BODILY HARM a gripping crime thriller full of twists

by Charlie Gallagher

  ‘Well, then, you have to deal with it, don’t you? I still don’t understand why you’re calling me with this. We have our arrangement and you have your instructions. I don’t need to be told about the problems you’re having. You just get the job done.’

  Ed looked around him and lowered his voice. ‘The reason I called is because I have a proposition for you. One that delivers the same result, and also removes any future problems with our arrangement.’

  ‘You need to be more direct, Ed. This isn’t a fucking movie trailer. What do you want to do?’

  ‘Change the target, Mr Baurman — to George Elms.’

  ‘You want to wipe out a gavver? Smith is one thing, but we take out a copper and we’ll have everything they’ve got after us. It’s also a lot more difficult to pin something like that on the Skinners and let’s not forget, that is your primary concern.’

  ‘I hear what you’re saying, but listen. I’ve given it some thought. I do explosives — that’s my bag, so I do the job. I can make something real crude, real simple, like you could make after an afternoon on the internet. Our inspector organises the raid on the Skinners based on the information I give him, as per the original plan. All he needs to do different is plant components similar to the ones in the device I use on George Elms. Explosives have a massive bonus — there’s no forensics, because everything they would normally look for is incinerated. The cops know a bit about the Skinners and they’ve been looking to get something on them for years. Trust me, if they think those brothers have targeted one of their own, they will lap it up. There’s no risk to you — you have complete deniability.’

  The response came after a lengthy pause. ‘I want the Skinner boys out of the way and I need them to go inside. You can target the Pope for all I care, as long as the Skinners get fingered for it. My problem is that you’ve got to get that soppy inspector on board. He’s not going to be happy with something like that.’

  Ed smiled. This was the answer he was hoping for. ‘Don’t you worry about Jacobs. He’s on his way over now, and I think he’ll understand why it needs to happen.’

  * * *

  ‘This is madness!’ Jacobs sat with his hands clasped tightly together, trying to control his breathing.

  ‘Craig, this has to happen. If we don’t remove Elms now, he might well destroy everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve. We have control of the area commander, for fuck’s sake — we’ve got Huntington by the balls! We could give him the big picture right now, and there would be nothing he could do about it. He made this possible. He put us here. He kept us off the books, invented false personas, endorsed illegal use of force and, as far as the courts would be concerned, he knowingly allowed a man to be bullied into admitting to something he didn’t do, and he did it all for cash.’

  ‘Isn’t that enough, then? I mean, that’s all we needed to do, right?’

  Ed sighed. ‘It should have been enough. But this Elms, he has the chief’s ear, and he won’t let this fucking Tinsow thing go. It’s a house of cards, mate, and if Elms gets to Tinsow, questions will be asked and Huntington will be taken off Epping Hill. Then it’s curtains for us, and we can’t let that happen.’

  Jacobs was looking down. ‘George Elms has a family. There are pictures of them on his desk.’

  There was no reply and he looked up. Ed grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, lifted him to his feet, and shoved him back against the wall. Jacobs’s head hit the wall so hard that his eyes flashed white for a moment.

  ‘You need to wake up, you hear me? Do. You. Hear. Me. This was never gonna be a walk in the fucking park! You knew what you were getting into!’

  Jacobs closed his eyes. He could feel Ed’s breath on his cheek. Ed lifted him again and banged him into the wall. He threw Jacobs over the bed, and he landed heavily on the bare floorboards.

  Ed towered over him. ‘You’re either fully committed to this, or you become as much a risk as Elms. Understand?’ Ed’s lips curled in disgust.

  ‘Okay, Ed. Okay. It was just a shock. But you’re right, you’re right. I can deal with it.’

  Ed snorted and stalked out of the room. ‘Let yourself out, Inspector,’ he called back.

  Jacobs felt the back of his head for blood. There was a lump, but nothing more. Gingerly, he got to his feet, using the wall for support, and limped away as quickly as he could. He found his car and sped off. He needed to get back to the station and speak to Huntington. A man’s life depended on it.

