Читать книгу For Evil to Flourish - Dubya Ph.D Lorimer - Страница 13

Another day, another public meeting for James Wellington, with today's discussion concerning proposals for the disused Rutherfords factory. Keith Boswell,(who else) was leading criticism of plans to demolish the building, and sell the site to property developers.

'And we know which property developers will be top of the list if James Wellington has his way, don't we?'

Boswell was in full flight.

'His friends, the Hills of course, who seem to have an awful lot of influence when it comes to council decisions. Many local people are angry that rather than fighting to attract companies to make use of the factory, restoring jobs and financial security to the area, Wellington and his cronies on the council seem only to be interested in lining the pockets of these gangsters.'

'Firstly,' retorted Wellington, 'I would point out a harsh fact of life to Mr Boswell..... the companies making the kind of goods formerly produced in this factory are now manufacturing them in India, China and Eastern Europe, And that's why it's to the benefit of the people in this area that we take a fresh look at the options for the best use of this factory, and I am working solely in the best interests of the local community. Secondly, I have never made any secret.......' Boswell interjected,

'The reason goods are being manufactured elsewhere is that the last time your party was in power you virtually destroyed manufacturing in this country! Unions demanding fair pay, proper holidays and the like, asking for workers to be treated like human beings instead of a commodity on a balance sheet, you couldn't wait to put a stop to that nonsense. Far better to let the City set the pace, give the banks and other financial institutions free rein, “speculate to accumulate”, “greed is good”. Reward on-paper profits with obscene bonuses, that's the way to make this country great again. Hah! How these “backward-looking” countries who invested in people and manufacturing must be laughing at us now!

Again and again we see money poured into the financial sector, the banks and other huge institutions who favour the few, into the pockets of the greedy, and those already rich beyond most people's wildest dreams. And again we're seeing this happen at the expense of the manufacturing sector which could be supporting jobs for the many, generating income for local shops, creating opportunities for small businesses, benefiting local communities and reducing the financial burden on local councils!'

Wellington heaved a theatrical sigh,

'As I was saying, I have never made any secret of my friendship with Samuel Hill, and I have always excluded myself from any decision making processes where there was the slightest possibility of a conflict of interest.'

'The third point I would like to make is that while Sammy admits that in his younger days, he, and some of his family, did occasionally sail a bit close to the wind, those days are very much in the distant past, and in the many years that I have known Sammy and his family, I have never known them to be anything other than open and honest in their business dealings.'

Boswell was looking astonished,

'Are you seriously asking us to believe that the Hills are all reformed characters, have you not heard about recent accusation regarding their involvement in the death of a young schoolgirl?'

Wellington shook his head dismissively,

'I would point out that these are unfounded allegations which have been whipped up by the media, and I for one certainly don;t believe them. I should also point out that through their businesses, the Hills have brought far more jobs to this area than Mr Boswell ever did during his brief stint at Westminster. In fact I find it tragic that Mr Boswell is willing to allow his personal..... and it is clearly personal..... animosity towards myself and the Hills take precedence over the best interests of the people of this area, as well as apparently supporting the criminal behaviour of those who seek to blacken the name of local businessmen, in the despicable guise of dispensing vigilante justice!'

Boswell was immediately back on his feet.

'If drug-dealing, car-theft, mugging and burglary are the preferred career choice of people in this area, then the Hills have certainly done their bit to bring jobs here! And let's face it, once this factory site is redeveloped, what other jobs will there be in this area? And, as far as dispensing vigilante justice is concerned, perhaps what we have seen recently is the result of ordinary, decent people becoming sick and tired of seeing the likes of the Hills and their lackeys appearing to be immune from the official legal system. I definitely don't believe these particular leopards will ever change their spots!'

'I really feel that Mr Boswell ought to learn to moderate his public attacks on the Hill family,' warned Wellington, 'As I suspect the day may come when they reach the end of their patience, and perhaps Mr Boswell may find himself in court defending what could almost be construed as incitement to commit acts of aggression against Sammy Hills and his family.'

'Is that a threat?'

'Enough, gentlemen!'

Elspeth Johnstone, the formidable chair of the planning committee drew herself up to her full height and declared,

'I don't know about the Hills or anyone else's patience, but I am certainly reaching the end of mine. Could we please remember, this is not a political debating chamber, nor is it the school playground. We are here to discuss proposals for the future of the Rutherfords factory site, and with that goes the responsibility for the future of the many people affected by this decision. If you gentlemen cannot behave responsibly, you will be asked to leave.'

Wellington appeared ready to argue, but decided against it.

'I apologise to the chair, it won't happen again.'

Leaving Boswell no option but to do the same, after which the discussion moved forward in a more civilised manner.

DI Ann Morrison called her team together,

'Just to bring everyone up to speed on the phone situation, the message to Liz Kingsley's phone came from an unregistered pre-pay handset. This mobile has also been used to send and receive messages from several other phones.'

'By monitoring calls over the last few days we have established a relationship between these users, one of which is none other than Benny Patterson. Two others are Gary McCall and Drew Oldman, who are known associates of Patterson, and another unregistered phone which we have so far been unable to track down. Our plan is to try and round them up at the same time to avoid any one of them tipping off the others. A priority here is to try and ensure that none of them have the opportunity to delete anything on their handsets. Although I'm aware we have the technology to recover most of it. I don't want to give any smart-ass lawyer the opportunity to claim that we've interfered with the evidence.

Ian, I want you to take charge of the team dealing with McCall,' she said, handing him a sheaf of papers,'

'And Brian, you will be dealing with Oldman.'

'OK boss.'

