Vanished Beneath: DS Lasser six (The Lasser series Book 6) (12 page)

'What do you want?'

Lasser flipped out his warrant card. 'Does Sarah Clark live here?'

'She's not in.'

'I know.'

The man went to close the door and Lasser thrust out a hand. 'Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here?'

'Not interested.'

'What's your name?'

'Roberts.'

Lasser clicked his fingers. 'I thought I recognised the face, you're Colly...'

'
What of it
?'

'You're a drug dealer aren't you, Mr Roberts.'

Colly's eyes narrowed. 'Piss off I don't
deal drugs.'

Lasser sighed. 'And what are you doing here?'

Colly Roberts hitched up his jeans. 'I live here.'

'So you're Sarah's what, boyfriend, husband,' Lasser smiled, 'pimp?'

Colly's face darkened. 'Sarah's no slapper.'

'Tell me, Colly, when was the last time you saw Sarah?'

'I can't remember.'

Lasser took a step forward. 'You can't remember the last time you saw the love of your life?'

'Look what's this all
about?
' Colly asked, his hand resting on top of the doorframe, the bicep bulging.

'Is it alright if I come in, Mr Roberts?'

'No it fucking isn't.'

'Would that be because you have something to hide?'

'Go away and get a warrant because there's no way you're coming in here without one.'

'Tell me, Colly, do you know if Sarah was seeing someone on the side?'

Roberts’s narrowed eyes suddenly sprang wide. 'What are you on about, you
tosser?'

'Look, I know you're deeply in love, I mean, anyone can see that but...'

'Fuck off!'

Lasser wedged his foot in the door as Colly tried to slam it in his face.

'Don't be like that, Colly, I'm trying to help you here.'

'Some fucking help!'

'Well, was she taking anything?'

'You what?'

'Let's face it you've been done a few times for dealing weed and pills, so, did she help herself to your stash?'

'I've told you I don't
deal
anymore.'

'I bet you don't deal any less either.'

'I...'

'You'd better brace yourself from some bad news, Colly.'

For the first time the man in the doorway looked unsure of himself.
'Bad news
?'

'Look, are you going to let me in or not?'

'You tell me what you mean by
bad news
?'

'We've found a body...'

Colly's hand slid from the top of the door.
'What the fuck do you mean, you've found a body?'

'What was she wearing the last time you saw her?'

'I...'

'Short denim skirt and dark blue hooded top?'

Colly licked his lips.
'Is this some kind of fucking joke, pal, because if it is...?'

'No joke, we found a leopard patterned purse in her pocket, it had a Primark store card inside with her name and address that's why I'm here.'

'No way,'
Colly shook his head in disbelief.

'Did she shop at the store?'

'You're wrong it isn't Sarah.'

'Shoulder length black hair?'

'Go away, I don't want to listen to your shit!'

'Alright, Colly mate,' a man said as he squeezed past Lasser on the balcony.

Colly Roberts ignored him completely.

Lasser waited until the man was twenty feet away. 'What about it, Colly, are you going to let me in?'

Colly Roberts stepped to one side as a solitary tear slid from his left eye.

30

Donny Elliot withdrew the hundred quid from the cash machine, looking furtively over his shoulder as he thrust the cash into the pocket of his jeans. Crossing the road, he clambered behind the wheel of the transit and turned the key. The engine rumbled and died, Donny licked his lips, and tried again, the starter motor whined, the cab of the transit rattled.

'For fucks sake!'
he screamed before hammering his hands on the wheel.
'Come on, you twat!'
he snarled as he pumped the gas pedal. The engine spluttered, the red battery light flashed on the dashboard as the engine died altogether.

Donny spun in his seat and glanced at the bin bags in the back of the transit, it had taken less than ten minutes to gather his possessions, clothes mainly and his small bag of weed.

Taking a huge breath, he tried to calm his jittering nerves but his mind kept throwing out small startling images. A faceless copper bending to retrieve the tyre iron covered in Sarah Clark's blood, then an army of plods arriving on his doorstep ending with a six by eight-prison cell with no window and a stainless steel toilet in the corner.

Closing his eyes Donny prayed before turning the key again, this time the engine didn't even attempt to start. Elliot leaned forward and banged his head against the steering wheel, once, twice, three times and then he slammed the door open and jumped from the van.

A girl was walking past pushing a buggy with a little kid inside; she gave Donny a wary look before hurrying away, the kids legs dangled, tiny Nike trainers kicking back and forth. 

Elliot stood in the patch of fading sunlight and tried to think. He needed somewhere to lie low for a few days until he could get his head sorted, trouble was his mind seemed incapable of offering any ideas.

Then an image of Beth came into his head and he grimaced, her fat face and frumpy body wrapped in a pair of stretch leggings and tiny T-shirt, the fat spilling out over the waistband in white rolls.

'Fuck it
,' Donny spat before pulling out his phone, beggars can't be choosers, surely she'd let him stay for a few days, after all he was father to her two kids and that had to count for something. Slapping the mobile to his head, he waited for her to pick up.

31

By the time Lasser left the flat, he was actually feeling bad for Colly Roberts. The big man had sat on the sofa and cried like a baby. He'd been with Sarah for three months which to someone like Colly amounted to a serious commitment. Lasser had discovered that Sarah had a couple of sisters and one brother, Colly said her mother lived in Bolton with a '
Paki
.' He'd spat out the word as if he'd just swallowed a turd.

