Witchmoor Edge (17 page)

"As you already know, we have an identity for
the murder victim," Millicent began. "We have established how he
got the fractured skull and ended up in the canal, neither of which
killed him, because he was already dead. We have several suspects
for the poisoning which did kill him, but an arrest is not likely
within hours, so to speak. We have a lot of elimination yet to
do."

The woman from the local BBC TV in Leeds was
an obviously assertive little climber. "Have you traced the third
body from the fire?" she asked.

"We had an almost certain identification but,
I am very pleased to say, we have been able to trace the missing
young man very much alive. This means we still have no idea who the
victim really was."

"Do you think the arsonist was also a
killer?" the BBC reporter asked.

"It seems possible but unlikely. It looks as
if the extra fatality may be nothing to do with the other crimes,
but time will tell."

"Do you think the fire was intended to
disguise the poisoning," the reporter from the Yorkshire Post
asked.

"Without a doubt."

An earnest young man from the Witchmoor Argus
asked, "Are you still looking for the car we mentioned in the story
last night?"

Millicent thought he was Alan Ghyll that
she'd encountered before, and he sounded much younger than the CDI
Cooke's friend, the editor. "Yes," she said. "It seems to have
vanished completely, though your story has produced some
rumours."

"Why are you looking for a car," The young
woman from the BBC asked.

Millicent explained that, according to
several witnesses, the dead man had been seen lying in or just in
front of a Porsche. Both the man and the car disappeared at around
two on Saturday. The man turned up in the canal Sunday morning but
the car is still missing.

"Is that in the canal too?"

"We've had divers down and they haven't found
anything. Not even a wheel, much less an entire car."

Several people sniggered in mild amusement,
including Chief Inspector Cooke.

"Of course," said Millicent, "there's plenty
of canal we haven't searched and I imagine sections of the river
Aire are deep enough to hide a car, even at this time of year, but
we still hope to find it on dry land. Even if we can't find it,
someone must have seen it."

"How can a man disappear when there are
witnesses and surely access to a poison ought to be limited enough
to make catching the person who administered it easy?" The
assertive young woman asked.

Millicent was cautious, partly because she
needed to be careful not to name suspects and spoil the chances of
a fair trial. "There are several witnesses and several persons
involved who have legitimate access to the poison, as well as
several possible routes of obtaining it illegally," she said. "I
think I will have to decline to be specific as it would hamper our
investigation and prejudice any subsequent trial."

From this point on the Press Conference began
to wind itself down. When the reporters and cameramen had all left,
Cooke relaxed a little.

"Splendid," he said. "I thought that all went
very nicely."

"It went better than I expected," Millicent
agreed, "It was the absence of the national dailies that did it I
think."

She picked up her files and folders.

"Now I'd better sort out the odds and ends
before I drive over to Bradford," she said.

Chapter 11: Thursday 16th August
(Evening)

"We've had our eye on the place for weeks and
we've had our suspicions for months," Superintendent Walker said.
"I thought we'd been successful in keeping our suspicions to
ourselves."

"I didn't get it from your end," Millicent
said. "It was more a lucky guess."

"Don't give me that," said Walker. "When I
find out who talked I'll have his guts for bootlaces."

Millicent thought it wiser to say
nothing.

"But now you know about the raid you may as
well be part of it. Anyway, We have to get started," Walker
continued. "Timing's all important. The past few weeks several
suspect vehicles have left the place Thursday evenings after the
front business closes but not long after. Sit in with Inspector
Close and remember, you're along for the ride because Bob Cooke is
an old friend and I owe him."

"Okay," she said, remembering Cooke's remark
about it costing him a lot of Brownie points. She hoped it was
going to pay off. If it did, though, that said something about
remote viewing which she'd really rather not face. The US army
seemed to have bought the idea, but not the political element in
the CIA. NASA had joined in the programme, but the US Navy - more
probably one or more senior officers - hadn't approved. In fact,
proving accurate probably said something about the nature of
reality a lot of people would rather not face!

