Echoes of Guilt

by Rob Sinclair

  * * *

  The interview room was a bland affair, as all police interview rooms were, though the relative newness of this one was at least evident, with blemish-free light blue walls and floor, modern lighting, and functional chairs and table.

  Dani was sitting next to Lyle’s colleague, PC Nawaz. Ana was opposite, eyes down, hands folded on her lap. She looked a little older than her supposed twenty-four years of age, though she had a naturally pretty face and smooth skin that Dani hadn’t had herself since her late teens.

  ‘Do you know why you’re here, Ana?’ Dani said.

  Ana held her eye for a second, but was soon looking down again. ‘Not really. The officer said something about immigration, but I’m an EU national. I don’t know why there’d be a problem.’

  Her English was excellent. Far more anglicised than Stef and Brigitta’s, though with just enough of a twang to show her origins.

  ‘I’m afraid there’s a bit more going on here than problems with immigration, Ana. But I’m sure you know that, don’t you?’

  Dani let the question hang. It was a basic fishing attempt, but she’d already decided from the couple of hours of research into Victor Nistor and Ana Crisan, that she and Easton had undertaken at HQ before coming here, that there were a number of oddities about the two prisoners, to say the least.

  ‘How long have you been in England for?’ Dani asked.

  ‘Over six years.’

  ‘So you came here when you were…’

  ‘Eighteen. There was nothing illegal. I came on the Eurotunnel, with my passport.’

  ‘You’ve not left the UK since?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What’s your relationship with Mr Nistor?’

  There was a small but perceptible twitch in her face. ‘He’s my boyfriend.’

  Nistor was forty-two years old. The age difference was big, but not implausible.

  ‘You live with him?’ Dani asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘For how long?’

  ‘I don’t remember. I’ve known Victor a long time.’

  ‘This is where I’m getting a little confused. Because you say you came here six years ago.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But you didn’t register with HMRC, to work here, until…’ Dani looked at the paper in her hand, for effect mostly, ‘…earlier this year, in fact. The only record I have of employment for you is with Janx Publicity Ltd, a media agency based in Liverpool. Which again, was this year.’

  ‘I didn’t need to work before that,’ Ana said.

  ‘Didn’t need to? You had a lot of savings? Or was it just that you didn’t bother to register to pay taxes?’

  Ana was looking a little riled now. That was fine.

  ‘Is that it?’ Dani said. ‘So what were you working as? A waitress? Cleaner? Fruit picker? Taking cash and pocketing it. It’s not uncommon. But it is illegal.’

  ‘How dare you,’ Ana said, her face twisted in anger. ‘I didn’t come here to work slave labour. I have a good education, I…’

  She seemed to lose the trail of thought, or perhaps just decided that what she was about to say actually wasn’t going to help her.

  ‘You’re what?’ Dani said. ‘Too good for jobs like that? I mean, looking at this…’ Dani wafted the paper in the air, ‘…at what I can see about Janx, I’d agree. Nice-looking job that. A hundred and thirty miles from here. So what are you doing back in Tipton?’

  ‘I came to see Victor.’

  ‘Your boyfriend.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Just visiting?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You also gave the officers your home address as the same address as Victor.’

  ‘We live together.’

  ‘You live together? But you work in Liverpool. And also rent a room in a house there.’

  Ana looked shocked now. As though she couldn’t understand how Dani had figured out so much of her background already.

  ‘The other interesting thing is that my colleagues up north had a quick word with your landlord. Your housemate. Your employer too. Apparently, you didn’t show up for work the last three days. Your boss has been calling you non-stop.’

  Ana was clenching her teeth.

  ‘I lost my phone,’ she said.

  ‘Which explains why we didn’t find one on you when you were arrested, I suppose. But you probably still could have told your boss that. Probably not the smartest way to climb the corporate ladder. Why aren’t you in Liverpool, at work, anyway?’

  ‘I missed Victor too much,’ Ana said, though it was even less convincing than her previous answers.

  ‘Yeah, I’m sure he’s a real charmer. What does Victor do for work, again?’

