The drugs are hidden in the second diesel tank. It is two tanks in one with a small reservoir for fuel. Ingenious, and worked perfectly. In all these months customs never found a thing. Not my idea. That one came from Barton. It is a method he has used before.
It was my intention to wait for you, but I couldn’t take the risk. I will not waste my life in prison. However, this will act as my statement. It will give you everything you need to arrest Barton. I have listed the names and addresses of people in the chain, both here and in Europe, those he relies on to transfer drugs and deal with the tanks.
A search of his office and his home will give you the devices, laptop etc., that link to our website on the dark net. We use it to plan shipments, routes etc. I have listed the passwords.
Barton converts most of his cash into diamonds. He has a safety deposit box in the main bank in town. He also has houses abroad and uses a number of aliases. His favourite is ‘Robert Hilditch.’ He has a passport in this name. The box in the bank will be in this name.
I suspect that Barton killed my brother. He has a henchman — Archie is the only name I know him by. He is Barton’s muscle and a very dangerous man.
There is nothing else I can give you. Barton will be suspicious because of my disappearance and the fact that the lorry has not returned to base. Arrest him quickly, or you may lose the chance.
Chambers re-read the letter. If she was right, they were bound to find sufficient evidence to put Barton away. And she had signed it.
“Time to secure a warrant,” he told his team. “Get this crate back to the nick and we’ll go after Barton.” He nodded at his sergeant. “Find out where he is. Any problems, let me know at once.”
* * *
Leah was back at the station. “Jack Neville, seventy-four years old, no record and lives on the Lansdowne,” she told Greco and the others. “Shona is his granddaughter, and at last she told me where they got the stuff.”
Greco smiled at her. “You did well. We’ll go visit the gentleman. See what he has to say for himself.” He glanced at Grace’s empty chair. “What’s the betting he is a member of Marsh’s group at the centre, and that Vinny and Craig hid the drugs in his house?”
“Do you think Marsh will know?” Speedy asked.
“We’ll talk to him again too.”
“Shame about the lorry, sir,” Leah said. “Storming in and stealing our case. It’s not on.”
Greco shrugged. “They are the drug squad, I suppose. It was always their case. Chambers has been on this one for over a year. Ava Whitton was in his sights. Now he has her, and through her, Barton, I hope.”
Leah looked unconvinced. “Doesn’t help us any though, does it? What about our murders? Do we even get to interview Barton?”
“I reckon so, once Chambers has finished with him. We’ll just have to wait our turn.” He sighed. “It doesn’t sit well, I agree. But there is nothing we can do.”
Leah shook her head. “Barton deserves all that’s coming to him.”
“Does anyone know where Grace has gone?” Greco asked.
Leah held her tongue. She couldn’t tell him. Grace had specifically asked her not to.
“Did those girls say where in the house the drugs were hidden?” Speedy called across.
Leah could have kicked herself. She hadn’t asked them. The truth was, she’d been so knocked back by what had happened to Grace that she hadn’t had her mind in gear.
“Sorry, Speedy, they wouldn’t say,” she lied. Weren’t asked and didn’t volunteer. “It will be a one-bedroom job. There won’t be much to search.”
Leah was aware of Greco watching her. Such a basic question, and she hadn’t asked it. He’d know something was wrong.
* * *
“Something has gone wrong. The shipment never turned up, and that bitch is still missing.” Alex Barton was shoving documents into a briefcase. “Book me a flight for today, alternative identity. It’s time to disappear, Archie.” He looked at his minder. “You too. Go to the cottage in Ireland. Wait there and I’ll be in touch.”
“What do you reckon, boss?” Archie said.
“She has gone to the police. If I was in her shoes, that’s what I would do. She’ll try to broker a deal. And I’ll be the prize.” He smiled at his henchman. “Won’t work, will it? We’re a lot cleverer than that. The day Ava Whitton gets the better of me is the day I give up. Book me the flight, then get out. Save yourself.”
Barton grabbed his case and left. He was going straight to the airport. He’d pick up his ticket and leave the country. Using his alternative identity and passport, he would go to Spain, disappear for a while. He’d done it before. He knew people there who owed him. They would help.
Chapter 35
Greco went to see McCabe and told him about the drugs. “I want to search the place,” he said. “When we find the heroin, we’ll contact Chambers. Turn it over to him.”
“You’re sure it’s the missing stuff from Whitton’s house?”
“No, but it’s highly likely to be.”
McCabe shook his head. “You should leave it to Chambers. He has a specialised team for such matters.”
“An elderly man lives in that flat. He is infirm and rarely leaves the house. He’s on our patch. He has no record. He’s completely unknown to us. I’m sure that he has no idea what he’s harbouring at his property. We’ll do things calmly and without any fuss. The last thing we want is a drama, and the press alerting.”
“Okay, but go careful. The minute you find anything, contact Chambers,” McCabe insisted.
Greco would have preferred to take Grace with him. She had the right touch with the elderly. But she was missing again. He decided to ring her, find out what was wrong.
Speedy met him on his return. “Guv, Dominic Hill is still in the cells. Given that Chambers is onto Barton, shall we bail him?”
