Читать книгу Broken Silence - Liz Mistry - Страница 16

By the time Nikki, with the help of the young police officer, had coaxed her Vauxhall Zafira back to life at the crime scene and managed to set off back to Trafalgar House, it was getting dark and although the snow had stopped, the clouds still looked heavy with the promise of more to come. In truth, whilst the young lad had got out the jump leads Nikki always kept in her boot for such emergencies, and managed to manoeuvre a patrol car into position that allowed the leads to reach both vehicles, Nikki was on the phone barking instructions to the officer Archie had commandeered to oversee things till Nikki and Sajid got back. She was more than capable of jump-starting her car. She’d had to do it on numerous occasions recently and was now seriously considering bumping the purchase of a new car battery higher up her priority shopping list than new DMs for herself. Damn car! Her hands were freezing, her toes were numb, and she was better employed sitting in her marginally warmer car organizing things than fannying about in the slush getting colder. Besides, as her car engine sputtered to life, the officer, unlike herself, was dressed for the weather. She gave him a thumbs-up as she backed down the narrow lane, and stopping when she drew level with him, she wound down her window. ‘Remember, no telling DC Malik about this, okay?’

As the grinning officer shook his head, Nikki frowned. ‘In fact, no telling anybody, yeah?’

‘Lips are sealed, Detective, lips are sealed.’

Satisfied, Nikki nodded put her window back up and, wishing that her vehicle would choose today to spontaneously burst heat from its contrary fan, set off.

By the time she reached the station, the promised snow had started again and Nikki was glad she’d missed driving in it. Entering the Trafalgar House car park, she was pleased to note the absence of the media. Last thing they needed was this leaking before they had a chance to speak to Springer’s next of kin. She ran up the steps to the officers’ entrance at the back of the station and jogged up to the incident room, bursting through the door, causing it to bang against the wall and rebound back almost hitting her in the face. Dodging it, she moved into the room and cast her eyes round. Apart from Sajid, a couple of uniformed officers momentarily looked up from their computers at her entrance. Otherwise the room was deserted. Everybody else was either at home or out following up the limited leads they had on Springer.

‘Ah, you’re back.’ Sajid, alerted by her dramatic entrance, turned around from the crime board he was creating. At the top he’d scrawled, ‘DS Felicity Springer’ and underneath ‘Abducted/Missing?’ ‘Was beginning to wonder if that chunk of metal you call a car had finally given up on you.’

Hoping that the officer who’d helped her would keep his side of the bargain, Nikki tutted. ‘Oh, ye of little faith. Course it didn’t let me down. Pure gold, that car.’

Ignoring Sajid’s disbelieving snort, she bent down, undid her DMs and peeled off her sodden socks before swiping a discarded newspaper from one of the cluttered desks. Scrunching it up, she stuffed pages of it into her boots and then placed them and her socks onto the heater.

‘Fire risk.’

Nikki raised her middle finger at her colleague and glanced round. ‘Archie?’

Sajid tilted his head towards Archie’s office. ‘In there.’

Nikki began to march towards it, but Sajid’s next words stopped her in her tracks. ‘Wouldn’t go in. He’s not alone and he’s not a happy bunny.’

‘Oh? Who’s he with?’

‘The big boss.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Something’s going on, Nik and whatever it is, it’s serious. You should’ve seen Archie. I thought he was going to explode.’

Nikki looked at the blinds that now obscured whatever was going on inside the room. That was strange in itself. Archie rarely lowered the blinds, preferring an open-door policy, or, as Nikki suspected, he really liked to keep an eye on what was going on in the office. Archie had been acting strangely all day. Agitated and off-kilter. Then, of course, there was that really strange and secretive request he’d made. Now he was ensconced in his office with the big boss, blinds closed. Detective Chief Superintendent Eva Clark was pretty much a hands-off boss. If she wanted to see Archie, she’d normally request his presence upstairs in her office, so what had prompted her to come down here? What the hell’s going on? ‘How long they been in there?’

‘She arrived just as I got back.’

Nikki exhaled and then walked over to stand beside Saj. ‘Okay, let’s deal with the Archie situation later. We need to focus on Springer. Did we get some officers sent over to interview the hotel staff? We can’t rule out that it may have been a planned and targeted attack.’

