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‘That would be against the rules. I’d probably get told off by my chief constable if I gave you any clues.’

The girls giggled.

‘How long have you been here?’ Sophie asked, turning back to Jackson.

‘Just since the weekend.’

‘Is this about those farm murders?’ asked his wife. ‘It’s been in the news since this morning. I wondered if it was a bit ghoulish playing Cluedo this evening, but the girls insisted. Are you visiting all the farms in the area?’

‘It’s partly reassurance, Mrs Jackson,’ Sophie said. ‘But I’d really appreciate a quick look around the other rooms if you don’t mind.’

‘But not the room Larry’s asleep in,’ added the daughter.

‘Just a peep.’

‘And if we refuse?’ Karen’s response was sharp. Her cheeks coloured slightly.

‘Please don’t. I’d have to consider returning later with a warrant. Don’t think you are under suspicion, because that isn’t the case. But I do need to check the rooms and the outhouses. I promise not to wake him.’

The detectives looked briefly into every room. A few minutes later they were back outside, thanking the Jacksons for their cooperation. Two of the uniformed officers had already checked the barn and outbuildings.

‘I bet that added a buzz to their holiday,’ Marsh said as they drove away. ‘They’ll probably be talking about it for months. And they didn’t even know that the hit squad was lurking in the shadows. They’d have had a fit if they’d spotted those guys.’

‘Now, let’s move on up the coast to the second place. We’ll do it the same way. Can you radio the boat and tell them what’s happened? We’re moving on to Marsh Copse Farm for a ten o’clock visit.’

* * *

As the police vehicles turned off the main road onto the lane leading to Marsh Copse Farm, they saw a dull red glow in the night sky ahead of them. At the same time they received a garbled radio message from headquarters. There was some kind of emergency at the farm, but as yet there were no details. They arrived to find it was ablaze, several fire appliances were hosing the front wall and roof of the building. The detectives hurried across to the senior fire officer. Sophie flashed her warrant card.

‘How bad is it?’ she asked.

‘Could be worse. It would have burned down completely if it hadn’t been for your guys spotting it and phoning in double quick.’

She looked blankly at him. ‘Who?’

‘Your guys on the police boat. Apparently they’d just arrived offshore to keep an eye on the place when they saw the first flicker of flames. They came haring up here while they radioed in. They managed to get in the back of the building and close some internal doors before the fire took hold. They didn’t think there was anyone still inside.’

‘Where are they now?’ she asked.

He pointed in the direction of a group of dark-clad figures standing beside one of the support vehicles.

She turned to Marsh. ‘Let’s go and find out what’s going on, Barry. The rest of you wait here.’

They walked across and found the two officers sipping coffee.

‘I hear that you two are to be congratulated,’ Sophie said. ‘The fire chief thinks your quick thinking probably saved the farmhouse from total destruction. Can you tell me what happened?’

‘We’d just arrived in the boat and were lying a couple of hundred yards offshore,’ replied the woman officer. Her face was flushed and blotched with particles of soot. ‘Unlike the last place, this one is very visible from the water. We could see it silhouetted against the skyline. I had the binoculars out and was sweeping across the building when I saw light flickering. I asked Joe here to take a look and he guessed straight away what was going on.’

‘I’ve seen it before, ma’am. Flickering light in several windows, getting stronger. So I phoned in for the fire service, then reported to HQ while Mary brought the boat into shore. We hoped that HQ would tell you, but our first priority was to check the place over to see if anyone was still inside.’

‘And?’

‘We don’t think so. The back of the building seemed okay, so we broke down the door and did a quick recce. The worst of the fire was at the front, facing the harbour, so we shut as many doors as we could and called out to see if anyone was trapped. Joe ran up some stairs at the back to check a few rooms but didn’t find anything. I tried to use a fire extinguisher that was in the back kitchen, but it was no real use. It was really blazing by then and we had to get out. The thing is, ma’am, there was a reek of petrol about the place. My guess is that it was deliberate, and some of the fire crew agree because of the way the fire’s spread. It’s in several pockets apparently.’

‘I can’t be sure that there was no one in there, but between us we must have checked well over half the rooms, and there was no answer to our calls.’

‘You did brilliantly, both of you. It just frightens me that you may have put your own lives in danger.’

