Deadly Intent

you, having junkies day and night just up the corridor. It's disgusting.''It looks as if the council is making moves to rehouse everyone.''In the meantime, they have to put up with junkies and dealers.'Anna listened: she heard raised voices. Mrs. Webster was trying to persuade her son to dress; he was refusing, as he was watching something on television. They could hear a low, almost growling voice muttering, and Mrs. Webster trying to cajole him.Anna stood up and looked over to Gordon. 'Maybe we should come back.'Jeremy was refusing to come out of his room. Mrs. Webster was apologetic. 'You see, he does the trolleys in our big Waitrose—you know.

collecting them from the car park. It's just a couple of mornings, but he wants to finish watching his DVD.'

Anna and Gordon made visits to the neighbors, but without much success. Everyone said virtually the same thing: they locked their front doors at night and stayed inside. A number had complained about the drug dealing and a few had called the police out many times.

They returned to the station and added to the incident board the times that Mrs. Webster believed the gunshots had been fired. Anna was keen to know more about their victim, but they were still waiting on the forensic and pathology reports. For lunch she had a sandwich in her office as she typed up her report. She was surprised when her door was tapped and opened before she could say anything.

Cunningham closed the door behind her. 'Tell me what you know about Frank Brandon.'

Anna licked her lips. This would obviously mean discussing the case the two of them had been on together, which meant the possibility of mentioning DCI Langton's name. She hated the fact that, after all this time—almost eighteen months—the sound of his name still made her heart and head ache.

'We were on a really horrific case. The bodies were found in the pigpens.'

'Ah yes, I remember that. So Frank was with you on it, was he?'

'Yes. 1 didn't really know him on a personal level.'

'He took early retirement.. .something about a knee injury.'

'I didn't know that.'

'Before that, he had been with the Drug Squad.'

'I didn't know that either.'

Cunningham had an unnerving way of standing with her arms folded, looking around the room rather than making eye contact. 'So you wouldn't know if he was using?'

'Drugs? No. I only worked with him once, but I truthfully didn't see any sign of him using drugs. But then I had no idea he was married, or that the children in the photograph were his.'

'We're checking that out. We still don't have a formal ID.' Cunningham pursed her lips. 'Doesn't make sense, does it? What would he be doing in that shithole? If he needed to score, then he would have had a lot of easier contacts.''I would think so,' Anna said.'You got nothing from the neighbor who did the call-out for the police?''No, ma'am, we didn't. We weren't able to question her son. He was also in the flat at the time, but he suffers from autism and didn't want to speak to us.''Anything from any of the other neighbors?''No. All said the same thing— that the dealers had been working there for several months. I can't believe the local cops didn't do more to bust the place. Apparently they dealt in the day as well as at night, with a lot of vehicles coming and going.''Wasn't Jimmy Langton on that piggery case?'Anna felt her cheeks flush. 'Yes. He led the inquiry.''Right. I know him—great guy. You've heard he's been made Chief Superintendent? Virtually running the Murder Squad?'Anna nodded.'You liked working with him?''Very much.'Cunningham now looked directly at Anna. 'We must be very different.''I'm sorry?''Is it different working on my team than Langton's?''Well, I can't really say. This is my first day.''1 worked with him.''Did you?' Anna gave a look of surprise. They didn't, to her, seem a good match.'Long time ago, around about the time his first wife died. He fell apart, but picked himself up again. Married again, I think.''Yes, I believe so.' Anna wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. Talking about him physically hurt; she felt as if she was about to have a panic attack.Cunningham was now really unnerving her as she sat perched onthe end of the small desk, her arms still folded. 'Always good to have someone like him at the top. Most of the top line are wankers, but Langton—he's the business. I admire him; got great energy, and he's fearless—doesn't take any prisoners.'Anna felt right now that she was his prisoner—knowing what she did, knowing how dangerous a man he was, how he had covered up his part in a murder, albeit of the most despicable killer. It had happened on the hideous murder investigation when the bodies of a mother and child had been fed to pigs, and Langton had, at the same time and against all odds, recovered from a near-fatal attack to head up the inquiry.The killer had died after being interrogated by Langton, and Anna was certain that Langton had engineered his death. He had made her a part of it, because she knew what he had done and yet kept her silence.'He could be a mean bastard, though.' Cunningham picked up one of Anna's sharpened pencils. 'So how did Frank get along with him?''I think they were on good terms.''Very cagey, aren't we?''No, ma'am, it's just you are asking me about things I haven't the information to give you answers on.''He screw you?''I'm sorry?' Anna had to catch her breath.'I said, Did he screw you? All right, don't answer. I can see by your hot flush he didn't. My, my, you are a straitlaced little madam, aren't you?' With that, Cunningham slid off Anna's desk and took the mere two paces needed to get to the door. 'Okay. See you out there; briefing in half an hour.' She closed the door behind her.Anna shut her eyes. She should have been angry at the personal cross-questioning, but it had taken her so off guard, she hadn't been able to think straight. Cunningham obviously didn't know how close Anna had been with Langton, but that didn't calm her. She felt sure that, at some point, Cunningham would find out and know that she had lied.

