There had been no answer to his call. So, he called Kate for advice. She swung into action. A phalanx of uniformed officers, the social services, immigration authorities and an expanded investigation team, including Sue Rollinson, Dan Price and a seething and disgruntled Brian Finch were drafted in to help.
The pathetic slaves rescued from the damp and dirty farmhouse and the small cluster of caravans, were mostly admitted to hospital in the first instance. Over the following weeks, some returned home, their expenses paid by their embassies. They were heartbroken with disappointment, their hopes of a better future shattered. Some were taken into the social care system. Their mental health was too fragile for anything more than care for the foreseeable future.
There was one young man, Pietre who had been badly beaten and it was days before they were able to talk to him. If Paul Harris hadn’t found him when he did, then the chances were that he would have added to the unacceptably long list of the dead. It was he, through an interpreter who told them about Emilia, and Bogdan’s fury when he found Ana had escaped.
“He hit her so much. He didn’t believe her when she told him that she had been asleep.” The young man said. “He beat her and beat her. I was outside. I cannot sleep in the house with all the men snoring; and the smell is bad. When they are all asleep, I have found a way through the cellar. I can be in the field, secret and quiet so they do not see. I tried to help her but, three of them beat her. They beat me also and I thought I would die. I didn’t, but Emilia, I think she did. I saw them put her in the back of the white van.”
There was plenty of evidence in the back of the VW to prove what he said to be true. There was DNA to link the vehicle to all three deaths. There were also fingerprints on the glass from the kitchen at Baker’s house. Two men who were living in another, much better mobile home, tried to run when the noise woke them but were stopped on the road and brought back.
When they were questioned later, they refused to speak except to demand help from their embassy. It was going to be a long time before everything was sorted and all the threads pulled together. The team agreed that when it was time for the bodies to be released, they would all go together to the airport to witness the sad repatriation, but that was for later. Elian, the man from the hut, would be returned to his home in no fit state to be seen by his loved ones, his skull still missing in the wild.
It was unclear just how much Patricia Baker had known. Her brother was her legal representative and forbade her to answer any of their questions. She did, however, reiterate that she believed Bogdan had killed her husband. “We weren’t that close anymore. Me and Peter. Well, we’d been married a long time, you know. There was no romance or anything like that. We rubbed along though, the two of us. I miss him. I really miss him.”
In the end, the CPS decided there wasn’t enough evidence to charge her with anything. Yes, the factory had been staffed with Eastern Europeans but there was no crime there, and they couldn’t prove she knew the circumstances they were being kept in. “Bogdan rented the farmhouse from us,” she told them, “I knew there were caravans. But I never went there. Why would I go there? It was nothing to do with me,” she said. It was another factor in the whole situation that made Tanya despair of her fellow citizens.
Chapter 71
Bob Scunthorpe was effusive in his praise of Tanya and her little team. “You need to take some time off, Inspector. Take a week’s sick leave. I’m sure if we need your input we know where to find you.”
Of course, she declined, she needed to see it through to the end. Bogdan and his cohorts were remanded in custody and the slow wheels of justice had begun to grind forward.
They dotted all the i’s that they could, piecing together evidence from the other workers. Brian Finch stalked the offices in quiet fury. His case became part of the whole, so his thunder was not only stolen, it was as if it had never existed as a separate entity.
The day that the paperwork was finally finished, and the whiteboards cleared, Tanya was sent for by the DCI. It was déjà vu when she walked into the office to find the ACC and Brian Finch already there.
“Coffee, Detective Inspector?” Bob smiled at her. She was almost back to normal and was surprised to find that she was looking forward to the drinks in the pub planned for later. “The Assistant Chief Constable wanted to add his congratulations to mine, and he has some news.”
She had been put forward for a commendation. Her bravery in rescuing Patricia Baker and arresting an armed thug on her own, would be officially recognised.
“I was particularly impressed, Detective Inspector, that you refused to be dissuaded when you were convinced that you were on the right track. What is it they say nowadays – ‘speaking truth to power’? Well done.” Tanya was speechless; it seemed to be becoming a habit.
She glanced at Brian Finch who had been a silent and brooding presence. Bob Scunthorpe noticed; he cleared his throat. “There is just one other thing, we thought it right that you be the first to know.”
Brian looked up and grinned at her. She felt the first stirrings of alarm. Bob Scunthorpe continued. “Brian’s next posting has been delayed.” He glanced at Finch. “So, for the foreseeable future, the current situation will continue. I trust that you’ll be able to see past the recent… awkwardness. I’m sure you will. You are both highly professional officers.”
The satisfaction of the ACC’s congratulations, the pride in the commendation, even the anticipation of the pub, faded to grey.
* * *
In the incident room, Finch told them all the news. “So, we are going to be working together for a good while longer.” Sue Rollinson was positively glowing, and Tanya wondered how well they had actually got on. There had been no rumour that she was aware of. However, she had been preoccupied.
Kate was looking across the room. When Tanya caught her eye, she grimaced but followed it with a quick wink. Tanya smiled back.
She pushed the irritation to one side and enjoyed the evening in the pub. Just a bit drunk – tired but satisfied – she took a taxi home.
