Kay rolled her eyes, and followed Barnes.
Thankfully, the first responders had had the sense to set the cordon well back from the main tent where the CSI team were working, and she made a note to thank them for their foresight.
No doubt Suzie would be joined by several other reporters once word got out.
‘Hunter.’
Sharp peered out from the tent and beckoned them over.
‘How did the reporter get here so quick?’ said Kay.
Sharp jerked his chin to one of the patrol cars, in the back of which sat an elderly man chatting to a female officer.
‘Chap by the name of Harry Bertram was walking past to get his paper from the newsagent. Saw Powers sat in one of the cars outside the garage, and didn’t like the look of it, so he wandered over to take a look. Once he got the door opened, he realised Powers was dead, so he told the newsagent to call us. Seems the newsagent rang a few more people, too.’
‘Damn,’ said Barnes. ‘Did they get anything on camera before the screens went up?’
‘No – the first responders were excellent – found those tarpaulins in the garage and got those strung up before the news team turned up.’
‘The garage was unlocked?’
‘Something we’ll be looking into as part of the investigation, so add it to your list,’ said Sharp.
‘Okay, what happened to Powers?’
Sharp held the tent flap open.
Rather than enter the secure area, Kay and Barnes stood on the threshold.
There was no point in them all clamouring to see – they’d seen enough dead bodies in the past, and two more people traipsing around the crime scene wouldn’t have been appreciated.
As it was, the stench of urine and shit mixed with the trace of exhaust fumes, and Kay brought her sleeve to her nose to mask it.
‘Asphyxiation,’ said Sharp. ‘Obviously, the post mortem will confirm it, but it’s pretty obvious. An ambulance was sent out at the same time as the first responders, so they declared life extinct for us.’
Kay nodded. Having the ambulance crew confirm the death saved them dragging Lucas away from the mortuary and wasting time while they waited for him to arrive. At least Harriet and her team could work swiftly to preserve as much evidence as possible.
‘Suicide?’ said Barnes.
‘I doubt it,’ said Sharp. ‘Not unless he pulled out his own fingernails before gassing himself.’
Barnes winced, and blew through his teeth.
‘How’d his killer manage to asphyxiate him anyway?’ said Kay. ‘I thought that was difficult with modern cars.’
‘This vehicle’s over twenty years old,’ said Sharp.
‘The passenger window’s cracked,’ said Barnes.
‘I’m working on the theory he kicked it to try to break the glass,’ said Harriet as she brushed past one of her colleagues and wandered over. ‘He’s shifted in his seat slightly with his hips turned to the left, as if he’s tried to use the heel of his boot to break it, but I’ll firm up that once we’ve finished here. The cracks were certainly made from the inside of the car, not the outside.’
‘How come he didn’t open the door, if he could reach the window with his feet?’ said Kay.
‘The locks had been glued,’ said Harriet. ‘Bertram told your colleagues he had to break the driver’s door open with a crowbar he found in the garage.’
She pulled her mask back up over her mouth and moved back to where her team worked, and Sharp let the tent flap drop back into place, then gestured to Kay and Barnes to follow him into the building.
The double doors at the front had been propped open, and another of Harriet’s teams were studiously moving through the gloomy space within.
Sharp turned to Kay and Barnes, and lowered his voice.
‘This is a direct result of Harrison’s insistence on a press conference too early on in the investigation,’ he said, his eyes blazing. ‘There’s no telling the damage he’s done. How many more people are going to die before we find Demiri?’
Kay turned to face the road beyond the forecourt.
Two more vehicles had joined Suzie and her cameraman; different new channels clamouring for space along the narrow pavement.
Her heart skipped a beat as she recognised Jonathan Aspley, and she averted her gaze as he began to walk towards the cordon.
‘Inspector!’
Harriet’s voice carried across to where they were standing, her head poking out from the tent.
‘What is it?’ said Sharp.
‘You need to see this.’
They hurried back to the covered area, and joined Harriet at the entrance.
‘Come in,’ she said. ‘I don’t want the risk of one of those news teams seeing this.’
They pushed into the cramped space, and Kay noticed the CSI’s eyes were shining with excitement.
‘What’ve you got?’ said Barnes.
She beckoned them round to the driver’s seat and crouched down. ‘We noticed he had a piece of paper in his hand; we prised it open, and it looks like he used his own blood to leave a message.’
Kay felt a shiver crawl across her neck as Harriet handed the paper to Sharp.
As he took the corner between gloved fingers, his brow knitted together before he turned it to face them.
‘A place and time,’ he said. ‘Mean anything to you two?’
‘It’s got to be Demiri’s next shipment,’ said Kay, her heart pounding. ‘It’s when he’s bringing over the next lot of girls.’
Chapter Forty-Seven
‘There’s no time to plan this properly,’ said Sharp through gritted teeth. ‘It’ll be a disaster.’
‘No, it won’t,’ said Harrison. ‘We’ll have support from Border Agency and my SOCU team, plus uniformed officers.’
