“Pigs might fly,” said Larsen. “Let me know when you find her.”
The meeting broke up.
Tobias, Eddy and Katrine headed for Gellerupparken. Eddy and Katrine in one car. Tobias in the other.
Eddy and Katrine went to the flat five doors down from the one Girlie had used on the night she died. Eddy rang the bell.
A statuesque woman in a yellow kimono opened the door. She yawned.
“Hi, honey. I’m Augustina.”
Eddy tried to keep his eyes from her bust – it was as high as her cheekbones and shone like polished mahogany. He produced his ID.
“You’re up early,” said Augustina, with a slow smile. “You’re looking for a special price? You guys are always looking for a discount.” Eddy decided to let the remark go. He didn’t much care
if his colleagues bought sex. “You want to arrest me?” She flashed her teeth at him and was halfway through a rapid recital of her repertoire and prices before she noticed Katrine behind Eddy. She backed away from them. They followed her into the flat. It had the same layout and furniture as the one from which Girlie had fallen, except the table and chair weren’t overturned and the sofa boasted two pink velvet cushions. Augustina picked up a cushion and held it to her like a shield.
“What do you want? I told you, I’m legal. You want to see my papers?”
“One of your friends was pushed over a balcony last night,” said Eddy.
“I don’t know anything about that. What friend?”
“Her name is Girlie,” said Eddy. “You worked together, Augustina. She’s dead.”
Augustina clutched the cushion more tightly.
“Did you have a cat fight? Did you push her?”
Augustina stared at Eddy. She was clearly unnerved.
“Where were you last night, Augustina? Didn’t you hear the commotion? Didn’t you hear the sirens? Didn’t you see the flat taped off? The men in blue suits collecting evidence? Five doors down, Augustina. Where were you when all that was going on?”
“I had an appointment,” Augustina said. “Downtown.” She swallowed. “I didn’t come back until a few hours ago. I didn’t see anything. What happened?”
“Somebody pushed Girlie off the balcony five doors down. Who might have done that, Augustina?”
Augustina was silent for a few moments. Her voice hardened. ”You have to compensate me for all the business I lose because you guys are around,” she said. “You understand?”
Eddy turned to Katrine. “I think we’ll take Augustina down to Fredensgade right now as a material witness. Tell her what rights she has.”
Katrine opened her mouth.
Augustina said quickly, “What do you want to know?”
“That’s better,” said Eddy. “Have you or any of the other girls had an abusive client?”
“Not me,” said Augustina. “I’m too big and strong.” She threw the cushion at the sofa. “And I’m legal. He picks on the smaller girls. And the illegals.”
“He?” said Eddy and Katrine in unison.
“Who is he? Give us a name,” said Eddy.
“I don’t know his name or anything about him. I just heard about him. There were rumours. He beat up Girlie a few weeks ago. Before that I heard he beat up a Thai girl from another block.”
“What’s her name? Where does she live?”
“I don’t know. She moved away.”
“Where did she move to?”
“I told you, I don’t know her name. I don’t know where she went.” Augustina shrugged. “People move around. She didn’t work with us. She was in another block. I told you.”
“Do you mean she worked for a different pimp?”
“I don’t know who she worked for. She didn’t work with me.”
“How does this guy know which girls are illegal?” asked Katrine.
Augustina looked uncomfortable. “I heard he told the Thai girl he was a policeman working undercover to find illegal immigrants. He asked for documents. He said he wouldn’t report her if they had sex for free.”
“Aw, fuck,” said Eddy.
“Did Girlie tell you that?” asked Katrine.
“I just heard, that’s all,” said Augustina. “Word gets about.”
“You took Girlie to the hospital. Is that when she told you?”
“I don’t know anything about that. It wasn’t me took her. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re on CCTV.” This wasn’t true, but Katrine guessed Augustina was the woman the ambulance driver had seen in the van which unloaded Girlie at the Emergency Room. “You can tell us about it here, or you can come with us to Fredensgade and tell us about it there. You found her, you called someone. Both of you took her to the Emergency Room,” said Katrine.
