Blind Fury (38 page)

“Nah. Just that it was getting him down. Sonja doled out his money like he was a ten-year-old. She gave him pocket money—can you believe that?”

“How much do you think he was making by working on the side, selling blinds from his company on the cheap?”

“I dunno, but he paid me in cash, so it had to have been a bit of all right.”

Langton glanced at Anna. She packed up the photographs and replaced them in the file. Langton stood up.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Dillane. We really appreciate you agreeing to help our inquiry. We would also appreciate it if you would agree to come back should we need to verify a few things.”

Dillane left the station at ten-fifteen. Langton was satisfied that he was not involved and gave the go-ahead to the eagerly waiting team. He wanted John Smiley arrested and brought down to the station that night. There was a unanimous cheer from everyone.

As they packed up, ready to leave, Langton asked Anna if she’d like to have a celebratory drink. She refused, saying she was tired and wanted to be fresh for the following morning.

He gave her a light tap on her cheek. “Okay. Well done this evening.”

“It’s been a long wait.”

“It has, but we’ve got him. We’ve bloody got the bastard.”

Chapter Sixteen

W
ith the assistance of Manchester Constabulary, John Smiley was arrested at four-fifteen the following morning. He gave no resistance, but his wife, Sonja, became abusive and tried to stop officers from beginning their search of the premises. The van sold to him by Michael Dillane was discovered in a garage three streets away from his home. This was put on a loader and driven to London for the forensic team to begin work on. Hidden in a tool bag in the garage and neatly folded into a John Lewis carrier bag were a black jacket with lapels, a white shirt, and a security guard’s hat. They also removed the delivery van used by Smiley from the Swell Blinds offices early the same morning.

The search teams worked through the last of the night and into the following morning, removing bags of possible evidence. Within the bags were receipts, a log of private customers, and a paper bag containing over two thousand pounds in cash. They also removed from the garage some stacked blinds, all neatly covered in bubble wrap, with the sizes and shades carefully printed on a card on the front of each item.

The team in London began to assimilate all of the new evidence in readiness to begin the interrogation of John Smiley. His lawyer, James Gregson, was contacted, and he was soon closeted in an interview room with his client. John Smiley was to be charged with four counts of murder. His fingerprints were taken on arrival and went directly to the forensic lab.

It became clear that they would not get to interrogate John Smiley that day. His lawyer insisted that he would not allow his client to be interviewed until he was satisfied that full consultation with him concerning the disclosure was completed. He talked to Langton in Mike Lewis’s office, saying that as there were likely to be four murder charges, he must be allowed more time with Smiley. Langton agreed that he could continue his disclosure discussions and that they would conduct the interview the following morning.

It was infuriating, as the team was eager to gain a result after such an extensive investigation, and none of them, especially Anna, had expected to be released for the evening. They would reconvene at eight the following morning, Langton said, and stressed that they should use the time to prepare for the interrogation. He and Travis would handle the interview.

After he had left, Barolli insinuated that it was Langton who needed the time to get up to speed on all their accumulated evidence.

Anna ignored his snide remark; she was pleased that Langton had insisted she interrogate John Smiley with him, and she was confident they would gain a result, if not a confession.

Anna rang Ken as soon as she got back, but his mobile phone was turned off. She called his flat and left a message to say that she was at home. She showered and did a review of the case file until quite late. She didn’t want to go to sleep until she’d had the opportunity to talk to him.

It was almost midnight when Ken finally rang. He apologized immediately for not returning her calls but said that it had been a hard day.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“You first. Tell me what you’ve been working on.”

“We’ve got enough to charge John Smiley.” She didn’t go into detail.

“That’s a positive result?” He sounded pleased for her.

“It will be if we get him to confess. We’ve got him a lawyer who is young and wants to prove himself, so he’s crossing all the T’s and insisting on lengthy discussions about the disclosures.”

“But you’re certain you’ve got the right guy?”

“Yes.”

Ken was keen to talk about their future rather than work, and they happily began discussing wedding dates. Anna wanted to know where they should have the ceremony and reception. Ken laughed when he found out that she wanted it to be the full monty: he was to wear a morning suit and, if possible, to get his brother back from Australia to be best man. Ken said he’d try but wasn’t certain Robin would make the trip back for a wedding. He was thinking of asking Lizzie’s husband, Ian, or an officer he was pals with at the prison.

“It’s your choice,” Anna said. “I won’t be having any bridesmaids, but I’d like your nephews as pageboys.”

“They’d love it, but no velvet, please. They’re real boys.”

