Annie watched Stefan translate. Krystyna’s expression turned from puzzlement to surprise.
‘For a better life,’ was the answer Stefan translated. There was no irony in Krystyna’s voice or her expression. ‘Why do they all think we owe them a better life?’ Stefan added.
Annie ignored him and paused for a moment, then asked, ‘Where was the farm she lived on?’
‘In a wild place,’ came the answer. ‘There was nothing to do. No shops. No movies. No television.’
‘What was it like?’
‘Cold. The roof leaked. The garden was all overgrown with weeds and nettles. There was no proper place to wash and no real toilet.’
‘It sounds like Garskill to me,’ Annie said. ‘Can you ask her when and why she left?’
‘Wednesday morning,’ the answer came. ‘They were all told to pack up their belongings — not that they had any, apparently — and that they wouldn’t be coming back there after work.’
‘Where was she working?’
Nowak and Krystyna conferred for a while, then he said, ‘A yeast factory. There was a sign outside that said “Varley’s” she said. I think I know the place. They make yeast products for animal feed and for prisoners, diet supplement pills and suchlike.’
‘A yeast factory? Sounds bloody awful,’ said Annie. ‘How did she end up living at Garskill Farm and working there?’
This time the conversation in Polish was longer, with a clearly frustrated Nowak asking for more repetitions and clarifications. Finally he turned to Annie and straightened his tie. ‘She went to Katowice, the nearest large town, but there were no agencies there, so she went to Krakow and found someone who took her money and gave her an address in Bradford. I think she said Bradford. It was all phony, of course. These people are so gullible. Anyway, she ended up at the farm with about twenty other hopefuls doing a variety of rubbish jobs until they found somewhere to place her permanently, or so they said. And they kept most of her earnings back for bed and board and to pay off her debt to the agency.’
It was a familiar story. Annie looked sympathetically towards Krystyna. ‘Where is this yeast factory?’ she asked Nowak.
‘Northern edge of Eastvale. That old industrial estate.’
‘Ask her why they had to leave.’ She thought she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear Krystyna’s version, nonetheless.
‘A man came to the farm in the morning,’ Nowak said a while later. ‘Different man. She hadn’t seen him before. He came in a dark green car. A shiny car, I think she said. It looked new. The other two men, the regular ones who drove them to their jobs and back in the white van, seemed frightened of him. He told everyone to pack up, that they wouldn’t be coming back tonight. That was it. She didn’t mind so much because she didn’t like living there. Apart from everything else, men kept trying to mess with her. That’s what she said.’
‘What language did this man speak?’
‘English,’ Stefan translated. ‘At least, she thinks it was English. She actually does know a few words. And then someone translated for the workers who couldn’t understand.’
‘Did he have an accent of any kind?’
Annie saw Krystyna shake her head before answering. ‘She doesn’t know. She couldn’t understand much. She’d hardly be likely to know if he had a Scottish accent or something.’
‘Can you describe this man?’ Annie asked Krystyna. Nowak translated.
Krystyna nodded.
‘Excellent. We’ll see if we can rustle up a sketch artist after our little talk. If the worst comes to the worst, I can always have a go at it myself.’
‘Do you want me to translate that?’
‘No. Don’t bother,’ Annie said. ‘Ask her what happened next.’
Nowak asked Krystyna and translated her reply. ‘They all piled into the van as usual. All except for Mihkel. They held him back. He had told her his name was Mihkel. He was from Estonia. She liked him. He was nice to her, and he didn’t... you know... want anything.’ Stefan cleared his throat. ‘Some of the men tried to touch her at night. They were very crude. Apparently, there were two couples at the farm, and everyone could hear them when they made love, however quiet they tried to be. These men imitated them, made funny animal sounds and laughed. Mihkel protected her and her friend Ewa. She would like to see her friend Ewa again. She is sorry for leaving her, but she was scared.’
‘That’s probably how Mihkel gave himself away, the poor bastard,’ Annie said. ‘Being nice to people and asking too many questions. At least one of the men in the work gang was probably a plant for the other side. Don’t translate that. Did she ever see Mihkel again?’
‘No,’ said Nowak after another brief exchange. ‘They were taken to work, as usual. She was to be picked up outside the factory at six o’clock, but she says she got out early and ran away.’
‘Why?’
Krystyna seemed confused when Stefan translated the question. She muttered a few words. ‘She doesn’t really know,’ he said. ‘She was unhappy at the farm. She thought she would not see Mihkel again, and the new place would be worse.’
‘Was there anything else?’ Annie pressed.
After a while, Krystyna cried and told Stefan that the regular van driver had been pressing her to sleep with him, and that he wanted her to go on the streets to make more money. He said she could earn money very well that way and pay off her debts in no time, but she didn’t want to do it. She ran away.
Annie found some tissues in her bag and handed them to Krystyna, who thanked her politely in Polish. Even though she had nothing, Annie thought, Krystyna had chosen to flee the work gang rather than stay there and suffer their mauling and end up deeper and deeper in debt, trawling the streets for prospective clients. What had she thought would happen to her, on the run, alone in a strange country? She had been desperate enough not to care. ‘Do you know where they are now, the others?’ she asked.
When she understood Stefan’s translation, Krystyna shook her head. Then she spoke again.
‘She doesn’t know where they were taken,’ Nowak explained. ‘She’s been in Eastvale ever since. She walked from the factory. She has no food or money. Since then she’s been living on the streets, sleeping in shop doorways and alleys.’
Krystyna spoke again. A question, this time.
‘She wants to know if she can have a cigarette,’ Nowak said.
‘Afraid not,’ Annie replied. ‘But tell her I’ll buy her a whole packet when we’ve finished in here.’
Krystyna merely nodded at that.
‘She says Mihkel asked her about herself,’ Annie went on. ‘Did they talk much? How did they communicate?’
‘They couldn’t speak the same language,’ Nowak said, after listening to Krystyna for a while. ‘But Mihkel knew a little Polish, so they managed a few basic exchanges. His accent was funny.’
‘What did he ask her about?’
Annie could tell by Krystyna’s gestures and facial expressions that she wasn’t going to get much of answer.
‘Just her life in general,’ said Nowak finally. ‘She said mostly he asked about her, like you. How did she get there? Where was she from? Why did she come? He wanted to know her story. She asks if he was a policeman, too.’
‘No,’ said Annie.
‘She also asks where has he gone.’
Annie sighed. Bugger it. This just wasn’t fair. Should she tell Krystyna the truth? That they suspected the man in the dark green Ford Focus had tortured and drowned Mihkel? If she did, she risked scaring the girl so much that she might balk at giving a description of the man. If she didn’t tell her, she was being dishonest. She topped up everyone’s coffee and moved on. ‘Can you ask her if she ever saw anyone else around the place who wasn’t part of the normal furniture and fittings?’