Authors: Michael Hambling
Chapter 14: Into the Safe House
Monday, Week 2
Sophie had an early morning meeting with Marsh and Matt Silver, her boss from headquarters. They discussed how to proceed and the deployment of the forces at their disposal.
‘Let’s summarise, then. What are the main issues we have to deal with?’ said Silver.
‘One: the body on the rock. We think it’s a cousin of Nadia’s, called Stefan. We hope that she and her mother will identify it today. Two: the two bodies dug up from the field. We think they were smuggled across from Eastern Europe for prostitution. Why they were killed, we don’t yet know, but it looks as if they’d been buried for two or three years. We have to wait for the post-mortem reports to confirm that. Three: follow up on Nadia’s recollections. Four: look for street girls from Romania, to see if they were part of the same chain. Five: follow up on the few descriptions we have, particularly the two men Barry and I saw at the first farm. We’re pretty sure one of them was a Richard Frimwell but he seems to have vanished. That’s suspicious in itself. The other may have been called Blossom of all things, but there’s not much else known about him. One of the local constables has also been trying to identify the gap-toothed man, but with no success yet. Six: follow up on the farm bookings. We need to trace whoever organised the rentals, but the information trail is a bit convoluted. Brookway Farm was a long let. They’ve used it for at least five years, we think. We’ve traced the lettings agency but the booking was done by phone via another agency. There aren’t any names as yet, and no one there can remember a face-to-face meeting. The gang were going to move out anyway, because the owners were selling the property. We’ve traced them and one of the team has been across to Bournemouth to speak to them. They’re an elderly couple and we’ve discounted them from any involvement. Seven: try to find where the gang has moved to. It’ll be somewhere fairly local, I’m sure. But they must have got wind of our plans, because they’d been gone for less than a day when we visited that second farmhouse.’
‘More likely they saw on the news that you’d found the bodies. That would have panicked them into moving further out,’ said Silver.
‘It’s proving to be a bit gruesome, Matt. Benny called me yesterday and said that the two women might have been slashed and then stabbed to death. He needs a bit more time to confirm it.’
‘Do you need extra help?’
‘It would be useful.’
‘No problem. The chief’s given us carte blanche because of all the publicity. I can get you some extra people.’
‘It’s quality, not quantity, Matt. I’ve got Lydia back from her course, and that’ll be a bonus. We mostly need people to go through the records, checking details, contacting people and that kind of thing. A dozen will be enough.’
‘Fine. Leave it with me. I’ll come down as well.’ He held up his hand. ‘But don’t worry, I’m not taking over. You’ll still be the boss. It’s just that you’ll need someone here to keep everything ticking over when you’re out and about. And you know how you like to bounce ideas off me. I promise not to get in the way.’
* * *
Nadia was sitting in the incident room with Lydia Pillay when the message came through that her mother had arrived, and would be with them soon.
Sophie called Mary Porter, and she set out immediately.
‘Nadia, there’s no need to be anxious, surely?’ said Lydia.
‘But when she knows what they did . . . I wish you do not say. Sometimes I think I would rather die.’
‘But if she doesn’t know, she won’t understand what you went through. And she will guess at some point, even if you deny it. No lies, Nadia. That’s what the chief inspector said. We know it will be hard for you both.’
Mary Porter was the first to arrive. The small group assembled in Tom Rose’s office, and Sophie had a few minutes to try and calm the distraught girl.
She needn’t have worried. As soon as her mother appeared at the door, Nadia flung herself into her arms and the two women stood hugging each other and sobbing. Then Nadia introduced Sophie to her mother, Gabriela, who embraced the detective. She was a short, dark, stocky woman, unlike Nadia, who was slim with fair hair.
Gabriela said, ‘Thank you from the depths of my heart for rescuing my daughter.’
Mother and daughter sat next to each other, holding hands. The single sentence Gabriela had spoken proved to be the only English she knew, so Mary Porter translated as Nadia described her ordeal to her mother.
