No surprise there, Rachel thought. An abandoned building was a magnet for junkies and other lowlifes. Off the radar, no water or electric but walls and a roof, somewhere to shelter. Attractive to dealers too, off the streets and out of sight, away from prying eyes. Though these days some of them were bold as brass, hanging about on street corners, and taking orders with kids on bikes to run the drugs. Students of The Wire.
‘This could be a drug dispute?’ Rachel said.
‘Possible,’ said the boss.
‘Intel are still saying no known hostile takeovers,’ Mitch said.
‘Maybe this is it, just kicking off.’ Rachel again.
‘Could be our two victims were dealers then someone robbed them,’ said Lee.
‘If they’ve been dealing for some months they’re going to be getting the supply from Marcus Williams,’ Mitch said. ‘Anyone mad enough to go after them must have a death wish themselves. Williams is still in pole position and he’s vicious as a pitbull when he’s crossed.’
‘Allegedly,’ the boss said, reminding them Williams had never been charged with any crime. ‘And his lieutenant, Stanley Keane, allegedly, does the nasty when needs must. As I said, we have no ID for our two victims so that is top of the list.’ Godzilla went on, ‘The crimes look very similar except for one significant difference: the accelerant used was not the same in both cases.’
‘Ballistics?’ Rachel was wondering if the same gun had been used.
‘They’re busy with it now,’ the boss said.
Kevin spoke up. ‘The men in prison for the post office robbery-’
‘In which the same weapon was used,’ the boss said.
‘Refused to comment,’ Kevin said.
Fancy that, thought Rachel. ‘Pretty safe bet they got it from Tandy.’
‘You want a flutter, Rachel, get yourself down Paddy Power’s. We need facts, not bets,’ Her Maj said, ‘and we need Tandy.’
‘Not answering his phone,’ Mitch said.
‘Maybe he’s left the area,’ said Kevin.
‘Why?’ asked the boss.
‘Because of the murder, he doesn’t want to be taken down with the Perry twins,’ Kevin said.
‘Where would he go? Has he any associates elsewhere, family?’
‘No,’ Pete said, ‘stays close to home when he’s not banged up.’
The boss shook her head, irritated at their failure to find the man.
Without Janet available as acting sergeant, Her Maj asked for a volunteer to allocate actions and Lee volunteered. Rachel didn’t. She didn’t want to be coordinating other people, she wanted to be back out there, finding the dirt on Neil and Noel Perry that would see them looking at life in prison.
‘As we did with Kavanagh,’ the boss said, ‘talk to local organizations and residents, churches, charities, whatever. Do any of them recall a young, black couple? Of course this will be bad for public confidence and for our crime stats. The Chief Con and the reducing crime bods can worry about the statistics, we can’t do anything about that. But what we can do, in terms of community morale and public relations, is put every ounce of energy into finding out who killed these people and bringing them to trial. Any questions?’