Under Mary's Oak

  ‘I went to Sparkle last night,’ said Todd. ‘Thought I’d suss it out a bit. Took my cousin who’s just been dumped by her boyfriend after two years. I told her it would cheer her up and, of course, it provided a bit of cover for me.’

  ‘Did you?’ Jenkins said taken by surprise. He was impressed that Todd had taken the initiative. ‘Anything interesting?’

  ‘Well, it was noisy, very noisy! I was surprised just how many people there were there on a Monday night, although I suppose it was a Bank Holiday. And the drinks were twice the price I’d normally pay!’

  ‘Yes, well, you’re paying for the atmosphere!’ laughed Jenkins.

  ‘Hmm,’ replied Todd. ‘Well, there was plenty of drinking going on, in spite of the price. Where do these youngsters get their money from? I was just thankful they’ve banned smoking now. It would have been unbearable. It was bad enough with all the fake coloured smoke they had going on the dance floor.’

  ‘You’re getting old, my boy!’ said Jenkins.

  ‘Logan was there, strutting around. He really is quite a character. He looked like a Mafia Godfather with two beautiful young women on his arms and his henchmen following him about two feet behind.’

  ‘Oh, and how many Mafia Godfathers have you seen?’

  ‘You know what I mean.’

  ‘Yes, I get the picture.’

  Andy Logan was an imposing figure. He was well over 6 feet tall and well-built. He was probably in his late thirties but already had a reputation that you didn’t mess with him. He wore handmade leather shoes and expensive suits. He was never seen without a large diamond encrusted signet ring on his right hand and one of the most expensive Rolex watches on his left wrist, and more often than not a couple of thick gold chains round his neck. His jet black hair framed his clean-shaven face, his tan regularly topped up by frequent visits to the beauty salon he owned next door to Sparkle. Yes, Jenkins knew exactly what Todd meant.

  ‘He has to be bent, sir.’

  ‘I think we all agree. We’ve just got to try and prove it.’

  ‘Well, we might do worse than have another word with Tony Banks,’ Todd said with a triumphant smile.

  ‘Right,’ said Jenkins. ‘Any particular reason?’

  He could see that Todd was very pleased with himself.

  ‘He came into Sparkle about midnight.’

  ‘Did he? I hope he didn’t see you.’

  ‘No, I’m sure he didn’t. He looked really nervous and went straight up to Logan’s table. The two young women were hustled off by the henchmen when Banks arrived. He said something to Logan and then they both went off into the back. I didn’t see them again. I left about 1am.’

  ‘Well, that is interesting. Seems as though we rattled his cage yesterday and he went straight to Logan to tell him about it,’ said Jenkins. ‘And it seems as though he’s well known to Logan and his henchmen if they let him interrupt his evening. Come on, Todd. Now we need the rest of the team working.’

  Jenkins picked up the remainder of his bacon roll and strode off leaving Todd desperately spooning the last of his cereal into his mouth.

  When they were all assembled in the incident room Jenkins began.

  ‘So, what have we found out then?’ he asked.

  ‘Jaqui and I checked out the local bookmakers and discovered Richard Hart had been a regular customer for a number of years,’ John Nugent replied. ‘He spread his business around several of them, and the size of his bets had grown from the odd tenner here and there to bets of up to a hundred.’

  ‘I don’t suppose Mrs H knew about that,’ commented the inspector.

  ‘He was barred from a couple of the smaller bookmakers, and it was rumoured he was doing some online gambling as well,’ added Jaqui.

  ‘And I looked at the other two cases to see if there were any possible links,’ said Sally. ‘Both men were gamblers with a history of losing more than they won. Jason Burton was involved in one or two shady deals and had a record for burglary. He served two years in Durham. His juvenile record shows an involvement with drugs as well. Harry Westbury had a more respectable background. He was an accountant who was obviously looking for a little excitement in his life. He was a regular at The Crazy Lady casino in town.’

  ‘That’s interesting,’ said Jenkins. ‘Todd and I interviewed Tony Banks yesterday. He’s an old school friend of Richard Hart and they used to go to The Crazy Lady together. And Harry Westbury’s body was found not far from The Crazy Lady.’

  ‘So it looks as though you were right, guv,’ said Sally Walker. ‘There are links between the three men.’