  ‘He owns a transport company.’

  ‘Good for him. So what do you know of Brigitta Popescu?’

  Ana flinched again.

  ‘You do know her?’

  ‘She’s a family friend of Victor’s.’

  ‘A family friend. Is that why he drives her car?’

  A confused look now. Dani wasn’t sure if that was genuine or not.

  ‘You didn’t know it was her car?’

  Ana didn’t say anything.

  ‘I’ve met Brigitta,’ Dani said. ‘She doesn’t really seem like the driving type.’

  ‘Maybe Victor bought it off her.’

  ‘Maybe. Or maybe they’re just such close friends that she doesn’t mind him using it. Permanently.’

  ‘Is that a crime?’

  ‘Not at all. I’m just trying to figure out the dynamic. So how well do you know Brigitta and her family?’

  ‘A little.’

  ‘You’ve known Victor for… how long?’

  ‘Years.’

  ‘Since before you came here.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And you’ve been living with him, but you only know a little about a family who have gifted your boyfriend a car?’

  ‘So this is all about his car?’ She looked genuinely confused now.

  ‘No, Ana. I’m afraid it’s about a lot more than that. But you must know that?’

  Ana said nothing, though her façade was wearing down bit by bit. Dani felt a little bad now. Even without having met Victor, she had a pretty good idea of what she thought the dynamic between him and Ana was, and Dani wasn’t here to heap more pressure onto someone who was more likely victim than suspect, but she had to be hard first, to show Ana the reality of the predicament she was in.

  ‘Do you know Nicolae Popescu?’ Dani asked.

  If she did, Ana now hid it remarkably well.

  ‘Ana?’

  ‘I’ve heard of him. I’ve never met him.’

  ‘He’s still around here, though, right?’

  Ana’s eyes pinched a little. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘You haven’t seen him recently?’

  ‘I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him. I just know who he is. Brigitta’s grandson. I’ve certainly heard the name.’

  ‘In what context?’

  ‘I don’t remember.’

  Dani paused, but Ana offered up nothing more. It was time for the photographs. Dani dug two out. One of Liam, one of Clara.

  ‘Do you recognise either of these two people?’

  Ana spent a few seconds studying the pictures. There was no flash of recognition, or of unease now. ‘No,’ she said.

  ‘You’re sure? The man is Liam Dunne, the woman is Clara Dunne. They’re brother and sister.’

  Ana shrugged and shook her head.

  ‘Clara’s dead. Liam is missing.’

  Ana looked perplexed, but also increasingly fragile. Was that simply because she was slowly realizing that her being here was more serious than she’d previously thought?

  ‘I really don’t know what you think this has to do with me,’ she said.

  Dani said nothing.

  ‘I don’t know these people!’

  ‘What about Victor?’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  Dani
leaned forwards now. She put her hand onto the desk, on top of Ana’s. Ana didn’t flinch at all, didn’t make any kind of move to take her hand away.

  ‘Ana, if you need help, just tell me. I will help you. But don’t hold back on me. I need to know what’s really happening here. With Victor. With Popescu. With the Dunnes.’

  Ana still didn’t move her hand. She held Dani’s eye. Then opened her mouth to speak, just as there was a knock on the door.

  Now Ana did whip her hand away, and Dani clenched her fist in frustration as she turned to Nawaz and indicated for her to get the door.

  She’d only opened it a few inches when a suited man barged into the room.

  ‘This interview is over,’ he shouted, glaring angrily at Dani.

  ‘And you are?’ she said, getting to her feet.

  ‘Ms Crisan’s lawyer.’

  No name, apparently. Dani looked to Ana who appeared as surprised as Dani was.

  ‘Ana informed us she didn’t have a lawyer,’ Dani said. ‘And told us she was happy to talk to us without one.’

  ‘Well, now she does have a lawyer. Ana, come on.’

  The man made a move towards Ana and Dani stepped in front of him.

  ‘Excuse me, but Ms Crisan is here under caution. You don’t get to decide when we release her.’

