considerable amount; he was angry with Julia because of something she had done with his money in England. He said that they were threatening him, so he got up too soon, because he said he had to find Julius D'Anton.'Again, Langton glanced at Anna: this matched up with his audacious visit to the station. He cannot have known D'Anton was dead.Honour was adamant that Fitzpatrick did not have anything to do with Julia's death. She was unsure if he had arranged for the children to be taken, as she did not know about the boat. She said that she did have one call from Fitzpatrick: he was shocked by the news of Julia's accident and also desperate for news of his children. When Honour was asked if, at that time, she felt he was lying, she refused to answer.'But surely you must have seen all the news coverage about the missing children, the au pair?''No, I didn't know. I hardly ever read newspapers.'Anna and Langton stitched together their scenario. They reckoned that, to make sure Fitzpatrick didn't back out of the deal, the two thugs had threatened Julia. Their threats had proved to be very real: they cut her brakes and she died in the accident. Now Fitzpatrick was really up against it, because the police had tracked down all his money. If he withdrew any cash, they would be able to trace him.A depressed and dejected Honour repeated over and over that she did not know where he could be. She had no energy left, her eyes were like dark-rimmed saucers. She asked if she could see her husband, but permission was refused. She yet again repeated that Damien was innocent and had known nothing about the drug deal. She began crying again when she said that Fitzpatrick had promised to take her away and that they would bring up the little girls together.'I have been a fool. He took me in, just as you have said he took everyone else in, but I loved him—I always had from the first time Julia brought him to meet me. She was young, and here was this handsome, charismatic man. I didn't believe all the things I read about him in the papers. Julia didn't even seem concerned. I have spent my whole life scrimping and saving, and living in rented places, while she has lived in the lap of luxury. If Alexander was a criminal, he never seemed to have to pay the price. He was always so glamorous, so generous, and .. .'The tears rolled down her drained face. 'He made me feel special.'Langton stood up, the interview over.'If you think of anywhere he might have gone to ground, it will help your defense if you assist us. We have to find him, Honour.'She made no reply, her head bowed. Her lawyer helped her stand, even picking up her hairpins for her, as she was led out and taken back to the cells, where she would remain until she was brought before amagistrate for the charges to be listed. As with Adrian Summers, Langton expressed concern over bail being granted: he was certain that Fitzpatrick would make contact with her.Gathering up the photographs and paperwork, he sighed as he placed Fitzpatrick s photograph on top of the file. 'The longer he's free, the less likely we are to find him.''I know,' Anna said quietly. She too packed up her notes, placing them into her briefcase.It was in many ways 'case closed,' apart from the capture of Fitzpatrick. Langton headed into the incident room to give an update, and Anna went into her own office.Gordon tapped and entered. 'Well, that was very satisfactory,' he said.'I felt sorry for her in the end. She's going to spend a lot of time in prison, all because she loved him.''But she doesn't know where he is?''No, and to be honest, we don't have the faintest idea either. He's had days to go Christ knows where.''But he's broke and we've got all his passports, so he might not have left the UK.''Maybe not, but the thing about Fitzpatrick is the way he always covers his back. He could have more fake passports stashed, he could even have access to cash—we just don't know.''Where would you go?''Me?''Yes.''Gordon, I have no idea.'Gordon swung the door back and forth. 'Eurostar, St. Pancras—that'd be the best place. Hop on the train, be in Brussels in just over an hour.''Well, we've pumped out his photograph, and we'll probably keep that going until we get something back.''What if we don't get any feedback?'Anna rubbed her head. 'Then we've lost him,' she said flatly.Gordon nodded and then leaned against the door frame. 'Strange isn't it? If it hadn't been for Honour Nolan covering for him, we'd probably have picked him up. If you think about it, we were spot on when we first went to her farmhouse.''Yes,' she said, wishing he would leave.'You were—you had him in your sights from early on.''Yes.''Why do you think Honour took such a risk? She didn't seem the type, you know, to be infatuated. I mean, he's no spring chicken.''There's no reasoning with infatuations. She was taken in by him, fell in love with him. Mix that with envy and sibling rivalry, and don't forget the promises—he must have laid them on with a trowel.''But what about her husband?'Anna shrugged, impatient with Gordon's hovering. 'Open marriage—he's younger than her, screws his students. She maintained that he was totally innocent.''Well, up to a point. He had to have met Fitzpatrick, so he knew who he was—he could have blown the whistle on him.'Anna sighed. 'Gordon, can you hop it? I need to go over Honour Nolan's statements and type up the report.''He's just been released. No charges.'Anna looked up as Gordon strolled out. 'Damien Nolan's been released?''Yeah, he was waiting for a taxi in reception.' The door closed behind Gordon.Anna sat down again. She didn't want to, but she couldn't help thinking about what Gordon had said. In reality, Damien had to have known who Fitzpatrick was.She got up and opened the door. 'Gordon!' she called as he was just turning into the main corridor. 'I asked you to check on Damien Nolan's background, birth and marriage certificates.'Gordon hesitated. 'Shit, yes—I'm sorry, I was going to get onto it but Phil wanted me to do something.''Do it now, Gordon. Thank you.'She closed the door and rested against it for a moment. She then
checked her watch; she knew by the time she had typed up her report and filed it, she wouldn't get out of the station until early evening.
