Hidden Page 8

  Neither Vinnie nor Harry answered straight away, it was clear to Vinnie that Sadiq was no mug and he was just letting them know that, saving everyone’s time, especially as they only had 10 minutes. Vinnie saw Harry look at his watch and he instinctively did the same. Ten to five.

  ‘We aren’t here to trade, but we do have a situation that we think you might be able to help us with. But first I have to ask you to confirm that you are happy to speak to us without your brief present,’ Harry said.

  ‘Depends if I’m being treated as a suspect for something,’ Sadiq answered.

  He’s obviously clued-up, Vinnie thought again before he spoke. ‘You are right to ask Mohammed, but this is not a PACE interview, it’s an intelligence interview.’

  ‘So you are here to trade?’ Sadiq said.

  ‘Look, time is short, Mohammed, and this is not eBay: brief or no brief?’ Vinnie said.

  ‘I’m only messing, gents, I don’t want that bent bastard anywhere near me.’

  Vinnie and Harry had discussed on the way over, just how far they could go with Sadiq, and truth be known, they weren’t sure. Vinnie had suggested that they Van Gogh it — play it by ear — and Harry agreed.

  Vinnie opened by quickly saying that they had been notified, via his brief, that Sadiq had something big to tell them about, and that due to very recent events they may be interested.

  ‘I told the brief that, and I do, though I didn’t give him any specifics, like I say, I have my doubts about him,’ Sadiq said.

  ‘Why not change your brief, then?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Because I didn’t have any concerns until after I asked him to make the approach.’

  Vinnie and Harry glanced at each other as Sadiq went on. He told them that as soon as he had asked his brief to set up a meet, he’d been all over him trying to find out exactly what it was he wanted to trade, but made sure that he only gave him very scant details. The harder his brief had pushed, the more suspicious Sadiq had become. ‘It stank worse than a bad vindaloo,’ Sadiq said.

  Vinnie couldn’t help but grin, he was warming to Sadiq and building the rapport he knew could be crucial to intelligence gathering. ‘I don’t really know the brief personally,’ Vinnie said, ‘since we are from Manchester, though we are now based here in Preston.’

  ‘I asked not to be seen by local detectives, I don’t know who I can trust,’ Sadiq said. He really had Vinnie’s attention now, and had also explained why the request had come to Harry in the first place.

  ‘Look, irrespective of whether what you have fits in with our “recent events,” we are going to need something from you if we are to stand any chance of getting your sentencing hearing moved back beyond tomorrow,’ Harry said.

  Vinnie watched Sadiq sit back and wince, as he made his own chair legs squeal on the floor. The man was clearly wrestling with something, and having become an experienced handler of informants as a DC and a DS, Vinnie considered the man’s deliberations appeared genuine. After what seemed like ages, but was probably only two minutes, Sadiq leaned forward and said, ‘What I’ve got concerns a brothel, but…’

  ‘But what?’ Harry asked.

  Sadiq leaned back into his chair. Silent, staring at the wall. If he was playing them, then he was good, Vinnie thought.

  ‘You said you were from Manchester?’

  ‘Yes,’ Vinnie answered.

  ‘How long have you been at Preston?’

  Vinnie quickly told him that they were not working as local CID, but as part of a regional homicide unit, which had three offices across the north west, one in Preston and the other two in Manchester and Liverpool.

  ‘So why are you two not based in Manchester?’

  Vinnie was definitely right about Sadiq. ‘Because we recently ran a job involving the murder in Lancashire of a former home secretary, among other things, and—’

  ‘By that nutter, Moxley?’ Sadiq said, interrupting Vinnie.

  ‘Indeed,’ Vinnie said, continuing. ‘And the local chief constable personally asked for me and my boss here to be stationed in the Preston satellite office.’

  ‘Well, if the chief of Lancs. trusts you, I guess I will,’ Sadiq said.

  ‘So?’ Harry asked.

  ‘A brothel full of trafficked women,’ Sadiq said.

  Another one. Vinnie and Harry exchanged glances; Harry had been spot on in suggesting that they approach Sadiq.

