Catch as Catch Can (The Merseyside Crime Series Book 1), Malcolm Hollingdrake [best large ereader .TXT] 📗

spelled BREAD. It took a while but it eventually dawned on me – Brad’s tattoo, his holiday embarrassment. EKMEK, Turkish for bread, remember? Abid needed to send a message whether that was to Kelly or to us, the police, I don’t know. The tattoos were permanent. I believe that was deliberate. Then there was the cloth he’d given her, the piece of his clothing.’

‘Bless her, it was in her clenched fist when they put her in the ambulance.’

‘It was as if it were Abid’s final act of defiance against the leader, a leader whom he believed to be Brad. Remember what Quasim said about them always being one step ahead. Tip offs and a bent bobby.’

‘The apartment and the warehouse. Brad received that information before everyone else,’ April remembered as the fog was being lifted from before her eyes. ‘Bob Lawn said it was like the Marie Celeste. Just emptied.’

‘I’d been worried about Brad for some time. He was always on his phone during and after briefings. Asked a lot of questions. Never thought in a million years he was bent. Then there was the police medal. He seemed overly fascinated by it at first and then cast it aside as if it wasn’t linked to the body. It was a vital clue, Abid was giving us a pointer, hence his insistence that Quasim bury it with him. That brought another piece of the jigsaw into place. He was brave to do that.’

‘You didn’t mention these things.’

‘If I had then the person leaching the information would know we were getting close. Some things you keep to yourself. The penny dropped earlier this evening as I interpreted more information. Finally, what made me fully convinced that Brad was bent, was when Michael contacted me as we arrived at the carpark here, tonight. He’d recognised Sharon from the CCTV of Sadiq’s apartment, realising she’d obviously been part of the gang. Strange that Kelly didn’t know her. Maybe she was just one of the tarts, I don’t know.’

‘You know Sharon’s disappeared?’ April asked, her frustration apparent in her tone. ‘So, tell me, Skeeter, why in all of Liverpool did you come here and not another place?’

Skeeter turned. ‘Another Place, precisely. A hunch, woman’s intuition. Brad always had a poster of this place next to his desk. He told me he came here to think and clear his head after a bad day. I noticed the poster had gone. At first, I couldn’t remember what was missing and it was again Michael who remembered. I just had to make an informed guess but we weren’t in time. I failed.’

‘We got a pulse and the paramedics believe she’ll pull through. Kids like Kelly feel responsible for the way adults have always treated them, as if the early physical and emotional abuse was somehow their fault. She needs a break. She needs help and we let her down.’

Skeeter turned to April; her light blue eye now contrasted markedly with the other. ‘I could have killed the bastard. You know that?’

‘No, you wouldn’t. Your training wouldn’t allow that. I had total confidence in your ability to apply just the correct amount of restraint. You’re one fine team player and I’m proud to work with you. It’s certainly been a baptism of fire.’

‘Well, boss, teams are what you make them. You’re doing just fine.’

A blast from the departing ship’s horn made them both turn to observe, the breeze blowing their hair.

DCI Alex Mason and Bob Lawn walked up towards them. The blue strobes had begun to disappear down the promenade.

‘Just come to congratulate you both on some lateral thinking. It might just have made a massive difference to a young woman’s future.’

April stood. Skeeter remained seated. ‘Anything on the van?’

‘We believe the body found is Blusher’s.’

‘I need a drink.’ Skeeter stood.

‘It’s on me.’ Both men replied in unison.

‘Then you can make it a double.’

Chapter 36

The final solder and the rest of the hour was spent sealing and polishing the stained glass. April held it to the light. The depth of the low evening sun breathed life into the assorted colours.

‘Well, Tico, what do you think?’

Tico turned, yawned and replaced his head on the cushion.

‘Thank goodness it’s not for you!’

Skeeter arrived at Copy Lane and collected a coffee before going to her desk. Looking across, she was pleased to see DC Bradshaw’s desk had been cleared. It was strangely quiet. She checked her watch. Michael popped his head round the door. ‘Briefing, Wicca, you’re late.’

Leaving her brew, she followed him. He opened the door allowing her to enter first.

‘You’re on lates, Micha …’ She did not finish as the cheer drowned the last of the sentence.

It seemed as if half the force had crammed into the room. DCI Mason and April stood near a table on which a few gifts had been placed, one of which was April’s window.

Looking at the crowd and the gifts Skeeter realised they were for her. She immediately felt more anxious than she had done during the whole incident. For the first time April saw her blush and in Skeeter she immediately realised that she had found the perfect professional partner.

Another Place

Crosby Beach made a perfect setting for the denouement to ‘Catch as Catch Can’. The one hundred cast-iron Anthony Gormley sculptures are both stunning and mysterious. They change with the seasons and the elements. Those constantly being submerged are strangely deformed adding a warped beauty to their overall appearance.

The life-sized figures are spread over three kilometres of foreshore and stretch a kilometre out into the sea. Each weighing 650 kilogrammes, they are made from a cast of Gormley’s own body. The sculptures all face the same way, staring out over the Mersey Estuary towards the horizon.

Crosby was not their first home. They were exhibited in Cuxhaven in Germany, Stavanger in Norway and De Panne in Belgium before being transported to Another Place to become a permanent feature at Crosby Beach.

According to Anthony Gormley, Another Place harnesses the ebb and