‘Would it be all right if I came back later? I’ve got another appointment,’ Jane told him as she walked down the stairs.
‘I finish about five p.m., so if you’d like to come back then I’ll be free.’
Jane nodded as she opened the front door. ‘I’ll try and do that, work permitting, of course.’
‘Have a good day, Sergeant Tennison.’ Simmonds smiled and shut the door.
Jane concentrated on walking at a normal pace, in case Simmonds was watching her from a window. As soon as she rounded the corner, she stopped and took some deep breaths to calm her nerves. It felt as if her visit had been a big mistake.
She’d uncovered nothing and now Simmonds would be wary of her. She looked at her watch and saw it was ten o’clock.
‘Shit!’ she exclaimed and started to run back to the station. To cap it all, now she was going to be late for Moran.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Moran was already addressing the team when Jane hurried into the CID office. He frowned at her and opened his mouth, as if he was about to reprimand her, but she had her excuse ready.
‘Sorry I’m late, sir. I was checking something out with the collator and didn’t realize the time.’ She saw Lawrence and went over to stand next to him without waiting for a response from Moran.
Edwards nudged the officer next to him and nodded his head towards Jane and Lawrence. No doubt he’d told everyone she and Lawrence were an item.
Lawrence leant towards Jane and whispered, ‘Where’ve you been?’
‘Simmonds’ Peckham practice. He caught me snooping around,’ Jane whispered back.
Lawrence looked shocked. ‘What happened?’
‘I’ll tell you all about it later.’
Moran looked pointedly in their direction. ‘Is there something the pair of you would like to share with the team?’
There were some sniggers around the room.
‘Sorry, sir, I was just asking DS Lawrence if I’d missed anything important,’ Jane replied.
Moran frowned. ‘Luckily for you, you haven’t. But in future, I expect you to be on time when I call a team meeting.’
‘Yes, sir. It won’t happen again.’
‘Good. Now, unless you have something positive to add, I’d like to return to the subject of finding Aiden Lang.’
Jane felt like she had a lot to add to the investigation, but now was definitely not the time to air her suspicions about Simmonds. She wanted to ask Paul’s advice before broaching the subject with Moran.
Moran continued. ‘Have the gay pubs in Soho been checked out, Edwards?’
‘Yes, sir. Myself and other members of the team have visited numerous pubs. Some of the gay punters recognized Lang’s mugshot, but no one has seen him around Soho since the murders started.’
‘What about local drug dealers — was Lang getting his fix from any of them?’ Moran asked.
A detective raised his hand. ‘We’ve spoken to local informants and all known drug dealers we could trace, but again, nothing positive so far. It’s possible Lang may go further afield than Peckham to get his drugs.’
‘Then widen the bloody search for drug dealers,’ Moran said, looking frustrated. ‘Since the last press appeal, we’ve received a shedload of possible sightings of Lang. Any of them look promising?’
There was silence in the room as everyone looked around to see if anyone was going to speak up.
‘Come on, surely one of you must having something positive.’
Still there was silence.
Moran’s gloom seemed to deepen. ‘Even if you think it might be irrelevant, for God’s sake tell me.’
The CID clerk raised her hand. ‘I re-circulated the all-ports warnings and sent another round of telexes about Lang out to all UK police stations.’
‘Have we heard back from any of them?’ Moran asked.
‘Not yet, sir.’
Moran slapped the table. ‘Damn it, Lang can’t have disappeared off the face of the earth!’
Edwards raised his hand. ‘Is it worth speaking to his sister again?’
Moran shook his head. ‘Hilary Peters doesn’t like police. There’s no way she’ll talk to us.’
Only because of the way you treated her, Jane thought to herself.
‘What’s happening about the dismembered body? Are we investigating that as well?’ Gibbs asked.
Moran nodded. ‘I discussed it with DCS Blake after the post-mortem. Due to all the press coverage, the Commissioner has taken a personal interest in our investigations. Blake wants to speak with him first before reallocating the Peckham Rye case to another team. But until I hear back from him we’re stuck with that case as well.’
Gibbs snorted. ‘Blake’s frightened to make a decision. It’s bloody obvious the dismembered body isn’t connected to the three women’s murders.’
Moran sighed. ‘I agree. But it’s out of my hands until the Commissioner makes his decision. For now, I want to split the team in two. One half can concentrate on finding Aiden Lang and the other, led by DI Gibbs, can investigate the Peckham Rye case.’
Gibbs frowned and shook his head, as did a number of other members of the team.
‘Can we at least have more officers to assist us?’ Gibbs asked.
Moran shrugged. ‘I’ve also asked Blake that very question and—’
Gibbs didn’t let him finish. ‘Yeah, yeah, and he’ll ask the Commissioner, blah, blah, blah.’
Moran slammed his notebook down on the table. ‘For fuck’s sake, the lot of you grow up and stop acting like children. I don’t like what’s happening as much as the rest of you. But until we find Aiden Lang, the top brass, press and public won’t stop hounding us. Remember, I’m the one who’s neck’s on the line with the Commissioner — not yours! But let me assure you of one thing: if I find out a sighting of Lang wasn’t properly investigated and he slipped through the net, then I will personally make sure the officer concerned is out of the CID and back in uniform.’
The room fell silent. No one needed to be told about the pressure Moran was under and how stressed he was. And they also knew Moran meant what he said if they screwed up.
Moran composed himself before continuing. ‘The sooner we can find out who the dismembered man is, the sooner we can make some progress. Once we know who he is, we will be able to identify his criminal associates.’
Jane stuck up her hand.
‘What, Tennison?’
‘I had a word with Burt, the collator. He isn’t aware of any current gangland disputes, but—’
Moran cut her off angrily. ‘What is it with you, Tennison? Why do you have to put a damper on everything I say? The collator is a uniform officer who’s never been a detective. He has no experience of a murder investigation!’
‘He does have twenty-five years of experience of working in Peckham,’ Lawrence said in Jane’s defense.
Encouraged, Jane continued. ‘Burt told me Eddie Harrison recently got out of prison. He suggested he might be trying to “reclaim his manor.”’
‘I was a DC at Rotherhithe when they first came on the scene. The things they did to people who crossed them were unbelievable,’ Lawrence chipped in.
Jane nodded. ‘Burt said they cut off fingers and toes, pulled teeth out with pliers.’
Moran took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. ‘Thank you, Tennison. You and Lawrence have made your point. DI Gibbs can follow up on what Eddie Harrison has been up to since he got out of prison.’
‘Burt has an informant he can speak to,’ Jane said.
‘Am I not making myself clear, Tennison?’ Moran gave her stern look, then turned to Lawrence. ‘Anything from forensics that might help us?’
‘Not in locating Lang. On the positive side, the lab found fibers matching the tweed jacket in Lang’s room on all three female victims.’