“The changeover had to have happened in Welwright Lane. I knocked on every door in that street and no one saw anything. But that’s because no one was home during the day. The first person to come home from work arrived just after 4:00 p.m. The driver’s body was called in at 5:18 p.m. We can presume the kidnappers shot the driver in situ and then took over the bus. It’s not a long street.” Idris consulted his notes. “I spoke to sixteen households.”
“A street where no one is at home during the day. Let’s say the kidnappers are waiting with the container truck parked in the street. How does it work to lift the bus, Idris?”
“That particular vehicle is an articulated lorry equipped with a Hiab crane at the back capable of lifting the container onto it. The lorry has to be stabilized to use the crane. Outrigger feet are deployed on either side which take up a fair whack of room. It would probably have to park in the middle of the street, blocking any traffic. When the bus turns into Welwright, it sees the truck blocking the road and stops. Kidnappers approach, shoot the driver and take the bus.”
“So the crane lifts the bus and deposits it inside the container. They cover the top with the tarp. What about the girls, are they still on board? Or have they been herded out before the bus is loaded? And why did the driver turn off his usual route? Was he part of the kidnapping initially and then they turned on him? And why head up to Manchester?”
“I managed to get a partial view of the logo on the side of the container and checked online. I got a match for the shipping company.”
Quinn edged forward. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“This particular shipping container belongs to the Sino-Anglo Shipping Group, better known as SASG. Empty containers are driven to suppliers to be filled and then transported to the port to go on a ship. Once unloaded the haulier takes the lorry back to the port and the process starts all over again. SASG regularly ships from Shanghai and Guangzhou to London and other European ports. In the UK they use two haulage companies on a regular basis, Hogan’s Heavy Haulage and Red Star Transport Company. So the lorry could belong to one of them.”
Quinn knew that getting these nuggets of information had involved Idris in hours bent over the keyboard in mind-numbing repetitive tasks, ransacking the APNR computer database for a break that could yield results. So much of police work was in the detail that could provide a clue that in turn could lead to a break through or nail someone for a criminal conviction.
Despite Idris’s pale eyes being red-rimmed, his shirt still looked freshly ironed, his collar sharply creased. How did the man look like a walking advertisement for GQ after pulling an all-nighter? Quinn wondered.
“Great work, Idris. Have we heard anything back from Manchester Forensics?”
“Still waiting. I don’t think we can expect too much. It’s the interior of a bus, so there’ll be hundreds of fingerprints and DNA samples. Once they’ve done the blood splatter DNA we’ll know if it matches Patel. I saw the photos of the blood spray and it’s centered around the driver’s side, so I don’t think we’ll get any surprises there. Post mortem results on Patel might be in later today if we’re lucky.”
“Thanks, Idris. Go home and get some rest. Reuben’s due in any moment and we can take over. We’ll check into the haulage companies and see if we can identify a driver. If we can locate him we might get somewhere.”
As Idris headed out, he passed Reuben on his way in.
“I see you made it onto the Beeb’s breakfast show. Late breaking news,” Reuben said to Quinn as he took his seat.
Quinn grimaced. “As long as they got my good side. I’ll worry about that later. Right now we’ve got a lorry driver to locate.”
Chapter 15
Ingle Road, Ealing
Bex awoke from a nightmare of oncoming car headlights with a splitting headache. She ran a tongue around her dry lips. The inside of her mouth felt like dust and tasted like the contents of a long buried tomb. When she rolled over, her shoulder and hip pained. She pulled up the T-shirt she’d worn to bed. A dark bruise had sprouted along her hipbone where she’d cracked it against the court’s wooden bench.
She dropped onto her back, flopping an arm across her eyes to blanket the morning light. Pain continued to spike through her temples. She was going to need something to make it go away. Gingerly she edged herself out of bed and fumbled around in her bag for headache tablets. At one stage, when she was still recovering from the car accident that ripped Zane from her life, she had suffered almost daily from headaches. The doctors said it was the remnants of her concussion.
