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It was after midnight by the time CID escorted Mark Jameson to the police station. The custody sergeant completed the relevant paperwork and he was taken to an interview room to await questioning. Sometimes it could take several hours to obtain a duty solicitor, depending on how busy things were during the night. So after being given refreshments, a cup of tea and some biscuits he was given the option to get some sleep in one of the cells whilst a solicitor was arranged.
Andy Walters was exhausted but he wanted to find Zac Milburn, there was no possibility of him getting any sleep tonight until he knew whether he was in the flat. A sergeant brought him the warrant so he went off to find Inspector Mills. Together they went back to Zac’s flat where they would meet the team with the battering ram and the dog handler. They were both running on adrenalin, sleep could wait for a few hours.
**
Cole answered his mobile and listened.
‘It’s done,’ said the caller.
‘Thanks,’ said Cole and ended the call.
His boys had done well, they hadn’t disappointed. It was a pity about Zac but he was becoming a danger to everyone, his whole organisation. He’d used Zac before and consequently, there was the worry that he had found out something about the organisation he was supplying, It was better not to take chances. Zac had not been particularly careless, it had been unfortunate he’d had a nosy colleague. Never mind, he would just have to find a replacement.
**
Inspector Chris Mills and Detective Sergeant Andy Walters plus a uniformed officer pulled into the car park at Zac’s flat, waiting for the sniffer dog team. There had been no sightings of Zac there in the last few hours. The inspector checked his phone and took a sip of water, he hoped that if Mr Milburn were holed up inside he would come quietly without protest. The dog handler entered the car park and the CID officers plus a uniformed officer got out of the car and walked over to the entrance. They radioed the uniformed police inside the flats to come down and release the main door. They rang the bell on the flat door simultaneously hammering on the wood, ‘police open up!’ Motioning for quiet the inspector put his ear to the door to listen. He could hear nothing, so the battering ram was pressed into action. As it made contact with the door adjacent to the lock the wood splintered rendering the lock impotent.
Seconds later the team of police barged in shouting Zac’s name. They were met with silence. Checks of all the rooms revealed nobody was present. A cloud of disappointment descended.
‘Shit,’ said Chris, banging his hand against the wall, ‘he’s either out or he’s legged it.’
The dog handler allowed the spaniel to start a systematic check through the flat. Whilst this was happening the two CID officers headed outside to the car park to get some fresh air.
‘Fuck, this is so annoying,’ said Andy, scuffing the ground with his foot. The effect of the adrenalin was now wearing off and tiredness was beginning to overwhelm him.
‘We’ll get him, I’m determined to catch the scumbag,’ said his colleague, trying to offer encouragement. ‘It’s possible he’s staying out all night. Perhaps he’s getting his leg over at this very moment!’ he joked.
Andy did smile at that comment but he was still anxious. It would not look good if they were proved to have been too keen to lay the blame on Nick Thomas and had not given enough credence to his testimony. He took out his phone and made the necessary arrangement to get someone out to repair the door and also to ask for relief uniformed officers to remain in position overnight.
‘Nice flats these,’ said Chris casually, ‘good to have off-street parking as well, and it’s secluded with the hedge around it, shouldn’t be too much worry about vandalism here, don’t you think?’
‘Yes, it’s a nice block really,’ replied Andy, not really feeling like discussing the attractiveness of the area. Andy wandered around the parking area, stretching his legs and trying to relieve some of the tension in his limbs. Although it was night there was a powerful security light over the parking bays. He could see something next to the car they now knew to be Zac’s. It was partly under the car and as he approached he saw immediately what it was.
Inspector Mills wandered over curious to see what his colleague had noticed. Andy had by now used his foot to nudge the item out from under the car. They both looked down at the casual trainer style shoe.
‘Interesting,’ said Andy using a pen out of his jacket to turn over the shoe. Using the torch on his mobile he could see that it was a size eleven. ‘Better get this bagged as evidence,’ and he sighed. ‘How tall is Zac Milburn, six feet according to Nick Thomas, a bit more?’
‘Something like that,’ replied his fellow officer.
‘We need to see if we can find a spare set of keys in the flat to open up the boot of this car. Failing that someone will need to get the car open. I don’t want to look a complete idiot if he’s in the boot. Fuck, this is so annoying.’
His colleague radioed the uniform team to look for some spare car keys and they both stood waiting for the response.
‘Andy, we’ll find him,’ said the inspector.
‘It’s always possible that he dropped it out of a gym bag or something but I’m starting to worry that we might be too late to speak to Mr Milburn,’ Andy said gravely.
