Queenie held her strapping handsome son in her arms. ‘Molly was very special to me too – and so are you, boy. What I said was in the heat of the moment, Vinny. I was just sticking up for your Auntie Viv. Us Butlers are made of strong stuff, and together we will get through this. You were my first-born, and whatever you do, I could never disown you, never.’
Ahmed Zane was standing in a phone box in Whitechapel market. He had excused himself as soon as that old witch Queenie turned up and was updating his cousin on the latest. ‘How should we play this, Burak? Now that I’ve told Vinny what Bobby Jackson supposedly said, I can guarantee he won’t rest until he’s killed the guy. But he expects me to help hunt him down, and obviously I cannot afford to take the risk of being implicated.’
‘Why don’t you suggest using my friends? He’s trusted them with similar matters in the past, so it shouldn’t be too hard to persuade him. Only this time they will leave Jackson’s body where it can be found, along with all the evidence to tie it to Vinny.’
‘And then I will see to it that Christopher will be the one to find the body. He can be relied upon to keep me out of it.’
‘I agree. You don’t want any suspicion pointed your way. Have you spoken to Tarkan lately? We still need to find Carl.’
‘No. I rang Tarkan earlier, but couldn’t get hold of him. It’s of no importance though. Once Vinny’s banged up, our worries are over, Burak. Carl Thompson won’t be able to inform him of our deceit once he’s in prison. He’s hardly going to write Vinny a letter, is he?’
‘No. The quicker we get Vinny banged up the better. I have a bad feeling about Carl Thompson and will rest easier when this is dealt with. I will phone my friends immediately. Just stall Vinny for the time being.’
Smithers put the phone down and turned to Townsend. ‘Strangulation. No sign of any other physical injuries, apart from some bruising to the wrists and arms, and no sign of any sexual interference.’
‘Well, that’s some consolation for the family, I suppose. At least the poor child didn’t suffer the sort of agony some of these poor little mites get put through before we find their bodies.’
‘Joanna and her parents want to identify the remains, so I think it’s best you accompany them. I’m going to have one last crack at getting a confession out of Jamie Preston. And if that lying little toerag carries on protesting his innocence, I’ll charge him regardless. We have more than enough evidence for this to stand up in court.’
Alison Bloggs was thankful when she opened the front door and laid eyes on Little Vinny. ‘Yous two fallen out or something?’
‘No, course not. Me and Ben are best pals.’
‘Well, he’s been a miserable little bastard lately. Not even been helping me properly with the kids. Why ain’t you been round here as much? You’re the only friend he has.’
Little Vinny looked at the toothless smackhead in disgust. He might not have known his mum for long, but from what he remembered, she was kind, very beautiful and treated him well. ‘I haven’t bloody been round here because my little sister is missing. Have you not seen the news?’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Vin. I’m a bit out of it today and forgot about that. I hope your little sister is found alive. You’re a handsome young man and if you ever want a bit of comfort, you know where I am.’
Remembering how Alison Bloggs had tried to molest him not so long ago, Little Vinny darted past her and ran up the stairs. No wonder poor Ben was unhappy. So would he be, living with a mother like that.
Ben Bloggs was sitting forlornly on his bed when Vinny burst into the room. ‘Come on, pal. I’ve got plenty of dosh, so let’s go out and get smashed.’
‘I really don’t feel like going out, Vin.’
Little Vinny sat down on his pal’s stinking bed, and put an arm around Ben’s shoulders. From the moment they had met, these two lonely souls from very different backgrounds had clicked. ‘Look, mate, I know how hard it must be for you living here, and I’m sorry I ain’t been round much. But my dad beat me up – look at my face, if you don’t believe. So I’m staying at Michael’s house in Barking.’
‘Has Molly been found yet? Is there any more news?’
Being the kind and considerate person that he could be at times, Little Vinny shook his head. His pal seemed depressed enough without him making it worse by informing him that the police had found his sister’s body. ‘Please let’s go out, Ben? Getting pissed and forgetting our troubles will do us both the world of good. I’ve already bought some puff and glue and I can easily afford a few bottles of cider. Let’s ride up and down on the District Line, eh?’
Ben Bloggs forced a smile. ‘OK, why not?’