Moving as little as possible, she gulped the tablets. A harsh rapping at her door made her wince. When she opened it Georgie smiled at her, an apron tied over a pair of slacks and a polyester blouse.
“Good morning, my luv!” Georgie sang out, too loudly for Bex’s comfort. She lowered her voice. “You’ve got a visitor. I’ve settled him in the living area if you want to greet him.” Her lips pursed and Bex watched her eyes flit down below the oversized T-shirt that had belonged to Zane, to her exposed legs. “But I suggest you get dressed first, dear. It’s a gentleman caller.”
“Did he give a name? I’m not expecting anyone.” Bex was perplexed. She knew almost no one in London, certainly no one who knew her address.
“He said his name was Mr Li. Smart looking young fellow. Speaks very precise English even though he’s Chinese.”
As Georgie disclosed the name and nationality of the caller, abruptly Bex had a flash of falling at the feet of Isla Standing and her client, Li Jian. A wash of adrenaline went through her. Was Li Jian here to make a complaint?
“I’ll be right out, Georgie.”
Bex closed the door on Georgie’s curiosity. Her clothes from last night were scattered over the floor. If Li Jian was here to make a complaint she should probably greet him looking professional. She scooped a pair of jeans and a clean T from the drawer. To hell with it! It was a weekend and she was off duty.
Li Jian quickly stood up at her entrance. He was impeccably dressed. His pants held a knife-edge crease and his jacket was a Chinese-styled tunic with a stand up collar revealing a snow-white shirt beneath it. His hair was swept back from his forehead revealing a slight widow’s peak. It was jet black with pomade, while the sides were razored.
“Detective Chief Inspector Wynter, thank you for meeting me.” His dark, hooded eyes focused on her. He bowed as he greeted her, a slight movement of his shoulders in her direction.
“Mr Li, what can I do for you?”
He held out an oblong package, wrapped in red paper and trailing gold ribbon curling over the sides.
“My cousin Xiu Lan told me how much you had done to protect her from the vile comments and behavior of those men yesterday. I feel I owe you a debt of gratitude. It is not often that a woman will stand against such insults to fight for right and justice.”
“That’s my job, Mr Li. I can’t accept gifts for doing my job.”
“Please, it is just a small token of appreciation.”
“Honestly, it’s not necessary.” She brushed his extended hand away.
“Detective, I insist. Please let me honor your valor yesterday.”
Bex paused. She had read somewhere that gift-giving was a big deal in China. But whether it was more offensive to reject or accept, she couldn’t remember.
Embarrassed, she allowed him to press the box into her hands. She hoped it wasn’t jewelry. She tugged off the ribbon. Inside the wrapping was a boxed bottle of Joy. She didn’t know much about cosmetics but the heavy glass bottle looked expensive. She read Paris on the label. Shit, it was French perfume!
“This is too much.” She held the box out.
Li Jian smiled broadly, giving a slight inflection of his shoulders in her direction. “It is just something simple. I hope you like that brand of perfume. It’s one that my cousin suggested. I defer to her feminine taste in this regard.”
Bex dropped her hand awkwardly to her side. Li was obviously not go
ing to take it back.
“Thank you. It’s very gracious of you. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble. How did you find me?”
Without a trace of embarrassment he admitted, “I had one of my men follow you from the court.”
She felt the heat of anger rise through her body. “That’s totally uncalled for!” Her words lashed around him, and his expression closed down so his face was an unreadable canvas.
Bex wondered how she had missed being tailed. Of course, she hadn’t been expecting it and her thoughts had been focused on helping Josh yesterday. “Have you still got someone tailing me?” She glared at him, letting her suspicion show.
“I only wanted to be able to thank you properly. To do that, I needed to know your whereabouts. I apologize if I have overstepped the boundaries of your propriety.”
“Listen, Mr Li…”
“Please call me Jian.”
