The Sect (The Craig Crime Series) (19 page)

“Aye well, we paid the bold Reggie a visit and he gave us the story on Sarah, or should I say, Sadie Beech. It seems she’s quite a girl and has been since she was a kid; theft, fraud, all the usual ladylike skills. They earned her a stretch in Wharf House in ninety-six.”

“And since?”

“Good as gold except for her taste in men.”

Andy interjected, making even Liam blush. “She puts it about a bit, or a lot is nearer the mark. Sleeps with every man who doesn’t run too fast and most of them Class A scum. Though God knows how she gets them; I’ve seen her photo and she’s no oil painting.”

Craig thanked his lucky stars there were no women in the room to object, especially Carmen. But before he could tell Andy to tone it down, Jake did it for him.

“And I suppose you’re Tom Cruise?”

Craig stifled a smile but he knew he had to act. He couldn’t reprimand Carmen for the way she’d talked about relatives and not do the same for a D.C.I., so he did something he rarely did but it was what the group needed. He shouted across the room, jerking everyone to high alert. Even Andy was roused, demonstrated by the fact that he finally sat up straight.

“D.C.I. Angel, see me in my office after the briefing. The rest of you, I’ve had enough of this crap!” He glared at each of them in turn. “It’s probably my fault for being too easy-going, but there have been things said in the past few days that verge on the unprofessional and enough is enough! Three young people are dead and they all have grieving families. We have a job to do and I refuse to waste my time correcting officers’ behaviour every five minutes as if you were teenagers at school. I like a joke the same as the next person but this is getting ridiculous.” His warm baritone turned ominously cold. “Take this as a verbal warning, all of you, and the next person who makes a comment that I feel is unprofessional in
any
way will be given an official written one. Andy, apologise to everyone for those comments about a bereaved relative. NOW!”

Liam was impressed. Craig’s voice was normally soft, made softer by his mixed accent, but it had taken on the force of a tannoy, and for once he wasn’t the only one being told off. The group froze, awaiting Andy’s response. One second later he proved he hadn’t the sense God gave him and began arguing with Craig.

“But that’s what Reggie said.”

Liam snorted. He didn’t want to land a fellow PC violator even deeper in it, but he had to tell the truth. “Not in those words he didn’t.”

Craig’s next words held real menace. “It isn’t so much the fact that you said someone tended towards promiscuity, but your language. Although how Ms Beech’s social life is your business is beyond me! If you can’t see the problem here then we’ve a lot to talk about.” He turned sharply towards Liam, effectively erasing Andy from the group. Liam knew his cue.

“Aye well, Reggie said she wasn’t a good picker of men. They all seemed to be bad lots. The one who was asked to leave the home was called Jim Upton. Reggie’s got his details out everywhere but he’s done a bunk. After he left Sam started bullying the younger boys in the youth club, and possibly doing more than bullying. One of the kids’ dads was just about to complain when Sam disappeared.”

“Any sign he could be involved?”

Liam shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s unlikely. He’s a church Deacon; pillar of the community sort. I’m chasing it up.”

As the atmosphere thawed slightly Jake interjected. “Sam was known to social services, so were Bobby McDonagh and Elena Boraks. Could there be a link there?”

Craig nodded. “Good call. It’s worth looking into, although I suspect if you threw a stone in some parts of Belfast anyone you hit would be known to them. Liam, follow up the social services’ links, as well as looking into the Deacon. Take whoever you need. Ken and Davy, check out James Upton. Davy, chase the details on the three drowning victims and the prints and stomach contents with Des. When you’ve got the information on the drownings let me have it immediately, please.”

He glanced at the wall clock; it was almost six. “OK, as Liam surmised, I’m going to attempt to have a life this evening, I hope the rest of you will do the same.” He stood up and turned towards his office. “D.C.I. Angel, follow me. The rest of you, please leave.”

Everyone wanted to hear Andy getting reamed but when Liam heard the ice in Craig’s order he cleared the floor. It was all fine and dandy getting called out by your boss, but it didn’t do to let your subordinates hear. What happened in fight club stayed in fight club, especially when that fight club involved senior officers who needed credibility with the lower ranks.

He made certain everyone was in the lift then he returned and hid in Annette’s cubicle, just in time for Craig’s finale.

“I am NOT discriminating against you as a man; I had a similar talk with a female member of staff less than twenty-four hours ago.”

Liam’s ears pricked up. Which one was it: Nicky, Carmen or Annette? The question answered itself and explained Carmen’s absence from the briefing.

