Everything is broken and she starts to cry, as Kim emerges from her cubicle to the sounds of a fulsome flush. Did Kim hear the word ‘unimaginative’ at Cromwell’s on Friday? Or is Manon blanching just at the thought?
They nod at each other silently, neither mentioning Manon’s tears nor her outburst in the bar.
Back at her desk, she calls Will Carter on the landline.
‘When did Edith first toy with the idea of criminology?’
‘Summer 2009. After we graduated, none of us – well, practically none of us – knew what to do next. She decided to do a kind of work experience with the CIC – these interviews in Whitemoor – to see if it would be something she’d like to take to postgrad level. I remember she was incredibly excited about that first visit to the prison, full of zeal about reform and education, ideas about teaching a prison course in feminist literature to make rapists explore the female experience.’
‘She talk much about Tony Wright?’
‘No, she never mentioned anyone by name. I think the visits ended almost as quickly as they began. I just remember that after a couple of trips to Whitemoor with the CIC, she became really demoralised. Said it was one of the saddest places she’d ever been in. No one treating anyone with a shred of humanity. And all these prisoners without hope and with nothing to do. She said it smelled of cabbage and bleach. She told me there was no interest in rehabilitation in prison. Just overcrowding, lack of money, and the problem of housing this jostling, violent pack of men who the state felt were uncontainable. She went to see Graham Garfield soon after and switched to an English PhD.’
‘So you weren’t aware of an ongoing relationship with Tony Wright? That Edith was visiting him?’
‘No,’ he says softly.
‘One more question, Will. Abdul-Ghani Khalil – do you know the name?’
‘The guy who’s just been arrested? The body in the container at Tilbury Docks? Of course, he’s all over the news.’
‘I wondered if Edith might have mentioned him to you.’
He is laughing.
‘Something funny, Mr Carter?’
‘You think she was part of a human trafficking ring? Nothing would surprise me about Edith any more.’ He sighs. ‘Look, I don’t know if she knew Abdul-Ghani whatever his name is. But I didn’t really know her at all, did I?’
No, you didn’t, Manon thinks, but her mind is snagged by the ringing of her replacement BlackBerry, which is scuttling across the desk with each vibration. ‘I’m going to have to go, Will, I’ve got another call coming in. Talk soon.’ She puts down the landline, picks up the mobile. ‘DS Manon Bradshaw,’ she says.
‘It’s DI Haverstock – remember me? Havers, Kilburn CID.’
‘Right, yeah, hi,’ she says, her voice a swell of impatience. She wants to interrogate the Wright–Khalil line, see whether it leads to Edith. She doesn’t want distractions.
‘I’ve got something on Taylor Dent,’ Havers is saying. ‘Turns out he had a second phone – for his various business dealings. We arrested one of his associates and he told us about it, gave us the number. Anyway, we’ve got all the data off it and there’s a voicemail you might want to listen to. We haven’t got a clue who it is, to be honest, so I’m forwarding it to people who might, even though it’s a long shot. Or would you rather I contact team two about this?’
‘No, no, I can look at it,’ she says, simultaneously typing into the police database. ‘Email the audio file over. [email protected]. Thanks.’ Then she throws her BlackBerry across the desk.
She pulls up the call data taken off Tony Wright’s phone after his arrest, highlights the numbers he called after speaking to Edith Hind – most of them dirty phones, PAYG, unregistered, no records attached.
She tries Bryony’s mobile but it goes straight to voicemail.
Need to speak to you urgently. Call me. M
Can’t. Massively up against it. Later.
No, Bri. It’s urgent. CALL ME.
‘What?’ says Bri. ‘Can’t this wait?’
‘No, it can’t. Are you sitting in front of the Khalil file?’
‘I’m always sitting in front of the Khalil file. I’ve started calling my kids Abdul and Ghani.’
‘I just want to run these numbers past you. Ready?’
‘What’s this about?’
‘Tell you in a sec. Ready? Unknown-638.’
Silence as Bryony types into the HOLMES system.
‘Nope.’
‘OK, unknown-422.’
‘Nope,’ says Bryony. ‘Oh wait, hang on. Yes. That’s one of his. Well, one of his associates, who basically relayed messages to him.’
‘Bingo,’ says Manon. ‘Fucking love you, Bri.’
‘What? Tell me. What’s this about?’
‘Tony Wright made contact with Khalil shortly after speaking to Edith Hind. Khalil and Wright knew each other in Whitemoor. One more thing, Bri. Khalil was trafficking people through ports. Dover, Folkestone, Tilbury Docks.’
‘That’s right – goods containers and trucks boarding P&O Ferries mainly.’