  * * *

  Graham Huntington was in a meeting — with George Elms. Jean apologised again to Inspector Jacobs. She noticed that his suit jacket was torn and dirty, as were his trousers, particularly at the knees. He seemed to be limping. He also seemed to be under some kind of stress. His eyes were wide, his lips dry, and beads of sweat dotted his brow.

  ‘Are you okay, Inspector? You look a little upset. Do you want to sit down, sir?’

  ‘No, no, thank you.’ He wiped at the sweat on his forehead. ‘Could you just tell the chief super for me, Jean, could you tell him, please . . ?’

  ‘Yes, sir?’

  ‘I’m not feeling well,’ Jacobs said at last. ‘Just tell him that I’ve had to go home.’

  ‘Oh dear.’ Jean put her head to one side in sympathy. ‘Nothing too bad I hope, sir?’

  ‘No, no. Just a twenty-four-hour thing, I’m sure.’

  Jean made a note on her pad. ‘Very good, sir.’ When she looked up, Jacobs was already gone.

  * * *

  George emerged from his meeting red-faced and angry. He was tempted to ring the chief right then, with Huntington in earshot. George could prove without a doubt that Tinsow was not the man responsible for the robbery. Tinsow hadn’t answered when he’d called, but George knew that when he eventually spoke to him, Tinsow would crack. He would wait, though, until Monday when he would have a report ready for Cottage, detailing everything he knew. He would show him the DVD, too, like he had just done with Huntington. He could bet that the chief’s reaction would be quite different.

  ‘Sergeant Elms, are you okay?’

  George had stopped dead in the corridor, thinking through his options. ‘Oh, hello, Jean. I’m fine, thank you. I was in a world of my own there.’

  ‘Ah, that’s good. I’ve just seen Inspector Jacobs. He looked awful. He’s had to go home. He said it was a bug, but he looked sort of shaken.’

  ‘Oh, really? He seemed fine earlier.’

  Jean shrugged. ‘He said he thought it was just a twenty-four-hour thing. Hopefully he’s not given it to anyone else.’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll be fine, Jean. Thanks for letting me know.’

  * * *

  The slamming of the door as George left his office was not lost on Huntington. He let out a long sigh. ‘Fucking amateurs. Why the fuck do I have to work with them?’ He called Inspector Jacobs, but it went straight to voicemail.

  Next he called Ed Kavski, on an untraceable pay-as-you-go mobile.

  Ed did not sound pleased to hear him. ‘This is unexpected.’

  ‘Why have I just watched a video of you forcing your way into some old lady’s home and giving her a beating? You fucking stupid prick!’

  ‘Video? What video?’

  ‘Welcome to the modern world, where people have security cameras watching their doorsteps, you fucking idiot!’

  Ed let out a little laugh. ‘The cheeky mare!’

  ‘You think this is funny? Elms just brought this DVD to me. He knows that the person on that film is guilty of perverting the course of justice, but that’s the very least of it. He also tells me that the man with you on the DVD has been identified as the suspect for the robbery Tinsow himself has claimed. Now maybe you want to tell me how that can be, Ed? How the fuck can that be?’

  Ed laughed again. It wasn’t convincing. ‘You weren’t supposed to find out just yet, sir, but it does no harm at all.’

  ‘Find out what?’

  ‘Well, you see, this has all been a bit of a game. Jacobs a
nd I tried it first in the city, but they got suspicious. They knew we were up to something but they couldn’t work out what, so they shipped us out. Got rid of the risk. They were right, too. If they’d pushed it they would’ve shown themselves up very badly.’

  ‘What have you done?’ Huntington glanced nervously at the door to his office.

  ‘That’s its strength, you see. You senior bods, and the police as a whole, you’re all about public perception. It’s your biggest weakness and so it’s very easy to play on. What we did was give you a chance at that promotion, and you snapped it up without ever thinking where it might lead you. All it took was a little provoking on our part.’

  ‘Provoking? It was you who organised the bus attack?’ Huntington slumped back in his chair.

  ‘Jacobs’s idea if I’m perfectly honest. A good one, too. I thought we carried off the junkie look rather well. The YouTube thing, now that was all me. I even had the contacts in the press, who were more than happy to run with it. Let’s be honest, we didn’t create the problem, we just exposed it to the world — forced your hand.’

