Simon Kernick - The Murder Exchange

Then, without warning, Fitz sat back up, blood dribbling from the corner of the mouth, and aimed his weapon at us. There followed an excruciatingly long one-second pause, as if we were all just frozen there, and then I pulled the trigger. My first bullet missed but the second ripped the top of his head off, depositing a lump of something nasty on the wall behind. Fitz continued sitting where he was for maybe a couple of seconds, then tipped straight back. I didn’t need any more encouragement to get the hell out of there, and turned and charged down the stairs in the direction of the ground floor, Kalinski in hot pursuit.

The van was still double-parked with the engine idling when we got outside. We ran straight for it, pulling the balaclavas from our heads, Kalinski heading for the back, me for the front. In the distance we could hear the first faint sirens.

‘What the fuck’s going on?’ howled Johnny as I jumped inside. ‘I saw them shove some naked geezer with an Elvis barnet in the back!’

The back door shut as Kalinski got in, and there were two knocks on the interior panel to tell us they were ready to go.

‘Shut the fuck up and drive! Now!’

Johnny took one look at me, saw something in my face he didn’t like, and did exactly what he was told.

Gallan

There were already at least a dozen police vehicles and several ambulances double-parked along the street when Ramsay pulled up about fifty yards down from the scene of the shooting. I pulled open the side door of the van and stepped out into the rain. I didn’t wait for the others and started walking down in the direction of the brothel, Berrin following behind. The call had said that there’d been a serious shooting incident with several casualties, but it was the location that intrigued me. Heavenly Girls. The brothel Neil Vamen’s girlfriend, the woman who had had nothing to say regarding the death of a man in her home, had worked in; the place in which the mysterious disappearing Roy Fowler had an alleged interest. Something was happening, and I desperately wanted to get a handle on what it was.

The front door of the brothel was under police guard, and in the doorway I could see a very concerned-looking DCI Knox with his back to the street, talking to someone. The person came into view as we mounted the steps, and I was pleased to see that it was Asif Malik.

Knox and Malik turned round as we approached them.

‘Hello, John,’ said Knox grimly. ‘Dave,’ he added, nodding towards Berrin. ‘You both know Asif, don’t you?’

‘I do, Dave doesn’t,’ I said. We stepped out of the rain, then did the introductions. ‘So, what’s happened?’ I asked.

‘A double murder,’ said Knox.

‘Off the record,’ said Malik, ‘they’re both associates of Krys Holtz: Danny Fitzgerald and Mick Noble. According to the witnesses here, a number of masked men came in, shot the two of them, and then, from what we can gather, abducted Krys himself.’

‘Shit,’ was the only reply I could manage.

‘Exactly. God only knows what this is going to lead to.’

‘We think the Serious Crime Group are going to be taking this case, John,’ said Knox, sounding not entirely unrelieved by the prospect, ‘but we’re going to need some help taking statements. There must be thirty people up there we’ve got to talk to, quite a few of whom are not going to want to cooperate very much.’

‘Sure, no problem. We’ll get on to it.’

Knox nodded, and headed up the stairs to the reception area. ‘I’d better get up there too,’ said Malik.

‘Before you do, can I grab a moment?’ I asked.

‘It’ll have to be quick,’ he answered. ‘This little lot has really complicated things.’

‘It will be.’ I turned to Berrin. ‘I’ll meet you up there, Dave.’ Berrin looked put out but didn’t say anything and did as he was told.

I took Malik by the arm and led him to the far corner of the foyer. ‘I spoke to the landlord,’ I told him, giving him a brief synopsis of what had been said. ‘Something was going on in that house, something very illegal.’

‘And you haven’t been able to get hold of this Franks guy?’

‘Not a word. He’s disappeared, just like Roy Fowler, who, for your information, apparently had a share in this place.’

‘That’s interesting, except it still doesn’t prove anything. Whatever was going on in that house won’t be going on now, and if there’s no evidence of a criminal enterprise taking place, there’s not a lot we can do.’

‘Does the company name mean anything to you? Dagmar Holdings?’

‘John, the Holtzes have God knows how many front companies washing their money. I honestly can’t remember them all individually. But I promise I’ll look into it for you.’

I could tell that Malik was beginning to think of me as an irritant, and I could hardly blame him. I might have unearthed a few matters that needed explanation, but in the end I had absolutely nothing concrete, and it was the concrete stuff that any police officer needed.

‘You know, Asif, you’re always looking for a way into the Holtzes. If what I spoke about to you yesterday … If that actually happened, think what it could mean. Someone would definitely open his mouth.’

‘Ifs and maybes, John. At the moment the most important thing is trying to prevent some sort of gang war breaking out, and that means finding out which madmen decided it would be a good idea to snatch Krys Holtz.’

‘Do me one favour.’

‘What?’

‘I’m going to ask DCI Knox to authorize a full search of Franks’s house for any traces that might back up my theory. I’d like to add that I’ve got your support for it as well. Please. If I can turn something up, I’m sure it’ll help your investigations. If I don’t, then it’s no loss to you.’

Malik thought about it for a moment, then, deciding that it was probably easier to agree than put up with more hassle, said he would. ‘But that’s the extent of my involvement. Is that clear?’

‘As daylight.’ I patted him on the shoulder. ‘Thanks. I owe you one.’

It was two hours before Berrin and I finished taking statements at Heavenly Girls. A number of the clientele and staff were severely traumatized, including one of the security people, a huge ex-boxer who’d had the misfortune to witness what was left of the two shot men, and who now kept bursting into tears, so it hadn’t been an easy task.

The rain had stopped by the time the two of us descended the steps to the street. The van we’d been travelling around in all night remained parked further up and I could make out Ramsay behind the wheel eating a sandwich, lazy bastard.

‘Sarge?’ said Berrin as we walked along.

I yawned. It was half two in the morning, a long way past my bedtime. ‘Yes, Dave?’

‘Have you got a problem with me?’

I stopped and looked at him, and realized how difficult I’d made things for him lately. ‘Of course I haven’t. I’m sorry about the last few days. I’ve been trying to follow up on a couple of theories I’ve got, and I suppose I didn’t want to share them until they’d come to something.’

‘But we’re working together on this. I need to know what’s happening otherwise I’m not going to be of any use to you at all.’

‘No, I understand that.’

‘So what was it you were talking to the SO7 bloke about?’

I sighed. ‘A theory I’m working on, but a real vague one.’ And it was vague, too, but I was sure there was something in it.

Berrin lit a cigarette. ‘Well, let’s hear it then. You never know, I might even be able to help.’

So I told him. By the time I’d finished talking, it had started to rain again. ‘What do you think?’ I asked, wondering if I was really any good at man management.