Andy made an abortive rebuttal but Craig squashed it with a ‘be quiet’. Liam smiled. He had to admire Andy’s guts answering the boss back, but not knowing when to shut up was probably the reason for his failed marriages. As Liam listened Craig’s office finally fell quiet, then the door was flung open and Andy stormed across the floor at a pace he probably hadn’t achieved since he was a kid, narrowly missing Liam hunkering in his hiding place.

As the lift door closed Craig gave a sigh so loud that it was probably heard on the ground floor. His next words surprised Liam.

“You can come out now, Liam. I’ve got the coffee on.”

Liam didn’t know whether to stay hidden to prove him wrong, but that could mean him crouching down for hours and he had a bad back, or saunter nonchalantly across the floor as if he hadn’t been hiding at all. He settled on the latter and took a seat in Craig’s office. If he’d expected confiding camaraderie then he’d got it wrong. Craig turned on him accusingly.

“This is your fault.”

The D.C.I. gawped. “Mine? How the heck––”

“You should have warned Andy about my exchanges with Carmen, never mind given him the benefit of your last equality course.”

He was half-smiling and Liam knew the moment of danger had passed. Craig’s temper wasn’t pretty but it only blew a few times a year and it was never physical. Well, not with people; there was always John’s plate glass. If he’d known about Craig’s near conviction for assault when he was seventeen he might have changed his mind, but that was a secret only Annette and Craig’s family held.

He shot Craig his offended innocent look.

“Andy’s a law unto himself and he has a hell of a mouth on him. Not even I would have said what he did.” He shook his head and whistled.

“That had better not be an admiring whistle.” The whistling stopped. “And you
would
have said it a few years ago, so don’t go pretending that you’re some sort of saint.” Craig’s face turned grim again. “I’m sending him on an equality course, but talk to him, Liam. If he does that again he could be out of the force. The same goes for hitting on female officers the way he does. I’ve told him it has to stop…” His face suddenly cracked into a smile “…can’t you find him a girlfriend?”

Liam shook his head swiftly. “Oh, no, you’re not landing me with that. The only women I know are Danni’s friends and if I introduced him to one of them and it went wrong I’d be hearing about it till I died.” He grinned. “Katy or Natalie might know someone who could be his match.”

It was a joke, but they didn’t know what surprises the future held.

Chapter
Eleven

Moira, County Antrim. Sunday 29
th
March, 6 a.m.

The men watched as the rust haired teenager strolled erratically down the empty morning street. They knew where he was heading and it wasn’t to early mass; more importantly they knew where he’d been the night before. As their eyes followed him dispassionately, the boy paused outside an open shop and, with a difficulty bordering on farcical, withdrew some coins from his pocket before pushing open the door.

He could have been any youngster on a Sunday morning, hung over and doing the walk of shame, except that he wasn’t and no level of shame would compensate for the things that he had done.

As the youth re-emerged with his bag of basics and staggered five minutes down the road, he passed a layby where he was dragged, yelling, into a tinted windowed SUV. The driver made a call and then drove swiftly towards the motorway, before any neighbours could be woken by the screaming and the forces of law and order could arrive.

****

9 a.m.

Liam was feeling sorry for Andy. He also reckoned that Jake would be a good influence so he invited them both to join him on his next two trips. They needn’t have bothered with the first; Social Services were on a go slow on Sundays, with only an on-call staff available and none of them inclined to help the police by opening their archives on a day of rest. Sadie Beech on the other hand was surprisingly awake, but then grief had a nasty habit of robbing you of your sleep.

With a warning to keep his mouth shut hanging over Andy like a neon sign, Liam nodded Jake to start the questions, while he stared at the pallid mug of tea Sadie had given him and wondered if it would be cheeky to ask for a biscuit as well. He was wondering something else too; why Jake looked as badly rested as their interviewee.

“Ms Beech, we’d like to ask you some questions about a Mr James Upton, your ex-partner.”

Sadie snorted in an inelegant way and took a drag of her cigarette, looking far less sweet than the woman that Liam had met three days before.

“That bastard. What about him?”

“Could you tell us how you met?”

She shrugged as if it should be obvious; after all this wasn’t Pride and Prejudice, with introductions made over afternoon tea; it was UK 2015. Where did most modern couples meet? In a pub, a club or through friends. Jake took one look at the empty cans on the table and plumped for the first.

“The local bar?”

“Aye. The Red Horse. I go down there most nights.”

