Spider Shepherd 10 - True Colours (42 page)

‘It happens, though.’

‘Only where there’s a clear motive. Which is why no one must ever know why Khan has been killed. With no motive and no body, the cops won’t get anywhere, even if they suspect foul play. But if we do this right, it won’t even get to that. People go missing every year. Any idea how many?’

Harper shook his head.

‘Over two hundred thousand,’ said Shepherd. ‘That’s how many are reported missing. Now, all but two thousand or so turn up over the following year, but two thousand is still a hell of a lot, and unless there’s some sign of a crime the cops just don’t have the resources to follow them up. Unless they’re kids. Everything changes if kids are involved, obviously.’

Harper took a long pull on his cigarette, blew smoke, then extinguished it on the sole of his trainers and slipped the butt into the pocket of his parka. He nodded at the hole. ‘Isn’t that deep enough?’ They had dug down just over two feet and shovelled the earth into a neat pile.

‘There’s a reason that gravediggers go down six feet,’ said Shepherd. ‘Any less than that and there isn’t enough weight to keep the coffin down. The earth really does give up the dead unless you plant them well deep.’ He dropped down into the hole and started to dig again.

Harper watched him, grinning. ‘Sadly there’s only room for one of us in there.’

‘We’ll take it in turns,’ said Shepherd. He worked hard for another ten minutes and stepped out to let Harper took his place. The more they dug the harder it became. The earth was stonier and more tightly packed and once they got below four feet it was hard to move in the hole. It took them an hour to go down the last two feet but finally Shepherd was satisfied. He was in the hole and Harper had to offer him an arm to pull him out. It was six feet deep, just over six feet long and varied in width from three feet to four feet.

‘Can you do the GPS thing with the mobile?’ asked Shepherd.

Harper nodded and pulled out a cheap Samsung phone. He switched it on and scrolled through the menu. ‘What the hell did we do before mobiles?’ he asked.

‘We’d have drawn a map with a cross on it,’ said Shepherd. ‘Seriously.’

Harper laughed, tapped on the screen and showed it to Shepherd. ‘All done,’ he said.

‘Bring your spade,’ said Shepherd, and he headed back to the van. Harper followed him. They tossed the spades into the back of the van and closed the doors. Harper took a deep breath. ‘I’ll be glad when this is over,’ he said.

‘Me too,’ agreed Shepherd.

‘But it needs to be done, right?’

Shepherd nodded. ‘No question about that,’ he said.

Shepherd had just got back to his Hampstead flat when his phone rang. It was Button. ‘Sorry to bother you so late, but our interrogation boys have come back to me about the lie detector idea,’ said Button. ‘They seem to think that it’s workable. The latest equipment is a lot more reliable than it used to be, and they’ve had some quite noticeable successes over the last few months.’

‘OK …’ said Shepherd, hesitantly.

‘They came up with quite a clever idea, I think. If Grechko says that he’s had an expensive watch gone missing, he could request that all his staff be put through a lie detector. Everyone, his cooks, maids, serving staff, cleaners – and the security staff, of course. Now, because nobody has actually stolen the watch, everyone should pass with flying colours. But our guys can put in a few general questions, such as “Have you ever given details about the security arrangements at the house to anyone else”, and that should show up anyone who is helping our elusive killer. But in a way that doesn’t raise any suspicions. What do you think?’

‘I guess so,’ said Shepherd.

‘You don’t sound convinced.’

‘No, it’s not a bad idea. You’re right, if the maids and cleaners are done first, the bodyguards won’t realise it’s about them. What about the timing?’

‘That’s the problem, of course,’ said Button. ‘It’s best if the same operator performs all the tests. It maintains consistency. And each test will take at least half an hour.’

‘Grechko has a big staff.’

‘Exactly. Including gardeners and maintenance workers, we’re looking at about fifty people. Assuming two an hour, ten hours a day, it’ll take three days to clear them all. And that’s pretty hard going for the operator. It can be as stressful for them as for the people taking the test, it requires a lot of concentration.’

‘And we can’t put all the new bodyguards in the first day because that would look suspicious.’

‘Perhaps not. We could say that we’re doing the new arrivals first.’

‘Except that if anyone was stealing it’d be more likely to be the cleaning staff or the serving staff.’

