‘So what? We do nothing?’
‘We certainly don’t do that. I need your help, if you’re up for it.’
Vince was back to standing before Harry had finished his sentence. ‘What do you need?’
‘We need to go back to London Road,’ Maddie took over talking. ‘We need to speak to those girls again. Hopefully to a few of them this time. Someone has to tell us something official about who Marlie left with.’
‘Someone will if we can go down there and tell them that we’ve got him in,’ Vince said. ‘That Freddie Rickman is in a cell and he ain’t going nowhere. Then they can all talk freely.’
‘I know that, but then what? My point is that without anything solid he’d be released, and he’d know he was in our sights. I’m not sure what he’d do next. We can’t guarantee their safety if we do that. But if they’ll talk to us now . . .’
Vince rubbed his face. ‘We can try. I don’t really know anyone down there now. I knew Holly enough to say hello, I knew Marlie enough that she trusted me but with them gone. I don’t know, Mads. I don’t know what they’ll say.’
Harry stood up. ‘Let’s go and find out.’
Vince didn’t move. ‘No disrespect boss, you might want to sit this one out.’
‘Sit it out?’
‘I know these girls. At least, I know their type. Our badges will put up a big enough wall as it is, but I’ve got an in. I turn up with some miserable old sweat with a scowl and I’ll be lucky to get a word. Mads knows a bit about these places and she has a set of tits. We should at least get through the door. With you there, I don’t think we will. No offence.’
‘No offence? I literally do not know where to start with—’
‘I think Vince is only suggesting that we tread lightly.’ Maddie wished she had cut in earlier. ‘They may recognise Vince as someone they can trust and they may respond better to a female officer. That’s all.’
‘Except his version included a part of your anatomy. Know your audience, Vince. I know all this isn’t pleasant and there’s some emotion involved but we’re still professionals here.’
‘Sorry, boss. Sometimes I’m not good at professional. I’m good at this, though . . . at finding people that beat on women. I’ll find him and I’ll bring him in. Me and Mads have got this.’
Harry waved them away. ‘I still need to get a grip on this investigation anyway. Seems a lot of work has been going on without me. Missing another visit can’t hurt. I suppose I should just be glad I’m aware that this one is going on.’ He fixed a glance on Maddie. She couldn’t tell if it was hurt or anger. Whatever it was, she took it as her cue to leave.
* * *
If Maddie had been unsure of how they’d be received by the occupants of 118 London Road, she got a good idea of it in the first seconds of the door being opened. The woman in the doorway sneered as she looked them up and down and took another few chews on her piece of gum.
‘Help you?’
‘Are you running the house?’ Vince spoke quickly, too quickly. He paused as if waiting for confirmation, some sort of reaction, at least. He got nothing but a dead-eyed stare. ‘With Marlie not home?’
‘Who?’
‘Marlie. Don’t mess me about, I can tell you now I’m not in the mood for games. I need to talk to you, to someone, about Marlie. It’s important.’
‘Ain’t no Marlie here, mate.’
‘I know that. That’s what I need to talk to you about. I had a call. Someone from here called me to ask for my help. I’m in your book . . . Marlie wrote my name in there in case you lot ever needed a copper to help? Big Vince?’
‘There ain’t no one calling you from here, love. You must have the wrong house.’ The door shifted, she went to close it. Vince’s palm met it with a slap and he shuffled his feet to get a firmer base. ‘You wanna let me close this door?’ she said, her gum-chewing suddenly a lot more animated.
‘No. I want to come in and talk to you. I know you’re worried about her. I’ve got some information.’
The woman was leaning on the door now. There was a voice behind her, too low to make out what was said. The woman at the door turned and said something back. When she turned forward again, she spat the gum on the ground between the two officers. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. No one here knows you. You say your number’s in here somewhere if we need you, so I guess we can call that.’
‘You don’t want to know? About Marlie?’ Vince said.
‘You already do, don’t you?’ Maddie spoke over where Vince still leaned forward against the door. ‘How do you know? Do you have any idea how important it is that you talk to us?’
‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about. There’s no Marlie here. I’ve heard her name but she ain’t been here for some time.’
Maddie stepped forward a little bit, now. Close enough to be at Vince’s side as he held the door. She tried to see behind the woman, to see if there was anyone else she could appeal to. The woman in front of her was mid-thirties, maybe later — the same sort of age as Marlie. It would make sense that she took over the running of the house. She wasn’t going to help, but there might be someone in there who would.
‘I think you know what happened.’ Maddie spoke loudly, loud enough for her voice to travel through that door and into that home. ‘If I’m right, then you’re all scared, scared that you might be next, even. I can keep you safe. If you want that, you can call me or Vince. I’m DS Maddie Ives. I can only help people who are willing to help themselves. Talk to me and I’ll keep my promise. Don’t talk to me and I don’t know what happens next.’
‘You done?’ The woman looked from her to Vince.
‘I guess so.’
‘Then you can leave now. Maybe Big Vince here can take his hand off my door.’
‘Your door now, is it?’ Maddie snapped. ‘That’s a big responsibility. It means that those girls in there are yours, too, and you need to keep them safe. The next person that knocks on that door might not be quite so quick to leave when you tell them. You follow?’
