Watching the Dark (Inspector Banks Mystery) (46 page)

‘I don’t know anything,’ Len said. ‘Like I said, they come and go. I don’t know their names. As long as they do their jobs, I don’t give a fuck what they’re called. You’ll have to try Human Resources, and they don’t work on a Sunday. It’s not my department.’

‘Said Werner von Braun.’

‘What?’

‘Never mind. Thanks for your help.’ Annie left the office, muttering ‘arsehole’ under her breath. She stood for a moment in the doorway watching the people work. Most seemed absorbed in their tasks, such as they were, and they didn’t return her gaze. Krystyna certainly wasn’t there. Not that Annie had expected her to be.

Before leaving the factory altogether, she thought she might as well drop by the extraction department and see if she could find out any more there. As there was only one large building left, she assumed that was it, dashed across the yard, avoiding puddles as best she could, and headed inside.

The factory floor was quiet, no thrum of machines or banging of gears and metal drums. There was one man, sans white hat, walking around the equipment, checking things and jotting notes on his clipboard. Annie coughed loudly enough that he could hear her, and he turned, surprised to see her there.

‘Yes?’ he said.

‘Police.’ Annie came forward and showed him her warrant card.

He put his clipboard down. ‘What can I do for you?’ He was younger than Len, and a lot more trim, as if he played football in a local league on Saturdays maybe.

‘I’m looking for someone who works here, or used to work here,’ Annie said. ‘Len over in the other building said I’d have a better chance here.’

The man, who introduced himself as Dennis, laughed. ‘Len’s very old school. There’s nothing much he doesn’t know about yeast.’

‘How can you stand the smell?’ Annie asked.

Dennis shrugged. ‘You get used to it, like anything else.’

‘Hmm. Anyway, I understand you employ a number of migrant labourers around here?’

‘That’s right, though I don’t actually do the employing. That would be the personnel officer, or Human Resources as they call it now. I believe we have a contract with Rod’s Staff Ltd, who supply most of the workers.’

‘Do you know anything about them?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The conditions they live in, the wages they’re paid, that sort of thing.’

‘No. I just make sure they do their jobs, and they’re treated well enough on the shop floor, get their tea breaks and all. There’s quite a turnover. As you can imagine, nobody wants to do this sort of work for very long.’

Annie took in the row of industrial washing machines and the racks of hanging canvas sheets, about twenty of them in a row, stretching from one side of the room to the other. ‘What kind of work would that be?’

‘As you can see, we’re not in operation normally today. We have to do maintenance and equipment checks once in a while. That’s me. As a rule, we make the yeast extract here. Basically, you force the yeast through those canvas sheets and collect what gets through to the far end. It’s concentrated and thick by then, sort of like Marmite.’

Annie felt her stomach churn. She hated Marmite, more because of its consistency than its taste. ‘What do you do with the used canvas?’ she asked.

‘That’s what the big washing machines are for. You flip them in there and wash them. It’s a dirty job because by then they’re covered in slime. It’s sort of the consistency of—’

‘I can guess, thanks,’ said Annie. ‘You don’t have to spell it out.’

‘They usually wear neck-to-toe leather aprons.’

‘I’ll bet they do. Do you remember a young Polish girl, very thin, short dark hair, pretty if she had a chance. She could hardly lift one of those canvases.’

‘She sounds familiar, but as I said, they come and go. A lot of them are thin and seem none too healthy.’

‘Haven’t you ever wondered why?’

‘Not really my business. I assumed it was because of where they come from. Poor national diet.’

‘As opposed to the north of England, where we all eat so well?’

‘No need to be sarcastic. I’m only saying.’

‘Sorry.’ Annie scratched her head, thinking a visit from Trading Standards might be in order. Or Immigration. ‘Sorry. It’s just a bit frustrating, that’s all.’

‘There was a girl hanging around the gates this morning about the time the shift started. She sort of fits your description. She might have worked here at some time.’

‘Did anyone talk to her?’

‘I don’t think so. We get quite a few Eastern European girls here. Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians.’

‘That’ll be Rod’s Staff connections.’

‘I suppose so. If it’s illegal immi—’

‘No, no,’ said Annie. ‘I know we’re one big happy family now they’re all in the EU. They might not all have the correct or up-to-date permits and visas, but we won’t worry about a little thing like that.’

‘Then what is it?’

‘Murder.’

Dennis swallowed. ‘I knew something was up,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘When they didn’t turn up for their shift yesterday.’

‘Who didn’t?’

‘The nine people we’ve been employing from Rod’s Staff. The van usually drops them off at eight o’clock. Yesterday it didn’t turn up.’

‘Why not?’

‘No idea. The boss was furious. They’ve always been reliable before. That’s one reason we use Flinders. But the boss got no warning at all. He couldn’t get in touch with the Rod’s Staff office. Mind you, it is a weekend, and most offices are shut.’

‘So none of the casual labour turned up for work yesterday, but this girl you think might have been Polish, and you might have seen working here, was standing at the gate this morning?’

‘Yes.’

‘Could she have been one of the Rod’s Staff girls?’

‘She could have been. Yes.’

‘What happened to her?’

‘A car came, and she got into it.’

‘Whose car?’

‘Roderick Flinders. I know because I’ve seen him here before.’

‘What make of car?’

‘A grey Clio.’

‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know. I wasn’t watching. I was just crossing the yard, coming here, as a matter of fact, when I saw her walk out of the gatehouse and get in the car.’

‘Did she get in of her own free will?’

‘I suppose so. I mean, I think I’d have noticed a struggle. I can’t really say I paid a lot of attention. I had other things on my mind.’

