Dead or Alive (23 page)

‘Strathmore children? I certainly do know about you. And you've escaped have you?'

‘We have, yes.'

‘Well, I'd better get you to a police station. Get in the back, both of you.'

‘Thank you.'

The children climbed into the back of the car as the driver said, ‘I've just got to make a phone call.'

James and Milly listened to him in increasing dismay. ‘The kids are in the back of my car. Where the hell are you? … Jesus Christ! … You're supposed to be guarding them not shagging some tart. Get yerself down here you idiot. What d'yer think the boss would've done if we'd lost 'em? He'd have had us wasted, that's what he'd have done!'

He then turned round in his seat and pointed a gun at them, just as Lee Dench had done at the beginning of their ordeal.

‘Right, kids, we're going back. You've put me in a very bad mood. Any trouble and I'll shoot both of you.'

Milly began to cry. James put an arm around her.

‘T
here must be a way of finding out where Formosa lives,' said Sep.

He and Fiona were in the Black Bull in Otley, a small, market town ten miles west of Leeds. Sep liked to keep his meeting places distant and varied.

Fiona shrugged. ‘When he was arrested he gave the address of an office block in the middle of Leeds city centre. We checked it out and it has living accommodation that ties in with his personal tax returns.'

‘He pays tax, does he?'

‘Oh yes, religiously. He's got two scrap metal yards in London and one in Bradford.'

‘Ideal for money-laundering?'

‘We think so, but we can't find anything drastically wrong with his accounting. His books aren't bad enough to be called false accounting, just bad enough to be classed as incompetence. When he's given a fine he always protests before paying up. Anything less would arouse suspicion.'

‘So, this address is his official domicile is it?' said Sep.

‘It is, but I doubt if he spends much time there.'

‘Have we ever had him followed?'

Sep used the word “we” through force of habit. Fiona noticed but didn't mention it.

‘He has a real talent for disappearing off the radar,' she said. ‘God knows where to.'

‘Does he use disguises?'

‘Dunno. He uses hotels a lot, especially hotels with more than one entrance and exit. There are times when he goes in one door and goes straight out of another. Without knowing exactly which hotel he's heading for makes it almost impossible to keep tabs on him.'

‘If I were in charge of the investigation,' Sep said, ‘I'd put another ten coppers on him. Try and anticipate his movements. Find out everything there is to know about him. I know he drives a Bentley, has anyone put a tracker on it?'

‘There's one on it right now,' said Fiona, ‘but he never goes anywhere interesting. I'm guessing he's knows about the tracker and is using it to his own advantage.'

Sep drummed his fingers on the pub table. ‘If we can't keep tabs on him we need to keep tabs on someone further down the Formosa pecking order. There must be a couple of dozen men in his employment … if you can call it employment. Do you know any of them?'

‘Only his driver. His name's Jez. He was a pro boxer but that's all I know about him.'

Sep nodded. ‘Yeah, I know about him. Formosa can't spend every waking hour in that car. There'll be plenty of times when his driver's out on his own. I doubt if he'll just stick a two hundred grand, top-of the range Bentley on a parking meter overnight. That car might be his Achilles Heel. We need to follow it when Formosa's not in it. At some stage it should lead us to his driver.'

‘Then what? We can't just arrest a man for being Formosa's driver.'

‘I don't need to arrest him,' said Sep. ‘I'm not a copper any more.'

‘Sep, I know you're a big feller but he's a man-mountain.'

Sep took a sip of his drink and said, innocently, ‘Fiona, I'm not going to fight him. All I want to do is talk to him.'

‘Ah, you want to give him the old DI Black treatment. Do you have any lies conjured up yet?'

‘It's the truth that I find out about them that baffles them, Fiona. It baffles them so much that they believe my lies, which, I have to say, are sometimes works of art. He used to be a pro boxer you say?'

‘Yeah, he killed a man in the ring.'