‘I agree, it’s a difficult line to tread. But we’re not having much luck on the phone front and I do worry that if we don’t do something, the killer might try again. I’m going to run this by Mr Grechko first thing in the morning and if he’s agreeable I’ll get our lie detector guy out there in the afternoon. Strike while the iron’s hot. If there’s anyone you think should be looked at urgently, feel free to put the names forward.’

‘Will do,’ said Shepherd.

‘OK, we’ll talk tomorrow. Sleep tight.’

The line went dead and Shepherd put down the phone. He couldn’t go to sleep yet. He had to shower to get rid of the New Forest dirt and then he had to put his clothes through the washing machine, twice. And his boots had to be thoroughly cleaned to remove all traces of what he had been doing that night.

Shepherd arrived at the house at seven and got to the briefing room to find that the chef had delivered a plate of egg and bacon rolls, a large bowl of creamy kedgeree and a plate of croissants. McIntyre was already tucking into a roll and he grinned at Shepherd. ‘You didn’t tell me how good the scoff was,’ he said.

‘Scoff?’ repeated Popov, who was sitting at the head of the table with a notepad in front of him.

‘Food,’ translated Shepherd.

Grigory Sokolov was making coffee and he looked over at Shepherd. Shepherd flashed a thumbs-up in answer to the unspoken question and Sokolov handed him a mug of coffee.

‘What’s today looking like?’ Shepherd asked Popov.

‘Quiet,’ said Popov. ‘We have three visitors during the day, and four guests for dinner. I’ll run all the details by you but they have all been here before.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Where the hell is Leo? He’ll be late for his own funeral.’ At the exact moment he finished speaking the door opened and Tarasov appeared. He apologised for his lateness and sat down, pushing his Oakleys up on top of his head.

After the briefing, Shepherd went out into the garden and called Shortt. ‘Tomorrow, is tomorrow good for you?’ he asked Shortt.

‘I don’t see why not,’ said Shortt. ‘How did you get on last night?’

‘Lex had me doing most of the manual work but we’ve got it done. We’ve got the van sorted and the guns. So we need to do it as soon as possible.’

‘Why not today?’

‘I’ve got a lot on and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get away. But tomorrow should be good and I’ll send Jock over to yours during the day.’

‘I’ll make sure the little woman’s playing golf,’ said Shortt.

‘See you tomorrow, then.’ Shepherd ended the call. He looked at his watch. It was just after half past eight. He figured that it would be late morning at least before he heard from Button so he changed into his running gear and went for a run on Hampstead Heath for the best part of an hour.

When he returned to the house he showered and changed and went back to the security centre, where McIntyre was monitoring the CCTV monitors. ‘This is one hell of a system,’ he said to Shepherd, nodding at the screens.

‘The best that money can buy,’ said Shepherd. ‘It switches to IR at night, and all the cameras are motion and heat sensitive. Where’s Popov?’

‘Grechko wanted to see him.’

‘Did he say why?’

McIntyre shook his head. Shepherd went into the briefing room to make himself a coffee. He was just adding milk when Popov stormed in. ‘You won’t believe this,’ he said.

‘What?’ said Shepherd, even though he had a pretty good idea what was upsetting the man.

‘The boss has lost a watch. And he thinks it’s been stolen.’

‘I would think he could live without a watch,’ said Shepherd.

Popov busied himself at the coffee machine. ‘Not this one,’ he said. ‘It’s a Patek Philippe worth four million dollars.’

Shepherd whistled. ‘Four million dollars?’

‘It’s one of his favourites. He’s had it for years. He said it was in his study yesterday and went missing some time in the afternoon.’

‘Is he calling in the cops?’ asked Shepherd.

‘He’s got a better idea. He’s bringing in a lie detector expert and he wants everyone in the house to be tested. And he wants you in there supervising.’

‘Me? Why?’

‘Because you’re a cop and for some reason he trusts you more than me. I have to say, Tony, this really pisses me off.’ He turned to face Shepherd. ‘It’s as if he doesn’t trust me. Does he think I stole his bloody watch?’

‘It’s more that he wants an outsider supervising,’ said Shepherd. ‘Someone impartial.’

‘Yeah, well, I’ll be the first one to be tested, that’s for sure.’ He grimaced and sat down. ‘I’ll tell you this much, when I find out who stole the watch, I’ll personally castrate them.’

