“On his own?” Greco doubted this. From what he’d read and understood, Shaw had been very much a local villain, Vinny Costello’s man in this area. If Vinny was no longer up to it, then Horton would know who had the real power.
“There may have been an organisation behind Shaw, I don’t know. We never talked about it.”
He was lying. Horton knew very well who was behind it. “I think you do. We know that Vinny Costello is ill. There have been changes. Who runs things now?”
“I’m a surgeon, not a hoodlum. I leave such details to others.”
More lies. “How did the operation work?”
“It was beautifully simple. The boys are brought to me. I run tests. If the boys are suitable, they are brought here later for surgery. In the main they are none the worse for it. A few weeks’ recuperation and they are as good as new. The benefit to others in need is immeasurable. People are given a second chance at life.” He paused. “I don’t regret what I’ve done. I made money, yes, but that was not the prime motive. I’m a doctor. I am here to save lives.”
A uniformed officer was fastening the cuffs.
Grace nudged Greco. “He’s bloody mad!” she whispered. “He thinks he can rationalise it away. Wait until he comes up against a jury!”
“Were you involved in bringing the boys into the country?”
“No, that was down to others.”
“Who, Doctor Horton?”
“Like I’ve already told you, I never knew the details.” He smiled.
Horton and Rashid were both taken away. Greco believed that Rashid hadn’t take part in it, but he had admitted that he suspected what was happening. It was up to the CPS now.
They watched them leave, and Grace turned to Greco. “So, apart from the surgery, what part did Horton play in it all? Did he order the boys killed when they escaped? Or was that Shaw taking matters into his own hands? And where does Todoran fit in? I can see how Horton would need someone like him, but to go out there and find him,” she shook her head, “He doesn’t move in those circles.”
“But he does,” Greco reminded her. “Sadie Costello — remember?”
Chapter 26
Once the operation at the factory was over, Leah dropped Speedy back at the station and made for the Grapes pub. She needed to know what Rouse wanted from Roman.
She was in no mood to play games. She’d had a quick phone conversation with Greco which made her think. The DCI didn’t think Horton was behind bringing the lads into the country. Neither did he think Horton had given the order to kill Jamal and the other young man. So who had? Now that Horton and Rashid were under lock and key, there was no one left. No one that they knew about.
Leah strode into the Grapes. Ignoring the whistles and comments, she sat down by the window. Within minutes, Roman appeared from an adjoining room.
He smiled at her. “Back again, doll. What is it now?”
“Tony Rouse came to see you. Why? What did he want?”
He sat down beside her. “My conversations with the other people I feed information to are confidential. If I tell you, and you act on it, Rouse will know it was me.”
“Cut the crap, Roman. We are close to the end of this now, but there are still bits of the puzzle missing. We know about the boys, and the slave labour. Immigration are on the job and they will put a stop to it. We know about the doctor and what he was up to.” She looked straight at him. “But that’s not enough. We have to find out who is at the back of this.”
He gave her a big smile. “The good doctor. Stands to reason. He had the most to gain.”
“He is interested in making money and saving lives. Greco thinks he’s close to losing his mind. So no, Roman, it isn’t him. He doesn’t have the clout.”
“In that case, you have a problem, doll. Have you considered Slicer for the role of top dog?”
“He’s dead, as well you know.” She paused. “Costello — what’s he up to?”
“Vinny is ill,” Roman reminded her.
“Seriously ill is what we’ve heard. But what exactly is his problem?”
Roman seemed reluctant to say. “It’s not common knowledge, for obvious reasons. Folk find out that Vinny’s not up to it and we’ll have an all-out war. There are plenty of villains out there, eager to snatch the crown. He had a heart attack a few weeks ago. The hospital attempted bypass surgery but when they got in there, the attack had done too much damage — valves and the like. At his age, the best option was to stitch him back together and do nothing.”
“So his time is limited?”
“Very much so.”
