Dead Sweet: A D.I. Turnbull mystery (13 page)

"Come on mate, I'll get you home. If we need any more from you I'll send officers around. I'm also going to call Victim Support for you."

"What for?"

"Someone to talk to."

"Bleeding hearts. I can't be doing with all that," Billy protested, "I'll be ok."

Todd wondered at the resilience of the guy. "That's the spirit, stiff upper lip."

"It's how we won the war. Come on then I'll have to face the daughter some time."

Todd walked Billy through to his car and spent the journey letting him speak about his daughter and his forty years working for the Royal Mail. The old soldier even managed a laugh or two during the journey and Todd was pleased he had offered to give him a lift home. They turned into a tree-lined avenue and Todd saw a cluster of men standing on the pavement, some holding cameras with large lenses and others smoking or blowing into paper cups of coffee.

"What's going on I wonder." Todd said as he pulled up outside Billy's house.

"Oh it's that bloody woman off the telly," Billy said, "What's her name? Foxy or something like that; big boobs."

"Vixen?"

"That's the one, she lives there."

"Ah yes, that's right, I was speaking to her the other day."

"Bloody pain in the arse, they're here all day and all night." Billy tsked, "At least I won't get burgled. Not that I've got anything worth taking, especially now." Tears filled his eyes again. Todd reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

"Come on Billy, let's get you inside, I could murder a cup of tea."

"Ok," Billy took his time to leave the car, his movements slow and unsteady. Todd saw tears once more in his eyes and once again felt sadness for the poor man.

"I'll tell you something Billy; I'm gonna have a whip round back at the nick and see if we can get you some of that money back. I'll also speak to our witness and victim support team. I might not be able to get the full amount but I'll have a bloody good go."

"Really?" hope glimmered on Billy's face. "I can't ask you to do that officer, it wouldn't be right."

"Nonsense; if we can't help the very people who fought to give us Britain then who can we help?"

Todd made up his mind as he spoke that he was going to make sure Billy got to Australia. He just couldn't turn his back and walk away from someone in so much pain. He held onto Billy by the elbow and began to lead him into the house.

"Officer," a female voice shouted from across the road. Todd turned to see Vixen hanging out of the upper floor window of her home; earrings so large they threatened to weight her head down so much, she just may fall out of the window she leaned from. Todd gave a curt wave before continuing to lead Billy into his house.

"Officer," Vixen persisted. Todd had no intention of shouting across the road and signalled to Vixen to keep the noise down.

"I need to see you," she shouted; flashes from cameras went off and the crowd of men standing outside Vixen's house began to call out to her.

"Vixen, over here; give us a pout."

"Please come over," she shouted once again. Todd acknowledged he had heard her and she disappeared back into her house. Todd continued to help Billy into his dilapidated town house. Its proportions were much the same as the Celeb's palace which shown across the road, but years of neglect had left it looking rather forlorn. Todd shared a cup of tea with Billy and exchanged small talk and war stories. He reassured Billy once again that he would sort some money out for him and left with Billy's thanks and feeling much better for doing something good.

It only took a few seconds and Todd was knocking on Vixen's front door, questions being fired at him by the paparazzi.

"Who are you mate?"

"Why are you visiting Vixen?"

"Are you family?"

He ignored them and quickly stepped inside the house when the front door was opened for him. Vixen walked in front of Todd and motioned for him to follow her up the stairs.

"Madam, I am very busy, would you like to tell me how I can help you?" Vixen stopped mid-way up the stairs.

"He's been here," she said.

"Who?"

"That man I was telling you about; Malcolm."

"What happened?" Todd asked, concerned now that a physical event had taken place.

"He was outside my window last night." She lowered her voice, "Wanking."

"Did you actually see him outside masturbating?" Todd enquired.

"Well no, it was very dark, but..." Vixen stopped and looked shyly away.

"Yes Vixen? It's ok, you can't shock me."

"Well he threw his spunk at the window," she stifled a giggle, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh but can you believe it? I mean I've had some things thrown at me before, but never that. It's like something out of Silence of the Lambs; sick."

