A DCI Anna Tate Crime Thriller

Anna cast her eyes around the cellar and asked Walker how much more work the forensics team needed to carry out.

‘Unfortunately most trace evidence will have been destroyed by the water,’ he said. ‘Everything down here is soaking wet, and they’re concerned that the ceiling is unstable. So the aim is to haul stuff out as quickly as possible after the body has been removed.’

Anna nodded. ‘Then we’d better leave them to it. We need to crack on and inform the parents. After that we have to try to pull together a team and I fear that’s not going to be easy.’

Anna started towards the stairs just as another suited-up figure came hurrying down them. She saw at once that it was a man because he wasn’t wearing a mask or hood.

He was somewhere in his forties with closely cropped brown hair and a pale, gaunt face that was tight with tension.

‘DI Benning,’ he announced to no one in particular as he held up his ID card. ‘I got here as quickly as I could.’

Anna pulled down her mask and introduced herself, but instead of making eye contact with her, Benning stared beyond her at the boy’s body.

‘Please tell me that’s not Jacob Rossi,’ he said.

‘I’m afraid there’s almost no doubt it’s him,’ Anna said. ‘It’s our guess he’s been here since he went missing on Monday.’

Benning got near enough to see for himself that it wasn’t a mistake and his body went rigid.

‘Oh my God this wasn’t supposed to happen,’ he said. ‘I promised his parents that I would bring him home to them.’

Anna’s heart went out to the detective, who was clearly devastated. He had obviously put everything into finding the boy and in doing so had no doubt got close enough to the family to feel their pain.

‘His name tag is on his blazer, which has already been bagged up,’ Anna said. ‘But so far there’s no sign of his phone or wallet.’

Benning shook his head. ‘My gut was telling me all along that I’d find him alive.’

‘And he still would be if a petrol bomb hadn’t been hurled into the building.’

Benning turned away from the body and looked at Anna. Tears had welled up in his eyes and he spoke through gritted teeth.

‘What the fuck am I going to say to his parents? I made them believe that there was hope.’

‘You won’t have to say anything to them,’ Anna said. ‘That will be my job. This is now an MIT investigation.’

Benning shook his head again. ‘I need to stay with it, ma’am. I can’t just step back. Not now. And I’m guessing that with things the way they are you’re going to need all the help you can get.’

Anna nodded. ‘You’re absolutely right on that score, DI Benning. It makes sense for you to be part of the team considering what you already know. I’ll make a call and get it sorted. It shouldn’t be a problem.’

‘Thank you.’

Anna reached out and touched his arm. ‘And rest assured that we’ll do everything we can to find the bastard or bastards who put him here. As far as I’m concerned whoever was responsible might not have meant for him to die, but they still deserve to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.’

CHAPTER TEN

Chloe was now back upstairs at the bedroom window and her heart was in her mouth.

Youths wearing hoods and masks were still trooping past the house and she could see now that they were heading towards the council estate at the end of the road where a large mob was gathering. There was lots of shouting and chanting, and in the distance the sound of police sirens.

Not all the youths were on the move. Four of them were standing outside the house across the road where an elderly man was yelling at them over his fence because his wheelie bin had been pushed over and rubbish was strewn across the pavement.

Chloe couldn’t hear what was being said, but she could tell that the youths were laughing at him and making abusive gestures with their fingers.

Suddenly one of them pushed open his gate and charged at him. The old man turned to rush back into his house but he wasn’t quick enough. The youth, who was wearing a grey shell suit and a black scarf around the bottom half of his face, caught up with him before he reached his front door.

He grabbed hold of the old man’s jumper, pulling him to the ground effortlessly, and kicked him several times in the chest and stomach before raising his arms like footballers do when they score a goal.

Chloe swallowed hard and fought the urge to be sick. Her whole body started to shake involuntarily.

She watched the youth walk back onto the pavement and high-five one of his mates, while the old man struggled to get up from the ground.

