Complete Detective Stephen Greco Box Set

by Helen H. Durrant

  “Perhaps we shouldn’t even try to analyse the thoughts of our killer, sir,” Joel suggested. “Who knows what goes on in such minds?”

  Greco nodded. “Fair enough. I don’t know what it means. But I do think the way they were left is significant. Another aspect we have not looked at properly is why the beatings and the thing with the fingers.” He looked at Leah. “Do some digging, will you? Perhaps speak to Roman again. Ask if there’s been anything else like this.”

  Leah nodded.

  Joel Hough was tapping at his computer keyboard. “The report is through from the Duggan, sir. It was Dee’s blood on that bar. Ms Atkins reckons the rust flecks are from the piece of metal that was used on Craig and Vinny too.”

  Greco’s face pulled into a frown. “Same killer, then.”

  * * *

  Martin Greyson was angry. “Half my bloody staff is missing! What the hell’s going on? Ava went walkabout days ago and now you lot have made off with Dom.”

  “Can’t be helped, Mr Greyson,” Speedy told him. “As for Ava Whitton, we’ve no idea where she is. But be assured, we are looking for her. Your other employee, Dominic Hill, is helping us with our enquiries.”

  “Rubbish! Dom’s not done anything. He’s too much of a chicken.”

  “Can you confirm where Dominic was yesterday?” Speedy asked him.

  “He worked here all day. Until you lot came and carted him off, that is. Damn shame. We had stuff to discuss. What with Ava being missing, I’m considering making him up to transport manager, temporary, like.”

  “And you’re sure he didn’t leave? He didn’t take half an hour to go somewhere?”

  “No. Most of the day he was working in my office, with me. When he wasn’t there he was at his desk. Half a dozen others can confirm that too.”

  As soon as he was outside, Speedy rang Greco and told him. “Hill’s alibi checks out. He isn’t our killer. So what now?”

  “Our killer is trying to set him up. He knows him. Knows Hill and Dee were close. I’ll speak to him again.”

  * * *

  Greco smiled at Hill. “You were telling the truth about Dee’s murder, Dominic. We no longer suspect you of killing Dee. But all the same, you are not completely innocent. You were complicit in a robbery. The heroin you helped to steal is bound to hit the streets. Some already has, and the users had to be hospitalised.”

  “It was about quick cash, that’s all,” he said. “That, and getting one over on Barton.”

  “You don’t like Alex Barton?”

  “He’s a crook and a bully. He terrified Ava. I’m on his payroll, but that doesn’t mean I’m any sort of favourite. Cross him and you’re dead.” Hill leaned forward and fixed his eyes on Greco. “My life won’t be worth shite when I get out of here. He’ll have me picked up and given the third degree. It’ll be my body you’re scraping off of the pavement next.”

  “Then help us, Dominic, and we’ll protect you. We want Barton, but we need evidence.”

  Greco watched the young man consider this.

  Finally, Hill shook his head. “No. He’ll kill me. You think you can protect me, but you can’t. He has people everywhere. You have no idea what that man is capable of, or what he does to those who cross him. He gets wind of my part in stealing the heroin . . . I’ve heard things. Barton and his minions talking, boasting about what they’ve done. I don’t know who killed Craig and Vinny but they were tortured first. They had their fingers hacked off. Typical Barton, that is. Tells everyone it’s what he does to any light-fingered chancer who steals from him.”

  “The beating, the finger down the throat, that’s a Barton trademark?”

  Hill nodded. “Doesn’t get his own hands dirty, mind you. Gets one of his mob to do it for him.”

  “Do you know anything about him using forced labour?”

  “Yes. He sends the poor buggers down south to work the fields. Object, or try to escape, and you get the same treatment. He doesn’t pay them either. The farmer pays Barton though, but he keeps it for himself.”

  That must have been what happened to Ava’s brother, Tomasz Bilinski, Greco mused.

  “You had better stay with us a little longer,” Greco told him. “Purely for your own safety. In the meantime, who else did you tell about Barton’s methods?”

  “The lads knew. I’ve no idea who they told.”

