Anna was fired up when she left Neville Quinlan’s flat. She needed a cigarette to help calm her nerves and slow her pulse, but it was going to have to wait until after she’d dropped Benning off. It wouldn’t be fair to smoke with him in the car, and there was no time for a fag break.
Quinlan had failed to convince her that he was as innocent as he claimed to be. When she’d told him how Jacob Rossi had died in the pub cellar he had shaken his head and said, ‘That’s really bad and I feel sorry for his parents, but I swear I didn’t know he was there.’
As a cop, Anna was used to reading people, and she was in no doubt that Quinlan was hiding something. It was there in his voice and body language, the way he avoided looking at her when he spoke.
‘We need to chase up forensics and get them to go through his flat and his car,’ she said as they drove towards Bromley town centre.
Benning nodded. ‘I’ll make the call as soon as I’m back in the office. Hopefully I’ll have a response before I leave for Wandsworth with the case file.’
‘So what did you make of him this time round?’ she asked. ‘Did you detect anything different in the way he responded to questions?’
‘Not really. He seemed genuinely shocked when you told him that Jacob had died in the fire, but you’d expect that reaction even if he wasn’t responsible for putting the boy in the cellar.’
‘That was the impression I got. Sex offenders are in a league of their own when it comes to the art of misdirection, so he remains squarely in the frame. I’ve got a feeling he’s involved somehow. We need to complete the trawl of CCTV footage and find out as much as we can about the guy. Did you check up on known associates? Paedophiles often operate in pairs so he might have an accomplice.’
‘It’s on our to-do list,’ Benning said, somewhat sheepishly. ‘I’m afraid it’s one of the avenues of inquiry that’s been held up because of the riots.’
Anna wasn’t sure whether to take him at his word. She was beginning to wonder if the DI was using the riots as an excuse for not having found Jacob Rossi before today. If so then was it driven by guilt – or had he been less than thorough with his missing person’s investigation?
Anna didn’t understand why Quinlan, the prime suspect, hadn’t already been put through the ringer. Every aspect of his life should have been looked into by now. And she was curious to know if Benning had pushed hard enough to bring in a forensics team to search for evidence in Quinlan’s flat and car.
But it was far too early to voice these concerns since it was quite possible that she was misreading the situation. After all, Benning struck her as a seasoned, no-nonsense detective who was understandably shaken by what he’d seen in the pub cellar. She didn’t want to needle him by casting doubt on his abilities at the outset. For the sake of the investigation she needed him and his team on her side. At least for now.
*
Anna dropped Benning off at Bromley police station. He said it wouldn’t take him long to gather together the case notes and have a brief conversation with his commanding officer.
The plan was for him to arrange for anything not in hard copy form to be emailed to Anna’s work address. Then he would make his way to MIT headquarters to present what he had at the team briefing.
As soon as she was on her way again, Anna fired up a cigarette. She hoped it would help subdue the anxiety that was making it hard for her to concentrate. Too many things were stressing her out – the thought of how poor little Jacob Rossi must have suffered before he died, the fact that she might never find those responsible, and, of course, the riots that were tearing London apart.
But at least she knew Chloe was safe and well thanks to Tom. It had been good thinking on his part to take her to his flat in Nine Elms. She tried calling him again, but as before there was no answer; but, given the time, she imagined they had gone to bed.
There were constant updates about the riots on the radio, including a list of the areas where disturbances were taking place. Anna was relieved that Nine Elms was not among them.
But it disturbed her to hear that the situation in and around Vauxhall was getting worse by the minute. Reports were now coming in that a police officer had been shot during a violent clash with over a hundred rioters. It wasn’t yet known if his wounds were life-threatening because paramedics were struggling to get to the scene.
The sheer magnitude of what they were dealing with was terrifying. And unprecedented. It was no longer a case of grievances being addressed. This was now about looting and criminal damage on an industrial scale.
The police were at an enormous disadvantage because there were so few of them. Plus, they had to act within the law, whereas the rioters had no restrictions or concerns. And from the sound of it the mobs were making the most of things by becoming increasingly brazen.
Throughout the capital they were using stolen cars to create burning barricades across roads. As soon as police descended on one scene of violence, the rioters either engaged with them or moved swiftly on to another location. And it was difficult for officers to make arrests while dealing with disturbances.
‘As was feared many more people are taking to the streets this evening,’ the newsreader said. ‘We’re hearing that a Tesco superstore in Tottenham is on fire and in Balham police have been forced to abandon two armoured vehicles after they came under attack. Meanwhile, hospital casualty departments are being overwhelmed and callers are struggling to get through to emergency services by phone.’
Anna shook her head as a wave of impotent rage swept through her. It galled her to think that the threat of civil unrest had been hanging over the capital for years, but had not been taken as seriously as it should have been.
The politicians had been told time and again that they needed to prepare for the day when the shit hit the fan again. But time and again they had chosen to do nothing except put in place contingency plans that were proving strikingly ineffective.
Anna suspected that those same politicians would now refuse to accept any responsibility for what was happening – and deny, along with many of the rioters, that they too had the blood of innocent people on their hands.
*
Anna managed to steer clear of the active trouble spots on the drive to Wandsworth. She went via Beckenham, Penge and Streatham, and did not encounter any violence. But throughout the journey she saw evidence that rioting had taken place earlier.
She passed dozens of shops that had been looted and scores of cars that had been reduced to burnt-out shells. The streets were a mess, and in some of them clean-up operations were well underway.
The urgent screams of police sirens continued unabated, and she drove past gangs of feral youths who were clearly fired up and intent on misbehaving.
She even witnessed several acts of gratuitous vandalism against buildings and vehicles. In normal circumstances she would have felt obliged to intervene. But these were not normal circumstances, and no way was she going to get involved by herself when she almost certainly wouldn’t be provided with back-up.
