Kelly nodded. ‘I think I’m fine. I’m tired and hungry and lonely and I’ve been bad but otherwise I’m good.’ Both girls laughed.
Paula came in with coffee and cake. ‘It’s important we talk now, Kelly. Sharon do you mind?’
‘She can stay, I’d like that,’ Kelly announced before reaching for Sharon’s hand.
Paula nodded. ‘Tell us about your man and then we’ll work backwards from there.’
Kelly looked at Sharon who smiled. ‘Go on. It’ll be fine.’
‘He was part of the gang when I was recruited. I’ve always been around lads and gangs and he encouraged me and gave me confidence. I could ride, see. Good on a moped or motor bike. Proper fast. Daring too. They liked that. We were busy. Abid made me laugh. He didn’t ride, he did more important stuff, computers, meetings, business. Travelled abroad at times. Soon we were together in my flat.’
‘Computers and meetings?’
She nodded. ‘He was really clever. Before he left Albania, he told me he’d been studying computer sciences. It felt as though he spent more time on the computer than he did with me. We’d row about it sometimes but always made up.’
She took out a plastic disc. ‘I believe this is why he was killed.’ She handed it to Paula.
Turning it in her hand she recalled the reports she had read on the man’s death. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘He’d been following this virtual currency, bitcoins, and as he was handling the money for Sadiq he decided to invest, gamble a bit and in his words, take a few risks. It was really successful. A couple of us tipped over some of our cash for him to invest on our behalf and we each received one of these.’ She pointed to the disc. ‘He traded, that’s the term he used, and made quite a bit. He sent money home, he was good like that, kind and that’s why he was different. I really loved him. Then it all went wrong. Overnight everything crashed. He said the bubble had burst and that he’d lost thousands. He was shit scared, really frightened. At first, he didn’t do anything. He waited, thinking it might be a blip, but it wasn’t. Loads of people lost huge amounts of money.’
‘Why didn’t he just go home, back to Albania?’
‘Because they were linked. A man called Flamur was the key, money went both ways. I saw them, all apart from one person, the one they called boss. Sadiq seemed always to call him bro: hi, bro, yes, bro, two bags full bro. Abid approached Sadiq as he thought he could trust him. How wrong he was. Sadiq went nuts. It was then he said he’d contacted the true boss and he told Abid that he’d give him a month for the market to change, and if it did, all would be forgotten, but if not ...’
‘And if not?’
‘He never said but I can guess. I remember the evening he came home. They had slapped him about but he didn’t complain. He then did something strange. A day or two later he had the tattoos on his hand. He hadn’t any money but he did that. It was so out of character. He then persuaded me to do the same. He took me to a friend. Here, see.’
‘Are the tattoos identical, Kelly?’ Paula took her hand and studied them.
‘This one is but these, they were different. If we put our fingers together like this, just to the first knuckles he said they created a recipe, a secret recipe that he wouldn’t explain. He also told me to believe nothing and trust no one. I don’t know why I’m trusting you.’ Pausing she turned to Sharon. ‘Sometimes I just wish I was dead.’
Sharon leaned forward and hugged her. ‘You’re doing great.’
Kelly pulled away, blew her nose on the handkerchief she had been given and smiled. ‘There was something else too.’
Chapter 29
Arthur Brinkman looked at the first photograph. He shook his head. ‘Sorry, no.’
The second photograph, although poor, brought an immediate response. He tapped his finger on it. ‘This is the young chap I met a couple of times, the one I mentioned to you. Met at different places. They called me and we’d meet. My constitutional. Dreadful photograph, looks like a corpse.’ Looking up he smiled and then saw Bob’s expression. He quickly removed his finger.
‘Did he have a name?’
‘No, nothing like that. I received money to purchase the tickets and that was it. We met again when he gave me the instructions to follow when in Jamaica and also when the ship docked at Liverpool. Nothing was written down. I made notes but he told me to just keep one-or-two-word reminders. That seemed sensible. They were very cautious and that gave me confidence.’
‘Your wife’s fall. Was that all part of it?’
‘Yes, we thought it might help. She was getting rather jumpy once we’d collected the stuff. The closer we came to the UK she started to have a few too many from the courtesy bar. I can hardly blame her. I was frightened too. That was our excuse!’
‘You’ll be charged today and you can either appoint your own lawyer or we can do that for you. The same for your wife.’
Arthur stood and held out his hand. ‘DCI Lawn. On behalf of my wife and I, may I thank you for your sensitive handling of this situation and will you please accept my sincere apologies. I’ve been a bloody fool.’
Bob reached out and took his hand. ‘Good luck, Mr Brinkman. Your co-operation has been noted.’
Skeeter sat in the carpark for more than an hour. Something stabbed at her, a disquiet that was uncomfortable. She could not fully understand elements of the investigation. Quasim’s words accompanied by the sarcastic grin niggled, one step ahead. She needed a walk.
Paula wanted to photograph Kelly’s tattoos but was conscious of her fragility. There would be time for that later once her
