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‘Right, well there’s lots of information to get through,’ said DI Harris, opening the meeting. ‘So, we have some results back from the scene in Foal Lane. Tyre tracks suggest two cars were there. No guns but we have evidence of a dozen shots being fired. There could be more if some hit the car we’ve not yet traced. We’ve also found a knife with Sean Bailey’s blood on it. No fingerprints though. However, analysis of one patch of blood matches that of a Jason Dawes.’ Mike Harris brought up his picture on the screen.
‘Otherwise known as Pete Davis,’ said Shani. ‘Unless it’s a remarkable coincidence he’s a double for the man we spoke to in hospital.’
‘Andy, what’s on record for him?’asked Mike Harris.
‘Sir, it’s very interesting. Jason Edward Dawes, age thirty-five, has had a clean record for the last ten years. As a youth, he was caught and charged with possession of Class A drugs. He also spent six months in a youth offender institute. However, apart from a charge of fencing stolen goods at the age of twenty-four, he has either mended his ways or has been careful to escape prosecution.’
‘Personal life?’ prompted Mike.
‘Single. Parents both dead. He’s not on record as owning a property or renting one, through official channels that is. He could have a sort of cash in hand deal with someone. Not in receipt of benefits. Not currently in employment. Self-sufficient and we all know what that means.’
‘He might have won the lottery or have inherited a fortune,’ added Shani, smiling.
‘Yes, that’s probably it,’ replied Andy. ‘Silly of me not to think of that. However, about five years ago he did have a job and that was managing Alpha Motors, a used car business, owned by none other than our old friend, Ron Radford.’
When Andy had first discovered this fact he had felt like punching the air. Once again Ron Radford’s name had appeared. It seemed uncanny that two people, one dead, one injured had both been in Ron’s employ at some time in the past.
‘Thanks, Andy. Now, Sean Bailey also had cocaine in his system and there were traces in his coat pocket. So far, the only other identified blood at the scene is for Travis Cripps, deceased.’
‘Anything from ballistics yet, sir?’
‘Not yet, Andy. That should help us piece together exactly what happened. But we do know that Sean Bailey, Jason Dawes and Travis Cripps were all present in Foal Lane. There may have been others, these are the three that left behind easily identifiable forensic samples.’
Mike Harris paused to collect his thoughts. ‘I should point out that just because someone tests positive for drugs doesn’t necessarily mean a drug deal was taking place. We need more evidence to tie everything together.’
There was a low level of muttering in the room as the team realised that this was a whole new dimension to the drug scene in Persford.
‘Anything on the car found in Breckton?’ asked Mike Harris.
‘Sir,’ said Shani, ‘It’s been identified from the chassis number, it was reported stolen from Harefield Avenue on the Lensfield Estate a couple of days ago. The plates belong to a car which was scrapped six months ago. I’m looking into it.’
‘So, Pete Davis, aka Jason Dawes lied about borrowing the car from a mate,’ added Dave Goodman.
‘What about paying him another visit?’ asked Andy.
‘He’s recovering slowly according to the doctor responsible for him, er,’ Mike consulted his notes, ‘Dr Melrose. Apparently, he’s still in pain and he had another panic attack today so he’s been sedated. However, I’m going to phone again and insist we speak to him this evening.’
‘Distressed my arse,’ scoffed Dave. ‘He was auditioning for RADA. I was very gentle with him, my best bedside manner.’
‘When will we get the full forensic report on Cripps?’ asked Andy Walters.
‘I’ve been promised I’ll get it tomorrow.’
‘Sir, the forensic report on the car found in Breckton should be through tomorrow as well,’ said Shani.
Mike Harris continued, ‘Excellent. So, Shani and Dave. I want you to go home for a few hours after this meeting. Get some sleep and then this evening visit the usual haunts of Wayne Roberts. We need to know about any new players on the Persford drug market. He’s a cowardly little scrote. Threaten him and he’ll squeal. See if he’s heard of the Kilburn Boys. Did he know Sean Bailey? Has he heard of anyone’s business being taken over by wealth or by force? Who knows, it could have been a sale of business or someone set them up and they were ambushed?’
‘Sir,’ said Shani and Dave almost in unison.
‘Have uniform been alerted to the fact that we want Wayne Roberts?’asked Dave.
‘They have, everyone is on the lookout for him. He shouldn’t be too hard to spot. He’s a creature of habit.’
‘I assume he’s not at his squalid lodgings?’asked Andy.
‘No, he’s not there at the moment, we are maintaining regular observation in the area. We can’t really put a patrol car outside his flat, someone will tip him off.’
‘Remember, ideally we’d like to catch him in the act of a drug deal. That way we can pile on more pressure,’ added Mike Harris.
‘Any questions?’
‘Only my usual one?’ said Andy. ‘Begins with R and ends in R.’
‘Lord Radford, I assume you mean,’ joked Mike. ‘On what grounds?’
‘He knew both Sean and Jason. Surely that’s enough?’
‘Let me think about it.’ He raised his hand before Andy had a chance to come back with a retort. ‘I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow. Perhaps by then Shani and Dave will have some more information we can use. OK?’
‘Do I have a choice?’
‘Not really,’ said his superior, ‘for the moment a chat with Jason Dawes will have to suffice.’