Liam saw Andy’s mouth open and he shut it again with a glance.

“And when did you start seeing each other?”

More Pride and Prejudice terminology, although ‘walking out’ was probably more correct in Jane Austen’s time.

She sniffed. “Brought him home with me that night and he never left.” She lit a fresh cigarette from her butt. “Well, not till I ditched him.”

“When would that have been?”

She surprised everyone with her next words. “It would have been three weeks after we met except I needed his money, so he only got the boot when he messed up my Sam.”

Jake glanced at Liam for permission to ask the million dollar question and he nodded him on. It was restful having someone else do the interviewing, especially when it was someone polite like Jake.

Jake leaned forward, closing the space between the bereaved mother and him, then he asked the price tagged question in a soft voice.

“How did he mess Sam up, Ms Beech?”

Sadie shifted in her chair uncomfortably, scanning the room for somewhere to gaze before settling on out the window as her best choice. She answered without looking at them, as if the reply was embarrassing or shameful. Jake wasn’t sure if it was shame at her failure to protect her son, or shame at the events that had subsequently occurred.

“He went into Sam’s room.”

“When Sam was there?”

It was a statement and question all in one.

She nodded. “At night.” She turned to the others with a frantic look. “I didn’t know. I was asleep.”

Jake nodded soothingly. The action said: I understand; you’re not a bad person; it could have happened to anyone. But his mind was saying, could it? Really?

Sadie was still talking, more quickly now, her words tumbling out and over each other like a drowning person scrambling for the shore.

“You understand, don’t you? I didn’t know and Sam never said. He should’ve told me.”

“Yes, he should.”

So why hadn’t he? Fear of disbelief? The knowledge that they’d needed Upton’s money? Because he was a terrified child? All or some of those; they would probably never know.

“When and how did you find out?”

The bereaved mother shook her head and a tear rolled down her cheek. All of them felt sorry for her. To lose your only child didn’t bear thinking about, especially if you blamed yourself.

“I…I got up to go to the toilet one night. I never usually did but…” She looked embarrassed. “…we’d had a lot to drink.” She glanced at the clock as if it would show the time that she’d awoken. “I woke around four and Jim wasn’t there. I thought maybe he’d be in the living room, having a cig like, so I checked.” She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. “He wasn’t here. It’s a small place, so I knew straight away where he was.” Her eyes flew open and she gazed at Jake pleadingly. “I swear I didn’t know, not till then. I’d never have let him stay if I’d…”

As the others watched, Jake took her free hand and held it firmly in his own. “No-one’s suggesting that you knew.”

The words were like water dowsing a fire. The panic left her eyes instantly, to be replaced by a dull pain.

“I went to Sammy’s bedroom and opened the door…”

She shook her head violently in disgust, picturing the image. They all were. A grown man and a teenage boy, taken against his will.

Jake finished the sentence. “Upton was in bed with Sam. Is that right?”

She nodded.

“And that’s when you threw him out?”

Another nod, less firm this time.

“What happened next? How was Sam?”

Sadie Beech shook her dry, bleached hair and tightened her lips as if afraid to answer. Her gaze skittered across the worn carpet, back and forth, from corner to corner, joined by her rocking rhythmically as it did. Rocking and sucking her cigarette down to a butt, only stilling to light another one before she resumed.

Finally Liam glanced at Jake and nodded him to come outside. He glared at Andy with a different message; not to say a word while they were gone. As they stood on the grey stone balcony gazing at the courtyard below, Jake turned to Liam with a question.

“I don’t understand. She was giving us clear answers and then suddenly nothing. Why did she stop so abruptly?”

Liam shook his head. “Think, lad, and tell me what you saw.”

The sergeant furrowed his brow, re-running the conversation from five minutes before. “She’d just told us that she’d found Upton in Sam’s bed.”

“Aye. And how did she look?”

“Guilty. Like she thought we’d hate her.”

“Good. Then what?”

Nothing clicked in Jake’s brain. “Then I asked if she’d thrown him out of the flat and she nodded again.”

Liam raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“You mean that she hesitated?”

“I mean she nodded, but it was weak. Like it was the answer that she thought you wanted to hear. What she
should
have done.”

Jake’s jaw dropped. “You mean she found Upton in bed with her kid and she
didn’t
throw him out?”

Liam’s nod was followed by an admission. “It was only when Sadie answered you that I remembered. Annette said something about Sam being taken away from her and put in care. They only let him home when Sadie finally cut all ties with Upton. Six months later.”