She laughed, saying that she knew that, but she’d like them to be in suits, and one would carry the ring cushion.

Ken said he’d talk to Lizzie and that maybe he could swing a weekend leave, but after the nightmare day he’d had, it might not be in the cards.

“Why, what’s happened?”

“Cameron Welsh, that’s what. First he appeared to be getting himself straightened out and asked if he could make himself an omelette. As he’d been refusing to eat for days, we were only too pleased to allow him into the kitchen. He was very friendly—now that I think about it, too much so. He asked if he could brew up a pot of tea for the officers, and it was fortunate that Brian—he’s the guy I want for my best man if Rob can’t make it—went into the kitchen to check up on him.”

Anna was shocked when Ken said that Brian had found Welsh using a one-inch nail file to shave a shard of glass into the bowl of eggs; he had also put some into the teapot.

“We couldn’t be sure if he was trying to make himself so ill that he’d be hospitalized, or whether we were his targets.”

“Why would he do that?”

“For one, if we’d all drunk the tea, we’d have been hurt or maybe even dead—likewise himself, if he’d eaten the omelette—but I think he was paying us back. Again, if he’d been taken to the hospital, he might have been planning an escape.”

“Paying you back?”

“Yeah. He may have been in the kitchen and overheard.”

“Overheard what?”

“Brian congratulating me about our engagement. I told you that Welsh has this fixation with you, didn’t I?”

“So it was you he was targeting?”

“That’s what I think, but if we’d all drunk his tea, we’d have all been hurt. Anyway, he’s been locked up round the clock, and we’ve taken all his privileges, so he’s not a very happy camper.”

“How did he get the nail file into his cell?”

“Christ only knows. It was only about an inch long, so he could have had it hidden for years. As he’s had no visitors, it was doubtful anyone could have brought it in. You’d be surprised what they can smuggle in or buy off another inmate.”

They continued talking for another half hour before Anna said she should get some sleep, as she wanted to be fresh for the morning.

“Listen, due to the situation here, we’re working round the clock, and I’m due some time off this week,” Ken said. “How about if I ride down?”

Anna said she could think of nothing she’d like better. For one thing, it would mean they could work out the wedding date and invitation list. After they hung up, she slept soundly, she had done so ever since being with Ken. She no longer felt that restlessness and obsession with mulling over the case files in her head.

She was dressed and ready for action by seven-thirty the following morning, eager to get on with the interrogation of John Smiley. When she reached the station, Anna was surprised to see Langton already there. He had coffee and a toasted bacon sandwich, and as soon as he saw her, he asked for a word in Mike Lewis’s office.

“Listen, I’ve had a bit of a development,” he said. “I’m not going to make it this morning, so Mike will be in on the interrogation with you.”

Anna was disappointed. “Why not? You’re here now.”

“Yeah, but I have to leave soon—and you and I both know it’s going to be a long session with Smiley. I tell you one thing I’ve learned from this . . .”

“Just one?”

“Never let an effing rookie lawyer handle a big case. This guy James Gregson is a royal pain in the arse. You’d think he was representing Prince Charles, the way he’s carrying on.”

“Scared he’s going to make a mistake, I reckon,” Anna said thoughtfully. “For us, it might prove to be an advantage.”

“You all right to go in with Mike?”

“Of course I am, and don’t run him down. On the contrary, he needs all the confidence boosters you can give him. He’s had the carpet tugged a few times.”

“Maybe it doesn’t help, just how much you’ve come up with the leads that have assisted us in bringing in John Smiley.”

“It was teamwork, sir,” Anna said. Langton had reprimanded her enough times for not being a team player.

“I’ll talk to him before I leave,” Langton promised.

“Can I ask why you’re not staying?”

Langton nodded and referred to another case he had been overseeing.

“You read about the little girl nicknamed the Pixie? It started because her parents gave us a photograph of her dressed for a party; she was wearing a little pixie hat and green tights.”

“I know the case. She was found inside one of those huge waste bins, wasn’t she?”

“Yep, poor little lass. She’d been missing for four weeks.”

“In many ways I am grateful that I’m on this John Smiley case and not on a child murder. They’re always hard not to get emotionally involved in.”

“Yeah, and in this one, emotions are running to boiling point. We arrested the stepfather last night.”

“What?”

“Yeah. He cried a lot of crocodile tears on all the TV interviews, but I just had this gut feeling about him, and last night we nailed him. It was old Pete Jenkins who gave us the lead with just one fingerprint.”

