Cold Revenge (Willis/Carter #6)(89)

Her eyes could still see only darkness or she was blind from the hammer attack. She tried listening very hard and heard a scratching on the roof above her, a scratching on metal. Was she in a lorry? She could hear nothing else, no one talking, no sound of traffic, just the scratching on the roof. She smelt a musty scent of old meat, the scent of something long since dead in a airless place.





Chapter 44


Willis drove to Wandsworth Prison and checked in with Officer Kowalski. She watched him look through her bag before she said, ‘Do you like your job?’

‘I do, as a matter of fact. I get on pretty well with the prisoners and we do a good job here; it’s rewarding.’

‘A lot of stuff gets into prisons that shouldn’t, doesn’t it?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so, but we try and keep it to a minimum. It’s the drugs we are most concerned about.’

‘We know that Douglas has access to phones in here.’

‘I can’t comment on that.’ He finished examining her backpack.

‘I hope you search Douglas’s cell as thoroughly as you searched my bag?’

‘Of course.’ He was watching her, trying to guess what she was going to say next.

‘That’s reassuring.’ She nodded slowly, thoughtfully. ‘We know that when he was on work parties, accompanied by you, he was left to his own devices and during that time he met his disciples. Maybe he wasn’t even left to his own devices, maybe you helped organise it?’ He stared at her with loathing. ‘Is your job going to be paying for your mortgage when you and your fiancée get married?’ He didn’t reply. ‘Jimmy Douglas is the master of getting into people’s heads and finding out their desires, what did he promise you?’ asked Willis.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did you want to see Mr Douglas today?’

‘Did he promise you a cut in something he was planning when he got out?’

‘Of course not. You have something on me then make a formal complaint.’

Willis nodded. ‘I will. I hope you understand the gravity of the evidence stacking up against you? I hope it’s been worth it. He’s played you for a fool.’

Willis sat opposite Douglas in the interview room and looked him over. He seemed stressed. His face was saggy, his eyes puffy, the colour of shifting mud. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

‘What did you want to see me about?’ Willis asked as she laid out her notebook and tape recorder on the desk. She saw Douglas’s eyes linger for two seconds on the pencil she had brought with her and picked it up in her hands.

‘I saw you at the press conference. You were sitting next to Detective Chief Inspector Dan Carter. I saw it and you know what I thought? I thought that nice girl has set her heart on betraying me and that made me sad, after all the things we’ve shared.’

‘I have told you a lot about my life, but got nothing relevant in return. I have found out that three of your disciples are in business together. Cathy Dwyer is in charge, Stephen Perry is her emotional crutch and Gavin Heathcote is the strong arm. We have traced all your visits to work placements and discovered that you met the new associates that Cathy and Stephen are in business with; you met them a year ago. You have phones, we know that. You have been communicating all this time with your disciples. We have all we need to keep you in here.’

‘Are you threatening me?’

‘No, just stating facts. You should have come out quietly and stayed low but you wanted to come out to a fanfare, didn’t you? You wanted people to know that you had come out of prison bigger and better than ever? The world is different outside now. You think you can make your deals with criminal bosses and scheme away and it will be okay but you weren’t discreet enough. Cathy and Stephen weren’t clever enough. Gavin wasn’t bright enough, why? Because they were all taught by you and you just can’t make it on the outside now. We are never going to stop looking for your victims.’

‘What are you waiting for then, charge me!’

‘Yvonne Coombes has gone missing. If you know who took her you need to tell us now.’

‘I don’t know where Yvonne is.’

‘Did you order someone to kill her?’

‘How could I possibly have done that from in here?’

‘Easily. We know the deal you have struck with the Mafia. We know that Perry and Dwyer and you are going into the restaurant business – or rather you hope to, but from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t look likely to happen. After all, we now have Stephen Perry in custody and we will be charging him with his part in the death and the disposal of Tony Poulson’s body, possibly the others as well.’

‘Was Yvonne’s testimony going to form the basis of your allegations?’

Willis stared at him and realised he knew it was Yvonne who had made a statement to the police. ‘No, not Yvonne,’ Willis lied. ‘We have people coming forward every hour, since the press conference. People realise you’re in danger of getting away with it again. They don’t want you to get out. They don’t want you to get rich on the back of themed restaurants. We now have full permission from the people in charge to really look for evidence against you. It’s not proving too difficult. If you know where Yvonne is, tell me and I can help you still.’