Knight & Culverhouse Box Set - Books 7-9

Chapter 23

23

‘Right. Gather round, everyone,’ Culverhouse said, having organised an immediate extraordinary team briefing. ‘We’ve had some news which could completely change the direction of Operation Counterflow. Two uniformed officers were called out to the park on Meadow Hill Lane late last night after a theft was reported from a local shop. Two men were arrested on suspicion of theft and brought in for questioning. After the usual fun and games, one of them made a statement claiming they had escaped from what appears to be a local brothel of some sort. He claimed he and his friend were picked up in Holland and brought to the UK for employment, which turned out to be s*x work. He says they managed to escape from the building where they were kept.

‘He gave a description of the man who’d brought them over from Holland, and also descriptions of a man working in the brothel and a client who he was asked to perform an oral s*x act on. Now, the second boy was less willing to talk, but he opened up after the interviewing officer made it clear she knew what had been going on. He volunteered many of the same details himself — the man in Holland, the guy working in the brothel. He also says he was asked to perform a s*x act on the same client, who both boys named as “the judge”, but his description was completely different. Our first man described the judge as being tall, with grey hair and a moustache. The second man described him as having short dark hair, of medium height and clean shaven. They’re also about fifteen years apart in their estimates of his age.’

‘What’s the connection with Operation Counterflow?’ Wendy Knight asked.

‘Well this is where it gets interesting. Both boys are from Serbia.’ Culverhouse watched as an audible gasp ran through the room. ‘As you might recall, one of our victims on Operation Counterflow had a tattoo in Serbian, and both had signs of anal trauma. Once we’ve got an ID on the bodies, if we can confirm they’re both Serbian too, we might have a link.’

Frank Vine shook his head and spoke. ‘So what, some gay prison stroke brothel has been operating on our doorstep for God knows how long, and not only have we never heard hide nor hair of it, but within hours of each other we have two bodies in a ditch and a couple of lads turning up at the station claiming to have been s*x trafficked? Isn’t that a bit far-fetched?’

‘Too early to say,’ Culverhouse said, having already considered that point and not dismissed it. ‘I’ve got a few theories. It could all be made up, it could be a coincidence and unrelated to the dead bodies we’re investigating. But how many Serbians do we come across locally? Not many. I’m keeping an open mind for now.’ As he spoke, he knew how strong his own doubts were, but this wasn’t the sort of thing he could afford to be casual about. It would be far worse for him and the whole force if they failed to act on an allegation such as this.

‘What about their descriptions of the other men?’ Wendy asked. ‘You mentioned the guy in Holland and the person working in the brothel.’

‘Well, on the face of it they seem to match,’ Culverhouse replied. ‘But they essentially boil down to “short dark hair and dark clothes” for the guy in Holland. Their descriptions of the guy in the brothel are that he was a big bloke with a shaved head and tattoos. Hardly takes a lot of invention to describe a security guy like that, though.’

‘You think they’re making it up?’ Steve Wing asked.

‘I think we have to accept it’s a possibility. At the very least, a defence lawyer would tear us apart on the different descriptions of the guy known as “the judge”. And the descriptions of the runner and the security guy are so vague and stereotypical they’re almost laughable. I know we’re not supposed to do hunches,’ he said, shooting a look at Wendy and Ryan Mackenzie, ‘but it wouldn’t surprise me if these boys were just looking for protection before they get found out for being in the country illegally. They’d need a visa to be here above-board from Serbia, and it looks like neither of them has one. They could easily put things off for a few days by having to take part in a few interviews with us. A full police investigation would take, what, weeks — if not months. That’d mean us having to defer their deportation until we were done. Then if they’re wanted in the witness box a few months or a year later… Well, you can see where I’m going with this.’

Wendy certainly could, although she was reluctant to agree. Their job was not to make assumptions about what had happened, but to investigate the allegations that had been made and to uncover and interpret evidence as to the truth of the matter. Immigration issues weren’t a matter for the police to be concerned about.

The alternative, however — that they were telling the truth about an illegal s*x trafficking ring in Mildenheath — was a possibility that just could not be ignored.