Red Light (38 page)

She heard a light cough behind her and turned around. Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán was standing in the doorway.

‘Oh. Kyna. Didn’t hear you. Sorry.’

‘That’s all right,’ said Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán, trying not to smile. ‘Myself, I can never remember all of that attestation oath.’

‘Not even that last bit about Michael Gerrety? Anyway, come on in. What have you got for me?’

‘Colin Cleary’s telephone call – the call that he made to inform our suspect that her pocket shotgun had arrived.’

‘Brilliant. So you got your court order?’

‘The judge gave it to me in less than half an hour and wasn’t even particularly interested in why I wanted it. I think he’d had a heavy lunch. Eircom sent me a PDF of Cleary’s phone bills with no messing at all. There were only two Cork city numbers that Cleary called just the once. One of them was Quinlan’s, the Honda dealers out at Victoria Cross, but that was three weeks ago. The other number he called eight days since, which would tally with our suspect’s first visit to Cleary and the time it took him to get hold of the gun for her.’

‘Do you have an address?’

Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán handed Katie a torn-off page from her notebook. ‘A house called
Sonas
on the Lower Glanmire Road, just east of the railway bridge. I Googled it and it’s the last one on the terrace. I must say it looks awful dismal for a house called “Happiness”. Grey paint, dirty net curtains. There’s only the one phone number, but by the look of it it’s divided into flats because there’s three bell-pushes by the front door.’

‘Good. That looks a likely place for Obioma to be hiding herself.’

‘Obioma? That’s her name?’

‘That’s what she told me, anyway. She told me her surname, too, but I don’t remember that. Oily-something. Or maybe I’ve got that mixed up in my head with what she told me about herself. She belongs to this armed activist group in Nigeria that’s fighting the big oil companies, like Shell. Stealing their oil, blowing up their refineries, that kind of thing.’

‘Lord lantern of Jesus. Serious?’

‘That’s what she told me, anyway.’ Katie briefly described her encounter with Obioma. She told Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán how Obioma had shot Mister Dessie, and how she had allowed her to leave without trying to arrest her.

‘… but if she’s staying in this house on the Lower Glanmire Road, we should be able to detain her there tonight. And it should be no later than tonight. If she’s determined to go after Michael Gerrety, the sooner we catch her the better.’

Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán gave Katie a sideways look when she said that. ‘You mean Michael Gerrety the dirtbag?’

‘That’s the very one,’ said Katie, without smiling. ‘As soon as O’Donovan and Horgan get back, we’ll sit down and work out our tactics. It’s not going to be easy to keep a watch on the house before we go in there because that’s a busy main road and you don’t usually get people footering around on the pavement going nowhere. We could go house to house asking if any of the neighbours have seen her, but again there’s a risk that she could see us. I think the best plan will be simply to go in there, two or three in the morning, wham, and if she’s there, she’s there, and if she isn’t, it’s apologies all round for breaking down your front door and disturbing your dreams.’

‘O’Donovan said he’d be back about six,’ said Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán. ‘Is Horgan still at Washington Street?’

‘Yes.
And
Dooley. I don’t know what happened to Dooley. He was supposed to cover my back from the fire escape outside but he never showed up and I haven’t heard a word from him, either.’

Katie checked her watch. ‘I’ll tell you what you can do now. You can help me to talk to the women we evacuated from the brothel. Don’t be judgemental and don’t push them too hard, but see if you can get any incriminating evidence about Michael Gerrety out of them. Anything will do, even if he just made racist remarks to one of them, or threatened them in any way.’

‘Oh, you really like him, that Michael Gerrety, don’t you, ma’am?’ said Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán.

‘I’d like to serve his head up on a plate with an apple stuffed in his mouth,’ said Katie. ‘Mind you, that would be an insult to pigs.’

The four women they had evacuated from Washington Street were waiting in the visitors’ room downstairs. Mairead had her arms tightly folded over her bosom and a bored, impatient expression on her face. Lotus Blossom and Elvira were both reading magazines. Zakiyyah was sitting at one end of the beige leather couch with her legs tucked up underneath her. She was hugging a cushion and looking anxious.

Katie said, ‘Sorry we’ve kept you waiting so long. Would any of you like a cup of tea or coffee or a lemonade?’

‘We want to get the hell out of here, that’s all,’ snapped Mairead, hoarsely. ‘We have dozens of clients that we should be attending to.’

