The first thing the detectives did when they stepped out of the building was to take off their forensic suits.
Anna then fished a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and offered them round. Walker took one but Benning said he wasn’t a smoker and popped a mint in his mouth instead.
It was almost dark now and the temperature had dropped significantly. The street in front of the pub was quiet, but sirens continued to scream across the city.
Anna dragged on the fag and tried to push the image of the boy in the cellar out of her mind. But it was impossible.
She needed to focus on the mystery of why he’d been put there and by whom. Solving it presented a significant challenge, though, because the crime scene had been seriously contaminated, and it was becoming clear that she would be working with fewer people than usual.
‘I was about to drop in on Jacob’s parents and update them on progress – or rather the lack of it – when central control contacted me,’ Benning said, his voice laden with emotion. ‘All the way here I prayed that it wouldn’t be him. I still can’t believe it.’
‘How have they been coping?’ Anna asked.
‘With difficulty, as I’m sure you can appreciate. Jacob is – or was – an only child. The couple doted on him.’
‘Did they have any idea what might have happened to him?’
‘None at all. He was a good kid by all accounts. He’d never been in trouble or gone missing before.’
Anna looked at her watch. It was after six already.
‘I’ll head to Bromley now to break the news,’ she said. ‘Any chance that you can come too so that you can brief me on the way?’
‘Of course.’ Benning pointed towards the road. ‘I got a lift here from a colleague. She’s waiting outside. We can go in her car or yours.’
‘We’ll go in mine. I don’t want to leave it here.’
The three of them crossed the pub forecourt to the entrance where DC Sweeny was waiting. Beyond it a few of the neighbours had gathered to see what was going on, while another group had started cleaning up the debris on the street left by the rioters.
Anna introduced Benning to Sweeny and the DC told them what she’d been doing.
‘I’ve talked to media liaison and they’ve agreed not to release details until we give the go-ahead,’ she said. ‘I’ve also contacted the estate agents who are responsible for the building. The manager, a Mr Bob Turner, said they sent someone to inspect it two weeks ago. The back doors were all locked and the windows boarded up apparently. They were due to revisit in another week. I’ve asked him to provide us with a list of all the people who have access to the place.’
‘And who owns it?’ Walker asked.
‘A property developer bought it off the brewery eighteen months ago,’ Sweeny said. ‘But they haven’t been able to shift it, partly because of problems with planning permission. It was last viewed by a potential buyer three months ago.’
‘It’s probably safe to assume that whoever abducted Jacob had already made plans to bring him here,’ Anna said. ‘They would have known the building was empty and must have come here before Monday to check it out. A pub cellar was the perfect place to hide him. I suspect he was warned not to make a noise, but even if he’d screamed and shouted I doubt very much that he would have been heard.’
‘So the perp could be someone who lives or works around here,’ Walker said. ‘Someone who’s familiar with the building and was able to slip in and out unnoticed. I reckon the inflatable mattress and provisions were placed in the cellar before the boy arrived.’
‘That’s why we need to secure CCTV footage and carry out a door-to-door,’ Anna said. ‘Surely something will turn up.’
She took out her phone to call DCS Nash so that she could arrange for DI Benning to be seconded to the investigation. As the screen lit up she saw that she had a text message from Tom, which had been sent about ten minutes ago.
FYI I’ve picked Chloe up and am taking her to my place. It’s all kicking off in Vauxhall so I want to make sure that she’s out of harm’s way.
Anna immediately speed-dialled Tom’s number, but when there was no answer, she tapped out a reply to his message.
Bless you, hon. I knew I could count on you to watch out for her. Keep her safe for me. We’ll talk later.
‘Is there a problem?’ Walker asked her.
‘Thankfully, no,’ she said. ‘Tom just let me know that because of the disturbances in Vauxhall he’s taken my daughter to his flat in Nine Elms. It means I won’t have to worry about her if I’m working through the night, which I assume I will be.’
Anna then phoned Nash and updated him. He agreed with her that it would be a good idea to keep Benning on board and said he would sort it.
The boss had already been told that the dead boy had been identified as the son of celebrity Mark Rossi and he pointed out, unnecessarily, that it would spark a media frenzy even if the riots continued to dominate the headlines.
‘So what’s the situation with my team?’ she asked him. ‘How many officers will be working with me on this?’
‘You’ll have to make do with just a handful to start with, Anna. You’ve got Walker and Sweeny, and at least four other detectives are still here at headquarters waiting for instructions, along with a few admin staff. The rest have been assigned elsewhere. We’re currently dealing with a shooting in Lewisham, a stabbing in Bermondsey, a hostage situation in Mitcham, and lootings galore. Plus, we’re trying to disperse a mob of about a hundred lunatics who are gathered in front of our building slagging off the police.’
‘I’ve been told there’s trouble in Vauxhall as well,’ Anna said.
‘That’s correct. The Marwell Estate, which I know is close to where you live. There are clashes between black and white youths. Two rival gangs are using the riots as an excuse to tear into each other.’
The Marwell Estate had once been a smart and respectable place to live. But in recent years it had been tainted by drug dealing, prostitution and racial tensions.
Anna told Nash that she was now planning to go and see Jacob Rossi’s parents at their home in Bromley.
‘While I do that DI Walker and DC Sweeny will stay here in Camberwell and see what they can dig up from neighbours and CCTV,’ she said. ‘They’ll also feed through some tasks to the lads back at base. I’ll aim to get everyone together for a team briefing later.’
‘What about forensics?’ Nash asked.
‘The team are in the building as we speak and the stuff they recover will be rushed back to the lab. But it’s pretty messy down in the cellar so I’m not sure they’ll come up with much that’s useful.’
‘And the boy’s body?’
‘Gayle Western is on hand and will arrange for it to be transported to the mortuary,’ Anna said.
‘Well at least you’re on top of things. That’s good.’
‘Will you be hanging around, sir?’
‘The Commissioner has just summoned me to a crisis meeting of senior officers at the Yard,’ Nash said. ‘But call me if you need to and be careful out there. We’re all bracing ourselves for a hellish night.’
The others had heard what Anna said to Nash so there was no need for her to repeat it. She told Walker and Sweeny to do the best they could.
‘And before it gets dark can one of you take photos of the outside of the building and the surrounding properties?’ she said. ‘I haven’t got time to look around so it will be useful to have some snaps for the evidence board.’
‘Consider it done,’ Walker said. ‘We should also put this place under surveillance since those responsible for taking the boy might be planning to come back.’
Anna nodded. ‘That’s a good point, Max. After forensics have finished up it’ll be deserted again. Can you sort that out as well? Someone sitting in a car or watching from one of those houses across the street should do the trick.’
Anna then turned to DI Benning, who was staring back at the pub with his jaw tightly clenched and his eyes intent under a jutting brow.
She could tell that he was in a state of complete shock, and she briefly considered telling him to go home. But she thought better of it, knowing she needed him to pass on everything he had learned about Jacob Rossi and his family since the boy’s disappearance.
‘It’s time for you and me to go to Bromley,’ she said, and her words seemed to snap the man out of his reverie. ‘I don’t want the news to leak before we’ve spoken to Jacob’s mum and dad.’