Dead or Alive (28 page)

‘Ah, I did wonder about that saddle. Bit on the sharp side is it?'

‘Like riding round on a razor blade.'

‘I was wondering how you went on with Jez. Did he know where the kids are?'

‘He thought he did but they weren't there.'

‘Is that it?'

‘It'll have to be, Fiona. Better that you don't know the whole story.'

‘I see.'

‘It got a bit ugly. What have you got for me?'

‘Er, the car number you gave me fits a Peugeot 405 registered in Nuneaton. What do you mean by “ugly”?'

‘Honestly Fiona, I'm sorry to keep you in the dark, but it's best you don't know.'

‘OK, all the insurance details were false as well. So, the bloke who bumped into the nanny was obviously part of it. What about the name Kev Clarkson?'

Sep had asked her to run the name through the PNC soon after he'd got the name from Jez.

‘I couldn't find a Kevin Clarkson who fits that description. In fact I only found two in Yorkshire; one's an eighteen-year-old burglar from Rotherham and the other's a Jamaican drug dealer from Bradford, and both of 'em are currently banged up.'

‘I imagine our Kev Clarkson's got half a dozen other names.'

‘Nothing came up that's of any use. I suppose I could let Laura look through the mugshot files,' said Fiona.

Sep smiled to himself. ‘It'd be interesting to see Cope's reaction when you tell him you're getting the nanny to check out the mugshots.'

‘I don't need to tell him.'

‘You'd bloody well need to if I was in charge.'

‘He's not you, Sep, and if I ask Cope won't Clarkson just get to know and just leave town?'

‘Good thinking. OK, don't ask him. In fact if she identifies anyone you'll need to keep his identity to yourself until you pick him up.'

‘I'll bring her in on Friday evening. He likes his weekends off does Cope.'

‘What? Whole weekends? How does he manage that?'

‘He sets it off against the overtime he puts in at night, which is mainly pub-crawling, as far as I can tell.'

‘Pubs are where all the prostitutes are,' said Sep. ‘His night work should suit him down to the ground.'

‘And maybe he spends his weekends working full time for Formosa.'

‘If I was still in the job I'd put a tail on Cope this weekend.'

‘I'd have to do the tailing myself. A mere sergeant can hardly authorize for an inspector to be tailed. In any case I'll be tracking down Kev Clarkson … if Laura can identify him.'

‘You just tell Jimmy Lennon where Kev Clarkson is. Jimmy'll deal with him.'

‘Bloody hell, Sep, I could get drummed out of the force for this!'

‘Not if we find the kids and expose Cope for what he is. I get my job back and you'd be in line for a promotion – at least you would if you got your finger out and took your inspector's exam.'

‘I've only just made sergeant, Sep. I'm at least ten years off trying for inspector.'

‘Sometimes opportunities arise out of the blue, Fiona, and you need to be ready to take them – as in already having your paper qualifications. It's how I got bumped up fairly quickly. Two years as a DS then a DI got the push for improper conduct and I was both available and qualified to take his place.'

‘That's not what I heard. I heard you had some magical powers when it came to getting the truth out of villains.'

Sep grinned. ‘It's not magic, it's a talent for lying convincingly. It's a practised art I've acquired. Villains don't expect cops to be as dishonest as them, and as far as lies are concerned I can see through their lies but they can't see through mine. A lot of it's educated guesswork but you don't need much education to know the truth when a villain's lying to you. All you need is a bit of detail that takes him by surprise and he thinks you know everything. I ask around, check him out and sometimes I dig out damaging information that's got nothing to do with the case. There's always a skeleton in his cupboard and a villain's skeletons tend to rattle louder than most. That's what I do. I rattle their skeletons at 'em, and that's when they spill the beans, hoping you might go easy on them. This knowledge works a charm coming from a nobody like Jimmy Lennon.'

‘How did that work?'

‘Well, when Jimmy Lennon told Jez he knew about him losing Formosa's Bentley while he was out fishing, it shocked the hell out of him. I mean, how the hell could a no-account tramp know that? He probably thought Jimmy had mystic powers. It's a case of using what little you know to its best advantage … and being a talented liar.'

