‘This is fucking harassment,’ Reilly shouted back. ‘We ain’t done nothing. I ain’t got no hostages, and I ain’t got no firearm and my dogs ain’t illegal. So what is your fucking problem?’
The lower floor balconies grew busier and busier as more people arrived to watch this battle of wits. Georgia looked at Stephanie; they were thinking the same thing. If they stormed the building, and found no firearm, people could get hurt and the responsibility would lie at their door.
‘Oh no. Look.’ Stephanie suddenly noticed and pointed at Luanne, who was hurrying towards them, her arm bobbing about in its sling.
‘Have you seen Alysha?’ Luanne yelled. ‘I can’t find her. Please tell me she’s not around here.’
A uniformed officer put out a hand to block her way.
‘Let her through,’ Georgia said. David Dawes raised his arm to put the CO19 team on hold.
Georgia sprinted to meet Luanne. ‘Alysha’s in there,’ she told her. ‘You have to leave this to us, for your own safety. Go back to your flat. I’ll send someone with you. We’ll look out for Alysha.’
‘Alysha!’ Luanne screamed. ‘Where’s Jase?’ she asked Georgia.
‘Luanne, please, stay back.’ Georgia nodded to a female officer who came over and put a careful arm around the girl, steering her away from the flat.
Luanne couldn’t put up much of a struggle, but she did her best. ‘She’s my sister. I ain’t going nowhere. Don’t make me, please,’ she pleaded.
Georgia lifted the loudhailer to tell the residents who were inching forward to move back, but Yo-Yo’s voice cut across hers.
‘Alysha’s in here, Luanne,’ he shouted. ‘She’s with Mince. He’s been hurt.’
‘Reilly . . .’ warned David Dawes.
Yo-Yo cut him short. ‘Fuck off. I ain’t talking to you.’
Dawes persisted. ‘You’d better listen up Reilly, cos I’m talking to you. You’re wanted for questioning in connection with three murders, and . . .’
Reilly cut him off again. ‘I’m telling you, this is harassment,’ he shouted. ‘You’re having a laugh ain’t ya? You’ve got me down for three murders. Well, you’ve got the wrong bloke. I didn’t kill them. I’m holding the cunt that did, but he’s trying to blame me. Why would you believe a yellow-bellied grass?’
Georgia held her breath, praying he wasn’t telling the truth. ‘If that’s the case, you’ve nothing to fear,’ she said. ‘Send Delahaye and Alysha out first, then follow yourself.’
‘Young’s having a laugh on you. He’s your killer. Ain’t that right, Luanne?’
Luanne scowled at Georgia. ‘How the fuck do I know?’ She looked towards the window Yo-Yo was behind. ‘Yo-Yo, you let Alysha out of there, or I swear I’ll come in and kill you myself.’
‘Luanne, please!’ Georgia put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. ‘Leave this to us.’
Yo-Yo shouted again. ‘Tell them the truth, Luanne, then I’ll send Alysha and Michael out.’
‘What truth?’
‘Tell them who stabbed Aunt Haley, and who shot old lady Young.’
‘He’s flipped,’ Luanne told Georgia. ‘OK,’ she shouted back. ‘Whatever it takes. Jason killed Aunt Haley because she grassed ’im up. We helped him get away. When he found out his gran knew he’d stabbed Haley, he shot her to shut her up.’
Georgia looked at David Dawes. All their forensic proof backed this up, but they had dismissed it. She turned to face Luanne. ‘Is that the truth?’
Luanne nodded her head slowly.
‘Would you go into the box and say it in court?’
Luanne lowered her eyes and nodded again. ‘He was covered in blood, Haley’s blood, when he knocked at Chantelle’s on Friday. He had the knife in his hand. I helped him get away because Chantelle was my mate and she loved him. She thought it was Yo-Yo done it, because we lost some drugs we were hiding for him. It would have broken Chantelle if she’d known the real truth.’
‘Who beat up you and Chantelle?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘They were wearing masks.’
David Dawes lifted the loudhailer again. ‘OK, Reilly,’ he said. ‘Listen up. We have a witness who will put Jason Young in the frame for all three murders. At the moment all you’re looking at is possession of a firearm and carrying a knife.’
‘Will you listen to me? I ain’t got no fucking firearm. There are kitchen knives in here. Are you going to do me for having a vegetable knife in my mate’s mum’s kitchen?’
A moment later the front door opened and Michael staggered out, supported by Alysha. The waiting paramedics ran to help. Alysha climbed into the ambulance with Michael, and Georgia sent Luanne with her. Within minutes the siren was screaming and the ambulance was on its way.