‘With all due respect, guv, we’ve only got the name of a place. Not an exact location. He could be planning to land the boat anywhere along that stretch of coastline,’ said Kay, and waved her hand at the document Sharp was reading. ‘And, according to that email from the Border Agency, they want to base the majority of their team at Dymchurch because that’s where previous smugglers have made landfall. We’ll only have a handful of their officers available to support us.’
Harrison paced the room, his frustration palpable.
‘Look,’ he said eventually. ‘There’s enough of us to have four teams of four spread out at three-quarter-mile intervals. We maintain radio contact at all times. The weather forecast is showing rain, so we’re not going to have as much visibility as I’d like, but we’ll still be able to see a boat coming in; as it is, we’ll be able to hear the engine before they cut it and drift to shore.’
‘You think?’ Sharp ran a hand over his jaw, and scratched at the stubble forming. ‘I don’t like it. It’s too risky.’
‘We don’t have a choice, Sharp,’ said Harrison. ‘If we miss this boat, those girls are going to end up exactly like the ones we’d found dead. Do you want that on your conscience?’
Kay watched as her senior officer slumped in his seat, his eyes troubled.
‘I thought not,’ said Harrison. He picked up his jacket from the back of the visitor chair, and swung it over his shoulders. ‘I’ll go and brief headquarters and make the necessary phone calls to Colin Fox and his team at the Border Agency. We’ll have a joint agency briefing here in the morning at eight o’clock, Sharp. Make sure your team is ready.’
He swept from the room, his hurried footsteps carrying through the incident room before Kay heard the door slam shut in his wake.
She pushed herself out of her chair and wandered over to the window, her arms folded over her chest.
Below, the DCI was walking towards his car, his phone to his ear.
‘Start making phone calls to the rest of the team,’ said Sharp. ‘As well as yourself and Barnes, I want Miles and Piper on that beach tomorrow night, and I don’t want any issues so get them in early tomorrow – at least half an hour before the briefi
ng’s due to start, so we can make sure they understand the dangers involved.’
‘Will do, guv.’
She turned at a knock on the open door.
‘Lucas just emailed through the post mortem report on the three victims found at the property in Thurnham,’ said Barnes. ‘I printed out a copy for each of you.’
Sharp gestured to the seat vacated by Harrison moments earlier, and Barnes handed the paperwork over.
Kay flipped through the pages, her eyes taking in the detail of the torture the women had endured prior to being killed. The broken bones she and Sharp had noticed at the crime scene were horrific enough, but as she read the report, the extent of their internal injuries left a sickness in her stomach.
Barnes cleared his throat. ‘As you’ll see from Lucas’s conclusions, he ascertains that all three victims’ injuries were caused prior to their death.’
Kay exhaled and placed her copy on Sharp’s desk.
Suddenly, any risks associated with the next night’s operation paled in comparison to what would happen if Demiri wasn’t apprehended and the illegal entrants rescued from the clutches of him and his men.
Kay paused at the door, and glanced over her shoulder.
‘Given your military background and experience, I have to say I’d be happier taking orders from you for this operation, guv.’
He shrugged, a weariness crossing his features that she hadn’t seen before.
‘It is what it is, Hunter. Go home and rest. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.’
Chapter Forty-Eight
Kay padded downstairs in her socks, her hair freshly washed. She wore her favourite pair of jeans and a baggy sweater, perfect for relaxing in front of the television with a glass of wine.
She reached out and flipped the thermostat up a notch, ensuring the central heating would counteract the cold wind that rattled the double glazed windows, and then made her way through to the kitchen.
Her two furry charges looked up at her from their hutch, hopeful expressions on their faces.
‘I know, I know. Food time,’ she said. She was surprised how quickly she had grown used to their presence in the house, and was secretly glad that the garden shed had proven to be too cluttered for their hutch.
She couldn’t bear the thought of them having to brave the elements on the back patio, either.
She hummed to herself as she changed the soiled newspapers, swapping them for clean ones and putting the rubbish outside before grabbing one of the bags of ready-chopped vegetables from the refrigerator.
Bonnie chattered to herself as Kay lifted Clyde from the hutch and gently applied ointment to his skin while he munched on a carrot top.
She turned him in her hands until the furry creature was facing her, and then held him up so they were eye to eye.
‘You know what, Clyde? You two have a spoilt life. You don’t have to worry about evil people. All you have to do is sit there and eat your carrots.’
Clyde wriggled his nose.
Kay smiled, lowered him back into the cage and secured the latch, and then washed her hands before helping herself to a large glass of wine while she prepared her own dinner.
As she worked, she gave a running commentary to the guinea pigs, then stopped abruptly.
‘I’m losing the plot.’
She frowned, recognising her actions for what they were – a way of pushing the thought of tomorrow’s operation to one side.
A sense of unease washed over her, and she shook her head as she served up the pasta onto a plate and pulled out a stool at the end of the worktop.
It would do no good to worry. DCI Harrison and his SOCU team were well versed in such matters, and they had support from the Border Agency and some of their own uniformed officers.
Still, a frisson of nerves and excitement sent a shiver down her spine.
Would Demiri be there?
Would she finally get the chance to arrest him?
She pushed her plate away, unable to stomach the food, realising she wouldn’t be able to relax tonight, despite Sharp’s advice.
