by Mark McKay
‘His two mates got away in a helicopter,’ said Nick. ‘You must have heard it.’
‘We’ve asked for back-up on that,’ said Harvey. ‘There’ll be one of our choppers up there looking right now.’
‘Any of your men hurt?’
Harvey shook his head. ‘We killed one of theirs,’ he said, indicating the man on the ground. ‘I’ve called an ambulance for this one, or now two, I should say. We’ll get them to a public hospital and someone can get those arrows out.’ He looked at Mariko with some admiration and even more curiosity than he had the first time he met her. ‘You’re good with that bow.’
‘Lots of practice,’ she said.
Nick thought about having a go at Harvey about his unscheduled arrival. He’d expected the police to pick up the four buyers on their way out, but it seemed the detective sergeant and his armed colleagues preferred a more confrontational approach. In this instance, they’d got away with it. He held his tongue.
‘You can speak to Mr Steadman when he’s had that arrow removed,’ said Harvey. ‘I’ll let you know when that is.’
The ambulance arrived shortly afterwards and took the two men away. A second one was right behind it, but they needn’t have hurried. Their passenger was beyond all medical attention, he’d be going straight to the morgue. Mariko and Nick left the policemen to it. They were in the process of transferring twenty-five one-kilo packets of cocaine from the gangsters’ cars to the police vehicles as they walked back down the access road.
‘A good result all round,’ said Nick.
‘Yes. Now it’s just about what Mr Steadman will tell us about Julian Frost’s murder. I hope he won’t be too stubborn.’
The expression on Mariko’s face suggested that she might be prepared to personally intervene, should Conrad be stubborn.
‘And while he’s at it he can tell us why Edward Torres was piloting the helicopter. Should be an interesting chat.’
They were approaching the car park now, looking rather anomalous in broad daylight in their camouflage clothing, but there was nobody around to notice. They quickly packed everything away in the boot of the VW and got underway. Their work in Norfolk was done.
Once Conrad was patched up, he was transferred from the hospital to the Notting Hill Gate police station in London, where he was formally charged with the illegal import and sale of controlled substances and the murders of Julian Frost and Ray Curtis. In a day or two he’d be moved from there to prison, where he would await trial. DCI Richards contacted Nick to tell him that if he had any questions for Conrad he should come down to the station as soon as possible and ask them. As Russell was on his way up from Penzance, they agreed that Nick would bring Mariko and meet the two detectives at the station the following day.
When they got there, Richards told them that Conrad was willing to co-operate. He’d realised that he was looking at a jail sentence of at least fifteen years as far as the drug-trafficking was concerned and knew that co-operation might lead to a reduction in sentence. There was also a possible life sentence if he was found guilty of the murders of Julian and Ray. To top it off, Richards had mentioned the fact that the Peruvian authorities might get first bite and Conrad would be extradited to face trial for murder in Peru. If found guilty there he would rot in one of their less than salubrious prisons, indefinitely. Of all the charges, it was clear that Conrad preferred the first.
They went into the interrogation room, where Conrad was waiting with his lawyer in the company of DCI Russell. Russell had on a dark suit today, no less stylish than the blue number. He fixed his gaze on Mariko as she entered with Nick and Richards.
‘Dr Watanabe, is it?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Nasty business in Kensington,’ said Russell. ‘Glad to see you looking so well.’ He turned his attention to Conrad, while the others sat down.
‘This lady was attacked in her flat,’ he said. ‘And almost killed. Anything to do with you?’
‘No. I’d never seen her before, until she put an arrow in me.’ There was an expression of mild regret on Conrad’s face, as though all this could have been avoided if Mariko had just shown more consideration and died in the attack at her flat.
‘So,’ continued Russell, ‘You were caught red-handed selling twenty-five kilos of cocaine to representatives of the Chaplain family from London. How were you paid? And how much?’
‘In cash, of course. 750,000 US dollars.’
‘Why dollars?’
