Dead Tomorrow

Glenn replied.
    ‘I’m just concerned about resourcing ,’ Grace said, cutting in. ‘Beyond the Scoob-Eee being used as the recovery boat for two of the bodies, do we have anything to link its disappearance to our investigation, to justify Glenn’s time in going out again?’
    Glumly, like a man aiding his own executioner, Glenn said, ‘Yes. I have a result back from the labs on the DNA from the two cigarette butts I recovered at Shoreham Harbour. Remember, I reported that I saw someone who appeared to be watching the Scoob-Eee with interest last Friday morning?’
    Grace nodded.
    ‘Well, the national database people at Birmingham say it’s a perfect match to someone they have recently put on the database at the request of Europol. He goes under two different names. Here he calls himself Joe Baker, but his real name is Vlad Cosmescu–he’s Romanian.’
    Grace thought for a moment. Joe Baker. The man who owned the black Mercedes he had clocked on his early-morning run. A coincidence, or more?
    ‘That’s interesting,’ Bella Moy said. ‘His name just popped up last night–pimping two girls, recent arrivals from Romania.’
    ‘Clearly the Man of the Moment,’ Grace said, sliding some papers out of a brown envelope. ‘The wizards in our fingerprint department managed to pull a clear set of dabs off an outboard that had been submerged in the sea using some equipment they’re trialling–and they got a match from Europol this afternoon. Guess who?’
    ‘Our New Best Friend, Vladthe impaler?’ ventured DS Batchelor.
    ‘Right on the money!’ Grace said.
    ‘Are we going to bring him in?’ Norman Potting asked. ‘They’re all villains, these Romanians, aren’t they?’
    ‘That’s very racist,’ Bella said acidly.
    ‘No, it’s just a home truth.’
    ‘What grounds do you want to arrest him on, Norman?’ Grace said. ‘Smoking a cigarette? Dropping an outboard motor in the sea? Or for being a Romanian?’
    Potting lowered his eyes and made an indecipherable grumbling sound.
    ‘Did the Scoob-Eee have an outboard, Glenn?’ E-J asked.
    ‘I didn’t see one, no.’
    ‘Do we know where this man, Baker/Cosmescu, lives?’
    Bella replied, ‘He’s been a part of the brothel scene for some years, Roy. We should be able to track him down fairly easily.’
    ‘Do you want someone to interview him?’ DI Mantle asked.
    ‘No, I think we’ll just log him as a Person of Interest. I don’t think we should talk to him at this stage. If he’s up to anything it will just alert him. We might think about putting surveillance on him.’ He looked down at his notes. ‘OK, so how are we are we doing on the actions ?’
    ‘We’ve had two DCs out going round all suppliers of PVC sheeting in the area. Nothing so far,’ said David Browne.
    ‘Nick and I covered twelvebrothels last night,’ Bella Moy said, reaching for a Malteser.
    ‘You must be shagged out, Nick!’ Norman Potting said.
    Nicholl blushed and gave a half-hearted smile. Grace suppressed a grin. Potting had been quieter than normal in recent days, which he imagined was due to the man’s marriage problems. It was a relief. Potting was a good detective, but on a couple of recent cases when they had worked together Grace had come perilously close to having to fire the DS for his offensive remarks.
    Turning to Bella, he asked, ‘And? Anything?’
    Glancing at Nick Nicholl for confirmation, she replied, ‘Nothing, beyond Cosmescu. We didn’t find any girls who seemed in distress.’
    ‘Good to know that our brothels are such happy places,’ Grace commented sarcastically.
    ‘We’ll carry on today,’ she said.
    Glancing at his notes again, Grace turned to Potting. ‘Anything from your man in Romania?’
    ‘I had an email from Ian Tilling an hour ago. He’s following up a lead tonight. I may have some information by the morning.’
    Grace made a note.
    ‘Good. Thank you. How about people who were on a transplant list but dropped off?’
    ‘I’ve been working on that all day, Roy,’ Potting said. ‘I suspect we’re on a hiding to nothing there. First thing we’ve got against us is the Hippocratic Oath–good old patient confidentiality. Second thing is the way the system works. These transplant lists aren’t cut and dried. I spoke to a helpful liver consultant at the Royal South London, one of the main liver transplant hospitals. He told me they have a weekly meeting, every Wednesday at midday, when they review the list. Because