‘We’re all about letting people in here, darling. And if you don’t mind, we go online soon.’
Maddie stepped back and Vince turned to her. She nodded for him to remove his hand. The slamming of the door was instant.
‘Seems they don’t want to speak to ol’ Big Vince,’ Maddie said.
Vince was shaking his head. ‘They’re idiots. We can get in there though, Mads, now we have a murder. This was the last place she was seen. It’s a crime scene, isn’t it?’
‘It is. We would still need a warrant. I thought they would talk to us. I thought they would be scared enough. The problem with turning up with a warrant is that they could all keep quiet and then they scatter to the wind the moment they get the chance. I want someone to want to talk to me.’
‘We don’t need them thrown out,’ Vince said. ‘We just need to get in so we can talk to them. That cheery bitch may have acted like she was talking for the house, but I bet there’s at least one girl in there who’ll talk.’
‘They won’t. I’ve seen it. These houses are like a family. They have to want to talk to us. Enforcement is certainly not going to help with that.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘We have to pull away. They know where we are. Maybe someone will make contact. I think we’ve put enough pressure on for one day. Marlie was walked out of this location. I can’t see there being anything of major use in there. We know she wasn’t killed here and that’s the place we need.’ She pulled out her phone as they walked away. ‘I’ve missed a call from Harry.’ She waited until they were back in the car to call him back. Vince started it up but left it ticking over until being told where to go next.
‘DS Ives,’ Harry said.
‘You called. Sorry I missed it. I was talking with our friendly brothel residents.’
‘What did they tell you?’
‘Absolutely nothing. We need to pull away for now and let them think their si
tuation through a little. I think we’ll get something from there eventually, but nothing if we push. Are you up to speed yet?’
‘Oh I think so. I was looking through your notes and I took a little trip out. I’m currently under a sign that says No fly tipping, CCTV in operation.’
‘Okay?’
‘It’s in the underpass at Kelly Dale’s home address. I called Mitch and had him run this location through. Four reports where this venue is listed as a location of crime — all fly tipping. The first two, nothing ever came of it. The third and fourth time there was a conviction both times. You know why?’
‘CCTV!’ Maddie breathed.
‘A sofa, car batteries and a fridge by all accounts. All dumped by the bins for someone else to clear up. Makes my blood boil, fly tipping. Is there anything worse?’
‘Yes, Harry. There’s murder, for a start. What does that mean?’
‘It means the CCTV covers the bins under Kelly Dale’s building. Which might not mean much, except all the bins here all have numbers on the front. Can you guess which one is missing?’
‘Kelly Dale’s. Harry, I could kiss you.’
‘Don’t be kissing anyone just yet. The caretaker’s on his way. He covers a few buildings.’
‘You want me to come to you?’
‘No. Why would I want you to do that? Seems I’m capable of investigating crime too. Not bad for a surly old sweat with no tits.’
The call was cut. Maddie was left initially confused and then grinning hopelessly at a blackened phone screen.
Vince peered over at her. ‘What was all that about?’
‘We need to head back to the nick and wait for Harry.’
‘And that made you grin like a Cheshire did it?’
‘No. I think Harry Blaker just said tits!’
Chapter 31
‘Ah excellent! My message arrived, then?’ Harry breezed into Major Crime with his expression matching the smugness in his voice.
‘Yes. Get my reply?’ Maddie wasn’t smiling anymore. Ten minutes earlier, she had a text from Harry saying put the kettle on. Of course she had replied, asking if anything had come from his CCTV enquiries. The evidence from that might be massive and he knew it. She’d tried calling but gave up when the phone rang out for the third time. Then she did get a message from Harry — she’d snatched at her phone and nearly dropped it on the floor — it simply said: Black, extra strong, no sugar.
His coffee was steaming on the desk. He took a maddeningly long swig and Maddie stayed silent, accepting that he was going to have his moment no matter what.
He put his mug back delicately on the table and walked into a briefing room leading off the main Major Crime area. There was a big, flat screen television on the wall. He took a data stick out of his pocket, inspected it, then slotted it into the side of the television. It clicked on. Maddie raised her own coffee to her lips to stop herself shouting at Harry. She made eye contact with Vince who was clearly struggling too. He was leaning on the edge of a table, fidgeting.
Harry silently operated the remote control. The screen was on but almost completely black. A white squiggle appeared through the middle where the footage was sped up. There was a timer in the top corner and it was the only thing she could see moving. Finally Harry paused it. He moved to a chair at the side of the room where he took another swig of his coffee. Maddie’s rage was just about to fall out of her mouth in a series of profanities when he pointed the remote to start the footage.
It was clearer now. The screen showed the view from a camera that was elevated and looked to be tucked in a corner. She could see a blurred wall either side of the screen and another above. She could make out solid shapes but everything was either dark or light grey and nothing was very clear. She could see an area in the centre of the screen with a smattering of untidy bins. Either side of the bins was a mesh cage that butted up against thick posts, which seemed to get darker in colour the closer they were to the ceiling. The lightest shade of grey was reserved for the road that ran through the shot at an angle. It was punctured with black smudges that were either puddles or potholes.
