Frozen Grave (39 page)

‘Okay, we’ll bring him in after we search Balik’s place. Get some rest and then join us at five in the morning. We’ll catch him asleep hopefully.’

At 4.30 in the morning the police van parked at the entrance to Hannover Estate and Carter briefed the officers inside.

‘This is Mahmet’s address,’ said Carter. ‘It’s the one he is said to use most. Now that his grandfather is dead, we may have a chance of finding him at home. If not
him, then one or two of his deputies. We are looking for weapons. We are looking for a connection to the crime scenes. A tool provided by Fiat, a jack with a bolt opener on the end, was used to
assault and kill Olivia Grantham and used at the time that Lolly was killed in the lorry park. If you find it then handle it as little as possible; we want prints. Gloves also used during the
attack. We are looking for drugs, at least we can take the occupants in for questioning – find me something to arrest Balik for.’

‘
It’s the middle of the night for Christ’s sake!
’

The sound of the door being bashed in woke the neighbours, most of whom cared more about the early hour than helping the police to make an arrest.

Carter went inside with Blackman. Willis watched from outside to make sure no one got out.

Blackman had Balik dragged out of bed, face down on the floor and handcuffed before he even had a chance to object. He wasn’t alone in bed. The young woman with him tried to brave it out
but she looked terrified.

‘What’s your name, miss?’ Blackman asked.

‘Rochelle.’

‘How old are you, Rochelle?’

‘Eighteen.’

‘You sure?’

‘Yes.’

‘We will check, you know.’

‘She better be eighteen. She told me she was.’ Balik’s face was pressed against the carpet.

‘Quiet.’

‘I’m fifteen. I don’t want to be here. They forced me to stay.’

Blackman looked at Balik. ‘You’re under arrest.’ She read him his rights.

Carter was called into the lounge area. Two more men were handcuffed and complaining.

‘Sir?’ A call went up from the bedroom. Carter walked into see the officer holding a small jack for a car. Outside, Willis was busy arresting a gang member who’d climbed over
the balcony and was trying to make his way to the ground from there. He’d dropped ten feet and had a suspected broken ankle.

Carter came outside to join her – he looked at his watch.

‘That’s a good morning’s work. I’m going back to bed, Eb. If I hurry back, Cabrina may never realize I wasn’t there. Then I’m going to my mum’s for
lunch but I’ll be in contact all the time. After what Blackman saw at the hostel we need to consider bringing Smith in for a chat.’

‘I think we should, guv, after we talk to Balik.’

‘Okay, we’ll interview him at three this afternoon and then decide about Smith.’

Carter drove home; it was just gone seven. The house was silent as he took his shoes off and crept up the stairs. He was so tired but his mind was still racing. As he passed Archie’s
bedroom door, he could hear him playing in his cot. Carter crept into the bedroom; it had the lovely smell of sleep. He undressed and got in beside Cabrina. He snuggled up to her and for a moment
she was irritated because he was so cold and then she sighed and turned to wrap her arms around him.

Willis arrived at work. Robbo was pleased to see her. He had laid out his Haribo in colour groups. Willis knew why. He would allow himself one from each group, every ten
minutes or so.

‘Has Harding phoned you, Robbo?’

‘Yes. She wants to chat to you.’

‘Okay, I’ll phone her now.’

‘Be sure she understands she’s not to take over the running of the group. She’s only a spectator.’

‘I’ll tell her. Dr Harding?’

‘Ebony? I’m packed up, just waiting for your call then I’m hitting the road. How long does it take to get there?’

‘You have to allow four hours. Four and a half if you stop for coffee. You have a satnav?’

‘Of course. I should be there by five then. Perfect.’

‘Okay. If you run into any trouble, I’m going to be here in the office. Megan Penarth lives at the end of the village up a lane on the left. Ask in the pub if you can’t find
it.’

‘Okay – will do. Now what is my objective?’

‘To observe the other women. We want the truth about their investments. We want to know what Ellerman promised them. We want to know why they’re not keen to tell us anything. But
this is the first time, Doctor; the main thing is that they accept you, that they like you.’

‘Why wouldn’t they?’

‘No reason at all. In fact, you must all be quite similar types in some ways; but that’s not always a recipe for friendship, is it?’

‘I get what you’re saying.’

