Uncoiled Lies: a stunning crime thriller

by Liz Mistry

  Following Alice out of the car, Gus stood for a minute at the kerb and took a deep breath before walking up the drive to the front door. Alice trailed behind him, a wary look on her face. As he rang the bell, she squeezed his arm and said ‘Remember it doesn’t matter who he is. He has committed a crime by assaulting Sadia.’

  Gus grimaced, remembering Sadia’s bruised face and haunted eyes. ‘You don’t need to remind me of that, Al,’ he said, pressing his thumb on the doorbell again, this time leaving it there. He could hear the ringing from where they stood, but there was no movement from inside.

  ‘Bet he’s gone to the mosque,’ muttered Gus, ‘praying for forgiveness.’

  Alice shook her head. ‘Calm down, Gus, he’s maybe gone to get milk or something. Let’s wait in the car. I’ll phone back to the station to make sure he’s not there, okay?’

  With a curt nod, Gus stepped back from the door, turned towards his car and saw a neighbour watching him curiously from her front doorstep.

  Gus smiled at her hoping she hadn’t overheard his conversation with Alice. ‘Don’t suppose you know where DCS Hussain is, do you? We’re colleagues of his.’ He showed her his warrant card.

  The woman returned Gus’ smile but didn’t answer his question. Instead she said, pointing at Sadia’s house, ‘Some to-do over there last night.’

  Gus raised his eyebrows. ‘Really?’

  ‘Oh, God, yes. First a bit of shouting, then Sadia, the daughter, ran out. Looked like she were crying to me. She jumped into her car and screeched off up the road. Seconds later Mr Hussain ran out of the house. He just sort of collapsed onto his knees right there and howled like a bloody werewolf.’

  She turned to pull her door closed behind her. ‘Then, he stayed perfectly still looking up at the sky with his arms out before him like he was praying or something.’ She shook her head. ‘From the streetlights, I could see the tears running down his cheeks. You know, I don’t even think he noticed them. After ten minutes or so I went over to him. Tried to coax him indoors, but he’d not budge. So I went down to that Mosque on Bannerman Street – there’s always lads there hanging around no matter how late it is. Makes some of the white folk a bit nervous like, but not me. I reckon if they’re at the mosque, they’re not mugging old ladies.’

  She laughed and, with a grin, added, ‘Unless of course they’re making bombs… but I suspect they wouldn’t be doing that in the car park.’

  Gus, despite himself, smiled at her sardonic humour. He reckoned there were probably very few in this area who shared her liberal views.

  ‘Anyway, I got one of the lads to tell Councillor Majid. Sure enough, he came up and I explained what had happened, then he managed to coax him indoors.’

  Gus nodded. ‘Did you see Councillor Majid leave?

  ‘Oh yes, he left about half an hour later.’

  ‘Don’t suppose you know if DCS Hussain’s gone out today, do you?’

  ‘I’ve not seen him out today and I’m sure I would have. He’s had two visitors though… a Pakistani bloke and one of yours.’

  Gus frowned. ‘One of ours?’

  ‘Yes, a tall skinny officer, seemed nervous like, but you can tell by the walk he was a copper. Then later on the Pakistani lad came.’

  Gus exchanged a look with Alice, and turned back to the house. Something made him feel a bit uneasy, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. From the neighbour’s description it sounded like Sampson had visited Sadia’s dad earlier. What the hell for, though? As for the Pakistani bloke, well, that could have been someone from the mosque, he supposed. Still, it didn’t explain why Hannibal Hussain wasn’t answering his door – unless, of course, he was asleep. ‘Just try that door will you, Al?’ but Alice had already stretched out her hand to press the handle.

  The porch door opened and they looked at each other. Gus grinned and said, ‘Okay, I’ll try the inner door, shall I?’

  Alice shrugged. ‘Why not? If we’re resorting to entering a senior officer’s home uninvited, then I’d much rather you were the one to do it.’

  Gus tried the inner door and it, too, was unlocked. He sighed: his concerns had just increased tenfold. DCS Hussain did not strike him as the sort of man to leave his front doors unlocked at any time of the day and far less so, after dark.

  Gus sighed and looked at Alice. ‘I don’t like this. Hope he’s not gone and had a bloody heart attack. That’s all Sadia would need. As if she doesn’t feel guilty enough.’