  ‘Yes, and even more interestingly we might have a link to Andy Logan.’

  Jenkins was rewarded by the expressions on the faces of his team. Sally and John had worked for the Northumbria force for long enough to know that Andy Logan had proved an elusive character in many previous enquiries. Even Jaqui had heard the name. All three of them looked at Jenkins expectantly.

  ‘Tony Banks suggested to Richard Hart that Andy Logan might loan him some money to pay off his debts. He says that’s all he knows, but Todd found out more last night.’ He turned to Todd, encouraging him to continue.

  ‘Yes. I went to Sparkle last night and Banks turned up to talk to Logan.’

  ‘It seems as though we worried him,’ said Jenkins. ‘And it looked as though Logan and he were very friendly. Certainly he was known to Logan and they continued their conversation in the back out of sight.’

  ‘Do you really think Logan might be involved in all of this,’ asked Sally.

  ‘I think it’s a strong possibility,’ Jenkins replied. ‘I’ve spoken to the Chief and told him the murders might be connected. At the time I didn’t know about the Logan connection and I’ll have to let him know that fairly quickly. If Logan is involved it’s a big case and he’ll want to keep a close eye on it. He’s quite keen that we should get the credit for it if we can, and so we’re working on our own for the time being.’

  ‘You mean, we’re not sharing our information with the other teams?’ asked John.

  ‘That’s exactly what I mean,’ said Jenkins. ‘We need to be sure of where we’re going with it first. Todd, chase up those bank statements and phone records as well. Let’s see if there’s anything interesting in those. And Walker, see what you can find out about The Crazy Lady. Do we know who owns it, whose money is behind it, have there been any problems in the past? You know the sort of thing. Nugent and Spense, get me all the files on Andy Logan. Let’s see whether we can nail him for this. I’d better go and let the Chief know what’s happening. And Todd, let’s get Banks back in.’

  As Jenkins left the room, Sally moved closer to Gary and quietly said, ‘You never took me to Sparkle.’

  ‘I only went because of work,’ said Gary blushing slightly.

  ‘Oh, yeah? What’s it like?’

  ‘Well, the inspector said I was too old for it and I think he’s right.’

  Sally laughed out loud and John and Jaqui looked at her enquiringly.

  ‘I was just teasing Gary about going to Sparkle,’ she said.

  ‘I’m impressed,’ said Jaqui. ‘I hear it’s the place to go.’

  ‘Well, I don’t think I shall be going back,’ said Gary. ‘Unless it’s to arrest Logan.’

  ‘That’ll be the day,’ said John.

  ***

  When Jenkins arrived at the Chief’s office he had to wait as Manton was on the phone. His secretary, Mollie, smiled at him.

  ‘You put him in a good mood yesterday,’ she said.

  ‘Did I? Let’s hope he stays that way.’

  Manton shouted, ‘Come in, Jenkins.’

  Jenkins went in and closed the door. Manton did look to be in a good mood.

  ‘Well, have you come to tell me you’ve solved it?’ Manton asked.

  ‘Not quite, but there have been some developments. We might
have a link to Andy Logan.’

  ‘Might you indeed?’

  Jenkins outlined what had happened since they last spoke. The Chief looked impressed, and Jenkins knew he would have an eye on his targets. If Logan could be tied in with this the clear-up rate would soar!

  ‘The other teams haven’t made the connection yet?’ asked Manton.

  ‘Nobody’s asked for information from me,’ replied Jenkins.

  ‘Good, let’s hope it stays that way for a while then. And be careful. Logan’s a slippery character but he’s likely to be dangerous. If he’s responsible for half the things we think he is, he has some very shady contacts. And, keep it close to your chest. He does seem remarkably well informed about what we’re doing. Keep me in touch.’

  Chapter Seventeen

  By the end of the morning the team had gathered a lot of information and Jenkins pulled them together to share it.

  ‘Right,’ he said. ‘Let’s start with Logan. What do we have?’

  John Nugent began. ‘He came to Newcastle from Edinburgh about ten years ago. Although he’s kept clean as far as a police record is concerned since he’s been here, there are a couple of things from before. He had a suspended three year sentence for ABH in 1998, and was charged with possession with intent to supply in 1999. It was reduced to just possession and he got 6 months, but of course he had to serve the suspended sentence as well. Story is he learnt his lesson and went straight.’