‘Please take care when you’re driving – the roads are icy.’

‘I had them put winter tyres on my hire car – it’s a four-wheel drive; I’ll be fine.’

‘Great. Any problems, I’m here.’

Willis came off the phone to Harding and looked across at Robbo. He was waiting to tell her something.

‘Just got word from Intel. They found evidence that someone had been signing into the Naughties site from one of the hostel’s computers.’

‘How recently?’

‘In the last week.’

‘It can’t be Toffee then.’

‘Is Smith our man?’

‘Looking possible. Smith and Ellerman together? A strange team. Is the only thing they have in common the fact that Ellerman keeps his car there?’

‘Could Smith have taken the car and driven it down to Gillian Forth’s?’

‘I don’t see why not. We need Balik to talk. We can put him in 22 Parade Street when Olivia was murdered; he had the weapon in his house. Harding saw someone matching his description
attacking her car the night Lolly got killed and it’s the same instrument.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘He’s in Archway, waiting to be interviewed. Carter is coming back here at three.’

At three in the afternoon, Ellerman packed his bag in the boot of his Range Rover. He was whistling some tune that Dee didn’t recognize. Dee had said nothing as
she’d watched him go through the usual ritual. Suddenly he was not interested in redecorating Craig’s room. From breakfast time on he had been coming up with reasons why he might have
to leave today: this client, that client. The yachts had hit a problem in production. The client in Devon wanted clarification of this, modification of that.

‘Bye,’ Dee Ellerman said to herself as she watched him go from her place at the window in Craig’s room, standing in the middle of the mess. She watched him go then she turned
on the wallpaper steamer and began stripping off the last of the paper.

Mahmet Balik sat opposite Carter and Willis. His lawyer, Chapman, was sitting beside him. Carter asked the questions. But it didn’t matter how many questions Carter
asked, he got the same reply:

‘Did someone pay you to go into 22 Parade Street?’

‘No comment.’

‘Does the name JJ Ellerman mean anything to you?’

‘No comment.’

‘You are facing charges relating to drug dealing and rape of a female under the age of sixteen. Do you want to add murder to the list of charges? Now is the time to speak out. The murder
weapon was found in your possession.’

‘No comment.’

‘What is your relationship with Simon Smith?’

‘No comment.’

‘Your own grandfather was mauled to death by a dog that you set on a woman named Olivia Grantham. We have the proof. We have a match with the bite cast from your grandfather’s body
and that of Olivia’s. Your dog. Your cowardly way of killing your own grandfather.’

‘I object to your line of questioning,’ Chapman said.

‘I’ll reword it. . .’

Balik’s eyes burnt with hatred as he looked across at Carter.

‘Don’t bother . . . No comment.’

They terminated the interview at four and headed back across to the Dark Side.

‘He’s not going to say anything unless we get him really angry,’ said Willis.

‘He’s going to wait and see if the case crumbles around him first.’

‘How can it crumble? The girl will testify.’

‘Maybe. She will have to be moved, otherwise her family will be intimidated as part of the gang culture. Plus, the Fiat car jack needs his prints on them to make it happen. The drugs
belong to his crew. In other words – we need him to want to talk.

Robbo was just calling them as they walked back into his office.

‘The surveillance team have lost Ellerman.’

‘Where was he seen last?’

‘Headed towards the M3, south-west. He’s definitely going on one of his overnight trips. They said he had his bag.’

‘Okay.’ Carter took a deep breath. ‘We’ll hit the road again, just in case he turns up uninvited on Dartmoor. We can’t afford to put Harding at risk.’ He
turned to Willis. ‘Ring Scott and tell him we need him on stand-by.’

The roads were empty of traffic. The gritters were out. It was cold and bleak as they hit the road to drive south-west at 5 p.m.

Harding pulled up outside the house and, before she had a chance to get out of the car, a woman appeared at the driver’s window. Harding wound it down.

‘Megan Penarth?’

‘That’s right. You must be Jo Harding?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you have a good journey?’

‘Not bad – it’s blowing a gale down here, isn’t it?’

‘Yes. It’s due to be bad tonight but it’ll be still by the morning. Would you mind pulling in around the back of the house? There’s plenty of parking there.’