  ‘Under caution? For what offence? And be very specific, Detective, because I will make a very clear note of everything you say to me.’

  Dani’s brain whirred, but what could she say? The reality was they really had no grounds whatsoever to hold Ana any further. The checks Dani herself had carried out before coming to Tipton had shown Ana’s immigration status was bona fide. Tax offences perhaps? But there was no actual clear evidence of that. In theory they were entitled to hold her for twenty-four hours without formal charge, but was there any sort of charge even on the horizon?

  ‘OK, Ana, you’re free to go,’ Dani said.

  ‘Wise decision, Detective,’ the man said.

  Ana got to her feet.

  ‘But Ana,’ Dani said. ‘Have a think about what I said. If you want to discuss anything at all—’

  ‘Yes, yes, Detective, we’ll be in touch.’

  The man shoved past Dani and ushered Ana towards the door.

  ‘A pleasure to meet you, Mr…’

  ‘Green.’

  That was all he said as he and Ana left the room. Dani followed them out, along the corridor. When they exited into the reception area, Dani had to hold her nerve when she saw Victor Nistor already waiting there, near the exit, arms folded, looking smug.

  He beamed a smile to Ana and she somewhat reluctantly moved over to him. He held out his arms and embraced her, his eyes finding Dani’s as Easton approached looking sheepish.

  ‘Nothing I could do,’ he said.

  Dani said nothing to him. She got it. They’d arrested Victor for driving without insurance, based on the instruction she’d given to the local police, and even though they could easily pin that on Victor, it wasn’t really a serious enough offence to warrant arrest on its own. Without other aggravating circumstances, a fixed penalty notice would have sufficed. Victor might not have known that when his car was first stopped, but his lawyer certainly did.

  ‘Did you at least get onto Dunne and Popescu before you were shut down?’ Dani asked Easton quietly.

  ‘Barely. Learned nothing.’

  Ana, Victor and Green were all now moving for the exit.

  ‘We’ll be seeing you,’ Dani shouted out.

  Green turned around and shook his head, as though disappointed by Dani’s need for a parting comment. Victor didn’t turn around at all.

  But Ana did. A meek glance over her shoulder. Fear in her eyes now.

  A moment later she was out of sight.

  ‘What a bloody balls-up,’ Easton said.

  ‘Not at all,’ Dani said.

  ‘How?’

  ‘Because whatever Victor is up to, the Popescus too, they’re at least properly on our radar now. We know who they are, and they know we’re looking into them. Now we just need to figure out what the hell is really going on.’

  Chapter 17

  ‘What exactly are you asking for?’ McNair said, looking over her desk at Dani, somewhat suspiciously.

  Dani sighed. She thought she’d been clear enough. It had almost got to the point in their relationship now where Dani felt McNair had to be initially obstructive whenever Dani asked for something, or updated her boss on something, purely out of habit.

  ‘I think we’ve got enough here to suggest that Nicolae Popescu is somehow involved in Clara Dunne’s death,’ Dani said.

  ‘Enough? You have nothing!’

  ‘No, Ma’am, I don’t believe that at all. Popescu is a known violent criminal. We have a witness statement saying he’s still in the UK, despite having been officially deported several years ago. Pictures of him were all over Clara Dunne’s wall. And I’ve seen the way people react when his name his mentioned.’

  Dani expected a bite back from that last comment. Something along the lines of someone’s facial expression isn’t evidence of murder, but actually McNair didn’t say anything at all for a good while.

  ‘But it’s not Popescu you’re suggesting we set up surveillance for,’ was McNair’s eventual response.

  ‘Only because we don’t know where he is,’ Easton said.

  ‘Which is a big flaw, don’t you think?’

  ‘Not really,’ Dani said. ‘We could set up surveillance at his grandmother’s house. At Victor Nistor’s house, his place of work too. Eyes and ears. I think we’ll soon figure out what these people are up to, and whether and how they’re involved in Clara Dunne’s death.’

  McNair rolled her eyes. ‘Dani, this is all just so… limp. You must see that?’

