Dark Justice. Jack Higgins
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her silken knee. ‘You’re a lovely girl, so go and do what Belov is paying you to do. Extract a few more facts from Mrs Morgan, but keep your masters at the GRU happy.’
He got out of the Opel and walked away.
Heavy traffic on Wapping High Street held her back a little, but she finally found what she was looking for: Chandler Street, backing down to the Thames. Many cars were parked there, which gave her good cover, and she pulled in, switched off and settled down, her camera at the ready.
Number Thirteen, that had amused her when she’d looked at the file, an old Victorian terrace house. She sat there, looking along the street to the grocery shop on the corner opposite the river. There was no one about, not a soul. It started to rain and then a red Mini drew up opposite and Hannah Bernstein and Sean Dillon got out.
Hannah pressed the bell and they waited. Finally they heard the sounds of movement, the door was opened on a chain and Mrs Morgan peered out. She was old, faded, much older than her years, as Hannah had indicated. She had a long scarf wrapped around her head, the chador worn by most Muslim women. The voice was almost a whisper.
‘What do you want?’
‘It’s me, Mrs Morgan, Miss Bernstein from the social services. I thought I’d call again.’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘This is Mr Dillon, my supervisor. May we come in?’
‘Just a moment.’ The door closed while she disengaged the chain, then opened again. When they entered, she had turned to precede them in the wheelchair.
All this, Greta Novikova had captured on her camera.
In the small sitting room the air was heavy and close and smelled of musk, a strange, disturbing aroma that was somehow alien and not quite right.
Hannah said, ‘I just thought I’d check on you, Mrs Morgan, as we happened to be passing.’
Dillon, more direct, said, ‘Your son is in New York, I understand, Mrs Morgan. Have you heard from him?’
Her voice was muted, and she coughed, ‘Oh, he’ll be too busy. I’m sure he’ll phone when he’s got time.’
Hannah was angry and glared at Dillon. He nodded and she carried on reluctantly. ‘Have you seen Dr Selim lately?’
‘Oh, yes, at the mosque. When my son’s away Dr Selim sends a young man to wheel me along to Queen Street. It’s not far. He’s been very good, Dr Selim, helping us so much, helping me and my Henry to discover our faith.’
Hannah felt wretched. ‘I’m sure that’s been very nice for you.’
‘Yes, he’s called around two or three times since Henry’s been away, with his friend.’
There was a pause, her breathing heavy. Dillon said, ‘And who was that?’
‘Oh, I can’t remember his name. Very strange, Russian, I think. He had a terrible scar right down from his eye to the corner of his mouth.’
Dillon said sternly in Arabic, ‘Have you told me everything, old woman? Do you swear to this, as Allah commands?’
She looked fearful and replied in Arabic, ‘There is no more. I don’t know his name. My son said he was a Russian friend. That’s all I know.’
Hannah said, ‘I don’t know what you’re saying, Dillon, but leave it. She’s frightened.’
Dillon smiled, suddenly looking devastatingly charming, and kissed Mrs Morgan on the forehead. ‘There you are, my love.’ He turned to Hannah and led the way out.
Outside, she said, ‘What a bastard you are. What were you saying?’
‘Just checking if she was telling the truth.’
‘Right, let’s go.’
‘I’m not ready yet, Hannah.’ He nodded to the corner shop at the end of the street. ‘Let’s have a word down there. The Russian gentleman with the scar interests me. Maybe he’s been in.’
They walked down the pavement towards the shop, and behind them Greta Novikova turned her Opel into the street and drove away.
The sign on the shop window said ‘M. Patel’. Dillon nodded. ‘Indian, that’s good.’
‘Why, particularly?’ Hannah asked.
‘Because they’re smart and they don’t screw around. They’ve got a head for business and they want to fit in. So let’s see what Mr Patel has to say and let’s use your warrant card.’
The shop was neat and orderly, and obviously sold a bit of everything. The Indian behind the counter reading the Evening Standard was in shirtsleeves and looked about fifty. He glanced up, smiling, looked them over and stopped smiling.
‘Can I help?’
Hannah produced her warrant card. ‘Detective Superintendent Bernstein, Special Branch. Mr Dillon is a colleague. We’re pursuing inquiries, which involve a Mrs Morgan who lives up the street. You know her?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘Her son’s away,’ Dillon said. ‘New York, I understand?’
‘Yes, she did tell me that. Look, what is this?’
‘Don’t fret, Mr Patel, everything’s fine. Mrs Morgan is friendly with a Dr Ali Selim. You know who he is?’
Patel’s face slipped. ‘Yes, I do.’
‘And you don’t like him.’ Dillon smiled. ‘A Hindu–Muslim thing? Well, never mind. Sometimes when he sees Mrs Morgan he has a friend with him. Bad scar, from his eye to his mouth. She thinks he’s Russian.’
‘That’s right, he is. He’s called in to buy cigarettes, sometimes with the Arab. Selim calls him Yuri. They were in yesterday.’
Hannah glanced up at the security camera. ‘Was that working?’
He nodded. ‘I was busy, so when the tape stopped I didn’t run it back. I took it out and put a fresh tape in.’
‘Good,’ Dillon said. ‘I’m sure you have a television in the back room. Get us the tape and we’ll run it back.’
Patel proved accommodating, closed the shop for a while and ran the tape through for them. Finally he stopped.
‘There they are.’
Hannah and Dillon had a look. ‘So that’s him?’ Dillon said. ‘The Russian.’
‘Yes. And I’ve remembered something else,’ Patel said. ‘One day he was on his own and his mobile rang and he said, “Ashimov here.”’
‘You’re sure about that?’ Hannah asked.
‘Well, that’s how it sounded.’
‘Good man, yourself,’ Dillon said. ‘You’ve helped enormously.’
Patel hesitated. ‘Look, is Mrs Morgan in trouble? I mean, she’s not fit to be out, but she’s nice enough.’
‘No problem,’ Hannah said. ‘We’re just pursuing some inquiries.’
‘And I know exactly what that means with you people.’
Dillon patted him on the shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, old son, we’re the good guys.’
They went out and walked towards the Mini. ‘Yuri Ashimov,’ Hannah said. ‘Interesting.’
‘Let’s go and see what Roper makes of it,’ Dillon suggested.
At Monk Street, Greta linked her digital camera to Ashimov’s television and ran the photos of Dillon and Hannah.
‘There you are. The social services I assume. I’ve no idea who the man is.’
Ashimov