‘It’s all right, Dennis,’ said Annie. ‘I’ve finished now. You can put it out of your mind again. For the moment.’ Then she turned away and walked off.

When she got in her car, out of the rain, Annie thought things over and realised that Flinders would certainly have heard about what happened to Corrigan, and that would have shaken him up a bit. He wouldn’t necessarily know
who
had shot Corrigan and Curly, that it was an angry parent of a girl their organisation had exploited, or why, so he might well have imagined that it was something to do with the murdered policeman and journalist, and that the whole enterprise was falling apart. Perhaps he thought that he himself was next for the chop. The sensible thing to do would be to abandon ship.

And no doubt Joosep Rebane back in Estonia, or wherever he lived, would have heard the news by now, too, and his most sensible course of action would be to extricate himself as completely as possible from the whole business. Three murders meant way too much pressure and scrutiny. Best to wash his hands and walk away.

But where, Annie wondered, did that leave Krystyna? And how had she got to the yeast factory? She probably knew the name of the place, Varley’s, having seen it day after day, and she had enough money for a taxi. She thought she would find Ewa there, but she had found Roderick Flinders instead.

Annie stopped at the gatehouse on the way out. The man was still reading his paper.

‘Got a minute?’ she asked.

He acted as if it were a great hardship to tear himself away from the
Sunday Sport
.

‘What is it?’

‘There was a young girl here earlier this morning. She was seen coming out of your office and getting in a car, Roderick Flinders’ car.’

‘That’s right.’

‘Want to tell me why?’

‘Because Mr Flinders asked me to get in touch with him if I saw any of them. They weren’t supposed to be here, see. He’d placed them all somewhere else, but I suppose not all of them knew. She couldn’t speak English, anyway.’

‘You work for Flinders?’

‘No. Varley’s. But he treats me well, and I keep an eye on his crews. It’s good for everyone.’

‘What did she want?’

‘I think she was looking for someone. She kept saying a name. Sounded like Eva. I told her to come in out of the rain and sit down for a minute and I’d try to find out for her.’

‘And you phoned Flinders.’

‘Yes.’

‘What did he say?’

‘To keep her there, and he’d be over as soon as he could. He only lives about fifteen minutes’ drive away. I gave her a fag and a cup of tea. She seemed content enough. A bit nervous, maybe.’

‘And Flinders took her away?’

‘She went with him. He nodded when she said Eva, to let her know he knew what she meant and he could help her, like.’

‘Where did he take her?’

‘Now, how the hell should I know?’

‘So, am I to understand that Joosep Rebane is something of a celebrity?’ said Banks, lowering his voice. Joanna had stopped sulking and pricked up her ears now.

‘Celebrity criminal, you might say,’ Erik answered, scratching at his bushy beard. ‘Nothing proven, of course.’

‘Of course,’ said Banks.

‘It does not harm his reputation that he looks like a rock star and has the lifestyle to match,’ Erik went on.

‘But I’ll bet he doesn’t play an instrument.’

‘He plays many. The gun. The knife. The baseball bat.’

‘A veritable symphony,’ muttered Joanna.

Banks sipped some coffee. It was cold but strong.

‘Thirty-one years old, and for the past four of them, he’s been the leading man in the drug-dealing and people-trafficking rackets and, clearly, also is involved in these migrant labour schemes that your friend and Mihkel have been investigating. Baltic Mafia. Estonia is not a destination, you understand, but it is a route. Rebane is a skilled fac— what is the word?’

‘Factotum? Facilitator?’ Banks suggested.

‘Facilitator. Yes. He has connections with all the organised criminal groups in Eastern Europe, especially the Russians, but in some ways he stands very much alone and aloof. Very Estonian.’

‘Have the cops ever got close to him?’

‘It is possible,’ Erik said. ‘But I do not know. My guess would be that he always has someone powerful on the inside. He greases the palms. Is that how you say it?’

‘That’s how we say it.’

‘We have corruption here, like everywhere. Police, local government, parliament, for all I know.’

‘You say he’s been in the business for about four years?’

‘Yes. Before that he was just another wild, spoiled, rich kid who got away with far too much, and spent his time with the wrong sort of people. He came to prominence in his own right when a storage container full of illegal immigrants was found at Southampton docks. A container that was discovered to have shipped from Tallinn. You may remember the incident. Two of the people inside were dead. Of course, there was no evidence to link him to the crime, but his name was whispered in many circles, and it soon became something to fear.’

‘Was the newspaper involved?’

‘We could not name him, but we came as close as we could without risking a libel suit. His father is Viktor Rebane, a very famous and powerful businessman. He was fortunate enough to be able to buy into utilities after the Soviets left and everything was privatised.’

‘I wonder what he thinks of his son.’

‘Viktor Rebane has never spoken publicly on the subject. He is a very well respected figure, himself, but he must be aware of his son’s activities. Sources, however, say he becomes furious every time Joosep’s name is linked to some crime or bad behaviour, but he can do nothing to stop him. Joosep is headstrong.’

‘Did Mihkel write about Joosep?’

‘Yes. In “
Pimeduse varjus
”.’

‘So there was no love lost between them?’

‘Pardon?’

‘I mean, they didn’t like each other.’

‘I do not know if they ever met. I do not think so. But no. Mihkel recognised Joosep Rebane for what he was, a thug come into power. And Mihkel could be merciless in his attack, so that everyone knew who he meant.’

‘Does Joosep have a reputation with women, too?’

‘There have been complaints. Rape. Violence. All withdrawn.’

‘Any deaths?’

‘None that could be directly linked to him.’