Influence

by Andrew Snadden

  Deeper and Deeper

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Foster looked at the date on his Chinese new year calender that he had been given by the overzealous owner of his local Chinese takeaway. It had been seven days since he had murdered Sykes and it was time for his next visit to the operational box. Over the past week, Foster had decided to obsessively cleanse his flat again due to the fear that traces of Sykes's DNA might be present. He had also disposed of his clothes from that night by taking them in a black bin liner to the Peverel Gap woods, near the West Ording seafront and burning them with a copious amount of petrol and a sole match. On top of that he had religiously cleaned his Fiesta for a number of hours which had drawn sarcastic remarks from his passing neighbours who hypothesised that he was trying to wash away the traces of a dirty little sexual encounter that had taken place in the car. Foster didn't even grace them with an answer.

  Due to a lack of cocaine, Foster had been smoking cannabis and drinking a moderate amount of alcohol, moderate for Foster anyway. Either way the depressants had done little for his mood and intrusive thoughts. Deep down, Foster knew he wasn't thinking straight, however he was now fully committed to reclaiming his old life back and ignored the concerns. Even if he was ill, he was convinced that the operation was for real and believed that his strange thought processes at times had been more to do with his alcohol use than anything else. Although there was a link, Foster would never believe that he had a drug and alcohol problem, or a serious mental health disorder. In his mind it was just the stress and drink that had made him feel a little out of character. Although he had originally questioned the voices in his head, he was now, no longer able to resist or ignore them; no matter what they said or told him to do.

  An hour later Foster was once again in the familiar darkness of West Ording forest, reading through the operational pack. As he scan read through the second phase of the operational briefing that pretty much went along the same lines as the first, 'neutralise another member of the Gang at this location'. Foster's second target was Larry Pearson. As he scrolled through the intelligence pertaining to him, he saw that his home address was a detached house, named Elm Farm cottage in Ridge Road, a country lane that ran adjacent to the City's University Campus and out to a semi-rural location. Foster knew it well. Whilst serving on the Armed Response Vehicles during a boring night shift, he and a colleague had gone exploring up the lane and had been impressed by the large detached houses and their quiet country like surroundings even though they were actually only a stone's throw away from the City's football teams stadium in the Falton District. As Foster surveyed the map closer, he established a discreet route in. The plan was that he would dump his car a couple of miles away in a lay by on Heathling Road north of the City's northern Hollingdale District, and jog across the fields that led to the target's address to prevent the car being seen near to the scene. From there he would force entry to the property and take out Pearson. Foster was pleased to learn that Pearson was a divorcee who lived alone; this ensured that there would be no one else to deal with.

  Wednesday 28th August at one am, a time of night that was highly likely to ensure he was asleep. Everything was now set. Foster finished scanning the information which included instructions to return to the box the following Sunday, 1st September, and no later. Like before, he destroyed all of the pages that related to Pearson. He then removed the Sig Sauer 9mm handgun and loaded the magazine clip with five 9mm rounds, leaving the other ten available for the other two men. Five rounds a piece was plenty enough. He slid the clip into the gun's magazine housing and placed it down the front of his trousers, applying the safety catch beforehand to prevent any gender confusing type injuries that would result from an accidental discharge of the weapon. For a moment Foster paused as he looked at the cocaine that was left in the bag and pondered whether it was a good idea to take it, after all it had made him a little paranoid, and Drayson was hardly happy about him taking it. However as the temptation grew too strong to ignore, Foster grabbed the remaining powder and money, closed the tin and reburied it.

