“Is this still about my van and me being seen at the service station?”
“Yes. We need to eliminate everyone seen in a vehicle there on that day.”
When Mike Lewis replaced the receiver, Barolli sucked in his breath. “He could do a runner, you know.”
Mike shook his head, reminding Barolli that with two kids and an apparently oversize wife, it was unlikely; also, he knew that Langton was still using favors with the guys in Manchester, so if anything suspicious happened, they would make contact.
“To be honest, he seemed more worried about taking time off work.”
“Yeah, I heard, and I’d say it has to be uncomfortable there with his boss. We’ve certainly been busy around him.”
“Well, if we can prove he lied... Travis seems to think Emerald can identify him, but she’s such a hard-nosed slag, I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“It’s all we’ve got.”
“I hear you.” Mike’s desk phone lit up; it was Barbara tipping him off that Langton had arrived in the incident room.
Langton was standing in front of the incident board, lecturing the team. “Do you know that a quarter of London’s population, over one and half million people, were born abroad? The biggest groups are Indians and Afro-Caribbeans, but the rest are Poles arriving in large numbers and seeking work, like our three girls.”
“I didn’t know we had that many,” said Mike.
“Well, we do, and I’m getting a lot of stick from the assistant commissioner that we are slacking in our inquiry. The last thing the Met wants is to be accused of sweeping this case under the carpet, never mind the pressure about going over budget. So, on one hand, it’s cut the costs, and on the other, get a friggin’ result.”
“Well, we might.” Mike took the chance to update Langton on the day’s latest news.
“Yeah, we’ll see how it pans out with the ID and if Smiley is still in the frame, but we need more,” Langton insisted. “Even if he did previously know Margaret Potts, we’ve got no fucking evidence he was our killer.”
“It proves he lied.”
“Not enough. Citizens Prosecution Service wouldn’t give us the nod to charge him on that.”
Mike sighed, unsure where all this was going, concerned Langton was hinting at replacing him.
“Get ready for a big press conference, Mike, and even if Smiley gets off the hook, we can say the inquiry is questioning a suspect. I don’t like being pushed by the top brass, so set it up.”
“Yes, Gov.”
“When Smiley comes in, I’ll handle the interview, along with Travis.”
“Whatever you say.”
Langton moved farther down the incident board. “Barolli interviewed Emerald Turk first, right?”
“Yes, Gov.”
“So we should have reached this conclusion about Smiley’s connection two years ago. Thank Christ for Travis. She came up with the tattoo to identify Dorota Pelagia, and if we’d had that woman Olga in earlier, we’d have had them all bloody identified.”
“We couldn’t put pressure on the television programmers. It works because the callers can remain anonymous, and it took a lot of stroking for them to keep asking for her to come forward. Three programs’ worth.”
“Yeah, yeah, and I’m not letting her walk away from running an illegal fucking domestic agency,” Langton said angrily. “Did her husband check out?”
“Yes.”
“What about other employees?”
“Her agency runs with just him and three other guys who decorate and do the heavy cleaning.”
“They checked out?”
“Yes.”
“So we’re back to John Smiley, whom we’ve had since Christ knows when as a possible suspect.”
“Yes.”
“YES! Well, pull your finger out, Mike, and either get the bastard sewn up or bloody move on. That prisoner Cameron Welsh has been bleating on about a witness. Seems the guy from behind bars can do more than any of you or your team. If need be, go back and talk to him again.”
Langton stormed off, leaving Mike standing like a spare part. He was about to return to his office when something caught his eye on one of the postmortem reports. He moved from one report to another, reminding himself how the description of the strangulation of each victim was similar; the women had been killed by stockings or tights wound tightly around the throat. Only with one victim, Estelle Dubcek, did the forensics suggest it may have been some kind of cord or thin chain, due to the indentations left around the jugular. The fact that they’d never found whatever the killer had used, plus the removal of all personal items such as the victims’ handbags, had not so far been an issue, but now Mike believed there was a lot more to it. He hurried over to Barbara’s desk.
“I want you to call Swell Blinds and ask them to send samples of the cord used on the wooden slatted blinds, plus the small link chains used on the vertical ones.”
Barbara pointed to the vertical blinds hanging in the incident room. “You mean those link chains between each strip?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want, and I want them here as soon as possible. Bike them up, whatever is fastest.”
Mike went over to the window and checked the manufacturer’s name. These blinds were not made by Swell Blinds, but he didn’t think they would be all that different. He unhooked the chain from the lower section, leaving four strips turned flat against the window. He then put in a call to Pete Jenkins at the forensic lab and told him to expect a delivery, explaining that the chains might not have the same indentation, but a similar one could have been used to strangle Estelle Dubcek.
“Similar isn’t good enough, you know, Mike.”
“Yes, I hear you. You’ll be getting the real thing sent over later.”
“Okay, I’ll get on to it.”
“Thanks, Pete, and I’ll appreciate this is a priority.”
“Always is. Bye now.”
Smiley arrived in the early afternoon and was taken straight to the video recording room. He was wearing a suit with a white shirt and dark tie; he had also shaved, and his hair was combed back. Barolli reported that he was compliant, agreed to the video ID and did as directed, only talking about his concerns about how long he would be required, as he had to get back to Manchester.
At three o’clock, Emerald Turk was driven in to the station car park in an unmarked patrol car. She was taken into the video suite, and the two ID officers explained to her that she was required to look at all the men on the video. Each would hold a number. If she recognized the man who had fitted her blinds, she was to state his number. The team waited.
Emerald appeared to be enjoying all the attention, and as none of the team was allowed to speak to her, the two ID officers made a point of being patient and thanking her for her assistance. She watched the videos twice, and unlike most people in her position, she didn’t say a word. She was asked if she would like to view the entire tape a third time, but she said she didn’t need to see it again, as she was certain that number three was the man. Number three was John Smiley.
By four-thirty Smiley was sitting in an interview room. They had given him coffee and a sandwich, and he had hung his suit jacket over the back of his chair. Langton and Travis entered, and Langton asked if he would like to have a lawyer present.
Smiley shrugged. “Do I need one?”
“That is up to you, Mr. Smiley. You are here to answer questions and assist the inquiry. If at any time you feel you would like representation, then you may ask for a lawyer to be present.”
Smiley cleared his throat and then said that he had nothing to hide. All he wanted was to answer whatever questions they put to him and go home. “I shall have to make this time up at the weekend,” he fretted, “as my boss is starting to get uptight about everything. He called me in last week to say that he respected all the years I’d put in with the company, and I told him, I said to him, that this was all about me being parked in the wrong place at the wrong time.”