Conrad shrugged. ‘The reserve currency of the world. Redeemable just about anywhere. But I’m not in possession of that money.’
The coke had a street value of at least twice that amount. More if you cut it. Russell knew that the money had gone with the helicopter, which hadn’t been tracked by the police. It had disappeared by the time they got airborne.
‘Who is in possession of it?’
‘No comment.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ interrupted Nick. ‘I saw Edward Torres, the CEO of Hackett Pharmaceuticals, piloting the helicopter. He knew all about the cocaine and now he’s in possession of that money. Is that correct?’
Conrad consulted his lawyer for a moment and then turned to Nick. ‘I decline to answer that,’ he said. ‘What I will say is this: the cocaine was bought in Peru, by me. Then it was shipped by me for sale by me, to the gentlemen who bought it from me when you arrested me. From beginning to end, I was the only person involved and the only one who stood to benefit from the transaction.’
There was a moment’s silence. It was clearly bullshit, thought Nick, but if Conrad stuck to that line he couldn’t incriminate anyone other than himself. He tried a different tack.
‘You have a relationship with Hackett Pharmaceuticals, that much is obvious. The cocaine was smuggled inside packets of powder that they are associated with. The packaging has their name on it. What is that relationship?’
‘I worked for them as an account manager. That gave me access to the powder that the Ascension people were producing and allowed me to use their shipment to hide mine. Simple.’
‘Do you know Edward Torres?’
‘Only by name.’
Trying to tease out the truth about Conrad’s various associations would take some time, at least as far as the cocaine was concerned. Perhaps he’d have more luck with the murders.
‘What else did you do for Hackett Pharmaceuticals?’ he asked.
Conrad was puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Were you asked to kill Julian Frost and Ray Curtis in order to protect Hackett Pharmaceuticals’ patent application?’
The lawyer whispered something to Conrad, who just laughed and shook his head.
‘That’s an easy question to answer,’ he said. ‘You’ve been on at me about those two men ever since we met, Mr Severance. Yes, apparently Julian Frost came to the retreat centre and may have taken some powder away with him, but I never met the man. And Ray Curtis is just a name to me. I can tell you now with a clear conscience that whatever crimes I may or may not be responsible for, the murder of those two men isn’t among them. I didn’t kill them.’
Nick hadn’t expected such an unequivocal denial and it stopped him cold. He thought he knew when someone was telling the truth and that was exactly what Conrad appeared to be doing. He glanced at Mariko, who was as inscrutable as ever. But when she met his eyes he knew she was thinking the same thing.
‘It’s something of a co-incidence that Hackett Pharmaceuticals stood to benefit from the death of these two men,’ he said. ‘If you didn’t kill them, do you have any idea who might have?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Mr Severance. How would I know something like that?’
Nick sighed. He wasn’t going to get any further with this line of enquiry. ‘Perhaps I should ask Mr Torres,’ he said, to no one in particular.
‘Yes,’ said Conrad. ‘Perhaps you should.’
‘There’s only one problem with that,’ said
Nick. ‘Mr Torres has left the country. When the local police went to his office in Cambridge they were told he was on a business trip to Peru. Went in his private jet, the same day we arrested you. Now that is a co-incidence.’
Conrad didn’t say anything in response to that, but Nick could see that he was pleased by this news. He stood up.
‘I have no more questions for Mr Steadman. Ms Watanabe and I will leave you to it.’
He and Mariko left the station and went to the nearest coffee shop. They ordered two espressos and found a corner table.
‘Do you think he was telling the truth?’ he asked her.
‘Yes, I do. Where does that leave us?’
Nick thought for a bit. ‘I think Torres is the key. I don’t believe in co-incidence, so if Conrad didn’t kill Julian and Ray then Torres got someone else to do it. What I don’t understand is why he’s involved in selling cocaine. As the CEO of a major company, he has a lot to lose if he’s caught.’