‘Of course not.’ Harding drove round the side to the back of the house and parked up next to two other cars. Then she walked back round to the front of the house. She had a present
for Megan, two bottles of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

‘I took the liberty.’ She handed them to Megan. ‘It seems rude to come empty-handed when you’re being so generous as to host this.’

‘How kind. Thank you.’

Harding stepped inside and saw two other women sitting at the kitchen table. She saw Megan set the wine next to two other gift-wrapped bottles and she smiled.

‘Great minds, hey?’

Megan chuckled. ‘Yes, as awkward as this is, meeting JJ’s other women, you have to find it slightly funny that we must have a lot in common that we don’t even realize.

‘Okay – we’re all here now. This is Jo Harding. Jo – here we have Emily there at the end of the table and Paula nearest.’

Harding smiled. ‘Hello.’

‘I have been waiting to announce another guest until you got here, Jo. We also have JJ coming.’

Emily looked down at her mug of tea. Paula looked up, panic-stricken. Jo Harding laughed.

‘I’d better go,’ said Paula, standing up. ‘We can’t all be here when he comes.’

‘Yes, we can. This is the perfect solution to it all, Paula,’ said Emily. ‘Megan told me he was coming and I almost didn’t come but then I thought – all together. A
showdown.’

‘Does he know we’re here?’

‘No.’ Megan smiled. ‘Do you really think he’d come if he knew?’

Paula sat back down. She chewed her lip nervously. ‘I need a drink,’ she said.

‘Red or white?’ Megan asked.

‘Both.’

Megan opened a bottle of wine whilst Harding made herself comfortable. Megan put the open bottle on the table together with glasses for people to help themselves.

There was the sound of a message coming through to someone’s phone. It was Megan’s; she picked it up and read it. She looked up at the group.

‘He’ll be here in one hour. He’s just stopped for fuel.’

‘Oh, God . . .’ Paula poured out wine and took a large swig.

Emily poured out the rest of the wine into glasses and handed one to Harding. ‘We need to use this time to decide things.’ Emily took out the agreement from her bag.

‘I’ve made a copy for each of us. Please read it and see what you agree with and what you don’t. This is just a general agreement between us. I know it looks like it puts me in
charge but it’s just a template for the real thing.’

They read it through. Harding was a little uneasy at signing anything, but she knew it would mean she’d fulfilled her brief all the way. She had to infiltrate the group of women and that
was exactly what was happening.

‘Will he run when he sees that we are all here?’ Harding asked when Megan drew near.

‘I don’t think so. He always parks here at the front. He’ll see my car and that’s all. Once he’s inside, I’m going to lock the door.’

‘I’m really frightened.’ Paula shivered.

‘Don’t be,’ Megan said as she went over and put her arm around her. ‘We are going to come out of this a stronger group of people and we’re going to make sure we all
get what we want.’

‘Which is what?’ asked Harding. ‘I mean, I see that those of us who have invested money in the Spanish Hacienda company want to have some kind of input, some managerial
control, considering their money has been used, but what else do the rest of us want from Ellerman?’

‘Personally speaking . . .’ said Megan, ‘I want to hit him where it hurts – his pocket and his ego. I want him to look me in the eyes and admit he’s a twat. Say
that he’s a pathetic loser who doesn’t deserve anything good in life.’

‘You want him to change?’ asked Harding. ‘You want to know him after tonight? Are you still hoping for a future with him?’

‘Personally? No, I don’t ever want to see him again after tonight.’

‘But we’re signing this to have control over the company. We will have to see him,’ said Paula as she read the agreement.

‘You will have to deal with the company, not him.’

‘He must never be allowed to forget what he’s done,’ said Emily.

‘I hope his wife leaves him,’ said Paula.

‘So do I,’ said Megan. ‘I hope she takes every last penny from him and he’s forced to live in a bedsit somewhere.’

Ellerman saw the lights of the village appear in the pitch-black as he approached. As he parked up in front of Megan’s house he saw the glow of candlelight coming from
within. He knew the wood burner would be going, the Aga would be throwing out heat. There was no need to feel cut off. He parked up behind Megan’s estate car and his car door nearly blew off
its hinges as he opened it. He sheltered as he lifted the boot and took out his bag. He picked up the bottle of vintage wine that he’d been given by a client a few years ago. He’d
forgotten about it until he was sorting through the papers in his office.