  Chapter 29

  Ava left the guest house and took a taxi to the motorway service station. She bought a coffee and settled down in a window seat. From here she would see the Greysons’ lorry pull in. She was nervous. There was only one shot at this. Mess up, and Potts would contact Barton. That would mean the end. There would be no second chance.

  She knew that once they arrived, Potts would make for the café. That was her opportunity to speak to Vasili Pakulski on his own and convince him to help her. He had been forced into this because of circumstances. Ava hoped he would grab this chance at freedom with both hands.

  She hunkered down on her seat. The disguise, plus large sunglasses covering most of her face meant that there was no chance of being recognised. She checked her watch frequently. It should not take more than two to three hours to get from the ferry port to here.

  The traffic report came on the café radio. Traffic was heavy. More waiting. The nerves were making her feel sick. It was today or never. She would not get another shot at this. Get this wrong, and Barton would win. Ava didn’t want that.

  After an agonising wait, the lorry finally pulled into a parking bay. Ava watched them get out of the cab. The two men didn’t talk to each other. Potts was whistling. He made off on his own without even looking back at Vasili. Typical of the man. The only person he got on with was Barton.

  Potts walked towards the café. Once he had joined the queue at the counter, Ava ducked into the ladies, and then out by the rear exit. Vasili Pakulski was on his mobile, still standing by the vehicle.

  Ava threw a quick glance back through the café window and spotted Potts. He had a large plate of breakfast in front of him, and was busy stuffing his face. She still had Pakulski’s number on her mobile. She waited for him to finish his call then tapped it in. It was risky. The police would be monitoring her calls. But she had to speak to him. They had to talk, but out of sight of prying eyes.

  “Vasili, it is Ava,” she began in Polish. “I gave you the job, remember? I must talk to you. Say nothing to anyone, particularly not to Potts. Meet me around the back of the main building, by the rubbish bins.”

  Ava had done her homework. She knew the layout of this place like the back of her hand. She knew that no one in the café could see them there. She closed her eyes and prayed. Please don’t tell Potts. Please don’t tell Potts. The words kept running through her head. Minutes later, Vasili approached her. He didn’t look happy.

  “It was you who got me into this! You should have warned me about these people! They are crooks, criminals. They trade in drugs. Now I am no better than them,” he hissed at her.

  “I’m sorry, Vasili,” she replied in Polish. “But you are not a criminal. You were forced into this. Barton would have put you and your family on the street if you had not agreed to work for him. Possibly worse. He is a hard man. I am in the same position as you, but for different reasons. But if we work together, we can both be free.”

  “How can we do that?” Vasili scoffed. “Potts won’t allow anything to go wrong. He is an animal. There is a fortune in that lorry. Do you know he even has a gun in the glovebox?”

  That didn’t surprise Ava. She also knew that he would not hesitate to use it.

  “You picked up the drugs? Nothing went wrong at customs?”

  Vasili nodded. “Everything was smooth. One of the diesel tanks is stuffed with heroin. You and Barton have turned me into a very bad man. If we are caught, I will go to prison. What will my family do then?”

  “I will do my best to ensure that does not happen,” she assured him. “I am afraid of Barton too. He wants me dead. You have to hel
p me, Vasili. We must help each other. Please, we need to do this. If we succeed, you and I will both be free. Barton won’t threaten or harm us anymore. You will have money too.”

  * * *

  Greco reported back to the team. “What was done to Craig and Vinny was typical Barton, so Dominic Hill tells me. We could do with knowing who, outside of his immediate circle, knew that.”

  “It can’t be common knowledge or Roman would have known,” Leah said. “But currently nothing is known about Barton other than that he is whiter than white. The official story is that he is a reformed character. A businessman. A man of the people, who provides cheap housing for the needy. Sounds almost saintlike, doesn’t he?”

  “The fingers thing is his trademark punishment for those who steal from him. We were meant to believe that Barton was behind the killings,” Greco said.

  “Pushing it a bit, guv, given that no one knows about this trademark.” Speedy shrugged. “Perhaps we should let the truth get out.”