It was all too much for Chloe and she was about to turn away from the window when something else caught her eye. It was a car and it was pulling up at the kerb in front of the house. She recognised it immediately as Tom’s white Honda and it sent a wave of relief flooding through her.

She hurried down the stairs and got to the front door just as the bell rang. Tom was standing there when she opened it, phone in hand and smartly dressed in dark trousers and a brown leather jacket over a white shirt and tie. He looked as relieved to see her as she was to see him.

As she stood to one side to let him in, he shook his head, and said, ‘We’re not staying here, Chloe. Get your shoes and coat on. I’ve just sent a text to your mum to tell her I’m taking you to my place.’

Chloe was shocked and a frown tugged her eyebrows together.

‘It’s too dangerous here,’ Tom said by way of explanation. ‘The area is filling up with rioters who are bound to cause a lot of damage. It’s best I get you somewhere safe. It’ll be dark soon and Christ only knows what it will be like then.’

Chloe had no problem with that. She was scared now. Terrified in fact.

Her black puffer jacket was hanging up in the hallway and her trainers were under the stairs. It took her less than thirty seconds to slip them on.

‘Leave everything else,’ Tom told her. ‘We need to move.’

Tom took the keys from inside the door and locked up as they left the house.

He held Chloe’s hand and pulled her along the short pathway towards his car. She had to trot to keep up and his grip was so tight it hurt.

‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said. ‘We’ll soon be away from here.’

But Chloe was afraid, more so now that she was outside and able to see along both sides of the street. To her right smoke was rising above the heads of the crowd in front of the estate, which was about a hundred yards away. The shouting and screaming had got louder and she could also hear windows being smashed.

To her left more rioters were heading in their direction towards the flats, and some were pouring out of the grocery shop on the corner, grasping bags and boxes of goods that they had no doubt stolen.

To Chloe it was like a scene from one of those end-of-the world movies where society breaks down and there’s no law and order. It just didn’t make sense to her that so many people could behave so badly.

‘In you get,’ Tom said to her as he let go of her hand and wrenched open the front passenger door of his car. ‘Quick as you can.’

Chloe felt numb with shock as she sat down and Tom slammed the door shut behind her. Her hands were shaking so much that she couldn’t put the seat belt on. She was still fumbling with it as Tom got in behind the wheel.

But before he had even switched on the engine there was an almighty crash and the windscreen shattered into what looked to Chloe like a thousand pieces. Another crash followed and caused the glass to cave in, showering both of them with sharp fragments.

Chloe screamed and Tom swore out loud. In the same instant, Tom’s door was jerked open and hands reached in to seize his right arm. He hadn’t buckled his belt so there was nothing to stop him being pulled from the car.

Chloe carried on screaming and only realised that the door on her side had also been opened when she felt herself being dragged out.

‘She’s just a kid,’ a male voice yelled. ‘Leave her be and let’s give the black cunt a kicking.’

Chloe was dropped onto the pavement where she landed on her right side with a painful thud. She’d stopped screaming, but now she was struggling to breathe as the terror took hold.

Tears impaired her vision, but that didn’t stop her from bearing witness to what was happening. The car was now surrounded by a group of rioters and Tom was involved in a scuffle with three of them in the middle of the road. They surrounded him while throwing punches and insults.

Chloe scrambled to her feet and called out his name. He snapped his head towards her and shouted, ‘Go back into the house, Chloe. Now.’

But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the men closed in and started to pound him with their fists and boots.

Chloe couldn’t just stand there and do nothing while the man her mother loved was badly beaten. So without thinking she ran into the road and screamed at them to leave him alone. But by then others had gathered round and were cheering the attackers on.

No one paid her any attention so she rushed right up to them and tried to pull them off Tom. Surely they wouldn’t hurt a twelve-year-old girl, she told herself.

