Simon Smith appeared then, to sort out the dispute at the PCs.
Carter stood. ‘Thanks for your help, ladies, and for the tea,’ he said as Willis closed her notebook.
Simon stopped them on their way out.
‘Any good?’
‘Sheila and Lyndsey have been a great help, thanks. I wanted to ask you about a man named Toffee. Did you speak to him this morning?’
‘Toffee? Did I speak to him? Yes, briefly.’
‘What about?’
‘Just chit-chat, really.’
‘Nothing to concern you?’ Simon shook his head. ‘If you see Toffee again, can you ask him to get in touch with us, please. You have our direct line.’
‘Of course.’
Chapter 5
They got outside and walked to the car. Carter got in and slammed the door shut.
‘Christ Almighty, you’d think he was doing us a favour. A woman died here, probably killed by some people that Smith was serving breakfast to. Stuck-up twat.’ He looked across at Willis as she closed her door.
‘Simon Smith was a strange mix,’ she said as she did up her seat belt. ‘He looked and talked like a confident public-school boy but then he’s working in a homeless hostel. There must be more to him.’
‘Doesn’t need to work, probably,’ answered Carter.
‘Daddy’s money. Maybe this was his do-gooder phase, a project. Maybe Mummy says he needs to find out about the real world.’
‘But it’s a strange choice of project. It’s hard work. It must have something to do with the religious aspect. He didn’t stop smiling.’
‘Smug.’
‘He looked like he was but I’m not sure.’
‘We need to find out about him and the church,’ said Carter.
‘It’s things like – I would have thought he’d know his regulars; he’d make it his business to know them. He must get out and walk around the area,’ Willis added. ‘But he said he didn’t know them.’
‘Maybe he gets a taxi back to Knightsbridge every evening.’
Carter looked in his side mirror and saw Simon jogging across to them. ‘Hello? Talk of the devil,’ he said under his breath.
He wound down his window. ‘What can we help you with, Mr Smith?’
‘Sorry, I realized I must have come across as unhelpful. Look – I want to help. But it’s difficult for me. I’m not only the warden here – I’m a minister.’ He looked at each of them in turn, waiting for a reaction. He got a look of begrudging respect from Carter, who had had a broadly Catholic upbringing: dragged to church until he was too big to be cajoled or bribed or threatened. But his Catholicism affected him in many ways. It stopped him from getting married to Cabrina. He couldn’t risk the marriage failing. Simon got a look of suspicion from Willis, who had little regard for religion of any kind.
‘I have more than just an obligation to respect privacy. It is a matter of faith – them having faith in me and me sticking to mine. I don’t want people to stop using this centre. People around here rely on coming here when the weather gets cold like this.’
‘I understand.’ Carter was about to try his charm, thought Willis. He usually managed to win people over – male or female. She was intrigued to see what angle he’d take with Simon. ‘But, if the press get hold of the fact that a group of homeless people are involved in the murder of a hard-working family-law solicitor, well… after all… it’s a tricky thing for the public to get their head round. Even if it turns out to be nothing – it might be too late to stop more prejudice from creeping in. I can see how hard you work here and what a good job you do. I know how much you rely on funding.’
‘It has nothing to do with this hostel and we get funding by various commercial means. We are not reliant on government grants.’ Simon looked exasperated. He took a deep breath. ‘I was given something to look after this morning.’ Simon took a phone out of his pocket. He handed it to Carter.
Carter switched it on. ‘It’s hers,’ he said as he handed it to Willis. ‘Phone Robbo.’ Carter turned back to Simon. ‘Who gave this to you?’
‘Toffee. The man you mentioned.’
‘What did he say when he gave it to you?’
‘He asked me to look after it.’
‘You didn’t ask him where it came from? You didn’t look at it?’
‘No, I was busy this morning. I was still working when you came in, if you remember. I hadn’t had time to look at it.’
‘So Toffee gave it to you this morning; what time?’
‘At eight. I found him outside when I opened up.’
‘What did he look like?’
‘He had a few cuts on his face. He looked agitated, upset. He looked a mess, but then he often does. I tried to make him come in but he wouldn’t.’
‘We asked you if anything strange had occurred and you didn’t think to mention this?’
‘Because it isn’t strange for here. Fights are common. Injuries happen every day when people live in these circumstances.’
‘Where do you think he will have gone?’
‘I don’t know exactly. He hangs about with another man, Spike. He’s not here either. I think if you try the parks, bus stations – just about anywhere there’s shelter and they can sit and drink. They never go far.’
‘Do you have a photo of him?’
Simon shook his head. ‘Sorry. He’s about five nine, very thin. His hair is grey, curly. He wears a brown jacket with a lighter-coloured collar.’
‘And Spike?’
‘He’s shorter, bald; with a spider’s-web tattoo on his neck; he’s an ex-con. He’s more vocal. He gets drunk faster. We’ve had to throw him out of here for fighting.’
Sandy woke instantly from a deep sleep when she heard someone approach. She had learnt to stay absolutely still, next to her master, and to strike at the last minute if the threat came too near him. She would not step away too far from the man she had to protect.
As the man got within a few feet, she leapt out and wagged her tail and pushed her big head inside the man’s hand to lick his palm.
‘All right, girl. Stay quiet now.’
Mason groaned. ‘Toffee?’ He was having difficulty opening his eyes – they had swollen up as he dozed. Toffee sat down on the blue coat and he examined Mason’s face. Mason brought up his hand to cover it.
‘You’re in a state, lad.’
‘I’m okay.’
The pair sat for a few moments in silence as they listened to the train thunder past overhead. People were getting in their cars in the car park. Doors slammed, laughter hung shrill in the air.
Toffee turned to watch Sandy as she went across to the next archway, to look for food amongst the rubbish.
‘Why did you go back?’
Mason shrugged and propped himself up. His head tilted back on the side of the stone. He squinted at Toffee, shook his head. Then he closed his eyes again.
‘That face will get infected. You need to clean it, stitch it up. We can’t take you to A&E – they’ll be watching. I’ll go and find you something to do it with and get you a drink too – help to ease the pain. I’ll be back. Stay here. Here’s some money, in case you need it.’
He rolled two twenty-pound notes tightly before pushing them into the lining of Mason’s coat.
‘I don’t want it.’ He shook his head.
‘Take it. You earned it, lad.’
Chapter 6
After they watched Simon walk back into the hostel, Carter started the car. He called Robbo again.
‘We’re bringing in Olivia Grantham’s phone but I need a team of officers to go in to Hannover Estate within the next hour. I want to hit it quickly and a message sent out to signal we mean business. If we leave it too long, gang members will have had time to intimidate any possible witnesses and time to cement stories. Make sure the gangs know we’re not going anywhere. I need a team of ten officers, in pairs. Have armed police on standby. We need to find Mahmet Balik—’