‘If Victor and Lydia were dealing,’ said Pete, ‘maybe they were taking liberties, hands in the till and Williams wanted to teach them a lesson.’
‘Bit extreme,’ Gill said, ‘a rap over the knuckles would be enough. You think he put out a contract on the couple? We haven’t found any intelligence that links the Perry brothers to Williams.’
‘What about switching it round?’ said Lee. ‘A robbery, the twins decide to help themselves but Victor and Lydia resist. Bang. Bang.’
‘They were sitting down, weren’t they?’ Rachel said. ‘Not like there’d been a struggle, or either of them made a run for it.’
‘If someone is pointing a gun, you’re not going to run, that’s an invitation to open fire,’ Kevin said.
‘True,’ Gill nodded to Kevin, ‘but also true there was no sign of a fight.’
‘They could have been sleeping,’ said Mitch.
‘The Perrys are known racists. Kavanagh was a hate crime, this could be too,’ Lee said.
‘So… what? Noddy and Big Ears are on some cleanup-the-streets mission?’ Gill said.
‘One down, a million to go,’ said Janet, repeating Noel Perry’s sound bite.
Bragging or more than that?
‘Or they’re just dickheads,’ Rachel said, getting a laugh.
Gill’s phone buzzed. She glanced at the display, Dave, left it. ‘We have no formal proof of identity for Victor and Lydia?’ she asked, looking at Mitch.
‘No, but surnames used at the food bank are the same as those given when Lydia attended the walk-in clinic: Lydia Oluwaseyi and Victor Tosin.’
‘Refer to them as “known as” to be on the safe side,’ Gill said. ‘We don’t want some smart-arse defence lawyer down the line claiming that Lydia Oluwaseyi was actually Lydia Oluwa, and so the charges were inaccurate.’
Rachel nodded and Janet made a note in her book.
‘We are looking for Shirelle Young.’ Gill glanced over at Lee.
‘Not been back to the flat,’ he said.
‘Not with us crawling all over it,’ said Rachel.
‘Done a runner?’ Kevin said.
‘It’s possible,’ Gill said. ‘Local neighbourhood patrols will continue to be on the lookout. What have we got from house-to-house in the vicinity of the warehouse?’
‘Dead loss,’ Kevin said, ‘no one saw anything.’
‘Or they’re not willing to admit it,’ Rachel said.
‘The fire investigation officer tells me a fifth bullet has been recovered among the debris at the warehouse.’ Gill glanced at her watch. ‘Anything else? OK. Coffee run?’
Lee volunteered, raising his hand.
‘Double americano,’ Gill requested. She picked up her files and went to the office. Stretched to relieve some of the tension in her neck and shoulders. She checked her phone: missed call, no message. She was relieved Dave hadn’t left some rambling diatribe she’d have to listen to.