‘I follow, Harry,’ Lowry said, sounding unimpressed. ‘And you’re saying abductions of minors weren’t on your exception list, is that it?’
‘Too many hot spots, Gavin!’ Jackson cried indignantly. ‘It could happen anywhere, see? You’d need your ninety-six cameras just to cover that one exception, not to mention the archiving system you’d need to establish a seven-day memory, say, or longer, before you realised that an abduction had in fact taken place. Because one thing you can be sure of, Mr Brock, is that no little girl was dragged kicking and screaming from this place without us knowing about it. If she went, she went willingly, and you’d never even know you’d got an exception on your hands till long after the event. You got me there?’
‘Yes, Harry, I understand,’ Brock said, weariness creeping into his voice. ‘What about your tenants? Banks, building societies, big stores… there must be dozens of CCTV systems in this place apart from yours?’
‘True, and all different. But I think you’d be lucky to find anyone now with a tape going back to Monday. But we will certainly help you find out. One thing you will discover, I can assure you, is that my team will be behind you all the way.’
‘Many thanks, Harry. As a first step, we’d like to take all your surveillance tapes away for analysis.’
‘But Mr Brock, I just explained. They’ll only go back to first thing this morning, last night at most. I thought-’
‘All the same, Harry, we’d better check them all, just to be on the safe side. Is that a problem?’
Jackson shrugged. ‘No, no problem. We’ve got plenty of new tapes we can use. That right, Speedy?’
Speedy gave a brief nod, and Jackson gave instructions to a couple of his staff to gather up the tapes in boxes.
It was only as they were leaving that Kathy noticed that Speedy’s chair had wheels. She said nothing until they were outside in the underground service road, then she asked Jackson, ‘Speedy’s handicapped, is he?’
‘Paralysed from the waist down, Kathy. Motorbike accident, about five years ago. Hence his name. I’d known him long before then. He’d been a bit of a tearaway in the old days, and when I was at West Ham he was a snout of mine for a while. I fixed him up with this job. Speedy Reynolds is living proof that our company’s disability action plan is more than just pious words.’
Kathy wondered if he was being sarcastic, but the expression on his face was all sincerity. Harry Jackson was that sort of a bloke, it seemed.
‘Hell of a job he’s got,’ Lowry murmured.
‘But it’s as if he was born to it, Gavin,’ Jackson replied. ‘They all take turns at the consoles but he’s the best camera control operator I’ve ever come across. He never loses interest or concentration. I don’t know how he does it, frankly. It would drive me barmy.’
As he took them back along the service road, Brock striding ahead, Kathy heard him say quietly to Lowry, ‘Here’s the number of my mobile, Gavin. Give me a ring direct anytime you think I might be able to help. You don’t need to go through the boss upstairs. Especially if you think you’ve spotted any little problems with the security here, know what I mean?’
Lowry nodded. ‘Rough with you, is she, Harry?’
‘She’s tougher than she looks. Often the way with the ladies these days, eh?’ Harry said, and seeing that Kathy was listening to their conversation, he chanced a wink in her direction. ‘This way, Mr Brock,’ he called out, and led them into a side service corridor, staying this time at the lower level, so that when they finally emerged through a security door into the sudden noise and bustle of the mall they found that they were close to the food court surrounding the tropical forest grove. The thinness of the barrier between the bare concrete and block service areas and the exotic glitter of the public areas was disconcerting, as if to confirm that what passed for reality here was no thicker than a skin of chrome or paint.
It was just after ten and the crowds were now thin, dispersing towards the exits and the wet night beyond. The waitresses at Snow White’s Pancake Parlour, identically dressed in laced-front Snow White costumes and incongruously perched on roller skates, were drooping with fatigue beneath their rosy-cheeked, scarlet-lipped make-up as they cleared and wiped down the tables. The manageress confirmed that Kerri Vlasich had a regular shift on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and had worked both the previous weekend, but, like the girls, could add little more.