She wandered over to the refrigerator and topped up her glass, then nearly dropped it when her mobile phone began to ring.
‘Get a grip,’ she muttered, and hurried back to the worktop. She smiled when she saw the caller’s name.
‘Hey, you.’
‘Hello,’ said Adam. ‘Bad news, I’m afraid. The weather forecast isn’t improving and they’ve cancelled my flight. It doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving here until tomorrow night now.’
‘That’s a pain. Have you managed to get in touch with the clinic?’
As Adam spoke about the various calls he’d made to his colleagues and the arrangements he’d made for his extended absence, Kay wondered if she should tell him about the planned operation for the following night.
After all, if Adam was home right now, she’d tell him.
Yet, he was over four hundred miles away, stranded with no way to get home, and it seemed unfair to give him any cause for concern.
She knew him too well – he would only worry – or do something drastic, like hire a car and drive home.
She bit her lip.
‘So, what’s happening there?’ he said.
‘All good. The investigation has been going well, and we’re hoping to have a result soon.’
‘You’re staying away from trouble?’
She closed her eyes, thankful he hadn’t said Demiri’s name, and grateful she wouldn’t have to lie.
‘Yes.’
‘Well, keep out of trouble for another twenty-four hours,’ he said, and sighed. ‘I can’t believe I’m stuck up here tonight instead of being with you.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Kay. ‘I’ll be fine.’
Chapter Forty-Nine
Kay shoved her hands into her pockets and burrowed her face into the thick scarf she’d wrapped around her neck before leaving the station to drive to the coast.
She squinted in the fading moonlight as it scuttled behind clouds that obscured their view of the thrashing water of the English Channel pummelling the beach below.
Boots on sand sounded next to her, and Gavin appeared at her shoulder.
‘Do you think he’ll be here?’
She lifted her head and gasped at the cold wind that whipped at her face. She turned her back to the beach for a brief respite from the elements, and peered into the scrubby undergrowth that bordered the coast road.
‘He’ll be here. Somewhere. I can’t imagine he’ll want to lose his investment.’
Gavin grunted in response and glanced up at the sky.
‘It’s clouding over. Looks like we’re going to get some more rain.’
Kay turned her attention back to the sea. ‘It’ll help him. We won’t be able to spot the boat until it’s almost here.’
‘If we have the right place.’
‘Where’s Harrison?’
‘About half a mile up that way.’ Gavin pointed to their left. ‘He’s got teams spread out along the beach here, and into the next cove, just in case.’
‘Carys and Barnes?’
‘Beyond Harrison’s position, by the next lot of groyne posts in the distance.’
Kay narrowed her eyes against the wind, catching a dark shadow at the end of the furthest post away from the water’s edge. She glanced over her shoulder to the tumbledown cottage set back from the beach, its walls covered in ivy and its interior in darkness.
‘No sign of the owner?’
‘No. There’s one of the free papers sticking out of the letterbox. Must be away. Barnes tried to rouse someone half an hour ago, but there’s no response.’
‘Shame. I’m surprised the DCI doesn’t know the owner though. Thought he was keeping an eye on this part of the coastline.’
‘Reckon it’s one of Harrison’s informants?’
Kay shivered. ‘Rather his than Demiri’s.’
They fell silent and turned back to the water.
Kay had
wanted to question Harrison’s orders that the team split up along the length of the beach, but a sense of respect for Sharp made her hold her tongue.
She couldn’t help feeling that she and Gavin were exposed so far from the rest of the team, but Harrison had been insistent and, in the end, she’d bit back her questions and resigned herself to a support role for the operation.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her arm from Gavin.
‘Look.’
He pointed out to the darkened waters, and she followed his line of sight.
‘I can’t see anything.’
‘I thought I saw something. Guess not.’
‘This’d be so much easier if Fox’s Border Agency lot were here.’
‘Well, you heard him talking to Sharp and Harrison before we left the station. He was adamant he’d position his team further along the coast near Dymchurch, because that’s where they’ve caught people before.’
‘Yes – and it was all over the news when that happened, so I’m sure it’s a “no-go” zone for people smugglers now.’
‘I guess we have to try to cover as much as we can, Sarge.’
‘I know. You’re right. Be sod’s law they do turn up along there, and—’
Kay heard Gavin’s sharp intake of breath at the same time he held up his hand to silence her.
A low-slung vessel clung to the waves, approaching the beach to the left of their position. The soft sound of its engine reached her, and her heartbeat ratcheted up a notch.
‘It’s them,’ said Gavin.
Kay took the binoculars he handed to her.
In the weakened moonlight caused by the cloud cover, Kay could make out eight figures clinging to the sides, hunkered down against the elements.
In the middle of the small but powerful vessel, she could make out two thicker-set figures who had crouched next to the central steering column, trying to disguise their presence.
The dinghy crested a large wave, its stern lifting into the air before crashing over the next.
A cry could be heard over the noise of the sea, and Kay’s heart went out to the young women, likely still in their teens and hundreds of miles from their homes and families, who had made the terrifying journey across one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Hell to Pay Page 18
