Necessary as Blood

restaurant to Columbia Road, took the kid home, and when his wife hadn‘t turned up by dark, he called the police. When would he have disposed of a body? And there was no evidence in the house. Same as the office, it was clean as a whistle. So, option two.‘
    He shook another cigarette from the pack and lit it.
    ‘Sandra Gilles decided she was tired of being a wife and mum and simply disappeared from her life, either on her own or with someone else. It happens. Maybe she hitched a ride and is working as a fry-up cook at a Little Chef halfway to Scotland. I‘d like to think so.‘
    ‘But you don‘t,‘ Kincaid said, knowing the answer. ‘And option three?‘
    Weller‘s eyes hardened. ‘Somebody snatched her off the street in broad daylight. Somebody like that psycho who got off today. Maybe he pulled over in a car, asked for directions and dragged her in. Maybe everyone just happened to have their lace curtains closed at that very moment. And if that‘s what happened, God help her. I hope it was quick.‘ He finished his drink in one long draught and Cullen stood up obligingly.
    ‘Guv?‘ Cullen nodded at Kincaid‘s glass, but Kincaid shook his head.
    When Cullen had gone inside, Kincaid said. ‘What about her brothers? Apparently Naz thought their alibi was dodgy.‘
    ‘They were drinking in a pub near Bethnal Green Tube station. Not a nice place, to put it politely. Clientele mostly drunks and punters, and yes, some of them were mates of Kev and Terry. But the landlord didn‘t care for the brothers, and he vouched for them regardless. And even if their alibi hadn‘t checked out, what would they have done with her? Kev‘s car, a clapped-out Ford, was up on blocks on the council estate, and they live with their mum, so it‘s not likely they took her home.‘
    Cullen came back with a new pint for Weller and a glass of what looked suspiciously like tonic water for himself. ‘A scrum in there,‘ he said, edging his way past two standing drinkers to slip back into his chair.
    The after-work crowd had now spilled out of the pub‘s open doors. Most of the men and women wore suits, but Kincaid spied a patron or two in jeans and T-shirts, and one girl in full Goth regalia, black fingernails included.
    ‘The City is moving in.‘ Weller eyed the suits with obvious distaste. ‘I suppose that‘s a good thing — lowers the crime rate anyway, less work for us. But most of them are bloody wankers. They get jobs at some City bank, buy some overpriced, tarted-up flat that‘s barely been cleared of rats and think they belong here.‘
    ‘So who does belong here?‘ Kincaid asked, thinking about their earlier conversation with Alia Hakim. ‘The Bangladeshis? The Somalis? The artists?‘
    ‘There is that,‘ Weller agreed. ‘Not very many true cockneys left — what were cockneys, but poor immigrants who shoved out the immigrants who came before them?‘
    ‘Must have been a bit glamorous in its day, though, the old East End,‘ said Cullen. ‘The Kray twins—‘
    ‘Vicious bastards. I worked with blokes who‘d seen the Krays‘ handiwork up close — they had stories would make your hair stand on end. No,‘ Weller glanced round at the crowd, ‘good riddance to the Krays and their ilk, but just because the villains are less visible doesn‘t mean they aren‘t there.‘
    ‘What about this Ahmed Azad that Naz Malik and his partner were defending?‘ Kincaid asked.
    ‘Ah, he‘s a villain, all right, although certainly more civilized than the old-style gangsters. A first-generation immigrant as a teenager, he worked his way up in a relative‘s restaurant while taking night classes in English and accountancy. Now, he owns the restaurant and runs it well. He‘s a wily old sod, with a foot in both communities.‘
    ‘Sounds like you know him well.‘
    ‘He‘s been the complainant more often than not, when the white gangs have wreaked havoc in Brick Lane. And while it‘s rumoured he has a finger in a number of questionable operations, I haven‘t heard him linked to murder.‘
    ‘Louise Phillips told us that the prosecution‘s star witness in a trafficking charge against him has vanished. If Azad was responsible, and Naz Malik found out—‘
    Weller shrugged. ‘If Naz thought Azad had removed a witness, he might have declined the case, but I can‘t imagine Azad taking out his own lawyer. Might damage his prospects for future representation just a bit.‘
    ‘What if Naz thought Azad was involved