‘You must teach me that. Was Jez of any help?'

Sep sighed to himself. ‘I'd better tell you, Fiona, Jez is dead. His information led to a shoot-out with two of Formosa's men, also dead. If the police haven't found out about it I'm guessing Formosa's got rid of all evidence.'

‘Were you involved?'

‘I was, unfortunately, but Jez did most of the shooting.'

‘Did you …?'

Sep chopped her off. ‘Honestly, Fiona, you don't want to know any more. Just keep in mind that at the end of this Cope'll get the push and there'll be a vacancy.'

‘Which will be given back to you,' Fiona said.

‘Maybe they'll take me back as a DCI to make up for all the injustice they've heaped upon me.'

‘Do you really think that might happen?'

‘You have to admit, there's a kind of logic to it … copper's logic admittedly, but logic nevertheless.'

‘So you see all these problems as a means of fast-tracking up the promotion ladder?'

‘I see it as the light at the end of the tunnel.'

‘You're a very positive person, Sep.'

‘It's better than going crackers.'

Fiona switched the computer to the police-booking-photographs archive, better known as the mugshot file. She was sitting next to Laura Graham.

‘You saw him in Harrogate, so I suppose we'd better bring up all the Harrogate and district villains – that shouldn't take long. Then we'll try Leeds.'

‘OK,' said Laura. She scrolled through the mugshot pages, bringing up twelve at a time. It took two minutes to rule out the known Harrogate villains. Fiona went to another file showing Leeds criminals. After ten minutes, Laura came to a photo that looked vaguely like the man she was looking for.

‘He's that type but it's not him,' she told Fiona. ‘I could be here for hours. How many are there?'

‘It depends how far back we go. Thousands altogether.'

‘Is there some way of separating them into age groups?'

‘Yes, I can do that. Middle-aged you say? Shall we try forty to fifty-five?'

‘OK. What about type of crime?'

‘Yep. Let's try fraudsters. He gave you a lot of false information?'

‘He certainly did.'

It took fifteen minutes and several false alarms for Laura to point to a photograph. ‘That could be him, but he looks a lot younger there.'

Fiona brought up the man's details. ‘Well it was taken fourteen years ago. He'll be fifty three now. Kevin Kennedy, arrested for fraudulent accounting. They often hang on to their first name to avoid confusion. He fiddled the books of his employer by the looks of it, to the tune of eighteen thousand three hundred pounds. Got two years for it.'

‘Are there any more recent photos of him?'

‘We've got all his identity details. I'll try the Passport Office, see what they've got.'

Five minutes later Fiona brought up a passport photo of Kevin Kennedy taken two years ago. Laura stared at it intently. ‘That's definitely him,' she said.

‘Well, if he's still living at his passport address, which he should be, we've got him,' said Fiona. ‘Some things are so simple. I bet he didn't tell Vince Formosa he had a criminal record.'

‘Does this help in finding the children?'

‘If it does, the Strathmores owe you a big debt.'

‘Maybe it will make up for me being late picking them up. I haven't forgiven myself for that.'

‘I'm sure the Strathmores don't hold it against you.'

‘I think they might. Someone steals your children, you blame whoever's handy. I'm amazed Mr Strathmore hasn't tracked down this Formosa character and beaten it out of him.'

‘If it turned out
not
to be Formosa, that'd put Mr Strathmore in a lot of trouble – with the law as well as Formosa, and I don't know which is worse.'

‘His name's Kevin Kennedy, he's fifty three and he lives at 13 Bayswater Drive in Harehills. I'll be passing this on to Cope when I speak to him.'

‘Which will be Monday.'

It was Friday evening. Laura had just left the police station. Fiona had rung Sep. ‘Sorry, Sep. He'll be down on me like a ton of bricks if I leave it three days before telling him. I'll ring him in the morning at his home.'

‘Where's that? He doesn't live in my house anymore.'

‘No idea, but someone must know.'

‘Fiona. Don't ring him before Jimmy Lennon's talked to Kennedy. Tell me everything you've got on him, and anything you haven't got on him but might be true. Can you email his picture to me?'