Dwayne and Yo-Yo came out, followed by Jason and Scrap. Uniformed police searched and handcuffed all five of them, finding no gun, while Stephanie Green read them their rights.
David Dawes walked up to Yo-Yo and looked at him appraisingly. ‘I forgot to mention – unlawful intercourse with a minor,’ he said. ‘That’s an imprisonable offence.’
Yo-Yo grinned broadly. ‘Who’s that? Alysha?’ He laughed. ‘Christ, she don’t ’alf tell porkies. Course I ain’t had
intercourse with a minor
. If she says I did she’s fucking winding you up.’
Dawes gritted his teeth. ‘Get him out of my sight.’
Yo-Yo began to protest again. ‘I ain’t killed anyone, and I ain’t fucked no minor. You’re setting me up. My dogs need me. They don’t deserve to suffer.’
‘And living with you isn’t suffering?’ Dawes shoved him hard towards a uniformed officer, who steered him in the direction of the waiting police van.
SEVENTEEN
A
lan Oakwood had arrived at the station and was demanding that his client be released. Dawes had already interviewed Reilly, and told the solicitor he was being held pending further enquiries.
Back in Georgia’s office, Dawes took the chair opposite her, while Stephanie made herself comfortable on the wide window ledge with a view of parkland behind her.
‘We’ve got practically nothing on Reilly,’ Georgia said. ‘All we have is the recording of Young saying, “No need to point that gun.” And who’s to say there really was a gun? Uniform and forensics have turned the flat upside down, and so far there’s no sign of a firearm. No drugs either, and the dogs have been proved legal. DCI Banham says there is nothing to hold him on and Alan Oakwood is smiling from ear to ear again.’
‘They’re still searching,’ Dawes said, but for the first time a note of despondency crept in.
Georgia tried to feel just a little triumphant; it was looking increasingly as if she’d been right all along. But she surprised herself; when she looked at Dawes, all she could see was how good looking he was. A thought took her unawares: was he as dominant in bed as he was at work? No doubt Stephanie would fill her in, in the very near future.
He was still a pain in the arse, though. She pulled herself together and rubbed the tension out of her forehead.
She had re-interviewed Young herself, and the need for sleep was threatening to overtake her. She flicked through the new pile of forensic results on her desk. ‘Forensics have now found very faint traces of Young’s and Haley’s DNA on the sweatshirt we confiscated from Sally Young’s flat.’ Dawes opened his mouth to speak, and she put her hand up. ‘Yes, I know,’ she continued. ‘Young said he bent over Haley to try to stop the bleeding. There’s the ballistics report too; there’s no doubt that the bullet that killed Sally Young was fired from the revolver that was in Jason’s hand when we picked him up. He had firearm residue on his clothes and hands, and the knife we found on him fits the fatal stab wounds to Haley Gulati.’ She looked at Dawes. ‘That’s one hell of a lot of coincidences.’
‘Reilly is a clever bastard,’ Dawes shrugged.
‘So Young tells us,’ Stephanie chimed in. ‘He said he saw four youths who were all involved in Haley’s rape. We know Ripley and Delahaye had sex with her, and Reilly’s semen was in her mouth. All three of them claim she consented.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘That’s highly unlikely for starters. And we know there were five sets of footprints around her body. That tells us there was a fifth person; so was someone else there when Haley was murdered. Are we missing something here?’
‘It could just have been someone walking through that part of the estate shortly before the stabbing,’ he said. ‘There was a party going on there, after all.’
‘Young said Reilly was the only one he recognized,’ Georgia reminded them.
‘Reilly never does his own dirty work,’ Dawes pointed out.
‘Young says he found the gun near the shed,’ Georgia said. ‘He says it was dumped in the bin.’ She picked up a forensic report. ‘Forensics confirm gun residue around and in that same bin.’
‘Young could have dumped it himself, then changed his mind and retrieved it when he knew the Brotherhood were lurking,’ Stephanie said.
‘Or when he heard police sirens,’ Georgia agreed.
‘He says Alysha gave him the knife.’
‘What does Alysha say about that?’
‘Luanne and Alysha are both testifying against him,’ Georgia told him.
‘And what does Young say about that?’ asked Dawes.
‘That they’re frightened,’ Georgia said. ‘And under pressure.’
‘Which is true.’ Dawes pressed his thumbs against his mouth thoughtfully. He turned to Stephanie. ‘Have you taken written statements from them?’
She nodded. ‘I took them at the hospital while they waited for Delahaye.’