Greco could see no harm in letting the young man go now. “Okay, but make sure his statement is complete.”
Back in the incident room, there was still no sign of Grace. Greco sat down and tapped in her number. There was no answer. Was she unavailable, or avoiding him? He looked round at the others. “Are you lot sure that Grace didn’t leave word about where she was going?”
“She said nothing to me,” Joel replied.
Leah coughed, hoping he didn’t ask her. She would ring Grace herself, she decided. In any case, she wanted to check up on how her colleague was doing.
“I’m going to get a sandwich from the canteen,” she told them. “Anyone want anything?”
Greco looked at the clock. It was gone six. He should be going home, but there was still too much to do. “Anything besides chicken or seafood.”
* * *
Ava left shortly after writing the letter. She reckoned she had about an hour’s start on Chambers. She got the local village bus into Manchester, and from there went to Chorlton Street coach station. A coach was leaving for Folkestone within the hour. She would take it and make her way from there. Not what she’d intended, but it was the safest bet. Ava could not trust Chambers to keep to the bargain. Her phone conversation with him had left her with a nagging doubt. What if there was no deal? What if Barton somehow managed to wriggle off the hook? She would be left high and dry, facing a long prison sentence.
She had money. Most of it was in a bank account in her home town in Poland under her original name. A name unknown to Chambers. But the other detective knew. She had told Greco. It was only a matter of time before they found it. But she could always transfer the money to a safer account online. Ava had a passport in her real name. She would flee. By the time Chambers and Greco pieced it all together, she would be long gone. It was a tempting prospect. They would have Barton, and she would have her freedom.
* * *
“His office reckons he’s gone for the day, guv,” Chambers’ sergeant told him.
“His home?” Chambers said.
“Not there either.”
“Get onto the airpor
t. Tell them to hold a Robert Hilditch.”
Chambers checked in with his boss and gave him an update. He had to explain that Ava had done a runner. It would not go down well. When it came to court, a person in the witness box was much better than a letter.
“Anything on the search?” he asked.
“All IT equipment has been taken away. We’ve got someone going to the bank with a warrant.”
“Good. All we need now is to get our hands on Barton himself.”
“We picked up his minder, that Archie bloke. He was in a café down the road from Barton’s office, having his tea. He put up quite a fight, broke Johnson’s nose. But he’s safely banged up now.”
“Ava Whitton? Anything on her?”
“We’re doing all the usual, checking with the airport and railways, but there is nothing.”
Chambers knew that Ava, too, would have a name and documents she used in such circumstances. Without some stroke of luck, she could be lost to them forever.
* * *
Leah and Joel went with Greco to the flat on the Lansdowne. Jack Neville had no idea what they were going on about. But he did use the centre and did recall Craig and Vinny doing some work for him.
“I needed some stuff taking down to my garage. It’s the middle one with the blue door, in that row of them down there.” He pointed through the window. “I don’t have a car anymore so I keep things I don’t need in it. I will have a clear-out one day, I suppose. Our Shona did have a go. She and that mate of hers were going to take some of it to the charity shop, but that never got off the ground.”
Greco nodded at Joel. “Go and have a look, will you?”
Jack Neville handed him the key. “I don’t understand. What’s so special about my garage?”
“We think the lads, Craig and Vinny, hid something in there.”
“Hid what? Something valuable?”
“Possibly,” Leah told him. “If it’s there, it will help us clear up a case we’re working on.”
Joel was back in minutes. “It’s there alright, sir. Neatly packed in cardboard boxes. There is blood on the floor too. It could be where the lads were killed.”
“You’re sure you knew nothing about this?” Greco asked the elderly man.
“No. They didn’t say anything. They put my stuff down there, and that was that,” Jack replied.
“When was this?”
“About four weeks ago.”
That was too long ago. The heroin had to have been put in the garage within the last week. “Did they come back after that?”
“No, and they are both dead now, so they won’t be, will they?”
“Mr Neville, is it possible that you gave them a key to the garage?” Leah asked.
The old man thought for a moment, and then nodded. “Of course. I never realised. I had two keys. I gave Craig one when they were doing the job, but he never gave it me back.”
“That’s it then, sir,” Leah said. “The lads knew exactly where to hide the stuff. They took it from Ava Whitton and stashed it in Jack Neville’s garage.”
Greco turned to Joel. “Get onto the Duggan, will you? I want a full forensic search of that garage.”
Chapter 36
Greco called the find into the station and left instructions for Chambers to be informed. The team had done enough for one day. It was time to go home. Jack Neville was told that some different policemen would come and collect what they’d found, and not to worry. Having met and spoken to the man, they were well aware that the robbery and murders had nothing to do with him. He was physically incapable for a start.
Greco was exhausted. The day hadn’t gone well. Yes, they’d found the heroin. There was no more risk on the streets from that. But Ava Whitton, and more importantly, Barton, were someone else’s catch now.
As he turned into his road, he saw Pat watching for him from the front window. She looked upset. Greco groaned. What now?
She started to speak before he was even through the door. “I wanted to ring you but Emily said not to.”
“What is the matter? Is Matilda okay?”
