On A Dark Sea (The DCI Dani Bevan Detective Novels Book 2) (11 page)

Chapter Twenty One

D
etective Sergeant Boag led the briefing, explaining to the team how Bevan and Calder’s trip to Norway tied into their investigation back at home.

              ‘I’m not prepared to rule out the involvement of some kind of extremist group in the disappearance of Maisie, even if it is just a rogue individual,’ Dani explained as a postscript. ‘Although, I believe we should discount the assault on Aron Holm. I’m certain there’s no connection between that and our case.’

              Phil nodded. ‘We’ll take your word for it, Ma’am.’

              DC Mann stepped forward. ‘In the last couple of days, I’ve widened out the area of our search. I was assuming that Maisie Riddell could have travelled some considerable distance by this time, particularly if she is being assisted by someone who has a vehicle.’

              ‘Have you come up with anything, Alice?’

              ‘I got a call this morning from a detective in Newcastle, I’ve not had the chance to follow it up properly yet. He thinks there may have been a sighting there.’

              Bevan’s body tensed up. ‘Get back to them straight away. If you think the evidence is strong enough, take another member of the team and get yourself down to Northumberland today.’

*

The Port of Tyne was gloomy, even though it was only three in the afternoon. A kind of damp mist was rolling in off the iron-grey sea. DC Alice Mann and DC Dan Clifton were there to see the owner of one of the shipping companies that operated from out of the Dock. His office was in a single-story prefab, nestled within a row of enormous containers.

              Rick Wilshaw opened the door to them and led the detectives inside. The man’s face was virtually covered in a thick, dark beard, but judging by the lines criss-crossing his forehead, Alice thought he was probably late forties.

              ‘I’ve been taking a shipment to Amsterdam. I only got back yesterday evening and saw the e-fits of the missing girl; they’re plastered all over the passenger terminal buildings. Otherwise, I would have called the cops sooner.’

              ‘Could you run through with us what you told the detectives at Newcastle?’ Alice took a seat on a plastic chair and got out her notebook.

              Wilshaw scratched vigorously at his bristly beard. ‘It would have been last Thursday evening, because we set sail for Amsterdam the following day. A young man turned up here at the cabin. He was dark in colouring and I couldn’t make out his accent, but I did assume he was north-east. The man wanted me to add some extra cargo to my ship. It happens quite often, I’m afraid. He offered me £2,000 cash to ship a group of people across, including himself. I told him that I operate a totally legal business here and he’d best head off quick before I called the police.’

              ‘Did he give you his name?’ Dan asked.

              ‘No, he scarpered pretty sharpish after that. But I watched him leave from out of the window. I’ve got powerful lights on the front of the office and I saw his little rag-tag group standing out there on the concrete.’

              ‘How many where there?’

              ‘About fifteen, perhaps. What stuck in my mind was that there were women amongst them, some really quite young. But one girl looked different from the others. She was dressed in the kind of clothes that my daughter would wear. When I saw the photograph, it immediately occurred to me that it could very well have been that missing girl. She had dark, shoulder-length hair and those sad eyes.’

              ‘And you’ve no idea where this group went to next?’ Alice stopped writing and looked directly at Wilshaw.

              ‘I expect they tried the other shipping companies along this dock. I don’t think any of them would have taken the group aboard, but you never know, do you? I’ve done this job for twenty years and nothing surprises me now.’

              ‘Why do you think these people were trying to get to Amsterdam?’ Dan enquired, interested in the man’s opinion on this.

              ‘They’re usually illegals. The government’s clamping down on them more heavily these days. If their visas have expired and they want to avoid being deported to some warzone, then they’ll try to move about Europe. There’s always work to be had, especially in the industrial areas of Denmark and Germany.’

              The detectives divided the port up between them and began asking around the different shipping companies that operated there. As they had suspected, absolutely no one was admitting to taking this particular group of illegal immigrants across to Holland. One other man had remembered them, he too was surprised by the presence of women in the group, but he gave the detectives less information than Wilshaw had.

              After a couple of hours, Alice led the way back to the car. ‘I suppose the evidence is fairly flimsy. We’ve only got Wilshaw’s identification, on a dark, foggy night, from the dirty window of his pre-fab.’

              ‘Aye, it wouldn’t stand up in court,’ Clifton replied, climbing into the driver’s seat. ‘But I thought the guy was believable. I think it’s very possible he saw Maisie, the timing certainly fits. She would have been here about 24 hours after she stepped out of the school building in Glasgow.’

