Scorpio's Lot (69 page)

‘Any further concerns?’ prompted
Marlow in a nonchalant tone.

‘I haven’t even begun. This
little episode on the hill yesterday has caused tension within our own ranks.
This will be a major problem if left unattended. Further, we still have the
issue of what to do with Brigit O’Neill. She can’t be left indefinitely in her
cell and I’m still waiting for your answer on that.’

‘You’ll have my answer shortly,’
offered Marlow, somewhat surprised at his subordinate’s offensive nature.

‘A further consideration not to
be ignored is the threat from Traffik’s Indigo. Do you really believe for one
minute this person will lie down and take it on the chin? No bloody way! This
guy will be so totally pissed off and God help anyone that gets in his way. You’ve
assisted the authorities in capturing four of his hierarchy, tortured and
murdered two of his men and literally destroyed his operation in one swift
move. Expect some repercussions from this individual because he now becomes
what many would see as your prime nemesis. A case of watching your back from
now on, Victor, because Indigo won’t rest without making Scorpio pay.’

‘You’re going too far with your
fucking accusations!’ said the Keeper.

‘Bullshit, Victor. Let me tell
you something. I have turned this southern operation into one of the country’s
leading distribution centres. In the space of three weeks a multi-million dollar
industry has been transformed into a dormant wasteland

‘You’re exaggerating.’

‘Why? Because a certain
individual called Brad Morgan was sent by you to take care of our business? The
guy’s a psychopath who has left a trail of murders attracting national
attention. In my opinion Morgans an utter fruitcake. You only have to look at
his theatrics with the two scorpions in cell five, let alone the hill atrocity.
Had you left us in peace to clean up our own backyard these problems wouldn’t
exist.’

‘Morgan’s already been
reprimanded for borrowing Salt and Pepper,’ the Keeper said.

‘Providing the punishment fits
the crime,’ replied the Piedpiper dryly.

Ignoring his subordinate’s
passing swipe, Victor pressed on. ‘Do you believe the southern operation can be
rescued from its present state?’ He was more subdued now, following the
Piedpiper’s outburst.

‘Let me put it to you this way.
At the moment I’m totally and utterly pissed off at seeing this operation
trying to destroy itself. I don’t believe you fully understood the seriousness
of the situation until this phone call. To answer your question, there are
three vital components for survival. The first is patience. We need to take a
back seat for a while until all this hype and publicity subsides. The second is
luck. My biggest concern is the authority’s further search of Broadbent’s.
Fortunately the entrance is inconspicuously camouflaged, but we can never take
for granted that it’s foolproof. The third is control. You must give me total
command of the region, which includes complete authority over all affiliated
members who are in my jurisdiction on business.’

‘That’s a bloody big ask.’

‘Then how else would it work,
Victor?’

‘As always, I will control
operations from my city office,’ Marlow said in his typically dogmatic way.

‘The situation has changed
considerably with all these recent murders.’

‘Shouldn’t make any difference if
it’s the media and cops you’re worried about.’

‘But you’re rarely here, Victor.
There has been and will be times when decisions need to be made immediately and
I can’t depend on some return phone call that arrives too late,’ pressed the
Piedpiper.

‘You push a hard bargain.’

‘No, I push for commonsense to
prevail.’

Silence followed.

‘Let me think about it,’ Marlow
finally responded.

The Piedpiper was impatient with
Marlow’s deliberation. ‘Not good enough. I need your decision now, Victor.’ The
regional head knew Marlow would take forever to make up his mind.

‘Very well, but I’ll only agree
to a trial run of three months. At the end of this time I will reassess and
give you my final answer.’ Marlow was not comfortable with being forced to let
go of the reins.

‘Then three months it is,’
replied the Piedpiper, thinking this arrangement was at least a positive move
to keep the likes of Morgan under tighter control. ‘Effective immediately,
Victor?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good, we now have an
understanding.’

‘I’ll be down in a week or two to
see how I can lend my support. Anything further?’

‘No, it can wait until your
visit,’ responded the Piedpiper.

‘With this additional
responsibility you must keep me informed at least twice a week, understand?’
Marlow instructed. He wondered whether his regional head had become a
liability.

~ * ~

lan
Forbes had just concluded his summary in front of the local task force and
issued instructions to carry out a further search of Broadbent. Despite the
previous failed investigation, he was determined to get to the bottom of the
suspicious circumstances surrounding this warehouse. He decided that Doyle and Carpenter
would return to reassess the establishment. After the psychologist’s
recommendation to pursue the whereabouts of Morgan and Charlie, he instructed
Marsh and Burke to call on Ferret’s friend Hassan.

