Depth of Despair, page 22
‘You must have been curious? Were you never tempted to ask?’
‘For sure I was curious.’ Vatovec leaned forward, his hands flat on the table. ‘But always it is Hill who is in charge. You do not ask questions of Hill. You do not do anything to make Hill suspicious. Hill is cold, evil monster. Many men will kill if they must. Hill murders because he enjoys.’
Nash walked into Helmsdale CID room to find Pearce looking forlorn. ‘I’m sorry if you’re feeling a bit left out,’ Nash told his DC, ‘but that’s about to change. I want you to go to Netherdale in the morning. Wardle’s computer’s there and the IT boys will be arriving to start work on it. Success or failure could be crucial to our ability to press home the most damaging charges against Wardle and Hill. Admittedly we’ve got statements from Vatovec and the security men, plus what happened at the farm and the clinic, but the rest is circumstantial. So anything we can dig out of those files could be priceless.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ Pearce promised. ‘By the way, there was a call for you half an hour or so back. I rang Netherdale but they told me you’d left. They said you were on your way back so I thought it would wait. The details are on a pad in your office.’
‘I’ll deal with it in a minute.’
Clara walked into Nash’s office as he was making the phone call. He signalled to her to sit down and continued to listen. Nash looked older, older and sadder, Clara thought as she studied him. He put the phone down and stared at the desk for a moment before looking up.
‘What’s next on the agenda?’ she asked.
‘Give York Hospital a ring, find out what progress Milla’s making. I need to know when she’ll be fit enough to attend a line-up. If she can pick out any of our suspects it’ll give us another charge to pin on them.’
‘I’ll get on to that,’ Clara waited, certain Nash had more to say.
‘That was Pinderfields. The news is about as bad as could be. The whole of Stella’s upper body’s paralyzed now and he’s concerned about the knock she took on her head. He’s arranging more tests. He wasn’t at all hopeful there’ll be any improvement. She could remain that way for the rest of her life. I’m going to see her tonight.’
Next morning, Nash and Clara met Pratt to discuss unresolved issues. Before they began, Nash told them about Stella. ‘She looks so ill. All I could do was hold her hand to show I was there. She slept most of the time and I could barely understand her when she tried to speak. We’ll just have to wait.’ Nash sighed. ‘Anyway, let’s get on with this lot,’ he shuffled the papers in front of him. ‘It’s clear Vatovec knew nothing about the trade in body parts.’
‘That’s a shame. I know we’ve plenty of evidence. Still, it would be been nice to get a confession,’ Pratt said gloomily. ‘I can’t for a minute see either Wardle or Hill giving us one.’
Clara had been thinking the case through, ‘What I can’t understand is how Wardle got the organs out of the country.’
‘That’s been puzzling me too,’ Pratt agreed, ‘Any ideas, Mike?’
‘None that makes sense. I keep thinking back to what Stella said. Do you remember, Clara? Something to do with Wardle and Hill talking about the weather and Wardle being concerned about wind speed?’
‘I don’t see the relevance.’
‘Maybe, if it was a light aircraft they were going to use, Wardle might have been concerned about it being susceptible to high winds,’ Pratt suggested.
‘I don’t think so,’ Nash objected. ‘Wardle and Hill were desperate by then. Wardle would have needed the pilot to take off. Besides the wind that night wasn’t enough to ground an aircraft. There has to be some other reason, although I can’t work out what.’
‘Going back to my original question,’ Clara asked. ‘Do you think a plane was used to ferry the organs abroad?’
‘Hang on,’ Pratt objected. ‘If a plane went across to the Continent, any cargo would be subject to Customs checks. The same would apply when they brought drugs or children in. How did they avoid their shipments being searched? I know Customs and Excise are stretched but sooner or later one of their cargoes would have been discovered.’
‘I agree, always supposing their point of entry was covered by Customs.’
‘The best way would be to find their pilot,’ Clara suggested.
‘Why didn’t I twig that? If Wardle rang his pilot the other evening—’
‘—the number will be in Wardle’s mobile.’ Clara finished Nash’s sentence for him.