But she didn’t get far before someone shoved her in the back and she fell face down on the ground. As she lay there her head spun and her senses were battered by all the noise and commotion. She managed after a few seconds to haul herself up but saw straight away that there was nothing she could do to help Tom. Through the chaos of bodies around her she watched as the three men who had beaten him picked him up. They threw him onto the bonnet of his own car and forced his legs through the broken windscreen. That was when Chloe saw that someone was in the driver’s seat.

A moment later the car lurched forward and roared off down the road towards the estate, with Tom lying face down on the bonnet. Dozens of jubilant rioters followed.

Chloe stared after it, scarcely able to breathe, her mind paralysed by fear and dread. Her thoughts were in disarray and despair clawed at her insides.

She decided to ring her mum to tell her what was happening. But when she reached in her pocket, she discovered her phone wasn’t there because she hadn’t brought it with her. It was still in her bedroom.

She stood there frozen to the spot for what seemed like ages. Then her mind suddenly seized on what Tom had told her:

‘Go back into the house, Chloe. Now.’

She forced herself to move and turned back towards the house. But that was when she realised that she wouldn’t be able to get back inside for two reasons.

The first was that Tom had put the keys into his pocket after locking up.

And the second was the fact that two men were standing in their tiny front garden. One was peeing up the wall while the other was daubing something on the front door with bright red spray paint.

As the dauber stepped back to admire his work, Chloe saw what he had written.

POLICE BITCH LIVES HERE

She couldn’t think what else to do now other than to give in to the panic that was spiralling through her.

So she sucked in a breath to stifle the scream that was bursting to get out. Then she started to run, with absolutely no sense of where she was going.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Presenter: ‘This is the BBC news at six o’clock. Police are preparing for another night of extreme violence across London as the rioting continues. A number of buildings have been set on fire and shops and stores are being looted.

‘A police officer in Deptford has been rushed to hospital after a man he was trying to arrest attacked him. Since Tuesday a total of ten officers have been treated for injuries sustained during confrontations with rioters.

‘The main trouble spots right now are Clapham, Peckham, Vauxhall and Tottenham, where mobs of youths are on the rampage. Clashes between rival gangs and different ethnic groups are also being reported. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Gary Trimble, has announced that officers are being drafted into London from other constabularies.’

Commissioner: ‘The situation we’re facing in the capital is a serious one, and I urge the public to steer clear of areas where violence has broken out.

‘More than fifty people have been hurt so far and the number of arrests is into the hundreds. I want to impress on those taking part in the rioting that they will not escape justice.’

Presenter: ‘But as the Commissioner was issuing that statement angry mobs were congregating outside several police stations in South London. Missiles have been thrown at windows and police patrol cars. I’ll pass over to Brian Cohen for a detailed roundup of what’s been happening …’

CHAPTER TWELVE

The first thing the detectives did when they stepped out of the building was to take off their forensic suits.

Anna then fished a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and offered them round. Walker took one but Benning said he wasn’t a smoker and popped a mint in his mouth instead.

It was almost dark now and the temperature had dropped significantly. The street in front of the pub was quiet, but sirens continued to scream across the city.

Anna dragged on the fag and tried to push the image of the boy in the cellar out of her mind. But it was impossible.

She needed to focus on the mystery of why he’d been put there and by whom. Solving it presented a significant challenge, though, because the crime scene had been seriously contaminated, and it was becoming clear that she would be working with fewer people than usual.

‘I was about to drop in on Jacob’s parents and update them on progress – or rather the lack of it – when central control contacted me,’ Benning said, his voice laden with emotion. ‘All the way here I prayed that it wouldn’t be him. I still can’t believe it.’

‘How have they been coping?’ Anna asked.

‘With difficulty, as I’m sure you can appreciate. Jacob is – or was – an only child. The couple doted on him.’

‘Did they have any idea what might have happened to him?’

‘None at all. He was a good kid by all accounts. He’d never been in trouble or gone missing before.’

Anna looked at her watch. It was after six already.

‘I’ll head to Bromley now to break the news,’ she said. ‘Any chance that you can come too so that you can brief me on the way?’