  ‘I still don’t see why. What do you stand to make out of this?’

  ‘Well, sir. You have put us in a quite enviable situation. We are now in a very good position to remove all of the competition for the supply of drugs in Epping Hill and much further afield. We’ve been working our way through the dealers, drip-feeding you information. And, like the good little boys in blue that you are, you’ve been scooping them up, getting them off the street and out of the way. Most of them come straight back out, but by that time they’ve lost their patch to the competition. To us. In a nutshell, you, and only you, have created the single most powerful drug supplier in the county.’

  ‘I . . . I didn’t . . .’ Huntington had no response. The enormity of what Ed had been saying was just beginning to register. He put his hand to his brow.

  Ed hadn’t finished. ‘You kept all this off the books. You sorted us with fake identities and you endorsed the use of violence . . . which has been considerable, by the way—’

  ‘I did not!’ Huntington’s fist slammed down on the table. ‘That is one thing I said from the start! I never wanted innocent men through the doors. I wanted the whole drug scene extinguished, the top men brought to justice. I didn’t want this!’ He sounded desperate.

  ‘What would a jury say? That’s what you need to be thinking about from now on, Graham. If you look in your bottom drawer, you’ll see a white envelope. Have a look.’

  Huntington pulled the drawer open. ‘There’s no envelope.’

  ‘Taped to the bottom of the one above, if my instructions were followed properly.’

  Sure enough, Huntington’s fingers touched paper. He found the tape and tugged at it. He brought the envelope up to the table, where the contents spilled out. ‘Money?’

  ‘A good amount,’ said Ed, ‘and now with your dabs all over it. There are a few more packages like that dotted around, all in places that . . . well, let us say they are definitely attributable to you. And they are where you asked me to put them should a prosecutor ever get round to asking me about them in court.’

  ‘You bastard!’ But Huntington’s voice lacked conviction. He knew he was beaten. ‘You made sure there’s no way out, didn’t you?’

  ‘We did, yes. But rest assured, life on the inside can be sweet. Your role going forward will be to provide us with police resources when required. Generally that will benefit us both. You’ll be removing my competition, and you’ll be getting massive results — like you’ve never had before. That secures your promotion, and let’s face it, that’s all you wanted out of this. You’ll also be rewarded with more envelopes. You’ve been played, Graham, but it could’ve been a lot worse for you.’

  ‘I don’t see how.’

  ‘I’ll give you some time, Graham, but not much. You’re an intelligent man, so you won’t need long to realise that we haven’t given you any choice. I will be calling on you soon — something will happen in the next couple of days. A major job will come in and you’ll need to divert resources the right way. You’ll understand what I mean when I explain it in detail.’

  Huntington sat up. ‘You listen to me, you prick, you don’t own me just yet, so don’t think you do. And don’t think you can just tell me what to do, you understand? I say what I do.’

  Ed chuckled. ‘Maybe you need to sit and think about the position that you find yourself in. I expect your attitude to be very different the next time we speak.’

  ‘Oh really. And what are you going to do? Attack another old lady?’

  ‘Ah, not this time.’

  * * *

  Ed hung up the call with a satisfied smile. His moment was interrupted by the arrival of four men — his team.

  One of them had clearly been chosen as the spokesman, and he wasted no time in getting to the point. He stood with folded arms. ‘Me and the boys, we was wondering when we were gonna get paid.’

  ‘Twenty-fifth of the month Huntington said the wages go in, didn’t he?’

  ‘You know what we mean, Ed.’

  ‘Yeah, I do. Fair enough. I just got off the phone to Huntington. We’re now in a stronger position than I even imagined. The proper money — and the real work — starts from tomorrow. You have my word.’

  The man stood firm. ‘We were hoping it would be coming in by now.’

  Ed’s smile suddenly dropped. He drew himself up to his full height. ‘What did I just fucking say?’

  ‘All right, boss, we just want to get paid is all, you know. That’s why we’re here.’

  ‘Get the fuck out. You heard me. I don’t lie and I don’t fucking repeat myself!’

