‘I’ve been questioning “working girls” known to frequent the Mayfair area in and around Green Street. I was showing them a picture of Amy and discovered something interesting, but also quite worrying.’
Reid sat down and told Wey to tell him, and the rest of the office, the information he had uncovered.
‘The girls were all glamorous and many drove smart cars, and the majority were Russian… long gone are the old whores that used to work that area. The new breed of sex workers are attracted to the very upmarket restaurants in and around the place, like Harry’s Bar, George’s, Scott’s and two new exclusive Italian restaurants which are always busy with wealthy and even famous customers.’
Reid wasn’t interested in the history of Mayfair prostitution. He sighed and turned his finger in a circular motion.
‘Just get on with it, Takeaway.’
‘At first I got a load of abuse as they thought I was there to nick them for soliciting and a few even told me to fuck off. Then I got lucky with an eighteen-year-old Chinese tart called Lily Leo…’
‘How much did she charge?’ DS Lane asked, causing laughter round the room.
Wey himself chuckled before continuing. ‘She was rather blunt but she was frank with me, and there was no charge probably because we both have slant eyes,’ he said, making fun of his own looks and causing more laughter from members of the team.
Reid smiled and although he wanted Wey to get to the point the constable had a way of making people laugh and the team’s spirits needed lifting, so he let him continue without interruption.
‘Lily looked at Amy’s photograph and was certain that she had been working the street near to the flat she lived in with her father. She could not confirm if Amy was turning tricks, but she had seen her a few times. She also recalled that once she had been wearing a school uniform, but she had not seen her for some time and reckoned it would have been at least two months ago.’
There was stunned silence round the room as everyone sat up and took in this shocking revelation.
‘Lily was certain she recognized Amy Fulford,’ Wey went on, ‘and said she stood out because she was even younger than herself. The area is apparently divided up virtually by paving slabs and older “professionals” had also warned her off a couple of times.’
Reid was astonished by what Wey had discovered and found it hard to accept. ‘What about any of the other girls you spoke to – did any of them corroborate what this Leo woman said?’
‘None of them would really talk to me, sir, but I did notice a reaction from one or two when I showed them Amy’s picture. It was as if they had seen her on the streets before.’
‘Well we can’t just dismiss what Leo says; whether it’s lies or mistaken identity it has to be followed up.’
‘I spoke with Westminster Council who told me the plethora of Bentleys, Ferraris and other high-priced cars parked on the meters in and around the Mayfair area are magnets for the girls. More CCTV cameras were recently put up in the area for security as there are two new flashy nightclubs and Prince Harry had been frequenting the one that used to be the old Annabel’s,’ Wey went on.
‘I want you to get at least two months’ CCTV footage from any cameras on the streets the prostitutes worked and go through it with a fine toothcomb,’ Reid told him.
Wey sighed at the thought of watching hour after hour of prostitutes plying their trade and Reid picked up on this.
‘You can share the footage amongst the office, Takeaway, so as to speed things up.’
Wey looked relieved. ‘Thanks, guv. I also spoke to a friend on the vice squad. There had been complaints from the residents about all the tarts and about used condoms thrown out of cars, so vice did video surveillance and clamped down on the area a few months ago. They nicked a few and the others moved on, but vice can’t do twenty-four seven surveillance in one area alone due to cost and manpower so like a bad penny they keep coming back.’
Reid stood up and started to head for his office. ‘Get all the video the vice squad have as well and let’s see if Amy Fulford shows up turning tricks.’ He instructed Wey to go back to interviewing the ‘whores’ and if they didn’t like it he was to bring them in for questioning. He was to specifically find out which ones had confronted Amy Fulford and if Lily, or any other ‘toms’, knew Marcus Fulford.
The new information was depressing, but Reid reasoned at least they might get something from the vice quad. Now seemed like a good moment to get the visit to the school over and done with. He’d wanted to take Barbara Burrows with him as it was a girls’ school and they might be more responsive to her, but he knew she was busy with other enquiries, and there was no one else available who could assist him. He was walking to his car when DS Lane approached, informing him that Lena Fulford was looking for a video that the Crime Night programme could use. Justine and Gail had been contacted, but Justine was in Leeds for some hairdressing event. He said it was going to be difficult to organize cars to take them to the lab at different times, and once they had a list from Marcus there would be other women to get hold of.
Lane smiled. ‘Picking out their bloody knickers is going to be a farce, but I think we also need Lena Fulford. She will be able to tell if any belonged to Amy. We’ve got sexy silk, tacky net, G-strings, navy-blue school issue and-’
‘For God’s sake, give it a rest,’ Reid snapped. ‘Just get on with organizing everyone. I really don’t care if they meet one another or not. And yes, that will have to include Lena.’
‘These are women her husband is shagging,’ Lane said defensively.
‘They are getting divorced. I would say that Mrs Fulford is more than aware of her husband’s inability to keep his dick in his pants.’
Marcus turned his untidy bedroom upside down, opening and closing drawers, trying to recall where his old address book was as he hadn’t used it for so long. Any calls he made were from his mobile and he hadn’t spoken to Simon for months, although he had received a couple of terse notes from his lawyers about the non-payment of rent.
By the time he had searched the entire flat, and finally found his dog-eared old leather address book, he’d been home for over an hour. To his irritation his doorbell rang and it was Detective Wey asking if he could have a few words with him. Marcus buzzed open the front door and stood on the landing waiting for him to come to the second floor.
Marcus led him into the flat and through to the small untidy sitting room, where Wey perched himself on one of the old leather chairs, flipping open his notebook. He took down the contact numbers and repeated each one to make sure they were correct. He then asked about whether or not Marcus had used any of the prostitutes known to frequent his area.
‘If I had, what on earth has that got to do with the fact my daughter is missing?’
‘It may be important, sir, especially if you have used any of them recently, and if so, did they come here into your flat?’
Marcus rubbed at his head and then opened his arms. ‘Yeah, I may have used a couple, but not recently, and, let me tell you, never when my daughter was staying here with me.’
‘Do you recall their names?’
Marcus gave a long sigh, and shrugged.
‘I know they sometimes use fake names, but even a description would help us. This is important, Mr Fulford, and I am sorry if it seems to be embarrassing.’
‘I’m not bloody embarrassed; it’s not as if I’m some sexual pervert, just on occasions I have booked a girl after an evening out – you know, had a few drinks too many – and they are fucking available around here.’
Wey’s face was an impassive mask as he waited for Marcus to continue.
‘Okay, let me try and remember – if not their names then what they looked like.’ He smiled as if it was a joke but it fell flat.
Reid was on the M3 motorway heading towards Ascot when he received the call from Wey telling him that Marcus Fulford had admitted to using prostitutes on a frequent basis since he’d moved into the Green Street flat. However, he claimed he had not paid for any girls in the past few months as he was in a relationship with Justine.