Dawes looked from Stephanie to Georgia, and tapped the desk with his knuckles. ‘I still believe Jason Young,’ he said. ‘Reilly is terrorizing those girls into lying for him.’
Stephanie butted in. ‘If you don’t mind my saying, sir, it strikes me you’ve got a bee in your bonnet over Reilly. We have nothing to link him to any of the murders, and everything we need to convict Jason Young.’
Dawes looked directly at Stephanie. ‘I was seconded to this case because I study the gangs in South London and I know how they operate. The Met regards me as something of an expert.’ He turned back to Georgia. ‘This is your territory and I respect that, but I still believe Reilly is our killer. It’s his turf, and the whole chain of events started when Haley Gulati handed over his stash of drugs to us. OK, Jason Young may have decided to get even with Haley the same day Reilly gave her a punishment beating, but that would be a big coincidence. Reilly has strong motive for killing Haley, and I think when he found Young was trespassing on his territory, he set him up. Two birds and all that.’
‘What about Sally Young?’ Georgia asked him. ‘Why kill her?’
‘Collateral damage. She got in the way.’
‘Jason Young has served time for gun, blade, and drug crime.’
‘Only because he got caught. Reilly’s guilty of all of those. He’s a lot smarter, that’s all.’
There was a knock at the door and Hank Peacock walked in carrying a tray of coffee. They each took a mug; Hank chose a white one decorated with pink matchstick figures adopting different sexual positions.
Dawes sipped his coffee, oblivious to the expressions on Georgia’s and Stephanie’s faces. Stephanie went scarlet. Georgia had to bite her lip to stop herself laughing.
‘Is that mug new?’ she asked Hank.
Stephanie’s face still glowed like a stop light. The young trainee was leaning nonchalantly against the wall. He nodded. ‘It was left for me at reception, in a brown paper bag addressed to the new detective. Looks like I’ve got a fan.’
Georgia looked down at the desk, unable to meet her friend’s eye. So Stephanie had left the mug for Dawes as a come-on, and someone had given it to Hank, another new detective. If he found out Stephanie had left it there, the twenty-two-year-old trainee would think he was in with a chance with her. Georgia bit down on her lip again to suppress her laughter.
‘Can we move on?’ Dawes said impatiently.
Hank held out a sheet of paper. ‘Certainly can, sir,’ he said confidently. ‘This is from forensics – second blood tests on the handprint by the door of Chantelle Gulati’s flat. Jason Young’s DNA is in there.’
Dawes shook his head. ‘It doesn’t help. He’s already admitted he was there.’
‘We’ve got enough evidence to charge Young,’ Georgia persisted. ‘Let’s do it and leave it to the CPS to decide.’
‘Then Reilly goes free again. No!’ Dawes raised his voice. ‘This isn’t finished.’
‘We’ve got Reilly for sex with a minor,’ Hank reminded him. ‘That’s a custodial, and he won’t get bail. That’ll give us time to investigate further.’
‘We haven’t,’ Stephanie said flatly. ‘Alysha has withdrawn the accusation. She says she made it up.’
‘This isn’t about nailing Stuart Reilly,’ Georgia pointed out sharply. ‘I agree it would be good to get him locked up, but our job is to solve three murders. I’m sorry, David, but I have to charge Young. After that it’s up to the CPS.’
Dawes pushed his chair back and stood up. ‘I was given this case to help clean the estate up. That won’t happen until we disperse the Brotherhood of Blades gang and put Reilly away.’
Georgia raised a hand. ‘We’d all like that to happen. But please, let’s do the job in hand. All the evidence points to Young.’
‘I’m trying to do the job in hand,’ Dawes said. ‘Our job is to keep law and order; putting Reilly away will take a dangerous drug dealer off the streets.’
‘Right now our job is to find a cold-blooded killer.’
‘Er . . . ma’am . . .’
‘What is it, Hank?’ Georgia combed her fingers through her hair to keep the loose strands from falling on her forehead.
‘I believe Jason Young is innocent too,’ Peacock said.
They all turned to look at him. He put his coffee mug down on the desk and stood up straight, facing Georgia. ‘I was reading up his prison report from Wandsworth,’ he said. ‘All he talked about was turning his back on crime and becoming a dancer. He’s just won a scholarship. I don’t think he’d risk losing it.’
Georgia sighed. ‘We know all about that,’ she said. ‘People like him learn to be smart. They’ll say anything to get out of prison, and as soon as they’re back on the street it’s dealing and thieving and goodness knows what. We were nearly taken in by that too. I’m sorry, Hank. Give it a couple of years. You’ll see.’