The Killing (30 page)

‘There’s a lot of paint spattered inside here, like it’s been
resprayed
. Did you get a mechanical inspection before you bought the vehicle?’

‘I didn’t think I needed one. The dealer I got it from is an old mate of mine.’

John smiled a little, knowing that the microphone in the van had just recorded Michael admitting his friendship with Leon
Tarasov
.

‘This car has had a heck of a lot of repair work done on it,’ John explained. ‘Come and look here. You see those bolts in the bottom of the engine bay?’

Michael leaned under the bonnet.

‘You see how the paint has pooled inside the heads? That would never happen in the factory, because the engine is fitted after the bodywork is painted. It means that a large area of the car has been
resprayed
at some point.’

Michael looked shocked. ‘How much damage are we talking about here?’

‘It’s hard to be sure,’ John said. ‘But I can certainly see all the signs of a big smash-up. Do you mind if I look in the back?’

‘Not at all,’ Michael said anxiously. ‘What for?’

‘I want to see if there’s any evidence of
respraying
at that end too.’

John popped the boot and made an
 
ah-haah
 
noise.

‘Mr Patel, I have to say I’m starting to feel extremely concerned about the history of this car.’

John tore up a corner of the carpet lining the boot, revealing patches of red paint.

‘A silver car with patches of red paint in the boot,’ John said suspiciously.

Michael Patel had worked as a cop for long enough to know what this meant. ‘Are you telling me this car is a cut-and-shut?’

‘Or something along those lines,’ John nodded, as he ran his finger over a bump where the rear pillar joined the boot sill. ‘This weld looks more like the work of some bloke in a back alley body shop, instead of a high-precision robot in a BMW factory.’

Michael Patel was breathing hard and his face looked gaunt.

‘The front appears to have been heavily
resprayed
in its original silver and the back end clearly has parts that originally belonged to another vehicle that was painted red,’ John continued. ‘I’m afraid what you have is the front and rear portions of two different BMWs that were involved in serious accidents. The good bits from each car have been crudely patched together.’

‘I know what a cut-and-shut is,’ Michael said bitterly.

‘It’s an impressive piece of work,’ John said. ‘There’s no obvious joins on the exterior bodywork. Although if you jacked her up, I’m sure you’d find clues underneath. They tend not to be so thorough prettying up the bits that are out of sight.’

‘These things are death traps,’ Michael said, shaking his head. ‘My wife and daughter have been driving around in this crate …’

‘Absolutely,’ John nodded. ‘A cut-and-shut car has nothing like the structural strength of the original vehicle. If you’d been involved in an accident, this whole lot might easily have snapped in two. Do you have details of where you bought it?’

‘I’ve got a receipt inside the house. But, like I say, I bought the car off a man I thought I could trust. I can’t
 
believe
 
that he’d do this to me.’

‘I’m going to have to inform the police about this,’ John said. ‘I could probably get the car running again, but I’m obviously not prepared to do that. This vehicle isn’t fit to be on the road.’

Michael suddenly looked even more stressed, which delighted John. His whole plan was based on the assumption that Michael wouldn’t like the idea of the police coming between him and Leon
Tarasov
.

‘No, no,’ Michael said, waving his arms and sounding panicky. ‘You don’t need to call the police.’

‘I’m afraid I have to,’ John said. ‘I’m sure you’re an honest man Mr Patel, but some people who’ve been caught out like this cut their losses by getting the car repaired and then selling it on to the next unsuspecting punter through a classified ad. It’s Auto Club policy to inform the police as soon as we discover a potentially dangerous vehicle.’

‘No,’ Michael said, with a hint of desperation. ‘You see, I’m a cop myself. I’ll show you my ID.’

Michael dashed into the house and grabbed his warrant card out of his jacket. By the time he’d got back, he’d thought up an excuse.

‘You see,’ Michael said, as John inspected the badge, ‘this will come through to the vehicle crime unit at my station. I’ll be a complete laughing stock if this gets out. But I’ve got a mate who works in motor vehicles. He’ll help me save my blushes, you understand?’

John scratched his chin like he was thinking it over. ‘Well, Mr Patel, my obligation is to tell the police and I suppose you
 
are
 
the police.’

‘That’s right.’ Michael looked relieved. ‘And I bet it saves you some hassle if it’s done this way as well.’

John grinned. ‘Yes, a bit.’

‘Great,’ Michael said.

‘I guess that there’s no reason for me to stick around then,’ John said.

Michael reached out and shook John’s hand. John headed back to his recovery truck. He grabbed his two-way radio off the passenger seat as he drove away.

‘Did you catch all that, Chloe?’ John asked cheerfully. ‘Do you think I pulled it off?’

Chloe came back laughing. ‘Yeah, bang-up job John. I reckon our Mr Patel is going to be out gunning for Leon
Tarasov
any minute now.’

10:11

Lauren and Kerry stepped out of the lift into the seventeenth-floor corridor. Lauren was holding her tummy.

‘I ate too much breakfast,’ she groaned. ‘One of these days I’m gonna work out that
 
all you can eat buffet
 
doesn’t mean you have to eat all of it.’

The girls had an air of excitement about them as Kerry grabbed a room key from her wallet. She tutted as she flicked away a piece of popcorn.

‘How the hell did it get in there? That’s James and his
 
stupid
popcorn
fight.’

‘We started on him,’ Lauren reminded her.

Kerry grinned as she pushed the heavy room door. They kept the noise down as they stepped through to the adjoining room, in case Chloe was on the phone or something.

‘Hello girls. All washed and fed now?’ Chloe asked.

‘
Over
fed,’ Lauren said. ‘What did we miss? Has John gone out yet?’

‘He’s already on his way back.’

Kerry looked at her watch. ‘That was quick. Did Patel buy the cut-and-shut ruse?’

