Stephen Booth - Scared to Live

‘Oh, the European Union,’ said Fry. The phrase had begun to sound like the kiss of death to rationality.

‘Yes, indeed.’

‘I suppose what it boils down to is that the Bulgarian authorities wouldn’t want evidence of large-scale baby smuggling to come to light right now.’

‘Especially if other EU member states are involved. It would cause quite a scandal. Worse, it would give ammunition to those who do not want Bulgaria to join the EU.’

Fry felt suddenly exhausted. No matter how hard you tried to achieve some kind of justice, there were occasions when it was obvious you were wasting your time. The realities lined up against you were insurmountable. And this was the way it always would be. Human nature would never change.

‘So we’re looking at a baby selling ring, with at least four people involved. Is that right? The two people killed in the shooting in Pleven, plus Rose Shepherd and Simon Nichols. Or, rather, Rosica Savova and Simcho Nikolov. And what about the Zhivko brothers?’

‘There are connections between them, certainly.’

‘Were Dimitar Iliev and Piya Yotova wealthy?’

‘No, not all. They had an ordinary home in an apartment block in Pleven. They drove an aged Ford Escort, as you saw. They had no money hidden away, that we could find.’

‘And Nikolov was pretty much destitute.’ Fry thought of the electronic gates guarding Bain House in Foxlow. ‘So it appears that Savova made all the money from the enterprise.’

‘ Da . It would seem so.’

‘Do you think there was a falling-out between the principal players? Was it Nikolov that Rose Shepherd was afraid of? Did he come to Derbyshire looking for her?’

‘I do not know, Diane.’

‘Well, someone did. And the Mullens got innocently mixed up in this?’

‘It depends what you mean by “innocently”. They must have removed the baby from Bulgaria illegally.’

‘True. We know that much, at least. But why would the Mullens’ adoption have failed?’

‘Who can tell? Adoption has become very difficult for foreigners.’

‘But Bulgaria was supposed to be the place to go to adopt a baby. According to Henry Lowther, anyway.’

‘No longer,’ said Kotsev. ‘Since Bulgaria wishes to join the EU, it has signed the Hague Treaty. As a consequence, our new laws say that orphans or abandoned children become available after having no contact with their family for six months. I understand there are now fifteen thousand children in our orphanages, but only a very few legally adoptable.’

‘So the Lowthers fell foul of that change?’

‘I would say so. It is a legacy of the Soviet mentality — let the state do everything for you, from cradle to grave. And this is the result. The state can look after your unwanted child, why not? So yes, it is difficult. It costs many thousands of dollars.’

‘So they went for the illegal option. They must have been desperate by then.’

Kotsev nodded. ‘Is there a photograph of this child?’ he asked.

‘Yes, here — ’

He looked at the photo of Luanne for several minutes. Then he muttered under his breath something Fry didn’t catch. For the first time, she thought she saw his confident exterior dented.

‘She looks to me as though she might be a Roma,’ said Fry.

Kotsev sighed deeply. ‘Yes, you’re right. I had a suspicion, but no more.’

‘Suspicion?’

He waved a hand, as if he were swatting away a fly. ‘I understand if you’re angry at this, but there is some information that is difficult to share.’

‘Oh, really? I thought you were sharing everything with me, so we could work together as colleagues.’

‘Very well.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s possible that this child belongs to one of our leading criminals, the Mafia boss I mentioned. A very unpleasant gangster.’

‘What do you mean “belongs to”?’

‘They say he had a child, born to a young Romani woman. The woman ran away from him when the baby was born. It took him a little while to catch up with her.’

‘What happened to the woman? Is she dead?’

‘People who upset mutra chiefs don’t survive very long. But her body has never been found, that’s all I can say.’

‘And she sold the baby?’

‘It is possible,’ said Kotsev. ‘Her concern might have been to save the child, to get her out of the way of danger. That is how it is with mothers, I understand. But fathers want their children, too. Some want them very badly.’

‘How would he have tracked her down here, to Derbyshire? Could his influence reach here so easily?’

‘Yes. In fact, he might have preferred it. It’s not so easy in Bulgaria for the mutras now. As I said, the country is changing. There’s no place for those who grew up in the old ways.’

‘The old ways, Georgi? You mean bribery and corruption?’

Kotsev shrugged. ‘After the Change, that was the way things worked. It was the system.’

‘But the system didn’t work equally for everybody, did it? Isn’t that important?’

He smiled. ‘Ah, now you sound like a Communist.’

But Fry didn’t return his smile. ‘In particular, it didn’t work for Zlatka Shishkov.’

‘This is true.’

‘Georgi, would a father really go so far to get his child back? Would he go to any lengths?’

Kotsev took a drink, started to shake his head, then nodded instead. ‘I can’t answer that question, Diane.’

Fry looked at him, wanting to ask him whether he was a father himself. But she was afraid it would sound too personal.

Kotsev shrugged. ‘We might have expected the child to be taken — to be returned to her father. But that hasn’t happened.’

‘Not yet,’ said Fry. ‘It hasn’t happened yet .’

Fry updated her colleagues at West Street with the news, and they considered the theory suggested by the latest information.

‘You know, I never thought the fire made sense myself,’ she said. ‘And it still doesn’t.’

‘No? What do you mean?’ asked Cooper.

‘Well, starting that fire was a very dangerous thing to do, wasn’t it? It doesn’t fit the same pattern as the killing of Rose Shepherd. Apart from the effectiveness of the technique, there are no signs that it’s a professional job. Where’s the planning, the cool calculation?’

‘Perhaps you’re right, but I’m not sure why.’

‘Ben, look. For a start, they must have known Luanne wasn’t in the house with the rest of the family, or they wouldn’t have risked it. Not if they wanted to get her back so badly.’

‘Yes, I agree.’

‘And I’m not even sure what they hoped to achieve by starting the fire. Did they mean for the Mullens to be killed?’

‘Maybe they just made a mistake. If they acted recklessly and failed to make sure that Luanne Mullen wasn’t in the house — ’

‘They’d be in big trouble, wouldn’t they?’

‘But now it’s Luanne who’s at risk again, isn’t it? These people will stop at nothing. So forget the fire — the living are most important. We have to save that child.’

‘If Brian Mullen is thinking straight, he ought to realize the risk,’ said Cooper.

Fry shook her head. ‘This case has been the same all the way round. No one has behaved in a rational way. Everyone involved seems to have gone headlong towards their fate with blinkers on. You’d think they were a lot of lemmings throwing themselves off a cliff.’

‘Emotions,’ said Cooper. ‘Emotions always interfere with rational behaviour.’

Fry began to put together her notes to update the DI and Mr Kessen.

‘Do you want someone to check on the Heights of Abraham later, Diane?’ asked Cooper. ‘The Lowthers said that’s where John is likely to go.’