Amy slid a photograph across the table. She had obtained the picture of Matty from children’s social care. ‘This is Matthew,’ she said. ‘He was being groomed for sex with paedophiles, just like the girls in the group. You were living off the money they earned for your husband.’ She leaned forward, her voice low. ‘I know what it’s like to have predators as parents and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.’
‘I’m not a predator,’ Susi blurted, tears welling in her eyes. ‘I didn’t have anywhere to turn!’
‘Mrs Bickerstaff,’ Sheffield’s voice rose. ‘I really must insist that you . . .’
‘And I don’t need to listen!’ Susi screamed. ‘Not to him and not to you. So go! I want to talk to Amy alone!’
Sheffield’s nostrils flared in ill-concealed annoyance. ‘Your husband hired me to . . .’
‘Didn’t you hear me?’ Susi’s chair scraped against the floor as she stood, pointing him in the direction of the door. ‘You’re fired!’
Amy exhaled a sigh of relief as the solicitor gathered up his paperwork and left. There was no triumph in it. He was doing his job, the same as her. She handed Susi a tissue and watched her regain control.
‘I’ve always admired you.’ Susi offered a watery smile. ‘I said to myself, I bet Amy Winter wouldn’t end up in the mess I was in. You would have known what to do.’
‘Sometimes we can’t help the situations we find ourselves in, especially when the person we love is justifying them,’ Amy replied. She knew that PSD had offered Susi a deal. Perhaps she had been considering it all along.
Susi took a deep breath before speaking, as if gathering up all her strength. ‘It starts off small, you know? Just a few extra quid here and there. You don’t ask because you know it’s not legit but at the same time . . . it’s not hurting anyone, right? Everyone gets thrown a bung now and then.’
Amy delivered an encouraging nod of the head.
Susi twisted her wedding ring, a tremble in her voice. ‘Then you get a new car. House renovations. A new business which is losing money hand over fist. But that doesn’t matter because there’s plenty more where that came from. Only now you know this is about more than bungs . . . because you’ve been snooping around.’ Susi pursed her lips. ‘First, I thought he was selling drugs to fund some bit of fluff on the side. But then there were men, people he’d talk to about times and places.’ Her eyes flicked upwards towards Amy. ‘He’d been on a lot of drug busts over the years. He was always creaming off the top.’
Amy nodded in understanding. So Bicks was seizing drugs from dealers while keeping some back for himself. She remained silent as she contained her revulsion, accommodating Susi’s flow.
‘He never used, mind.’ Susi sniffed. ‘He’d throw parties, have people round. But I didn’t like the type of men he hung out with, and I told him I didn’t want them in my house. You just knew, you know? By the way they’d look at you. That they were up to no good.’ Susi sighed. ‘But then I found out he didn’t just use the drugs for the parties. He used them to control the girls too.’
‘Is this the group in Clacton?’ Amy said. She had a million questions but forced herself to be patient. So far, it was Susi’s word against Bicks’s. They needed solid proof.
‘Yeah.’ Susi cleared her throat. ‘But I didn’t know how young they were, not until Carla came to me.’
‘She came to you?’ Amy echoed her words. She had not expected that.
Susi nodded. ‘The night before she died. When my husband was at work.’ She paused for thought. ‘She said that she could protect me if I helped her build a case. I thought about it. I wanted to but . . .’
‘But then she died,’ Amy replied. This was how Bicks kept people silent, when money wasn’t enough any more.
Susi nodded, tightly winding her tissue between her fingers. ‘He saw her on CCTV. He had it installed years ago. When he asked what she wanted . . . I couldn’t lie. I said Carla was on to him. That he should hand himself in.’ Her chin wobbled as her emotions overcame her. ‘I never thought he’d kill her. I swear.’ Plump tears tumbled down her cheeks. Amy handed her another tissue from the box.
‘Carla’s death sent a message to everyone to keep their mouths shut. I was too scared to go to the police because I didn’t know who to trust. Bicks kept hinting that nobody was safe. I’ve got my boy to think about . . .’ A sob left her throat. ‘Please. Try to understand.’
Amy sensed that her acceptance was more important to Susi than anything. ‘I do,’ she said. ‘The most important thing is that you’re putting it right now. What about the drownings? What do you know about them?’
‘Nothing,’ Susi said. ‘Bicks kept moving the group on, but it happened everywhere they went. Then George Shaw turned up dead. He was furious.’ Susi focused her gaze on Amy. ‘I invited you to dinner because I wanted to ask for help. But my darling husband wouldn’t let me out of his sight for a minute.’
‘He’s been manipulating you. But what he’s been doing to those kids is far worse.’ Amy followed her gaze to the picture of a young Matty.
Susi pushed the image away. ‘I don’t want to hear it. I can’t.’
‘Then help us. We’ll need a full statement to begin with . . .’
‘I can do better than that,’ Susi replied. ‘My husband isn’t the only one with CCTV. I hid a camera in his study last month. But after Carla died, I got scared and took it out.’
Amy clasped her hands tightly together. This was the proof they were waiting for. ‘Where is it now?’
‘Safe.’ Susi straightened in her chair. ‘I’ve got recordings of him talking about the girls, of all his dodgy deals. It made me sick to my stomach.’
Not sick enough to go to the police, Amy thought. She