“You called your boss,” said Eddy. “The Turk. He doesn’t like his girls getting involved with the police, isn’t that right, Augustina?”
“Just tell us about the time you found Girlie and took her to the hospital,” said Katrine. She exchanged a glance with Eddy.
“Maybe we should take you down to headquarters after all,” he said.
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary if Augustina talks to us here,” said Katrine.
“I never saw who hurt Girlie,” said Augustina quickly. “I never saw him. He was gone when I got there.”
“So what happened exactly? Just tell us how you came to take Girlie to the hospital,” said Katrine in a patient tone. “Take your time.”
Augustina’s shoulders dropped. She flopped down on the sofa and leaned back resignedly. “OK.”
Eddy and Katrine sat down at the table. Katrine took out her notebook. Eddy set his phone to record the interview.
“I came back early and the door wasn’t locked,” said Augustina. “We usually lock the door when we have a client. Girlie was tied up on the bed. She was choking. The bastard had stuffed her panties into her mouth so she couldn’t call out. He tied her hands with her bra. She was lucky I came back early. I took the gag from her mouth and untied her. I called somebody. We took Girlie to the hospital.”
“What did Girlie tell you about this client? What did he look like? Where did she meet him?”
“He picked her up down by the docks. He said he was from Immigration checking on illegal workers. He wouldn’t report her if they had sex. They came here.”
“To this block,” said Eddy.
“To this flat,” said Augustina. “Girlie moved into the other one after she got attacked. She was frightened he’d come back.”
Katrine put down her notebook and looked at Eddy. “We’ll have to get Forensics here.”
He nodded. “Is there somewhere you can go, Augustina? We need to check this place for evidence.”
“Forensics have finished in the other flat,” said Katrine. “Can you go there for a while?”
Augustina nodded wearily. She moved around the flat picking up her things and putting them into a holdall. She zipped it up. She was still in her yellow kimono.
“Do you want to change your clothes? We can wait outside,” said Katrine.
“I’m dressed for work,” said Augustina.
Katrine had a sudden thought. “What did you do with Girlie’s clothes? Where are the bra and panties, Augustina?”
She looked blank. “I didn’t do anything. Maybe I threw them on the floor. I don’t remember.”
“What was Girlie wearing when you took her to the hospital?”
“I put a robe around her, like this one.” Augustina touched the neckline of her own garment. “That’s all.”
“The bra and pants must be somewhere,” said Eddy. “Maybe the Turk knows. Maybe he threw them away. Or did Girlie pick them up when she came back from the hospital? Was she wearing them when she fell? I’ll ask Harry.” He took out his phone.
“I don’t think she’d want to wear panties he’d handled, he’d stuffed in her mouth,” said Katrine, recoiling in disgust. “I bet she threw them in the bin.”
An image flashed into her mind - Eddy dangling pink silk panties from an orange-gloved hand.
Eddy froze, phone in hand. He stared at Katrine.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she said.
He nodded. “Let’s go.”
As they got into the car, Eddy said, “It’s the last thing we need. A suspect from Immigration, working undercover.”
“We don’t know that, Eddy. It might just have been something he said, so he’d know who was unlikely to go to the police.”
“And I’m the Emperor of Japan. Plus, if we need to talk to the Turk, there’ll be a fucking great argument with PET because he’s one of their touts. Larsen won’t like any of this.”
“My turn to tell him,” said Katrine.
Eddy patted her knee. “We’ll do it together.” He switched on the engine and pulled away from the kerb.
39.
Tobias walked around the tower block nearest to City Vest Mall looking for the squat described to him by the blonde girl at the protest camp. Was Magnus having a fling with her? Tobias hoped so. If it meant Magnus had switched his attention from Agnes. It would be hard on Agnes but she was young and resilient. He wouldn’t, couldn’t tell her about Magnus and the blonde. But he could keep his fingers crossed.
