The Girl In The Ice (Detective Erika Foster, #1)(92)

‘I know, but we’ve got stuff here from the CPS and court records which have been altered. It shows Igor Kucerov was given some special treatment during a trial! Someone has been in and altered official records . . . Could he have come back on a bus, a car or a coach, and then gone back and . . .’

Crane scratched his head. ‘It’s feasible, boss, I suppose.’

‘Let’s stop supposing and find out. I want pictures from passport control, CCTV when he arrived in Romania; a digital footprint confirming that Igor Kucerov left the country on December 31st and came back on January the 15th.’

‘Yes, boss.’

‘And remember, the clock is ticking,’ said Erika, looking at her watch. ‘We’ve got nineteen hours.’

Erika came back outside and met Peterson and Moss in the corridor. She told them that Igor Kucerov could have been out of the country when Andrea vanished.

‘So this means that he didn’t kill Andrea, or Ivy. We can’t pin him directly to their murders,’ said Moss.

Erika shook her head.

‘What about the other girls? Tatiana Ivanova, Mirka Bratova and Karolina Todorova? We have the dates when they were discovered. Can we find out where he was?’ asked Peterson.

‘There are only loose forensics for the first three girls, and for the times when they vanished. Besides, I came out publicly and linked those three murders with Andrea and Ivy. And I believe they are linked. Unless it’s a copycat? Jesus, this is just so complicated,’ said Erika, rubbing her face. She saw a look pass between Moss and Peterson. ‘What is it? Spit it out.’

‘Simon Douglas-Brown’s solicitor is really kicking off. He’s been trying to phone the Assistant Commissioner,’ explained Moss.

‘He’s trying to phone Oakley?’

‘Yes. And it wasn’t through the switchboard; he has Oakley’s direct line.’

‘Did he get through?’

‘No, not yet. Oakley is away on a mini-break.’

‘He’s on a mini-break. Marsh is wining and dining his wife on a painting holiday . . . Who the hell is in charge around here?’

‘Well, boss. Technically, you are,’ explained Peterson.

‘Good point. Okay, well, let’s have a crack at Giles Osborne,’ said Erika, determinedly.





65





Giles Osborne sat in the interview room with an embittered face, as Erika and Peterson filed in with Giles Osborne’s solicitor, another grey man in a good suit, called Phillip Saunders.

After Erika had read out the formalities for the tape, she put the same questions to Giles, asking about the forty-six thousand pounds he had received from Simon Douglas-Brown and why he had then transferred it to Mercury Investments, owned by Igor Kucerov.

Giles leaned towards his solicitor, his mouth close to the man’s ear, murmuring.

‘My client would need to appraise his accounts fully, to answer on this matter,’ said the solicitor.

‘Here’s the bank statements,’ said Erika, pushing them across the table. ‘You can clearly see the money coming into one account, and going out to the other. How much more do you need to appraise? Mercury Investments is a landscape gardening company. Yakka Events have very little in the way of gardens.’

Giles tapped his finger to his lips, pausing. Finally, he said, ‘I believe that the money was used to source a rare tree from New Zealand.’

‘What?’ said Peterson.

‘I wanted it to be the centrepiece of my courtyard, the tree. I forget its name,’ said Giles, smoothly. ‘I can, in due course, produce an invoice with proof of this. You are aware that Mr Kucerov owns a landscape gardening business?’

‘Yes,’ said Erika.

‘Then, mystery solved. That is why I transferred forty-six thousand pounds to his account.’

‘He trims hedges and mows lawns, albeit on a large scale,’ said Erika.

‘And Simon Douglas-Brown has no knowledge of this deal?’ added Peterson.

‘And why would he? He was a sleeping partner. We agreed he would buy a certain amount of shares, making him a part owner in Yakka Events. I believe he now owns 13.8%, to be precise. But, as you can see, I can’t access that information because you dragged me out of bed first thing in the morning and confiscated my devices.’ Giles smiled at Erika sarcastically.

‘How were you introduced to Igor Kucerov?’ asked Erika.

‘Through Andrea,’ he said.

‘And you are aware that Andrea was involved in a sexual relationship with Kucerov?’

‘At the time, no. You’ve since shown me photographs, of course.’

‘Do you know how Andrea met Igor Kucerov?’

‘I think she said something about, um, a friend – Barbora something . . .’

‘Kardosova, Barbora Kardosova?’

‘I think so, yes.’

‘And did you know that Barbora Kardosova was involved in a relationship with Igor Kucerov?’

Giles looked baffled and shook his head.

‘My client has answered your questions in relation to the forty-six thousand pound investment; I don’t see why he has to answer questions about the friend of his fiancée’s private relationships,’ said the solicitor.

Erika and Peterson stared at Giles across the table.