  ‘Run by a bad man, a really bad man,’ Sadiq continued.

  Vinnie said the “and?” that he could feel was unspoken.

  ‘And…’ Sadiq started to speak before pausing to take a breath. Vinnie saw fear in the man’s eyes for the first time, real fear. ‘And?’ Vinnie said, coaxing Sadiq to carry on.

  ‘And a bent detective who’s shagging him,’ Sadiq finished, before making himself wince once more with his chair.

  Vinnie turned to face Harry, but before either could speak, the door opened and the jailor appeared and announced that prison transport had arrived.

  ‘Give us a minute,’ Harry said.

  ‘Half a minute,’ the jailor replied, before disappearing once more.

  ‘Thank you Mohammed, that clearly wasn’t easy for you, but before we can carry on I need to speak in private with the sentencing judge and get your case re-listed.’

  ‘OK mate, but don’t tell my brief.’

  ‘We’ll have to tell him something, but like you did, we’ll leave out any specifics. We will have to tell the judge a bit more, especially why you have concerns about your counsel.’

  ‘It’s not the barrister, but the solicitor who is instructing him, but I suppose the less the barrister knows, the better too,’ Sadiq said, as all three of them stood up.

  ‘So, what are your concerns?’ Vinnie asked.

  Then Sadiq told them, and it wasn’t what Vinnie had expected to hear.

  ‘Who is the bent detective? Vinnie pushed for more as the door started to open.

  ‘Not yet,’ Sadiq said. ‘Get the adjournment, and then I’ll tell you everything.’

  ‘Sorry to interrupt, gents, but it’s time to go,’ the jailor said as he re-entered the room.

  Chapter Seventeen

  ‘Come on Bonehead; and be quiet,’ Babik said, as he led Bonehead away from their parked, borrowed Ford Transit van, down the poorly-lit rear alley toward the house at the end of the terrace. He could see that there were lights on and that the house next door was in darkness. That would help.

  They reached the last gate and Babik gently tried the latch; the gate was unlocked. He opened it an inch and then stopped and quickly put his finger to his mouth, signalling to Bonehead who was hunched down right behind him. Then he turned back to the gate and peered through the small gap. The noise he had just heard was followed by footsteps, his thoughts were confirmed. Someone had opened the back door and was walking into the small concrete rear yard. A woman. Was it their quarry?

  He couldn’t see the woman’s face but knew she lived alone; well, at the moment. Then the woman reached a wheelie bin and Babik could see she was carrying a small black bin bag in one hand. As she lifted the bin cover, Babik caught a glimpse of her profile. It was enough to recognise their prey from. He held three fingers up and Bonehead nodded his understanding. Babik watched as the woman held the bin lid with one arm and moved her other towards it.

  He counted his fingers down to two.

  Babik watched as she threw the rubbish into to the bin.

  He counted his fingers down to one.

  He watched as she let go of the bin lid and turned to face the house. Babik waited until the bin lid banged shut before dropping his last finger. At the very moment the lid slammed down, he pushed the gate open.

  They were both at her back before she reached the rear door, and before the echo of the bin lid closing had left the yard. She wouldn’t have known what hit her.

  *

  Vinnie and Harry walked out of the crown court building’s front doors and down the grand steps, towards the road. The n
ew courts at Preston were a modern build but still held some grandeur of design in keeping with the reverence that the building deserved. This grandeur was typified by the numerous slopping short steps that swept majestically around the frontage in a large crescent. That said, Vinnie still missed the old crown courts which had originally been the assizes, where the quarterly sessions were held long before the transition to crown courts. He had especially admired court number one, with its hand crafted dark wood adornments and life-sized paintings of former judges which hung on the walls. The very last one being of a well-respected judge who had been brutally murdered at his home in the early eighties by some embittered ex-con he had previously dealt with. An atrocity, which had shocked the nation at the time. The old place was still in use, but as a high court.

  They had walked to court from their office in the new central police station, which was just around the corner. Once they’d cleared the building and were on their own, Harry spoke.

  ‘Well, what did you make of him?’