CHAPTER 3

Anna went to the washroom and splashed cold water over her face. By the time she returned to the incident room, the team had gathered. They were waiting for Cunningham to join them. After a few minutes, she strode into the room and took up position in front of the board. She seemed on edge.'Okay, let's have quiet, please,' she said loudly. Everyone became attentive. Cunningham folded her arms: a noticeable gesture, though one she did almost unconsciously. 'Right, we have a really explosive situation on our hands, as well as a tragic one.'Cunningham, in her low, cultured voice, seemed angry at the wait for the forensic and pathology reports. They had no details on any of the suspected dealers, so the hope was they would get results from the fingerprints taken from the flat. They still had no formal identification of their victim but, as the wallet had contained his ID card, they were presuming it to be ex-Detective Inspector Frank Brandon. His fingerprints, which would have been held on file, were being checked against the body. Whether he was on drugs would only be known when the labs were through testing.Cunningham took out a packet of Polo mints, unwrapped the roll, and took her time, carefully selecting one and sucking it, before she spoke again. 'Why was our victim there? To score—or was he working for someone else? He was ex-Drug Squad, so would have many contacts, though, so far, we have not got any details of them, nor do we know if he contacted any of his old buddies. He was there for a reason and we need to find out exacdy what that was.'Anna said nothing, doodling on her notepad. It seemed to her to be obvious that the reason had to be drugs.Cunningham continued. 'I want you all back to the estate. I want everyone reinterviewed, as we need something, anything, to give us a clue to the identity of these thugs. All we know is that at around three o'clock in the morning, an argument broke out, shots were fired, Mrs. Webster called the police, and, after the call, she heard a further three or four shots. This brings us to the ballistic report; they hasten to add it is a very rushed job, but I put them under pressure. Two guns were used.'Cunningham opened her notebook and detailed how many gunshot wounds the victim had sustained. The first shots were fired through the door; this was then opened, to fire more shots into his head and neck.Anna leaned forward; she was confused. Two weapons? If gunshots had been fired into Frank's chest, they would have brought him to his knees; yet she was certain she had seen fine blood spattering on the wall behind the victim, high up, as if he had been shot in the face and head area first, before the chest. She made a note to question the forensic officer she had seen at the scene of crime.Ballistics were confirming the make of weapon, but had already suggested they were automatics; in other words, handheld weapons. If two guns were fired, that possibly meant two shooters, but they still had no confirmation how many drug dealers were in the squat; there could have been three or four.'Right now,' Cunningham went on, 'we don't have the faintest idea who we are looking for. The men seen by the tenants all fit the same description: gray anoraks with hoods drawn up over their heads, so we can't even ascertain their age, never mind their ethnic origin.