Nash stood up. ‘Excuse us, Tom, we’ve work to do.’
Pearce emerged from an office in front of them. ‘How are you getting on with the IT boys?’
‘We’re making headway. We’ve got into Wardle’s hard drive and started examining some of the files. I think he kept all the records of their activities in there. One of the files we retrieved first was all his contacts. You told me watch for anything to do with transport and aviation, correct?’
‘Yes, what have you found?’
‘One of Wardle’s e-mail addresses is a firm specializing in helicopter flights.’
‘Is it local?’
‘Only if you live in northern France.’
‘That’s disappointing. Still it’s something, I suppose. Shame it’s not round here, though. Anything in this country?’
‘Nothing meaningful. I did have one idea, though I’ll need your authority to act on it.’
‘Go on.’
‘I thought it might be worth checking with the Civil Aviation Authority. Give them the names in Wardle’s address book and see if any of them holds a pilot’s licence.’
‘Viv, sometimes you’re brilliant. Anything else?’
‘Nothing definite, although I did find a couple of addresses on the east coast. I thought they might be worth checking out. Of course, they may be seaside landladies where Wardle stays on holiday.’
‘I don’t see Wardle as the bucket and spade, knotted handkerchief type. Keep digging.’
‘Okay, boss.’
‘I don’t see how a helicopter company in northern France can have anything to do with the organ transport,’ Clara said as they walked on.
‘Neither do I at the moment, although I bet it is connected.’
‘It has to be the last number he dialled.’ Nash pressed a button on the mobile but the screen remained blank.
‘Damn, the battery’s flat. See if you can scrounge a charger.’
Clara returned five minutes later, Nash scrolled down the menu, opened the call register and recited the number. Clara wrote it down. ‘I’ll get Viv to check it.’
‘Ask him to run the details past the CAA straightaway,’ Nash called after her.
When she returned she was waving a piece of paper triumphantly, ‘Got it! This guy lives about twenty miles away. He’s got one plane, which he operates from a grass strip. He’s also a farmer, cattle breeder and dealer. Whilst we were waiting for the CAA to check him out Viv told me he’s found out about one of Wardle’s east coast contacts. Seemingly, the address is that of a trawler owner.’
Nash thought over what she said. Something was stirring in his brain although he wasn’t quite sure what. ‘Get hold of Jackie. I’ve an idea how Wardle worked this.’
Nash sat pondering the emerging evidence. From out of nowhere he began reciting a poem. ‘Night Mail’ had been one of his favourites. As Auden’s verse flowed from his subconscious he wondered why he should think of it. ‘This is the Night Mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order, letters for the rich, letters for the poor, the shop at the corner and the girl next door. Pulling up Beattock a steady climb; the gradient’s against her but she’s on time.’
What was he thinking? Why mail trains? Something about a mail train, something relevant. Still the verses rolled from his brain. ‘Letters of thanks, letters from banks, letters of joy from the girl and the boy. Receipted bills and invitations, to inspect new stock or visit relations.’
Something about letters, but what? Suddenly a picture flashed into his mind. The image of a fast-moving mail train thundering through the night, racing alongside a station platform. Collecting the mail without pausing to break its tight schedule. ‘Of course,’ he breathed, ‘the clever sod.’
‘What is it, Mike?’
Clara had returned with Fleming. Nash smiled, ‘I’ve worked out how Wardle transported the organs and how he planned to escape. At least I think I have.’
‘Go on then.’
‘He had to move the organs quickly or they’d be unusable. And he had to ensure they avoided attention from customs.’
‘Yes,’ Clara agreed. ‘But how did he manage both?’
‘He loaded the organs on to a light aircraft operating from a private strip. The pilot took the plane out over the North Sea and dropped the container with the organs. The container would be attached to a parachute. The trawler would pick up the container and set off towards the French coast where it would be met by a helicopter. The helicopter would collect the container and return to base. Neither plane nor chopper would touch down on foreign soil so neither would be subject to customs checks. Maybe the trawler did some fishing to lend an air of authenticity, then returned to its home port, landed its catch and sold it. To all intent and purpose everything’s above board.’