‘Well, there's a truth I can work with. I might have a story that I can try on him. Could you get me details of the man who died and when it happened and who was Jez's trainer? In fact as much as you can on Jez in general. Was there any heavy betting on the fight? Stuff like that.'

‘I'll do what I can.'

‘And let me know when he goes off in the Bentley on his own.'

‘All I can do is alert our tracking people and see what can be done.'

Peter Strathmore was staring at the blank screen of his television when the phone rang. His wife was upstairs in bed. Peter was alternating between consciousness and sleep. He hadn't slept more than two continuous hours since his children had been taken. There were times when he'd been tempted by his wife's sleeping tablets, of which he was in sole charge after she overdosed, but he had a responsibility not to succumb to that temptation. The noise of the phone didn't immediately penetrate his consciousness. It seemed a distant noise that was nothing to do with him. It had rung six times before he became fully aware of it and picked it up.'

‘Hello?' he said, dully.

‘Strathmore?' It sounded like a woman with a husky voice.

‘Yeah.'

‘We still have your children.'

Strathmore squeezed his eyes shut, trying to make himself think straight.

‘What?'

‘You heard.'

‘My children. They're alive?'

‘Yeah, but we're getting bored with them. If we don't get two million within one week they will be dead and you will hear no more from us. That's a very generous amount of time for you to raise it. I'll ring you on this number in exactly six days.' The caller rang off. Peter stared at the phone trying to understand what he'd just heard. His mobile rang in his pocket. He took it out and turned it on.

‘Peter?'

‘Yeah.'

It was a two-man police telephone monitoring team working shifts in a van two hundred yards away from the house. It was the first interesting call they'd had in over a week.

‘We're sending someone in to talk to you about this.'

‘She said my children are alive.'

‘Yes, we heard. It was probably a man using a voice changer.'

‘You mean Formosa?'

‘Possibly. My colleague is on his way to you now.'

‘A
m I speaking to Mr Septimus Black?'

‘You are.'

It was that same evening. Sep was back in his flat. The caller's voice was vague and defeated.

‘My name is Peter Strathmore. I'm, er … ringing about my children, who have been—'

Sep interrupted him. ‘I know who you are, Mr Strathmore. How can I help?'

‘I don't know if you can, Mr Black, but I was told you're very good at this sort of thing.'

‘Were you told that I was kicked out of the police force?'

‘Er, yes I was, and I was told why. But I'm also told that it doesn't detract from your abilities.'

‘Oh, the detective sergeant, she said that, did she?'

Strathmore didn't correct him on his assumption of the rank and gender of his informant, which made Sep smile – Fiona.

‘I'm quite desperate, Mr Black. The kidnapper rang today to tell me my children are still alive.'

‘Did you ask him to supply you with proof?'

‘No, he didn't give me the chance.'

‘Do the police know about this?'

‘Yes, they heard the call. Detective Inspector Cope is in charge of the investigation, but I'm not sure I have too much faith in him.'

Your lack of faith is well-founded,
thought Sep, whose sympathy for the man was compounded by the knowledge that the lives of his two children were also in the hands of a bent copper.

‘I assume this call isn't being heard by the police?'

‘No, it's not. This is my wife's mobile. The police have no knowledge of it. I'm told you may have some unorthodox methods of tracking people down and I would like to engage your services, Mr Black.'

‘I understand the hot favourite for the kidnapping is Vincent Formosa?'

‘That's right.'

‘How much is he asking for?'

‘Two million.'

‘Can you afford it?'

‘Probably. It's the time that's the problem. He wants it in one week.'

‘If he thinks you're on with it he'll give you more time.'

‘How can I convince him I'm on with it?'

Sep knew that if Cope got to hear that Strathmore was doing his best to raise the money he'd inform Formosa. But he daren't tell Strathmore this. ‘I might be able to get a message on those lines to Formosa,' he said.