'How did she die?' he'd eventually asked.

'We're not sure yet, Colly.'

'Was it an overdose?' he asked, a staffie came wandering in from the kitchen and leapt onto Colly's knee. The big man rubbed one of the dog's mangled ears between finger and thumb.

'I thought you said Sarah wasn't on drugs?'

Colly shrugged. 'She used to be but she'd been clean for months.'

Lasser leaned forward in his chair; the dog eyed him up, curling its top lip to show a set of yellowing teeth. Lasser eased back slowly into the chair. 'If she
was
back on the gear where would she go to get a fix?'

'I'm telling you she didn't touch that shit anymore!'

'What about weed?'

Colly flicked him a glance. 'We had the odd joint but nothing else.'

'Fine, but who did she used to get her stuff off?'

Colly looked at the floor when he looked up Lasser could see a mean glint in his eye. 'I don't know.'

Lasser tilted his head. 'Are you sure about that, Colly?'

Roberts looked away. '
Positive
.'

Lasser didn't believe a word. 'Right then, as soon as I know anything more I'll let you know.'

'Can I see her?'

Lasser pushed himself up from the chair keeping a wary eye on the dog. 'Not yet, Colly.'

'
But
...'

'We'll need someone to identify the body but it has to be a family member.'

Colly sighed. 'I'll give one of her sisters a call.'

'Tell them to contact the station ASAP and we can get it sorted.'

Colly remained seated as Lasser left the flat.

As he walked across the car park he saw the scatterings of French fries on the roof of his car the two teenagers were nowhere in sight. Climbing into the Audi, he started the engine and drove off the car park,
the fries sliding from the roof, the hungry gulls descending.

Twenty minutes later Lasser slid through the door of the incident room, the place was packed. Bannister stood at the front of the room looking annoyed.

'Right, we still need to put a name to this one,' he tapped a finger against the image of the young girl with the blond hair. 'We know the man was Joseph Crank and the woman Mary Sheldon, but we need to know who they were getting their gear from. So come on, Cooper, Chadwick, what have you managed to find out?'

Both men stood up at once and looked at one another, then Cooper nodded and sat back down, Bannister sighed.

Chadwick cleared his throat. 'We've spoken to half a dozen suspected dealers from the Millers Lane estate; they all insist they don't deal and they also said they'd never heard of either Crank or Sheldon.'

'Hardly surprising, Chadwick.'

'No, sir, we searched all six houses and...'

'What did you find?'

'Four of the properties were clean; the fifth had a small amount of cannabis but not enough to be classed as dealing.'

'And number six?'

'Cocaine, amphetamines and a substantial amount of baked heroin, sir,' Chadwick looked pleased with himself.

'Do we have a name?'

Chadwick dipped a hand inside his jacket and pulled out a notepad before flicking through the pages. 'I think it's pronounced Iknoff, sir.'

Bannister frowned. 'Polish?'

'Yes, sir, we've brought him in for questioning but we're waiting for a translator.'

'I take it his English isn't good?'

'One or two words but he knows how to
eff
and
blind
well enough.'

'And how long before this translator gets here?'

'First thing in the morning, sir.'

'Right, let me know when they arrive.'

Chadwick nodded, 'Of course, sir.'

'Now, the girl who was found out near Rivington, we're working on the assumption that her name was Sarah Clark. The weapon found at the scene has been sent to forensics for further investigation and we're hopeful that it should give us a pointer to the person responsible.'

'So, we're linking her death with the bodies from the lake?' Spenner asked without raising his hand.

One or two of those closest to him shuffled their chairs a few inches to one side. Spenner ignored them, he sat facing forward, arms folded, bright red nose glowing like a beacon.

Lasser sighed as Bannister's face darkened, then he watched in amazement as the DCI nodded. 'Yes, Spenner, we are.'

'Though it could still have been a simple domestic?'

More heads turned in Spenner's direction, mouths fell open in shock.

Bannister's knuckles were turning white on the desk.
'A domestic
?' he said through gritted teeth.

Spenner shrugged. 'Clark could have been out with a partner, they argued things got out of hand and...'

'Things got out of hand
? 'Bannister parroted measuring each word with deliberate brevity.

'It's possible,' Spenner said.

'Sergeant Lasser, will you tell Mr Spenner where you've just been?'

'To see Sarah Clark's boyfriend, sir.'

'And when you arrived was he sat there covered in blood?'

'No.'

'Does he own a car or a van of any sort?'

Lasser sighed again, he felt as if he were sneaking up behind Spenner with a spade in his hand. 'He doesn't have a licence.'

'And what about an alibi for last night, did he provide you with one?'

Heads tuned back and forth between the two men like spectators at a tennis match. 'He was drinking in the King Billy till half three, they had a lock in.'

Bannister turned back to Spenner, '
Satisfied
?'

Spenner shrugged. 'Did Sergeant Lasser check his alibi, sir?'

This time the room drew in a collective gasp, Bannister looked back at Lasser.

'Well, Sergeant you heard the man?'

'As soon as I left the house I called at the pub on my way here. I know the landlady and she confirmed that Colly Roberts was in the boozer till at least half three.'

'And do you believe her?'