Millicent sat in the back of the second car
with Inspector Close, as she had been instructed and noted that
there were four cars, mostly of plain clothes, CID people, as well
as a couple of vans and At least one police dog she could see.

"Big one, this," she said to Close,
indicating the extent of the party.

"We've been trying catch this bugger for a
while," Close said. "Walker means to get him this time and God help
us if he gets away with it."

"Can you fill me in on the background?"
Millicent asked as the convoy swept out of Bradford Divisional
Headquarters.

"The guy that owns this garage is called
Stone. Danny Stone. He's been buying up wrecks from road accidents
legit. They've got to be new and expensive models. Then he steals
the same model cars, puts the legit plates on the stolen vehicles
and sells them on with the logbooks and everything. Very hard to
spot if it's done quickly and the sale is well away from the
accident. Often it's not even the same country. We think he exports
some of them."

"And Bradford CID's been watching him?"

"Stone runs this end of the racket, but
there's a lot to it. Thursdays the buyer comes up with a couple of
low loaders and trailers. The Super is hoping we get them all."

"I hope he does get them," Millicent said,
"but all I want is the Porsche a murder was committed in. I want my
evidence."

"I hope you get that too," said Close, and
they fell silent as the convoy swept through back streets, avoiding
the tail end of the rush hour traffic.

"Here we are," said Close as the car pulled
up, completely blocking a back alley. "We get out here and stand
by. Everybody goes in together when all the exit routes are
sealed."

He took out his mobile phone and rang in.

"Car two ready," he said into the phone. "You
wait with the car and make sure nothing gets past," he told the two
uniformed officers.

Close and Millicent strolled easily up the
alley, stopping short of the back entrance to a car sales lot. The
other end of the alley was blocked by a van and four officers were
walking towards them with a dog straining quietly at the leash.

Close's mobile buzzed. He glanced at the
message and called out, "Go!" At the same time the four approaching
officers broke into a run. At the back entrance one of the
uniformed officers took out a huge pair of bolt cutters and cut
through the padlock and chain securing the back entrance. Two
officers and the dog stayed at the gate while the other two ran on
behind Close and Millicent, into the back of the building.

A silver Porsche, two Jaguars and a BMW stood
ready to load onto the vehicles and trailers. Walker and several
other plain-clothes officers were in the office, where the logbooks
and keys had apparently been set out ready to go with the vehicles
when the police team had arrived.

"Wrong number plate and wrong colour,"
Millicent said, disappointed as she looked at the Porsche.

"It'll have been re-sprayed and the plates
changed," Close said. "Look around outside. I'll bet you find the
plates from your vehicle on a wrecked silver Porsche."

It took Millicent only seconds to find the
wrecked vehicle and head back to the office. Inside Superintendent
Walker was confronting a defiant Danny Stone.

"I don't have to tell you nothing 'till I get
my solicitor," Stone was saying. "And he'll have me out in no
time."

"Fine," said Millicent breaking into the
party. "You can answer through him as to why you stole a red
Porsche in which a man was murdered. He'll not get you out too
easily when the charge is conspiracy to murder."

"I don't know nothing about a murder."

"If you don't tell us right now where you got
that vehicle you're obstructing the police in a murder enquiry.
That's conspiracy."

"I told you, I don't know nothing about a
murder."

Stone was getting rattled, Millicent was
getting angry and Walker and Close were staring open mouthed.

"You may or may not know about the murder,"
said Millicent with menace and growing anger, "but you do know
where you got that fucking car and you're going to tell me.
Now."

Stone was shaken but sullen. "I bought it off
a bloke called Koswinski," he said. "All fair and above board."

"Where's the log book?" Millicent
demanded.

"He hadn't no log book that's why I swapped
the plates over, but he had the keys."