“Listen, Mr Li,” Bex repeated deliberately, “I resent the invasion of my privacy.” She held the fragrance bottle out to him.
He waved it away.
“Again, I apologize, Detective, if I have offended you. But please, keep the gift. It is a beautiful perfume for a beautiful woman.”
Bex felt her face grow hot at the compliment. The simple words flustered her, leaving her troubled as to how to respond.
“By your accent, I take it you are not English?”
“No, I’m an American.”
“A foreigner in a strange land. That is something we both have in common. Would you allow me to take you for a meal to make amends for my rudeness?”
Was he flirting with her? His dark eyes pinned her to the spot. His compact body gave off a sense of power that suddenly overwhelmed her and she fought to keep a lid on her rising panic at the prospect of being asked out. She knew instinctively that he wasn’t a man who heard the word “no” very often. She doubted that he would understand her reluctance to go out with him.
The refusal blurted out of her mouth. “No, I can’t!” She forced herself to soften the rejection. “I’ve already told you, Mr Li, that I was just doing my job. I don’t need to be rewarded for that.”
“And if I told you it had nothing to do with your job, that I am simply a man asking a woman to go for a meal, would that be acceptable to you? And please, I asked you to call me Jian.”
Her heart thumped uncomfortably loud in her ears. How was she going to handle this?
Georgie popped her head around the doorway. “Sorry to interrupt, I just wondered if you wanted breakfast this morning, Bex? I’m about to shut down the kitchen for the day.”
The thought of sitting down to one of Georgie’s full breakfasts made her stomach roil and gurgle. “Not this morning, thanks, Georgie. I think I’ll just settle for coffee.”
“Then I insist, at least let me take you out for coffee,” Li said. His lips moved into the hint of a smile. “My driver is waiting.”
Chapter 16
The Broadway, Ealing
Bex refused to step into Li Jian’s pearly grey Mercedes, complete with driver. Instead she allowed him to accompany her to the Electric Coffee Co only a few short blocks from Georgie’s place. Bex had discovered the place on her trips to catch the subway to the Police Training College. It was perfect for her daily caffeine fix. She felt more comfortable going somewhere familiar than hopping into a car with a stranger.
Li insisted on purchasing two coffees and rather than create a scene, Bex again allowed him the liberty. Since the café was bursting at the seams with patrons, they crossed The Broadway to sit in the park. She quizzed him about his case, and he explained that a minor infringement had become a criminal charge because he had failed to pay the necessary fines. That criminal charge then impacted on his visa and had led to an extradition order. Isla was fighting his deportation back to China by trying to quash the criminal conviction. That decision rested with the magistrates, but they wouldn’t be handing a verdict down until Monday now because of the interruption.
“How did you come to select Isla Standing as your lawyer?”
“Ms. Standing is one of the lawyers at the firm my uncle deals with. They handle most of his shipping business transactions in this country. The partners put Ms. Standing onto the case.”
“And no doubt she’s the best at what she does.” Bex was ashamed of how bitter her voice sounded. Isla was the type of woman who left Bex feeling her life was in disarray. She hadn’t even been able to meet Isla on an even playing field, two professional women eye to eye. No, she had been toe to eye with Isla looking down her nose. No doubt she had left Isla wondering about the abilities of the woman who was in charge of her ex-husband’s team.
“Do you know Ms. Standing?”
Obviously something in her voice had alerted Li to her personal interest, and she couldn’t deny or explain her intense curiosity about Quinn’s and Isla’s relationship, sparked from her first day at the London Met when she had accidently caught them together. Their intimate pose had only intensified her own isolation.
Bex kept her gaze fixed outward, skimming over the cyclists and pedestrians passing in front of them, as she answered. “Not really. She’s the estranged wife of one of my team members, Detective Inspector Standing. But I can’t say I’ve actually met her before.”
For the first time Li’s stone mask cracked. “She is married to a police officer?”
“Yes, he’s my second in command. Right now he’s leading the Youth Crimes Team in my absence until I get back on Monday morning.”
