The Body in the River (42 page)

*

‘
All
’
s well that ends well.
’

14
th
century proverb

It was several days later and Brookes was sitting in his office, trying to close the file on Raymond Silver. But the more evidence his team uncovered, the more offences came to light. The criminal
’
s empire was collapsing like a house of cards, and the more certain his confinement in prison for a long time became, the more of his victims came forward with their tales of extortion.

In the criminal world, and on its fringes, the fear of being killed or maimed was a powerful weapon. Psychopaths such as Silver had quick tempers that were easily set off and the results were sometimes horrifying. How many people Silver had killed would probably never be known. But his rule had been based on fear and once that was removed, people were queuing up to give evidence that would help keep him incarcerated in one of Her Majesties secure hostelries for a long, long time.

The woman who had run the Romford brothel turned Queen
’
s evidence, and her statement, coupled with that of McBride, Silver
’
s accountant, would ensure that charges of brothel keeping and living on immoral earnings would be added to the list. The owner of a chain of bookshops selling soft porn (that which was legal) came forward and agreed to give evidence of Silver demanding money with menaces.

Indeed, the list of offences became so long and complicated that the director of public prosecutions gave Brookes a dedicated team of lawyers to sort out the evidence and the appropriate charges.

The safe in Silver
’
s flat above The Venus Club was found to contain the deeds of several properties and bank statements from his Swiss bank account. The existence of such an account set the British courts an interesting problem. If it was proved the money contained there was the proceeds of criminal activity, as seemed most likely, a case could be made that the money be subject to confiscation by the courts, which held true even in international law. But this would be contested by the Swiss and a long legal battle would ensue. In the meantime however, a freeze order was imposed on the account by the Swiss government, and no money could be withdrawn or moved elsewhere.

Fred Middlemiss led the team that searched Silver
’
s flat. Whilst there, he removed the listening devices planted a few days before. In fact, they had not been needed thanks to Fred
’
s information gathering elsewhere. What surprised Brookes was that Silver had not discovered the devices as they had thought; it seemed he had not even searched for them. His temper was such that it clouded his vision.

That, plus the fact that he hadn
’
t even bothered to check for a tail when visiting the brothel, told Brookes that the man was not nearly as intelligent as he
’
d given him credit for. The fact that no-one, including police officers, had had the courage to stand up to him until Brookes came on the scene had led the criminal to believe he was invulnerable.

One sad part of the investigation was the three young Serbian girls. As their parents had sold them to the people traffickers, they had no homes to go to. All three were put into a care home, where they would be safe from exploitation and taught the skills they would require in adult life; hopefully they might later lead normal lives.

*

The trial of Raymond Edward Silver began three months later and lasted for three long weeks, with two of the most expensive lawyers in London defending him. But the D of PP had also put up his best team and Silver was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to twenty years preventative detention. The judge recommended that he serve the whole sentence.

As he left the court, Silver glared at Brookes, who smiled and winked at him. Justice had been done and Silver would be a very old man before he saw freedom again, and by then, he would be no physical threat to anyone.

Thank you for reading
The Body in the River
, I hope you enjoyed it.

I would be most obliged if you would take the time to give a brief review, as this encourages others to read the book. If you’re interested, there is also another Brookes investigation already on Kindle, entitled
The London Drug Wars
, and three more to follow.

My next publication features a Cornish detective named Matthew Prior, hunting down a serial killer. It is entitled
The Punch & Judy Man
, and is intended for publication in March 2016.