‘I tell you he’s a tough one, and I got the impression he’s frightened of Big Daddy like Eddie Phillips was. I gave him a slap and even locked him in the boot of the car for nearly an hour. He was sweating like a pig but he still didn’t crack.’
‘Get him out of the cell and bring him up to my office so I can interview him,’ Bradfield said, pushing his dessert bowl to one side and standing up.
‘He’s not in the cell. I released him on the North Circular.’
‘You effing did that without even consulting me!’
‘I tried to get hold of you but you weren’t available. Come on, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. I’d already stopped and called the central surveillance unit at the Yard while he was in the boot. They were ready and waiting to tail Dwayne when I kicked him out the car, so no doubt he should lead us to Big Daddy.’
‘They’d better bloody well not lose him.’
‘Even if they do we still know where he lives with his girlfriend, and he’s unlikely to do a runner,’ Gibbs said, getting out his notebook and flicking it open to the last page. ‘I searched through Dwayne’s gear and there was a bit of notepaper with “TOD” in capital letters and a Primrose Hill dialling code on it, and sort of dots and ticks beside it. Might be a good lead so I didn’t take the actual note as I didn’t want to give away I’d seen it. But you know dealers do use their own forms of made-up code.’
‘Primrose Hill,’ Bradfield said thoughtfully, then clicked his fingers and gestured to Gibbs to follow him.
As they entered the incident room Bradfield pointed his finger at Jane.
‘Tennison, that list you were working on – let me see it.’
Jane handed it over and nervously asked if there was something she’d missed.
‘Did you write down everything exactly as it was on the notes in Julie Ann’s bag?’
‘Yes, I’m pretty sure I did.’
He looked through the list closely and then stabbed his finger at it. ‘There it is, that’s the bloody link.’
Jane and Gibbs looked at each other wondering exactly what he was referring to.
‘I knew there was something she was hiding.’ He looked at Gibbs. ‘Spence, get round to the hospital and drag that fat woman in here now.’
‘Who are you talking about?’ Gibbs asked.
‘The big black woman that works at the drug unit – the appendix-obsessed one who never stopped talkin’.’
Jane pulled an index card from the carousel. ‘Do you mean Anjali O’Duncie, sir?’
‘Yeah, that’s her – did she ever mention any relatives to you, Tennison?’
‘Not as I recall.’
‘Where does she live?’
‘Gave an address in Stoke Newington; it’s on her index card,’ Jane said.
Gibbs looked somewhat baffled. ‘Is there something I’m missing here?’
Bradfield held up Jane’s notes. ‘Are you positive you’ve recorded correctly what was on the pieces of paper in Julie Ann’s bag?’
‘Yes, sir.’
Bradfield pointed to an entry and showed it to Gibbs whose eyes lit up when he saw ‘TO’D’.
‘That’s the same three capital letters Dwayne had on a bit of paper, but without the apostrophe after the “O”.’
‘I’m sure there was a slight gap between the “T” and the “OD” on Julie Ann’s bit of paper,’ Jane added.
Bradfield held his hand up for them to be quiet as he paused briefly to think before continuing.
‘OK, this might be a long shot or a blinder, but I’ll bet my wages the “T” is an initial for a Christian name, “O” apostrophe “D” is a surname and our Anjali woman may be related.’ He picked up the phone, rang the comms room and asked for a name check to be run on criminal records against black males with the surname O’Duncie aged between twenty-five and forty. He also said he was specifically interested in O’Duncies with Christian names that started with a ‘T’ and he wanted any results printed off and brought up to him immediately. He then told Jane to get on to the council offices that covered Primrose Hill to see if they had any tenants or residents under the name O’Duncie.
He put the phone down. ‘If Josh is a false name for Big Daddy used by Dwayne, then this “TOD” might be who we should actually be looking for, or at least connected to the drugs or murders in some way. Is there a home phone number on Anjali’s card, Tennison?’
‘No, she said she didn’t have one.’
Gibbs chipped in, ‘If she thought Julie Ann was speaking to Big Daddy on the hospital phone then she may have deliberately misled us by saying it was someone called Paddy.’
Bradfield nodded. ‘Exactly. We now know Julie Ann called her father but this O’Duncie woman’s in a perfect position to refer the drug addicts who attend the Homerton unit to a dealer so they can buy more drugs.’
Bradfield was feeling certain that at last they might have a positive breakthrough. Even more so when an hour later they had information that a Terrence O’Duncie, aged thirty-two, had previous convictions for drugs offences dating back five years. His criminal record showed he was black, over six foot tall and had an address in Stoke Newington, the same address Anjali O’Duncie had given, and it was suspected he was her younger brother.
