‘No thanks, Mum . . . er, I have to get dressed quickly as I’m expecting someone. I’ll go in and see Hannah first though.’

  ‘She’s in the kitchen, in her highchair.’

  ‘Right, let me get dressed and I’ll be right down.’

  Jack hurried back to his bedroom, had a quick shower, then shaved and dressed. He was heading down the stairs when he saw a figure through the stained-glass window in the front door. He opened the door to find Ridley, wearing a black tracksuit with the hood covering his head and part of his face.

  ‘Go upstairs into my office and wait for me, second-floor landing, door on the right. I just need to go and see my mum and Hannah in the kitchen,’ Jack told him.

  Ridley nodded and moved towards the stairs as Jack went into the kitchen. He played with Hannah for a few minutes and helped her to eat her cereal as Penny prepared orange juice and biscuits for her morning break.

  ‘Mum, I have to go up to my office on urgent business so please don’t come in. I’ll be making important calls about my case and don’t want to be interrupted.’

  ‘OK, dear. Do you want a coffee?’

  ‘No thanks, I made one earlier. Hope you have a good day. Hannah, you are a very good girl and daddy loves you. This weekend we’re going to have some special time together.’

  She waved her spoon at his head, then threw it across the room.

  ‘You have remembered that I need you or Maggie to stay at home with Hannah on Friday, for my bingo session?’ Penny asked as she selected some biscuits.

  Jack paused at the door, wiping a milky cornflake off his jacket. He knew he should say something in the light of what Maggie had told him last night, but he couldn’t keep Ridley waiting.

  ‘OK . . . I’ll organise it. Is everything alright with you, Mum?’

  ‘Yes, why wouldn’t it be?’

  ‘Er, no reason – I’ve got to go.’

  He legged it up the stairs two at a time, went into his office and closed the door. Ridley was standing with his back to him, looking out of the window. He had a woollen hat on.

  ‘You were very terse this morning,’ Ridley said quietly.

  ‘Terse? Jesus Christ, do you have any idea how much running around I have been doing on your behalf?’ Jack countered.

  He sat down at his desk and swivelled around to face Ridley.

  ‘The first thing you should know is that you were not the target; you were for protection. The woman you knew as Sandra Raynor, aka Lorna Elliot, knew who you were and just needed it to look like she was in with the law. I think it was a pure coincidence that as a young, uniformed officer you had been part of the hunt for Anton Lord. I believe she was hunting down the men she felt were responsible for his disappearance, and probably his murder.’

  Ridley sighed, perching himself on the edge of his desk. He was unshaven and looked very gaunt, his eyes red-rimmed.

  ‘I know that now. Let me show you something.’

  Ridley unzipped his hoodie and took out a manila envelope. He slowly withdrew a photograph and passed it to Jack.

  ‘Recognise her?’

  Jack took a few moments, unable to draw his eyes away from the horror.

  ‘Dear God, it’s hard to recognise her after what has been done to her face. But, yes, I know who she is.’

  ‘Her name is Daniella Foster.’

  ‘I just bloody said I knew who she was. She also had a date with you, and she also knew who you were; she recommended Lorna joined the dating agency, specifically to get to you, as she wanted protection but didn’t trust going to the police. Maybe she felt they had let her down with their poor investigation into her lover’s murder. Mrs Foster said she seemed very anxious and scared . . .’

  ‘Her body was found last night. Her cottage had been ransacked and she was presumably beaten to find out where Lorna Elliot had been staying.’

  Jack frowned, then held up his hands. ‘Wait a minute. You don’t think that I had anything to do with her death, for God’s sake?’

  ‘Of course, I don’t, but I know you were there. I also know you visited Mrs Foster’s London flat in Pimlico.’

  Jack shook his head. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. It felt as if everything he had been doing was a waste of his time. Ridley pulled out a second photograph and passed it to him.

  ‘This was reported early this morning. As you can see, the flat was ransacked – after you had been there, fortunately.’