  ‘He often refers to it when he talks about the dangers of drug abuse,’ added Jaqui.

  ‘Yeah. He’s a real pillar of the community,’ scoffed Todd.

  ‘So, if we want to get him we have to break that façade. What about the beauty salon next door to Sparkle?’ asked Jenkins.

  ‘He bought that six years ago and spent a lot of money doing it up, and re-branding it. It had been owned for years by an Italian family called Grimaldi. They had a good reputation in Tynemouth and a good clientele, but Logan wanted more. He re-named it Dazzle.’

  ‘I suppose that matches Sparkle,’ said Nugent scathingly.

  ‘Well, I think it’s quite clever,’ said Jaqui. ‘Anyway downstairs it does the usual hair and manicure appointments. Upstairs he has lots of separate treatment rooms for aromatherapy, reflexology and massage rooms and tanning booths.’

  ‘Are we sure it’s legit?’ asked Jenkins.

  ‘Well, it’s like everything else. There are rumours, but nothing concrete. The vice squad went in a couple of years ago after a tip-off and there was nothing untoward. It was as though he knew we were going. Even Councillor Crosby’s wife was having an aromatherapy session.’

  ‘Sounds a bit too convenient,’ said Jenkins. ‘Right let’s deal with the rumours about him then. What about drugs?’

  ‘Well, as we know he makes a big play about how he learnt his lesson, and wants to help other youngsters to kick the habit,’ said Nugent. ‘He even goes into schools to talk to the kids. The drug squad have done a couple of raids and come up empty apart from the odd Ecstasy tab, nothing that could be termed dealing. Logan called them in about three years ago because he said he was suspicious of one of his regular customers, and they arrested him outside the club with some gear on him, but nothing to tie him to Logan.’

  ‘He’s a sly bastard,’ said Jenkins with venom. ‘There has to be something.’

  ‘It’s the same story with illegal gambling. Just rumours and no substance,’ said Spense. ‘There must be someone tipping him off.’

  ‘Tony Banks told us Logan was into money-lending, presumably at extortionate rates of interest,’ added Todd. ‘It’s always the most vulnerable people who get themselves into hock like this and the debt keeps growing. Maybe Hart was paying off his debt by working for Logan, and something went wrong?’

  ‘Evidence! Evidence! Evidence!’ shouted Jenkins. ‘It’s a plausible theory but we need Evidence! Walker, have you done any better?’

  ‘Well, I have found something very interesting,’ she began. ‘The Crazy Lady is owned by Eileen Carter, through her company Carter Casinos. They opened twelve years ago and it’s now big business. She’s opened two more, one in Gateshead and one in Sunderland. Eileen Carter came to Newcastle, from Scotland. In fact, from Edinburgh!’

  ‘Just like Logan!’ exclaimed Jenkins.

  ‘Yes, guv,’ said Sally Walker with a smile. ‘And guess what her maiden name was.’

  ‘Surely not Logan?’ asked Jenkins incredulously. ‘Why hasn’t anyone made this connection before? Is he her brother?’

  ‘Yes, he’s her younger brother,’ said Sally. ‘I suppose there’s never been a case linking the two establishments before.’

  ‘I find that hard to believe, but stranger things have happened,’ said Jenkins looking bemused.

  Jenkins tried to control the growing excitement. There were so many coincidences in this case, it had to link back to Logan. But, how was he going to crack it? Nobody else had and many had tried. Maybe this set of circumstances would be the winning combination, like three Lucky 7s on the slot machine.

  ‘So, we’ve got three murders, all with the same MO. All three were gamblers. We’ve got links to The Crazy lady and to Logan. But we’re missing that final piece. Why were they killed? We still need a motive. Did we get anything from Hart’s bank statements and phone records?’