‘I don’t think we did, ma’am,’ the male officer replied. ‘We’re both pretty cautious types, and there’s a lot of stone in that old building. Not many carpets, rugs, bits of furniture or other stuff. I’d guess that the main damage will be around the front stairwell and I didn’t go near that.’

‘Well, get yourselves home now and get a report to me tomorrow please. Include anything at all that you think might be useful for the investigation, and phone me if you remember anything important. I don’t suppose you caught sight of any movement when you arrived?’

‘No. My guess is that they’d just left.’

Sophie sent most of the police team home. The fire was now largely out and several of the men were getting kitted up for a search of the building. She and Marsh waited until the search was over. There were no bodies inside the building, just the charred remains of furniture and fittings at the seat of the blaze.

The rest of the fire team carried out a check of the sheds and outhouses. The buildings were all empty.

One of the firemen said, ‘There was some food in the fridge and bits and pieces of clothing in some of the rooms but there really wasn’t much. We did find one odd thing, though. Someone had written two words across the wall of one of the upstairs rooms. It says “help us”. We think it’s written in lipstick.’

Sophie looked at the fire chief. ‘At the moment this place is your baby. But I’d like a criminal forensic team here as soon as you’re happy that it’s safe for them.’ She turned to Marsh. ‘We nearly got them, Barry. I could kick myself. My guess is that we might have just arrived in time if we’d visited this place first. I wonder what put the wind up them?’

‘Maybe when the news about the bodies at Brookway hit the TV screens,’ said Marsh. ‘I wonder if that means they didn’t expect them to be discovered? But surely they must have known we’d find them sooner or later? It’s standard procedure to bring in a dog in a farm search.’

‘You’re overestimating the average criminal mind, Barry. Thinking isn’t their strong point. Most crime is opportunistic and short term. And that’s the way most criminals think. There are some smart scams around, but they’ll always be in the minority. And those thugs you and I saw a couple of days ago are most certainly not in that class.’ She yawned. ‘Let’s go home. We’ll leave a couple of the uniformed crew here to stand guard overnight and I’ll arrange for the forensic unit to get here early tomorrow morning. We’ll need to do a check on the surrounding properties.’ She turned to the fire officers. ‘Thanks, everyone. You’ve all done a brilliant job.’

Chapter 9: Blossom Quits

Saturday Morning, Week 1

‘How do you fancy a move to Weymouth, Blossom?’

Blossom looked across the sparsely furnished office at Ricky.

‘Don’t really know it. I’ve been there a few times, but all I remember is the girl I was with. She was a cracker, so maybe my memories are a bit vague. Can’t remember much about the town. Why? Is it on the cards? Because we’ve got to get out of here, and as soon as fucking possible. This place stinks.’

Ricky settled his flickering eyes on the man facing him. The short, squat figure always seemed about to explode into violence. ‘You’re not happy, are you?’

‘No, I’m fucking not. This is meant to be a business. What’s been going on lately, it’s just too much. Bodies being dug up by the cops? A body left on top of a rock? What’s all that about? And look what’s happened. Having to move our shit out of two perfect places. You need to get on top of it, Ricky. It has to stop. We’ll have cops breathing down our necks for months now.’

‘Well, this new place we’ve spotted will be perfect. We can lie low for a while, then restart when things have calmed down. Charlie’s chopped the link with the guys in Romania in case they start talking. There’s no way they can finger us now. He had a plan ready in case that end of things fell through.’

‘What about the girls here? What happens to them?’

‘There are two ideas. We could run them ourselves once we’re in Weymouth. I’ve got a contact in the town who could look out for a good place to base them. Or we could shift them on somewhere, like you suggested. We were thinking of somewhere in Wolverhampton or that area. Charlie’s still got contacts there.’

‘It’s a better idea than taking them with us to Weymouth,’ said Blossom. ‘I don’t fancy being a pimp again. Let’s face it, none of us knows fuck all about it now. It’s been years since me and Charlie ran girls ourselves. Everything’ll have changed. Listen, do you fancy going to the pub? Just for a quiet chat, I mean. Just you and me? Things need to be said.’