              Dan manoeuvred the vehicle out through a gate in the tall, metal fence that encircled the port. Alice glanced across at the ferry terminal, where enormous ships were docked for the night and others were ploughing through the rough seas, piercingly bright lights fixed to their bows.

              ‘Pull up a bit closer to the terminal building will you?’ She suddenly asked, leaning forward to read the neon information sign which was displaying a rolling commentary of weather conditions and potential delays. ‘Have you ever heard of a place called Kristiansand? It’s one of the destinations on that board.’

              Dan shook his head. ‘Try Googling it on your phone.’

              Alice carefully tapped the letters into a search engine. Within seconds, she had a result. ‘I think this might be significant, Dan. It’s in Vest Agder, Norway.’

*

Bevan noticed her mobile phone bleeping as she got out of the car. She reached into her bag and carefully read the text message from Alice Mann as she stood at the end of her front garden. Dani put out a hand without looking and absent-mindedly pushed open the wrought-iron gate, which creaked as it moved. It was the only sound to be heard on her residential street this late at night. With her eyes still fixed on the screen, she reached the front door, only then shifting her gaze upwards. As she did so, a figure lunged from out of the shadows, clamping a hand over her mouth and pulling her roughly into the darkness.

Chapter Twenty Two

‘I
need to speak to you. Can I come in?’

              ‘Dieter? Christ! You scared the life out of me.’ Once released from his grip Dani brushed down her jacket and reached for her house keys.

              ‘I’m sorry, but I couldn’t leave things the way they were. Will you talk to me?’

              ‘Of course, come inside, before one of my neighbours calls the police,’ she added with irony.

              Bevan flicked on the lights as they entered, leading the Norwegian straight into the kitchen at the rear of the property. ‘I’m going to make some coffee. I suspect we’ll need to keep clear heads.’

              Dieter nodded, sitting down at the table. His stubble was even thicker and his eyes were bloodshot. ‘You and Calder left so quickly. I didn’t know what to think.’

              Dani turned to face him, resting her weight against the counter. ‘Have you spoken to Sofie?’

              He raised pleading eyes in her direction. ‘Yes. She told me about your conversation.
Please
Dani, I need to know what you are going to do with the information. I am going mad with worry.’

              ‘There’s nothing I
can
do. I had absolutely no authority to speak with Sofie. If the case ever went to court I expect she’d deny the conversation took place. Besides that, I’m not sure what good it would do for you to lose your job and go to prison.’ Dani busied herself making a pot of coffee. ‘Although, if you go on to kill your wife’s lover at some stage in the future, I expect I’ll learn to regret my decision.’

              Dieter was suddenly by her side. ‘I would never do that. It might surprise you to know I’m not a violent person. When I attacked Aron Holm I was not well. My marriage was in tatters, I’d tortured myself for weeks by watching Sofie fall in love with another man. I won’t be able to forgive myself for my actions, but I might be able to make amends through my police work. I
am
a good detective.’

              ‘I know you are.’ Dani allowed him to slide his arm around her waist and bury his face into her neck. ‘Look, you really don’t need to seduce me in order to ensure my silence. I’ve already made my decision. You aren’t that irresistible, Dieter.’

              He immediately lifted his head up, a surprised expression on his face. ‘That is not what I’m doing.’

              ‘It’s late. I’ll get you a duvet and pillow. The sofa is actually quite comfortable. Take the pot of coffee through into the front room and go to sleep whenever you like.’

              Dieter leant forward and placed that gentle kiss on her lips once again. ‘You are a good woman,’ he muttered.

              ‘I’m a bloody saint,’ she replied with a smile, withdrawing herself from his embrace and going to fetch the spare bedding.

*

When Dani got up the next morning, Dieter was making pancakes at her stove. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d used the appliance herself.

              ‘Where on earth did you find the ingredients for that?’ She said in genuine disbelief.

              ‘You had some eggs and milk in the fridge and a half packet of flour in a cupboard. It was a little out-of-date, but still.’

              ‘I think there’s a jar of honey too. No syrup though, I’m afraid.’ Dani set the table and made some tea.

              Dieter brought a plate of steaming pancakes over. He seemed less jittery than he was the previous night.

              ‘If you were going to travel from the UK to Norway, what routes could you use?’ Dani suddenly asked.