  Before he got back into his car he took a small snort and then hid the bag under his car bonnet release catch. He then tore a hole in the rear of the passenger seat where the road map was kept and placed the gun into the hole to prevent it from being easily seen. It would be bad enough if the cocaine was found, let alone the pistol. Foster drove the long way back to his flat to reduce the risk of seeing a police unit. Unlike the Sykes job, Foster affirmed to himself that he wouldn't make any slip ups this time around. And this time would be different anyway, for starters he would be using a gun which seemed, although paradoxical, a less violent way to kill someone. As much as Foster had been somewhat traumatised by the events of the week before, during the ensuing days there had actually been a part of him that had enjoyed killing Sykes. His moods were now frequently shifting from good to bad within minutes and the voices were regularly talking to him without any reprieve. One moment he would feel as though he was about to have a panic attack, the next a sense of pride at how he helped finally rid the world of a dangerous scum bag, one who would try to rape someone if he didn't get his own way.

  In the fleeting moments when Foster did feel some remorse, the flashbacks of Sykes trying to rape him, plus the angry voices in his head, would induce severe mood swings that would have him punching doors until he eventually calmed down. However, whenever he saw the damage he had caused there would always be the same haze of amnesia as he tried to recall why he had lost his temper in the first place. Unfortunately the loss of awareness and time was becoming a more frequent occurrence despite Foster being relatively indifferent as to why it was happening to him.

  On his arrival back home at one am, Foster walked straight into the front room and switched the television on. Over the recent months since being retired he had either needed extremely little sleep, even when he wasn't taking drugs, or stayed in bed for days on end. And after sleeping constantly for the past week, he now felt energised, putting it down to finding his purpose in life once again, something he was good at................. stopping criminals who were ruining people’s lives. There had even been moments when Foster felt as though he was having epiphanies and that somehow he was doing the work of a higher power, like he was an Archangel sent to destroy evil.

  He leant back in his seat, wrapping himself up in the comfort of his delusions of grandeur, his unrealised psychosis, and began to wonder whether Drayson had been destined to help him turn his life around, to be his salvation. The sad but harsh truth was that the Drayson had no intention of saving anybody but himself.

  Detective Games

  Chapter Twenty Five

  The following morning at seven am, after arresting Kennedy and Poultan, Anaura awoke on the hard floor of the office. He looked over at Richards whose black eye was now well and truly in full bloom. Richards woke up too and shook his head, exclaiming how his head felt like it was going to explode to which Anaura replied that he would get the coffee on the go and that because it was a Sunday he would treat him to a fry up at the café around the corner. The two men got up and changed into their suits that their respective wives had kept dropping off at the station with supplies. After finishing their hearty morning breakfast, Anaura and Richards got into one of their 'authorised' Fords and drove from the office to the custody block.

  On their arrival, they were met by Sgt Gosden who asked them if they were OK after seeing Richards' eye. He explained how Poultan had been playing up but Kennedy had been quiet as a mouse which kind of demonstrated who was the boss. Anaura nodded in acknowledgement before requesting that Kennedy be prepared for interview. An hour later when his solicitor arrived, Anaura told Richards that he should sit out on the interview because of what had happened the day before, Richards agreed despite commenting on how he would like to have given him another whack.

  Kennedy was removed from his cell and taken to meet Anaura and his solicitor. As he emerged from the cell block's secure stee
l door, he smiled at Anaura and asked how Usher and Valera were doing and stating that he would like to have had a 'go' on them. Anaura scowled and leant towards him before whispering to Kennedy that he was lucky that he was a copper, otherwise he would have been smashing him all over the custody block. Anaura stood off but maintained direct eye contact with him as Kennedy's female solicitor asked what he had said knowing that whatever it had been, it wasn't on a professional level. Still staring at Kennedy, he then told the jumped up cow of a solicitor to mind her own business as it was between him and her client. If Kennedy wanted to tell her what he had said then that was up to him. Although she appeared to be infuriated by Anaura's attitude, she soon backed off when she saw that Kennedy was laughing at her for being flustered.