The moment the Prestons followed DS Townsend into Poplar Mortuary, both wanted to vomit. It had the most horrendous stench. It stank of what they could only imagine was the smell of death. ‘Just wait here while I check the body is ready for viewing. I’ll be as quick as I can,’ Townsend told the family.
Seemingly oblivious to the awful smell, Joanna turned to her parents. ‘It’s not Molly, I just know it isn’t. I know this is not a nice thing to say, but I will be so glad when I look at the body and see it’s somebody else’s child and not mine.’
Johnny cast a worried glance at Deborah. Ever since Deborah had brought her home in the early hours of the morning, Joanna had been adamant that the police had made a mistake. ‘Jo, why don’t you let me identify the body? It’s no job for a female. You stay out here with your mum.’
‘No. You’ve only seen photographs of Molly, Dad, and you might get it wrong,’ Joanna replied indignantly.
‘Well, let me do it then, Jo. You can wait out here with your dad,’ Deborah bravely offered.
‘Mum, Molly is my daughter and I will never believe she has left me until I see it with my own eyes. I keep telling you: the police have got it wrong, I just know they have. It isn’t my Molly.’
DS Townsend looked extremely solemn when he reappeared. Molly had had what the police referred to as a special post-mortem. That involved skin being peeled off the face, the organs weighed, and other procedures necessary to establish the cause of death beyond a doubt. Even though she was currently lying wrapped in a shroud with only her head visible, it was not a pretty sight. ‘I really do feel that somebody other than Joanna should identify the body.’
‘Noooo! You only said you believed it was Molly – I know it is not her,’ Joanna yelled.
‘We will all identify the body together,’ Deborah told Townsend. It was obvious that Joanna was never going to believe the worst until she saw it with her own eyes.
Townsend nodded. He knew exactly what Joanna’s reaction was going to be once she saw the state of her daughter’s once perfect face, and even though he had been in the force for many years, it was never easy to witness.
Johnny Preston took a deep breath as he followed Townsend into the room. He had thought about his granddaughter so often while he was in prison and was distraught that, having longed all this time to see her in the flesh, he was about to be confronted with her dead body.
The room was very small, the smell even more awful than the one outside. When Deborah Preston laid eyes on Molly, she started to gag. ‘Oh my God! Johnny, let’s go. Please, let’s go now,’ she wept.
Joanna was momentarily stunned into silence. She then let out the most blood-curdling scream that Townsend had ever heard.
‘Come on, sweetheart. You’re going to come and stay in Tiptree with me and your mum,’ Johnny said. Even though he was heartbroken over the death of his grandchild, the one good thing to come out of this was that Joanna no longer had any ties with Vinny Butler.
‘Molly, wake up. Mummy’s here now. Please wake up,’ Joanna sobbed. Seconds later, she lunged towards her dead child.
The following morning, Christopher Walker had a bad feeling as he drove towards Hainault. When he had last seen Ahmed, the Turk had ordered him to discover the whereabouts of Carl Thompson and leave a message with Burak at the restaurant. His efforts to locate Thompson had been half-hearted at best and there was no progress to report. So he’d been filled with apprehension when Ahmed contacted him earlier that morning and said he needed to see him urgently.
Christopher got out of his car and with a heavy heart climbed into the passenger seat of Ahmed’s. ‘What’s so urgent?’ he asked bluntly.
‘How would you like to lock Vinny Butler up for murder?’
Christopher sighed. ‘Ahmed, I’ve already told you how difficult it will be to arrest Vinny without involving my bosses. The guy’s far too dangerous for me to tackle him alone, especially now his kid’s dead and he’s got nothing to lose.’
Ahmed smiled. He could smell the fear coming off Christopher and it made him feel powerful. There was no doubt who was in control here. ‘You can involve whoever you want in this arrest. All you have to do is pretend you received an anonymous phonecall about a van with a dead body in the back. Vinny will not be at the scene of the crime, but I can guarantee you he will be responsible for the murder and his prints will be all over the body and the murder weapon.’
‘And where will Vinny be when I find this body?’
‘Back at the club with me, getting pissed. I have barely left his side since Carl Thompson disappeared – I daren’t, obviously. Have you any news of Carl’s whereabouts for me?’