The lie detector expert arrived at just after three. His name was Jules Lee and he was Chinese but spoke English with a strong Newcastle accent. He was driving a Volvo estate and, to show his displeasure, Popov insisted that Sokolov and Tarasov searched Lee and his car thoroughly and checked his ID before allowing him to drive into the underground parking area. Shepherd went with him. ‘They’re letting us use the library for the tests,’ said Shepherd. ‘Is there anything you need?’

‘I’ve got everything with me,’ said Lee. He was a small man, barely over five feet, and was sitting on a cushion to see over the steering wheel. It was difficult to judge his age as his face was almost unnaturally smooth and devoid of wrinkles or blemishes, but there were dark liver spots on his hands that suggested he was in his fifties. He was wearing round wire-framed glasses and a grey suit and had a thin gold wedding band.

‘What about a translator?’ asked Shepherd. ‘Is it better to do it in English or Russian?’ He pointed to a parking space.

‘Either will be fine,’ said Lee, reversing into the space. ‘I’m fluent in both.’

‘Seriously?’

Lee grinned. ‘I speak six languages,’ he said. ‘What can I say? I had a tiger mother. She wasn’t above paddling my backside if I didn’t remember a hundred new words by bedtime.’

‘And Charlie’s explained everything?’

Lee nodded and switched off the engine. ‘It’s an interesting one,’ he said. ‘Challenging.’

Shepherd took a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and gave it to Lee. ‘These are the six who joined Grechko’s security team after the sniping attempt,’ he said. ‘Max Barsky, Thomas Lisko, Alina Podolski, Viktor Alexsandrov, Timofei Domashevich and Yakov Gunter. Of the six I think that Domashevich is the …’

Lee held up his hand. ‘Best not to influence me,’ he said.

‘Understood,’ said Shepherd. ‘Did Charlie explain that we need to question those six at random so that no one realises they are being singled out?’

‘She did,’ said Lee. He put the paper in his pocket, popped the rear door and climbed out of the car. Popov came walking down the ramp towards them.

‘He doesn’t seem happy,’ said Lee, opening the rear door.

‘His nose is a bit out of joint, but he’s OK,’ said Shepherd.

Lee’s equipment was in two metal cases and he insisted that he carry them both. Popov led the way to the lift. He pressed his thumb against the scanner, entered his four-digit code and walked into the lift first.

When they arrived at the ground floor, Popov led them along to the library. Two tables had been set up in the middle of the room with two high-backed chrome and leather chairs. ‘Do you need anything else?’ he asked.

‘This will be fine,’ said Lee, placing the two cases on one of the tables. ‘I would like a glass of water if you have it, and perhaps green tea?’

‘I’m not a fucking butler,’ said Popov, but he put up a hand in apology when Shepherd glared at him. ‘My apologies,’ he said. ‘I’ll get you tea and water.’

He left the room and Shepherd watched as Lee assembled his equipment. Shepherd wasn’t sure what to expect – he’d seen polygraphs in movies and they always had lots of needles moving across graph paper, but Lee’s kit seemed to be a regular laptop, albeit in a brushed stainless steel case. Lee connected two rubber straps to the computer, and several other attachments, which he laid out on the second table.

Popov returned with a tray on which there was a bottle of water and a glass of ice, and a handleless cup with steaming green tea. He put the tray on the table and sat down. ‘You can do me first,’ he said.

‘I have a list to work through,’ said Lee as he tapped on his keyboard.

‘If you are to question any members of my team, you will do me first,’ said Popov.

Lee looked over at Shepherd, and Shepherd nodded. Lee fastened the rubber straps around Popov’s barrel-like chest, attached a white clip to his left index finger and asked him to remove his tie and open his shirt. Popov did as asked and Lee dabbed two electrodes with gel and placed them on his shoulder blades.

‘OK?’ said Popov, as Lee went to sit in the chair and looked at his computer. ‘Right? I did not steal Mr Grechko’s fucking watch. I have never stolen a fucking watch. I will never steal a fucking watch.’ He scowled at Lee. ‘Are we done?’

Lee looked at him over the top of his glasses. ‘I’m afraid it isn’t quite as simple as that,’ he said.

Monotok woke with a start, his heart racing. He stared up at the ceiling and took slow deep breaths. He’d always had bad dreams but the nightmares were visiting him more often now and he didn’t understand why that would be. Three of the men were dead and the fourth would be dead soon and he had always believed that killing them would end the nightmares.

The dreams were never the same, not exactly. But they always involved the death of his parents, or the man who had taken care of him after they had died – Boronin, the farmer.