She held up her mobile phone and said, ‘I’ve arranged for another flat for us to go to, temporary-like, until you people have finished sniffing around, but it’s going to be a fecking madhouse.’

‘We’re just going to take some witness statements from you, then you’ll be free to go.’

‘I’ve got nothing to say at all.’

‘What was the purpose of Desmond O’Leary’s visit to your flat?’ Katie asked her.

‘Social. It was a social visit.’

‘When you say “social”, was he expecting any sexual services from any of you?’

‘It was social. Like he just came by to have the bants, that’s all.’

‘Did he come to collect money from you?’ asked Detective ó Nuallán.

‘I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘A briefcase was found in your kitchen with more than seven thousand euros in it.’

‘I wouldn’t know about that.’

‘You advertise yourselves on the Cork Fantasy Girls website and men come to your flat for you to offer them sexual services.’

‘No,’ said Mairead. ‘That’s not the way of it at all. We advertise companionship for lonely men and maybe a massage if they want it. Nothing else. Sometimes we might get friendly with one of them, and then things might go a little further than a massage, but that’s purely personal, like, between the girl and the client, nothing to do with business. You can’t arrest anyone for flahing.’

‘Did Michael Gerrety train you to say that, if ever we pulled you in?’

‘Michael who?’

‘Oh, stop. You know Michael Gerrety as well as I do. He may do it through a holding company, but he rents the flat you live in and he runs Cork Fantasy Girls and a whole lot of other sex businesses besides, like Amber’s.’

‘I’m not saying nothing until I have a lawyer.’

‘All right,’ said Katie. ‘I think that’s enough for now in any case. If we have any more questions for you, we’ll drop in to see you.’

‘You’ll have to give us advance warning, like.’

‘What? In case we catch you
in flagrante
?’

‘What?’

‘In case we catch you in mid-flah, that’s what I meant. Now all I want to do is take your names and a few personal details and then you can go. The Technical Bureau will have your flat sealed off for two or three days, but we’ll let you know as soon as you can go back.’

‘Oh, thanks a million.’

Katie took Lotus Blossom over to the other side of the visitors’ room and sat her down at a side table. She took out her notebook and said, ‘Full name, please.’

While she was writing it down, she said, without looking up, ‘This sex work, are you doing it willingly?’

Lotus Blossom looked anxiously across at Mairead, but Mairead was busy talking to Elvira.

‘I don’t know any other work,’ she said.

‘Are you being mistreated at all? Are you being given drugs against your will, or beaten, or threatened with beating?’

‘I am fine. I don’t know any other work. Most of the men like me.’ She suddenly giggled and said, ‘They say to me, “I always thought Thai girls have pussies that go sideways!”’ Then she looked serious again. ‘What else would I do?’

‘You’re sure about that?’ said Katie. ‘I don’t disrespect you for what you do, Lawan, but I want you to know that if ever you want to stop doing it, there are plenty of people who will help you, me included. Here – this is my private number.’

When she had finished with Lotus Blossom, Katie took Elvira’s full name and details and asked her the same questions. Elvira denied that she was on any kind of drugs, but she was glassy-eyed and her voice was slurred, and none of her answers bore any relation to the questions that she asked her. When Katie asked her if she was being threatened to carry on working as a prostitute, she said, ‘Yes, and fish might fly.’

She took Zakiyyah over to the table last of all. Zakiyyah was nervous and fidgety and kept biting her lips and playing with her pink glass bangle.

‘That’s pretty,’ said Katie.

‘It has the spirit of my
Orisha
, Ochumare. He is the god of rainbows, and he takes care of children.’

‘Well, it seems to me that Ochumare is doing his stuff for you today. You don’t want to go back there and do that sex work, do you?’

Zakiyyah shook her head. ‘It makes me sick. And those men. They smell, and they hurt me. They hurt my bottom so bad.’

Mairead stood up and said, ‘Are you finished with her now, Mrs Detective? We need to get out of here. We’re going to be in all kinds of shite even as it is.’

‘Don’t tell me that Michael Gerrety’s going to be giving you a hard time for missing a few hours’ work?’ said Katie. ‘It wasn’t your fault that Mister Dessie was murdered, was it?’

‘Come on, girl,’ Mairead told Zakiyyah. ‘You’ve got that Greek feller coming this evening, the one who asked for you special.’

