After her session with Neville Quinlan, Anna grilled Craig Sullivan and Lorna Fitzpatrick. In both cases it was like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone. On the advice of their lawyer they said as little as possible and only answered her questions when he gave them the nod.
It was eight o’clock when she decided she had got as much out of them as she was ever likely to get. She asked Walker to contact the National Crime Agency.
‘Tell them they can come and collect all three of the scumbags,’ she said. ‘And make sure we pass on all the video recordings from the interviews.’
Anna planned to hold another briefing so that everyone was kept abreast of what was going on. Detectives Benning and Prescott were on their way back from Rotherhithe with Jacob Rossi’s phone and wallet, plus some of Roy Slater’s personal belongings. And DCS Nash was due to arrive at any minute, having spent another day at the Yard with the Met’s senior management team.
Anna decided she needed a cigarette break before the meeting got underway. On the way out to the rear car park she grabbed a coffee from one of the vending machines.
The night had closed in and the cold air made her wish she had put her jacket on. As she lit up, she tried to tune out the wail of sirens that came from every direction. The riots were in full flow again and she had to force herself not to think about all the harm that was being done to people and property across London. Instead, she focused her mind on the events of the day. And what another extraordinary day it had been.
She’d begun it by dropping Chloe off at the hospital to be with Tom. Soon afterwards she had found herself racing across South London to a house where despicable things were being done to children. Then later she had rushed to the scene of a murder, where she had stood over the body of Roy Slater, the man who’d been in possession of Jacob Rossi’s mobile phone and wallet.
It had been like a ride on a nerve-racking rollercoaster. Her emotions were still spinning and she felt limp with fatigue.
She consoled herself with the fact that the mystery of who had kidnapped Jacob appeared to have been solved. But there were still far too many unanswered questions for Anna’s liking.
And for that reason she wasn’t prepared to signal the winding down of the investigation just yet.
*
Anna was on her way back up to the ops room when she received a call from DI Bolt, who was still at the crime scene in Bermondsey.
‘I’ve got a couple of updates for you, ma’am,’ he said. ‘Is it convenient to talk?’
‘Of course. What’s the situation there? Any problems?’
‘Nothing we can’t handle at present. We did get some more back-up so thanks for weighing in on our behalf. The scene’s secure now, and as you’re probably aware the action has moved away from this manor to the London Bridge area.’
‘Actually, I haven’t heard that,’ Anna said.
‘Well it’s only just flared up. One mob descended on the tube station, caused a lot of damage there, and then moved on to the Shard building where there’s now a battle with riot cops. Another bunch rampaged through Borough Market and a few shops are on fire.’
Anna pulled a quick breath and felt a chill race over her skin.
‘I’ll get across it when I’m back in the office,’ she said. ‘Meanwhile, tell me what you’ve got.’
‘Well first we struck lucky with CCTV footage,’ he said. ‘There’s a private security camera outside one of the shops close to the alley. We managed to retrieve it and confirm what we suspected. A group of five youths wearing hoods and masks can clearly be seen attacking Slater as he walked from the betting shop towards the car park. They dragged him into the alley, then reappeared five minutes later and scarpered. It’ll be difficult, if not impossible, to identify them since their faces are covered.’
Well thankfully that’s not my problem, Anna thought to herself.
‘So Slater just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ she said.
‘That’s about the size of it. And from the CCTV we know that the time of the attack was twelve-thirty. As soon as I get the chance I’ll email the CCTV clip to you.’
‘Thanks.’
‘I also contacted the betting shop manager,’ Bolt said. ‘He told me that Slater was a regular there and had been for a couple of years. It suited him apparently because he drank in a pub just along the road.’
Bolt then confirmed that forensics had swept the alley and Slater’s body had been taken away, along with his car.
Before hanging up, Anna told him what her officers had found at Slater’s house, and said the details would be sent on to him.
When Anna returned to her office, she found DCS Nash waiting for her. The boss was in his early fifties, tall and broad-shouldered, with a grey beard and a blunt, square face.
Anna had never seen him looking so tired. His eyes appeared heavy and dry, and his voice sounded like gravel in his throat.
‘I hear we’ve identified the perp in the Rossi case,’ he said. ‘It makes a change to get some good news. It’s been nothing but murder and mayhem these past few days, and still there’s no end in sight to the bloody riots.’
‘But it’s not all good news,’ Anna pointed out. ‘Roy Slater is dead, and there’s a lot we don’t know about what he did and why he did it.’
Nash shook his head. ‘Well you need to neutralise those negative thoughts, Anna. I want us to flag this up as a result for the MIT. And then I want us to pull back from the case until the riots are over. We need to reassign all but a couple of the team. I’ll arrange for a press conference at which I’d like you to also mention how you uncovered the child brothel in Rotherhithe before the NCA takes the credit for it.’
‘But there are still leads that have to be followed up, sir. And we haven’t even informed the parents yet.’
‘You can break the news to the parents before the presser, which probably won’t be before tomorrow afternoon. And I’m not saying we should drop the investigation entirely. Just let it be known that Roy Slater kidnapped the boy and was subsequently knifed to death in an unconnected attack by a gang of youths. You can mention the note that was sent to the parents and which we now assume came from Slater. But there’s no need to let on about Slater’s wife having had an affair with Jacob’s dad.’
Anna felt uncertainty beat in her heart. It was surely too soon to shout from the rooftops while easing back on the investigation.
Nash must have sensed her concern because he patted her on the shoulder, and said, ‘These are unprecedented circumstances, Anna. The Commissioner has issued an instruction that all investigations not connected to the riots need to be either put on hold or run with a skeleton crew.’
‘But this case is linked to the riots. It was a rioter who threw the petrol bomb into the pub, which led to Jacob’s death.’
‘I appreciate that. But you’re not actually looking for the arsonist, are you? And I doubt we’ll ever find whoever it is unless someone phones in with a name or turns up here with mobile phone footage of it taking place. And so I can’t justify leaving you with a team of a dozen or more when the Rossi case is now all but solved thanks to what was uncovered in Slater’s house.’
‘Well at least let me keep the team together for one more day, sir. I need to satisfy myself that we’ve covered every angle and I can work out what to say to the media.’
Nash rubbed a hand over his face and nodded.
‘That seems reasonable. I’ll get back to you with the time and place for the press conference.’
‘Thank you, sir. Will you be returning to the Yard?’
‘I will first thing in the morning. The set-up over there is like a wartime command centre. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to know where and how to assign our limited manpower and resources when so much shit is happening.’
Anna nodded. ‘I can imagine. I’ve just been told that the latest trouble spot is London Bridge.’
‘That’s one of many. There’s a lot of bother again in Tottenham, Peckham and Stratford, and mobs are even heading towards the Yard from both ends of the Embankment. Riot police are in place to push them back, but it looks as though there’s going to be one hell of a battle.’
‘Sounds like it’s being organised to me,’ Anna said.
‘Oh, much of it is. We understand that some of the targeting is being coordinated through social media, especially Facebook and Twitter. There are now dozens of hashtags relating to the riots and they’re all trending. It’s aimed at stretching our resources. We can’t be everywhere, but the rioters can if they can mobilise enough support and so far that’s not been a problem for the gangs and anarchists behind it. Some of the spooks at MI5 are even speculating that the Russians have got involved in order to make things worse. They believe they’re behind some of the incendiary online posts and rants that are encouraging riotous behaviour.’
Nash said he would say something about the riots at the briefing, prompting Anna to glance through her office window into the ops room.
‘I think we can get on with the meeting now, sir,’ she said. ‘It looks like everyone is here.’