  Jack looked at the photograph and passed it back. He lifted up the briefcase and the envelope with the two computer sticks.

  ‘I found these, and that’s her laptop and her handbag. From her passport you can see she had been travelling back and forth to Moscow and to Monaco. You can take it all, because to be honest, I have had it up to here.’

  Ridley held his hands up. ‘Jack, please let me try to explain. Because of your diligence you have been able to uncover these connections, whilst I had to be held under house arrest. But now . . .’ He took a deep breath.

  ‘But now what?’

  ‘I am truly grateful for everything you have done to date. This is now being handed over to the National Crime Agency because we believe that Lorna had uncovered a massive fraud and laundering facility in Russia, possibly being run by the men who killed Anton Lord. The FBI will also be investigating. Due to what has been going on in Ukraine and the mega-rich henchmen around Putin, it is a very complicated situation.’

  ‘I bet it is. So what about this man she refers to a few times, someone who lived in Monaco? I looked at all the information on the memory sticks, but I have no idea what it all means.’

  ‘I don’t know either,’ Ridley admitted. ‘It is possible she recognised someone living in Monaco and started to investigate. Lorna was clearly a very clever woman, and never gave up the hunt for whoever killed Anton, but at the same time she began to uncover further large-scale fraud and money laundering involving people connected to Putin. So, although she only intended to find Anton Lord’s killers, she ended up discovering a lot more.’

  Jack swivelled in his desk chair, then pointed to the laptop.

  ‘She obviously never got over him as she used his name as a password.’

  Ridley leant over and was about to close the laptop when Jack stopped him.

  ‘I just want to have a proper look at what’s on it. What made some bastard beat that poor soul to death? It must be explosive stuff.’

  Ridley leant forward again and snapped the laptop shut.

  ‘I am taking this, Jack, and I don’t want you to get any more involved. I mean it. I am also going to take your car.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s for your protection. I have had a tracker on it; that’s how I knew where you’d been.’

  ‘You had a tracker on me? When did you organise that? When I was parked in that bloody John Lewis car park?’

  Jack got to his feet, intending to punch Ridley out, he was so angry. He then stepped back and lowered his hands to his sides. ‘You’ve lied to me from day one, used me like a puppet on a string, and I want some explanation. I trusted you, Goddammit. Jesus Christ, I’ve worked my arse off and now that poor woman is dead because of you, because of me doing your dirty work and you putting a tracker in my car. They must have fucking hacked it – and I led them straight to her!’

  ‘You don’t understand,’ Ridley said. ‘I was looking out for you and now I can take over . . . and that means right now.’

  Ridley picked up the open briefcase and began taking everything from Jack’s desk and dropping it into the case. He stuffed in the photo album, the envelope with the memory sticks, and lastly the laptop. He then held up the YSL clutch bag, flipping it open using the elegant gold clasp with the designer initials. He then opened a folded black shopping bag and placed everything inside.

  ‘How am I supposed to get around if you take my car?’ Jack complained.

  Without hesitating, Ridley took out Lorna’s wallet, removed a wedge of £50 notes and handed them to him.

  ‘Use this until I can sort out your compensation.’

  ‘Compensation? What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘Your car will be taken to a wrecker’s yard and destroyed. I don’t want anything leading back to you – it’s just a precaution.’

  Ridley had now packed everything into the large shopping bag and started to head towards the door. Jack moved quickly to stand in front of it.

  ‘A precaution? Just you wait one second . . . You and your so-called house arrest team have just been using me.’

  Ridley took a deep breath. ‘Jack, I don’t think anyone else could have uncovered the information we have, or identified who Sandra Raynor really was . . .’

  ‘We? Who’s fucking “we”, Ridley?’

  Jack gripped the front of Ridley’s hoodie, drawing him close.

  ‘If you need to get rid of my car as a precaution, are my wife and my family are in danger? If anything happens to them, I swear to God I will . . .’