‘Of course.’ Benning pointed towards the road. ‘I got a lift here from a colleague. She’s waiting outside. We can go in her car or yours.’

‘We’ll go in mine. I don’t want to leave it here.’

The three of them crossed the pub forecourt to the entrance where DC Sweeny was waiting. Beyond it a few of the neighbours had gathered to see what was going on, while another group had started cleaning up the debris on the street left by the rioters.

Anna introduced Benning to Sweeny and the DC told them what she’d been doing.

‘I’ve talked to media liaison and they’ve agreed not to release details until we give the go-ahead,’ she said. ‘I’ve also contacted the estate agents who are responsible for the building. The manager, a Mr Bob Turner, said they sent someone to inspect it two weeks ago. The back doors were all locked and the windows boarded up apparently. They were due to revisit in another week. I’ve asked him to provide us with a list of all the people who have access to the place.’

‘And who owns it?’ Walker asked.

‘A property developer bought it off the brewery eighteen months ago,’ Sweeny said. ‘But they haven’t been able to shift it, partly because of problems with planning permission. It was last viewed by a potential buyer three months ago.’

‘It’s probably safe to assume that whoever abducted Jacob had already made plans to bring him here,’ Anna said. ‘They would have known the building was empty and must have come here before Monday to check it out. A pub cellar was the perfect place to hide him. I suspect he was warned not to make a noise, but even if he’d screamed and shouted I doubt very much that he would have been heard.’

‘So the perp could be someone who lives or works around here,’ Walker said. ‘Someone who’s familiar with the building and was able to slip in and out unnoticed. I reckon the inflatable mattress and provisions were placed in the cellar before the boy arrived.’

‘That’s why we need to secure CCTV footage and carry out a door-to-door,’ Anna said. ‘Surely something will turn up.’

She took out her phone to call DCS Nash so that she could arrange for DI Benning to be seconded to the investigation. As the screen lit up she saw that she had a text message from Tom, which had been sent about ten minutes ago.

FYI I’ve picked Chloe up and am taking her to my place. It’s all kicking off in Vauxhall so I want to make sure that she’s out of harm’s way.

Anna immediately speed-dialled Tom’s number, but when there was no answer, she tapped out a reply to his message.

Bless you, hon. I knew I could count on you to watch out for her. Keep her safe for me. We’ll talk later.

‘Is there a problem?’ Walker asked her.

‘Thankfully, no,’ she said. ‘Tom just let me know that because of the disturbances in Vauxhall he’s taken my daughter to his flat in Nine Elms. It means I won’t have to worry about her if I’m working through the night, which I assume I will be.’

Anna then phoned Nash and updated him. He agreed with her that it would be a good idea to keep Benning on board and said he would sort it.

The boss had already been told that the dead boy had been identified as the son of celebrity Mark Rossi and he pointed out, unnecessarily, that it would spark a media frenzy even if the riots continued to dominate the headlines.

‘So what’s the situation with my team?’ she asked him. ‘How many officers will be working with me on this?’

‘You’ll have to make do with just a handful to start with, Anna. You’ve got Walker and Sweeny, and at least four other detectives are still here at headquarters waiting for instructions, along with a few admin staff. The rest have been assigned elsewhere. We’re currently dealing with a shooting in Lewisham, a stabbing in Bermondsey, a hostage situation in Mitcham, and lootings galore. Plus, we’re trying to disperse a mob of about a hundred lunatics who are gathered in front of our building slagging off the police.’

‘I’ve been told there’s trouble in Vauxhall as well,’ Anna said.

‘That’s correct. The Marwell Estate, which I know is close to where you live. There are clashes between black and white youths. Two rival gangs are using the riots as an excuse to tear into each other.’

The Marwell Estate had once been a smart and respectable place to live. But in recent years it had been tainted by drug dealing, prostitution and racial tensions.

Anna told Nash that she was now planning to go and see Jacob Rossi’s parents at their home in Bromley.

