honest, yes,' Lasser admitted.

  'Mug's game,' the boss of the gym whispered. 'Now, what can I do for you?'

  'Do you have somewhere we could talk?'

  'Of course, follow me.'

  Lasser trailed Thorpe through a door on the right into a small office, the room devoid of anything personal, no plants, no photos, no pictures on the wall, just two chairs, a desk with computer on top and a filing cabinet against the left-hand wall.

  Thorpe sat down and beckoned for Lasser to take the only other chair in the room.

  'I take it this is about Edward Clark?' he asked as he folded his arms and eased back in the chair.

  'You
've heard then?'

  'Saw it in on the news when I got back from my hols. Is it true he was found in the woods at Haigh Hall?'

  'It is.'

  Thorpe shook his head, his face thoughtful. 'Stabbed?'

  'Clark attended your gym, right?'

  Thorpe cleared his throat and nodded. 'He did.'

  'Can you tell me what he was like?'

  For a couple of seconds, the gym owner looked confused by the question and then he shrugged. 'To be honest, no. I mean, the truth is I'm not here that often, I have another gym over in Bolton, this place kind of runs itself, so I stay away most of the time.'

  'How come you got into this business, you hardly look the type?'

  'Oh, it was my old man who started this place, he was the body builder not me.'

  'And where is he now?'

  'He died five years ago, heart attack when he was out jogging.'

  Lasser glanced out of the window as the first smattering of rain hit the glass.

  'During the autopsy on Clark we found various steroids in his system. Do you have any idea where he could have obtained them?'

  'Sorry, no idea. We sell certain supplements, but they are all the legal over-the-counter sort.'

  'But you know that some of the people who train here are using drugs to enhance their bodies?'

  Thorpe pursed his lips, his arms still folded. 'The body-building world is full of determined people. It isn't simply about keeping fit, it's about building their bodies into what they perceive as perfection.'

  'And they use steroids to achieve that?'

  'In some cases, they do, but they don't buy them here that's for sure.'

  'You don't monitor them in any way?'

  Thorpe smiled and shook his head. 'All the people who use this gym are adults, we provide the equipment for them to train with but that's all. Besides, steroids are all freely available on the internet. If you go back twenty years then most gyms would have known where to get them, but these days a few clicks of the mouse and you can get whatever you need.'

  'Everybody's using them, is that what you're saying?' Lasser asked as he watched Thorpe closely.

  'As I said, they are adults and what they do is up to them.'

  Lasser felt the first stirring of annoyance inside as Thorpe flashed the smile at him again.