Today the detective had his own
destiny to deal with, for at two o’clock he was to conduct his first media
conference in front of the national press. Pressure had mounted to the point
where Forbes could no longer ignore the persistence coming from both the
tabloid fraternity and head office.

~ * ~

Doyle
and Carpenter’s unannounced arrival at the warehouse did not surprise Neville
Bradbury. He had anticipated their visit as a result of Ferret’s terrible
death. After all, this had been Ferret’s place of employment and therefore a
call from the constabulary was to be expected.

‘Good morning, gentlemen, how can
I help you today?’ welcomed Bradbury.

‘We’re here primarily with young
Ferret in mind,’ Doyle said. ‘Shocking business, that slaughter on the hill.’

‘That’s an understatement,
detective. We’re all shattered by his death. I believe the funeral will be held
this Friday.’

‘How well did you know Ferret, Mr
Bradbury?’ asked the detective.

‘As well as any employer.’

‘What do you mean by that
exactly?’ Doyle pressed.

‘We didn’t mix socially, but I always
had his best interests at heart as I do with all my staff. I often said to
Ferret that my door was always open if he needed to discuss any matter or
concern.’

‘Yes, Ferret spoke highly of you
when we last interviewed him. Did he ever take up your offer?’

‘Occasionally, when he got
himself into financial difficulty. Ferret would ask me for an advance to help
out with things.’

‘And did you?’

‘Yes, three times. I didn’t mind
since Ferret was never one to complain when I asked him to work overtime now and
again. If there’s a bit of give and take you generally have a productive
relationship,’ responded Bradbury.

‘We have it on record that a drug
dealer called Charlie spoke with Ferret on a number of occasions and often in
front of these premises when he worked back. Were you aware of these meetings,
Mr Bradbury?’

‘Yes. I had need to remind Ferret
on two occasions that his discussions were becoming too long.’

‘But that doesn’t make sense.
Most employers wouldn’t tolerate this sort of behaviour.’

‘I can understand your logic,
detective, but let me explain. Ferret often started work half an hour before he
had to. He was never paid for this additional time, so I decided to turn a
blind eye to his discussions on the condition that his allocated workload would
be completed. Like I said before, a bit of give and take.’

‘Do you know this Charlie
character he often spoke to?’

‘I know of him.’

‘Yes, that coincides with our
records,’ acknowledged Carpenter.

‘It does?’ Bradbury replied in a
startled tone.

‘What about a person called Brad
Morgan?’ Doyle was deliberately testing the warehouse manager’s reaction.

‘No, I’m not aware of this one,’
Bradbury responded unconvincingly and added, ‘Who is this Morgan?’

‘No one of consequence for you to
worry about,’ Doyle replied.

‘I can’t accept that. You ask me
a question and you’re not prepared to elaborate.’ Bradbury wanted to emphasise
the point that Morgan was unknown to him.

‘Very well. Morgan is on our
most-wanted list for his involvement in murder and unscrupulous drug
connections.’

‘Thank you, but Morgan has no
connection with this business,’ responded Bradbury with a fair degree of truth.

‘Tell me, Mr Bradbury, who owns
Broadbent’s and who do you report to?’ asked Doyle.

‘A city consortium by the name of
Barclays Incorporated. I report to Malcolm Chandler, their financial director.’
Bradbury had anticipated this question. He wasn’t overly concerned in
volunteering this information. It was factual, and there was no direct link
with Victor Marlow. Scorpio had cleverly arranged and concealed its business
assets with the hierarchy in mind.

Doyle decided to avoid any
discussion surrounding Danny Murdock. He felt tempted to draw Bradbury into why
he questioned Danny the night Charlie discussed syndicate matters with Ferret,
but decided this was best left alone. It was in the lad’s best interests to
avoid drawing unnecessary attention to him. Besides, Danny had proven to be a
useful contact so there was no point in placing the asset at risk.

Doyle intensified his line of
questioning. ‘Do you keep illegal goods on these premises, specifically drugs
of some description?’

‘No. We’ve been through all this
before,’ stated Bradbury, trying to keep his cool.

‘Then why does our source insist
on this being the place?’

‘Like I said on your previous
visit, it’s a case of mistaken identity. Your source has confused us with
someone else, and besides, where in the hell could we hide something like that?’

‘And that’s exactly what we need
to find out, Mr Bradbury.’

‘What about a bit of respect,
given Ferret’s death and how it’s affected everyone here,’ the warehouse
manager remonstrated.