The Body in the River (36 page)

*

Inside the club, Porter had led Collins to the bar. He said,
‘
How come this arsehole Brookes came here without you warning us? The boss is fuming.
’

Collins nodded.
‘
I can guess. But Brookes didn
’
t tell me he was coming here, which he should have done; this is my patch.
’

‘
Well I wouldn
’
t like to be in your shoes when the boss gets out of the nick.
’

‘
What did Brookes say?
’

‘
Didn
’
t say nothing. The boss went at him soon as he came down from his office.
’

‘
But he must have said something.
’

‘
According to the waitress, all he did was give her his card and tell her to give it to the boss and they would wait at the bar.
’

‘
How comes they ended up having a bundle?
’

‘
A crowd came in and they moved away from the bar and sat at a table. Only the paying guests are allowed to sit there so I went over and spoke to them. But he called his two heavies over and that
’
s how it all got started. The boss must have seen this and weighed in himself. We were all surprised when the pig bent his finger back then nicked him.
’

‘
So nothing was said about how they came to be here?
’

‘
All the pig said was that he thought it was about time he met the boss and that he was on his case.
’

Collins nodded.
‘
Let me know if there
’
s any more trouble and make sure everyone behaves themselves; we don
’
t need to give Brookes any encouragement.
’

‘
What about the cash from the collections?
’

‘
What do you mean?
’

‘
The businesses we
’
re looking after, we do collections Friday night. But only the boss has got the safe key.
’

‘
Well what do you usually do when the boss is not here?
’

‘
He usually leaves me the key.
’

Collins gave him a look.
‘
It
’
s up to you then. Have you ever heard of something called initiative?
’

Porter returned the look.
‘
No need to get saucy with me. You
’
re not in any position to throw your weight about here.
’

Collins opened his mouth to make some angry retort but realised he was indeed in no position to do so and closed it again.

Instead he said,
‘
Remember, your boss won
’
t want any hassle whilst he
’
s in stir. Just be damned careful how you run things.
’
Not waiting for a reply, he turned and left.

From the coffee shop opposite, Foreman saw him leave and head back towards his car. Once he was out of sight, she left the shop and called Middlemiss on her radio. He told her to stay where she was and wait until he came and picked her up. Once Collins was on the move, Middlemiss did so, and they used the tracker to follow his car north to Tottenham, where he lived.

Once he was at home, they returned to Hackney and booked off duty, having telephoned Brookes and informed him of Collins
’
visit to the strip club.

*

At 8am the next morning, Brookes, Rose, Middlemiss, and Foreman sat in Brookes
’
office, drinking coffee. Middlemiss had given the details of DCI Collins
’
movements the previous evening.

Brookes gave him a wry grin.
‘
Thanks, Fred. So there is no doubt about Collins being bent. Do we all concur on this?
’

Middlemiss coughed.
‘
Bent as a nine bob note, boss. No wonder Silver has been getting away with murder; if he
’
s got the local DCI in his pocket he can
’
t lose, can he?
’

Brookes nodded, then turned to the other two.
‘
Are we all agreed on this?
’

Rose said,
‘
There can
’
t be any other explanation, sir, can there?
’

Foreman nodded.
‘
If he denies ever visiting the club then runs there immediately you
’
ve left his office, he
’
s got to be bent.
’

There was silence for a long moment, then Brookes said,
‘
I
’
ll have to put what we have to the Professional Conduct crew. But first I want to use this to our advantage. I
’
ve spoken to DI Mann from Fraud. He thinks that Silver must have the deeds to the holiday properties put away somewhere within reach. If we can get our hands on those, we recover most of his ill-gotten gains; that would really hurt him. If we can make him think we
’
re just about to seize them, he might just panic and try to get them moved. Mann knows who Silver
’
s accountant is; a guy called Ian McBride.
’

Middlemiss interrupted,
’
That
’
s one of the numbers we found on Silver
’
s phone. An accountant with loads of letters after his name. His offices are in Bethnal Green Road, half a mile from Venus Club.
’

‘
Good, so there
’
s the link. Now all we have to figure out is how to let Collins know of our plans to get a search warrant.
’

