silly question, but have you been in touch with Heck by mobile … just to keep a check on what he’s up to?’
‘I’ve tried half a dozen times, but it’s been switched off. That said, he’s only been gone two days. I didn’t expect World War Three to have broken out.’
‘Whatever’s going on, he must realise his job’s on the line.’
‘His job?’ Gemma looked amazed. ‘Des, the only reason I’m not putting an all-points on Heck right now is because I don’t want to believe he’s responsible for this. Laycock will have no such qualms. I’m not worried he’ll sack the bloody fool, I’m worried he’ll charge him with murder.’
They abandoned Heck’s Fiat in a multistorey car park in Cockfosters. It was on one of the upper floors, but there was a dank, cavern-like atmosphere, water dripping from the huge arches. At this time of day there were few other vehicles. The dimness of early evening spread between the concrete stanchions.
Before leaving, they again checked the address they had on the print-out.
‘Kingston’s a good hour from here,’ Lauren commented. ‘Even by tube.’
‘Well we’re not going to force entry by daylight, are we?’ Heck said.
‘We’re going to force entry?’
‘Unless you want to knock on the front door?’
‘Suppose there’s someone in?’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll play it by ear.’
They set off down the ramp to the main road.
‘What happened to the scrupulous copper I first joined forces with?’ Lauren asked. ‘The one who didn’t even want me with him because it was against the rules.’
‘He doesn’t want to get hung up by his feet and have his belly ripped open.’ Heck shrugged as if this was all in a day’s work, though he didn’t look happy. ‘It’s needs must, okay? I don’t like it any more than you, but at present we’re flying blind.’
From Cockfosters, they caught a train to Finsbury Park, changed to the Victoria Line, and alighted again at Warren Street, from where they crossed the West End on foot. Heck had decided that, if they went the whole distance by train, it would be easier for their progress to be tracked by station security footage. At Sloane Square, they boarded a westbound Circle Line train, changed to the District Line at Gloucester Road, got off again at Putney Bridge, and proceeded on foot, stopping once at a DIY store to purchase a roll of silver duct-tape.
It was close on eight o’clock when they finally reached Kingston upon Thames.
From Lauren’s perspective, this was the first salubrious neighbourhood the enquiry had brought them to. It was a mix of the old and new, handsome Tudor buildings fronting onto the river, alongside restaurants, chic bars and luxury apartment blocks – which was pretty ironic given that both she and Heck were extremely nervous about what they had to do here. They knew from personal experience that Eric Ezekial would be no pushover. Okay, there was no guarantee he’d be here – it seemed unlikely he could have got down to London ahead of them in this short time. But suppose he didn’t live alone; what if he had a family, what if there were business associates on his premises?
When they found six, Redbrook Close, it was a whitewashed terrace cottage, located in a small, quiet mews. There were no lights inside, but there were in the neighbouring cottages and in the cottages opposite, which meant that a frontal approach was out of the question. As they ventured around to the back, Lauren felt increasingly uneasy about Heck’s scheme.
‘You sure this is a good idea?’
‘When someone’s after me, Lauren, I like to turn the tables at the first opportunity.’
‘But suppose we’ve got it wrong?’
He shook his head. ‘If we’ve got it wrong about this being connected to the case, we’ve not got it wrong about Ezekial.’
‘Yeah, but even though we’re wanted for murder, your colleagues won’t just ignore what you tell them. You can give them enough for them to get a warrant and turn this guy’s place over legally. It could blow this thing wide open.’
For the hundredth time, Heck wondered about this. The problem was that he had nothing concrete or conclusive. Even though it was only a hunch that Shane Klim was the scar-faced man who’d stalked some of the women who were later abducted, it was hard fact that beforehand he’d been banged up for two years with Ron O’Hoorigan – ample time for him to discuss any future plans he might have. In fact, it would have been unusual if he hadn’t. But taken as a whole, it still looked a little weak. The fact that O’Hoorigan had since been murdered did not prove anything either – it could be completely unrelated to Heck’s investigation. And Commander Laycock would not be understanding about that; quite the opposite.
‘Perhaps too wide open,’ Heck said. ‘Let’s see what we can find first.’
At the rear of the cottage, a long narrow alley meandered away between hedged gardens. Night had now fallen properly, and a single lamppost was visible at the far end.
‘I’m just bothered that this business might be distracting us from finding Genene,’ Lauren said.
‘Has it occurred to you that Ezekial might be the guy who abducted her?’
She looked startled. ‘But you said Shane Klim …?’
‘Maybe they’re in it together. It would certainly explain why Ezekial did what he did to O’Hoorigan – to shut him up perhaps? Klim may be inside this building right now.’
She glanced over the hedge at the cottage’s darkened rear. ‘That’s a lot of maybes.’
‘For the time being, maybes are all we’ve got.’
They overcame the hedge easily enough. Heck gave Lauren a leg up and she was nimble enough to do the rest herself, jumping down the other side and opening the gate quietly. He slipped in and they closed it again. As their eyes attuned, they found themselves at the bottom end of a long lawn with immaculate flower beds down either side. They stole forward, passing en route a sun lounger next to a low, wrought-iron table on which there was a pile of newspapers and an empty cocktail beaker with a paper umbrella hanging out of it.
‘He’s been enjoying the summer,’ Lauren murmured.
‘Good. He’ll have a long, cold winter in Parkhurst to look forward to soon.’
The cottage was about twenty yards in front, and still there were no lights inside. They halted. ‘I’d be expecting motion-sensitive bulbs to come on any time now,’ Lauren said.
Heck glanced up at the cottage eaves, and at the eaves of the cottage next door. The diminutive shapes of pipistrelles flitted back and forth.
‘Maybe not,’ he said. ‘There’s a bat colony there, look. The lights would be coming on and off all night.’
Reassured,