Katie leaned across the table and said to Zakiyyah, very quietly, ‘You and me, we’re both going to stand up now. When we do, I want you to shout out, “How dare you call me that!” and then I want you to slap my face.’

‘I can’t do that!’ said Zakiyyah, wide-eyed.

‘Yes, you can. Just do it. If you slap me, I will have to arrest you for assaulting a Garda officer and Mairead won’t be able to take you back with her.’

‘Are you
done
now, for the love of God?’ said Mairead. ‘Her life story can’t be that long!’

Katie stood up and then Zakiyyah stood up, too. For a moment, Katie thought that Zakiyyah wouldn’t find the courage to do what she had asked her. But then she suddenly screamed out, ‘
What did you call me
?
What did you call me
?
How dare you call me that!
’ and she slapped Katie hard across the right cheek.

For a moment there was stunned silence. Then Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán stepped forward and caught hold of Zakiyyah’s wrists, pinning them behind her back.

Katie pressed her hand against her face and said, ‘Right! That’s it! I’m arresting you for assaulting a police officer in the execution of her duty! DS ó Nuallán, take her into custody. I’ll talk to her later.’

Mairead came over and stood in front of Zakiyyah and Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán, blocking their way. ‘You can’t do that!’ she spluttered. ‘She can’t – you just can’t
do
that!’

‘We can, and she has, and what’s more, you can’t stop us,’ said Katie. ‘Now, since you’re so anxious to get back to your clients, I suggest you go. I wouldn’t want to charge you with obstruction.’

‘This is fecking outrageous!’

‘Slapping a detective superintendent is outrageous. Now, push on, will you? You’ll find a guard waiting for you in reception to drive you wherever you’ve arranged to go.’

Mairead and Lotus Blossom and Elvira left the visitors’ room and the door slowly swung shut behind them. Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán let go of Zakiyyah’s wrists and Zakiyyah burst into tears. Katie took her into her arms and hugged her and shushed her.

‘You’re all right now, darling. Everything’s going to be grand. No more of those horrible men for you, I promise. We’ll arrange to send you back to where you came from, and in the meantime we’ll make sure that you have some good people to take care of you.’

Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán said, ‘I
thought
that was a set-up! Smart thinking! But you should see the state of your face, ma’am! Everybody’s going to think you and your partner had words!’

Katie laid her hands on Zakiyyah’s shoulders and smiled at her. ‘Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán will take you to the canteen now and get you a drink and something to eat if you’re hungry. Meanwhile, I’ll arrange somebody to come and collect you. They’ll give you somewhere to sleep tonight, and clothes, and anything else you need.’

Zakiyyah wiped her eyes and sniffed and nodded. ‘Thank you. I am really sorry if I hurt you. I did not mean to slap you so hard.’

‘Oh, don’t you worry about that. It didn’t hurt very much and it’ll fade in a while. It made it all the more realistic.’

‘What about my rabies shot?’ asked Zakiyyah. ‘Mister Dessie gave me a rabies shot every day, so that I did not get sick.’

Katie and Detective Sergeant ó Nuallán looked at each other.

‘Is that what he called it, a rabies shot?’

‘He said you have squirrels in Ireland that can bite you and make you sick with rabies.’

‘Rabies shot,’ said Katie, disgustedly. ‘We’ll have to send her to A&E immediately to find out what those scumbags have been shooting her up with, before she starts suffering withdrawal symptoms. My God, if anybody ever got what they deserved, that Mister Dessie did. I almost wish I’d blown his face off myself.’

Detective O’Donovan returned to Anglesea Street around 6.45 p.m. and Detective Horgan arrived back shortly afterwards.

Katie meanwhile had been talking to Garda Sergeant Kenneth Mulligan about assembling a team to raid the house on Lower Glanmire Road in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He recommended six gardaí altogether – at least four of them armed, since Obioma was known to be carrying a weapon – two to be posted at the back of the building and four to enter the front. The back yard was easily accessible because it overlooked a loading dock stacked with containers and a slipway into the River Lee.

Detective O’Donovan came into Katie’s office to report on another case he was working on. Thousands of euros’ worth of electricity had been stolen from the mains on the Shanakiel Road in Sunday’s Well so that a development of nine new town houses had been enjoying heating and lighting for free for six months.