  ‘Time will tell, but he seemed genuinely frightened as he started to open up.’

  ‘You’re the one with the experience of handling informants.’

  ‘Bit rusty now, but I’m cautiously optimistic. Are we on safe ground talking to him, or do you think we should hand him over to trained handlers?’ Vinnie asked himself as much as Harry.

  ‘I could run it past the local authorising officer at the registry?’

  ‘Might be wise, but on reflection, as we are not tasking him to do anything, we should be OK. We are simply debriefing him. We could always register him as a confidential contact,’ Vinnie added.

  ‘In your hands, that one,’ Harry said.

  Vinnie knew that under the strict rules that revolved around using informants, or CHIS as they were officially known, covert human intelligence sources, they could not task Sadiq to do anything proactive. Even a phone call that could be construed as having being made on behalf of the police and which amounted to an intrusion into someone’s personal life, could not be carried out without all the appropriate authorities. And even though, technically, Vinnie was still a trained handler, the local dedicated source unit would be the relevant authority. For now, they were just listening to Sadiq, so listing him as a confidential contact would hopefully suffice.

  The idea behind confidential contacts was to ensure some level of confidentiality for members of the public who wanted to pass information on the QT. Otherwise, everyone passing info who didn’t want to be a witness, would have to be fully registered as CHIS; the system would collapse.

  ‘It might be easier if you ring the authorising officer — you talk the same language. I’ve never handled informants, well, not officially by today’s rules that is, and I’ll seek a further adjournment of Sadiq’s sentencing hearing and request an urgent “in chambers” audience before the judge.

  Vinnie nodded and both men picked up their pace. Ten minutes later, both came off their desk phones at the same time.

  ‘The AO is happy for me to register Sadiq on the source unit’s system as a confidential contact, but if a Piggott text is needed, she says that the registry will generate it and deliver it in order to provide scrutiny and objectivity,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Sounds fair enough,’ Harry replied.

  ‘But we’ve got to make sure that Sadiq knows the limitations going forward. How have you got on?’

  ‘Don’t get comfy; we’ve got an audience in camera before HM Judge Wilkins in 30 minutes. The listing officer had a quick chat with him and he said he wanted to know more before agreeing a further adjournment.’

  ‘Is Judge Wilkins the same judge that was due to sentence Sadiq initially?’

  ‘Not sure,’ Harry said. ‘The listing officer didn’t say.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘You’ve done what?’ Susan said, as she peered out behind the dirty net window covers.

  Babik wasn’t quite sure what she expected to see, but he’d noticed her do it before, especially when she was tense.

  ‘We needed insurance, that’s all. She’ll not be harmed,’ he said, though he wasn’t sure whether he could keep that promise. Things were starting to get intense. ‘Why don’t you just sit down and we can go through things,’ Babik added as he pulled a chair from under the formica table for her. She huffed and then took the chair. Babik took one opposite.

  ‘Where is she now?’ Susan asked.

  ‘In the next room,’ Babik started, and before Susan could say anything he quickly continued. ‘So keep your voice down. She’s fine, gagged and tied up, but fine. Or should I say, gagged, tied up and with Bonehead for company, but otherwise fine.’

  ‘It’s not funny, Cornel.’

  ‘You’ve got that right. I thought it was your job to give me the heads up if any of your piglet friends started to have a look at me.’

  ‘I know, but they obviously kept it very quiet.’

  ‘I thought you were right up the local DI’s arse.’

  ‘I am, was, but at the last minute he got involved in something else, so handed the management of the “secret raid” onto another DI whom I don’t know. That’s why I couldn’t find out the specifics until it was too late.’

  Babik could see moisture in Susan’s eyes, so decided to back off. He knew she was just one cop and couldn’t access everything. ‘It’ll be fine, a bloody inconvenience, but fine,’ he said.

  ‘How long do you intend to keep the woman?’ Susan asked him.

  ‘Like I say, she’s of no interest to me, just insurance.’

  ‘Insurance against what?’ she asked.

  ‘Best you don’t know, but worry not. You need to start thinking about how we can get you back into the pig sty.’