‘While I do that DI Walker and DC Sweeny will stay here in Camberwell and see what they can dig up from neighbours and CCTV,’ she said. ‘They’ll also feed through some tasks to the lads back at base. I’ll aim to get everyone together for a team briefing later.’

‘What about forensics?’ Nash asked.

‘The team are in the building as we speak and the stuff they recover will be rushed back to the lab. But it’s pretty messy down in the cellar so I’m not sure they’ll come up with much that’s useful.’

‘And the boy’s body?’

‘Gayle Western is on hand and will arrange for it to be transported to the mortuary,’ Anna said.

‘Well at least you’re on top of things. That’s good.’

‘Will you be hanging around, sir?’

‘The Commissioner has just summoned me to a crisis meeting of senior officers at the Yard,’ Nash said. ‘But call me if you need to and be careful out there. We’re all bracing ourselves for a hellish night.’

The others had heard what Anna said to Nash so there was no need for her to repeat it. She told Walker and Sweeny to do the best they could.

‘And before it gets dark can one of you take photos of the outside of the building and the surrounding properties?’ she said. ‘I haven’t got time to look around so it will be useful to have some snaps for the evidence board.’

‘Consider it done,’ Walker said. ‘We should also put this place under surveillance since those responsible for taking the boy might be planning to come back.’

Anna nodded. ‘That’s a good point, Max. After forensics have finished up it’ll be deserted again. Can you sort that out as well? Someone sitting in a car or watching from one of those houses across the street should do the trick.’

Anna then turned to DI Benning, who was staring back at the pub with his jaw tightly clenched and his eyes intent under a jutting brow.

She could tell that he was in a state of complete shock, and she briefly considered telling him to go home. But she thought better of it, knowing she needed him to pass on everything he had learned about Jacob Rossi and his family since the boy’s disappearance.

‘It’s time for you and me to go to Bromley,’ she said, and her words seemed to snap the man out of his reverie. ‘I don’t want the news to leak before we’ve spoken to Jacob’s mum and dad.’

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sheer terror compelled Chloe to keep on moving. She was walking now because she physically couldn’t run any more; she’d already fallen over twice, her breath was coming in ragged gasps and there was a sharp burning sensation in her chest. At the same time her head was filled with strident voices that were screaming at her to do different things.

Find a police officer and tell him or her what has happened to Tom.

Knock on someone’s door and get whoever answers to phone your mum.

Don’t forget what you’ve been told so many times – which is never to stop and speak to a stranger in the street because they can’t be trusted and they might hurt you.

And the streets were swarming with strangers, mostly angry young men who were making a lot of noise and causing a lot of damage.

She’d searched desperately for Tom as she’d walked past the estate where the crowd of faceless rioters were brawling with each other. But there had been no sign of him or his car.

It didn’t mean that he wasn’t still alive, she kept telling herself. They could have driven him down one of the side streets, or onto the estate itself. Or perhaps he’d regained consciousness and had managed to run away from the men who had taken him. Oh God, she hoped so.

The estate was behind her now and she was on a street lined on both sides with small shops. Some of them were being targeted by the rioters who were smashing windows and kicking at doors. A clothing store was on fire and a shop selling electrical goods was being looted. Burglar alarms were going off and there was smoke everywhere. The noise was deafening, and there were no police around to restore order.

Chloe wished she’d remembered her phone because she was lost without it. It meant she couldn’t call her mum to ask her what she should do. As it was, she had no idea how to respond to what was happening. It was far worse than the nightmares she’d been having in which that horrible man, Bruno Perez, had risen from the dead so that he could kidnap her again. At least those weren’t real and she always woke to find that she was safely tucked up in her bed.

But this wasn’t a nightmare. It was real and she was scared and helpless and lost.

She didn’t know her way around this part of London. Nothing was familiar to her and everything was strange and threatening. There were so many people, but no friendly faces amongst them, no one around who looked as if they might be able to help her. She was alone, confused, gripped by a raging panic that had seized control of her legs and was propelling her forward. But to where?