“Who will he hand over to?”
Roman took a swig of his beer. He made out he was thinking about it, but Leah was sure he knew more than he was saying.
“The changeover has already happened, weeks ago. New people are gradually being put in place. Things are set to be run very different. When the time is right, others will be told.”
“This new boss — tough, is he?”
“Runs things with an iron fist. Hired new people, operating scams that would shame the devil.”
The words hung in the air between them. Leah was thinking hard, trying to make sense of what Roman had just said.
“You could have told me this in the first place, Roman. It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”
“I have to be careful. A matter of survival,” he reminded her.
Leah could only imagine the fine line Roman walked. The villains trusted him for now. But if they ever got the slightest inkling that he’d double-crossed them . . .
“Rouse found out about the changeover?”
“He guessed. The fool started to blab. Vinny didn’t like it, neither did the new boss.”
“So Costello is fine with the new setup. He’s happy for someone new to take over?”
“Not happy, but he has no choice. All these years of being top dog, and now he is forced to hand over power to another. But that doesn’t stop him having input. He wants a gradual handing over. He does not want all-out war on the streets as every scally that’s ever fancied his chances has a go.”
“Who is it, Roman?” she asked firmly. “His opener was the smuggling of vulnerable young men from the Calais camp. We can’t let him get away with it.”
Roman smiled again. “Do you have proof? I doubt it. This one is careful. Never gets dirty hands. Learned off the master.”
“So you won’t help?”
“You need to think harder, doll. Like I said, Rouse worked it out, and he’s not that bright. That’s what got him into so much trouble. He found out about the lads and that clinic, but he didn’t stop digging. Nearly dug himself into an early grave. The power might be vested in a different pair of hands, but that is not for general consumption — not yet anyway.”
“Stop arsing me about, Roman. I need a name.”
“You’ve heard the one about the apple not falling far from the tree?”
* * *
“Sadie Costello!” Grace repeated. “She is behind all this?”
“According to my informant — not that he admitted it in so many words,” Leah replied. “But he gave me a damn good clue, and I have no reason to doubt him. If you think about it, she is in the perfect position to take over from her father. Vinny is ill, but to maintain order he wanted this kept quiet until he’d spoken to certain key people. Slicer Shaw for one. God knows who else. Rouse found out. Got too close to the whole operation — the boys, the killings and the sale of organs. Which is why they wanted him dead.”
“Do we know where Rouse is now?” asked Greco.
“Roman reckons he’ll lay low for a while longer. Eventually news of Costello’s fall from power will be common knowledge, and he’ll be able to show his face again.”
“Did Rouse have any evidence on Sadie?”
“No. He worked it out, but said things to the wrong people. Slicer Shaw, for one.”
Greco was angry. “I want everything we have going over again. All the statements, al
l the CCTV footage. We need something, anything that will incriminate Sadie Costello.”
Leah shook her head. “Bet we don’t find anything. She is like her father — gets others to dirty their hands.”
“Horton must know. He and Sadie were close. I wonder if he will talk to us?” Greco said.
“If he does, then he’s dead. Even behind bars he’ll not be safe. He must know this, he’s not daft. So I doubt it.” Leah was firm.
“No chance of her trying to get him off?”
“I don’t think so, sir. All that affection at the club was probably a performance. All Sadie was really interested in was his skill as a surgeon.”
“Todoran?”
Joel Hough spoke up. “We have had the results back, sir. The blood found by the doors was a match. That puts him at the scene. The blood and tissue on the hammer did belong to Dent. The blade found on Dent had DNA that matches the two dead boys. And still no sign of Dent’s mobile phone.”
That resolved the murder of Jamal and the unknown boy. “In that case, we need to find Todoran. We’ve alerted the ports? Dover especially.”
Joel nodded. “We’ve had an update on his vehicle, sir. Todoran’s lorry was found abandoned at a service station on the M20. A number of refugees were hidden on board.”