              ‘I flew from Stavanger to Glasgow yesterday, as you and Andy would have done. The quickest flight to Scotland is via Aberdeen. But you can fly to most British airports from Oslo these days.’

              ‘What about travelling by sea?’ Dani lifted a mug of tea to her lips.

              Dieter smiled. ‘A long and unpleasant voyage, I would expect.’ Then, sensing she was actually quite serious he continued, ‘I think you can get a ferry from Newcastle or Harwich, although I’m not sure for how much longer these routes can survive, with the convenience of air travel.’

              ‘But if you didn’t have the correct travel documents, or were an illegal immigrant?’

              ‘I thought that your Channel Tunnel was the preferred route for those kinds of people.’

              ‘Say you wanted to reach Norway specifically and had no passport?’

              ‘Are you talking about Maisie Riddell?’ He slowly chewed a mouthful of pancake and honey.

              ‘We may have had a sighting of her trying to travel illegally out of Newcastle. One of my officers noticed that ferries leave the Port of Tyne headed for Kristiansand.’

              ‘That’s still a long way from Stavanger. If Maisie has got caught up with people traffickers and illegals then you may never find her again. You do realise that?’

              Dani nodded sadly. ‘If she was still in this country we may have had a chance.’

              ‘This identification is not absolutely certain, though, is it?’

              ‘No, and we haven’t got any corroboration yet.’

              ‘Then let’s hope to God that your witness was wrong.’

              Dani said nothing, finishing her tea in silence. At first she’d been excited about this possible sighting but now the DCI was beginning to think she agreed with Dieter. Once Maisie was absorbed into the underground world of organised crime in mainland Europe, their chances of finding her were incredibly slim. 

Chapter Twenty Three

F
iona Riddell occupied a desk at the far end of the Sales floor of Harding Electronics. She appeared to have four young salespeople in her team. As Dani approached, the woman stood and put out her hand. Fiona was looking thinner, but she had some colour to her cheeks and managed a smile.

              ‘Please take a seat. Sam will bring us a coffee.’

              A casually dressed man of about twenty nodded his head and scuttled off into a side room.

              Dani leant forward and lightly touched Fiona’s hand. ‘I have some news, but it’s not much, I’m afraid.’ She described the possible sighting of Maisie at Newcastle Docks.

              Fiona gave out a huge sigh which could also have been a sob. ‘So she might still be alive? If she managed to get on a boat headed somewhere.’

              ‘This sighting was the day after her disappearance. It was over a week ago. We don’t know what’s become of her since.’ Dani knew she had to manage Fiona’s expectations, to keep the poor woman realistic about what might have happened to her daughter.

              ‘Okay.’ She nodded vigorously but her eyes were filled with tears of relief. ‘Where would she have been going? Why would Maisie want to reach Amsterdam?’

              Dani chose her words carefully. ‘If she were going to Amsterdam, it may have been in order to find work - the type of work which doesn’t require the correct documentation.’

              Fiona’s hand shot up to her face, as she realised the implications of this. ‘Oh my God! Could there be another reason?’ The woman’s eyes were pleading with her.

              ‘Yes. Our experts say that pretty much the only way to reach Norway now by sea is to go to Holland or Denmark and make your way from there. Amsterdam may very well not have been Maisie’s final destination. She didn’t have her passport with her so she couldn’t have taken a plane.’

              ‘You think she may have been going to find her father? But why all the subterfuge?’

              Dani shook her head. ‘I don’t know yet. But if this is the route she chose, Maisie must have had connections with some very shady people who could have arranged the travel for her. Can you think of anyone out of the ordinary that your daughter had a connection with, however fleeting, in the weeks before she left?’

              ‘I’ll think about it really carefully Detective Chief Inspector,’ Fiona said eagerly. Then the hopefulness that had lit up her face began to quickly fade. ‘But if Maisie set off over a week ago to get to her father’s place, why hasn’t she reached there yet?’

              ‘I don’t know, Fiona, I just don’t know.’

Bevan met Andy Calder back at the station. She waited until he had finished a phone conversation before informing him of the details of her meeting with Fiona Riddell.

              Andy looked thoughtful. ‘I want to have another word with Georgina Boag. If Maisie was involved with the kind of people who could smuggle a young girl out of the country, she
must
have confided in someone about it. Georgie was her best friend.’

              Dani grimaced. ‘Yes, I agree. But we’ve got to have one of her parents present, or an appropriate adult.’