There was a heavy uniformed presence in front of headquarters, but thankfully the rioters had moved on, leaving a road covered with shards of glass and the foul odour of oily smoke in their wake.
It was the first time Anna had been back to HQ since the start of her compassionate leave, and it felt strange entering the building.
DI Walker was waiting for her upstairs in the open-plan operations room used exclusively by the Major Investigation Team. He handed her a black coffee in a Styrofoam cup, and said, ‘If you feel anything like I do then you’re probably going to need this.’
She managed a smile. ‘Thanks, Max. You’re a star – I’ve been gagging for a caffeine fix. Let me dump my stuff and you can bring me up to date.’
Walker followed her into her tiny office and waited while she removed her coat and took her notebook from her bag.
‘How are Jacob’s parents?’ he asked her.
‘Just as you would expect,’ she answered, with an echo of sadness in her voice. ‘They’re shocked and utterly devastated. I had to tell them everything about how he died and it felt like I was sticking needles into their eyes.’
‘What we saw in that cellar is still jarring with me,’ Walker said. ‘I would really like to get my hands on the bastard who put him in there.’
‘Or bastards,’ Anna said. ‘We still don’t know if there was more than one of them.’
Walker nodded. ‘That’s true enough, guv. But if I was a betting man I’d put my money on it being the work of a single perp. It’s just a gut feeling I have.’
Anna wouldn’t have bet against him. She knew from having worked with him for so long that his instincts usually turned out to be spot on; he was one of the sharpest and most perceptive coppers she knew, which was why she regarded him as her number two.
She sat down behind her desk, and said, ‘Now before I tell you about my trip to Bromley, I want to know how we’re fixed in terms of numbers.’
Walker remained standing and gestured through the window into the ops room.
‘Well you can see for yourself there aren’t many bodies out there. As you know we’ve got DS Prescott and DC Niven, plus Sweeny who’s still in Camberwell. We’ve also got DS Khan and DC Mortimer, along with four admin staff who’ll be working through the night. Six detectives have been instructed to stay at home and get some sleep so that not everyone is bled dry by exhaustion tomorrow.
‘The rest, along with most of the uniforms, have been assigned to duties elsewhere. These bloody riots are putting a real strain on resources all across London, and not just on the front line. Core services are under pressure, including the firearms command, forensics units, custody staff and body recovery teams.’
Anna told Walker what DI Benning had said about how the riots had impacted on the investigation into Jacob Rossi’s disappearance.
‘They hadn’t got as far with it as I was hoping they had,’ she said. ‘CCTV footage still needs to be rounded up in and around the area where it’s believed Jacob was snatched. And only two suspects have emerged. One is a convicted paedophile, but forensics have yet to examine his car and flat.’
Anna briefed Walker on what DI Benning had told her and about their conversation with Neville Quinlan.
‘I’ve jotted down a list of action points,’ she said. ‘I’ll go through them with the team when Benning gets here. Meanwhile show me what you’ve got set up out there.’
The officers and civilian staff acknowledged Anna as she walked across the ops room to where two large whiteboards had been positioned. She saw immediately that Walker had done a fast and thorough job.
Pinned to one of the boards were photographs taken at the crime scene. They showed the cellar from various angles and Jacob’s body on the mattress. There were also photos that Walker had taken of the pub’s exterior and the properties that overlooked it.
On the other whiteboard were photos of Jacob when he was alive, plus pictures of his parents, his school, and the road where it was believed he’d been abducted. There was still plenty of room for more pictures. They would include shots of the two suspects: Neville Quinlan and Gavin Pope.
‘Can you put a map up showing the location of Jacob’s school and home?’ Anna said. ‘And include the distance and routes between Camberwell and Bromley.’
‘No problem,’ Walker responded. ‘I’ll get right on it.’
Anna called her small team together and told them that the briefing would get underway as soon as DI Benning arrived.
‘We need his input because he’s been heading up the search for Jacob since Monday,’ she said. ‘He’s bringing the case file with him. In the meantime, I suggest you spend the next few minutes checking out the Rossi family online – especially Jacob’s dad, Mark. It’s possible, given his high profile, that he’s the reason his son was targeted. So the more you all know about him the better.’
Anna was heading back to her office to do that herself when her phone rang. It was DCS Nash.
‘Hello, sir. I was going to ring you after the briefing.’
‘Are you back at HQ?’ he said.
‘I am. I’ve just been put in the picture regarding the size of my team.’
‘Good. I’m still at the Yard and will be here throughout the night so I’ll keep checking in. I take it you’ve spoken to the boy’s parents?’
She told him that she had and went on to provide him with a full update.
‘DI Benning is on his way here now for the meeting,’ she said. ‘I’ll then assign tasks and we’ll get cracking.’
‘I talked to a Detective Chief Inspector Mason at Bromley,’ Nash said. ‘He’s got no problem with Benning working with us for the foreseeable future, but they can’t spare any other detectives. Those who’ve been working on the misper case will be reassigned.’
‘I’m not surprised, sir. At least we’ve got an extra pair of hands. And he can tell us stuff we won’t have to find out for ourselves.’
‘Precisely. However, I want it made clear to him that you’re in charge of this investigation and if he doesn’t toe the line or pull his weight you have my blessing to send him back to Bromley.’
‘I’ve got no reason to believe that he’ll be anything other than an asset to the team, sir.’
She heard Nash inhale a sharp breath before he spoke again.
‘Well then it’s only fair that you’re made aware of something DCI Mason told me about Benning,’ he said. ‘It was in the strictest confidence so I don’t want you passing it on to anyone else. Is that understood, Anna?’
Anna frowned into the phone. ‘Of course it is, sir. I’m all ears, so fire away.’