  Ridley didn’t react. ‘Don’t threaten me, Jack,’ he said calmly. ‘Your family is being protected. I swear to you nothing will happen to them. I’ve always known that you have an intuition and ability far above any other detective I’ve worked with, and you’ve proved me right.’

  ‘Well, that’s brilliant, that makes me feel so much better,’ Jack snapped.

  Ridley nodded his head to indicate that he was leaving, and Jack reluctantly moved aside. He stood at the top of the stairs watching as Ridley hurried down and out of the front door. Jack returned to his office and looked out of the window. He watched Ridley hand his car keys to a thick-set man wearing a similar black track suit. Ridley then climbed into a black Mercedes with tinted windows. From behind the window blinds Jack watched his ridiculous little car being driven off. He looked at every parked car he could see on the street. None of them seemed occupied. If his house was being watched, they were certainly being covert. He felt hurt and angry, convinced that Ridley had still not told him the full truth. Ridley had lied to him, something he never would have thought possible.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Jack tucked the wedge of £50 notes into his wallet and went downstairs to the kitchen. He paced up and down, unsure what to do. He felt worried sick about Maggie, Penny and Hannah. It was now after 9 a.m. and even though he had told DCI Clarke that he would be in earlier than the start of his night-shift duty, he was reluctant to leave the house. He decided he would order an Uber and go and visit Maggie at the hospital to check that she was alright and to warn her to take precautions. He checked that the back door was locked, then went through the entire house checking all the windows before going back into his office.

  Just as he was about to order an Uber, his mobile rang. It was Laura, first apologising in case she had woken him. She had received a call from Anik.

  ‘I didn’t get home until the early hours, but the DCI is bringing in the main team to be on standby.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘It’s Amanda Dunn. She’s being brought in this afternoon. We’ve got Social Services on our back saying even though she’s eighteen she’s mentally vulnerable and needs an adult present for the interviews. I suggested we get one of her parents to be present.’

  ‘She ran away when she was twelve years old and she hasn’t been in contact with her parents for six years, so I doubt Amanda would want them.’

  ‘Then we’ll get Social Services to send someone. The DCI’s had that barrister Georgina Bamford bending his ear about legal representation for Amanda.’

  ‘But she can’t represent her if she’s Rodney Middleton’s brief!’ Jack said, trying to remain calm.

  ‘I know that, but she is insisting on a lawyer not attached to her chambers representing Amanda. I don’t know who it is, and I’m not at the station yet. As you have had more dealings with Amanda than anyone, I suggested that you should be present to conduct or at least monitor the interview.’

  ‘Well, at least someone respects the work I’ve done. But I was told that Anik was going to be involved in the interview, which really pissed me off.’

  ‘I know, he’s been so far up the DCI’s arse it’s embarrassing.’

  ‘Have the press got hold of it yet?’

  ‘I don’t know, but the DCI is under pressure to issue a press release this morning. Oh, by the way, they brought Harold Miller into the station last night. He came in after you’d left. He was sweating and shaking. He admitted that on occasions he had gone with Rodney to some depot to pick up the cans of acid. He claimed he was told they were for clearing the rats. Anyway, they let him go because he’s the main carer for his wife.’

  She paused. ‘Are you listening, Jack?’

  ‘Yes . . . yes . . . so what time are you going into the station?’

  ‘I’m leaving home in about half an hour. There was something else: the new commander from Scotland Yard was also in with the DCI, and Clarke looked very shaken after he left.’

  ‘Did he say what happened?’

  ‘I think the gist of it was that we need to have a confession as there are so many unidentified victims, and still no remains. I think they hope Amanda will turn prosecution witness. It was quite funny, actually.’

  Jack frowned. ‘What could possibly be funny?’

  ‘It was Hendricks. He said surely we have enough evidence against Middleton to charge him for all three murders, even without a confession. DCI Clarke rounded on him. He said that they had the Yorkshire Ripper bang to rights but it wasn’t until he made a confession that they knew how many he’d actually murdered.’

