The Body in the River (11 page)

Mann paused, checking that he still had their attention. Brookes nodded, encouraging him to continue.

‘
Now for the company, Luxury Homes Abroad; it
’
s well-named. The company is registered at Companies House; there are three named directors: Fleming himself, another Jamaican, and an Englishman. Their names are on the papers I
’
ve given you. All we have managed to find out about the other two so far is that one, the Jamaican, is a lawyer, and the other, the Englishman, is
‘
a business man
’
, but what his business is we don
’
t know. I
’
m still checking on both of them.
’

Brookes said,
‘
What
’
s the name of the Englishman?
’

‘
His name is Alan Mitchell, with an address in Chelsea. I haven
’
t been able to find out anything more about him yet. But it
’
s the company finances that got our interest. The company is swimming in money. Most holiday companies make block bookings at hotels owned by others, put together a travel package, advertise and sell the whole package at a small profit. Not this one though; the company owns many of the places they let out. Their assets run into millions of pounds; so far we estimate fifty million and we
’
re only halfway through our inventory.

‘
And if his lifestyle is anything to go by, Fleming himself is a rich man. More so than you would expect from running this small holiday company. And there
’
s nothing on his CV that suggests he
’
s made money elsewhere. The big mystery is the source of all the money used to buy the properties initially. It came in through dummy corporations based abroad, but whose money it is and how it was first obtained is cloaked in mystery.
’

Brookes nodded.
‘
Go on.
’

‘
Let me give you one example of the properties they own. Have you heard of the island of Mystique?
’

Brookes frowned.
‘
Somewhere in the Caribbean, isn
’
t it?
’

‘
Not just somewhere; it
’
s about the most exclusive holiday destination on the planet. There are just seventy private houses on the island and a small very exclusive hotel. My source tells me that one of the houses lays claim to being the height of luxury in private homes. It has six bedrooms, which may not seem exceptional until you learn that
each bedroom has its own swimming pool.
The people that own homes on the island include a member of the British Royal Family, one of the biggest names in pop music, and some of the world
’
s richest industrialists.

‘
I
’
ve looked at the company
’
s brochure; Luxury Homes Abroad owns a house on the island. Their rentals for the place are two thousand pounds a night off-season,
five
in the high season. But that
’
s just one of their properties; the others are situated all over the Caribbean. They weren
’
t all purchased at once; they seem to have been acquired over a period of time. It
’
s still a bit of a maze at the moment, but we
’
ll keep at it.
’

Brookes nodded.
‘
I know the answer is obvious, but I want to hear you say it. What
’
s your take on it?
’

‘
Money laundering.
’

Middlemiss coughed; all eyes turned to him.
‘
That makes sense of something I
’
ve found out, boss. I
’
d just got off the blower when you called me in, so I never got the chance to tell you. I managed to get hold of Fleming
’
s phone records; don
’
t ask me how. It
’
s his mobile that got my interest. Does the name Ray Silver ring a bell to you?
’

Brookes gave him a sharp look.
‘
It rings a whole peal of bells, Fred. Raymond Frederick Silver, born in Shoreditch and the biggest name in pornography, prostitution, protection, and handling stolen goods in this country. And he
’
s an evil bastard; he makes the Kray twins look like amateurs. What has he got to do with this?
’

‘
He operates from a sex club in Shoreditch. Fleming has been on the blower to the place eight times in the last month. Unless he
’
s got one hell of a sexual appetite they must be talking about something else.
’

Brookes was thinking aloud;
‘
And the murder victim was the accountant at Fleming
’
s office. If Fleming is laundering Silver
’
s dirty money and she found out about it, we
’
ve got a motive.
’
He frowned.
‘
But surely Fleming wouldn
’
t take a chance like that, employing someone not part of the operation in his office?
’
He turned to Mann.
‘
What do you think?
’

‘
When you say she was the accountant, what exactly were her duties?
’

‘
Her friend said she did the sales ledger, whatever that means.
’

Mann nodded.
‘
It means she looks after the money coming in to the company for renting the properties. Not as strange as it may sound. Fleming got a first in computer sciences but wouldn
’
t want to do all the donkey work himself. The stuff he wouldn
’
t want made public is in the bought ledger; where the profits go. It
’
s not difficult to keep the two ledgers separate so that the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing. And it
’
s not that unusual; most firms don
’
t want to let their employees know how much profit they
’
re making. They
’
d all be asking for pay rises. If she was responsible for the money coming in, she would have needed to know little or nothing of where that money goes. I
’
d have to look at their books to be certain.
’