'Kit, you and I will collect Patterson.'

'We have permission to search their homes and their cars, and to examine anything we find, so check and double check the paperwork I've given you, remember what I said, we don't want to give some lawyer a get-out clause. Again, I would remind you of the importance of them not having the opportunity to delete anything, so don't give them any access to their own phones after you arrest them. We should also be keeping an eye out for drugs, particularly Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, which we know was used on the two girls. Any questions?'

Ian raised his hand,

'Are we allowed to tie their dicks to a concrete block, and throw it out of a first floor window?'

'No, and if you try it, you'll be the next one in line, and I'll be the one chucking the concrete block out the window!' she said wagging an admonishing finger at him. He held up his hands in defeat.

'Oh my, you're a hard woman.' he declared.

'Yeah, but you'd never again be able to claim to be a hard man!' she laughed.

In the council offices, Julie was sitting in front of her computer screen in the IT department, going through her usual routine at this time of day, uploading the tedious day-to-day facts and figures of council business. Lord help her if anybody went onto the council's website and couldn't find the latest information on which pharmacy was open late that night, or if the bin collection times had been changed, or next door's plans for an extension had been passed.

But as usual, her mind wasn't really on the job on hand, instead she was thinking of David. The night at the cottage had been fabulous, better even than she had hoped, and she realised now that the stolen moments they had been sharing were never going to be enough for her. She ached for him now, his voice, the touch of his hands, the feel of his body. She wanted to be free to be seen with him in public instead of hiding away in the dark, but that raised the whole question of splitting with Allan, ending her marriage, possibly moving out of her home. And there were her children to worry about. Although they were old enough to understand that relationships didn't always last, and let's face it, they only had to look at many of their friend's parents to see that thing can go wrong, she still didn't know how she could bring herself to tell them that she was leaving their dad.

She knew they loved him, despite the occasional battle over the years. Often she had used the old “wait till your father gets home” ploy to maintain some semblance of discipline, only to see his resolve crumble as they managed to wind him around their little fingers. And even Mandy, who could take sulking to an Olympic standard, had been known to come round from one of her moods with Allan's silly teasing.

The whole prospect filled her with dread, despite the love she felt for David. But what if he didn't feel the same? He told her he loved her, but did he feel the same commitment? He was going through a divorce and was currently living with his sister and her husband, which was the main reason for the furtive romps in the back of his car. Would he really be that keen to get involved in a serious relationship?

As often seemed to happen, thinking of the practicalities of ending her marriage and her uncertainties regarding her future led to a sense of despondency, not helped by the fact that she had seen even less of David recently. She knew he was up to his eyes in work at the moment, but she really, really needed a little bit of reassurance just now. She sighed, and turned her attention back to the computer.

Late afternoon, and North Street police station was a hive of activity. Ann Morrison was seated at her desk preparing to re-interview Benny Patterson. They had struck gold in his house when they found a set of car keys in a kitchen drawer which didn't fit his usual car.

Ann and one of the uniformed cops involved in the arrest had walked up the street outside Patterson's house, pressing the remote control until they got a response. A neglected looking Corolla parked nearly a hundred metres away was a match for the keys, as well as the remote. A search of the boot revealed what appeared to be a substantial amount of cannabis with smaller amounts of what they suspected might be cocaine and perhaps heroin, as well as a bottle containing what they hoped would turn out to be GHB. Under the front passenger seat was a cheap phone which they quickly established was the one used to send the messages to Liz Kingsley.

There was a tap at her door, and Brian Cameron entered, barely waiting for her response.

'Bingo!' He could hardly contain his excitement, as he brandished a handset.

She raised her eyebrows in a silent question,

'Drew Oldman's phone, boss, he's got pictures of the flat, the girls, Patterson, you name it, it's all there!'

'Well, well well, it'll be interesting to see Patterson try to wriggle out of this one, let's have a look.'

She studied the tiny screen, and was able to confirm for herself that, along with the two girls, there were clear images of Patterson and McCall. Oldman was presumably holding the phone to take the pictures, and his presence would need to be established during the interviews if he were to be prosecuted.

Oldman however was low on Ann's list of priorities. It was Patterson she wanted, and there he was, large as life, trying to fondle and kiss Linda Hope who looked very much the worse for wear. In one picture, he appeared to be half-carrying, half-dragging Linda through a doorway, in another she seemed to be throwing up on the floor of the bathroom.

'It looks like she started to be sick, so he dragged her to the toilet,' said Brian, 'But she didn't quite make it. And of course, that's where her body was found, on the bathroom floor, choked on her own vomit.'

'What we still really need,' said Ann thoughtfully, 'Is testimony to the fact that Patterson supplied the drugs so that we're not just depending on the circumstantial evidence of the drugs in the car near his house. That means leaning on these guys, letting them know they're in deep trouble, and the only way out is to implicate Patterson as the drug supplier.'

'Oldman isn't the sharpest tool in the box, I think we could get somewhere with him.'

'None of them seem overly endowed with the old grey matter, but I agree that Oldman seems like the weakest link, definitely worth a try. You never know, we might even hear Darren Hill's name mentioned.'

'I think you might be optimistic there, boss, they might be thick, but they know better than to mention any of the Hills to the police.'

'True, Brian, but we'll give it a try. You and Ian can start with Oldman, then McCall, I'll save Patterson till last, let him sweat a bit. And try to find out who came to the door while the girls were in the flat, the guy who smelled nice. Also, I'd like some of these pictures printed to take into the interviews with us, let me know when you're ready.' Brian nodded, and headed off. Ann allowed herself a little smile. She had a feeling she would sleep better tonight than she had of late.