  ‘What? Are you mad? Don’t you think I’m just a little bit blown?’ she said.

  ‘Not exactly. I’ve got an idea to run past you.’

  *

  Introductions over, Judge Wilkins invited Vinnie and Harry to sit down. They were in the judge’s private office which was located behind court number 10. The judge, a grey-haired man in his late sixties, was seated behind a huge mahogany desk covered in files, each tied in the middle with pink ribbon. The two stand-up chairs in front of the desk were as ornate as the desk itself, but the cushion on Vinnie’s was very firm, not comfortable, probably stuffed full of straw or old horse hair, he thought. He let Harry do the speaking, as the ranking officer and the judge listened intently until he had told the story.

  ‘I had a quick peek at Mr Sadiq’s file as you walked over, and I have to say, he is looking at a substantial term of imprisonment.’

  Harry was up front with the judge as to their earlier views on Sadiq’s request, which seemed to go down well. Vinnie noticed an almost imperceptible nod of agreement from the judge, probably involuntary. He knew many times judges would listen to representations made by police handlers, who could come across as being too greatly in favour of their informants. The fact that they had knocked Sadiq back at the start should buy them some currency with this one.

  Harry went on to explain the ill-fated raid and murder, and how they hoped Sadiq could help. After all, it wasn’t as if they were pleading with the judge for a lighter sentence at this stage, just the opportunity to progress things.

  ‘And his counsel’s view? the judge asked.

  ‘He doesn’t know,’ Harry replied.

  Vinnie had known this bit would be trickier. Judges and barristers were very much of similar ilk; after all, the former grew from the latter. But Harry did a fine job of explaining, especially when he said that Sadiq’s doubts were over his solicitor and not the barrister. He suggested that defence counsel could be briefed in general terms, but be ordered by the learned judge not to disclosure or discuss it with his instructing solicitor, if His Honour ‘so desired,’ Harry added.

  ‘And why on earth should I so desire?’ the judge replied.

  Harry didn’t answer, so Vinnie jumped in. ‘Because of certain sensitivities, Your Honour.’


  ‘Go on, inspector.’

  ‘Because of a corrupt detective sergeant.’ Vinnie then told him about the missing DS Susan Grady, whom they suspected of having tipped off whoever attacked them.

  ‘Understood: but relevance to the accused?’ the judge asked.

  Vinnie told him how Sadiq had mentioned that the man he wanted to tell them about was in a corrupt and personal relationship with a serving detective.

  ‘And you think this Babik is also the man behind Sadiq’s offending?’

  ‘Both related to brothels, which used trafficked and vulnerable women,’ Vinnie said. ‘We don’t usually believe in coincidences, Your Honour.’ He saw Harry’s eyes widen as he said that, but he wasn’t going to be so flippant as to add the ‘or fairies’ bit to his saying.

  ‘OK gentlemen, I’ll go along with this, I’ll order listings to leave the case with me from here on in, and I’ll grant an indefinite adjournment sine die, but will expect to see it listed back before me as soon as is feasible. I will summon both counsel before me here in chambers, and say that I am satisfied that the potential and quality of the information Sadiq may be able to provide is in the public’s interest to explore,’ as he spoke, the judge wrote down his own words on a legal note pad.

  Vinnie leaned back into his chair as did Harry, and as soon as the judge had finished his notation, Harry spoke.

  ‘Thank you, Your Honour, but what about instructing defence counsel not to give their instructing solicitor the reasons for the adjournment?’

  ‘That, I will not so order. Officers, you are asking me to effectively order counsel to hoodwink their own solicitor, and that is something I will not do, not without extremely good cause.’

  Vinnie opened his mouth to reply, and shocked himself at what he said next.

  *

  Ten minutes later, Vinnie and Harry had left the premises and were making their way back to the police station. As soon as they were away from the court buildings and out of earshot, Harry turned to face Vinnie and spoke.

  ‘“Because we believe the solicitor is also in cahoots with the corrupt officer and Babik, Your Honour.” I think I’ve got that word perfect, Vinnie?’