“Any clue where Todoran might have gone?”
“Not yet, sir.”
Greco walked over to the incident board. The team sat at their desks completing their reports. It wasn’t the outcome he’d wanted. Granted they had Horton. But now that he knew about the bigger picture, he wanted Sadie Costello behind bars. He stared at the board. How likely was that? There was nothing there that would help. She may have orchestrated the operation, but unless Horton talked, they didn’t have a scrap of evidence against her.
Epilogue
6 weeks later
“Stephen!” It was Superintendent Gordon McCabe, shouting down the corridor.
“Immigration have finally finished processing those lads from the factory your people raided. Very few spoke English so it was a thankless task, and no help with regard to the case. Hussain reckons he dealt only with Ray Shaw. Maintains he’s no idea who was behind the operation.” He shook his head. “God knows how many more such places there are on our patch. But at least it’ll be a hefty prison sentence for Hussain.”
“Todoran was picked up in France yesterday,” Greco told him. “They found a number of mobile phones on him, one of them belonging to Michael Dent. It seems it was Dent that sent Rouse the message. He must have found his number in Crompton’s notebook. Todoran is willing to do a deal. He knows nothing about the organisation of the operation. He only ever spoke to Shaw, and once to Horton. But he is willing to tell us who his friends are at Border Control. The ones who, for a fee, turn a blind eye.”
McCabe shrugged. “It can’t be much of a deal. He’s going down for killing Dent. And the big one? Sadie Costello?”
“Nothing, sir. Horton refuses to say anything against her. A major disappointment.”
Greco carried on towards the incident room, where Leah had just put the phone down.
“The case against Horton is sound. He’ll go down for a good few years. There’s not enough to charge Rashid, though. He might have known stuff but there is no evidence to prove it. Horton certainly hasn’t dropped him in it. He still maintains Sadie knew nothing.”
“He’s lying. But Sadie Costello isn’t going away, and neither is the rest of the operation. We took out only a small part of what is going on nationwide. We have to hope that she drops her guard in the future,” Greco said.
“Not good though, is it, sir?” Speedy piped up. “Bloody irritating, if you ask me. A scam like that, and she walks.”
Greco smiled at his sergeant. “At least we have put a stop to it on our patch.”
* * *
“Can I have a word?” Grace had arrived late that morning and had said little. “We can get a coffee from the canteen.”
What now? Grace’s ‘private words’ always bugged Greco. The Brighton incident hadn’t been forgotten but she’d not been on about it as much lately. He was hopeful that in time she would let it drop. That way he wouldn’t have to make a decision about her one way or the other.
“I’ll get them. You sit over there.” She nodded to a table at the far end of the room.
Greco checked his phone while he waited. It was the half-term holidays and Pat had taken Matilda to see Suzy’s parents in Norfolk. She was sending him regular updates and photos. Looking through them, he could see that his daughter was having a great time.
Grace put down his coffee.
“Orange juice? Not like you.”
Grace shook her head. “Gone off coffee. And tea.”
“Health kick?”
“No, Stephen, it’s nothing that simple.”
There was something about her tone, edgy, uncomfortable. He met her gaze for an instant. She looked down.
“There is never going to be a right time to say this, so I’ll just come out with it.” Grace took a deep breath.
“I’m pregnant, Stephen — with your child.”
THE END
Book 4:
DARK ANGEL
A gripping crime thriller full of twists
Helen H. Durrant
For my brother Christopher, his lovely wife Susan, and my nephew Tom.
Prologue
Five months ago
Megan Farley hated music festivals. They were Leon’s thing, not hers. She’d only come to this one because Leon promised to respray her car if she did. It was a mistake. The noise, the constant shrieking, even the music were all doing her head in. It never stopped, making sleep impossible. It had been three days without sleep, proper washing facilities or decent food.