Unlike any other case she had worked on, when coming to the conclusion had always been a high, this felt quite the contrary. Fitting all the jigsaw pieces together at long last should have been a very positive feeling, but the one vital piece was still missing. If Fitzpatrick wasn t captured, it would always remain incomplete.
CHAPTER 25
The following morning, as the team prepared the wrapping up of the case, Anna submitted her report from the previous evening. They still had a list of interviews to be completed, along with various charges, but, to all intents and purposes, the case was closing. Obviously, the search for their prime suspect, Alexander Fitzpatrick, would be ongoing but, even without him in custody, the cases would go for trial.Honour Nolan was taken before the magistrates; she was not granted bail, due to the gravity of the charges leveled against her, and was taken to Holloway Prison. Adrian Summers was to await trial at Brixton Prison. They were minor players in comparison to Fitzpatrick, but they would still have to pay the price of their association with him.The incident board was testament to the complexity of the inquiry; just how many hours of police work had gone into the investigation was obvious. No matter that so many loose ends had been tied up, it was still an unsatisfactory end to a long investigation. Although they did have the drug haul, and they were able to knit together the events from the night Frank Brandon was murdered, charges against his killer were still in the pipeline.The photographs of the victims were being taken down and boxed, ready for the trials:Frank Brandon: shot by a lowlife drug dealer who mistakenly believed he had been at the Chalk Farm drug squat to make an arrestDonny Petrozzo: murdered because of his attempt to force Fitzpatrick into cutting him in on the deal, with an overdose of FentanylDavid Rushton: murdered, again by Fitzpatrick, because of his association with Julia Brandon and his movement of her funds, with an overdose of Fentanyl.Julia Brandon: murdered by persons unknown but possibly the men connected to Fitzpatrick's drug deals, her car brakes tampered with, resulting in a head-on collisionJulius D'Anton: possible death by his own drug addiction and use of Fentanyl, but also connected to FitzpatrickSandra D'Anton: murdered by unknown assailants connected to Fitzpatrick; the suspects were still at large, but one of them had been identified from the thumbprint taken from her neckWhether or not Fitzpatrick was still in the UK was doubtful, but the FBI were keen to continue their search for him, and placed him high up on their Most Wanted lists. The U.S. side were also still searching for the two henchmen.Anna and the team were to wind up the investigations by interviewing Doris Eatwell, to ascertain how much she was involved with protecting her son, Alexander Fitzpatrick, and allowing her premises to be used to hide the crates of Fentanyl. Due to her age, she was not to be held in custody, but she could face charges.When Anna went to see Cunningham to sort out the interview, she found her sitting with her head in her hands, crying.Cunningham took a tissue from a box on her desk and blew her nose. 'I've had some bad news. I won't be here for a few days.''I'm sorry.''My partner collapsed last night and is in hospital. They have found another tumor and ...' She had to wipe her eyes before she could continue. 'If you could hold the fort for me, until I have time to make other arrangements ... DCS Langton is still overseeing the final stages but, until the trials, we are obviously required to see what loose ends we can iron out.'Anna felt that having not traced Fitzpatrick was more than just a loose end, but she didn't think it was the time to bring it up.She returned to the incident room and joined Phil. 'I suppose you've heard: Cunningham is not going to be around for a few days.''Yeah, not that it's that
