Demiri waited until Tavender had closed the door behind him, then sank back into his armchair and ran his hand over his eyes.
A new shipment was due to arrive in days, the customers expectant, and the necessary arrangements in place to ensure a smooth transition. And yet, the organisation seemed frayed at the edges.
He ground his teeth.
Stokes’s complacency could ruin it all, and Demiri only had himself to blame.
Tavender had come to him two months ago to say he’d been concerned about the driver; that he’d been spending too much time with one of the girls instead of minding his own business.
Demiri had dismissed it as a passing fancy – Stokes had been his driver for over a year, and he’d had no other reason to doubt the man.
Until now.
As for the shipment, they would have to use the vehicles they’d already kept under close watch, ready to meet his suppliers and transport the packages across the county.
His mind turned to the detective and her superior.
He had no doubt he’d be seeing more of her, and he ran his tongue over his lips with anticipation. The fact that she was at home alone excited him.
He closed his eyes, and exhaled.
Seven more days, and he could relax.
Chapter Eighteen
Kay flicked through the document in her hands, then tossed it onto her desk in disgust and sighed.
A sense of frustration had crawled through her veins as she’d sifted through the updated reports about Jozef Demiri’s business interests. She knew most of them by rote; she’d memorised the facts and figures during the last investigation into the man, and only had to cast her eye over the additional facts for the past twelve months.
Yet, nothing had changed.
The man still maintained an impeccable façade while being responsible for most of the drug problems in the south-east corner of England.
Carys looked up from her computer. ‘Nothing?’
‘No.’ Kay ran her hand through her hair and collapsed into her chair. ‘Not on the official accounts, anyway. What about you?’
The younger detective shrugged, her eyes flickering over the screen in front of her. She wrinkled her nose. ‘Nothing that’s going to get us a search warrant for his offices, that’s for sure. Couple of council notices relating to some signage being put up on the outside of the building that had to be taken down – it was against town planning laws, apparently. That’s it.’
‘Shame,’ said Gavin from his position next to Barnes’s desk.
Kay murmured her agreement, then glanced up as Sharp entered the incident room.
‘Okay, you lot. Gather round. Let’s get this briefing underway.’
Kay stretched her back as she made her way over to where the whiteboard had been set up, then perched on the corner of Debbie’s desk.
The police officer smiled and passed a packet of biscuits to Kay, who grinned and took one.
‘Thanks, Debs.’
Sharp turned his attention to Kay and Barnes once everyone had settled. ‘How did you get on with the garage owner?’
‘He was hard work,’ said Kay. ‘We suspect he’s hiding something but I didn’t want to press it too hard today and frighten him off. He says he can’t remember who he sold the car to, and that he purchased it at the Sittingbourne auctions. However, he had a break-in a few months ago and all the documentation was stolen.’
‘Too convenient,’ added Barnes.
‘Covering for someone?’ said Carys.
‘He didn’t sound scared,’ said Barnes. ‘He was cocky; arrogant.’
‘Protected by someone, maybe?’ said Kay. ‘Maybe by someone who’d be prepared to stage a break-in to remove documentary evidence of a vehicle sale?’
‘Do you think he’s dealing in stolen vehicles?’ said Gavin.
‘There’s nothing in the system, but that’s probably because he hasn’t been caught – yet.’
‘All right, keep digging,’ said Sharp. ‘There’s got to be something there.’ He peered down at his notebook on the desk beside him, and then turned back to the team.
‘We have had one major development,’ he said. ‘Lucas sent over the results of the post mortem on our female victim an hour ago. Given the content of that report, I’ve spoken to him on the phone, but he maintains his position. She was alive when she was placed in the back of the car.’
A shockwave emanated from the team sat before him, and Kay’s jaw dropped.
‘Alive?’
Sharp nodded. ‘That’s what Lucas says. She was killed when the side of her head struck the metalwork of the car when it overturned – he says instantly. The base of her skull was caved in with the force of the impact.’
‘So, she was conscious all the time she was in the boot of the car, wrapped in plastic?’ said Gavin. ‘I’m surprised she didn’t suffocate.’
‘I checked that with Harriet,’ said Sharp. ‘When we arrived on scene, the plastic had already been torn open by the impact – that’s how we spotted her limbs, but Harriet says some small perforations had been made in the wrapping, near the woman’s mouth. The post mortem results support this – whoever she is, she didn’t die from asphyxiation because she managed to get enough air into her lungs to stay alive.’
‘You’d have thought he’d have checked for that,’ said Carys.
‘True. Why wouldn’t he?’ said Kay.
‘Could’ve had another kill site in mind to finish her off,’ said Barnes, his face grim. ‘It was only our assumption that he’d already killed her and was preparing to dump the body.’
‘Hell of a risk,’ said Gavin. ‘If he’d been pulled over for erratic driving instead of crashing—’
Sharp rose from the desk and pinned two more photographs to the board, then took a step back so the team could see. He pointed to the first one, to the body of a skinny brunette woman, eyes closed, her skin bloated in death.
‘This woman was found on the banks of the artificial lakes at Aylesford a year ago,’ he said.
‘I remember that,’ said Barnes. ‘No identification, and no-one had reported her missing.’
Sharp nodded. ‘Signs of drug usage, too. No-one’s ever been charged with her murder.’ He tapped the second photograph, showing another young
