‘I’ve been there,’ Banks said. ‘Strange place.’ He remembered Sarandë. He had been on a Dalmatian Coast and Greek Island cruise with Sandra years ago, and they had docked there to visit some nearby Roman ruins. What he remembered most of all was the approach from the sea — the tall buildings, and how the closer you got, the more you could see that they were empty — that you could, in fact, see right through the holes where the windows and walls should have been. It was hard to work out whether they were unfinished or had been shelled. He also remembered the town square littered with rubbish and the groups of men sitting around roasting a whole pig, then out in the countryside the isolated cottages, like fairy-tale witch houses with strange effigies nailed to the doors to ward off evil spirits. It had been like stepping back in time, at least as far back as a sixties Hammer horror movie. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘Sorry for interrupting. Go on.’
‘Remember, Blaydon’s got a place on Corfu, and it’s just across the water. Even back then, Blaydon was throwing lavish parties on his yacht to impress any celebs and major players passing through, and Gashi was his coke contact. Strictly third division back then, but he’s gone up in the world since. There’s also a rumour that Gashi helped Blaydon get rid of his partner, Norman Peel. Apparently Peel didn’t like the drugs and the Mafia connection, and he was ready to blow the whistle. But Gashi’s no longer involved on a day-to-day basis. He doesn’t like to get his hands dirty any more. He has a host of minions to do that for him now.’
‘Minions like Blaydon?’
‘I’d say Blaydon’s a bit higher in the hierarchy than that, guv,’ said Gerry. ‘His value is most likely in areas other than muscle. He’s not without political and judicial influence, and if he has people working for him on the inside, especially police officers...’
‘I see what you mean. The Albanian takeover could upset a few people who’ve already invested heavily in those routes. Locals.’
‘It could,’ said Gerry. ‘And it has. According to my contact on the drugs squad, we don’t exactly have a gang war on our hands, not up here at any rate, but there are a few scuffles on the sidelines, people getting elbowed out of the way, mostly the Leeds dealers. Several hospitalisations, a couple of fatalities.’
‘I’ll have a word with DCI Blackstone.’
‘These days the Albanians can supply a purer product at a cheaper rate,’ Gerry went on. ‘What’s not to like about that?’
‘What about our dead boy? Anything on who he might be yet?’
‘Not yet, guv,’ said Gerry. ‘It’s starting to look more and more as if he’s entered the country illegally, or simply slipped through the cracks. No useful CCTV so far, and only traces of grass and soil and May blossom in the bin and on his clothing.’
‘There are no trees or grass on the East Side Estate,’ said Banks.
‘Oh, come on, guv,’ said Gerry. ‘It’s not as bad as all that. There are a few gardens and a little grass square with swings and roundabouts for the kiddies.’
‘And dealers.’
‘There’s even a tree,’ said Annie. ‘I’m sure I saw it once.’
Gerry rolled her eyes and went on. ‘We do, however, have a couple of sightings that came in from the media appeal. One woman thought she saw the boy on Sunday evening coming out of the McDonald’s near the bus station. He was carrying a backpack and wearing a dark zip-up jacket.’
‘Dr Galway said that the victim had eaten a burger an hour or two before he died,’ Banks said.
Gerry nodded. ‘One of the girls there remembers serving him. There weren’t a lot of customers around that time. And there was another sighting by the Leaview Estate a bit later. Neither witness is sure of the timings, and the second one couldn’t even be sure it was our boy, but it was either around or just after dark on Sunday. We also managed to track down a bus driver who remembered a Middle Eastern lad getting on in Leeds, at the central bus station there, and getting off in Eastvale. The bus arrived at 9.45 p.m., just as it was getting dark.’
‘It’s hardly surprising so few people saw him then. Eastvale’s pretty dead at that time on a Sunday night. The Leaview Estate?’ Banks mused. ‘It’s not the quickest way from the bus station to Hollyfield Lane, if we’re still working on the theory that he was involved in a county line there.’
‘It might be for someone who doesn’t know Eastvale,’ suggested Annie.
‘Good point. Did this second witness have anything to add?’
Gerry scanned the witness statement. ‘Nothing, sir, except this man also says the lad he saw was carrying a backpack. Wearing it, I suppose.’
‘At least the missing items explain why he had nothing but the coke on him. He must have kept his money and stuff in the jacket or the backpack. I wonder what happened to them.’
‘Maybe he dropped them off somewhere on the way, guv?’ Gerry suggested. ‘Somewhere on the Leaview Estate. It was a warm evening, the day before the storm, so maybe he took his jacket off and left it somewhere.’
‘If he left it at Leaview, that rather puts our county lines theory to waste, doesn’t it,’ Banks replied. ‘At least as far as Hollyfield Lane is concerned. It’s unlikely they’d have two trap houses here in Eastvale. Can we link the boy to Stokes at all?’
‘No, guv,’ said Gerry. ‘Not yet, at any rate. We found no trace of the backpack or jacket at his house. But Stefan’s team are still there; if there is a connection, they’ll come up with it eventually.’
‘You’re thinking Howard Stokes was cuckooed, aren’t you?’ Annie asked.
‘It makes sense, doesn’t it?’ said Banks. ‘Isn’t that how the county lines operate? Send in a kid to distribute the phone orders out of someone’s house. Take over his nest, like a cuckoo. Usually someone who can’t do anything about it. Someone disabled, or a vulnerable junkie like Stokes. It explains why he hadn’t been getting any methadone scripts and was managing to maintain his habit. They’d pay him in heroin.’
‘But why kill him, guv?’ Gerry asked. ‘I mean, whatever Stokes was, he wasn’t a major player. I doubt the boy was, either, even if he was involved. But Stokes did provide them with a safe and solid base to work from.’
‘I don’t know. Maybe Stokes killed himself because of the cancer? There’s a lot we don’t know yet. Maybe if the Albanians are taking over...’
‘A warning?’ said Annie. ‘Like we thought before?’
‘Or a reprisal,’ said Banks. ‘Let’s try knocking on doors along Hollyfield Lane. There must be people still living there.’
‘There are, guv,’ said Gerry. ‘Uniform branch did a door-to-door just after we found Stokes’s body. It turned up nothing.’
‘You do it again, Gerry. Even if Stokes did die of a genuine drug overdose, it doesn’t mean there was no monkey business involved. Show everyone the boy’s picture.’
‘Right, guv.’
‘And up Elmet Hill, too,’ said Banks. ‘We wouldn’t want anyone to think we’re favouring the better off. There’s plenty of people living up there, and they’re not free from suspicion, even though they’ve got more money. They’ve got a Neighbourhood Watch, too. It might be worth having a word with some of them. They may have seen or heard something on their wanderings.’
‘OK.’ Gerry glanced at Annie. ‘By the way, guv. DI Cabbot asked me to look into the Lisa Bartlett sexual assault again. As you know, I handled that case, talked to Lisa at the time. She was pretty upset.’