It was indeed a major breakthrough. According to Benning, the phone and wallet found in Slater’s house had most definitely belonged to Jacob.
‘The wallet is exactly how his parents described it to me,’ he told Anna. ‘It’s a canvas trifold type with a Velcro fastener. It’s personalised with the name Jacob embroidered on the front. Inside are his house key, about three quid in loose change, and a few boiled sweets.’
‘And the mobile phone?’
‘I found the phone next to the wallet in the drawer. It’s a Samsung Galaxy. The battery has been removed which is why it hasn’t been transmitting a signal.’
‘And you’re sure it belonged to Jacob.’
‘Positive. It’s in a leather case and his name is written on the inside.’
‘I don’t suppose Jacob’s rucksack is also there is it?’
‘Well if it is we haven’t come across it,’ he replied.
Every muscle in Anna’s body was suddenly taut, her shoulders rigid. The phone and wallet provided an unambiguous link between Roy Slater and Jacob. For whatever reason the guy had decided to keep them in the house instead of getting rid of them. It was conclusive evidence that he was involved in the boy’s abduction, either alone or in cahoots with someone else.
‘It’s a crying shame that the bastard is dead,’ Anna said. ‘Unless he had an accomplice who we can collar we may never know what he was planning to do with the boy.’
She told Benning to gather up Slater’s personal stuff, including all his paperwork and digital media devices.
‘Bring them back to base with the camera and wallet,’ she said. ‘I want to know what he’s been doing and who he’s been seeing. And we need forensics to sweep the property as soon as possible.’
Anna was flush with excitement as she broke the news to Walker.
‘Let’s go tell the team before we talk to Quinlan and the others,’ she said. ‘We need to rethink our approach to the interviews anyway in light of this development.’
Inevitably the team were delighted with the news and they responded enthusiastically when Anna dished out more tasks. These included going through Slater’s phone records, drawing up a list of known associates, and talking to all his work colleagues.
‘I don’t want this getting out until Jacob’s parents have been informed,’ she said. ‘That will have to wait until tomorrow. By then we will hopefully have established whether there’s a link with Quinlan and the sex traffickers. And we should be in a better position to answer their questions in respect of circumstances and motive.’
She paused there as an unsettling thought wormed its way into her brain. Then: ‘I’ve just remembered what Mark Rossi said about his brief affair with Slater’s wife, Ruth. He told me his own wife Clare knows nothing about it, and that it would kill her if she finds out. But it’s hard to see how that can now be avoided.’
*
As soon as Anna walked back into Interview Room Two she sensed that Neville Quinlan was nearing the point where he was ready to cough up. The duty solicitor had no doubt marked his card about the police having fresh evidence against him.
He looked pale and drained, his eyes throbbing with fear and exhaustion.
After Walker switched on the recording equipment, Anna announced who was present and then got straight down to business.
‘The last time we spoke you told us that you were out walking by yourself last Monday when Jacob Rossi was abducted,’ she said. ‘We then established with the help of CCTV footage that that was a lie. The truth is you met a man in a pub and then went off with him in his car. That man was Craig Sullivan, who is involved in the trafficking of children for sex.’
Quinlan’s mouth dropped open and he started to breathe faster as he fought back the panic.
Anna’s mind suddenly flooded with images from the video clip she’d seen of him raping the Romanian boy. She bit down hard on her lip, determined to keep her temper in check.
‘I asked where the pair of you went when you left the pub but you refused to tell me,’ she said. ‘And I understand that you’ve continued to say no comment in response to questions from my colleagues. Is that so, Mr Quinlan?’
‘You know very well that that’s the case, Detective Chief Inspector,’ the duty solicitor said. ‘Can you therefore get to the point? You’ve indicated to me that as a consequence of further information coming to light you would like to ask my client more questions. So what are they?’
Anna leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, and fixed Quinlan with a hard stare.
‘First you need to know, Mr Quinlan, that a few hours ago we arrested Craig Sullivan and his associate Lorna Fitzpatrick at a house in Dulwich where three children were being held against their will and used as sex slaves.’
Quinlan blinked as though he’d been caught off guard and a pulse started to throb in his left temple.
Anna continued. ‘We spoke to the children and one of them, a young Romanian boy named Darius, described how you raped him when Sullivan took you to the house last week. He also told us that you were a regular visitor there.’
‘He’s lying,’ Quinlan shot back. ‘I’ve never been to any house in Dulwich and I’ve never met anyone named Darius.’
‘You’re the one who’s lying again,’ Anna said. ‘You see unbeknown to you there are spy cams in the bedrooms at the house and you were filmed in the act. I’ve seen for myself what you did to that boy, and the video will be used as evidence when it comes to trial.’
Quinlan stopped blinking and clenched his eyes shut. Next to him the duty solicitor slumped back in his chair, shaking his head.
‘The National Crime Agency will be responsible for the investigation into what has been going on in that house and they’ll charge you in relation to the offences you committed there,’ Anna said. ‘The questions I intend to ask relate to the boy who died while chained to the wall in the pub cellar in Camberwell. And let me tell you that you’ll be digging an even deeper hole for yourself if you don’t answer them truthfully.’
Quinlan sat there without responding, his eyes closed, his shoulders stiff with tension.
Anna cleared her throat, said, ‘So tell me, Mr Quinlan, did you act as a talent scout for Craig Sullivan by telling him where and when his people could abduct Jacob Rossi? And what is your connection with a man named Roy Slater?’
Quinlan’s eyes sprang open then and Anna saw that tears had breached the lower lids. Rather than meet her gaze, he raised his head and stared up at the ceiling. It was several seconds before he began to speak, and when he did the words came out in a tortured wail.