The Inspector Walter Darriteau Murder Mysteries - Books 1-4 by David Carter (best finance books of all time .txt) 📕

‘I want you to go round all the Oriental businesses in the city. Restaurants, laundries, deli’s, grocery shops, herbal medicines, altmed practitioners, anything that you can think of or can find in the yellow pages, and not just Chinese, any Oriental businesses, Korean, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, the whole works, and I want you to show these pictures to everyone there, not just the big cheeses either, and I want you to be very observant and study their faces and see if you can see a hint of recognition anywhere. Chances are, she could be an illegal, so people are going to be very wary of admitting they knew her, so have your wits about you. It’s not just about what they tell you, it’s about how they react. Read the body language. Someone out there must know who this unfortunate young girl is, and someone somewhere will be only too keen to help because they will know the same fate could come their way. Am I making sense so far?’

Jenny bobbed her head and said, ‘Sure, Guv.’

Jan said, ‘I understand what you are wanting.’

‘Take your time; don’t rush it. If you do, you might miss something important. Be thorough, be savvy, and be careful.’

The young officers noted the tone and both nodded.

‘What’s your surname, Jan?’

Jan’s face broke into a smile beneath his head of black wiry hair.

‘Popieluszko, but it’s pronounced Poppie-Wushka, that’s near enough.’

They all tried it, Poppie-Wushka.

‘Think I’ll just call you Poppie,’ said Gibbons.

‘Then I will call you Funky,’ said Jan, grinning, and they all laughed at that, and then Jan said, ‘It’s Polish of course, but I was born here, I have dual nationality, my parents came here in ’91 and I was born soon afterwards. My home is here now.’

It all sounded so familiar to Walter, and he said, ‘I don’t suppose you might be related to Jerzy Popieluszko?’

The Pole’s face broke into a huge smile.

‘You know of Jerzy?’ he said, incredulously.

‘Doesn’t everyone?’ said Walter, looking round at Karen, Gibbons and Jenny, whose faces were a picture of confusion.

‘Pardon my ignorance, but who he?’ asked Karen.

Walter smiled and said, ‘Jan will tell us all later, but for now he and Jenny have work to do, grab your pics and be on your way, and don’t forget, be observant, and fill me in later on how you got on.’

Jan and Jenny picked up the photos and headed for the door. They were going to start with the big and expensive Chinese restaurant in the city centre set right beside the canal. Seemed as good a place as any.

After they’d gone Karen said, ‘Sadie used to wear spectacles.’  In the absence of her real name they had taken to referring to the unfortunate one as Sadie because of the sadness so evident in the photographs. ‘But she stopped wearing them some time ago.’

‘So why did she do that?’ asked Hector.

‘Vanity perhaps,’ suggested Walter.

‘Don’t think so,’ said Karen.

‘Maybe she lost them or had them stolen, maybe she couldn’t afford a fresh pair,’ said Gibbons.

‘Maybe someone didn’t want her to wear glasses. Perhaps ordered her not to,’ said Karen.

‘Men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses,’ said Walter, ‘though I’ll tell you something, they do, if the girl’s attractive enough, they do.’

‘If it’s a girl, female, then some men make passes... don’t they Gibbons?’ grinned Hector.

‘I’m very particular who I....’

‘Yes all right,’ said Walter, ‘but some people perceive they don’t.’

‘Well, she wasn’t a hooker,’ said Hector.

‘No, but maybe someone wanted her to be, and her refusal cost her dear,’ said Karen.

‘All very possible, Sergeant Greenwood, but all conjecture.’

‘So where do we go from here, Guv?’

‘Wake up the monster, let’s see if there’s any fresh missing persons reports.’

Karen jumped up and went over to the Hytec Corporation’s Constructor System and switched it on. There was indeed a fresh report of a missing person, how could Walter have known that, she wondered, or was it simply another lucky guess? A twenty-three year old this time. Only one problem, it was a man.

Walter’s mobile phone rang. Everyone stopped, stared, and listened.

‘Darriteau?’

It was DCS Wortley.

‘Yes.’

‘Are you alone?’

‘Not exactly.’

‘Go into a private office where we can talk.’

‘Okay.’

Walter glanced at the others and said, ‘Don’t stare at me, I have a call to take, crack on with it, and Darren, you go and see Patsy again, see if he has any news,’ and they all jumped up and went about their business.

Twenty-Five

Walter hustled into a private office and closed the door. He sat in the big chair behind the clean and little used desk and said, ‘DCS Wortley, what can I do for you?’ Walter half expected it to be a bollocking over the significant expenses chit he had submitted.

‘We have a problem, Walter.’

Didn’t like the sound of that.

‘We do? Like what?’

‘Jessica Stone has not been returned to the Barton brothers.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I just know – trust me – they have increased the reward for information on her whereabouts.’

‘That could be a smokescreen, they could have done anything with her, they are not going to admit it, are they?’

‘Negative! Look, Darriteau, I have a spy in the camp; she tells me they are going mental over this. Still believe she is going to turn up at the Old Bailey and give evidence against them that will send them down forever.’

‘Then someone else must have her.’

‘Yes, Darriteau, that would follow.’

‘Any idea who?’

‘None whatsoever, but the tiny amount of intel we have suggests that it could still be someone up on your patch.’

‘Why would anyone do that?’

‘Use your brain, Darriteau! Jessica Stone is worth a lot of money, could be worth her weight in gold, all kinds of shysters are going to be interested in that.’

‘So what do you want me to do?’

‘I want you to fucking find her, that’s what! There’s a lot riding on this, and if she’s on your patch you should be the one to do it.’

‘I’ll have to tell my boss about it.’

‘Course you will.’

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