While Brock and Lowry spoke to them, Kathy noticed Harry Jackson amble over to two men standing in front of the next unit, a Chinese fast-food counter called the Peking Duck. One of the men was Chinese while the other looked like a caricature of an Italian in a gondolier’s striped jersey and red scarf, presumably from Bruno’s Gelati next door. She followed, picking up their conversation.
‘Two weeks to Christmas, and everybody’s going crazy,’ the gondolier was saying, with an expansive Latin sweep of his arms. ‘It’s all very well for Mr Chang here. He can call in half the Chinese population of east London if he needs help, but I have to make do.’ He gestured at a second gondolier, a weary man who looked too old for the part, wiping down the tables outside Bruno’s Gelati. At closer range the Italian seemed even more theatrical, with a florid complexion, his thick black hair, eyebrows and moustache looking fresh from the bottle.
He caught sight of Kathy moving to Jackson’s side. ‘Who’s your new friend then, Harry?’ he asked mischievously. ‘New security officer? Bit of an improvement on your usual crew.’
‘Not quite, Bruno.’ Jackson introduced Kathy to Bruno Verdi and Mr Chang. ‘There’s a bit of a fuss about a missing girl, worked at Snow White’s. They’ve brought in the heavy mob. Sergeant Kolla here is from Serious Crime Branch, Scotland Yard.’
The gondolier appeared surprised, his bushy eyebrows rising.
Mr Chang said anxiously, ‘They must be real worried. I heard the girls mention that someone had been missing from work today.’
‘Worse than that. They found her this morning, murdered.’
Now both men looked shocked.
‘Murdered!’ Chang shook his head in horror. ‘That’s terrible.’
‘There’s been no positive ID on the body yet, Mr Jackson,’ Kathy warned.
‘Worse still,’ Jackson charged on. ‘They reckon she may have been killed here.’
Verdi seemed suddenly immobilised, the colour fading from his face. He swallowed before finding his voice. ‘What was her name?’ he asked hoarsely.
‘Vlasich, Kerri Vlasich,’Kathy said, ‘and she’s still officially only a missing person. I’ve got a photograph…’ She went to open her shoulder bag, but stopped at a sudden movement in front of her. Bruno Verdi had slumped back onto a chair, so abruptly that at first she thought he had fallen. He sat rigid, eyes wide but unseeing, his face startlingly white now against the artificial jet black of his hair.
‘All right, Bruno?’ Harry Jackson looked at him curiously.
Verdi suddenly blinked and shook his head, inhaling deeply. ‘Sure
… sure…’ he mumbled, shaking his head. ‘It’s okay… it’s nothing. I been on my feet all day, that’s all. I’m okay.’
Mr Chang looked concerned. ‘He has blood pressure. I’ll get you a drink of water, Bruno.’
‘Did you know this girl, Mr Verdi?’ Kathy asked.
‘Girl?’ He blinked at her, looking puzzled, as if he’d forgotten who Kathy was.
‘Kerri Vlasich.’ She showed him the photograph.
He stared at the picture for some time, then said simply, ‘I recognise her, yes.’
‘When was the last time you saw her?’
Mr Chang hurried back with a plastic cup, which Verdi took and put to his mouth.
‘I couldn’t say,’ he said at last. ‘They come and go, these girls. Come and go.’
Later, as they left the food court, Jackson filled them in on some of the characters.
‘Bruno Verdi is one of our more colourful tenants, and he has a bit of clout, too. He’s the chairman of the Silvermeadow Small Traders’ Association. Very vocal on security and the like. He’ll be useful in helping us organise things, if it comes to large-scale interviews, talking to staff and so on.’
‘I’ve no doubt it’ll come to that, Harry,’ said Brock.
They were walking around the coral shores of the lagoon that surrounded the volcano.
‘What are the centre’s opening hours?’
‘Normally ten till ten for the general public. Management office nine till five, six days, but Ms Seager’s there longer than that. The building shuts down during the night from eleven till six. During those hours the perimeter’s