‘Yep, I asked them to grab any CCTV footage they could, just to be sure. Everything from Friday afternoon through to ten o’clock this morning, when the conference officially ended.’ Sajid frowned.

Nikki knew her partner well enough to sense his discomfort. ‘Spit it out then.’

‘It’s just, apparently someone else already requested copies of the hotel’s CCTV of the conference.’ He paused. ‘All of it.’

Nikki shrugged. ‘No big deal. As long as we’ve got it, that’s fine. Maybe Archie was on the ball and requested it.’

Saj nodded. ‘Yeah. It was Archie who requested it.’

Nikki nudged his arm. ‘There then. No big mystery.’

‘Well, that’s just it, Nik. Archie made the request at 10.47 a.m.’

As his words sunk in, Nikki exhaled. She pulled out a chair and sank into it. ‘You sure?’

‘Yep. I even phoned the hotel myself to double check.’

‘Shit! What’s going on?’

‘No idea, but it’s damn weird that Archie put in that request almost an hour before we got the call from Springer.’

Nikki agreed. This was strange and if she and Saj were to be able to do their job, Archie needed to start sharing with them. There was something off about all of this and Nikki needed to get to the bottom of it. She cast another impatient glance at Archie’s office and for a second considered barging in then and there and demanding to be told exactly what was going on. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and instead she focused on the task in hand. She’d deal with Archie later. ‘Have we got a copy?’

When Saj nodded she said, ‘Well, let’s at least have a look at Springer leaving the hotel. We can start following her journey from the hotel to when she disappeared.’

They huddled over the computer with the largest screen and Saj fiddled to get the recording to the right spot. ‘She signed out at 9.57 a.m., so here’s the footage of the front entrance and hotel car park from eight-thirty.’

They fast-forwarded the recording, keeping an eye out for any transit vans or anything else that stood out. At one minute to ten, Felicity Springer exited the hotel, pulling a trolley case behind her.

‘Pause it and zoom in.’ Nikki rarely looked at Springer, preferring to pretend the other woman didn’t exist. Now, it felt a little strange observing her without her knowledge. She frowned. Did Springer look upset? Hard to tell really with the fuzziness of the CCTV, but her body language seemed off. Her head was down, her shoulders, hunched. ‘Try to get a shot of her face, Saj.’

Saj fiddled a bit, fast-forwarding, and finally managed to get a shot of Springer’s face. ‘She looks upset.’

Nikki shrugged. ‘Maybe. Or perhaps she’s just hungover. Difficult to tell. Let’s play on. What I want to know is where she went after this. No way did it take nearly an hour and a half to get to where we found her car.’

They watched as Springer approached her Kia and after slinging her trolley into the boot, got into the driver’s seat. Nikki tried to swallow the pang of envy when she mentally compared the glossy sleek bodywork to her dented wreck. Then she remembered the state of it as she’d seen it earlier with its front end all bashed in, a bullet hole in the driver’s seat and blood on the upholstery. Maybe her own Zafira was preferable after all.

‘Smooth ride.’

Nikki grunted and ignored Sajid’s comment. ‘What the hell’s she doing? Why’s she not moving?’

Sajid fast-forwarded, minute after minute scrolled past on the screen yet the car remained, engine on but unmoving. Then the door opened.

Nikki pointed to the screen. ‘Quick, she’s getting out.’

Saj rewound a little and replayed it on normal speed. The door swung open and then Springer’s head appeared as she vomited onto the concrete. ‘Ah, hungover it is, then.’

‘Looks like it,’ said Nikki. ‘Perhaps that’s why she chose to take the back roads despite the snow. Maybe she wanted to avoid getting stopped if she thought she was still over the limit.’ She looked at Saj and saw her own disbelief mirrored on his face. ‘Doesn’t seem like The Spaniel though, does it?’

‘Nah, she doesn’t strike me as a get-pissed-at-a-conference sort of woman.’

‘Right. Anybody managed to get in touch with her sidekick? Bashir, is it?’

Saj shook his head. ‘Extended annual leave. Gone to Pakistan. Grandad’s poorly apparently.’