‘No. I checked him out, but I can’t find a police record that matches the guy you’re searching for. I came up with half a dozen Carl Thompsons, but two are sex offenders, and the others live up north. I will keep my eyes and ears open, but for obvious reasons I can’t bombard my colleagues with questions.’
‘Well, getting Vinny put behind bars seems to be our only option then, Christopher. Once he is banged up, we can both relax and get on with our lives, can’t we?’
Knowing the threat that lurked behind Ahmed’s words, Christopher nodded. This was a much better proposition than trying to arrest Vinny alone with a boot full of drugs, and getting a notorious villain put away for murder wouldn’t do his career prospects any harm. Quite the opposite. It would probably make him a legend overnight.
‘Obviously, we’ll need to meet again to discuss the plan in finer detail, but I’m willing to go ahead with it on one condition …’
‘What?’
‘That you never come back to me and ask for any more favours. This has to be the end of our association, and we take this conversation and any others we’ve had to our graves with us without telling another living soul.’
Ahmed held out his right hand. ‘You’ve got yourself a deal.’
Feeling like death warmed up, Vinny Butler unbolted the front door to find DS Townsend on the doorstep.
‘I have some news for you, Vinny. May I come in? I tried to get hold of you yesterday evening, but there was nobody here.’
‘I popped out for a few hours last night. Needed a change of scenery,’ Vinny said, as he flipped dejectedly onto one of his leather sofas. He could hardly tell Townsend that he had got so out of his nut, he’d ended up in a whorehouse in Leyton and got himself and Ahmed slung out for behaving too brutally towards one of the girls. ‘So, what news you got for me? Finally charged some scumbag with the murder of my daughter, have you?’
‘Not yet. But we’re hoping to have some news on that front very soon. The reason I’m here, and I’m sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news once again, is that the body we found has now formally been identified as Molly. The post-mortem was completed yesterday, and the cause of death was strangulation. Apart from bruising to the neck and wrists, there was no sign of any other injuries of a physical or sexual nature. I am truly sorry for your loss, but I can assure you we are doing everything in our power to catch the bastard responsible.’
Aware that he was trembling, Vinny walked up to the bar. ‘I need a drink. Do you want one?’
‘No, thank you. I need to get back to the station. If you would like to say your goodbyes to Molly, just call me and I’ll arrange it.’
When Townsend had gone, Vinny sat in a trance, drowning his sorrows. A small part of him did feel relief that Molly had not been interfered with sexually. He would never have coped with that. What father could? But it still didn’t alter the fact that some evil cuntbag had put their hands around his daughter’s throat and throttled the living daylights out of her, and for that they would pay dearly.
Imagining how scared Molly must have been, Vinny put his head in his hands and sobbed his heart out. Though he carried on breathing, it felt as if a part of him had died with her.
Smithers couldn’t help feeling deflated. He had been certain the SOCOs would have found something to link Jamie to the crime scene, or that his fingerprints would be found on Molly’s body, but they’d drawn a blank.
‘You OK, boss? I finally caught up with Vinny and delivered the news.’
Smithers brought Townsend up to date on the latest development. ‘Jamie must have worn gloves throughout. He probably burned them with the clothes he was wearing and the pushchair. No gloves were found in his bedroom. We had a phonecall this morning about the pushchair. A woman says her son’s was stolen not five minutes’ walk from Vinny’s club on the day that Molly went missing. Said it was taken from her front garden. We also had another call not ten minutes ago. A bloke insists that he saw a lad matching our photofit of Jamie ripping down the posters we put up in our search for Molly.’
‘I take it Preston is still denying everything?’
‘Yep. Oh well, let’s see how he gets on denying it to a jury, the lying little shit. We have a motive for the murder, the newspaper cuttings we found in his bedroom, witnesses who are willing to stand up in court and say they saw him opposite the club at the time of Molly’s disappearance. And most importantly, we have his phonecall on tape.’
‘I take it you haven’t charged him yet?’ Townsend asked.
‘No. I’m going to do that very shortly. If you want, you can sit in with me and watch him fly into another frenzy while protesting his innocence. Good little actor the kid is, I’ll give him that much. Wonder if he’ll be able to convince his fellow inmates in Feltham that he isn’t a child killer? He’ll get what’s coming to him in there, that’s for sure.’