They then discussed Nadia’s future plans. Her mother wanted her to go home.
‘Mother, I want to stay and help the police,’ Nadia said. ‘I want to help find the others. I feel so sorry for Sorina. She is only sixteen. She was crying all the time. I must help them search for her. And the doctor here has been so good. The nurse sees me every morning and says I am recovering well. I would not get such good treatment back home. I have made friends with the chief inspector’s daughter. But most of all, I owe it to the chief inspector. She is the best person I have ever met. I must help her find the men who did this. Can you understand?’
Sophie said, ‘If you can remain for a few days, Gabriela, we can find somewhere for you both to stay. I can put you under police protection so that you have someone with you all the time. Nadia is an important witness. We really want her here to help identify the men who abducted and assaulted her, once we find them. I’ve been in touch with your own police in Romania, and someone is coming over to visit. They will want to know how Nadia was tricked into coming to England, so that they can look for the gang members still in Romania. I hope that you can stay until then.’
‘Please, mother,’ said Nadia. ‘It would be like a holiday for us. I really want to stay and it would be perfect if you could be with me for a few days.’
Gabriela agreed. They then talked about how the gang operated in Romania. Gabriela talked about how she had been misled. She had thought it too good an opportunity for her daughter to miss, and had encouraged Nadia to take the trip to Britain. Her eyes flashed angrily as she described the men. When they finished, Sophie called in to see Silver, who was still in the incident room. He was able to arrange safe accommodation for Nadia and her mother.
* * *
Sophie drove Gabriela and Nadia to the pathology unit at Dorchester for the identification, along with Mary Porter. Sophie always hated this task, especially when the victim was young. The bewildered look in the eyes of the identifiers, a life lost, potential unrealised, just the absolute waste of it all. Stefan was the son of Gabriela’s older sister. She told them that she’d watched him grow up, had looked after him during her sister’s later pregnancies, and had taken him on picnics and outings. And here he was, pale and lifeless, laid out on the cold surface in the mortuary’s small viewing room.
‘How am I going to tell my sister?’ Gabriela whispered.
Sophie had no answer.
* * *
Sophie left Nadia, her mother and Mary Porter with one of the assistants while she went in search of Benny Goodall. He was waiting for her in the main theatre. For once, neither of them had any small talk.
‘This is what you need to see, Sophie.’ He handed her a theatre mask.
He took her arm and steered her across to a table where a skeleton was laid out under bright lights. He angled one of the lights to illuminate the ribcage, and leant across.
‘Look at these nicks on the ribs. Do you see them? This body has fifteen in total. Up here at the top of the thoracic vertebrae there are another three similar marks. There are also signs of similar nicks at the front of the skull, near the nasal cavity.’
‘What does it mean, Benny? What could have been happening to cause marks like these?’
‘I’ve only seen such marks once, many years ago when I was still a junior. They were on the body of an old tramp who’d been slashed to death by a group of drunken teenagers. But I’ve seen photos and I spent time yesterday checking some reference works. I think it’s probable that this poor woman was tortured. They used a knife to inflict a succession of cuts, stabs and slashes. She was losing more and more blood as time went on and more wounds were inflicted. The marks on the front of the skull could indicate that she had her nostrils sliced. I shouldn’t hazard a guess, not in my position, but the marks on the top vertebrae are consistent with having her throat cut, probably as the final wound.’
‘And the other body?’
‘Very similar. In all likelihood they were tortured to death using sharp knives. And there’s something else,’ said Goodall.
‘You sound as if the something else is even worse. What could be worse than this, for God’s sake?’
‘Two of the bodies show similar nicks on the front edge of vertebrae in the sacral and lower lumbar area. They might have had a knife pushed up inside them.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I don’t know what else could have caused the marks, really I don’t. It’s just appalling.’
