‘Claudia?’ Brady said, stopping her from hanging up.
‘Go on,’ she said.
‘My informant said that the Lithuanian Ambassador is tied up with the Dabkunas brothers. Do you know anything about this ambassador?’ Brady questioned.
He had no choice but to ask. They had taken a girl in front of his eyes, there was one lying murdered in a hospital refrigerator and another, a copper, fighting for her life.
Brady heard Claudia take an intake of breath.
‘What?’ he questioned. ‘What do you know?’ he repeated when she didn’t answer.
‘I … I’ve had some contact with him. Not personally, but with his PA and secretary. I’m supposed to be at a speech he’s giving at the Civic Centre this afternoon in fact, but obviously I’m prioritising this case.’ Claudia’s voice faltered as she tried to get her thoughts together.
‘Go on.’
‘There’s a big formal dinner tonight at 8:30pm being held at the Grand Hotel in Tynemouth. I have to be there, as does James … I mean DCI Davidson. You see, the ambassador’s over here supporting our sex trafficking unit because it’s the first of its kind in the North East. And, given that a lot of Eastern European girls are trafficked and held as sex slaves in the UK, he’s doing as much as he can to highlight the plight of the women who’ve gone missing from his country.’
There was a long silence.
‘Jack?’ Claudia said, an edge of panic in her voice when he didn’t say anything. ‘Whatever you do, keep what you’ve just told me to yourself, will you? You go around making allegations like that, then you’ll be kicked off the force without a pension. With nothing.’
‘I only asked if you knew anything about him,’ Brady replied. ‘I’m not going to take it to O’Donnell. I’m not that stupid.’
‘Good,’ answered Claudia. ‘Because from what I’ve gathered, Chief Superintendent O’Donnell has worked very hard to get the Ambassador’s support. You know, good publicity and everything. Especially for my unit. And O’Donnell isn’t the only one involved here, I know that Mayor Macmillan is hosting this dinner tonight. And that he has had quite a few dealings with the Ambassador over the past six months trying to set up some business between Lithuania and the North East.’
‘I
‘For God’s sake, Jack! Don’t be ridiculous. You have the word of a snitch – a questionable one at that – against that of someone like Mayor Macmillan. I know who I’d choose.’
‘That’s what makes us so different,’ replied Brady.
His phone started to beep.
‘Look, get back to me if anything comes up,’ Brady said before disconnecting Claudia.
He expected more of her.
He answered the new call. ‘Brady.’
Rubenfeld’s irritated voice came over the line. ‘Why didn’t you get back to me, Jack? I’ve got better things to do than chasing you up on a Sunday.’
‘Look, yesterday was one hell of a day,’ Brady explained by way of an apology.
‘Save your breath and meet me. This is for your benefit, not mine.’
‘Can’t you just save time and tell me now? I’m up to my neck in it, Rubenfeld.’
‘You and me both,’ answered Rubenfeld. ‘And no, what I have to tell you has to be in person.’
‘Where?’ asked Brady.
He knew that the hardened hack must have some crucial information to be insisting on meeting him.
‘The Cluny at 2:00pm,’ instructed Rubenfeld. ‘Alright?’
‘It’ll have to bloody be alright, won’t it!’ He took a deep breath. ‘Why the Cluny?’
The Cluny was a pub located off the beaten track down under Byker Bridge. It was one of those pubs that you had to know about, which made Brady curious as to why Rubenfeld wanted to meet there.
‘Out the bloody way of prying eyes and ears,’ answered Rubenfeld.
‘What’s this connected with?’ asked Brady, starting to feel uneasy.
‘Everything! Just get your arse in gear!’
Brady dragged heavily on his cigarette as Conrad parked up next to the Cluny in full view of the overhead Byker Bridge. The morning had gone slowly; too slowly. No new developments, nothing. He felt as if the team were chasing their own tails and getting nowhere fast.
Brady stared over at the pub wondering exactly what it was that Rubenfeld had for him. The Cluny was located in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle where it shared a former flax spinning mill with local artists, offices and recording studios.
It was well known locally and internationally, and often listed as one of the top 100 world’s best bars. It was a live music venue as well as a pub and a cafe. Brady couldn’t fault the place. Great music, good beer and appetising food. On an average day, he couldn’t ask for more from life. However, today wasn’t a typical day; it was far from it.
Brady turned to Conrad. ‘Can you chase up Daniels and Kenny? We should know by now whether they’ve found any evidence of anything suspicious around the land and buildings that Ronnie Macmillan’s bought up. And remind them that they’ve to keep their eyes out for a black Jaguar.’
‘Yes, sir,’ nodded Conrad.
‘Any word back on Adamson’s case?’ Brady asked, knowing even as he spoke that it was a dumb question. He knew that he would be the last person to hear of any developments on Simone Henderson’s attack.
‘No, sir,’ Conrad confirmed coolly.
Conrad had talked to Amelia earlier, but if the team had any new information she wasn’t sharing it. Whether it was because she was worried Conrad would report it straight back to his boss, he wasn’t sure. Conrad didn’t like Brady’s unhealthy interest in Adamson’s investigation. Even less so as it was becoming clear that Brady’s mind was torn between his own murder case and something else. Not that Brady would ever admit it, but it was obvious that something or someone had got to him. And Conrad presumed that was why they were parked up outside the Cluny for a meeting with an informant of Brady’s. But whatever information Brady would glean, Conrad was pretty sure he wouldn’t be party to it.
‘And can you get an update from Harvey?’ asked Brady. ‘We should have heard by now whether any of Melissa Ryecroft’s friends have any information on this Marijuis character. And Conrad, I need you to personally run a check on him and his brother, starting with the Lithuanian authorities. I want to know everything you can find out about them. Exactly what it is they do now, who they work for and why they’re in the North East.’
He was certain that if Harvey had gleaned anything, he would have been in touch immediately. But it was still worth putting a bit of pressure on him.
‘While you’re waiting for me I need you to analyse the CCTV footage that Daniels and Kenny sent us.’
‘Yes, sir,’ answered Conrad leaning over and picking up his laptop.
He tried to keep his expression neutral but the last place he wanted to be doing this kind of work was sitting in his car while he multitasked as Brady’s chauffeur. Yet he knew his boss had no choice: forensics were still searching for any traces of evidence left behind with the black bin liner containing the victim’s head. And Brady had made it quite clear that he didn’t trust anyone else to drive him around – something which only increased Conrad’s concern about how far the note left in Brady’s car was causing his boss to spiral to the point where he couldn’t think straight.
‘We’re looking for two Eastern European-looking men being driven around in a black Mercedes with a Lithuanian licence plate,’ stated Brady.
‘Yes, sir,’ replied Conrad, his brain racing as he tried to keep track of Brady’s demands.
Brady thought of Daniels and Kenny. They had spent the past morning and early afternoon laboriously going over the airport footage. Neither one had spotted anything unusual. But Brady didn’t accept their findings, which was why Conrad would now have to redo their job.
‘Thanks, Conrad,’ Brady said as he got out the car.