‘Conrad said something interesting. The payment was in dollars. That must have been a headache for the buyers, finding that much cash in dollars in the UK. So he must have insisted on it. And it’s redeemable in most places, as Conrad said. Including Peru. So my theory is, Mr Torres wanted a lot of money in cash in order to pay for something in Peru.’
‘It’s a dead end, though,’ said Nick. ‘We have done our best to find out who murdered Julian Frost and we’ve run up against a wall. Do we need to continue? This whole thing started because Katsu Oyama wanted to help. Maybe we can’t help any further.’
Mariko was dismissive. ‘No. Katsu was worried that the police might think he had a hand in the murder, because it was his sword. They may decide to take that line of enquiry again if Conrad continues to deny everything. And we don’t stop just because we run up against a wall, as you put it.’
‘You’re the boss. What do you want to do?’
She smiled. ‘As long as you remember that.’ Then she leaned over the table and kissed him. ‘Let’s do what you suggested in the interrogation room. Let’s find Mr Torres and ask him.’ She was almost grinning at him, now.
‘Go back to Peru? We don’t even know where he is. Peru is a big country.’
‘Yes, but he and Conrad were partners and that partnership is about this new drug, the powder and the cocaine. We need to start looking in Iquitos. I’m sure that’s where we’ll find him. Or someone who knows where he might be.’
Mariko was confident about this and Nick found himself in agreement with her. Torres was the CEO of a company with interests in Peru and if he didn’t show up in Iquitos, he’d show up somewhere nearby that was associated with those interests. He was too high profile a figure to easily disappear.
‘OK,’ he said. ‘Let’s go find him.’
When Mariko told Oyama that they intended to go to South America to track down Edward Torres, he wondered, like Nick, if they’d already done as much as they could to assist Maria Frost in finding her husband’s killer. When he realised that Mariko had made up her mind, he didn’t try to dissuade her. He thought for a while and then announced that he felt Peru was probably a safer place to be than London as things stood at the moment. And he seemed to have boundless confidence in his ability to protect himself against a potential attack while they were away.
Nick advised Russell of their plans, too. As a consequence, Russell called at the Hackett Pharmaceuticals’ office and told Torres’s personal assistant that if she didn’t tell him where Torres was going in Peru he would charge her with obstructing the police and take her into custody. It had the desired effect. Edward Torres was visiting the patent office in Lima and then she expected him to fly on to Iquitos, where Hackett kept a small office. She had a mobile number for him as well, but when Russell tried it, it was switched off. He passed all of these details to Nick and asked to be kept up to date with progress.
They flew into Lima two days later and then took the internal flight to Iquitos. Nick had made arrangements to stay at the Epoca again and he’d also emailed Isabella Delgado to ask if she would do some more work for him. She had replied, saying she would spare as much time as she could and that she was looking forward to seeing him soon. They travelled from the airport by moto-taxi, which was a novelty for Mariko. The rain-forest climate didn’t faze her, she thought Tokyo could compete with Iquitos for humidity, if nothing else. Nick found himself unexpectedly pleased to be back. This town, with its location in the middle of the biggest jungle on the planet had an earthy, vital feel about it. It made you come alive in a way that concrete jungles like London never could.
Isabella came to meet them at the hotel that evening. She was introduced to Mariko.
‘I am surprised you want to work with him again, after the last time,’ said Mariko, as they shook hands.
They were standing in the reception area, prior to going into the hotel restaurant for dinner. Mariko was next to Nick, her arm linked through his, and Isabella was struck by her height and the cool air of confidence she projected.
‘Yes, we had some bad moments. Perhaps you can keep him out of trouble, this time.’
‘We haven’t told you why we’re here, yet,’ said Nick.
Isabella smiled. ‘Ah, perhaps I spoke too soon. Tell me how I can help.’
They went into the restaurant and sat down. Nick told Isabella that they needed her to find out what she could about Edward Torres. She could start by finding out if his patent had been approved in Peru and if he had visited the Hackett Pharmaceuticals office here in Iquitos. If she could also help as a translator, that would be appreciated.
‘That name doesn’t mean anything to me,’ she said.
