Page 112 of The Killer’s Mark

Poe paused, a fraction of a second, no longer. ‘I think I still don’t want to call the police.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘And I think you do.’

Poe put down his cup and concentrated. Something had bothered him about this case right from the start, right from Mark Buckby’s murder. How had the Red Chamber known about him? How had they known that Buckby had arranged a meeting with someone who knew about Océane Blue’s tattoo? And being doorstepped at the Szechuan Palace in Newcastle, that hadn’t made sense either. He said, ‘You have a theory?’

Estelle nodded. ‘How long have we known Esmerée?’

‘Not long.’

‘But how well do we know her?’

Poe’s brow puckered. He thought that wasn’t as easy to answer. Esmerée had come into their lives foul-mouthed and spitting with anger. You could almost see the protective shield she wore. The independence that had been forced on her. They’d taken her into their home, made her feel welcome. And gradually she’d started to defrost. She was still foul-mouthed, but there was less venom behind her words. She’d opened up and discussed her life in New York, the battles she’d had with her mother. With Vincent du Buk. And she’d started to think of her future. A doctor. A pathologist. Even a private investigator.

‘I think we know her quite well,’ he said. ‘She still has her secrets, but I believe she’s been as honest with us as she feels she can. She’s a kid, but she’s also smart and streetwise.’

Estelle nodded. ‘She is. What does that tell you?’

Poe stared at his tea. Estelle was hinting at something, but she wanted him to get there on his own. She didn’t want to lead him. He said, ‘Tilly, hack into Cumbria’s nine-nine-nine logbook. See if anyone has reported a girl being forced into a van or a car. Greggs is in the city centre. If she’d been dragged away, someone would have reported it.’

It took Bradshaw less than a minute. ‘Nothing, Poe. The last emergency call to the police was about a masturbating tramp at seven o’clock this morning.’

‘She was lured into a car then,’ Poe said.

Estelle nodded. ‘She was.’

‘But like we said, she’s streetwise. She knows the Red Chamber are a threat. That means she wouldn’t get into a vehicle with a Chinese person.’ He thought it through. ‘She probably wouldn’t get into a vehicle with someone she didn’t know.’

‘Exactly. She was taken by someone she did know,’ Estelle said. ‘Someone she trusted.’

Chapter 90

‘The Red Chamber has someone inside the NCA investigation,’ Poe said. ‘It’s the only shoe that fits. It’s how they knew Mark Buckby had arranged for me to talk to someone, and why they had to move so quickly and torture him for the information. The NCA must have been listening to him. Probably since I was given his name by Susan Hawksworth. They knew I had something I wasn’t sharing, and they got a warrant to find out what that was. They couldn’t tap our phones, as Tilly’s fixed it so they’re untappable, but they could damn well hear Buckby talking to his contact. Frank O’Rourke, the man who knew about Océane’s tattoo. It also explains how they knew we were going to Newcastle. The NCA’s eavesdropping operation must have been up and running by then. They’ll have heard us talk about going to Chinatown. Whoever they have on their payroll accessed the investigation portal and passed the information along. That idiot with the boss-eyed dragon tattoo was probably in Newcastle before we were.’

Bradshaw made some notes on her laptop. She looked up and nodded. ‘I agree,’ she said. ‘Every discrepancy in this investigation can be explained if the Red Chamber has a source within the National Crime Agency.’

‘But who?’ Estelle asked.

‘A lot of NCA employees will have access to the investigation portal,’ Bradshaw said.

‘But most of them have their visits flagged,’ Poe said. ‘The modern slavery unit, for example. They don’t have unrestricted access. It’s why Susan Hawksworth knew the boss had looked up Vincent du Buk’s murder. As soon as she’d put his name into the database, Susan tootled down the stairs to ask her what her interest was in a high-profile Organised Crime Command case. A transnational case. The boss told her, then advised her to give us what she could. Said we might unearth something they couldn’t. Susan gives up an old vice source. The rest is unfortunate history.’

‘That doesn’t help us, though, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. ‘Organised Crime Command is the largest operational branch in the NCA. We don’t have enough time to get into the NCA database and formulate the question.’

Which gave Poe a mental kick to the shin. Because he’d just remembered a question he’d been asked. It had seemed casual at the time. Innocuous. It had been put to him with an impish smile. His non-committal answer had been shrugged off.

‘I know who it is,’ he said.

Chapter 91

Poe told Estelle and Bradshaw what he knew, what he thought. He wasn’t trying to convince them; he knew he was right. He also knew they trusted him enough to … well, trust him.

‘What do we do now?’ Estelle said. ‘Have them arrested?’

‘That’s the legally correct move,’ Poe said. ‘We have evidence of police corruption, and even though it’s circumstantial, it is enough for an arrest. The problem is they’ll lawyer up. And the Red Chamber only gave us forty-eight hours. We can’t waste half of those watching someone “no comment” their way through a succession of interviews.’