  Alice followed him through the door as he shouted, ‘DCS Hussain, it’s DI Gus McGuire. Your door was open, so we came in. We’re worried about you, as you didn’t answer your bell. Where are you, sir?’

  When there was no reply, Gus gestured towards a door further down the hallway that was only half shut and seemed to have a light on. Brushing his knuckles against the door he knocked and called out again, but still no response. He pushed the door open and stuck his head through the gap, ‘Aw, fuck, Alice. Call it in, please, paramedics and scene of crime.’

  Chapter 78

  18:15 The Delius

  Dwayney boy had come up with the goods and Jai had him holed up in the office at the Delius now. Little bastard had moaned about the smoke smell but as far as Jai was concerned he was damn lucky not to have been left to rot in his manky house in Killinghall. Little bastard had been doing the dirty on Shahid, getting drugs from Anastazy at a better profit margin and selling them at a discount on the streets. Undercutting them. Well, maybe when all this was done, Dwayne would be the one being cut. For now, though, Shahid had ordered Jai to lock him up in The Delius.

  He’d given them some useful information. Turned out Jerome could be quite persuasive with his knife and, as Jai found was often the case, Dwayne was a coward. Not brave enough to play with the big boys... disposable probably, in the long term. Now, it was all systems go. Shahid and Bazza were pulling in favours left right and centre… building up their armies, so to speak. Amassing their power force, whilst allowing their enemies to expose themselves. The more drugs and women Anastazy and his crew put on the streets, the easier they were to trace.

  The one thing Dwayney boy couldn’t give them was the Pole’s storage facility, but that didn’t matter. They were rounding up the lowlife that had betrayed them on the streets and sooner or later something would pop. Someone would know more than they should and Shahid was out to send a message now. He didn’t care how they got the information… he was past that. He’d turned the corner.

  The minute Anastazy Dolinski had spilled Imti’s blood he’d signed a death warrant, not just for himself but, for anyone who crossed Shahid. Shahid had nearly lost everything and Jai knew what that could do to a man. He loved the Khan brothers like family and he would do whatever Shahid wanted. The pig farm in Holmfirth hadn’t been utilised since Shahid’s dad’s time… Tonight, once more though, the pigs would eat well.

  Chapter 79

  18:45 Astor Avenue, Idle

  From the doorway, Gus could see that it was too late to do anything. The motionless figure, tongue protruding and black, hung from a rope that had been looped through a metal ring in the ceiling. On the floor nearby lay a hanging chair, its chain still attached. It had been removed from the ring to accommodate a rope. The steady drip of urine from the bottom of DCS Hussain’s trousers onto the laminate flooring was the only sound in the whole house.

  ‘Fucking selfish bastard just couldn’t let her be happy. He had to go and pile on more guilt. How the hell am I going to tell her, Al?’

  Alice rubbed his arm, but said nothing. Gus knew that this may be too big a hurdle for him and Sadia to overcome. Deep in his own thoughts, he was startled when he heard a panicked ‘Oh dear!’ from behind them. He and Alice spun round just in time to save the next door neighbour, who had followed them, from falling to the floor.

  Guiding her through to the front room away from the swinging body of DCS Hussain, Alice sat her on a sofa. Gus kneeled before her and ascertained that her name was Mrs Appleby. ‘What ma
de you follow us inside?’

  She shook her head and with a shaking hand brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. As she took a couple of deep breathes, he noticed that the colour was beginning to return to her cheeks. He held her hand and waited till she was ready.

  With a grateful smile she said, ‘Well, I thought you should know what the young Asian lad said. It was clear you were worried, you know?’

  ‘What did he say, Mrs Appleby?’

  ‘Well, I hadn’t actually seen him before but he came knocking on the door about 4 o’clock. Not long after that young officer left. He really hammered and hammered and then went round the back and hammered there too. Then he came back to the front and Mr Hussain opened the door. Mr Hussain clearly knew the lad. They were very angry with each other, but the only thing I heard was the young lad shouting “‘You bleep, bleep, bleep. You know you did it and you’ve let her think it was me all these years. So much for our boys in blue upholding the law.’ Then, Mr Hussain saw me and opened the door wider to let the young man in.’

  ‘Did you hear anything else?’ asked Alice

  Mrs Appleby shook her head. ‘I never even heard the young lad leave, so I presume things had quietened down by then.’