‘Bloody hell, Sep! If I get found out doing thi—'

‘It's for a good cause Fiona, and no one'll know but me.'

‘OK. I'll trust you with that, but this is as far as I'm going with it, Sep.'

‘You're a diamond, Fiona.'

Sep put the phone down and rang Winnie. ‘Winnie, is Bayswater Drive near you?'

‘Not far away.'

‘There's a bloke I need to check out in connection with the kidnapping. His name's Kevin Kennedy. He lives at number 13. Is there any way you can help?'

‘Possibly. I know someone who lives in the Bayswaters. Could be the Drive, I'm not sure. Is there anything special about him?'

‘Not really. He's a bit of a nonentity apparently. Lives on his own, but about fourteen years ago he did two years for fraud. I think he does work for Formosa.'

‘Ah, I've heard there's a bloke around there who does dodgy driving licences and passports and stuff. I imagine Formosa could use a man like that. Don't know his name but I can find out soon enough. I'll ring you back, Sep.'

It was an hour before she rang him back. He was thinking it was too late to call in on Kennedy with it being Friday night. He'd most likely be in some pub or other by this time.

‘Kevin Kennedy did you say?'

‘Yes.'

‘There's a bloke calling himself Kevin Kitson who lives on Bayswater Drive.'

‘Is he the forger?'

‘Yes.'

‘I'm thinking he's my man. Did you find out anything of interest?'

‘Possibly. I've got a contact who tells me there's a bloke doing life in Wakefield nick who tried to do a runner using one of Kitson's passports.'

‘What's he in for?'

‘Double murder. Real nasty type. He wasn't pleased with Kevin's work one bit, and this was before they introduced these new hologram jobs. Word has it that he didn't blow the whistle on Kevin because Formosa put the frighteners in.'

‘What's this bloke's name?'

‘Pete Devlin.'

‘Devlin? Bloody hell!'

‘You know about him do you?'

‘Yes, he's bad news,' said Sep. ‘Do you know what Kitson looks like?'

‘No, but I imagine my contact does. Do you have a photo of him?'

‘I do, but I've promised to keep it to myself. Look, I'll email it to you.'

‘Sep, how can you do that if you're keeping it to yourself?'

‘Because I expect you to keep it to
your
self. Can you print it and take it round to your contact?'

‘You want me to show it to my contact?'

‘Yes.'

‘How can I do that if I'm keeping it to myself?'

‘Winnie, can you do it?'

‘Sure. I'm only five minutes away from her.'

‘It's a she, is it?'

‘Yes. Women are much more reliable – much better at keeping things to themselves than men. Send it and I'll ring you back in fifteen.'

‘If there's anything else she knows as well, and don't mention Formosa's involved in this.'

‘We're not stupid, Sep, us women.'

‘Kitson and Kennedy are one and the same, Sep. My contact is certain.'

‘Well done, Winnie. What's the betting that Kennedy has half a dozen passports for half a dozen Kevins? Do we know anything else about him?'

‘You'll find him at home right now because he rarely goes out at night. My contact's mother knows him quite well. He was married briefly but his wife left him when he went to prison and he has no idea where she is. According to him she left with all the money he embezzled. They have a son who he hasn't seen since he was a baby. That's about all.'

‘Would you say this information is widely known?'

‘I would doubt it. My contact's mother was told all this in confidence. I believe they had some sort of affair and people tend to open up under such circumstances.'

‘Are they still having this affair?'

‘No. It didn't last long. He's not exactly God's gift to women. It seems she befriended him when he came into some money, presumably from his nefarious activities. She dropped him when he lost a testicle to cancer and ran out of money.'

‘So it wasn't a hearts-and-flowers love story, then?'

‘I've met her. She's a real old cow. Is all this of any help?'

‘Oh yes.'

‘Oh, by the way, I think I know who killed Dench.'

‘You do?'

‘Yes.' She went on to tell him about her chat with Marku the car wash man and how Dench was killed by two hitmen, most probably called Spud and Sharky. All the details Marku had given her she passed on to Sep.