"Show me your window." Todd said, he agreed it was disgusting, but couldn't help feeling slightly excited at the prospect of maybe finding the perpetrator of the murders he had been investigating. Everything Vixen had described about the things Malcolm had said to her, pointed to someone with a sexual proclivity relating to food. He knew that wasn't enough; the person would also need to have a propensity for violence, but for all Todd knew, when he finally caught up with Malcolm, that's just what he would find. He followed Vixen to her bedroom and was shown to the window which had a definite mark on it.

"Ok, I'll get SOCO over again to take a specimen as soon as possible. Did you see him Vixen? How do you know it was him?"

"I don't actually know it was him, but who else could it be? He's the only nutter talking to me."

"Have you had any further conversation with him?"

"Well no, you've taken my computer and my phone's a piece of shit."

"What does he look like? Could you tell me exactly what happened?"

"I just came into the bedroom last night and I was looking at myself in the mirror, checking my implants."

"Were you naked?"

"Only the top half. Anyway I got a feeling that I was being watched, I don't know how I knew; it was just a feeling and then I heard a splat against the window. I went and looked outside and I swear I saw someone in the bushes.

"Can you say what he looked like?"

"No it was too dark, but it
has
to be him."

"We'll take a sample and if he's on our database then we will get him nicked and put a stop to it."

"And if he isn't?"

"The data technicians are still working on the hard drive, they will definitely be able to extract the IP address for the computer he uses. If it's a home-based unit then we've got him."

"Can I have protection until then?"

"I'd love to say yes to you Vixen but we just don't have the resources for personal protection. I can tell my control room to treat all your calls as urgent and I can get a panic button installed if you feel it would make you safer."

Vixen sat on her king sized be and took hold of a sparkly cushion, Todd wondered if the crystals scratched her face as she was sleeping. "I'll have to employ my own protection then," she opined, "I was going to do that soon enough; it makes you look more famous," she laughed.

"You can be sure that if you need the police, we will come immediately." Todd assured her, "Until then, please don't clean that window."

"I won't and I'll tell my cleaner to leave it alone as well."

"Great, I'll get going unless there's anything else you'd like to speak about?"

"Have you ever thought about going on telly? You have a great look you know?"

"So I've been told, but no, I can't sing, act or dance."

"You don't need to with a face like that. I could make you a star you know?"

"I'm good, but thanks for the offer," Todd saw himself back to the stairs and let himself out of the house. He got straight on the phone to his Scenes of Crime officer and requested immediate retrieval of the window substance, then rang Candace at the station.

"Hi Guv,"

"Candace, the SOCO's bringing a sample in later on today. I want it checked against the DNA database and I want it checked against the DNA we got from Penny Baker."

"Do you think it will match?"

"I've got a feeling it just might," Todd agreed. "Looks like we're on the final leg Candy Cane; this could be the break we've been waiting for."

"Ok, I'll get the paperwork done."

Todd hoped he was right and the DNA would match the Penny Baker sample. He already knew it was unlisted on the database but the IP address would soon come through and hopefully he would be bringing justice to someone very soon.

Wednesday 10
th
July

12:30 hours

Danny 'Zucko' Bradford was well and truly in the shit. He had been buying cocaine from a local dealer, known only as Boss Man, or Boss, for the last four years and had never had a problem getting it on tick and then paying Boss back later. Danny had always made his living with the prostitution and money had never been an issue before but it seemed his cocaine abuse was stripping the money from his business and his debt to Boss was now out of control. He sat with Boss in the Red Lion, trying to work out a way he could pay him back the twenty grand he had managed to rack up over the last six months.

"I can' believe I owe you so much money." Danny shook his head. "I've been caning it I know, but fuck."

"Well that's what happens when you don't pay up front," Boss Man chided, "It builds up Dan; you've been ticking it and ticking it and you haven't actually given me any money for about four months."

"You never said anything." Danny protested, he couldn't fathom why Boss had chosen to let the debt build.

"It's not my job to make you pay Dan, just to provide the goods. I'm alright ticking it for a short while but when my geezer starts asking
me
for money then I have to call in the debts. I've got a payment to make in a week or so and I'm calling in all the ticks." Boss took a sip of his Hendricks gin and tonic with cucumber slice. "Very refreshing on a hot day." He said. "Now Dan my man, what are you going to come up with to repay me? I need the moolah by Friday morning."