Middlemiss said,
‘
But maybe she found out and he killed her to keep her quiet. That would explain why he nicked her computer.
’

Brookes nodded.
‘
OK, this all makes sense, but we
’
re only guessing at the moment. How does this money laundering work, Richard?
’

Mann nodded.
‘
There are various ways. One is when money is paid to what appears to be a legitimate company for goods or services rendered. But when you examine the transaction closely, you find that the price paid far exceeds the value of the purchase. The cash is then hidden in the profits of that company. There
’
s no law against making huge, disproportionate profits.

‘
Another way is to invest money in the company and get it back from the company profits. To all intents and purposes it
’
s
‘
clean
’
; only when you wade through the dummy corporations apparently making the investments do you discover where the money actually originates. That
’
s what seems to be happening with Luxury Homes Abroad.

‘
The dead giveaway is usually in the list of shareholders of the company in question. Obviously, those making the investments want to keep control of their money. They have to have someone involved in the decision-making process. That means they have to have someone on the board of directors. I
’
ll get straight onto the other two directors of the company; I
’
ll guarantee one of them will be Silver
’
s representative if it
’
s his money being laundered.
’

‘
Can we find out the exact dates that Fleming
’
s company bought all these villas?
’

‘
I should be able to find out when they started bringing in revenue. As the company is registered in the UK, it is subject to our tax laws. I
’
ll see what the Inland Revenue has on them.
’

Brookes said,
‘
We are going to need some hard evidence, Richard, will you be able to come up with it?
’

‘
Maybe and maybe not, sir. It depends whether the purchases were made from here. If the money was from abroad and never actually went through this country, it may not be so easy. If just the profits are coming through this company and the taxes are being paid, then it may not be possible. Of course, with two of their directors domiciled in Jamaica, I may have to make a trip there to liaise with their tax people. I suppose I
’
ll just have to grit my teeth and put up with a few days in the sunshine.
’
He smiled as he said it.

Middlemiss chimed in,
‘
I
’
ll carry your bag for you, guv. I don
’
t mind suffering.
’

Mann continued,
‘
I
’
ll bear that in mind, Sergeant; but back to serious matters. The one big mistake they seem to have made is having the company incorporated in the UK. If they
’
ve made one mistake, maybe they made others. I
’
ll get on with it and keep you informed of my progress.
’

‘
Good. You get on with that angle and we
’
ll get on with proving that Fleming killed Alison MacPherson. By the way, do you know Brian Collins at the Yard?
’

‘
You mean Chief Superintendent Collins, the head of the Organised Crime Squad, S.O.twenty-three? Yes, sir, we
’
ve worked on a couple of things together.
’

‘
Good. I
’
ll have to bring him in on this; it obviously goes way beyond my remit if Silver is involved. You had better liaise with him too.
’

*

As soon as Mann had gone, Brookes phoned Scotland Yard. When he got through to Collins, he said,

‘
Brian? John Brookes, how are you?
’

‘
John? Despite suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, good. And you?
’

‘
Yes, fine. Listen, I
’
m investigating a murder here and a name has popped up. Someone you might know, Raymond Silver. What can you tell me about him?
’

‘
The lowest of the low. Got his finger in so many pies it
’
s difficult to keep up. Makes a lot his money by selling sex: prostitutes and porn. And I mean hardcore porn. We suspect children, even animals if that
’
s what takes your fancy. We
’
ve been after him for years but he
’
s no fool and not easy to catch.
’

Brookes and Collins knew each other well. It was no coincidence that the young DS Rose had been posted to Brookes
’
murder squad. Twelve years ago, Collins, then a young DI himself, had spent a year working in a CID office run by Brookes, learning the fundamental skills of a detective under his tutelage; he was in fact one of the few people on the accelerated promotion scheme who
’
d proved to be worth his salt. It seemed that he was one of Jacqui
’
s sponsors and had suggested to the powers that be that she be posted to Brookes
’
team.

Collins continued,
‘
I
’
ve been meaning to call you. How
’
s young Jacqui doing?
’

‘
I thought you might have had a hand in her posting. I
’
m running a murder squad you know, not a bloody nursery school.
’

Collins laughed into the phone.
‘
Perhaps if you weren
’
t such a good detective, you wouldn
’
t have that problem. Now, what can I do for you?
’