He looked at Henry, who, never afraid of delegation and empowerment, looked in turn at Danny.
She cleared her throat.
‘ Okay, we’ve boxed off Trent. He’s out of the picture, back on remand next Thursday, charged with numerous serious offences. If he ever sets foot out of prison again, it should only be in a pine box.
‘ Claire Lilton: missing from home. Turns up murdered, and initially we think it’s down to Trent, but it doesn’t quite match his murder MO — the knife. So we agree we have a problem — another child-killer on the loose. Then Grace Lawson turns up, a witness from nowhere, also a misper, eleven years old who says she saw Claire get murdered by Ollie Spencer and Charlie Gilbert. Describes the whole event in gory detail and it matches everything we know medically and forensically about Claire’s death.’
‘ Thanks — very succinct,’ FB said. ‘Anything else?’
‘ Yes. Claire had four-day-old sperm in her. Her step-father gave himself up and admitted having sexual relations with her. We’ve DNA’d him and at present he’s on bail, returning here in a week’s time. We’re pretty sure he didn’t kill her, but we are going to fettle him good and proper. Unfortunately there are no further forensics or DNA; as Grace told us, Gilbert and Spencer washed her body off. They were very thorough.’
‘ Do we know where the crime took place?’ FB asked.
Danny nodded. ‘Spencer’s flat.’
‘ In that case we need to hit it quick and go for bedsheets, et cetera, et cetera, down the plughole, everything,’ FB decided. ‘Let’s just see how thorough they’ve really been. Anything else?’
‘ Yep,’ said Henry, ‘and it concerns Gilbert, bastion of society. It’s an American angle. Remember Karl Donaldson?’ Henry raised his eyebrows at FB, whose face went sour at the mention of the FBI operative. FB and Donaldson had a history and did not match well. ‘Gilbert was recently arrested in Miami on child-molestation allegations and released without charge. Seems he’s involved with some American gangster called Bussola, very big crime-wise in Florida. His legal business side includes amusement arcades, where it’s believed he deals drugs. The amusement side is probably where Bussola’s connection with Gilbert comes in, a man who made most of his fortune from kids’ pennies. Gilbert apparently buys Bussola’s arcade cast-offs. That’s how they know each other, I believe.’
‘ Where’s this leading, Henry?’ FB asked impatiently.
Henry did all but ignore him. Their history gave Henry some rights not normally available to Detective Inspectors. ‘The dead girl found over in Darwen, actually: the five-year-old murder. Don’t ask me how — I’m sure it’ll come out in the wash — but a girl over in the States read about the murder and came forward to say she knew who’d done it…’ he paused for effect ‘…Charlie Gilbert. Then she clammed up and said nothing else, except, and this is the killer’ — his eyes turned to Danny — ‘that she’ll only talk to Danny, who she met some years ago. The girl is a Brit, working over in the States.’
‘ She’ll only speak to me?’ Danny was puzzled. ‘What’s her name?’
‘ Tracey Greenwood. Ring a bell?’
‘ Not offhand.’
‘ She also insisted on something else too — that Danny goes to the States and brings her back to England and she’ll give evidence against Gilbert. But only Danny.’
‘ Out of the question,’ said FB. ‘She’s pulling a fast one for some reason.’
‘ There is another thing too.’ Henry pulled a face. ‘She’s done a runner.’
‘ They’ve lost her?’ FB said incredulously. ‘Typical bloody Donaldson.’
‘ So I’m waiting to hear,’ Henry said.
‘ Okay, thanks, Henry. We’ll see what comes of it — if anything. But for the moment, let’s concentrate on the here and now — Gilbert and Spencer.’ He looked squarely at Danny. ‘Go get ‘em.’
Chapter Eighteen
They had to do it right and they needed the manpower to get it right.
FB, unusually magnanimous, gave the go-ahead.
First up, the Surveillance Unit were hurriedly called in and briefed by Danny: their task to pinpoint the suspects, keep them in sight and report their whereabouts.
Secondly, the Support Unit were roused and, again, briefed by Danny. Their job was to follow arrest teams in and, under the instructions of a team leader, to search, seize and secure evidence. That meant at Spencer’s place the bedclothes, the sink, the drains, the shower — anything which could be useful for forensics and could link Claire Lilton with the address.
Then there would be a forensic and Scenes of Crime team behind them, supporting and bagging any evidence for further examination.
It had been decided that Danny would lead one arrest team, Henry the other. They would hit both men simultaneously and bring them to Blackpool nick. One at a time. Ensure no contact — eyeball, verbal, physical, whatever, their cells were to be at opposite ends of the complex so they would not be able to even shout to each other.
Once both men were incarcerated, given their rights and everything else they had to be given, Danny would lead the interview teams whilst Henry took a step backwards to supervise the process.
They tossed up to see who would arrest whom. Henry flicked the 2p piece with his thumb. ‘Heads I take Gilbert, tails you take him.’ Both wanted him badly.
The coin rolled up through the air, slow motion almost.
Danny prayed: Let it be tails.
Henry moved out of the way of the falling coin. It clattered on the floor.
Danny smiled grimly.
Four hours later and Myrna had heard nothing. She helped herself to a strong black coffee from the machine in the main office and stared through the window across the cityscape, a vacant look in her eyes but her mind churning angrily because she felt such a fool on two counts.
One, she had been used by Tracey, the little bitch. Two, Karl Donaldson must have thought she was an annoying little tick who could not do anything right.
Damn the girl.
The two detectives waited patiently as the Surveillance Unit coasted into action. There was nothing to do now but be patient.
‘ How’s things on the Jack Sands front?’ Henry asked conversationally.
Danny’s skin crept at the mention of the name. ‘Okay. No hassle. Haven’t seen him, actually. How about you?’
‘ Me neither. Seems to be keeping a low profile.’
‘ Think he’s got the message?’
Henry shrugged. ‘Don’t know. He’s not thick, but he’s stubborn.’
A personal radio stood on its base on Henry’s desk, tuned into the encrypted channel dedicated to the arrest operation. It crackled. A message passed from one member of the Surveillance Unit to another. It was nothing for Henry or Danny or the arrest teams, who were biding their time by playing snooker upstairs in the recreation room.
Danny’s heart jumped, but she remained calm.
Soon, she thought. Soon.
‘ Any progress?’
‘ Zilch.’
‘ Not to worry,’ Karl Donaldson said reassuringly. ‘She’ll turn up.’
‘ Yeah, yeah, sure,’ Myrna moaned. ‘Look, I’m really sorry if I’ve caused any problems over there. She was right here when I spoke to you.’ Myrna gestured to the empty seat in her office as though Donaldson could see.
