Glass cleared his throat. ‘So a businessman living in Lithuania is murdered while visiting another Lithuanian businessman living here. How is that related to the boy in the cellar?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Phil. ‘But we’ll find out if it is.’
‘Looking at it logically,’ said Glass, ‘it sounds like a business rival waiting until Weaver’s out of the country to do the dirty deed, somewhere he can’t be investigated. I’m sure he had rivals in Lithuania. Like the Wild West over there.’
‘You might be right, sir,’ said Phil, clearly irritated at the interruption, ‘and we’ll be looking into it. That’s one avenue. The other is that it’s connected with what we discovered yesterday.’
Glass shrugged.
‘We’re keeping an open mind.’ Phil looked again at his DS. ‘Thanks, Mickey.’
Mickey nodded, making eye contact as he did so.
Phil knew what that look meant. Mickey was grateful to him for not mentioning the fact that he had recognised Weaver from somewhere else. That was an angle that the two of them had agreed Mickey should work on his own. If it panned out, great. Another lead. If it didn’t, well these things happened in police work.
‘Could it have been a professional hit?’ asked Anni.
‘Well,’ said Phil, ‘I have to say, there didn’t seem to be anything professional about it. It was one of the most horrific murders I’ve ever seen. Ferocious. You usually see something like that only if it’s personal. So we don’t know yet. Not until we have more information.’
‘What about leads? Clues?’ Adrian this time.
‘Nothing much,’ said Jane Gosling. ‘But someone answering the description of the tramp we pulled in yesterday was seen in the area.’
‘What?’ Phil looked at the assembled faces. ‘I thought he was still being questioned. On whose say-so was he released?’
Glass leaned forward. ‘On mine.’
Phil looked puzzled and a little angry. ‘Why?’
Glass held up his hands. ‘Did you think he was our murderer?’
‘No, but-’
‘Exactly. So I let him go.’
‘But he could have seen something. Could have known something.’
‘There was nothing more he could tell us,’ said Glass. ‘He was questioned thoroughly. I’m sure everyone who spoke to him agrees that whoever got that boy into the cellar was younger and fitter than the tramp. And more capable of planning. Our chap wasn’t even capable of being a fully functioning human being. And certainly not strong enough.’
‘Couldn’t he have been on drugs?’ said Mickey.
‘Almost certainly,’ said Glass.
‘Well you never know,’ continued Mickey, backing up his boss, ‘once they get something inside them… ’
Glass was clearly irritated at being questioned. ‘I let him go. It was my decision and I stand by it. We move on.’
‘And now,’ said Phil, ‘he turns up at a hotel where one of the guests is murdered.’
Glass’s voice was rising. ‘If it was the same man, Detective Inspector.’
‘Let’s follow it up. See if it was.’
Glass said nothing. But the silence made it clear what he thought of Phil’s words. Phil waited for another interruption, but none came.
‘Please continue, Detective Inspector.’
Phil continued.
‘So that’s where we are with it. We’re looking at Weaver’s life. Looking for enemies, both here and abroad. Friends also. We’re now following up on sightings of the tramp, too. We’re not letting anything go.’
‘Thank you,’ said Glass. He stood up, ready to take over.
‘I’m not quite finished,’ said Phil.
Glass sat down again, reluctantly.
‘I realise that we’re operating two cases simultaneously. I also know that usually they would both be upgraded, given a proper operating budget. Of course, in these straitened times, that might not be possible.’ He looked at Glass, who made no response. ‘Well, bearing that in mind, I’ve asked an old friend of mine to join us. A retired detective who’s put in a fair few years’ service. We’ve been trying to get him back to go over cold cases for ages, and he’s agreed to give us a hand working on these two.’
Phil looked at the double doors.
‘Don Brennan.’
On cue, Don entered.
And Glass’s agitation increased massively.
45
Phil noticed Glass’s response straight away. Don didn’t. He just walked into the room, smiled and nodded, found an empty chair, sat down.
‘Thanks, Don,’ said Phil, smiling. ‘Good to see you.’
‘Thanks for asking me.’
Phil was surprised. As soon as Don had entered the room, the years seemed to have fallen away from him. He was no longer Phil’s adoptive father and Josephina’s grandad, but a police officer again. Even his walk was different. Stronger. More purposeful.
And then there was the effect he had had on Glass. Out of character. Maybe Glass didn’t like Phil exercising his authority. Well, tough. Phil had already cleared it with him, mentioned Don by name. Glass had given the go-ahead. Perhaps he hadn’t been expecting such a public announcement.
Phil put it to the back of his mind, continued.
‘Right,’ he said. ‘Anni. The boy?’
‘Yeah. Right.’ Anni stood up. Addressed the room. ‘Well I think we’re in this for the long haul.’ She looked down at her notes, looked up again. ‘There’s a child psychologist been brought in.’ She hesitated, looked at Marina. ‘Perhaps Marina could tell you the technicalities better than me.’
‘We’ll hear your impressions first, Detective Constable Hepburn,’ said Glass. ‘We can come to the technicalities later.’
Anni paused, looked apologetically at Marina, who shrugged, gave her a small smile. Anni, bolstered by this, continued. ‘As I said, there’s been a child psychologist brought in by Dr Ubha. Marina talked to the boy first, though.’
She raised her eyebrows, giving Marina a signal to speak. Phil knew what his DC was doing. A subtle dig at the DCI. With Anni’s gesture and Mickey backing him earlier, he felt a small swell of pride in his team.
‘Yes,’ said Marina, not standing, ‘I tried to talk to him. Very traumatised. In a very, very bad way. He’s been down there, or somewhere similar, for a long time. And from the way he was talking, I don’t think he was alone.’
Silence in the room. Marina continued.
‘He kept talking about his mother. Worried about her. Wanted to see her.’
‘Natural in a boy who’s been taken away,’ said Glass, interrupting.
Marina didn’t look at him, kept going. ‘True, but I got the impression they had been imprisoned together.’
‘We’ve checked missing persons lists,’ said Jane from the back. ‘Nothing. No one matching the boy’s description. Started on children’s homes, social services, nothing so far.’
‘He’s going to be in hospital for a while,’ said Anni. ‘He’s very weak. They’re working with him. Hopefully he’ll be able to tell us something, give us something to go on. And we’ve got some of his medical results back too.’ She sighed. ‘He’s malnourished to virtually Third World levels, and is a potential breeding ground for so many infections. The hospital have pumped him full of antibiotics. Wherever he’s come from, it’s left him in a hell of a state.’