* * *

Blossom stood at the counter watching the barmaid return his partner’s change. It was only twenty pence, for God’s sake. Why not let her keep it? But that had always been Ricky’s way with money. He could remember once seeing him scrabble around on his hands and knees in thick, wintry fog because he’d thought he’d seen a fifty pence coin lying beside a muddy path. It had turned out to be a milk bottle top. Understandable in a kid, but not a grown man.

They took their pints across to a table in a secluded corner.

‘All the better for dark skulduggery,’ Blossom said.

‘What? I’ve never understood you, Blossom. I never will. I’ve always thought you’re too fucking smart to be in this line of work. But you can be a prize prick at times. You do know that we sometimes feel like topping you?’

‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ Blossom downed half of his beer in one long swallow. ‘Charlie would never let you do it. The two of us go back too far.’

Ricky grunted. ‘He thinks the outfit wouldn’t survive without you. He says when you add it all up, you’re the one who does the hard graft. We’d have to find someone to replace you, and he says they wouldn’t be half as good.’

‘And what do you say?’

‘Just stop riling me, Blossom.’ Ricky picked at a spot on his nose as he spoke.

‘I don’t rile you, Ricky. Not like you make out. I just tell you what I think. When you’ve done something stupid, I tell you. What the fuck’s wrong with that? I used to do the same with Charlie.’

‘Yeah, but you two grew up together. You have a bond. To me, you just sound as if you’re always whinging.’

‘I can see where this is going, so I may as well say it right now. Why did you have to kill that lad, Ricky? All our trouble started then. If I’d known what was going through your head, I’d never have gone back over to France and left you to manage things. It felt like I arrived back in the middle of a hurricane. And Charlie would never have put up with it, not in the old days, not when Hazel was alive. So what’s changed?’

‘You’re pushing your luck.’ Ricky leant forward to spit the words into Blossom’s face. His knuckles clenched.

‘Fucking sit down, you pillock. What are you going to do? Try and land one on me here? It’s me, Blossom, not some lowlife skank-head. You’ve had years of seeing what I can do to people, and what people can’t do to me. But Charlie knows I don’t do violence without a reason. We’ve survived because we haven’t made too many enemies. People trust us. They’ll do business with us, whatever that business is. Girls, protection, fencing, whatever. All the other guys know us, and they know me. My name means something. But now all that’s changed. They’ll all be wondering. So what is the story behind those bodies? I need to know.’

There was a pause. Ricky said, ‘We made some snuff movies.’

‘Oh, Jesus. I’m out of here.’

Blossom finished his beer and headed for the door. He walked across to the quayside and stood looking out across the wind-ruffled water, his insides churning. Ricky joined him but Blossom didn’t look at him. He continued to stare across the harbour to the Purbeck hills beyond the south shore.

‘I was out if it, Blossom. I was taking stuff that Smiffy got for me. I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t want to. It was Barbu’s idea and Charlie went along with it. I’m starting to get it together now. I know it was a mistake.’

Blossom turned to him. He looked up at the pale face as if seeing it for the first time.

‘A mistake? Is that all you can say about it? Well, maybe it’s just too late.’ He looked into those cold eyes. ‘It’s the murders, Ricky. You know how I feel about killing. It’s always been a step too far for me. And now you tell me that you killed them just to satisfy your sick wish to film it and flog the footage to other sick minds? I might be bad, but I’m not a pervert. I thought I knew you both. We’ve been hanging around together for so long. Now, with all this, I wonder if I ever did. And Charlie must have gone sicker in the head than I thought. He wouldn’t have done it while Hazel was alive. Well, I’ve had enough. Count me out from now on.’

He turned away and walked back along the quayside in the direction of their temporary base. He didn’t see Ricky take his mobile phone out and make a call.

* * *

Five minutes later Ricky sauntered into the cold, damp warehouse.

‘Where is he?’ he asked Smiffy.

‘He hasn’t come back yet.’

‘What? But where else would he go? He’d only just left me when I phoned you. What the fuck is he up to?’

Ricky’s phone rang. He looked at the display.

‘Hello, Blossom.’

‘Just to let you know I won’t be back. I guessed you’d arrange a little Ricky and Barbu type welcome party for me when I got back. Well, I’m not that stupid. But don’t think I’m out of your hair just yet. Just to warn you, I’ve got my eye on you. And on the rest of them. I expect to see those girls delivered safe and sound to wherever you decide to offload them. If they end up buried or dumped at sea I’ll know, and I’ll find a way of getting to you. If you do everything by the book, as we planned, I’ll be off your back. Don’t try and trace me, Ricky. Remember — if the girls stay alive, I don’t go to the cops. And say goodbye to Charlie for me, will you? We go back a long way and we had some good times together.’