He identified the squat easily. It was at the end of a block, on the first floor, exactly as the blonde had said. Banners hung from the balcony.
Save the Whale. Save the Planet. Save our Trees. Action on Climate Change! Whoever You Vote For The Government Gets In. Capitalism Kills!
Tobias walked across the road to get a better view of the flat. The door to the balcony was closed. Curtains were drawn on the windows. There was no sign of life. The flat beside it was boarded up. Further along the block, a dog barked briefly, its paws up on the balcony ledge, before dropping down out of sight.
There weren’t many people about. Two men in turbans sat on a bench in a small park opposite the flats, enjoying the May sunshine. Sunshine, like snow, improved Gellerup, thought Tobias. The trees were in full leaf. A young woman wearing blue jeans, a long black tunic and a black headscarf, cycled unhurriedly along the pavement. A battered silver-grey Volvo, parked across the road from the flats, gleamed in the sunlight. The brand-new black BMW beside it shone like coal. Drug dealer’s car, thought Tobias automatically. Agnes would say this was police prejudice. He could hear her saying, “Why shouldn’t someone in Gellerup have a new car?” He smiled.
He climbed the stone staircase to the first floor. The doorbell on the flat dangled uselessly from wires. The letterbox was blocked by a short plank nailed to the door. Tobias thumped the door. Nobody came. He put his ear to the wood and listened. He thought he could hear voices faintly. Male and female voices. Could Emily be there?
He went back down the stairs and walked to the back of the building. A row of garages with grey steel shutters ran along the back of the block. Graffiti covered most of them. On the one below the squat, Tobias could make out two words, recently added he thought:
Police scum
.
Tobias tried to lift the shutter. It was locked from inside. He banged on it. There was no reply. He walked to the front of the building and looked up at the flat. He thought he saw a curtain move. He went back to the door and hammered on it again.
He heard the distant rattle of a steel shutter. An engine revved. He ran back down the staircase, in time to see a white van career around the far corner of the block and accelerate towards one of the principal roads through the estate.
Tobias sprinted back to the garage. The shutter was down. He could detect no recent tire marks, but it was a dry day. Damn. Rain would have made tire marks visible.
He went back to the door of the flat and hammered on it. He waited five minutes, put his ear to the door again and heard distant voices, laughter. He shrugged. If they wanted to play silly buggers, he would return with a search warrant.
When he emerged from the building, the grey Volvo and the two men in turbans had gone. The road was empty. He walked back to his car.
He was about to start the engine when his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. Agnes.
“Hi, Pumpkin.”
“You don’t trust me, Dad. You didn’t trust me to ask Magnus to call you.”
“I trust you, Agnes. I don’t trust Magnus.”
“He would have called you. Things that seem so urgent to you are not so urgent to Magnus.”
“I have to follow my own timesheet, Agnes. I couldn’t wait for Magnus to get around to calling me about a vital piece of information.”
“Why don’t you trust Magnus?”
Tobias thought of four reasons simultaneously. He has studs in his ears, nose and mouth; he hates the police; he hasn’t got a job; he’s screwing another girl.
“He doesn’t like the police,” he said.
“He told me he was going to call you. He would have called you. You didn’t give him a chance.”
“Some things can’t wait, Agnes. I’m on a murder enquiry.”
“You just don’t like him. You’re prejudiced because he’s a full-time activist.”
“Quite so. I’d prefer he had a job.”
“He doesn’t need a job,” said Agnes. “He inherited money. He works for the planet.”
So Magnus was a rich boy. Agnes hadn’t told him that before. It didn’t make Tobias like him any better.
“I need to talk to Aksel,” he said. “Does he have a job?”
“Magnus says he’s some kind of IT specialist. You see? I did talk to Magnus about him. I asked him to call you. He said he was going to. But you couldn’t wait. You had to go up to the camp.”
“Where does Aksel work?”
“He’s freelance. He can work from home.”
“Even if home is a wigwam?”