The Sister(110)

Outmanoeuvred, and trapped in a situation he couldn’t afford to have exposed, Kennedy had a sinking feeling. They would not catch this character unless it was red-handed.

With Marilyn gone, he had no one to confide in.





Kennedy wandered down to the cells; he decided he wasn’t going to rush into anything until he’d established a few things for himself. He spoke to the custody officer. ‘Just the one here tonight, Dawson?’

The officer looked up briefly, before continuing with his paperwork. ‘Yes, sir, it’s really quiet and even he isn’t here at the moment. I thought while I have the chance I'd catch up on some admin.’

‘So, what’s the brief on him, Dawson?’

‘He’s been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘Drug squad’s interviewing him, sir.’

‘Drug squad?’

‘Yes, sir,’ and pre-empting the next question, he volunteered. ‘They searched his car, and they not only found a load of jewellery, but they also found a piece of paper hidden in the boot with a phone number on it, sir. No name, just a phone number and he wouldn’t say whose number it was – claims he doesn’t know.’

‘And?’

‘They did a reverse check; turns out the phone number was previously used by someone involved in the illegal importation of class A drugs into the country.’

‘Really? That’s a huge shift from getting picked up for handling stolen goods.’

‘And that’s not all, sir,’ Dawson leaned over the counter, lowering his voice. ‘Some of that jewellery has been linked to the Midnight man break-ins.’

‘Jesus, Dawson, this could be the break we’ve been looking for!’ Suddenly, he had a hunch. ‘I don’t suppose you have a record of the telephone number they found on him?’

‘No, sir, I don’t. All I know is I overheard a DS guy talking about a Danny Lynch.’

What’s Danny Lynch got to do with all this?

‘Let me know when they bring him back down,’ Kennedy said, and turned slowly on his heels to head back to his office, forehead creased with lines of deep contemplation.





Chapter 95



The caller walked into the local branch of Kennedy’s bank and made a cash deposit of five thousand pounds. The cashier printed a receipt and handed it to him. Despite the unusually warm weather, she didn’t pay any attention to the fact he was wearing black leather gloves.

The next stage of his plan was almost complete and once outside he couldn’t resist grinning. His face lit up, but his lips were stretched painfully tight. Concealed behind his moustache, the scar that ran from under his nose down to his upper lip seemed to anchor the lip in place, allowing them to part just enough to reveal his teeth. The backward slope and inwardly slanted arrangement was reminiscent of those of a shark without the sharp tips, but he looked as if he might bite, and if he did, he might not let go. Mostly he kept them concealed. They were not for smiling with. His teeth worked best when they menaced people. His top lip stretched tighter. All you have to do now is plant the receipt.





Kennedy paced across the front of the assembled group, addressing them in a loud voice. ‘We received a tip off over the weekend. There’s to be a shipment of firearms into the country over the next few days,’ he said, and even though he held his hands together, a slight tremble remained evident. ‘According to our sources, it’s a major consignment of semi-automatic weapons, dozens of them; destined for London initially, for onward distribution – Manchester, Bristol, Nottingham – you know the score.’ He eyed each one of the officers in turn. ‘Following on from the same tip off, we apprehended a man named Billy Wharton. A search of his car revealed him to be in possession of a quantity of stolen jewellery, along with a telephone number used by a major criminal linked to the importation of drugs and arms into the country. Wharton denied knowing anything about the arms, the jewellery or the telephone number. Sound familiar?’ he said, attracting a ripple of laughter. ‘We’re currently in the process of trying to trace or match the jewellery to recent burglaries. Some items have already been linked to the so-called Midnight man robberies. We think the organisation responsible is recycling the proceeds of these crimes into the drugs and arms trade; laundering the cash through pubs and clubs.

‘As most of you are aware, we held the suspect in custody for approximately twenty-four hours. We released him without charge yesterday. He’s under surveillance and, as we’ve already been informed of the whereabouts of the rendezvous, arrangements are in hand to stake out the premises. To that end, we’ve secured the unit next door and we’ll have an armed response unit in attendance. We’re told Wharton isn’t due to make contact with the arms gang until tomorrow, and we’re confident the meeting will lead us to the consignment. The intention is to pick them off as discretely as possible, to avoid alerting anyone further up the chain.’ Shifting his balance from one foot to the other, he continued. ‘Intelligence suggests it’s the first of a number of planned drops from planes coming into the remote coastal areas of North Essex and elsewhere. If we can plug this, we have a real chance of disrupting organised crime in the city and giving them a bloody nose. If we can take the ringleaders out, it’ll be a feather in our caps, gentlemen. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you, we can’t afford any mistakes.’ He stopped by the desk at the front and picking up a glass of water took a sip from it. His gaze swept across the assembled team. ‘We need to be ready the minute the call comes in. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you how important it is we get a result here. Any questions?’