A female appeared on the right side of the screen. Maddie stiffened. She heard the table shift where Vince pushed off. He moved to stand next to her. She leaned closer to the screen.
‘She’s carrying something,’ Maddie breathed. She couldn’t make out too many details, just enough to identify a female form walking slowly with what looked like a black sack in her right hand. Whatever was in it, her gait suggested it was heavy.
The woman hesitated at the edge of the bins for a moment before moving through them down a cleared path between them and stopped. Her back was to the camera now and Maddie could just see the lid of one of the bins being lifted.
Suddenly the woman jerked backwards as if pulled by an invisible force. She only stayed on her feet for a few paces before stumbling over a low kerb and into a puddle.
‘What happened there?’ Maddie said.
No one answered.
There was more movement on screen. Kelly was half way to the bottom of the screen now. Someone was over to her right but almost completely out of shot. Maddie could just see an arm flicking in and out of the view as if the person was gesturing. A small object landed on the ground, close to the woman. It had come from the direction of the gesturing figure.
‘Dammit!’ Vince leaned even closer. ‘We can’t see who that is!’ The woman was still looking up to her right. A foot appeared by her leg. Then the figure leaned forward and the peak of a flat cap appeared over her.
‘A flat cap! Freddie wore a flat cap when he came in!’ Maddie breathed.
Vince clapped. ‘We’ve got you, son!’
Maddie glanced over at Harry. He was still silent, his attention on the screen, his coffee rested against his lips. She turned back to the footage. The woman scuttled suddenly backwards across the floor, moving to the bottom edge of the screen and just in time for a van to cut across from right to left to stop where she’d been sprawled. The van braked hard, its position now blocking the view of the bins. The woman was facing the van and she didn’t try to get up. Maddie could only see it from the side — she tried to peer through the passenger window at the front to make out any occupants. There was no chance of seeing a registration plate. More movement caught her eye as a bin appeared on its side. It rolled in an arc and came to rest against the front bumper. Someone was quick to bend down and move it out of the way and Maddie got another flash of a flat cap. A few more seconds ticked by and then the van pulled away in a hurry.
Finally Maddie felt like she could take a breath. The woman in the footage looked to be the only one left. She took her time getting to her feet. She was shaky and she struggled to walk at all to start with but then exited the screen back the direction from which she had first appeared.
‘Can we see it again?’ Maddie turned to Harry.
‘Of course. That’s the fifth time I’ve seen it. The monitor at the building was actually clearer. You can see some very interesting things.’
‘Interesting?’
‘Interesting. Like a bin is not there when the van leaves. You can also see the number on the bin that goes missing and you can make out the number on the bin someone pushed out of the way of the van.’
‘Why is that important?’
‘Because you can also see that our friend in the flat cap does not appear to be wearing gloves when he did it.’
Maddie gasped. ‘Tell me you got prints?’
‘Charley should be done by now. She’s going to update me as soon as there’s something to say. But even if we get Freddie Rickman on that bin, it’s a moveable object in a communal area. We can’t put him there beyond reasonable doubt — the CCTV isn’t good enough. But if the woman sat in a puddle tells us a story . . .’
‘Kelly Dale,’ Maddie said.
Harry shrugged. ‘It’s her building. You would think it has to be. Unless you can identify her from that footage she will need to tell us that, and
of course she needs to tell us what she saw.’
Maddie was shaking her head, ‘right build, right size, approximate age and hair but you can only see her from behind. I couldn’t identify her from that.’
‘As I thought. I also seized the black sack. I can’t say for sure it was the same one, but Charley said they’re okay for prints and even better for DNA capture. Judging by how scared she looked, she’ll have shed sweat all over it. It should prove she was there, at least, even if she won’t admit it.’
‘Something else to put to Rickman. It’s enough to get him in now, surely?’
‘We’re beyond inviting him in for a chat. He needs arresting, which means you get to say you told me so. Just get it over and done with quickly.’
Maddie ran her fingers through her hair. ‘I don’t think it’s quite the time to be gloating yet. It’s still a mess. We’re not much further on. What are we putting to him in interview? Before forensics we have nothing evidential to link him to Marlie — or Holly, for that matter. Still no one is talking to us and we have no idea where Kelly Dale is.’ She snapped her fingers suddenly at Harry. ‘Her address! That was her building. Did you get in?’
‘The front door was pretty much hanging open. The place is a tip. There’s a search team en route and a patrol stood on the door until they get there. I had a bit of a look around. It looked like someone else had, too. There was nothing I could see that might help us find her. I knocked on neighbours’ doors. The few that answered said they’d seen a young girl come and go before but were under the impression she’d moved out. No one seems to have seen her recently. She definitely isn’t living there.’
Maddie was up and pacing now. ‘Okay. So what else? Holly, I never did get a home address for her. We think they were together. Maybe they lived together in Holly’s place.’
‘Holly’s address is already a live action. One of the team is on that. They’ll be doing checks with DWP, Land Registry, letting agents, voters and anything else they can think of. We should have that soon.’
‘We should chase that up. What else do we know?’
He Knows Your Secrets Page 27
