Stevie stifled a sigh, slid from the bed and sat next to Col in the other visitor’s chair in order to give him her complete attention. ‘Go on then.’
‘Although human trafficking is primarily a federal concern,’ Col began, ‘we often work alongside state police. The sharing of data between the states and departments can be abysmal, so I was impressed when Senior Sergeant Wayne Pickering from the SCS contacted me yesterday and filled me in on the Pavel case. I did some extra digging and came up with some facts about Jon Pavel that I think you should know, seeing as you seem to be, er, peripherally involved.’
Monty threw up his hands. ‘Peripherally? Ha!’
Stevie ignored the outburst. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t interested and found herself leaning towards Col from her chair. ‘Go on.’
‘Jon Pavel, aka Anton Arcos, aka George Brasov was born in Bucharest in 1973, the son of a petty thief. He followed in his father’s footsteps, but took the family firm a lot further. He started dealing in weapons when he was a juvenile and was lucky to escape the harsh punishments of the communist regime of the time. He was apolitical, supplying arms to anyone who could pay. After the fall of the communists he was recruited into a powerful crime ring—guns, drugs, prostitution and human trafficking. Then he got himself involved in a turf war with another gang and was implicated in a drive-by shooting in which two rival gang members were killed.’
Monty stretched for the water jug on the side locker. Stevie reached it first and poured him a glass. ‘I’m not totally helpless,’ he said peevishly.
Jeez, Stevie thought, the fun and games have already started and he’s not even home yet. ‘We’re still listening, Col,’ she said, ignoring Monty’s grumbles.
‘When you’re quite ready...’ Col sighed and waited for Monty to down his water. ‘While Pavel was in hiding,’ he went on, ‘he applied for Australian residency, using a false name and false papers. He had all the contacts he needed to forge the documents and plenty of money. He married a peasant girl, Delia. Perhaps she showed him the light and he decided it was time to go clean, or maybe just nothing he got up to came through on our radar. Whatever, he didn’t get any kind of criminal reputation with the Perth authorities. He established several legitimate businesses—a club and restaurants—which you’ve visited, right, Stevie?’
She nodded.
‘It’s quite possible he stayed clean for a couple of years,’ Col said, ‘until he was headhunted by an Asian human-trafficking syndicate looking for Australian-based middlemen.’
‘So we have an Asian mob recruiting Australians and Romanians?’ Stevie queried. ‘I thought these gangs stuck with their own kind?’
‘They have in the past; this is a new development,’ Monty said. Stevie sensed from his animated expression that this was in the paper he was writing. ‘If there are two or three cultures to contend with, it makes it harder for us to understand how they’re working. It’s happening in the UK now, with Lithuanians, Chinese and Albanians working together. The Lithuanians bring the girls in and sell them to the Albanians who set the brothels up. The Chinese organise the affiliated drug shipments. This is huge business. According to estimates by UNIFEM, the numbers of women and children trafficked in South-East Asia could be around 225,000 out of a global figure of over 700,000 annually.’
‘Good God,’ Stevie said. ‘And the powers that be think that little old Perth can stay clear of this? Or are they just ignoring the situation over here?’
Monty and Col exchanged glances. ‘Not if we can help it,’ Monty said.
‘Are the girls always kept locked up?’ Stevie asked.
‘Not necessarily,’ Col said. ‘Often psychological control and threats to harm loved ones are enough. The more difficult girls are forcibly hooked on drugs and controlled that way.’
‘Pavel had a prison-like room at the top of his house,’ said Stevie.
Col nodded. ‘Pavel had all the necessary skills and experience and was obviously ready and eager to oblige in any way he could. Perhaps he found life in Perth too dreary and missed the action, could be he just needed the money. He was put in touch with a couple who ran the WA side of the operation, a mother and son team.’
Monty raised his eyebrows. ‘You never mentioned them before.’
‘We don’t know much about them. The woman was originally called Jennifer Granger. She was the daughter of an Australian diplomat who worked at our embassy in Bangkok. She was snatched as a thirteen-year-old when she was out shopping at the local markets with one of the embassy maids.’
‘I think I remember reading about it—early seventies, right?’ Monty asked.
‘Correct. There was a huge furore, an international search, but she never resurfaced and was presumed dead. Years later she was identified through fingerprints as the Mamasan of a Thai brothel where a large stash of heroin was found. By then she was a powerful underworld identity. She escaped prosecution by bribing and threatening the arresting officers. Like Pavel she got hold of false papers and sought sanctuary in Australia. She came into the country under the name of Marion Godwin, though she’d have changed it since. As in Bangkok, her fingerprints were lifted from a Kings Cross brothel during a drug bust a couple of years back. No one the police questioned at the time admitted to having seen or known anything about an Australian Mamasan. She slipped away again and is believed to be in Perth.’
‘How old would Granger be now?’ Stevie asked, already doing the maths.
‘Fifty-one—I have a graphic artist working on it. The last photo we have is of her as a thirteen-year-old, just before she was snatched. The artist is putting together a picture using a computer program that’ll give us an idea of how she might have aged. It might take some time though—we have to dig up photos of her parents too and merge them with the last known photos of her as a child.’
Stevie glanced at Monty. Like her, he was probably dwelling on the hell the parents went through.
Col must have read it in their faces. ‘Jennifer’s parents split up a year after she went missing, both blaming the other for what happened. The father eventually committed suicide and the mother died of natural causes about five years ago in Sydney. We think Jennifer was back in Australia by then, though she never made contact with her mother. She is now believed to be an important player in the people-trafficking syndicate that recruited Pavel. Like many groups of this type they have other interests too...’
‘The big four: guns, girls, gambling and ganja,’ Monty said.
‘Not heroin?’ Stevie said.
‘The works; ganja just makes for better alliteration.’
Stevie flicked her eyes toward the ceiling.
‘But despite her various makeovers,’ Col continued, ‘Granger was getting too well known in Thailand to travel backwards and forwards, so she employed Pavel to go on her shopping trips for her.’
‘And once Pavel was established within the organisation, he recruited Ralph Hardegan?’ Stevie asked.
‘That’s what it looks like. Through their businesses they got to know each other. I guess Pavel must have figured Hardegan as a like-minded kind of guy.’
‘A sociopath.’
‘Could be. With their newly formed partnership, they had all the reason in the world to make frequent business trips to Thailand and procure girls for Australian brothels.’
‘“Fresh’n’Tasty,”’ Monty said, dryly.
‘What about Granger’s son?’ Stevie asked. ‘What do we have on him?’
‘He’s Eurasian, goes by the name of The Crow, but we don’t know much about him.’ Col paused, ran his tongue over his lips. ‘Other than that he enjoys burning people alive.’