“From the Dumpster?”

“Nope, off of little Pixie’s skin. He used the superglue technique and lifted it from her backbone. The man had denied being with her for the afternoon she went missing, and he’d been protected by the mother. So like I said, emotions are boiling over, but I want to lead the interrogation. Personally, I’d like to strangle him with my bare hands, but instead, I’ll make damned sure I break him.”

Anna knew that dealing with Langton at full throttle wouldn’t be easy; she’d seen him in action too many times.

“Did you also have a gut feeling about John Smiley?”

He nodded and then looked at her. “What about you?”

“To be honest, no, I didn’t, but there were just too many coincidences—and I know you don’t believe in them. That’s what kept me going.”

“You did good detective work, Travis. It won’t go unnoticed.”

“Thank you.”

“But you
are
going to have to break him—and I’d say over the Margaret Potts murder. We’ve not got enough on any of the Polish girls, apart from the blue blanket. Did you get his pal, the ex-Para, what’s his name?”

“Michael Dillane.”

“Right—did he get shown the blanket?”

She hesitated and shook her head. “No.”

“That should have been a priority.”

“I know, but—”

“Get it done. Once you’ve got Smiley admitting Margaret Potts’s murder, then you can backtrack to the other girls. It’s not going to be easy, even with the accumulated evidence. I would say if he’s not opening up, hit him with as much about his wife as possible—even implicate her somehow. She’s a real dog, but I think he has this fear of her disrespecting him, for some godly reason.”

“Right, but we do have strong evidence linking him to Dorota, the dog hairs and—”

“Not enough to make the charges stick. You will have to put the pressure on him to confess.”

She nodded and then was taken aback when he took hold of her left hand. “Still not wearing your engagement ring, I see.”

“I’ve not had time to pick it up.” Uncomfortable with the personal direction of the conversation, she gave Lang-ton a brief rundown about Cameron Welsh’s latest antics, but he didn’t pay that much attention.

He looked at his watch. “I gotta go. As for Welsh, I’d put the bastard in a straitjacket and cart him off to Broadmoor and let them deal with him.”

“I think Ken is hoping they’ll move him this week.”

Langton stood up and picked up his raincoat, saying, “I’ll call later and see how you and Mike are doing.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

He came closer and touched her arm lightly. “Don’t let Smiley slither off the hook,” he warned.

“I don’t intend to,” she said, following him into the incident room as he headed for Mike, who had just arrived. She guessed he was perhaps taking her advice about giving Mike a boost, and she knew she was right when she saw Mike smile and thank him. Going over to Barolli, she asked him to get hold of Dillane and take him over to forensics to check the blanket for them and to confirm the matching dog hairs. She knew that Langton had been right: the evidence wasn’t strong enough.

•  •  •

Even though he had spent the night in a cell, John Smiley looked fresh. He was wearing a gray suit with a white shirt and dark tie. His hair was combed away from his forehead, showing his receding hairline. He was in some ways a good-looking man, but his face was heavily lined, and he was obviously nervous. As Mike reminded Smiley that he was still under caution, he gave small soft coughs, constantly clearing his throat and, with his right hand, straightening his tie. Mike motioned to the video cameras, explaining that the interview would be not only taped but filmed.

The first file was placed on the table by Anna; it was the investigation into Margaret Potts’s murder. She took out the photographs and placed them in front of Smiley.

“You have denied knowing this victim Margaret Potts. Do you have anything to say?” Mike demanded.

“No comment.”

Anna’s mouth tightened. If Smiley was to go down the “no comment” route with all four victims, it would be a very one-sided interview.

Mike continued. “We now have proof that you did in fact know Margaret Potts, and we have a witness who met you when you went to her flat to hang a set of blinds. This witness has also stated that she paid you in cash, and the same witness was able to pick you out of a video identification parade. Do you still insist that you did not know the victim?”

“No comment.”

“We also have three sets of prints from the same flat that have been matched with yours, Mr. Smiley, so to continue to deny that you were never at Miss Emerald Turk’s flat is a lie.”

“No comment.”

Mike plowed on. “We also know that you lied about not working in a private capacity using blinds from your company Swell Blinds, and that this money paid to you was never declared for any tax payments. We have been given a statement by a Mr. Michael Dillane that you also fitted blinds for him for a cash payment, together with one from a Mrs. Wendy Dunn, who recalls that you did work for her. You were seen on numerous occasions to remove the unwanted blinds from the Swell Blinds factory, leading us to believe that you did earn a considerable amount from these private negotiations.”