“Yes, she’s fine, doing some homework.”
“She’s only six! What sort of school do we send her to?”
“It’s a little simple reading, Stephen, nothing heavy. Come in.” She stood aside. “This is serious. I need to speak to you.”
It sounded ominous. “Has something happened?”
They were walking down the hallway. Pat Greco turned and looked him in the eyes. There were tears streaming down her face.
“Your baby has died, Stephen.”
He looked at her for several seconds, wondering if he’d heard right. “What do you mean?” The baby hadn’t even been born yet, so how could it die.
“Just that. Earlier today, Grace felt that something was wrong. She went for a scan this afternoon, and there was no heartbeat.”
“The baby was fine earlier in the week.”
“It’s no one’s fault,” she assured him. “These things happen.”
That was why Grace was missing from work. But why hadn’t she told him? “She never even rang me.” He walked off into his study, and closed the door behind him. The news was bad, the worst. He had to speak to Grace. Try to make it right.
He tapped in her number on his mobile. No answer. She was avoiding him. But why? Because she didn’t trust him not to be relieved about the loss, that was why. He understood that, but she was wrong. He wasn’t relieved. He felt damned upset. He couldn’t leave things like this.
“I’m going out,” he called to Pat. “I need to put this right. If I can.”
He was soon parked up outside Grace’s small terraced house in the backstreets of Oldston. He’d been spotted. Emily Harper was at the door.
“She’s not here. They’ve kept her in, and she doesn’t want to see you.”
Greco got out of the car and went to speak to her. “Why not? I’m upset about what’s happened too.”
“Grace doesn’t think so. She reckons it’ll just be a weight off your mind.”
“She’s wrong! I might not have realised before, but I do now. I am genuinely sorry about what has happened. And for my behaviour towards Grace.”
“That’s as may be. You’ll have to talk to her. She’s in ward seven. Don’t tell her I told you.”
* * *
Fortunately, the ward was not full of new mums and their babies. Greco was grateful that Grace had been spared that. She was in the far bed by the wall. She spotted him immediately.
“I didn’t want you to find out,” she said immediately.
“Why not? It was my baby too.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me anymore, Stephen. Just say it like it is. We had a drunken fumble in Brighton and I got pregnant. It was a mistake, not the foundation for a relationship. I’m not stupid. I know you don’t love me. You never have.”
He had no ready answer to that. She was right. He said, “I was hoping that when the baby came, once we’d started to be a family, we might grow closer together.”
“It doesn’t work like that. You tried that with Suzy, didn’t you? Or rather she tried it with you. And that didn’t work, did it?”
“What do you want from me, Grace?”
“Nothing, Stephen. You’re free. Go away. Go and tell Pat that I’m fine and recovering. Tell the team too. I won’t be off for long. A week or so and I’ll be back at work.”
“This isn’t how I wanted things to end between us.”
“Me neither, but that’s how it is. We’ve lost the baby. The drop of glue that was keeping us together. Now it’s gone, there is nothing left.”
Greco shook his head. “I feel miserable.”
“I don’t feel all that jolly myself. But I’ll survive, and so will you. Now leave me alone. I need to sleep.”
“You’re safe in here?” he asked.
“What sort of question is that?”
“You hear such tales, hospitals being full of superbugs, you know the
thing.”
“The place is fine, Stephen. Don’t start. If you’re that worried, you’d better get out before you are infected. Now get out of my face!”
Greco had been sitting at the end of her bed. He stood up. Grace didn’t want him. She had, in effect, sent him packing. He was a free agent again. For weeks that had been all he’d wanted. But now he felt like an utter failure. He’d let her down. Grace, his aunt, the kids, they had all been looking forward to the new addition. Why hadn’t he been able to feel like them?
Chapter 37
Day 8
Despite a sleepless night, Greco was in early the next morning. He stood staring at the incident board. There were several things still bothering him. The killings and how they were carried out, for a start. Barton would not have drugged his victims first. He’d have had them strung up and tortured until they told the truth. Then he would have finished them off. Whoever killed Craig, Vinny and Dee had operated differently. A copycat, then. But why?
McCabe came into the room and interrupted his thoughts. “Chambers caught up with Barton at the airport. And his right-hand thug was apprehended too. Result, I’d say.”
“Has he said anything? Barton?”
“Chambers reckons the villain is worried. They retrieved a fortune in diamonds from a box he kept in a bank in town. All his bank accounts have been frozen. All he has left is whatever he has salted away in off-shore accounts. His drug trafficking operation was administered from a website on the dark net. Chambers has people looking at it. There is no way Barton can wriggle out of this. The evidence is building. This time we really have him.”
“The murders?”
“No. Barton told Chambers that he has never met Holt or Riley. Dee Sampson, yes. But not the lads.”
“Tomasz Bilinski?”
“We will need a confession to make that stick. As yet, there are no forensics,” McCabe admitted.
“What has Ava Whitton said? Got her deal, has she?”
McCabe pulled a face. “No, Stephen. She did a runner. Left a written statement with the information Chambers needed and disappeared. All the stops have been pulled out, but there is no sign of her.”
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