‘I don’t know what to make of it all, Benny. Why, for God’s sake? Why do this? What else have you got to tell me?’
‘The autopsy references I checked against were from the States. The bodies were victims of some murders in California where young homeless women were killed on camera. Snuff movies, isn’t that what they’re called?’
Sophie was silent for several minutes, looking at the two bodies. She took hold of the pathologist’s elbow.
‘I need to go, Benny. But can I get a coffee first? I need something to calm me down.’
‘I’ll join you. I really wasn’t looking forward to telling you this.’
‘Do you know if forensics have managed to get DNA samples yet? A Romanian police officer is due sometime this week. I’d like to keep him informed about progress in identifying these poor girls.’
‘We’ve sent off samples. I don’t know when the results are due. If I find out I’ll let you know.’
‘Thanks, Benny. This is so awful. I just can’t take it all in.’
Sophie was silent as they drove to Wareham, and the safe house set aside for Nadia and her mother. Once they had arrived, she told the two women that they were not to leave the house. They could not risk being seen if any gang members happened to be about. She promised to bring Jade over to visit Nadia as often as she could.
As they parted, Nadia flung her arms around Sophie.
‘I can never thank you enough for what you’ve done for me. I wonder if I should change my plans and become a police officer like you. You are such a good person.’
Sophie smiled at her. She said nothing about the anguish gnawing away at her own heart.
* * *
Back in Swanage, Sophie said goodbye to Mary Porter, who agreed to return at short notice if she was required.
‘Maybe we can remain friends?’ Mary said.
‘Yes, I’d like that. It’s difficult for me to think about anything other than the investigation at the moment, but once it’s over we could meet up. Maybe an evening out?’
‘You’re on. Leave it with me.’ She gave Sophie a peck on the cheek.
Sophie was only left to her thoughts for a few minutes before Jimmy Melsom interrupted her.
‘We’ve had a bit of a curious report come in, ma’am,’ he said. ‘It’s from an old resident of Studland.’
‘Do you mean old as in elderly or old as in long-standing, Jimmy?’
‘Both. He’s in his seventies, I think, and has lived in the village since the year dot. He said that something like that first body happened once before. Up on top of the Agglestone, I mean. But it wasn’t a person. He says that about twenty-five years ago they found the body of a cat up there, then a dog. The cat had been strangled. The dog had its throat cut. Do you think it’s worth following up?’
She pondered this for a while.
‘Yes. Go across and get the details, but I want them corroborated by someone else. See if he can think of another local who’s also likely to remember it. If it’s all just hot air, which is more than likely, then cut it short and get back here. It’s only useful if it can give us a name. We can’t afford to waste any time on wild goose chases.’
* * *
Sophie was speaking to Barry Marsh. ‘Any luck?’ she said.
‘No. There’s nothing else on a Richard Frimwell, and no mention of anyone with the nickname Blossom. They’ve either been very lucky or very careful.’
‘Probably both. But that assumes they do exist and are our men. I can’t believe there’s nothing more known about them. I hope we’re not barking up the wrong tree. The problem is, those two are the only real lead we’ve got at present. We really need some kind of break. Will you keep plugging away at those farm rentals for the time being?’
Marsh sensed desperation in Sophie’s tone, but said nothing. Things were not that bad, surely? It was only a few days since they’d discovered the bodies in the field, and they’d picked up on several possible leads. Any one of those could yield the vital piece of information that would set the case rolling. She’d appeared strained right from the start of this enquiry, almost brittle. He wondered if there was more to the discovery of her grandparents than she was letting on. At times he’d seen her sitting at her desk with her head in her hands, looking as if she was about to collapse under a weight of worries. He suspected that these concerns might not be linked to the case, and were due to something entirely different. But what? Surely, finding her grandparents would be a cause for celebration, not extreme tension? One thing was certain, she would not take kindly to any questions. He’d keep quiet for the moment and hope things didn’t get worse.