  ‘Well, well, well, I’d say our DCI is under a lot of pressure,’ Jack said.

  ‘So, you coming in early? I didn’t think you’d want to miss out on the arrival of Amanda Dunn.’

  ‘I’ll be there,’ Jack said.

  Jack ended the call, then ordered an Uber to take him to Maggie’s hospital. Whilst he waited, he stood by the window and lifted the blinds a fraction. The same cars were still parked outside the house, most in the residents’ bays. There was also a gas repair van, with a small canopy tent pitched over a section of pavement. Three men in hard helmets and hi-viz jackets with GAS BOARD printed on their backs looked to be hard at work. Jack continued watching them, wondering if they were a surveillance team. He continued watching them for another five minutes, then he saw the Uber taxi drawing up. It was a Toyota Prius with an Egyptian driver Jack recognised from previous trips.

  He left the house, glancing over at the gas workers. One of them was using a mobile phone and immediately turned away when he saw Jack looking at him. Jack was now sure they were monitoring his house and he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He kept a careful watch from the back of the Prius but saw no one following him. Arriving at the hospital, he asked the Uber driver to wait but he told Jack he would have to call in and book another journey. Jack got out, put in another call on his account and the driver gave him the thumbs up and indicated that he would wait for him in the pick-up and drop-off section.

  The signage in the reception area was still instructing anyone entering to respect social distance, and masks were obligatory. Jack fished a rather crumpled one out of his pocket whilst the receptionist tried to contact Maggie. She was eventually tracked down, but he had to wait another ten minutes until she came into the reception. He could see she was concerned, and he quickly reassured her that it was nothing serious, he had just come to have a quiet word with her.

  ‘Is it about Penny?’

  ‘No, I’m sorry, I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to her, but I’m not going to be late tonight as they’ve just called me in. I wanted to talk to you about something . . .’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Ridley turned up at the house. This case he’s been involved with has got pretty serious. He says we need to be very vigilant about locking doors and not letting strangers in.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’

  ‘I’m serious, Maggie, but there are people looking out for us, for you and Hannah especially; a surveillance team, 24/7. Ridley wanted me to underline that it’s serious, so I came here to tell you personally, but not to alarm you.’

  ‘Oh, thanks very much, Jack! Of course, I’m alarmed! Do you think I should go home?’

  ‘No, just be watchful. Like I said, I’ll be home early this evening and hopefully by then I’ll have more details. But if anything at all looks suspicious, you need to let me know straightaway.’

  ‘You sure I shouldn’t go home?’

  ‘Yes. Like I said, I just came here to make you aware of everything, and to tell you that I love you.’

  Jack lowered his mask and kissed her. He hated seeing how concerned she was, but he reassured her again that they would be fine. Maggie watched him leave the hospital, then hurried back to the ward. She spoke to the head of department who was working the schedules for all the staff and explained that there was a family situation and she needed someone to take over her shift after lunch because she had to go home.

  As Maggie was a highly respected doctor, and had never asked for personal time off, it was agreed that she could leave after the lunch break. Despite Jack’s reassurances that everything was OK, she was not going to take his word for it. He had never come to the hospital before just to tell her to be vigilant, and she wanted to be at home with her daughter and Penny.

  Jack arrived at the station and knew that something had been leaked as there were a group of press photographers waiting outside. He side-stepped them and went inside to the main desk. The duty sergeant released the security gate for him to go into the main corridor.

  ‘They’ve been here all morning, like bloody wasps; it’s always a sign that something big is going down, not that I’m likely to be told. But if they try to get in, they’ll get short shrift from me.’

  Jack headed to the canteen and could feel the anticipation that something big was happening. There were only a few officers in there, and by the time he got his breakfast they had left. He carried his coffee and bagel down one flight of stairs and headed along the main corridor to the incident room. Nobody passed him and when he pushed open one of the double doors and stepped into the incident room it was oddly quiet, even though most of the desks were occupied.