Li paused a moment, before asking, “And what is your story, Detective? Or may I call you something less formal?”
“Bex is fine. It’s a nickname. Short for Rebecca.”
“And so, you are American, but working with the police here in London. Are you on a special assignment?”
“No, I’ll just be a regular working cop here now I’ve completed my training.” Bex sipped her hot coffee, glad that her headache had finally abated, and wondered why in hell she had come out with Li Jian. She was afraid he might see their outing as a precursor to a date, and she had no intention of dating anyone.
“That makes it sound as though you’re not actually investigating a case at the moment,” he said. “And yet you were in the courtroom?”
“Oh, I’m doing a little investigation for a friend with a problem,” she admitted. “But it’s not official.”
At her obvious reluctance to go into detail, Li simply nodded and refrained from probing deeper.
“Have you had the opportunity to see much of London?”
“No. In fact, my time at the training college has kept me totally occupied. I like to be busy.” Busyness helped keep the black thoughts from creeping up and ambushing her.
“Perhaps I could persuade you to come on a visit to Buckingham Palace with my cousin and me this evening? I can send my driver to pick you up at seven.”
“The last admission of the day is five fifteen,” Bex pointed out. Georgie, a loyal royalist, had already mentioned to Bex that the palace was opening its staterooms to the public from this weekend. Urging Bex to take a tour, she had stuffed brochures in Bex’s hands for her to dutifully skim through.
Li cracked a satisfied smile. “Ah, just as I thought, Americans love the thought of royalty and you have already looked into taking the public tour.”
Bex bristled at the stereotyping. Before she could voice her resistance, he continued, “I have arranged an exclusive guided tour after the palace shuts to the public. Please, I would be delighted if you could come along as our guest. Xiu Lan would relish the opportunity to thank you herself for your defense yesterday. Unless you have something else planned?”
The way he added the last sentence made her wonder if he realized she had nothing on her social calendar. The only real break she had taken from her study was last Friday night when Reuben had dropped around bringing “take away”. She had joined him and Georgie while they watched Georgie’s choice of the BBC Proms opening concert on the TV. Over the we
ekend Reuben’s real estate friend had shown her around a number of available properties, leaving her feeling discouraged that anything she liked the look of was out of her price range if she wanted to actually eat or possibly buy clothes and other necessities. On Sunday she had taken the zipline flight over the city, spent far too long in the gym, and in the evening hit the books again before Monday’s classes.
“I really can’t. As I said, I have a friend to help this weekend.”
Li raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “You do not even have a few hours free in the evening?”
Bex avoided his eyes, squirming uncomfortably at the way he continued to read her thoughts. She intended to talk with the school’s custodian and call in at the Fairhurst Golf Club to ask some questions as she gathered evidence to exonerate Josh, but honestly, what else did she have in store this weekend? More house-hunting and TV-watching with Georgie?
Don’t be pathetic, Bex! she could almost hear Zane’s voice inside her head. He was always the first to tell her to take advantage of opportunities when they presented. When will you ever get an offer for a private tour of Buckingham Palace again?
A wash of confusion roiled through her, intensifying her heart rate. She found it difficult to fathom Li’s intentions towards her. Was he offering flirtation or friendship? The unanswered question muddied her ability to make a decision.
“So, you have no interest in the possibility of getting a peek at Harry or Wills? Or possibly the ghost of Diana?”
His voice dared her to take a chance. Would it hurt to try something social for a change, especially if Li’s cousin was joining them? She crushed the disposable cup between her hands, trying vainly to stem the nervousness edging her voice.
“Yes, I will. Thank you. Jian.” She hesitated over his name, but since she’d accepted his offer she could hardly keep calling him “Mr Li” or ignoring his name altogether.
His mouth lifted in a smile. She caught those hooded eyes watching her intently. “I will send my driver to pick you up at seven. I very much look forward to seeing you then.”
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