**
Afternoon visiting on Hailsham Ward, Jason Dawes’ abode, was 3 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Corey had parked in a far corner, the furthest from any security cameras. Since receiving Ron’s call he’d had a busy few hours and hoped he’d remembered everything. If he hadn’t, it was too late now, they would just have to improvise. He’d also bought a large bunch of flowers which he was going to use to obscure his face on his journey down the corridors to visit his friend. He’d looked on the Internet at the map of the hospital and had memorised the route. By a stroke of good fortune, the wet afternoon allowed him to use a large umbrella to shield his identity.
Once inside the hospital, he raised the bouquet of flowers to head height and walked confidently along to the stairwell and made his way to the first floor. As he approached the ward he could see that the doors were open enabling him to walk straight in. He was also wearing a baseball cap pulled well down on his forehead and he marched past the nurses’ station looking straight ahead, then following the instructions he’d received by phone, he walked along the main corridor, checking the numbers on the doors. Finding the correct one he opened the door a few inches and peeped in to check that it was Jason’s room.
He approached the bed and saw his friend with his eyes closed. Surely he wasn’t asleep? Or worse still sedated? The plan was to leave this afternoon.
‘Shit,’ he said to himself.
He went over to the prone figure and nudged his arm, ‘Mate, it’s me, Corey. Wake up. Come on, we need to get sorted.’
There was no response. Had he died? He was very still. He leaned forward to hear whether he was breathing and put his finger on the pulse point on his neck.
‘Boo!’ shouted the patient.
‘Aaargh!’ shouted Corey. ‘Fuck! Jed! You gave me a fright!’ He staggered back and collapsed into the chair beside the bed.
‘Ha! You fell for it!’ Jed was chuckling to himself.
‘God, stop pissing around and get into these clothes!’ he hissed.
‘Great, thanks, mate. I hope you’ve got something smart for me. I want to look my best,’ whispered Jed.
‘Shut the fuck up and stop arsing around you wanker,’ hissed Corey. His heart was still racing after his covert operation to access the ward and he could do without Jed messing him about. He was sweating in the overheated hospital so he slipped off his jacket and pulled his polo shirt away from his chest.’
‘You look a bit flushed, mate,’ said Jed. ‘Perhaps you should get them to check your blood pressure?’
‘Such a comedian,’ said Corey, wiping his forehead with his hand.
‘Right, I need to get rid of this cannula,’ said Jed. ‘Not squeamish are you?’
Jed got hold of the cannula and ripped it out of the back of his hand. He winced slightly then took a wad of tissues from beside the bed and pressed down on the vein to stem the bleeding.
‘God, that’s disgusting!’ said Corey, recoiling in horror.
‘Go and get a wheelchair, I’m a bit slow on my feet, we need to make a quick exit.’
‘OK, where are they?’
‘Down near the nurses’ station.’
Corey wandered off and came back with the wheelchair. The ward was quite busy and children were creating a distraction which was an advantage. The whole episode was making his heart race and he couldn’t wait for it to be over. All the time he expected a voice to say, ‘Excuse me,’ behind him and the game would be up.
‘Get out my things will you whilst I just hold this for a minute,’ Jed said to his friend. His hand was still bleeding so he was pressing a wad of toilet paper against it.
‘I’m not your fucking butler,’ said Corey.
‘Look the sooner we get this done the sooner you can stop looking like a rabbit in the headlights,’ said Jed. ‘Oh no, I don’t like these underpants, I usually have trunks.’
‘Well, leave them off, see if I care,’ said Corey. ‘Don’t blame me if your cock gets caught in your zip.’
‘Lighten up!’ said Jed. ‘I should have saved you some sleeping tablets. You seem to have left your sense of humour behind.’
‘I’m a bit tense, that’s all. Now, what about your hair?’
‘You do it. I’ll not put my shirt on until you’ve shaved it off. Make sure you do a neat job of it.’
Corey proceeded to shave off Jed’s distinctive blond hair rendering him completely bald apart from a number one grade stubble.
‘You look even more like a thug now,’ he said.
‘Charmed,’ replied Jed.
‘Right, glasses, hat. Excellent. Where’s the balloon you brought?’
‘In that separate carrier bag,’ said Corey.
‘All set?’
‘I think so.’
Corey opened the door and saw that the corridor was clear from hospital staff apart from a cleaner emptying some bins. It was now approaching 5.30 p.m. and meals were starting to be served. He looked back towards the nurses’ station but all staff seemed to be busy completing records and writing up details on the whiteboard. The duo emerged into the corridor. Corey continued to use the bouquet to obscure his face and Jed had the helium-filled balloon decorated with characters from the Disney film, Frozen. They travelled in silence to the main entrance and out into the wet evening. Corey activated his automatic umbrella and pushing the wheelchair with one hand he scurried over to the ticket machine to validate the parking ticket and from there, across the parking area to his car.
‘Right, where am I spending the night?’ asked Jed.
‘I’m taking you to a mate’s flat in Breckton but we are going to take a slight detour. I’ll explain in the car.’
‘Sounds intriguing. I like a good mystery. And his name?’
‘Brandon. He’s a good bloke so don’t upset him.’ replied Corey.
‘Brandon what?’
‘Just Brandon, that’s all you need to know.’
They reached the barrier, inserted the ticket and left Persford General. Corey would be glad to deposit Jed and perhaps then, with the aid of some stiff drinks, he would be able to unwind. Up until now, working for Mr Radford, providing security, lifts, errands and the like had been quite routine. This was the first time he’d had to take part in an operation like this and it didn’t sit easily with him. He just hoped that his job description wouldn’t start to get more onerous or dangerous. If it that proved to be the case he would have to consider his future.