  ‘Can you describe him by any chance?’

  ‘Not really. Mid to late twenties, I suppose. Good looking, nice haircut. Huge gold bracelet and chain. Very effeminate, I thought, considering the rest of his clothes were sporty.’

  At the mention of gold jewellery, Gus raised an eyebrow. ‘We’ll get you to look at a few photos, see if you can pick him out, Mrs Appleby. Now, let’s get you back to your own house before the circus arrives.’

  Mrs Appleby waved Gus’ courteous hand away saying, ‘I got myself here, I can get myself home. You’ve got a crime scene grid to cover. I’ll be okay on my own.’

  As Mrs Appleby exited the front door Alice looked at Gus, ‘Crime scene grid, huh? The wonders of CSI.’

  ‘Hm.’ Gus headed back to the other room and, surveying the scene from the door, said, ‘Might not be a suicide, Al.’

  Alice joined him. ‘You’re thinking that was Shahid Khan, aren’t you?’

  Gus shrugged. ‘Fucked if I know, Al. The description fits, but then it fits umpteen others, too.’

  He craned his neck standing on tiptoe. ‘Can’t see a note on the table. You’d think he’d leave one. Maybe we’ll find something on his computer. Looks like there might have been a scuffle. The chairs knocked over, papers on the floor, pictures broken and ornaments knocked over.’

  ‘You think the Asian lad, maybe Shahid Khan, killed him?’

  Gus jingled his car keys in his pockets. ‘Bloody hope not. But we won’t know owt for sure till Hissing Sid and his lot appear.’

  With a last look at Hussain hanging from the ceiling, Gus said, ‘He’s a big man isn’t he, Al? I know Shahid’s built, but I’m not sure he’d manage to rope him up there.’

  She shrugged. ‘Don’t suppose so, but here are the boys to put us right.’

  Whilst the scene of crime team worked, Gus sat in his car, a cup of coffee, supplied by Mrs Appleby, in his hand and tried to work out how to break the news to Sadia. He didn’t want to be the one to break her heart like this, but he knew there was no way out of it. No way he wanted anyone else to tell her. No way she’d want anyone else to see her broken. He didn’t feel anything for the dead man who’d just been taken to the morgue. He’d never liked him. Always found him too stern, too judgemental and, especially with all this business with Sadia, he’d grown to intensely dislike him. But he’d still need to get to the bottom of it and he wanted as much info as possible before he reported back to Sadia.

  He’d already got them looking for Shahid Khan, who was probably at BRI with Imti. He’d still got to make time to see Sampson who had already admitted to paying a visit to DCS Hussain earlier. He pushed his way out of the car and deposited his empty mug on the tray Mrs Appleby had left on the wall between the two gardens. The scene had just been cleared by Hissing Sid, and Sampson, who’d arrived with Brighton half an hour earlier, was sifting through the papers on the floor, looking for anything resembling a suicide note.

  ‘Anything?’ asked Gus, opening a drawer and sifting through it.

  ‘Nah. Don’t reckon there is one,’ said Sampson, stretching his back.

  Gus turned towards him. ‘Come on, let’s get some air and you can tell me what you have. Sounded pretty urgent when you arrived.’

  Sampson, eyes down, followed Gus outside, then recounted his earlier visit to the DCS and the purpose of it. Gus listened nodding every so often and when Sampson had finished he frowned. ‘So you’re telling me Hussain all but admitted that he was the father of Millie Green’s unborn baby.’ This put a whole new perspective on Millie Green’s death and it explained why Hussain hadn’t wanted them reopening the case. Shit, he’d have to tread very carefully when speaking to Sadia. This was a complete mess.

  Sampson nodded. ‘Yeah, when I told him I was going to tell Sadia by close of play tomorrow, I thought he was going to take the opportunity to tell her himself first. Looks like he decided to do this instead. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have confronted him. I should’ve handled it differently. I blame myself for knocking him over the edge. Sadia will never forgive me.’

  ‘Look Sampson, what you did was brave. Hussain wasn’t the easiest to work with, so I think you did well to confront him. I think that between your visit and Shahid’s – if it was Shahid – he realised the game was up. He decided to take the easy way out.’

  Sampson looked up at Gus. ‘So you think he killed Millie Green too?’

