‘Primrose Hill,’ Bradfield said thoughtfully, then clicked his fingers and gestured to Gibbs to follow him.
As they entered the incident room Bradfield pointed his finger at Jane.
‘Tennison, that list you were working on — let me see it.’
Jane handed it over and nervously asked if there was something she’d missed.
‘Did you write down everything exactly as it was on the notes in Julie Ann’s bag?’
‘Yes, I’m pretty sure I did.’
He looked through the list closely and then stabbed his finger at it. ‘There it is, that’s the bloody link.’
Jane and Gibbs looked at each other wondering exactly what he was referring to.
‘I knew there was something she was hiding.’ He looked at Gibbs. ‘Spence, get round to the hospital and drag that fat woman in here now.’
‘Who are you talking about?’ Gibbs asked.
‘The big black woman that works at the drug unit — the appendix-obsessed one who never stopped talkin’.’
Jane pulled an index card from the carousel. ‘Do you mean Anjali O’Duncie, sir?’
‘Yeah, that’s her — did she ever mention any relatives to you, Tennison?’
‘Not as I recall.’
‘Where does she live?’
‘Gave an address in Stoke Newington; it’s on her index card,’ Jane said.
Gibbs looked somewhat baffled. ‘Is there something I’m missing here?’
Bradfield held up Jane’s notes. ‘Are you positive you’ve recorded correctly what was on the pieces of paper in Julie Ann’s bag?’
‘Yes, sir.’
Bradfield pointed to an entry and showed it to Gibbs whose eyes lit up when he saw ‘TO’D’.
‘That’s the same three capital letters Dwayne had on a bit of paper, but without the apostrophe after the “O”.’
‘I’m sure there was a slight gap between the “T” and the “OD” on Julie Ann’s bit of paper,’ Jane added.
Bradfield held his hand up for them to be quiet as he paused briefly to think before continuing.
‘OK, this might be a long shot or a blinder, but I’ll bet my wages the “T” is an initial for a Christian name, “O” apostrophe “D” is a surname and our Anjali woman may be related.’ He picked up the phone, rang the comms room and asked for a name check to be run on criminal records against black males with the surname O’Duncie aged between twenty-five and forty. He also said he was specifically interested in O’Duncies with Christian names that started with a ‘T’ and he wanted any results printed off and brought up to him immediately. He then told Jane to get on to the council offices that covered Primrose Hill to see if they had any tenants or residents under the name O’Duncie.
He put the phone down. ‘If Josh is a false name for Big Daddy used by Dwayne, then this “TOD” might be who we should actually be looking for, or at least connected to the drugs or murders in some way. Is there a home phone number on Anjali’s card, Tennison?’
‘No, she said she didn’t have one.’
Gibbs chipped in, ‘If she thought Julie Ann was speaking to Big Daddy on the hospital phone then she may have deliberately misled us by saying it was someone called Paddy.’
Bradfield nodded. ‘Exactly. We now know Julie Ann called her father but this O’Duncie woman’s in a perfect position to refer the drug addicts who attend the Homerton unit to a dealer so they can buy more drugs.’
Bradfield was feeling certain that at last they might have a positive breakthrough. Even more so when an hour later they had information that a Terrence O’Duncie, aged thirty-two, had previous convictions for drugs offences dating back five years. His criminal record showed he was black, over six foot tall and had an address in Stoke Newington, the same address Anjali O’Duncie had given, and it was suspected he was her younger brother.
Bradfield was eager to interview Anjali, especially as he was now more confident that Terrence O’Duncie was a strong suspect for murder, and might even be ‘Big Daddy’ himself.
Anjali was brought into his office later that afternoon. She was belligerent and accused them of harassing her, and denied knowing anyone called Big Daddy or a Terrence who had the same surname as her. Bradfield and Gibbs could tell from the beads of sweat running down her forehead that she was nervous and obviously lying. Bradfield slowly put pressure on her and asked if she knew a Dwayne Clark, but yet again there was denial.
He snarled at her. ‘I’m not a bloody fool like you! Clark works with Terrence O’Duncie, who’s on our records for possession of drugs, possession with intent to supply and supplying, and he’s done time in Brixton Prison.’
Anjali still denied knowing either man, but Bradfield had got an officer to bike Terrence O’Duncie’s file over from Scotland Yard before the interview. The mug shot showed a good-looking, lighter-skinned man with short waxed hair. He was six foot two inches and had deep, penetrating dark eyes and high cheekbones. He slowly pushed the mug-shot photograph in front of Anjali. ‘Terrence O’Duncie — the home address on his arrest sheet five years ago is the same as yours. He’s your brother, isn’t he, so don’t you dare say again you don’t know him or I’ll have you charged and in court so fast—’
‘What for? I’ve not done nothing wrong,’ she said, wiping her forehead on her sleeve.
He banged his hand on the table. ‘Aiding and abetting drug supply, assisting a murder suspect, conspiracy to obstruct justice in a murder investigation, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.’
She sat in silence, shaking and wringing her hands, beads of sweat now falling onto her dress.
Bradfield leaned closer. ‘God knows what the hospital will think of you when I tell them.’
Anjali froze, her eyes bulging open with fear. ‘Please don’t, I really like working there counselling and helping those poor kids get off drugs.’
‘Don’t lie — you’re nothing more than a tea skivvy who uses the job to direct the addicts to your brother who then supplies them and pays you for the introductions.’
She began to cry. ‘On my life I don’t, honest I don’t, I just wanted to help them. Yes, Terrence is my brother, but mostly everyone calls him Terry. I haven’t seen him for weeks and I’ve never met anyone called Dwayne or Big Daddy. I knew Terry had a drug problem but he told me he was off the stuff and was living with a crowd of ex-junkies who were all helping each other through cold turkey. He said that if I knew any kids who needed support and a place to stay then I should send them to him.’
‘Did you send Julie Ann to him?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t tell Eddie about Terry, though Julie Ann might have.’
‘OK, now tell me where this brother of yours lives, Anjali.’
‘I dunno the exact address, I never been there. All I know is it’s a big four-storey squat in Primrose Hill.’
Gibbs leaned over and slapped the table.
‘Oh right, so you just send your junkie kids over without a street or a house number, stop fuckin’ lying.’
Anjali chewed at her lips, then opened her large bag and after sifting around brought out a small address book.
‘This is the truth, I am tellin’ you the God’s truth because I dunno the address. I send them like my brother said to 24 Court Road in Chalk Farm so someone there can tell them where to go.’
Gibbs leaned across and spoke quietly to Bradfield. ‘That’s Dwayne Clark’s address. Maybe he’s a middle man and that’s the reason we didn’t find any gear stashed there.’