4
‘We got a hit on the semen sample,’ Murphy told Irvine, perching on the edge of her desk.
‘You sure know the way to a woman’s heart.’ She smiled.
He looked so pleased; Irvine didn’t want to burst his bubble by saying that she knew it would belong to Russell Hall. Let him have his moment.
‘Russell Hall,’ he said.
‘We know him. His name surfaced already.’
‘Is he in custody?’
‘Sort of.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Depends on whether being in the care of the pathologist counts as being in custody.’
‘He’s dead?’
She nodded.
‘Killed some time last night or this morning out in the east end. I guess he made someone unhappy when he killed Lewski.’
Murphy put the DNA result on her desk and left. She felt kind of bad.
She went back to her notes from the review of the CCTV footage. Looked again at the licence number for Hall’s car. A thought struck her: how does a drug dealer finance a luxury car purchase? Probably not cash. That would arouse suspicion at the car dealership.
What if he had an outstanding lease or finance contract?
She accessed the force’s credit reference database and entered the details for the car. The search result told her that there was a loan on it for £10,000 through a little-known finance company. And that the loan was in the name of a company.
She checked out the company. Its registered office was located at an accountancy firm: Marshall Scott.
She was still for a beat. Then she called Armstrong and told him the news.
‘Can you get over here and we’ll drive up to see them?’ she said.
‘What about getting a warrant and doing a proper raid?’
‘We don’t have enough evidence for that yet. Let’s see what we can get by dropping in unannounced again.’
‘I’m leaving now.’
‘Run it all past me again,’ Armstrong said to Irvine as he drove. ‘So I’ve got it clear in my head, you know.’
‘Okay. So, Russell Hall used to run Frank Parker’s drug operation.’
‘I got that.’
‘But he left three months ago to join up with Johnson and now this as yet unidentified new boss. This new boss is probably the real owner of the flat that Lewski and Murray lived in – not the accountants.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Well, it’s all supposition at this point, but Hall was running around in a high-end car which was financed through a company with links to the accountants. Which probably means that they are dirty.’
‘You mean that they launder money for the organisation that Hall’s boss runs?’
‘Correct.’
‘And they are committed enough to their client’s cause to even use some of the money to buy flats for prostitutes and put the flats in their own names.’
‘That way the money looks even cleaner. I mean, it’s not even connected to Hall or the boss in any way.’
‘Right. And if they’re doing stuff as basic as organising finance for cars, it probably means that they have access to all of the financial information for the organisation.’
‘Sounds like we can probably break the whole thing open through their records.’
‘Maybe.’
They parked outside the office and saw immediately that the cars they had seen on their previous visit were not there. Irvine looked at Armstrong.
‘Think maybe they’re on the run after what happened with Hall?’
Armstrong shrugged.
‘Let’s see what we can find out here first.’
The receptionist looked nervous when they walked in.
‘Remember us?’ Irvine said, showing her warrant card.
The woman nodded.
‘They’re not here,’ she said. ‘Haven’t come back since late yesterday.’
‘Is that normal?’
‘Not really. I mean, they missed some meetings this morning and they never do that without telling me.’
‘You called them?’
She nodded again. ‘At home, on their mobiles. I sent them e-mails and texts.’
‘And you haven’t heard from either of them?’
‘No. Is something wrong?’
Irvine felt sorry for her. She had probably received her last ever salary slip from these guys.
‘I think it probably is, yes,’ was what she said. ‘Do you have their home addresses?’
The woman stared straight ahead. ‘I can’t give you those,’ she said.
Armstrong placed his hands on her desk and leaned forward. ‘Look …’ He glanced at her name badge. ‘… Mary. It’s very likely that your bosses are mixed up with some bad people and are now getting ready to run. If they are not already running. So the sooner you give us the addresses the easier it will be. I mean, we can find them on our own but that will just waste time.’
He stood up to his full height.
‘You want to be seen to be helping us, don’t you? Who knows who will get dragged into this investigation, you know.’
The woman caught the insinuation, her face going two shades paler in an instant. She tapped on her computer and a printer under her desk hummed and spat out a sheet of A4. She handed the sheet to Armstrong.
‘Thanks,’ he said.
‘What should I do now?’ she asked, her eyes filling and her voice wavering.
‘I suggest you lock up, go home and start looking for a new job,’ Irvine said. She reached over and put her hand on top of the woman’s. ‘You’ll be fine. But call me if you hear anything.’
Irvine put a business card in front of her on the desk. The woman looked at it as though she had never seen one before in her life.
Back in the car, Armstrong asked Irvine what she thought was going on.
‘I have a bad feeling,’ she said.
‘Me too.’
‘I mean, if this guy killed Johnson and Hall, he’ll have no problem taking care of a couple of accountants as well.’
‘Especially if these guys have the keys to his money.’
‘You want to call and get some uniforms over to the houses?’
Armstrong waved the sheet of paper that the receptionist had given to them.
‘No, they’re not far,’ he said. ‘Both in the west end.’
‘We can be there in less than half an hour. You ready for what we might find?’
‘Not really. But what’s that got to do with anything?’