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to rectify. We need to know more.’

  ‘Have you spoken to DCI Fairclough?’ McNair asked.

  Fairclough being McNair’s equivalent within the Organised Crime team.

  ‘I spoke to him briefly,’ Easton said. ‘Before we went to Tipton to interview Nistor and Crisan.’

  ‘A trip which sounds like a complete mess all on its own,’ McNair said, holding Dani’s eye as she spoke.

  ‘Fairclough knew of Popescu,’ Easton said, ‘and agreed that back in the day he’d been involved in a gang who had something of a racket going. Drugs, prostitution, extortion. Popescu’s jail sentence was for attacking the leader of a rival gang from Poland. But Fairclough said they weren’t big players back then. Just a bunch of local thugs, and they haven’t had an active investigation in the Tipton area for years. He’d never even heard of Victor Nistor.’

  ‘Which could be for a very good reason,’ McNair said. ‘There’s nothing for us to be interested in.’

  ‘Or it could be because nobody has bothered to look properly until now,’ Dani said. ‘Nistor’s record is clean, but I’ve spoken to people on the streets around where he lives, around where his business is located…’

  McNair looked incredulous now, as though what Dani and Easton had been doing was ridiculous.

  ‘Do you know how many people claimed they knew Popescu? Knew Nistor?’

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Not a single one. But it was the way they said it. And yes, I know I can’t use something so basic as evidence, but – Easton will back me up on this – based on the reactions we’ve seen again and again today, people are scared of these guys. Scared enough that they won’t even acknowledge they know of them.’

  McNair was still staring at Dani. No one spoke for several seconds. Which was good, Dani realised, because it meant McNair was giving the idea serious consideration now.

  ‘Let me speak to Fairclough directly,’ McNair said. ‘I find it hard to believe his team have completely missed Nistor if he really is what I think you’re saying he is. I’ll put a call into Baxter too.’

  Chief Superintendent Baxter was both Fairclough’s and McNair’s boss.

  �
��But it’s four p.m. on Friday night,’ McNair added, ‘so even if they agree to anything at all, it’s unlikely to be concluded and in place until next week.’

  ‘I can live with that,’ Dani said.

  ‘And I won’t make any promises about what level of surveillance they’ll agree to, if any at all. I can tell you now, it’s highly unlikely to be covert eavesdropping GCHQ style. More likely a copper in a car nearby each of the addresses you’ve given, and a bit of a more thorough background check than you’ve already done yourselves.’

  ‘Every little helps,’ Dani said.

  ‘Something like that. Is there anything else?’

  ‘Not for today. Thank you.’

  ‘I suggest you both go home and take a break and enjoy your weekend.’

  Dani and Easton both got to their feet and thanked McNair again before they headed out of the office. Dani closed the door behind her and let out a big sigh.

  ‘You’re beginning to make a habit out of this,’ Easton said.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Getting McNair to actually agree with you and give you what you ask for.’

  ‘Tell me about it. It’s almost as if she trusts my instincts these days.’

  ‘Even if you are going to completely ignore her advice.’

  ‘I am?’ Dani said, eyebrow raised.

  ‘She suggested relaxing and enjoying your weekend. Only I can’t imagine you spending the next two days with your feet up and the TV on.’

  ‘Sounds like hell,’ Dani said with a wry smile.

  And he was absolutely right, she had zero intention of taking the next two days off.

  Not while there was still a killer out there.

  And one way or another, there always was.

  Chapter 18

  Saturday was already turning out to be as busy as Dani had expected. She’d built up the courage to spend Friday night at home though, as tired as she was, it had still been a restless night, and first thing Saturday morning she’d been back into hospital to see Jason, and also to discuss with the doctor the arrangements for Jason coming home. It had been agreed that they’d need some trial days beforehand: taking Jason back home just for the day, then for a day and night, and with Dani in the midst of an all-consuming investigation, it already felt like time was fast running out before Christmas. Dani really wasn’t sure how she was going to fit everything in.