  Todd opened up his note book. ‘His mobile phone shows calls to bookies on a regular basis. Other than that it’s family and friends, with the odd Chinese takeaway thrown in for good measure. But his bank statements are quite interesting. He has a joint account with his wife which is very straightforward. They each have their salaries paid in and the normal household bills go out. But he also has a personal account as well with a savings account linked. I assume this is the one he uses for his gambling. He took it out about thirteen months ago, and at first it was a bit up and down and small balances, and the savings account had next to nothing in it, But now it’s quite a different story. He’s got a balance of nearly £22,000. Lots of cash deposits, several hundred at a time. And two recent deposits of £5000 each.’

  ‘Very interesting,’ said Jenkins. ‘So he’s got another source of income. It could be gambling winnings. Walker, see if you can check that out. It could be what you suggested, Todd. He’s working for Logan. I’m sure he doesn’t put it through any books. Maybe Tony Banks can help us with this. Did you get him in again?’

  ‘Yes, I sent uniform for him. I’ll just check,’ and Todd picked up the phone on the desk.

  ‘Well done, everyone, but no slacking. I think we’re getting closer but we still need motive. Let’s concentrate on Hart for that. The other murder teams will presumably have been working on their own motives, but I’m sure they’re all connected. Do we have any informal links anywhere we can use without giving too much away?’

  ‘I worked alongside Bob Pickard from North Tyneside when we were DCs at Area Command in Wallsend,’ said Sally Walker. ‘I know which pub he used to use. Do you want me to drop in tonight and see if he’s there? He’ll know about the Jason Burton murder.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Jenkins. ‘But remember to keep it close to your chest.’ Jenkins realised that comment was perhaps a little politically incorrect when addressed to a well endowed young DC, but it was too late to retract it now.

  ‘Will do.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  Meanwhile Laura was making her way down to the Sports Hall. Arthur Connolly had arrived a few minutes before and had asked if there were any more developments. Laura did not tell him about Stella. She knew it would put him in the same difficult position that she herself was in, and until she knew more she thought she’d keep it to herself. Arthur had proudly shown her his new camera, a Sony SLT which apparently meant single-lens translucent, whatever that might be.

  Laura listened politely as they walked. When she was younger she had toyed with photography as a hobby
and had even set up a dark room in the spare bedroom. It was, of course, in the days of 35mm film and she had been frustrated in her attempts to produce colour prints that were not all blue and purple. Eventually she had given up and now she owned a very simple point-and-click digital camera which served her purposes perfectly well. Robert, of course, sometimes used a more complex camera in his work to help him to remember the detail of some fleeting images.

  ‘And it takes ten pictures a second, so I’ll always be able to get a perfect shot of the girls scoring goals and such-like,’ Arthur continued. ‘And I got it for a bargain price, just over a thousand.’

  Laura gulped, ‘A thousand pounds?’

  ‘Yes, they retail for nearer fifteen hundred.’

  Laura was quite pleased she had given up photography as a hobby. Her little digital camera did a perfectly good job. It was so much easier now that you could see instantly whether you had taken a decent picture instead of remembering to take the film into Boots and wait for it to be developed, or even worse, develop it yourself and end up with very strange colours! The only problem was not having hard copies of the results, but Robert had bought an electronic photo frame and that had solved the problem.

  Several parents had arrived and Laura and the Chairman took the opportunity to chat to them. On the whole they seemed reassured by the fact that the place was not swarming with policemen and school seemed to be proceeding as normal. Laura was relieved Mr Walsh was not in attendance. This was an event for Years 7 and 8 only and his daughters were older.

  Laura had taken the opportunity to talk to Jill Cox earlier and she was pleased to see that she was chatting animatedly to some of the girls, and looking quite relaxed. Jen Smythe picked up the microphone and encouraged the parents to take their seats. It was time to begin.

  Laura and the Chairman had seats on the front row, and Arthur snapped away happily throughout the afternoon. He really did enjoy these occasions, and Laura had to admit his photographs were very good, if somewhat numerous! But a photographic record of school life was very important. Each year the school hosted reunions for former pupils, the Old Montgomerians, and the photographic archives always drew large crowds, in particular the large panoramic photographs of the whole school population. When Laura was a pupil herself in Lincolnshire she recalled having to stand very still for several seconds as the camera panned from left to right along the serried ranks of pupils. There were always tales of how someone had been standing at the left hand edge, and had then run behind the tiered staging to reach the other end before the camera did, and so ended up in the picture twice. But the digital age had removed that pleasure!