He laughed this time.
‘I don’t know his name. But I understand that he is very much alive.’
‘I’d appreciate it if you would let me know if any of your sources of information can identify this man.’
Parker looked at her for a long moment without blinking.
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he said. ‘But whoever he is, I’d stay well clear, you know. Anyone crazy enough to take out Johnson is deserving of respect.’
Irvine took a business card from her pocket and placed it on the table in front of Parker. She stood and waited for Armstrong to do the same.
‘Thank you for your assistance, Mr Parker,’ Irvine said as Armstrong started to rise.
‘I know how to deal with these scumbags,’ Armstrong said, his voice rising.
Irvine stared at him from the passenger seat of the car.
‘And you don’t treat them like that.’
‘Like what?’
‘Giving them any respect or legitimacy.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘He’s a drug dealer and a gangster.’
‘Did we advance the investigation?’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘Maybe not to you. Look, it’s obvious that this guy has done something to get at you in the past. I don’t need to know about it. But he gave us a lead. The rest of it I’ll leave to you SCDEA boys to take care of. You brought me in to look at the deaths. That’s what I’m doing.’
Armstrong looked ready to argue but the fight seemed to drain out of him. He started the car and put his hands on the steering wheel.
‘Ask me about him again when this is all done.’
‘Okay.’
‘But for now you’re right.’
‘What he gave us, if it’s correct, is good stuff. We can link the Johnson case to Hall and Lewski. Get all these cases closed. This is real progress.’
‘Let me see if I follow,’ Armstrong said. ‘Hall goes to work for Johnson. Johnson’s outfit is the one selling the bad gear. For whatever reason, Johnson gets killed and the new boss takes over.’
‘Right. And this new guy must be the one who killed Hall.’
‘It’s a safe bet that Hall gave the drugs to Lewski for sex and then when she died he dumped her body to get rid of the evidence. Or, at least, that was his plan. Then what? Hall’s boss has him taken out for making such a mess.’
‘Seems like he covers his tracks in extreme ways. The boss, I mean.’
‘I agree.’
‘This new guy is obviously a very serious individual.’
15
Armstrong dropped Irvine off before heading over to the SCDEA HQ in Paisley to see if he could find out anything more about a new face on the scene — either from his colleagues or from street contacts. He said he’d call if he got anything concrete.
Irvine opened the CCTV file from Murphy’s e-mail and settled down for a long afternoon. She started watching, fast forwarding through stretches of film that were clearly of no help.
After more than an hour, she noticed a silver Mercedes saloon that she had seen on the film before. She moved backwards and forwards through the film, following the car as best she could. It went south towards the river and out of sight for about twenty minutes before reappearing heading north.
‘What were you doing down at the river?’ she said aloud.
Dumping Joanna Lewski’s body.
She reviewed the film again until she found a clear shot of the car’s licence plate and wrote it in her notes before calling DVLA. When she got through to the section she needed she explained who she was, gave her warrant card number and asked for confirmation of the registered keeper of the Mercedes.
She wrote down the name that the operator gave her: Russell Hall.
She called Armstrong and told him what she had found — asked if he had heard anything from his colleagues.
‘Nothing so far. Most of the guys here didn’t even know that Hall had left Frank Parker’s organisation. He’s covered his tracks well.’
‘You coming back here today?’
‘Probably not. There’re still some people I can talk to. Maybe hit the streets as well, to find some sources.’
Irvine looked at her watch. It was approaching four in the afternoon.
‘I guess we’ve done what we can today,’ she said. ‘It all starts again tomorrow with the lab results from Hall’s scene.’
‘We’re a step closer than we were. That’s something.’
‘Sure,’ she said, not convinced.
‘You heard from your new best pal yet?’
She didn’t know what he was talking about and said so.
‘Frank Parker.’
Irvine sighed. ‘No. And get over it.’
Part Eight:
1
Seth Raines dressed in a pair of Khaki Dockers and a black shirt. He was watching TV when his mobile phone rang. He recognised the number as being the passenger that he had taken up to the compound.
‘Everything is checked out at my end,’ the man on the other end of the line said. ‘Now it’s up to you. When do you want to exchange?’
‘I need to speak to my team.’
‘I appreciate that there’s a lot to prepare.’ The man paused. ‘Do you have any security concerns?’
Raines wondered if the man was also having him followed and knew about his FBI shadows. Whatever. Honesty was how he liked to do business.
‘The FBI are following me.’
‘That’s unfortunate.’
‘They don’t have anything on me. It’s harassment.’
‘Why?’
‘In the past I’ve had occasion to put some things in writing that may have upset some people. Given them a false impression of who I am and what I might do.’
‘False impression?’
‘Yes. Plus, we think that one of them was trying to infiltrate our team.’