Millicent turned to Walker. "Do you mind if
the Porsche goes to forensic straight away?" she asked. "You can
keep the car itself as evidence, but I need the forensic report the
day before yesterday."

"That's fine as far as I'm concerned," Walker
agreed. "We need a full report on these vehicles anyway. We'll just
make your one that bit more thorough and have two copies done."

As they strolled outside Close remarked,
"That was superb. I think we had all the evidence we needed but you
broke him down in seconds."

"You don't know how much I wanted to get my
hands on that vehicle," Millicent answered. "Now I need a ride back
to Headquarters and I'll go get myself an unpleasant little yob
called Koswinski. I've had that little bugger in once, or rather
one of my DCs has, and he forgot to mention one or two little
things in his statement."

"If you treat him like you did Stone you
should get some answers."

"Stone was a complete stranger who just
happened to have some information I needed," Millicent said.
"Koswinski is an aggressive little bastard behind gang rapes, drugs
and fights. I've wanted the little turd for a year or two and this
time I think I've got him." Millicent's dark eyes were
flashing.

Back at Bradford Divisional Headquarters,
Millicent arranged for officers from Witchmoor Edge to go out and
pick up Koswinski and then went for a bite in the canteen before
driving back to her base. By the time she arrived Koswinski was in
the interview room with a uniformed constable.

"Wait in with us. I'm going to need a
witness," Millicent said and started the tape rolling. "DI
Hampshire interviewing John Koswinski in connection with the murder
of Simon Hunter, arson at Cartwright's Wharf and theft of a vehicle
used in the murder."

"Now, "she said, "How about you tell me the
rest of what happened at Cartwright's Wharf last Saturday. The bits
you didn't mention to DI Hammond."

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"I've just come from interviewing Danny Stone
of Stone's Autos in Bradford and I've taken all the crap I'm taking
in one day."

"Don't try to bully me, you black bitch."

"My dear little boy," Millicent began
dangerously" Danny Stone admitted buying from you a Porsche in
which Simon Hunter was murdered." She continued with increasing
volume and venom, "I want to know where you stole it, who was
around when you stole it. How you came to kill somebody at
Cartwright's Wharf during the afternoon of last Saturday. In short,
everything. Every detail. If you don't tell me now, nice and easy,
I'll charge you with conspiracy to murder, car theft, arson and
murder of a person unknown and I'll question you through your
solicitor."

Koswinski was taken aback but he was, in the
famous words, shaken not stirred.

"You may as well know," Millicent continued
with rising anger, "that I know you were behind that gang rape in
Shipley last New Year. You got off because you intimidated
witnesses. You probably only planned it because no decent looking
woman would want to have it away with a prickless little creep like
you. I've been waiting for you ... now you're here. Tell me what I
need to know or I'll enjoy nailing both you and your dodgy
solicitor."

She got up, saying to the officer. "If he
decides to talk I'll be in my office. If he hasn't talked in ten
minutes, charge him with theft, conspiracy to murder and
obstructing the police then lock him up until his solicitor
comes."

With that she walked out, leaving Koswinski
stunned and open-mouthed.

In the event it was seven minutes before
Koswinski agreed to talk, but once he did Millicent got most of
what she wanted.

"Where was the car?" she demanded
perfunctorily, before she had even sat down.

"Outside the warehouse, up an alley at the
side."

"What time was this?"

"About half past five or six oclock. No, half
past five or a bit before, because I must've got to Danny Stone's
by just turned six or he wouldn't have been there."

"Regular client, were you? Bradford CID will
be interested. How did you find the car? Was it easily seen?"

"Not really, no. I only saw it from inside
the warehouse. I were meeting Jason Oyawinde."

"Jason Oyewinde? Are you sure about the
name?"

"Yeah. He’s half-black same as you. Anyway he
was selling some stuff, but he wanted too much for it. We sat
around for a while listening to his ghetto blaster ..."