At that point, Nikki’s phone rang. She looked at it and groaned. ‘It’s my mum.’

‘Well, you gotta answer it, Nik. See what she’s been up to.’

Nikki’s mum had gone to India with her elder sister, supposedly to shop for Nikki’s cousin, Monika’s wedding. But they’d been gone over a month already. In that time, they’d celebrated Holi with relatives in Gujarat, visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Red Fort in Jaipur and Gandhi’s ashram in Ahmedebad and now had returned to Gujarat to shop. Nikki missed her mum and would be glad when she returned to Bradford, but right now she didn’t want to have the conversation she suspected her mum wanted to have. ‘She’s going to Navsari tomorrow.’

‘And?’

The phone continued to ring. ‘Bloody sari shopping.’ Nikki frowned and answered it, resigned to the conversation about colours and textures and designs that she would have to have. ‘Hi Mum, you okay?’

Sajid yelled, ‘Hi Lalita. Don’t worry, I’m keeping Nikki under control whilst you’re away.’

Her mother sent her love back to Sajid, and then Nikki, with a half-smile on her face, listened to her mum describe the meal she’d had the previous night and a proposed trip to a hill station for the following week, before the conversation turned to clothes. ‘You need to give me some idea of colours, Nikita. Anika, Charlie and Ruby have all given me detailed lists. Even Sunni and Marcus have chosen a few suit designs.’

Nikki grimaced and stuck out her tongue at Sajid who was grinning at her, seemingly enjoying her discomfort. It was okay for the others, Anika and the girls. They liked flouncing around in saris and Indian suits. Nikki hated it. It wasn’t her style. She always felt uncomfortable. Hoping to reach a compromise, she put a smile into her voice and said, ‘You know what I’d really like to wear for the wedding?’

Her mother snorted and Nikki thought she heard her say ‘jeans’ but she ignored that and said. ‘A suit. A nice simple shalwar kameez. That’s what I’d like to wear.’

With a raised eyebrow, Sajid mouthed, ‘Really?’ at her.

Nikki turned her back on him. Of course, she didn’t want to wear a suit either, but it would be more manageable than a sari.

‘Nikki, it’s a wedding. We need to sparkle. Tell you what. I’ll get you and Anika similar saris. Five or six each should do.’

Nikki’s voice rose. ‘Five or six?’ Shit, no. She had three perfectly good ones at home, why wouldn’t those do? But her mum was already blowing kisses down the phone and giving instructions to pass her love onto the rest of the family before hanging up.

‘You look like you’ve been nuked.’

Nikki tightened her ponytail, grazed her fingers over the scar on her neck and exhaled. ‘Bloody feel like it too. Let’s get back to Springer.’

They spent the next twenty minutes going through the ANPR footage. They caught sight of the van Springer had described but as she’d said, its registration plates both front and back were obscured.

‘It doesn’t look like it targeted her. It was in front of her most of the way from the Wakefield roundabout onwards. Do you think she saw something peculiar before she phoned it in and that’s why she followed it?’

Nikki shook her head. ‘That doesn’t tie in with her call. It seems to have been completely arbitrary. Which means we’ve got to look for a needle in a haystack. Bet there’s thousands of unmarked plain-white transit vans in the district.’

Saj nodded, looking as fed up as she felt. ‘I’ll action it and get a couple of uniforms trawling through it. Any word from the helicopter search yet?’

‘Nah, probably too soon.’

‘Okay, we need to interview everyone at the conference too. Not that I think her disappearance is owt to do with that conference but still, better to cover all our bases.’

Sajid was already scrolling down a list of delegates and conference attendees. ‘This lot are a right motley bunch. We’ve got your Anika’s boyfriend, the ever so moral – and married, I hasten to add – Yousaf Mirza. Also, that homophobic friend of yours from vice, DI Joe Drummond. Archie’s on the list as is his mate DCI Eddie Capaldi and a whole load more dignitaries.’

His voice trailed off as Archie’s office door slammed open and DCS Clark stormed past them with barely a nod of acknowledgement as she left. Archie, red-faced, with his hair spiked on top of his head like two devil horns on either side of his bald patch followed her into the room, staring after his boss with a frown that was enough to have Nikki hesitate before approaching him.

