Peter James - Dead at First Sight

‘Yes, boss.’

‘DS Alexander will assist you. I’m tasking you with getting a warrant and putting together a plan for going in. We’re going to need a Firearms Unit because of the potential for serious violence, the Local Support Team, Digital Forensics, a Police Search Advisor and search team. Surveillance is already in place. Something’s up there that we need to know about, urgently. OK?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Do it in fast time. I want everyone ready in three hours. I’ll speak to Gold to get someone appointed to lead the search for Tooth, working alongside our team.’

‘Understood, sir.’

‘Meantime, I’ll handle our suspect. I want to speak to him myself.’

‘Third interview with Dunstan Ogwang, in the presence of his solicitor, Alison Watts, Detective Superintendent Grace and Detective Sergeant Potting,’ Roy Grace said to the camera. Then he addressed the suspect. ‘Mr Ogwang, so far in your previous interviews you have remained silent, which you are entitled to do. I’ll remind you that you are under caution. You have been arrested on suspicion of causing Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Is that clear?’

Ogwang faced him off in sullen silence.

His solicitor said, ‘Detective Superintendent, my client has told me that he will not answer any questions.’

‘Understood, but I’m going to give your client one more chance to change his mind.’ He turned back to Ogwang. ‘When you were arrested last night, according to the arresting officer you had in your possession a machete. There was what appeared to be fresh blood on the blade. Would you like to say anything about that? Any explanation?’

‘No comment.’

‘I have just received from the Surrey and Sussex Police’s Forensic department the DNA analysis of the blood on your knife. It is an exact match with the blood of a gentleman who was attacked in his home a short while — in fact just minutes — before you were arrested. In this attack his hand was first pinned to a chopping board by a kitchen knife and subsequently it was severed by a machete. Are you following me?’

Again Ogwang faced him off.

‘The victim has identified you. Is there anything you would like to tell me?’

Alison Watts said, sharply, ‘I’ve already told you my client is not prepared to answer any questions.’

‘I did hear you,’ Grace said. ‘I’m still entitled to ask him questions from which inferences may be drawn. Is your client aware of the gravity of this offence? That Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent carries a potentially similar sentence to murder? That he could be looking at twenty years or more in prison?’

‘I will explain this to my client.’

‘Ms Watts, just so we are under no illusions here about the situation, as has already been mentioned by my colleague Detective Inspector Branson in an earlier interview, Kofi Okonjo is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for atrocities committed in the Sierra Leone war for independence at the start of this century. We have seen the photograph they have of him and I can confirm it is your client.’

Grace was enjoying the solicitor’s clear discomfort. To her credit she remained poker-faced.

‘I’m not prepared to disclose any confidential discussions I have had with my client,’ she said.

Grace turned back to Ogwang. ‘We believe you are working with a colleague or an accomplice. We also believe that the pair of you are not working alone. I cannot promise you any kind of immunity or special treatment, but if you were willing to cooperate and give us information, I can tell you that a judge would take that into consideration in any future sentence you might receive if found guilty of this offence. Have a think, there’s no rush.’ He turned to Watts. ‘Would you like to consider this? If you need further time with your client, we can suspend this interview.’

Ogwang glanced at his solicitor.

‘As I’ve already made clear, my client will not answer any questions. Do what you need to do, which I presume will be to charge my client,’ she said.

Grace looked once more at the big, round, dead eyes of Ogwang. Then he glanced at the clock and addressed the camera above them. ‘Interview with Dunstan Ogwang terminated at 12.09 p.m.’

After the abortive interview with Dunstan Ogwang, Grace went down to the privacy of his ground-floor cubicle of an office. He first called Cassian Pewe, who had left a message wanting an update and insisting he attend the press conference himself. Determined, of course, to steal the limelight — and any future glory.

Ending the call to the ACC, he pondered on his lunch tomorrow in London with Alison Vosper. What did she have in mind for him? An escape from that plonker on the first floor of the building housing the brass?

He turned his attention to the reports he needed to read through before his meeting in London, tomorrow afternoon, with Emily Denyer and the prosecuting counsel on the so-called ‘Black Widow’, Jodie Bentley — one of the nastiest and most devious human beings he had ever had the dubious privilege to arrest. Responsible for the deaths of at least three rich lovers — and very nearly for the death of Norman Potting — Bentley deserved to be behind bars for the rest of her natural life. But, of course, thanks to the skewed justice system, that would never happen, he thought, gloomily.

There was a rat-a-tat-tat on his door, then Norman Potting blundered in, beaming. ‘I’ve spoken to CPS, chief, and run through the evidence with them. They’re happy for us to charge him with GBH with Intent.’

‘Good... did you discuss with them his selection of names and which to charge him under?’

‘Since he first came into this country as Kofi Okonjo, and that’s the name on the international arrest warrant, they think that’s the one we should use. Do you agree?’

‘Yes. You can explain it to the magistrate in court when he appears, with luck this afternoon. I’ve checked and it’s Juliet Smith who is the senior one on today. I doubt she’ll be sympathetic towards him.’

Grace had a soft spot for her, because of all the magistrates he’d ever been in front of she was the most supportive towards the police, but always fair in her decisions.

‘Do you want to do the honours, chief?’

‘No, I have a ton of stuff to prepare for a meeting with counsel in London tomorrow, so the pleasure is all yours, Norman. With the severity of the charges and Okonjo clearly a flight risk, there shouldn’t be any problem in getting the magistrate to agree to denying any bail application and remanding him in custody. So fill your boots.’

‘Deputy Sheriff Sorokin,’ Matt said, answering the phone in his freezing-cold office. ‘How may I help you, ma’am?’

‘I’m real worried,’ the woman at the other end said. ‘I haven’t seen my Jean-Pierre in over four days. This is not like him, I’ve a real bad feeling about this.’

He clicked the keypad to open a file. ‘OK, bear with me one second. May I have your full name, please.’

‘Kathleen Jordan Martis.’

‘And your address?’

He tapped it in as she recited it.

‘And your relationship with Jean-Pierre — can you give me his last name?’

‘He’s a cat,’ she said, indignantly. ‘Don’t have no last name.’

‘Ma’am, with all due respect, you’ve called the homicide investigations number of the Sheriff’s Department of the Hernando County Police. I’ll give you another number to call.’