  The men filed out. Ed pressed Jacobs’s number. The call went to voice mail, and he cursed. He sent a text message:

  ITS MVING FST NOW. DUN 2NITE. CALL ME 4 INSTR.

  Chapter 37

  George’s wife opened their front door and gave a mischievous smile.

  ‘I’m sorry, we don’t accept door-to-door salesmen.’

  ‘But I’m not a salesman, I’m your husband.’

  ‘You can’t be my husband — he’s never early and he would certainly never bring me flowers.’ George came into the house and hugged his wife tightly. Charley sprinted along the hallway and grabbed her parents’ legs to join in. The flowers were squashed somewhere in the middle.

  ‘Aah, three whole days with the woman I love.’

  ‘Where is she?’ Sarah teased. ‘I’ll kill her!’

  ‘Must be around here somewhere . . . I’m sure she was here.’ George received a playful punch on the arm.

  ‘You want a cuppa?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Of course.’ George looked down at Charley, who was bobbing around beside him.

  ‘Daddy! Daddy, we have to be up ever so early in the morning because we need to go to Tesco. Mummy said we should buy a picnic, and then we can be first in line for where the animals live.’

  ‘Did she now?’

  Sarah grinned. ‘Well, it was kind of both our idea.’

  ‘I’m sure it was. You know how much I love Tesco.’

  ‘You always say that, Daddy, but it will be good tomorrow because we can buy cheese and ham and bread and crisps and sweets.’ Charley bounced as she listed each item.

  ‘Sounds lovely, young lady, but more importantly, what do we have for nowsies?’ George went over to the stove and peered into the pan. ‘Bolognese?’ He poked it with a fork, receiving a light slap on the hand from his wife.

  ‘Maybe. You’ll have to wait. I didn’t know you were going to be early.’ Sarah smiled.

  Charley grabbed him by the hand and led him into the lounge where she had been colouring. As they left the kitchen, she tugged his hand and whispered, ‘It is Bollock-nays.’ George stifled a laugh.

  * * *

  At ten o’clock that evening, George was lying on the sofa with Sarah tucked into him, watching the credits on a movie that was just finishing. George’s mobile phone began to
ring from his jacket pocket, hanging over the banister in the hall.

  ‘Are you on call?’ Sarah asked, rubbing her eyes.

  ‘No,’ George said.

  ‘What are they calling you for then?’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘Leave it.’

  ‘I was planning to. I’ll go switch it off or it’ll wake the beast.’

  George patted the pockets of his jacket and found the phone. The screen displayed a missed call from Graham Huntington.

  ‘Strange,’ he said, and immediately the phone rang again.

  ‘Hello?’ George kept his voice low and walked through to the kitchen.

  ‘George?’

  ‘You okay, sir?’

  ‘Yes, well, no. Look, sorry, I know it’s late but I need to speak to you.’ His words were short and sharp, as if he were out of breath.

  ‘It’s not a problem,’ George lied. ‘How can I help?’

  ‘You said you spoke to Tinsow.’

  ‘Well, I did, yes, but that was a few days ago now and—’

  ‘Today! Did you speak to him today?’

  ‘With respect, sir, you told me not to.’

  ‘Don’t play games with me, George. We both know you headed out to talk to him after our meeting. Listen, I don’t care. I’m not pissed off with you, I just need to know what happened when you saw him.’

  ‘I did go out there — I took Sam along — but he wasn’t in. That was early afternoon and it was probably for the best, to be honest.’

  Huntington swore and then let out a long sigh. ‘Uniform went round there at half six. Someone was in the house but it wasn’t Tinsow — some lad who is staying there. Anyway, this lad said that Tinsow had been dragged out of the property earlier in the day and had not been seen since. We’ve got real concerns for him here.’

  ‘Kidnapped?’

  ‘That’s a drastic word, George. Certainly there’s cause for concern.’

  ‘It’s unlikely Tinsow would breach his bail. Do you think it has something to do with the men on the video?’

  Huntington snapped back, ‘I don’t know. Look, don’t worry. I was just seeing if you had spoken to him today, to see if you knew anything. I’ll let you get back to your evening.’