‘Please . . . you don’t understand, Linda needs familiarity.’ Diana took a drag on her cigarette. ‘When I gave birth to her, she was starved of oxygen. She has emotional problems. She can’t cope with the world!’ The last part was almost shouted.
‘Our Duty Sergeant can have a doctor here within minutes, but Linda is fine, I promise you. We just want to ask her some questions.’
Diana burst into tears. She bowed her head and her hair fell forward, covering her face. She brought the tiny stuffed cat to her face and sobbed. Erika turned and went back into the reception area.
‘It checks out,’ said Crane, meeting her when she arrived back in the incident room. ‘I have a passenger manifest saying Igor Kucerov left the country on December 31st from London Luton Airport on a flight to Romania. He flew back on January 15th.’
‘Shit!’ said Erika. All eyes turned to her. ‘What if he did something in-between? Have you got CCTV evidence of him walking through that departure gate?’ she added.
‘Boss, this is information from Passport and Immigration.’
‘I know, but we’ve got stuff here from the CPS and court records which have been altered. It shows Igor Kucerov was given some special treatment during a trial! Someone has been in and altered official records . . . Could he have come back on a bus, a car or a coach, and then gone back and . . .’
Crane scratched his head. ‘It’s feasible, boss, I suppose.’
‘Let’s stop supposing and find out. I want pictures from passport control, CCTV when he arrived in Romania; a digital footprint confirming that Igor Kucerov left the country on December 31st and came back on January the 15th.’
‘Yes, boss.’
‘And remember, the clock is ticking,’ said Erika, looking at her watch. ‘We’ve got nineteen hours.’
Erika came back outside and met Peterson and Moss in the corridor. She told them that Igor Kucerov could have been out of the country when Andrea vanished.
‘So this means that he didn’t kill Andrea, or Ivy. We can’t pin him directly to their murders,’ said Moss.
Erika shook her head.
‘What about the other girls? Tatiana Ivanova, Mirka Bratova and Karolina Todorova? We have the dates when they were discovered. Can we find out where he was?’ asked Peterson.
‘There are only loose forensics for the first three girls, and for the times when they vanished. Besides, I came out publicly and linked those three murders with Andrea and Ivy. And I believe they are linked. Unless it’s a copycat? Jesus, this is just so complicated,’ said Erika, rubbing her face. She saw a look pass between Moss and Peterson. ‘What is it? Spit it out.’
‘Simon Douglas-Brown’s solicitor is really kicking off. He’s been trying to phone the Assistant Commissioner,’ explained Moss.
‘He’s trying to phone Oakley?’
‘Yes. And it wasn’t through the switchboard; he has Oakley’s direct line.’
‘Did he get through?’
‘No, not yet. Oakley is away on a mini-break.’
‘He’s on a mini-break. Marsh is wining and dining his wife on a painting holiday . . . Who the hell is in charge around here?’
‘Well, boss. Technically, you are,’ explained Peterson.
‘Good point. Okay, well, let’s have a crack at Giles Osborne,’ said Erika, determinedly.
65
Giles Osborne sat in the interview room with an embittered face, as Erika and Peterson filed in with Giles Osborne’s solicitor, another grey man in a good suit, called Phillip Saunders.
After Erika had read out the formalities for the tape, she put the same questions to Giles, asking about the forty-six thousand pounds he had received from Simon Douglas-Brown and why he had then transferred it to Mercury Investments, owned by Igor Kucerov.
Giles leaned towards his solicitor, his mouth close to the man’s ear, murmuring.
‘My client would need to appraise his accounts fully, to answer on this matter,’ said the solicitor.
‘Here’s the bank statements,’ said Erika, pushing them across the table. ‘You can clearly see the money coming into one account, and going out to the other. How much more do you need to appraise? Mercury Investments is a landscape gardening company. Yakka Events have very little in the way of gardens.’
Giles tapped his finger to his lips, pausing. Finally, he said, ‘I believe that the money was used to source a rare tree from New Zealand.’
‘What?’ said Peterson.
‘I wanted it to be the centrepiece of my courtyard, the tree. I forget its name,’ said Giles, smoothly. ‘I can, in due course, produce an invoice with proof of this. You are aware that Mr Kucerov owns a landscape gardening business?’
‘Yes,’ said Erika.
‘Then, mystery solved. That is why I transferred forty-six thousand pounds to his account.’
‘He trims hedges and mows lawns, albeit on a large scale,’ said Erika.
‘And Simon Douglas-Brown has no knowledge of this deal?’ added Peterson.
‘And why would he? He was a sleeping partner. We agreed he would buy a certain amount of shares, making him a part owner in Yakka Events. I believe he now owns 13.8%, to be precise. But, as you can see, I can’t access that information because you dragged me out of bed first thing in the morning and confiscated my devices.’ Giles smiled at Erika sarcastically.
‘How were you introduced to Igor Kucerov?’ asked Erika.
‘Through Andrea,’ he said.
‘And you are aware that Andrea was involved in a sexual relationship with Kucerov?’
‘At the time, no. You’ve since shown me photographs, of course.’
‘Do you know how Andrea met Igor Kucerov?’
‘I think she said something about, um, a friend – Barbora something . . .’
‘Kardosova, Barbora Kardosova?’
‘I think so, yes.’
‘And did you know that Barbora Kardosova was involved in a relationship with Igor Kucerov?’
Giles looked baffled and shook his head.
‘My client has answered your questions in relation to the forty-six thousand pound investment; I don’t see why he has to answer questions about the friend of his fiancée’s private relationships,’ said the solicitor.
Erika and Peterson stared at Giles across the table.
‘That’s all for now,’ said Erika.
‘And my client can leave?’ asked the solicitor.
‘I didn’t say that.’ Erika and Peterson stood up.
‘And what now?’ asked the solicitor.
‘We’ll be back,’ said Erika.
They filed out into the corridor and back to the observation suite.
‘Bloody hell,’ said Erika, eyeing Moss and Peterson.
‘Do you think the rare tree bullshit will fly in court, if we got there?’ asked Moss, who had been watching everything on the screens.
‘We’ve seen his office, full of pretentious touches. It fits with what he’s saying,’ sighed Peterson.
‘Yes, but where is the tree?’ asked Erika. ‘The money was paid over a year ago.’
‘Maybe they’re waiting for it to grow,’ remarked Moss, darkly.
There was a knock on the door of the observation suite. It was Woolf.
‘Boss, I’ve got Marsh on the phone. He’s demanding to talk to you. He’s in his car on his way back to London.’
‘Does he say where he is?’
‘Still in Devon,’ said Woolf.
‘Tell him you can’t find me.’
‘Boss, he knows you’re interviewing them all.’
‘Use your brain, Woolf. Make something up. I’ll face the consequences; just get us more time.’
‘Yes, boss,’ said Woolf. When he’d gone, they looked back at the screens.
‘Let’s see what Igor has to say about this,’ said Erika. ‘And then let’s bring Linda into the mix.’
66
‘He wanted me to find a tree for his office,’ said Igor, sitting back in his chair and stretching his arms above his head. Erika noticed he had yellow patches under his arms, and that the interview room was now starting to smell of stale sweat.
‘And you can do that, in your capacity as a landscape gardener?’ asked Erika.
‘This is London; most people want crazy stuff in their gardens, and with the Internet it’s easy.’
‘Why is the company in your wife’s name?’
‘It just is.’
‘And who introduced you to Giles?’ asked Peterson, even though they knew the answer.
‘Andrea, of course.’ Igor grinned.
‘And does your wife know about Andrea?’
‘What do you think?’
‘Did she know about your relationship with Barbora Kardosova?’