  Inside the interview room the tapes were switched on to begin recording everything that was said. For the purpose of the tape Anaura stated where they were and reminded Kennedy of his rights and the police caution. After a further few seconds of staring, he began questioning Kennedy about the money and the drugs he was seen passing and receiving from the passenger of the Subaru. Kennedy didn't say a word. Anaura shrugged and continued to ask questions about who the males in the Subaru were and how he knew them and if the drugs were his. Kennedy didn't reply. The silence of Kennedy would have provoked some people, but Anaura had done it all before and although 'no comment', or silent interviews were an annoying hindrance, they were nothing new and rarely got the suspect anywhere anyway.

  “I should remind you Luke that this is your chance to say something, if you don't say anything now that you later rely on in court, well the jury may wonder why and drew inference from that. Like that you're lying!” Anaura said without caring whether Kennedy listened or not.

  Kennedy remained silent then crossed his arms and arrogantly smiled back at Anaura who reciprocated.

  “OK Luke, lets tell it how it is. You're a drug dealer working for the Gang, namely Ryan Bradford, Larry Pearson, Nick Sykes and Paul Cooper and that was their dope you were handing to Poultan and his mate in the car, wasn't it? It ain't looking good for you mate, not good at all!”

  Although Kennedy remained silent, the very mention of the Gang had made him shuffle in his seat. Anaura stared at him hard and could see that there was a sense of worry in his expression. Due to Anaura's ability to read people and seeing how Kennedy was reacting, he didn't waste the opportunity to capitalise on his discomfort.

  “Oooooohhhh. I just hit a nerve there didn't I? I guess your reaction tells me everything I need to know doesn't it?” Anaura said with a sneer, realising that he was finally starting to get to him.

  “Go fuck yourself! You don't know anything you stupid fucking black Aussie twat! What can you prove?” Kennedy growled.

  “New Zealand Maori actually; anyway, geography and ethnicity lesson over, I know one thing, mentioning the Gang is the only thing that's made you open your mouth. So I guess I know for sure now that you have some involvement with them. Not so clever after all are you?” Anaura replied with satisfaction.

  Kennedy promptly refused to answer any more questions and requested that he be taken back to his cell. Anaura didn't need to know any more, Kennedy was definitely linked to the Gang and with Poultan in custody too, he had an opportunity to play them off against each other. Kennedy didn't need to say another word.

  Anaura wrapped the interview up and escorted Kennedy and his solicitor out of the room and towards the custody bridge where Gosden requested that one of the custody assistants take Kennedy back to his cell. Anaura walked into the report writing room and gave a thumbs up to Richards who said back to him that the interview must have gone well. Anaura told him that Kennedy hadn't said a word until he made a reference to the Gang which instantly made him react.

  “If he reacts to the mere mention of them, he has to be linked somehow!” Richards said.

  “Oh yeah, absolutely. But, I'm not looking to try and extract anything else from Kennedy, he's too smart to say any more now. Poultan on the other hand; well he isn't going to be as hard as Kennedy to influence!” Anaura said, finishing the sentence with a satisfied raise of his eyebrows.

  The two detectives approached Gosden and asked for Poultan to be brought down for questioning. Richards looked around and asked where Poultan's solicitor was. Anaura replied with a huge smile that he wasn't having one. No solicitor meant no witnesses, they could talk to him about whatever they wanted, with and without the tape on.

  Fifteen minutes later Anaura was asking Poultan questions about what had been passed between his passenger and Kennedy, who the passenger was and how he knew Kennedy. Poultan answered each question with the same anecdotal answers about how he didn't know anything and had just been asked to drive a friend to Kennedy's house. When he didn't get anything out of him, Anaura moved onto why he had tried to get away and driven so dangerously to do so. In response, Poultan used the common criminal excuse of “I was scared. I didn't realise you were coppers so I tried to get away!”. After forty minutes of questioning, Poultan finally admitted to dangerous driving but nothing else so Anaura concluded the interview.

  “It's a shame that you didn't mention anything about Luke Kennedy, because he had plenty to say about you, eh DS Richards?” Anaura said, still looking at Poultan.