  Greco ignored Speedy’s comment. “Hill said he told the lads. They could have told someone else, the killer for example. Whoever our killer is, he couldn’t carry out the killing with the same brutality as Barton. All the mutilation took place after they were dead.”

  “Perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to do it,” said Leah. “Perhaps he knew them, and found he did care after all. Not that that gets us anywhere. We’re still none the wiser.”

  Greco sighed. “We’ll go through the details again. Ava Whitton’s internet usage. Where is her laptop?”

  “The Duggan have it, sir,” Joel replied.

  “Find out what she used it for,” Greco said.

  “Do we have any idea yet of anybody who is insulin dependent?” Joel asked.

  “Not Vinny Holt’s mother, despite being in a wheelchair most of the time,” Speedy said.

  “Do more digging. The killer got those insulin-contaminated syringes from somewhere.”

  “What about Barton?” Grace asked. “Hill has labelled him the killer, and told us about the man’s MO, so why are we waiting?”

  “Evidence, Grace. We need cast-iron proof before we can go near him. Hill has heard plenty, but that’s it. Words, but no substance.”

  “I’ll go and have another word with those girls today,” Leah said. “It is vital we know who gave the heroin to them. Though interestingly, no more of it has hit the streets.”

  Leah had a point, Greco realised. Someone was sitting on a fortune, so what was stopping them?

  Joel was looking through the online reports from the Duggan. “Nothing in yet about the laptop,” he told the team.

  “Ring them,” Greco suggested. “Go down there if necessary. That laptop might hold the evidence we need. The damn thing wasn’t kept for its ornamental value.”

  Chapter 30

  Alex Barton scrolled through the contacts on his mobile and tapped on Martin Greyson’s number.

  “Martin! I was supposed to have a meeting with Ava this morning. She didn’t show. Is she okay?”

  “There is nothing in her diary,” Greyson replied. “What did you want to see her about? Perhaps I can help instead.”

  “We have recently been talking about your firm doing some work for me. I often need to ship building materials about the country. We planned to discuss the details over coffee.”

  There was a silence. Barton assumed that Greyson was considering this.

  “She never mentioned it to me.” More silence. “I’ll tell her you called.”

  “Is she there?” Barton asked. “I really do need a word.”

  “Sorry, Mr Barton, Ava is tied up with something at the moment. I will tell her you rang. I’m sure she’ll get back.” Greyson ended the call.

  “The bitch is avoiding me. And that boss of hers is covering for her. Do we have someone at her house?” Barton looked up at the individual towering before him. He was a giant of a man, well over six foot, and heavily built. His fair hair was all bristle, cut close to his scalp. “I want her found, Archie. She owes me. When I catch up with her, Ava Whitton will rue the day she tried to cross me.”

  “The house is being watched, sir,” Archie replied. “But there has been no movement for days. There’s no one there.”

  “The bitch is not at work either, I’d stake my life on it. Greyson is lying to us.”

  * * *

  The IT technician looked up at Joel from the laptop. “She used it for one purpose only. And she only ever visited one site. It had been set up on the dark web to administer the comings and goings of drug shipments. Ava Whitton logged what money was sent, and what drugs came back. Think of it as bookkeeping for traffickers.”

  “Can you tell me who else had access to the site?”

  “That is tricky. A series of passwords are used, and the IP address can’t be traced. But I do know that more people than just Ava had access to it.”

  “Everyone involved entered their piece of the jigsaw.”

  “Yes, I’d say so. At any given time, the movement of the drugs and money could be traced.”

  “Interesting, but not much use for evidence purposes.” Joel grimaced. “We really need a break on this one. Is there nothing you can do?”

  “Other people used the site. If you could get hold of other devices that accessed it, that would be proof.”

  That got Joel thinking. One of the people who was bound to have kept tabs was Barton. Depending on how savvy the man was, he might even have used the site from his mobile phone.

  Joel rang the station and told Greco what he’d learned.

  “All very useful,” the DCI agreed. “But before we can lay our hands on Barton’s stuff, we have to have evidence for the warrant.”