‘Hook, line and sinker,’ Chloe grinned. ‘The duplicate car worked a treat. I just taped a phone call between Michael and Patricia’s mobiles. She was in the hairdressers, so she couldn’t go too nuts, but you could tell how mad she was. She was screaming at Michael, telling him to speak to Leon and demand their seventeen grand back. And listen to this.’

Chloe hit a volume slider on her computer screen so that the sound from the
Patels
’ house came out through the speakers.

‘This is the live feed,’ Chloe explained.

Michael was pacing around, breathing furiously and occasionally pounding on something.

‘Why doesn’t he ring Leon, or go to see him?’ Lauren asked.

Chloe shrugged. ‘I guess he’s trying to work out what to say.’

A red warning box popped up on Chloe’s computer:
 
Wiretap Six: dialling
. The numbers appeared on screen a fraction of a second after Michael Patel hit them. By the time he’d dialled the area code and the first two numbers, they knew it was going to be
Tarasov
.

Kerry grinned at Lauren. ‘Stand by for fireworks.’

10:15

A couple of ex-fleet cars had come in from auction and Dave was vacuuming the interiors when Pete stuck his head out of the cabin holding a cordless phone to his ear.

‘You seen Leon?’

Dave pointed towards the brick-built toilet. Pete walked over and slid the handset under the door to his uncle. Leon put down his
 
Racing Post
 
and picked the phone off the floor.

‘Yeah, Leon
Tarasov
speaking.’

‘You’re lucky I don’t
 
kill
 
you,’ Michael screamed. ‘I just had the Auto Club out looking at my BMW and the mother is cut-and-shut.’

Michael’s voice was so stressed that Leon didn’t recognise it. ‘Why don’t you calm down and start at the beginning, chum? Who am I speaking to?’

‘It’s me, Leon, and I just became your worst nightmare.’

‘Mike, is that you? What the hell’s the matter?’

‘Like you don’t know. That BMW you sold me is junk. The mechanic ripped up the carpet in the back and it’s full of red paint. The other end’s been
resprayed
and there’s botched welds all over the shop.’

‘Mike, do you think I’d be stupid enough to sell a cut-and-shut car to a cop? The Auto Club guy must have been a trainee or something. I got that car out of a BMW dealership that had too much stock on its hands. Corporate owner, full service history. The only reason I didn’t have it for my own wife was because I knew you were on the lookout for a five-three-five.’

‘Don’t
 
lie
 
to me, Leon. I have eyes in my head. I want my seventeen grand back.’

‘Are you in debt again, Mike? Because if this is some dumb attempt to shake me down, you can go and shove your thumb up your butthole. I
ain’t
buying it.’

‘Don’t wind me up, Leon. You charged me seventeen grand for a heap of crap and you damn well know it.’

Leon couldn’t believe the bizarre turn his day had taken, as he sat with his trousers around his ankles, grinding a palm against his head. ‘Look Mike, I haven’t got a clue what the problem is. So why don’t you calm yourself down and talk me through it.’

‘I told you
 
twice
 
already. The Auto Club guy showed me inside the engine bay. He tore up the carpet and showed me red paint in the boot.’

‘Mike, I don’t know
 
what
 
you’ve seen, but I swear on my kids’ lives that I didn’t sell you a cut-and-shut car. Now calm yourself down and let’s try to sort this out. How long have you had the car?’

‘Just under seven months.’

‘Have you had it serviced?’

‘It’s due, but I haven’t got around to booking it.’

‘Right,’ Leon said, trying to keep himself from blowing his stack. ‘Technically you’re out of warranty, but seeing as you’re a mate I’ll try and sort this out. I know a good guy who used to work for a main dealer. I’ll send him over to look at your car and I’ll even cover the labour and towing charges. You’ll just have to pay for the parts.’

‘Have you heard
 
one
 
word, Leon? You can’t pull the wool over my eyes. You’ve sold me two bits of junk welded together to make a death trap. My wife and my kid could have been
 
killed
. If it was anyone but you, I’d already have had the law out tearing apart every car on your lot.

‘I’ve got to go to a meeting at the community centre this morning. When I come out, I’m gonna head straight to your cabin. I expect my seventeen grand back and after that I never want to see you again. And don’t go expecting any more favours from me, or any other cops at Palm Hill from now on.’

‘Seriously Mike, are you having mental problems?’ Leon yelled, finally losing his cool. ‘You’re a cop. You’ve got a wife and a kid and you’re acting like a
 
complete
 
nut. I thought you were gonna straighten yourself out after the casino deal.’

‘You’d better have my money when I come through that door Leon, or I’m not gonna be accountable for what I do.’

10:54

James was supposed to be on standby for any eventuality that arose, but Hannah’s parents were at work and he couldn’t turn her down when she arrived on the doorstep with freshly painted toenails and a tight black T-shirt. Hannah wanted to go swimming, but James said he was waiting for a call, so they ended up
snogging
on his bed while they listened to Dave’s Rolling Stones CD.

‘Don’t answer,’ Hannah begged, when James’ mobile rang.

‘Got to,’ James said, as he untangled himself from Hannah. ‘It’s probably my social worker. I’m a millimetre from getting busted back into a children’s home after I got arrested the other week.’

James snatched the ringing phone and walked out into the hallway.

‘John,’ he whispered. ‘How’s it going?’

‘Really good,’ John said happily. ‘Patel made a call to
Tarasov
. They’re at each other’s throats and we’ve already got mentions of the casino and a virtual admission of corruption on tape. Mike says he’s going over to the car lot for a showdown after some meeting at the community centre. That gives the red mist a couple of hours to clear, which is the last thing we want happening. Chloe’s gonna crank up the pressure on
Tarasov
. I need you to head over to the community centre and wind up Patel.’