‘Wouldn’t it have been risky transferring the containers from the trawler to the helicopter if the weather was rough?’ Jackie suggested.
‘Not if they used a winch and a net.’
‘What made you think of that?’
‘I remembered a film I saw once. It showed how the mail train picked up post from beside the track. That gave me the idea.’
‘Sounds feasible. Do you think Wardle intended to escape that way? A container with organs inside is one thing but it would have been far riskier for a man.’ Clara objected.
‘I’m sure that’s what he had in mind. Remember Stella’s comment about wind speed? We couldn’t work out why it was important. Wind speed wouldn’t have made much difference to a light aircraft. But it would have been crucial to anyone parachuting from a plane towards a small target such as a fishing boat. You’d have to get that exactly right otherwise you’d finish up miles away. In the North Sea at this time of year you’d be dead from hypothermia before you were picked up.’
‘That wouldn’t explain how they got the children into the country. Or the drugs for that matter,’ Jackie objected.
‘One thing at a time. I’m going to have another word with Vatovec.’
‘We’ll go pick up the pilot. We’ll have a look round whilst we’re there. We might find something useful.’
‘Take a couple of uniforms. We’ve already seen how dangerous this lot can be.’
‘Vatovec, you were in charge of transportation,’ Nash accused him. ‘So tell me how you got the children into the country?’
‘It was easy. Wardle has business with man dealing in cattle. He has wagons bringing animals in, taking animals out of country. We make special compartment. Girls are given drugs so they will sleep all journey. They are hidden in special compartment. Customs have machine that senses body warmth but this will not work because of cattle. Children are small. There is room in compartment for drugs also.’
‘Thank you,’ Nash told him, ‘that’s what I wanted to know.’
He returned to the office and rang Clara’s mobile. ‘See if there are any wagons about. We’re talking cattle trucks. Check behind the driver’s compartment. You’re looking for something like a box bed, where the herdsman sleeps. That’s where the children and drugs were concealed.’
As he awaited their return, Nash spent time formulating his strategy for interviewing Butler, Wardle and Hill.
They reported back several hours later, their mission a complete success. The pilot and two henchmen had confessed. This was prompted by the discovery of several containers of heroin with a street value of millions of pounds. The pilot claimed this was being stored for Wardle. They also found three cattle trucks with hidden containers. Nash told them how he wanted to proceed. ‘I’m going to take Clara and Viv to the hospital,’ he told Fleming. ‘Will you take over with the IT people?’
Fleming looked disappointed, but agreed.
‘What’s your plan?’ Clara asked.
‘Wardle will be psyched up for this interrogation. He’ll have prepared his defences whilst he’s been lying there.’
‘How will you counter that?’
‘By doing what he least expects. He’s had no feedback. No contact with anybody.’
Wardle had been placed in a side room. Nash braced himself before opening the door. He banished all thought of Stella.
He marched across to Wardle’s bedside. Clara and Pearce followed, wondering what Nash had in mind. He didn’t sit down, which was their first surprise. ‘I understand you’ll be fit to leave in a couple of days. You’ll be moved to police cells. You’ll be put up at the first opportunity for a custody hearing and then CPS will take over. It’s customary at that stage to interview a suspect and take a statement. When that happens you’ll be entitled to legal representation.’
‘I have absolutely nothing to say,’ Wardle replied in a flat, calm voice.
‘Suits me,’ Nash sounded bored, disinterested. ‘I wasn’t about to talk to you. I’m too busy. If you change your mind, Detective Constable Pearce,’ Nash indicated Viv, ‘will conduct the interview. Come on, Sergeant,’ he beckoned Clara. ‘We’ve work to do.’
Clara followed him out of the room, mystified. ‘Don’t you think we should have pushed for a statement?’