Middlemiss had a frown on his face. He said,
‘
I know one of his DS
’
s boss, Ed Hollins, used to work with him when I was at Plaistow. Wouldn
’
t trust him with yours, boss. Come to think of it, he
’
s close to Collins, which makes sense if they
’
re both bent.
’

Brookes smiled.
‘
I don
’
t think I
’
d trust you with mine either, Fred; I
’
d be very worried where you
’
d put it. But that
’
s interesting. Are you still in contact with this Hollins?
’

‘
Not really, no. But I know where he drinks and there
’
s a mate of mine uses the same pub. I owe him a drink, perhaps I should drop in on him. Once I
’
ve had a few I could get a bit indiscreet and brag a bit about my trip to the Caribbean and how the enquiry is going.
’

‘
How much can you trust your friend, Fred?
’

‘
All the way, boss; I
’
d trust him with my life.
’

‘
Won
’
t he think it a bit out of character if you do start talking out of turn?
’

Middlemiss frowned.
‘
He might, boss; he knows me too well.
’

‘
Then you would have to take him into your confidence and that could be dangerous. Let me think about it.
’
He looked at his watch.
‘
Richard Mann is on his way over here. Let
’
s see what I get from him, then we can make a plan. In the meantime, keep all this to yourselves. We
’
re treading on dangerous ground here. I
’
m beginning to think I
’
ll have to let Commander Aitcheson know what we have found out about Collins and get his sanction on what we
’
re planning.
’

*

‘
Money doesn
’
t talk, it swears.
’

Richard Mann arrived half an hour later and he, Brookes, and Rose went into conference around the low table in Brookes
’
office, each supplied with the inevitable cup of coffee.

When they were settled, Brookes said,
‘
OK, Richard, tell us what you
’
ve got for us.
’

‘
Quite a lot, sir. First let me start with Holiday Homes Abroad. Although it started as just a scam to hide Silver
’
s dirty money, Fletcher has a good business brain. He had to advertise of course to give the business the appearance of being legal. What he hadn
’
t realised was that there was a big hole in the market which the company filled. He had other owners of exotic houses all over the place asking him to manage their properties. And the response from people looking for holiday lets was also good; it seems there are lots and lots of very rich folk in this country and they like expensive holidays away from the mainstream.

‘
Until Fleming did the runner, the business was making large profits from legitimate lets, let alone the laundered money. It will take us months to contact all the people and find exactly what
’
s honest and what
’
s not. Some accountants are clever enough to weave such intricate webs it
’
s almost impossible to unravel them.
’

Brookes nodded.
‘
So, what about the profits, how were they paid out to Silver and the other owners?
’

‘
That
’
s where it gets really complicated. It wasn
’
t just Silver who wanted the profits paid into foreign bank accounts, some of the so-called
“
legitimate
”
owners were trying to beat the tax man, so the accounts are a mess. But we got from Fleming a list of the Swiss accounts money was paid to that ended up in Silver
’
s purse. I
’
ve got a team of certified accountants sorting out the mess; it could take years.
’

‘
You
’
re joking? I need something to pin on Silver. What about the deeds to the properties Silver owns, even if only by proxy; does Fleming know where they are kept?
’

Mann shook his head.
‘
But he thinks it must be in this country, where Silver can get his hands on them if he needs to. More than that he doesn
’
t know.
’

‘
And do you believe him?
’

Mann took a moment before answering. Then he said,
‘
Yes, I do. He hasn
’
t lied about anything else. Now he
’
s turned Queen
’
s evidence on Silver
’
s crimes, he
’
s as anxious as we are to get him put away.
’
Mann smiled.
‘
Probably more so, as our lives don
’
t depend on it.
’

‘
Good.
’
Brookes chewed his bottom lip.
‘
Let me run something by you. First: at the moment we have nothing on Silver, absolutely zilch. He can walk away and not even need to look over his shoulder. Second: I want the bastard and I
’
m going to get him. By hook or by crook. Literally.
’
He gazed fiercely into Mann
’
s face.

Mann looked away, not knowing how to react.

Brookes continued,
‘
When we leave here, you and I, Richard, are going straight to The Yard to see Commander Aitcheson. In the meantime, I
’
m going to tell you something that only I and a few members of my team know. You must give me your word that you will keep it to yourself until a decision is made as to what we
’
re going to do about it.
’