‘His father was Xavier Torres. He was a commander in the Shining Path movement, but he was killed by the security forces in 1994.’
Isabella looked troubled. ‘Shining Path? You know the history? They began a civil war in the 80’s. They wanted a communist dictatorship in Peru and they didn’t care how many people they killed to get it. It was a horrible time. A lot of the war took place in the countryside and in Lima, but not around here. It was much further south.’
‘Is it over, now?’ asked Mariko.
Isabella sighed. ‘The police captured the leader, Senor Guzman, in 1992. Things began to get better after that. But they are still active. You think the son has links with these people?’
‘We don’t know.’ Nick told Isabella about the events in Norfolk. ‘Now Torres is in Peru, presumably with $750,000 in cash. We just want to know what he intends to do with it and we also want to speak to him about Julian Frost’s murder.’
‘So you were right about the cocaine,’ said Isabella. ‘But surely this is connected with this new drug and the aphrodisiac powder. The patent means he has an exclusive licence to produce it? I don’t think the Indians who grow the plants will take much notice of that.’
‘They must be supplying Jason Wilson at the Retreat Centre. How do we find out more about the Indians?’
‘They are Don Gilberto’s people. We can ask him.’
‘We’ll talk to Jason, too. He must know something about all this.’
By dinner’s end they had a plan. Nick and Mariko would charter a light aircraft tomorrow and visit the retreat centre. Isabella would do some digging on Torres and talk to Don Gilberto. Then they would meet here again tomorrow night and compare notes.
‘I must call on Captain Ibanez and bring him up to date on Conrad,’ said Nick, once Isabella had gone. ‘We don’t have any weapons with us, either. I wouldn’t put it past Jason to pull a gun on us if he feels threatened.’
‘I forgot to mention it,’ said Mariko, as they climbed the stairs to their room. ‘Katsu is sending a package by air. Should be here in a day or two.’
‘What? Isn’t that risky?’
‘It’s a big package. A dozen Japanese fortune cat dolls. If anyone asks I intend to give them away as presents. They are ceramic and hollow and big enough to hide things in.�
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‘Let’s hope they don’t break.’
They found their room, which had the same view of the jungle and the river as last time Nick had stayed. There was nothing to see at this time of night, but you could still hear the hum of the insects, even from this distance. The balcony doors were shut to keep out the bugs and though both ceiling fans whirred softly, the air still felt sticky. Mariko picked up a magazine and fanned her face with it.
‘It should get a little cooler, later,’ said Nick.
Mariko sat on the bed, still fanning herself. ‘What do you think he’s planning?’ she asked.
‘Torres? I have no idea. Whatever it is, he’s gone to a lot of trouble to get hold of the money to pay for it. We’ll just have to keep digging till we find out.’
‘Let’s sleep now. I want to be fully rested when we meet this man Jason, tomorrow.’
They turned out the lights and then undressed and went to bed. In this sticky heat, night clothes and sheets were unnecessary. The slight breeze from the rotating fans was cool on their naked bodies and the song of the insects had a lulling quality. In ten minutes they were both asleep.
Nick saw Diego the next morning for the first time since arriving here. The hotel manager was courteous as ever, and a little curious.
‘I saw that you were back again, Senor Severance. I hope you don’t intend to get arrested this time.’
Nick grinned. ‘Absolutely not, I just can’t keep away, that’s all. I would like to charter a Cessna for a few hours. Can you help with that?’
Diego was only too pleased to help. He made a call and talked animatedly with someone. Nick got the impression they knew each other. Then he told Nick he could have the plane and pilot for a half-day minimum. ‘This afternoon, is that OK?’
Nick nodded and the arrangements were made. He was to go to the airport at 1pm and ask for Bruno Garcia at Amazonas Airtours.
‘You are taking your wife?’ enquired Diego.
‘Ah… yes, she’s coming too.’ He didn’t know if Diego had Catholic sensibilities, so to be on the safe side he let the assumption stand.