  Gus nodded ‘Looks very much like it, Sampson. We’ll have to investigate that much more fully now all this has come to light.’

  ‘Poor Sadia,’ said Sampson, looking distraught.

  Chapter 80

  18:45 Astor Avenue, Idle

  Brighton had just finished a nice curry when the call came in from Alice. The cow had said it was urgent, that all hands were needed on deck so he’d jumped to it… well actually, he’d taken another chapatti and used it to wipe up the last of his tikka masala sauce, tidied the containers away, wiped the work surfaces down, washed his hands and then, with a last glance round his house, he’d headed over to Astor Avenue.

  The address had been unfamiliar to him and it wasn’t till he’d arrived that he’d learned who’d topped themselves. No denying it, it had been a bloody shock. Not that he felt anything for DCS Hussain but rather because that was his meal ticket off down the fucking Swanee. What was he supposed to do now? Cursing under his breath he followed the stupid cow’s instructions to hold the crowd back and to be on the alert for the media. Meanwhile, every time he glanced over he saw McGuire with a coffee cup in his hand chatting up the neighbours or Sampson. It made his blood boil at the best of times but tonight Brighton had other things to consider.

  What was he going to do? He was sure the photos he’d taken would be found and he was equally sure that it wouldn’t take a mastermind to trace them back to him. When that happened, he’d be in real trouble and with Hussain gone he had no safety net to protect him. He’d relied on Hussain to watch out for him. He’d been his last hope of being able to dodge away the next few years till his pension kicked in, secure in the knowledge that he had something on Hussain. For a nanosecond he wondered if McGuire might be amenable to turning a blind eye to the photos to keep them from being public knowledge… then he caught himself and laughed aloud. No way would McGuire countenance a cover up of any description. Not even to keep his private life secret. No, he was too much of a bloody goody two shoes. He’d make sure Brighton paid for his indiscretion with the camera, regardless of any personal embarrassment to himself.

  Which brought Brighton onto plan B. He hadn’t wanted to go down this route. He was happy with his job and the prospect of a pension but, needs must. He’d have to go cap in hand to his brother and beg for that security job he’d offered last time Brighton had gotten
into a bit of trouble at work. He didn’t want to work security for his brother’s building site. He hated the cold and he hated being on his own overnight but, what other option did he have? Fucking Hussain! It was all his fault. Ungrateful bastard paid him back by topping himself. Arsehole!

  Brighton edged closer to where McGuire and Sampson were chatting. Little bit of ear-wigging was in order. After all, how else would he find out if they’d found the photos yet?

  Sampson was banging on about that Millie Green whore… the one who’d burned to death years ago… Bazza Green’s sister.

  Brighton shuffled further into the shadows by the gate and continued to listen. When he heard them talking about how upset Sadia was going to be, he smiled. Served the bitch right. She’d hassled him enough, rollicking him for no damn reason in front of those uniformed officers. Maybe she’d be so upset she’d off herself too. Seemed like no-one had informed the bitch yet. McGuire wanted to do it himself… stupid bleeding heart idiot.

  Brighton sidled back down the lane, shoulders hunched. He felt dejected. There was no other way to describe it. He’d worked hard to curry favour with Hussain and now it’d all backfired and before long he’d be out on his proverbial arse. He shook his head and had taken out his phone, planning to make the uncomfortable begging call to his brother, when a thought struck him. What if he allowed himself one final act of defiance before he went? He deserved it after all. He nodded and after a quick glance round to make sure no-one was watching, he headed to his car.

  Chapter 81

  19:25 Astor Avenue, Idle

  They’d nearly finished in DCS Hussain’s home and Gus felt done in. His head throbbed and his eyes felt gritty. His lack of sleep and the emotions of the day were beginning to take their toll on him but he had one more job to do. The worst one imaginable and he’d give anything not to have to be the one to do it. That, however, was not an option. This was a job he couldn’t delegate. He took his bottle of Wee Bru from his pocket, grimaced at the lukewarm dregs that remained and, fumbling for his pills, he popped his anti-depressants from their packaging. He’d only just swallowed them and was stepping towards the door when it flew open, bringing in a breeze of autumn leaves and Sadia, her hair tangled about her head and her coat flying open revealing a hastily fastened cardigan, buttoned wrongly.