‘The man's a slimeball. I'm not sure it'll get my children back,' said Strathmore. ‘I'd much rather give you two million, Mr Black.'

‘I won't take two million – that'll make me as bad as Formosa.'

‘In that case, I will pay you one hundred thousand and I will insist on it.'

‘Well, I'm not in a position to turn down good money, Mr Strathmore. If you insist, I'll take the job, but I'll do it on a no success, no fee basis.'

‘Thank you. I want to leave no stone unturned in trying to get my children back. I will, of course, also pay any expenses you may incur.'

‘Well, I don't have the resources that the police have and they certainly won't want me being part of their investigation. What I would like to do is to meet you and have a chat with you. Maybe I can turn something up that the police have missed.'

‘Can we meet now? I can come to you.'

‘Do you know if the police follow you?'

‘No, they don't. They did at first but I objected most strongly. My life's bad enough without having to put up with such an intrusion.'

‘OK, I'll give you my address and I'll see you in half an hour. Oh, my unkempt appearance might take you aback. It's done for a reason.'

‘I don't care a toss about your appearance, Mr Black.'

‘That's just as well, Mr Strathmore.'

‘Mr Black?'

‘Yes.'

‘You weren't exaggerating when you said your appearance was unkempt,' said Strathmore as Sep opened his door.

‘I often need to work under the police radar.'

‘I imagine the radar rarely picks you up.'

‘I can't afford for it
ever
to pick me up, Mr Strathmore. Come in would you, please?'

Strathmore followed Sep into his living room where they both sat down and Sep immediately began to question the man.

‘Tell me how this all started.'

Strathmore had told Sep the whole story of how the children had been taken in a car identical to the nanny's.

‘It seems to me,' said Sep, ‘that the nanny being late due to the car accident played a major part in the children's abduction. You say the nanny is completely trustworthy?'

‘Yes, she is. She's greatly shocked but I'm sure she played no part in it.'

‘Did Detective Inspector Cope or any other police officer ask for details of the car accident?'

‘Er, not really.'

‘Not really? I take that as a no.'

‘Well it was something or nothing. A car hit her from behind and caused very minor damage to her car. The delay was caused by the exchange of insurance details.'

‘Mr Strathmore, the delay was caused by the driver of the other car. I need to know if this was deliberate.'

‘Why didn't Detective Inspector Cope check on this?' asked Strathmore.

‘I don't know,' lied Sep, ‘and it would suit my purpose if you don't question him about it. It's something I'll be better following up myself without being hampered by having to follow police procedure, which is why you've engaged my services, is it not?'

‘Erm, I suppose so, yes.'

‘The nanny, where is she now?'

‘Well, she's still with us. She's been a big help to my wife since the children were taken.'

‘So, is she at your home?'

‘Yes, she is.'

‘I'd like to speak to her. I assume she has a mobile.'

‘She has.'

‘Will the police know her number?'

‘No. They only have our landline, my mobile number and my business numbers.'

‘Would you ring her, please? I'd like to speak to her.'

Within a minute Strathmore was talking to Laura Graham. ‘Hello, Laura, it's me. I'm with a man whose helping to find the children and he wants to speak to you. This is to be kept strictly confidential, especially from the police, do you understand, Laura?'

‘I do, Mr Strathmore. I'm not sure I have too much faith in the police myself, especially that detective inspector.'

‘I'm putting my man on now, Laura.'

Sep took the phone. ‘Hi, Laura. You don't need to know my name but what I want to know about is the car accident just before you picked the children up.'

‘What? You think that was part of it?'

‘I think it might have been, yes.'

‘The police didn't think it was important.'

‘I understand you exchanged insurance details with the man in the other car. Did you give his details to your insurers?'

‘Er, no, not yet. I've been too preoccupied with what happened.'

‘I understand that. Would you do that first thing tomorrow and would you impress with the insurers that you think the man might have given you false details and could they check on this and get straight back to you?'