Jake’s jaw fell further.

“My guess is that when she found him in Sam’s room that night she gave him hell but she let him stay, on a promise that he wouldn’t touch the boy again, which of course he did. She probably convinced herself Upton had just got into the wrong bed ’cos he was drunk.”

The men fell silent for a moment, watching kids playing in the courtyard as they thought. Finally Liam restarted.

“You can call her on it but we’ll get nothing more today; she’ll just clam up. Or you can restart the interview as if you believe her version.”

Jake bit his lip. “That’s your suggestion.”

“That’s my suggestion. Take it from the point of her throwing Upton out and ignore the six months vacillation in between.”

A minute more spent watching the children and Jake nodded, pushing open the front door to re-enter the chilly room. To their surprise Andy was carrying a tray of fresh tea to the table and Sadie Beech looked happier than when they’d left. Maybe the un-PC detective was redeemable after all.

They retook their seats and drank for a moment then Liam shot Jake a glance. He set down his cup and smiled weakly at their interviewee.

“Do you feel up to carrying on, Ms Beech?”

A flicker of fear crossed the bereaved mother’s eyes; it disappeared when Andy smiled and gave her a nod. She lit a fresh cigarette and motioned Jake to restart.

“Thank you. OK, so you threw Mr Upton out. How did Sam react after he’d gone?”

Sadie relaxed visibly, relieved that Jake had accepted her version of events.

“He said nothing, he didn’t even cry. It was only when the social got involved he admitted it’d been going on for months.”

Months when you allowed Upton continued access to your child.

She stubbed the cigarette hard against the table and clenched her fist as if Upton’s jaw was close enough to punch. “Bloody pervert. Bloody paedo.”

She wouldn’t get an argument from them.

“I called the police and that big cop Boyd was on. He’s all right, him. He tried talking to Sam, but he wouldn’t say nothing, so they went after Upton and the social took Sam to hospital.” Her expression shifted from fury to hurt. “They looked at me like I knew. How could I know? Sam never told me, he never said.”

History had been reinvented in her mind.

She started to cry again. “They took him away from me. Put him in bloody foster care.” She shook her small head. “It made him worse.”

Jake glanced towards the kitchen and Liam took the cue to remove the tray, taking Andy with him. He was grateful for the opportunity to dump the tar that he’d just drunk. Why could no-one make a decent cuppa nowadays? When they returned Jake was still talking and Sadie was wearing a faint smile.

“So Sam liked his social worker, what was their name?”

Sadie’s smile widened. “Louise McIntyre. Nice wee girl. Didn’t look much older than Sam. She works in an office on the Holywood Road.” She shook her head. “She did her best but our Sam was never the same. Started picking on the younger kids. Beating them up.”

By the sound of it that wasn’t all he’d done. Jake’s heart sank. Sam had had a female social worker and the bodies had to have been dumped by men; he felt them heading for a dead end.

“We’ll see Ms McIntyre tomorrow.”

“Say hello for me. She’s not to blame for what happened.” Her top lip curled. “Your lot never caught that pervert.”

She glared at Liam as if he was responsible for the failure of all police. He reassured her.

“There’s a warrant out for Mr Upton’s arrest and every district is looking for him. If he’s still in Ireland he’ll be found.”

Sadie gave an unexpected smile and disappeared into the bedroom, returning a moment later with a passport in her hand. It was Jim Upton’s.

“He left it here. He’ll not get far without it.” She handed it to Jake. “Here, you take it. Maybe it’ll help.”

Jake wrapped things up as Liam glanced pointedly at the clock. “We’ll speak to Ms McIntyre and keep you up to date. It’s early days but we’ve got a lot of leads.”

Before she could ask what leads they were at the door. Jake saw the unmistakable stain of loneliness fill her eyes and he knew that Budweiser would be her companion for another night.

****

12 p.m.

Craig clicked off his mobile and rested back in the driver’s seat, thinking. Davy had called through with details of the drownings, but none except the girl in the Quoile could prove any sort of match. If she
had
been a rehearsal killing then it had obviously only taken the killers one. He shook his head. There was a shape emerging to the case, but what did it mean?

Four teenagers unexpectedly dead from drowning, three of them murdered and definitely troubled, enough to be known to the authorities. Three left on dry land with fresh water in their lungs and identical contents in their stomach, ingested long enough before death to have broken down. Perhaps the river girl’s stomach contents would match. Either way the contents would tell them something, he was sure of that.