The call ended.

‘Fuck,’ Ricky said to no one in particular. ‘He guessed. He must have had this planned, and kept his car nearby.’

‘What did he say?’

‘We offload the girls in the normal way. He’s fucking paranoid about us killing any of them. He says he’ll be watching us.’

‘What’s got into him? Why has he turned into such a goody-two-shoes all of a sudden?’

‘Charlie said Blossom always had this thing about what he calls “unnecessary violence.” He’s got a soft spot for women. Always has. You’ve seen what he can do with his fists. He can afford to be picky. Working with him has always been a bit of a bastard, he’s always been an oddball. But he got on well with Charlie’s wife, Hazel. They were cousins.’

‘I always wondered why Charlie stuck with him. There’s a word that describes someone like him, sort of snooty and picky at the same time.’

‘Charlie and Blossom came down from the Midlands together a long time ago, along with Hazel. And the word you’re looking for is fastidious. That’s what Hazel used to say about him.’

‘Yeah, that’s it. How can a fucking hood be fas-ti-dious? When he lost his rag he was more violent than anyone else I know. Even Barbu kept his distance.’

‘It was all controlled, Smiffy. That’s what he’d say. He used to go on and on about it. Controlled violence. It was his answer to everything. But I’ve got to give it to him, it worked for years. No one dared cross him. We’ve put up with him because of it.’

‘Maybe it’s better this way. Fewer of us. What does he mean, we’ve got to leave the girls alone? They’re not softened up enough yet. Whoever we push them on to won’t be best pleased.’

Ricky looked troubled. ‘We can’t keep them here. Blossom was right on one thing. This place does stink. Maybe we’ll move to the new place Charlie’s found, keep them there and then send them on their way when we think they’re ready. I still wonder about running them ourselves.’

‘We’ve got a few days yet, haven’t we? It’ll take that long for you to find someone to offload them onto. We could work on them here for a bit longer. Leave it to me and Barbu.’

‘We don’t have a few days, you twat. Blossom’s playing his own game now, and I don’t trust the bastard. He’s been up to something for months, and I was too mixed up to spot it. We move to Weymouth right now if Charlie gives the go-ahead. Blossom could be phoning the cops this minute.’

* * *

They reached the lonely cottage outside Weymouth late in the afternoon. Yet again they had loaded everything into several vans and made a hurried exit. Their human cargo was sick and weak, but the girls were allowed no recovery time. Barbu and Ricky fed them crack cocaine. They were gradually converting them into addicts. Once out on the streets they would be obedient to their pimps. The feistiest of the girls still resisted. They silenced her with vicious punches to her face and kicks to her body. One of the men would hold her down while the other poured a Rohypnol-laced drink down her throat. After that, she was easy to manipulate. The happy, optimistic bunch that had set out from Romania only a few weeks earlier were now pale, grubby and half starved. Their faces had a perpetual expression of dulled hopelessness and fear, but at least the rapes had stopped temporarily. Even their guards had become exhausted by the continuous, rushed moves from one place to another and just wanted to eat and sleep.

‘Where does Charlie find these places?’ asked Smiffy. The gap between his teeth made him whistle slightly.

‘It was Hazel. She found them all years ago. Her list is out of date now, but she knew loads of people, and Charlie’s just going through them. This place’ll be okay. It’s warm. A bit cramped, but we’ll cope,’ Ricky said.

‘Why doesn’t Charlie spend more time with us? It’s only you, me and Barbu now. There’s no Stefan, and Blossom’s legged it. It’s gonna be hard keeping it all together.’

‘Stop fucking whinging. It’s not as if these slags are hard work, is it? They’re out of their heads half the time. It’ll be harder once we start working them.’

‘When’s that gonna be?’

‘Maybe next week. We’ll see how we get on. If we need more help we’ll get it. But that means less dosh for us. Now Blossom’s fucked off, his share of the money comes back into the pot. You didn’t think of that, did you? As far as I’m concerned, we’re better off without him. Prickly bastard.’