She wanted to call Charlie; he’d been there at the last gathering. Every time she had looked at Finch, she missed Charlie just a bit more. But it was too late, she couldn’t risk waking the baby. She’d call him the next day and have a good old moan about the unfairness of it all.
She picked up the mail that had been gathering on the hall table over the last few days. Plenty of catalogues: Sweaty Betty, Boden, Hobbs – all the usual suspects. She put them to one side.
There were three from the bank. She gritted her teeth – they wouldn’t be cheerful. It was a long time since she’d opened bank correspondence happily. Yes, they were worse than she thought. She had exceeded her overdraft by quite a bit. They were threatening her credit cards. She walked into the living room and stared at the wall for a minute and then she sent Paul Harris a text.
If you want to buy that screen make me an offer. :-)
She wouldn’t miss it, although it would hardly make a dent in the debt. She’d have to do more. Some of her clothes would need to go on eBay.
There was one more envelope. It was a letter from Serena. That in itself was odd, an email would have been more usual. In the event, it was rather lovely. It thanked her, apologised for the trouble she’d caused, brought her up to date on the ongoing turmoil in Edinburgh: her sister’s divorce, the wrangling about the house, and finally a request that they keep in touch. She folded it back into the envelope. Did she really want that? She didn’t know.
Did she want Kate as a friend? Kate with her developing problems and the way that they made her face the passing of her own years?
Then there was Simon – she still hadn’t got back to him about ‘the date’. She looked around the quiet room. Wasn’t this enough for her? This, the occasional chat with Charlie, and her job. Most of all her job.
She passed Serena’s letter through the shredder, poured herself a hefty glass of whisky and dialled Simon Hewitt on her mobile
List of characters
The Team:
Robert (Bob) Scunthorpe – Detective Chief Inspector
Late fifties. Decent and honourable senior officer. Married. One son.
Tanya Miller – Detective Inspector
Early thirties. Younger daughter in the family with one sibling. Always in the shadow of her brilliant older sister as they grew up. A shopaholic, she returned to Oxford from a previous posting and at first worked in the missing persons section until moving to the serious crimes team.
Sue Rollinson – Detective Constable
Suhita Rollinson-Bahkshi. Young, unmarried, from a largish mixed-race family, father dead, mother an estate agent. Three brothers one sister.
Paul Harris – Detective Sergeant
A plodder. Recently married and a bit of a bloke. Doesn’t really get the whole PC thing. Lives in a rental flat with his wife Nicole.
Kate Lewis – Detective Constable
Fifty, heading for retirement. Content with her life and achievements but refuses to be side-lined due to her age and lack of professional progression. Happily married with three teenaged daughters. Skilled with the computer and a good organiser. Husband called George.
Dan Price – Detective Constable
Young and insecure. Quiet and keeps his head down. Partly because he was bullied when he was younger but also because he isn’t sure how widely known it is that he is gay. Lives at home with his parents and one kid sister who is still at school.
Charlie Lambert – Detective Inspector. Recently moved to Merseyside. Married to Carol. They have one baby – Joshua – whom he dotes on. He is a family man from a large Jamaican family.
Brian Finch
New DI – tall, good looking, computer savvy and connected via an uncle to the top brass. Arrogant and driven.
Simon Hewitt – medical examiner
Tall, good looking, dark brown hair and grey eyes, late forties, unmarried.
Moira – receptionist at the morgue.
Late thirties and dedicated to ‘protecting’ the morgue staff from hassle. Abrupt and unfriendly but tolerated by the morgue staff as she runs the place so efficiently.
Lisa Cummings – medical examiner; newly qualified.
Thirty, married with one child.
Mrs Green – Tanya’s cleaner
Late fifties, mumsy, married to Glen who is retired.
Karen Laidlaw – PCSO
Newly qualified, kind and dedicated.
The public at the Oxford Links Golf Club:
Spencer Cartwright – witness
Peter Baker – witness
Bob Peters – witness
Steven Traynor – club secretary
Jamie Mulholland – bar manager
Tricia Baker (Patricia) – married to Peter Baker
Robin Turner, her brother – a solicitor
Other titles in this series
If you enjoyed BRUTAL PURSUIT, featuring DI Tanya Miller, why not check out BROKEN ANGEL, in which the shopaholic detective appears for the first time?
An eerie corpse dressed as a bride, a killer playing a macabre game, and a woman detective prepared to follow her instincts. Enter DI Tanya Miller, the missing persons specialist brought in to investigate the disappearance of a woman from a motorway services. Someone is playing a sick game, and she’s determined to catch him, no matter what it takes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DTGFS1H/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DTGFS1H/
DI Tanya Miller returns in BURNING GREED:
An investigation into a warehouse fire turns into a murder inquiry when a streetwalker’s body is found. DI Tanya Miller assembles her team but is drawn away when her niece goes missing. The pressure mounts as she juggles the two cases. Can she find the focus needed to locate the errant teenager with a killer on the loose?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KPKZL5S/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KPKZL5S/
Both of these books are FREE with Kindle Unlimited and available in paperback from Amazon.
For more great titles like these, visit www.thebookfolks.com
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