When she brought up the yacht and the fact that it had been docked in Southampton, he shrugged. "Listen, whether or not he had speedboats, yachts, and Christ knows what else, any boat would have to be registered. If it came into UK waters, we'd have nabbed him."
"What if you didn't know the boat? What if it was chartered to someone else?"
Sam agreed that it was possible, but he was dismissive of whatever she said. In his opinion, Fitzpatrick had no good reason to be in the UK.
"So he was very dangerous?" Anna prompted.
Sam did another of his shrugs. He conceded that, in his prime, Fitzpatrick took no prisoners; to maintain his drug trafficking in the U.S., he would have had to have an army to protect him, or kill for him. "Nowadays, I don't think he would be any threat. We've not had so much as a rumor that he's still active—he's an old-age pensioner, for Chrissakes!" Sam stood and hitched up his jeans. "If you want to leave me with the details you've got on this yacht, I can check it out for you, see if we have anything on it, but we're up to our ears with Yardies and gang wars; they've got weapons nowadays that'd make your hair stand on end."
Anna wanted to discuss the drug squat in Chalk Farm but, by now, she sensed that Sam was eager for her to leave. She gave him the information she'd gained from Gordon that morning, but didn't mention the Oxfordshire farm or even Julia Brandon.
By the time Anna was back in her office, it was after four. Phil was waiting in the corridor.
"Can I have a word?" he said.
"Sure, just let me get my breath; I've only just walked in." She could feel his animosity as she put her briefcase onto her desk.
"I've just had the fucking guy I spent half the morning with at the Drug Unit calling me. What is it with you?"
"I don't understand the question."
"I was checking them out, then you turn up. Now they've got back to me about a fucking yacht. You know these guys don't like to be messed around." "Yes, well, I only just got the details this morning and we are still checking it out." Anna looked at him. "Can you just wait for the briefing, Phil? You'll get everything I have. If you want to talk to Gordon, he can give you the information on the boat, which I don't have.""Too fucking right we need a briefing: we've got four dead bodies, and one an ex-cop. Instead of working on his case, you are running around on some crazy investigation into a guy that even the Drug Squad thinks is long dead. If he isn't, he's not likely to be getting his leg over a hard bitch in Wimbledon or hiding out in a barn in Oxfordshire!""That hard bitch cashed four million nine months ago! And if you haven't tracked down the man she calls her ex-partner, Anthony Collingwood, then bring it up at the briefing.""What's
he got to do with the murders?""Because, as you well know, it is one of the aliases used by Fitzpatrick. Phil, if no one can find the bastard, then it could be for a bloody good reason!" Her desk phone rang and she reached for it. "Can you give me fifteen minutes?"Phil slammed out of her office as she picked up the phone."Hi there, it's me—it's Pete."She sat down. She really didn't want to talk to him."I've got a result for you, my darling.""I need one, Pete. What have you got?""The soil particles—and you may ask how this has come through so quickly; it is because yours truly has been pressing for details. Okay, are you ready for this?""I am.""The Mitsubishi, D'Anton's post office van, and even my dear old Morgan all have matching soil particles. Not one hundred percent confirmed—you know what wankers they are, far be it from them to commit to anything on paper yet—but I'm telling you, and it's not just mud, it's also horseshit! This made it even easier: shit is shit ... Hello, are you still there?"Anna leaned back in her chair and grinned. "I am, and thank you.""Do I deserve dinner tonight?" "Maybe you do, but can I see how the rest of the day pans out?" "Okay, call me back."Anna said she would and replaced the receiver. She got her notes together and, with knots in her stomach, because she knew this was not going to be easy, made her way to the incident room. The entire team were gathered. Anna went to have a quiet talk with Gordon. He had made no further progress in tracking down who had actually chartered the boat to Carlo Simonetti, the name they had from Spain. He had also been unable to, as yet, track down any crew members, but the shipping registry office was confident they could give more details eventually. Gordon had some information about the boat being sold in Florida, but again lacked any confirmation as to who had bought it. He had not, as yet, listed his findings on the incident board. Anna said he should mark up what he had so far before the briefing. Phil was sitting, thumbing through his notebook, and DC Pamela Meadows was writing up on the board the name Anthony Collingwood: no known address, not on any voting register, but a passport had been issued to someone of that name in 1985. Anna joined her, and asked if she would also check with passport control all the other aliases used by Alexander Fitzpatrick. Phil glanced up, as if he had overheard Fitzpatrick's name, then took a deep breath and looked back down to his notebook. "Okay, everyone. Can we kick olf with you, Phil?" Phil went over his dealings with the Drug Squad. He had been given short shrift over the possibility they had "overlooked" the dealers at the squat. He listed the number of times the police had been called to the estate, and how many arrests had been dealt with; he then reiterated the problems they had encountered. No sooner was a drug squat raided and boarded up than another reopened in another empty flat. He did not believe that either the local police, or anyone from the Drug Squad, had turned a blind eye to the dealing in the flat where Brandon was killed. They had now succeeded in tracing virtually all the vehicles listed by Jeremy Webster, though a few more interviews were outstanding. "The delay in tracking these vehicles, and owner/drivers," Phil continued, "is due to the fact that three were stolen; two more had no tax or insurance, and were used by kids for joyriding." Two motorbike riders had also been traced, but again, neither had any connection to the murder of Frank Brandon.Anna looked at the incident board and then back to Phil. "We still do not have an ID on the dealers from the squat. Somebody has to have known them, so we need that covered."The rest of the team gave a rundown of what their allocated workload had produced. They now had confirmation that the still-unidentified man, who they presumed had accompanied Frank Brandon, had not presented at any of the hospitals suffering from a gunshot wound or graze. The diary of Donny Petrozzo had been checked and all names taken from it interviewed but, as most of them were legitimate clients who had simply used Donny as a chauffeur, they had been eliminated. Pamela repeated that she had not been able to trace Anthony Collingwood and had no luck from telephone directories or voting registers. She was now proceeding to check with passport control all the aliases used by Alexander Fitzpatrick, as they knew that Collingwood was one of them. Phil almost snorted, only just managing to restrain himself.Anna waited until everyone had finished, then did a Langton pause before she began."Frank Brandon's widow withdrew four million in cash some months ago. According to her financial adviser, David Rushton, she was advised not to, as it would mean a considerable loss of premiums, but still she went ahead. She then attempted to withdraw another large sum but this time, acting on Rushton's advice, decided not to.The dates for the withdrawal and attempted withdrawal coincide with her marriage to Frank Brandon—which I believe to be a marriage of some kind of convenience. Frank's life insurance policy was arranged by Rushton;Julia paid the premiums." Anna paused for another moment, then continued, aware that the team already knew most of what she was saying, but she wanted to underline its importance. "Frank, as we all know, was murdered at the drug squat. He was accompanied by someone we have been unable to identify—but we do know they drove there in a black Mitsubishi jeep. This jeep featured again, when the body of Donny Petrozzo was discovered in the back of it.The same vehicle, as you can see, features