In Dark Water (Detective Shona Oliver 1)

‘Could Wazir have been involved in Isla or Sami’s death? Did he think we’re closing in on him?’ Murdo said. ‘It’s a motive for suicide?’

‘Can’t rule it out,’ Shona admitted, ‘but while Wazir was in custody, Buckland was beaten, potentially forcibly injected with heroin, and his body dumped at the Carmine warehouse. Given what we previously found in the warehouse, a drugs turf war is a primary line of enquiry. Could this be a message to anyone thinking of reviving the business? Let’s find out.’ She looked directly at all the faces around the room; everyone understood her seriousness. ‘I’ll be seeing DCI Baird later to discuss proceeding these deaths under a single investigation, and any possible links with Op Fortress.’

She could have called Baird by phone or Skype but it was better to do it face to face. She wasn’t leaving his office without getting what she wanted. The evidence of three connected murders was compelling. There was no way Baird was shunting this this off to the sidings. Someone was loose on her patch, killing and getting away with it. Her relationship with Baird had got off to a bad start, mainly due to his stupid and unreconstructed behaviour, but she didn’t believe he was a bad officer. In person he might listen to her and they could start to mend bridges.

‘Okay. Where do you want us to start, boss?’ Ravi ventured, and there were nods of enthusiasm around the table.

‘Lines of enquiry.’ Shona took out a screen grab and fixed it to the whiteboard. ‘This man who assaulted Buckland is a priority.’ Shona had failed to find him among the STAC guests – her memory for faces was good but not infallible. ‘Vinny…’

The visual analyst jumped at the sound of his name. Shona didn’t care if he reported her actions back to Baird, she’d get there first. Vinny was still on his way out, but until then she’d make him sing for his supper. ‘Vinny, I want you to look at the footage Dan got from the neighbour. Clean it up. Also, I want you to review the baby milk store footage. Can you track them further from the scene? Railway station, bus station. Who were they meeting?’

Vinny nodded and looked down, busy typing notes into his tablet.

‘Ravi, go back and talk to Isla’s family. Emphasise she was clean, no heroin, but check with them and her GP if she was on anything for anxiety or sleep problems. That could account for the benzos in her system. We need to rule that out.’

‘Kate, I want you liaise with Dan over Jamie Buckland.’ Shona thought she spotted a flash of enthusiasm cross her detective constable’s expression, but it was quickly mastered. ‘Buckland grew up with Isla.’ Shona turned back to Ravi, but he signalled he’d already noted that and would pursue it with the family. ‘Buckland had no previous,’ she continued, ‘but check around Carlisle, Dumfries, Annan and Gretna. Was he known to us? Any associates known to us? Also, any social worker contact as a kid?’

Kate exchanged a smile with Dan, who shifted round the table to sit next to her, opening his notebook and showing her addresses and other details to copy.

‘Questions. I want to know where the Sweet Life group were getting the drugs. Who was supplying them? Talk to local users, see if they give us any clues.’ Shona ticked them off her fingers. ‘I want three fresh timelines, one for each of our victims. I want to know where they intersect.’ She paced the room. ‘Isla and Buckland were childhood friends, but how did they meet Sami? Why did they use the Carmine warehouse?’

‘Nathan Jones has given us a new statement,’ Murdo broke in. ‘But I think we should talk to him again. Show him pictures of the three victims, see if he can give us more.’

‘Yes, good,’ Shona said. ‘And Murdo, I spoke to Tony Kirkland. He admitted Sami talked about selling pills. Get a statement, see if there’s more. Suggest he comes to us, but if he gets stroppy, tell him we’ll be round to his place mob handed and I’ll be asking the fire service about certifications for that building.’

Murdo smiled and raised his eyebrows. ‘That’ll shake him up.’

‘Good,’ said Shona, firmly. ‘Shaking up’s what we do now. Everyone clear?’ She waited for the nods and ‘yes ma’am’ responses. ‘Okay, off you go.’

She said goodbye to Dan in the car park, with final advice on how to handle DCI Lambert. But as she got into the Audi, she saw a stream of texts from Rob alternately begging forgiveness and claiming he’d sort it all out and a little voice in her head piped up. ‘Who are you to hand out advice? You’re a fraud,’ it said. ‘A gambling addict husband, a wayward daughter and a business on the brink of bankruptcy? What about all the secrets you’re keeping, enough to end your career and your marriage?’ She dismissed it. That would come, but not now. Isla had been dead for seven weeks. With the passage of time opportunities had been lost. She needed to hurry. The chance to speak for the dead was slipping away.

* * *

Two hours later she pulled into the car park at Divisional HQ, a squat 1980s brick and concrete structure, in the centre of Kilmarnock. Shona showed her ID at the desk and was directed up to Baird’s office on the top floor. As she left the lift, she felt her heels sink into the thick carpet and caught the scent of beeswax polish, two features noticeably absent from her own workplace. Baird stepped out from a glass-panelled side office.

‘Shona.’ He ushered her in, grasping her hand and expressing sympathy for her daughter’s injuries. His jacket hung neatly on a coat hanger on a rack behind him, the buttons done up. Placed prominently on his desk was a silver-framed family photograph and the glass shard of his Scottish Policing Excellence award. As Baird returned to his chair, he gave the trophy a discreet half-turn, better to show it off. Shona suppressed a smirk.

Baird pointed her to a seat opposite and offered her coffee, which she refused. He rested his forearms on his desk, his white shirt cuffs rolled back, exposing thick dark hair. ‘I appreciate you coming all the way here, but there was really no need. I’m happy to approve your compassionate leave, we could have done this with a phone call,’ he said. ‘Not that it isn’t good to see you.’ He smiled with an effort at sincerity.

‘Oh, it’s not about the leave, sir, though thank you for the offer.’ Shona shifted in her seat. ‘It?

??s about a case, or rather a number of cases which appear to be linked. I’d like your approval to group them under a single investigation.’

A cloud passed across Baird’s features, but he quickly regained his composure. ‘Go on.’

Shona laid out the evidence connecting the baby milk thieves and the gang behind the Sweet Life drugs operation. She detailed the common factors in the murders of Isla, Sami and Jamie Buckland, citing a drugs turf war or gang violence as potential motives. She told him of Wazir’s death and his allegations of threats against Sami, his link with Isla and Buckland.

Baird’s frown became steadily darker until he held up his hand. ‘Stop. You have two road accidents, an OD’d junkie and a suicide. At most you’ve got mates panicking and dumping the bodies. I appreciate you recovered the woman from the water, and therefore believe you have some sort of personal stake in this, but none of it adds up to murder.’

Shona started to reply but Baird cut her off. ‘We know who was behind the Sweet Life group, an organised crime syndicate from Edinburgh which was dismantled by Operation Fortress. You really believe a bunch of shoplifters could run a drugs operation?’ he scoffed. ‘I gave you a direct order to drop this, remember?’ He levelled an accusing finger at her.

‘Yes, sir, but that was before Jamie Buckland’s body was found at the Carmine warehouse.’

‘A dead junkie in a warehouse. Seriously?’

‘But he knew Isla and Sami…’

‘Listen, Oliver, you’re not in civilisation down there. It’s the wild west, everyone knows everyone and half of them are related.’