He seemed to realize that Sajid and Nikki were staring at him and growled out a ‘Well?’

Nikki told him what they had, including the fact that someone had already requested the CCTV footage from the conference hotel. If she’d been expecting Archie to slam the heel of his hand against his brow and say ‘Och aye. That was me Parekh, slipped my mind,’ she’d have been mistaken. His expression didn’t change, not even when she wondered aloud about the fact the footage had been secured before any crime had been reported. This was so unlike Archie and it chilled her. Even Sajid looked flustered and he only knew half the story.

‘Need a word with you, Parekh.’ Archie lumbered back into his office. As she followed him, Nikki noticed the blinds were still down and she hoped she wasn’t about to be pulled any deeper into whatever was going off. If she was, she’d no intention of keeping Sajid out of the loop and if Archie requested that, then he could go and jump.

Choosing to stand, hoping it would speed things up, Nikki waited till Archie had lowered his sizeable frame into his chair and attempted to keep her expression neutral. She realized she hadn’t succeeded when Archie, studying her for a long moment finally said, ‘Face like a slapped arse, Parekh. Something up?’

Nikki gestured to the door that DCS Clark had left through and raised her eyebrows. ‘You tell me?’

Archie wafted his hands in front of him, his tone tired, almost defeated. ‘Sit, Parekh. Yer putting my proverbials on edge standing there like a bloody high court judge. No, scrap that. Yer mair like the damn executioner and after the morning I’ve had I can dae withoot it.’

Giving in, Nikki sank into a chair and waited. However, when Archie began to speak, it wasn’t what she’d expected to hear. She’d expected some semblance of an explanation about all the weird subterfuge, but instead … ‘You’re aware that it’s unlikely DI Ferguson will return. Medically speaking, he’s not fit for the job.’

Archie’s piercing eyes met Nikki’s and her heart fluttered. Why was there a brick in her stomach? She shook her head as if to ward off whatever words Archie was about to come out with, but to no avail. Ferguson had seriously hurt his back earlier in the year on a car chase and had been off since.

‘I’ve spoken with the chief and, perhaps a wee bit reluctantly if I’m honest, she’s agreed you can step up to acting DI for the time being.’

This was the last thing she’d been expecting and she was stunned. DI? Her? Yeah, the money would be handy, but she had to consider her family too. She already put so much into the job, this just seemed like a step too far for her. Besides, she liked working with Saj. She shook her head. ‘No way, boss. No chance. You know fine and well I’d hate that. I’m an on-the-streets sort of officer. No way I want to be DI, acting or otherwise.’

Archie just nodded. ‘I was afraid ye’d say that, Parekh. So, what I’m going tae do is gi’ you a bit of time. Let you think aboot it.’ As Nikki opened her mouth to object, he raised a finger. ‘Don’t say another word. We’ve got tae get our arse in gear and speak to Springer’s next of kin before they issue a statement tae the press.’

‘You mean you and Saj, yeah? You’ll take Saj with you. He’s good at all the touchy-feely stuff.’

‘No, I mean you. I told you earlier. Stop trying tae squirm out of it. Now, hop it. I need to check her file for the address. Five minutes, okay?’

What? That was it? No mention of him ordering the recordings, no explanation of the strange request he’d made earlier and still a whole load of secrecy. This was rubbish. She glowered at Archie, making her feelings known, but he didn’t even glance her way as she moved to the door. She’d just stretched out her hand to the handle when he cleared his throat. ‘You ordered that other test, Parekh? The one I texted you about?’

Not bothering to turn round, she nodded. ‘Course, though I’d rather have been able to tell Saj. What’s the big mystery?’ She hesitated, waiting for Archie to respond, but all she heard was the rustle of papers. She half-turned and looked at him. ‘We pulled the CCTV footage from the hotel the conference was held at.’

After long seconds, Archie replied with a grunt. ‘Good. Let me know what you find, eh?’

Heart sinking, Nikki pulled the door open and walked through, desperate to escape the suffocating secrets that hung in Archie’s room. Even the stink of the big office with all its ambient variants was an improvement.