They were in the depths of the beautiful Cheshire countryside, but the view was nothing but a sea of tents. The ground underfoot was a quagmire. It had rained hard since day one, so all the grass had been trampled to nothing.
She’d had enough. It was time to go. Leon would be angry. He’d keep on about how she was no fun, and tell her they were through. But Megan knew that once they were home, back into the routine of university life, he’d come round.
Leon and the others were off getting more booze. Giving one last backwards glance at the mayhem going on all around, Megan put the rucksack on her back and made for the field where her car was parked. It was quite a walk and the sun had gone down. She’d text Leon later. For now, it would take all her concentration to find her car in the dark.
Megan had gone no distance when she heard him calling her.
“Meggy? What’s happened? Where are you off to?”
She’d hoped to be well on her way before he returned. “I’m off home,” she called back. “I can’t stand this any longer.”
“The main act is on tonight. You said you liked them. Stay,” he shouted. “One more night, then we’ll both go back tomoz.”
He didn’t mean it. Come tomorrow there’d be another reason to stay. Megan knew very well that Leon wouldn’t leave until the final number had been played.
“I’ve had enough,” she shouted back. “You stay if you must, but I can’t take any more. The food is gross, the noise unbearable, and as for the toilet block . . .” She pulled a face and shook her head.
“You’re a selfish bitch, Meggy. You promised you wouldn’t do this.”
Megan heard him slam the crate of beers onto the ground. He was coming after her. They’d row, and it wouldn’t be pretty. He was drunk, and probably high on something or other. Things could get nasty. She needed to move fast. Megan quickened her pace. It was difficult with all the mud. It stuck to the soles of her boots, squelching underfoot.
“Meggy!” Leon screamed into the night. “You won’t get away from me so easily!”
Megan started to run. Within a few metres the ground underfoot was even worse — rutted and full of stones. She tripped, got up and took off again. She heard Leon swear. The moon dipped
behind a cloud and the darkness closed in around her. She panicked. With the music echoing in her ears, Megan couldn’t tell which direction Leon’s voice had come from. Suddenly her foot caught in the root of a tree, and she fell headlong into a deep ditch.
Megan was momentarily stunned. The ditch was full of water — muddy, smelly stuff that made her want to retch. She floundered around trying to get to her feet. Wet through, covered in mud, squealing and spitting out the foul liquid, she finally managed to stand up. Her clothing and hair were soaked and black with mud. And there was Leon, standing on the higher ground, laughing at her.
“Not that easy to get away, is it, babe?” he taunted.
But Megan was in no mood. She stamped a foot hard on the ground, sending fetid water everywhere. “I hate you,” she spat. “I hate this place. I can’t do this, Leon—”
Suddenly she fell quiet. Something was floating in the water only inches away from her. She must have dislodged whatever it was from the bottom. Megan strained to see in the dark. It was weird. At first it looked like a bin bag full of festival rubbish. Moving closer, she thought it might be a piece of old wood. In the weak moonlight, its surface looked like bark.
“What on earth is it?” She looked up at Leon, who had taken several steps backwards.
“Don’t go near, babe. Look. There.” He pointed.
Megan peered closer and recoiled, horrified. The dim light reflected off whitish bones. The remains of an arm and a hand were visible. Tendrils of dark hair floated like weed from what had once been a human head.
Leon grabbed hold of Megan’s rucksack and hauled her out. “It’s a body. Been there a while too.”
Chapter 1
Day 1
“Neat place. She’s got some ace stuff here,” said Craig Riley. He walked around the room, running his hand over the furnishings.
The house was pristine, all clean lines done in cream and gold. In the sitting room, two top-of-the-range leather sofas and a glass coffee table with matching shelf unit. There was very little in the way of ornaments, and no photographs. This house belonged to a woman who didn’t like clutter. But there were a couple of statement pieces. One was a large, chunky orange vase placed on the top shelf.
Complete Detective Stephen Greco Box Set Page 55