Danny felt rivulets of sweat run down his back, he was trying his hardest to maintain a tough exterior; he knew that any sign of weakness would be jumped on by the hard man in front of him. Boss Man had a reputation for removing people's noses; he always joked that that's what got the person into trouble in the first place so he was just taking their troubles away. Danny liked his nose and he didn't want to see it lying on a table.

"I don't know Boss Man, I could be fucking from here till Christmas and still not make twenty grand. Maybe if I can tick some more gear off you then I can sell it and make the money back."

"Now why would I want to be giving you any more fucking tick? I've been waiting for my money now for months from you son. I'm not a charity, I don't give it away for free to the needy. You've been coming back to me almost every day taking bits here and bits there and you haven't so much as said thank you, let alone give me any fucking money. No more ticking Danny boy, it's time to start paying or your nose isn't gonna look so pretty by the time I've finished with it." Boss took another sip of his drink. "Yes very refreshing he said, spitting an ice cube back into the tall glass. The action, so normal belied the extreme violence that lay beneath the guise. Danny literally shook in his pants. Maybe it was time to start thinking about moving on, he thought.

"There is one way you can help me." Boss Man said.

"How? I'll do anything." Danny jumped at the chance to get himself out of this situation.

"Obviously I need to get the money to my geezer and do a pick-up of some more gear. I don't like getting my own hands dirty, I'm too long in the tooth for all that. You can do it for me."

Danny's heart sank; he liked to keep as far away from criminal activity as he could, he knew he just wasn't cut out to be a criminal.

"I'd be really bad at that," Danny protested, "I would just fall to pieces if I had to carry gear around; I would definitely get caught."

"You won't get caught you muppet," Boss Man laughed. "I've done it loads of times. It's not like you're walking around with a big bag that says 'Cocaine' on it. It's just a normal carrier bag. You walk into the park and sit on a bench, my man comes along you sit and have a chat, all normal, and then you say goodbye to each other. He's got your bag and you've got his."

Danny was finding it hard to swallow, his saliva had disappeared. "It can't be that easy, how can you do it in broad daylight?"

"This isn't Hollywood son, the best way not to get caught is to be brazen about it. Do it right under their noses. They are always looking for the people in the shadows, if you act normal and just go about your business the cops leave you alone. How do you think I've managed to stay in business for so long?"

"Luck?"

Boss guffawed. "Luck's got nothing to do with it. It takes a brain and a fucking lot of hard work and sheer determination to get what I've got and I don't appreciate dirty little fuckers like you who think you can take the piss out of me and get away with not paying. I was wondering how long it would take you to actually start giving me back some of my money. You've had ample opportunity but you just don't have the respect to even try. I'm not happy with you Danny boy and you are lucky that I am feeling charitable and am letting you do this for me."

Danny didn't feel like he was lucky; he had an inkling that he had been had. It seemed quite convenient that Boss had let the tick continue for so long and had called it in just at a time when he needed a patsy to do the dirty work. "Yeah, thanks Boss Man I feel really lucky." He said.

"Don't be fucking cocky Danny, are you going to do it or not?"

"Yeah I'll do it, when?"

"Friday morning, come and see me at my house and I will give you the money."

"Ok."

"I'm not paying you twenty grand though. I will knock a grand off each time you do it for me."

"What?"

"You don't think I'm gonna pay you twenty grand just to drop off and pick up?" Boss Man laughed. "You really do think I'm a charity. No, you're mine now Danny boy; a grand a drop, that's the payment, now off you go I will see you on Friday, 9 o'clock."

"In the morning?"

"Yeah just like real work isn't it? Now fuck off." Boss Man got up from the red faux leather bench he was sitting on and walked over to the bar where a long haired bar maid pretended not to hear what was going on as she read the same page of newspaper over and over again. "Same again Alicia," Boss said.

"Gin and Tonic and a lager?"

"No lager, he's going." Boss nodded his head towards Danny who still sat on the sofa.

"Aren't you Danny?"

"Yeah." Danny jumped up and walked out of the pub. In his angst he forgot that he had brought his car with him to the meeting and walked up Linkford Road contemplating his fate. He just hoped that his past criminal attempts were nothing to go by or he would probably be looking at the inside of a cell by Saturday morning.