  “There is something,” the technician called out to Joel as he ended the call. “There’s a lorry due in at any time. According to the log, it will have come through Dover early this morning.”

  * * *

  “You are in no position to make such promises, Ms Whitton,” Vasili said. “And how do we square your appearance with Potts?”

  “You forget, Vasili, it was me gave Potts a job in the first place. I doubt he knows anything about my problem with Barton. Apart from which, he won’t recognise me,” Ava said.

  “He knows you better than me,” Vasili warned. “What do you intend to do?”

  “We must disable Potts, take his phone, and get the keys. You will drive the truck north, and I will arrange to meet Barton.”

  “What then? Provided your plan works, what do we say to Barton? He won’t want to talk. He will want his drugs.”

  “That is my problem, not yours. Once we reach our destination, you are free, Vasili. I will deal with Barton alone.”

  Vasili was silent for a moment. “You will kill him?”

  “I’m not sure. I want to, but I’m not a murderer.”

  “You could hand him over to the police. You have evidence that will incriminate him?”

  Ava nodded. “We have to move quick. Potts won’t be long. Go and find him. Tell him there is a problem with the truck.”

  “What problem?”

  “Tell him that some kids have been trying to get inside. That should rattle him.”

  Vasili walked off towards the café and minutes later, returned with Potts.

  “You’re here to deal with problems like this,” Potts grumbled. “Do I have to do everything?”

  Vasili led him to the back of the vehicle. “They have tried the rear doors. Look, they have damaged one of them.”

  “Bloody hell!” Potts cursed. He stood facing the doors, fumbling with the lock and pulling on the handle. “Can’t see anything wrong. I left half a mug of tea to—”

  Ava struck. She lunged at him with a cosh, hit the back of his head, and sent him staggering to the floor. He lay still for a few seconds, then he groaned and tried to get up. The look on his face was thunderous. Ava panicked. She had never been violent. This was way out on a limb for her.

  “Hit him!” Vasili scream
ed. “For God’s sake, hit him again!”

  Ava didn’t know what to do. She threw the cosh to Vasili and closed her eyes. She dare not look, but she heard the dull thuds as Vasili hit him several more times.

  “You haven’t killed him?” she exclaimed.

  “No, but he is well out of it.”

  “We must get him inside, then tie him up,” she told Vasili. ”Get the keys.”

  Potts was heavy, and they didn’t have long. Fortunately, he had done his usual thing of parking some distance from anything else.

  Between the two of them, they managed it. Potts’ wrists and ankles were tied tight with a length of packing tape. He was gagged and tethered to a metal strut inside the lorry. Ava fished in his pocket and took his mobile.

  Chapter 31

  Joel was back at the station. “I was thinking on the way here. There are CCTV cameras the length and breadth of the motorway system, sir. If they caught the lorry, we could stop it, have it searched.”

  “That’s a big ‘if,’” Greco said. “There is a lot of motorway out there, and they are travelling at speed.” Nonetheless, he had to consider the idea. They had nothing else. Ava was involved, and according to Hill, so was Barton. If the cameras did pick up the lorry, at least it was a step nearer. He made his decision. “We’ll get a warrant organised. Get onto Traffic. Set up the watch on the motorways. The minute that lorry is spotted, I want to know. Contact Greysons, find out what they’ve got out there today, and the direction of travel.”

  Within half an hour, Joel had a list of all Greysons’ lorries currently on the roads.

  “Three are in the north, either going to or returning from Scotland. One is making its way down to Dover. A shipment of engineering parts destined for Poland. And one is on its way back to base. It’s returning from Warsaw with a shipment of tinned food. It came through the port of Dover earlier today.”

  “That has to be the one,” Greco said.

  “Ava Whitton has used her mobile!” Speedy called out excitedly. “I have been onto her provider and had the GPS turned on, so we can track whoever she calls. The tech boys have got the number she rang. It’s not one that’s known to us. They are tracing the owner now.” Speedy sat at his computer, staring at a map on the screen. He pointed. “Here. Whoever owns the phone is travelling up the M6.”