              ‘Why don’t we have Jane there this time? It might be worthwhile to try something out of left field.’

              ‘It’s worth a shot,’ Dani said resignedly. ‘Let’s give the woman a call and set up a meeting for this afternoon.’

*

On the drive to Newton High School, Andy cleared his throat and said, ‘do you mind if I ask a personal question?’

              ‘It depends on what it is,’ Dani replied warily.

              ‘Why is Dieter Karlsen staying at your flat?’

              The DCI nearly spat out the sip of cappuccino she’d just taken from her cardboard cup. ‘How the hell do you know about that?’             

              ‘Carol called me earlier. She was unpacking my bags for me and found some of your purchases from Duty Free in there. We’d left in such a hurry that we hadn’t divided our stuff properly. Carol decided to take a walk over to your place with Amy in the pram. She was going to leave the bag down your side passage and post a note through the letterbox. When she got there, a man was coming out of your front door. Carol described him as tall, unshaven, handsome and with a Scandinavian accent.’

              ‘Oh,’ Dani said quietly.

              ‘Is there something you’re not telling me, Ma’am?’

              Plenty, Dani thought to herself. ‘He’s taken a few weeks holiday. Dieter is having problems at home.’

              ‘It’s none of my business, obviously. But what would Sam say if he knew?’

              Dani shifted around to face her partner. ‘You’re not going to tell him are you?’

              ‘No, of course not. I just want you to be careful.’

              ‘It isn’t actually what you think. Dieter turned up late last night. I let him sleep on my sofa. He’s welcome to stay for a few days until he sorts things out.’

              ‘I could come round and have a word; tell the guy to find a hotel. You don’t want him starting to get his feet under the table.’

              Dani smiled. ‘I’ve got it covered, thanks. I hope Carol and Amy didn’t get too much of a fright.’

              ‘Apparently he invited them in for tea. He’d made some biscuits. Carol thought he was very nice and wondered where you’d been hiding him.’

              ‘Good,’ Dani said firmly. ‘I’m glad he’s making himself at home.’

*

Jane Boag was sitting ram-rod straight behind her desk. The police officers faced Georgina on the soft chairs in the corner of the headmistress’s office. Dani was certain that the woman’s overbearing presence would surely stifle any kind of response from her daughter. She was finding it rather unsettling herself.

              ‘I realise DC Calder has spoken with you already, but we have some new information, Georgie.’

              The girl lifted her large eyes towards the DCI, opening them wide. ‘Do you know where she is?’

              ‘No. But she may have been trying to reach Scandinavia, possibly to see her father. A girl matching her description was spotted trying to get on a boat going to Amsterdam.’ Dani looked at the girl’s face and saw only confusion. ‘Maisie was with a group of people who were trying to gain passage illegally. A couple of individuals were offering a great deal of money to traffic this group to the continent. Have you any idea how your friend might have known these men?’

              Georgie clutched her hands tightly in her lap, her eyes suddenly darting to and fro.

              ‘Georgina!’ boomed the headmistress. ‘Do you know something about this? You must tell the Detective Chief Inspector immediately!’

              Both Dani and Andy nearly jumped out of their skins at the ferocity of the outburst. At first, the young girl before them began to rock back and forth, tears spilling down her plump, rosy cheeks. Then, she took several deep, calming breaths and finally, began to speak. ‘It happened a number of times. Maisie said she needed to meet a friend in town and would I cover for her. All I had to do was tell Mrs Riddell that Maisie was at home with me if she called on those particular evenings, but she never did.’

              ‘Can you recall the dates when this occurred?’

              ‘Yes, I think so.’

              ‘Did she ever tell you who she was meeting?’ Andy probed gently.

              ‘Maisie never gave me names. Although, she might have said one of the men was called Anton, or something like that. I got the sense she was working, because the hours were very precise – like 8 ‘till 10.30pm and I wasn’t ever to call her between those times but if her mum rang then I was to stall her and tell her that Maisie would ring her back in half an hour.’

              Jane Boag had moved silently across the room and placed a hand on her daughter’s back. ‘Why did you not tell us this before? You must realise how important it is?’

              Georgie’s voice became a croaky whisper. ‘Because I took money to do it. Whenever I provided a cover story for Maisie, she gave me twenty pounds. I’ve already spent it all on clothes and stuff. I can’t give it back now.’ The girl gazed fearfully at Dani. ‘Am I going to have to go to prison?’