Chapter 28
1326 Words
28
There were certain advantages to the Chief Constable having an office at Mildenheath Police Station. Whilst Jack’s immediate superiors were stationed up at Milton House, he could quite happily go straight above their heads to the Chief Constable when seeking guidance on operational matters.
It wasn’t something his superiors were happy with, but in many ways it was easier than trying to argue the toss with Jack Culverhouse. They knew that if they refused permission for something he’d go and do it anyway, so at least this way he was Hawes’s problem and not theirs. Mildenheath was, to all intents and purposes, completely ignored by the rest of the county’s police service.
Far from being offended, Jack was actually quite pleased about this. It meant he could get on with his job in peace and quiet, safe from much of the bureaucracy that Milton House seemed to be swimming in.
He’d called ahead to make sure Hawes was in, having already tried before going home last night but getting no answer. He knocked on the door before entering the office.
‘Ah, morning Jack. Take a seat. How can I help?’ Hawes said, his lilting voice having never lost its Lancastrian accent.
‘Operation Counterflow, sir. We’ve had a few developments which I wanted to run through with you.’
‘Which one’s this, then?’ Hawes asked.
‘The two bodies found near Middlebrook.’
‘Ah yes. Russian lads, weren’t they?’
‘Serbian, we think. But that’s not confirmed. It’s only what we’ve got from piecing various bits together. But since then two first response officers took a call about a theft from a local shop. They found two lads hiding out in a park who fitted the description, so they brought them in. Turns out they’re both Serbian, too. Bit of a coincidence, if you ask me. It’s not everyday we come across Serbian nationals in Mildenheath, never mind four in the space of a day. Now, these boys reckon they had nothing to do with the shop theft, but after being pushed in questioning they told us they’d been trafficked, brought over here and made to work as rent boys in a local brothel.’
Culverhouse watched as Hawes’s eyebrows rose in unison.
‘Go on.’
‘Officers took the lads out in an unmarked car last night. They went back to the park and tried to retrace their route back to the brothel. They’re ninety-five percent sure they found the right building. It’s on Alexandra Street.’
‘Ninety-five percent?’
‘They seemed pretty certain, but they were running away and not looking at the building when they last saw it.’
‘And how long were they kept there?’
‘Hours, if that. They managed to escape pretty sharpish, by all accounts.’
‘I see. And what’s your vibe?’
‘Well, worst case scenario is they’re telling the truth. Even worse than that, there’s a chance the two boys we found buried near Middlebrook were the last pair of escapees to break out of there. Early post-mortem results seem to indicate that both had signs of anal trauma, but that it was unlikely to have been forced or as the result of abuse. They were… Well, they were willing.’
‘Right. But four escapees in twenty-four hours, with none up until then? Doesn’t seem likely to me.’
‘We can only assume there were none up until then, but we don’t know for sure. For all we know there could be bodies we haven’t found yet. Or maybe the two murdered lads didn’t escape. Maybe they’d outgrown their usefulness. We don’t know what goes on behind those doors.’
‘True. So what do you want to do?’
‘I think we need to put the property under surveillance.’
‘Surveillance? It’s Alexandra Street. Who do you want to use? The Invisible Man?’
Hawes had a point. The street and the ones surrounding it were old narrow Victorian streets, with barely enough room for a car to get down in one direction.
‘I know it’ll be difficult, but I really think—’
‘Difficult? It’ll be bloody nigh-on impossible,’ Hawes said, laughing. ‘Not to mention expensive. We don’t have the budget for that sort of thing. Especially not on the word of two blokes who’ve come up some c**k-and-bull story about a s*x trafficking ring just to get out of being nicked for shoplifting.’
‘My instinct is there might be some truth in the matter, sir.’
‘Some truth? Some truth? You want me to spend huge amounts of money on a stakeout because you think there might be some truth in what these lads are saying? Listen, we could only do a half-arsed day or two anyway, even if we had solid evidence. I suppose we could probably sway that or take the chance, but on your head be it. We can’t do anything more than that, though.’
‘Sir, if they’ve already had two escapees they’ll be battening down the hatches as it is. They’re not going to be carrying on in broad daylight for all to see. Not for a while yet. We need a proper stakeout. There are houses on that road, some directly opposite, which aren’t occupied. We should rent one for a couple of months and put a couple of officers in there to watch the property around the clock.’
Hawes let out a huge belly laugh. ‘Are you frigging serious? Do you have any idea how much that’ll cost? Trust me, Jack, it’s not just a case of paying the rent and getting a few chocolate HobNobs in for poor old PC Plod while he sits looking through his binoculars. There’s risk assessments, insurance, all sorts. You’re looking at tens of thousands, if not more.’
‘We can’t risk not doing something. If there’s something bigger going on, this could be massive. If it comes out that we didn’t act on information we had, it could blow the force apart.’
‘And if we spunk a load of money up the wall on a pointless stakeout, we’ll be bankrupt and put into special measures anyway. I think I know which situation is most likely, here.’
Culverhouse was used to having to fight his corner, but this time it felt different. He wasn’t personally convinced there was necessarily anything in this, but his professional instinct told him otherwise, and he knew they couldn’t afford to be anything less than overcautious.
‘Sir, I really believe we need to do this properly or not at all. The risks are too great otherwise.’
Hawes let out a sigh.
‘You can have two days of vehicle-based surveillance.’
‘There’s no way we’ll get anything in two days. If they know we’ve found the bodies they’ll be going underground for longer than that, waiting for all this to die down. And anyway, the custody clock is ticking on the two lads. We can’t just release them if there’s a threat to their lives.’
‘And is there?’ Hawes asked.
‘So they say, yes.’
‘You see, this is where we have to be extremely careful, Jack. Look at it this way. They’re homeless and in a foreign country. It’d be a smart move to have some story up their sleeves about how their lives were at risk, knowing we’d have a duty to protect them. They must have known there’d be a police officer who’d take the bait and try to push for a safe house, maybe a couple of free mobile phones we could keep in touch with them on. Bloody hell, I didn’t think it’d be Jack Culverhouse, though. You’ve gone soft in your old age.’
‘I’m just being cautious, sir. Besides which, they don’t have a home to go to.’
‘Have they got any health conditions? Did they want any referrals?’
‘No.’
‘Then it’s not our problem. We can only do what we can do.’
‘Exactly,’ Culverhouse said. ‘And I know we can do a lot more. If there’s some s*x trafficking ring operating out of Mildenheath, we’ve got no option but to throw the kitchen sink at it. We can’t risk that sort of thing slipping through our fingers. The media would crucify us.’
‘They’ll crucify us anyway, Jack. They always do. And right now we’re being crucified for being on our knees when it comes to budgets and financial cutbacks. We’re the worst-funded force in the country, considering our unique challenges. You know that as well as I do. Listen, come back to me when you’ve got something more concrete and then I’ve got something to fight your corner with. Until then, it’s two days of vehicle-based surveillance. And if you get nothing in that time, I’m pulling it. That’s your lot.’
‘Sir, I—’
‘It’s that or nothing, Jack. Take it or leave it. What’s it to be?’
This was one of the times Jack was grateful he had a decent relationship with the Chief Constable and knew he could avoid disciplinary action where most other officers couldn’t. He stood up and walked towards the door, calling out to Hawes as he left.
‘Shove it up your arse.’
- Writer