‘Why waste our time? He’s got his guard up. He thinks we need information. He doesn’t know we’ve got Vatovec and the pilot’s confessions. He’s left wondering how much we know. By seeming unconcerned, we’ve turned the tables on him. Instead of us wanting information from him, he’s desperate for news about our case. He probably thinks all we’ve got is the business at the farm and some circumstantial evidence, but he’s not sure. It’s that uncertainty I’m building on.’
‘What was the idea of leaving Viv there?’
‘Viv’s the most junior officer we have, added to which he’s black. Wardle’s used to army disciplines, the hierarchy and attitudes. He sees a constable as no more than a private. To leave Wardle in the charge of someone he thinks of as a squaddie isn’t only an insult, it demonstrates how unimportant we think he is.’
‘Mind games,’ Clara nodded. ‘I like that. Have you something similar planned for Hill?’
‘That’s going to be different. When Hill’s interviewed I won’t even be present. I’m going to let you and Jackie have that pleasure. What’s more, you’ll be going in with a strictly prepared script.’
Clara groaned. ‘From mind games to amateur dramatics. Don’t tell me you’ll be giving acting lessons?’
‘Something of the sort,’ Nash smiled.
‘Let me into a secret. Why Jackie and me?’
‘Because you’re women. There’s nobody more sexist than a professional soldier and Hill would see that as an insult. He’ll also be aware how much more personally women take the sort of crimes he’s responsible for. If I’d been guilty of half the offences Hill has committed I wouldn’t want to be left alone with a couple of women. Didn’t you see what Vatovec was like when Zena confronted him?’
‘Have you been reading books on psychology or have you been on a course?’
Nash smiled. ‘Neither, but I’m willing to have a bet with you. Within forty-eight hours we’ll get a visit from Wardle’s solicitor demanding to know what evidence we have.’
‘Will you give him it?’
‘Legally I can’t deny him access to it. But I’ll go further than that. I’ll be so cooperative he’ll wonder what I’m up to. Which is exactly what I want. I’ll give him chapter and verse about what happened at Howlingales Farm. I’ll give him a detailed account of what we found at the clinic. Then I’ll hand him copies of the statements from Vatovec and that pilot.
‘Here’s the brief for your interview with Hill. I want you to tell him it doesn’t matter whether he talks or not. We’ve got him without a confession. You can say I couldn’t spare the time to interview him. Quote me as saying “It isn’t necessary, so why bother”.’
Less than twenty-four hours later Nash would have been able to claim his winnings. Wardle’s solicitor arrived ready to argue for what the police had against his client. When he left, he looked shaken and more than a little puzzled. An hour and a half after his departure Nash had a phone call from Pearce. ‘Wardle wants to make a statement,’ Viv told him. ‘What do you want me to do? Shall I wait until you arrive?’
‘No Viv; I want you to take a statement, and Viv …’
‘Yes, Mike?’
‘Continue to act as if it doesn’t matter. We’ve got all the evidence we need against Wardle and Hill. Anything they tell us will be a bonus.’
Hill was a slightly tougher nut to crack. But after two sessions with Jackie and Clara, at the second of which he was shown Wardle’s confession, he too made a statement.
chapter eighteen
During their next update Pratt asked, ‘What are you intending to do about Butler?’
‘I think we should be able to crack him,’ Nash assured him. ‘Particularly in view of the video. It identifies Butler clearly by the insignia and name on the uniform.’
‘We can’t be certain that’ll give us anything more than Butler’s part in the organ trade,’ Clara pointed out.
‘I’m not so sure,’ Nash contradicted her. ‘I reckon Butler would be a prime customer for child prostitutes. The video proves he’s a paedophile. I can’t see the leopard changing his spots.’
‘We’ve still nothing to prove he was involved in under-age sex in this country.’
‘I realize that and I’m not sure how we can get proof.’
The meeting was interrupted by the phone. Nash picked up the receiver. He listened for a few minutes, his smile widening. ‘Really?’ He said eventually. ‘You’re absolutely sure? There’s no chance of an error?’