  “I don't believe you, nice try though!” Poultan replied with a smart arse type of smile.

  “Really? OK, fine, I won't tell you what he implied about your involvement with the Gang then!” Anaura said with an even bigger grin than Poultan's.

  Poultan's face dropped into a shocked expression. Anaura went to pack away Poultan's file before he was stopped and asked what Kennedy had said about him.

  “Actually wait a second; didn't I nick you for assaulting me too? I forgot to ask any questions about that. DS Richards can you get another tape please?”

  “Wait, wait, wait! If you book me up for that too, I'm definitely going to prison for sure! I didn't mean to hit you, it was an accident. OK, OK, I'll help you with whatever you want, just don't interview me for that as well!”

  “Are you trying to bribe me? I hope not. Well if you really want to know- when the Gang were mentioned, Kennedy provided us with all we needed to know.” Anaura said without embellishing what Kennedy had actually said or not.

  “That fucking liar! Right, I swear down what I'm about to tell you is the truth. I can't believe I'm going to tell you this!”

  Anaura told him that he had already started and said enough to put himself in the frame, so he might as well finish.

  “I wasn't involved with the drugs, that was the other two. And don't even think I'm going to tell you who was in the car with me. But yeah they were exchanging packages and it was definitely 'China white', you know cocaine!! You're right about Luke, he is involved with the Gang, he must be mad though for telling you that. Anyway I swear I don't deal drugs any more, I'm just a driver, most of the time I don't even know what or who I'm carrying in the car, Luke doesn't tell me anything, and I've never met anyone high up in the Gang, I swear!” Poultan declared.

  “Yeah sure Jamie whatever. Tell me more about Kennedy and the work he does for the Gang.” Anaura ordered, feeling as though Poultan was beginning to go off at a tangent to avoid answering his questions.

  “OK it's like this, although they don't tell me anything, I do hear things you know. And I know that Luke has been slowly rising up the ranks in the Gang for a while now, he's one of their best dealers and he's getting even better. What you saw was tip of the iceberg stuff, I've heard he's looking to get involved with the Gang on a much bigger level. He definitely knows a lot of stuff about what they're up to. That's all I know, I swear!!”

  “Are you sure there's nothing else? You haven't really given us much more than a little bit of crap wishy washy intelligence, it's hardly ground breaking evidence is it Jamie? Nothing that's going to help you anyway!” Anaura said as he began to place another tape into the tape recorder.

  “WAIT! I've heard about a dirty co
pper if that's better?” Poultan suddenly blurted out.

  Anaura sat down and looked at Richards with a frown before staring back at Poultan and asking him to expand on what he had just said whilst warning him that if he was lying, he would be in deep trouble. Poultan smirked at Anaura and Richards and said that he would only help them if they didn't pursue the assault on Anaura and helped him with the drug accessory charges. Anaura nodded before Richards interjected and told him to come out with it. Poultan paused for a moment before telling them that while he had been driving Kennedy around one night back in April, or May, they had stopped at a nice house in the rich part of the City. Richards raised an eyebrow at Anaura as Poultan continued explaining how Kennedy had told him to stay in the car before he went inside. About five minutes later Poultan said that Kennedy had called to tell him that he wouldn't be coming out for at least half an hour and that he should drive around to prevent anyone seeing his car outside the house. He then explained how Kennedy had hung up but must not have done it properly as he could overhear a man mentioning something about the harbour in the background of the open call. The other man told Kennedy about a dirty copper they had in their pockets. Richards interrupted him and asked if he had a name. Poultan shook his head and said that the unknown male never said a name and had only made references to the copper. Poultan remarked that whoever it was, the man clearly didn't trust Kennedy with the information.

  Richards told Poultan to keep going so he continued, explaining how the man expressed to Kennedy that he and the rest of the group didn't fully trust the copper as they believed he was covering something up from them. He went on to say that Kennedy should try to keep a low profile until they were a hundred percent sure that no one was watching them.