The Garden Party by Peter Turnbull

Scotsman?’
    Penny Yewdall grinned broadly. ‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you, boss? I mean, with a name like that you’d think he had come from north of the border, but in fact, according to this file, he was born in Dartford.’
    Vicary laughed. ‘Probably has Scottish parents, dare say I should have seen that coming, though.’
    â€˜The second man in the gang was one Clive Allison, also born in Dartford.’
    â€˜School chums?’ Vicary proposed.
    â€˜Possibly, boss, no indication of that here, but they were all very good at keeping their heads below the parapet. Nothing since they came out after five years in the slammer. And the third geezer, he’s the exception, he’s a bloke called Charlie Magg; he alone of the gang of four is presently a guest of Her Majesty.’
    â€˜He is?’ Vicary beamed.
    â€˜Brixton, sir, on remand, he’s awaiting trial for Grievous Bodily Harm and he has much previous for East End sort of villainy – burglary, car theft, a few GBHs – so he seems to be a bit of a hard man; then he teamed up with Arnie Rainbird’s mob and also managed to keep his head down after his release, but only until a couple of months ago when he was arrested and remanded.’ Yewdall put the file down on her desktop.
    â€˜And you think that they all might have been at the house party?’ Vicary asked.
    â€˜It seems likely, sir,’ Yewdall agreed, ‘they seem to be good mates. They’d be wanting to throw a party for Rainbird’s release, and what a party it seems to have been. Whatever happened shook up Desmond Holst quite badly, to the extent that five or so years after the party he was still shaken by it.’
    â€˜The bodies were in some mess,’ Vicary spoke slowly, ‘I haven’t got Mr Shaftoe’s report yet, too early to expect it and there are still tests to be done, but he said it was like the two men had been broken on the wheel.’
    â€˜What does that mean, sir?’ Yewdall asked.
    Vicary explained what was meant by being ‘broken on the wheel’ and watched the colour drain from Yewdall’s face as he did so. ‘All he could say was that the injuries and the scorching of the bones were peri-mortem, and that he could not identify a conclusive cause of death.’
    â€˜The old “Mile End Road Retribution Foxtrot”, you think, sir?’ Yewdall asked.
    â€˜Possibly . . . and we also don’t know whether the murder of the two men happened at the week long party given for Rainbird’s release or whether it was another unconnected incident that traumatized Desmond Holst, and terrified twenty plus streetwise women into silence.’ Vicary paused. ‘You know if we can find just one of those women, just one, then one will lead to two and two to three, and if one, just one, will talk . . . Do we know any of their names?’
    â€˜Not yet, sir.’ Yewdall’s voice had a strong note of determination. ‘Not yet.’
    â€˜Good for you, Penny, good for you. And the next step, apart from tracking down as many of those girls as you can, is . . .?’
    â€˜We – me and Tom here – are going to pay a call on Charlie Magg in Brixton.’
    â€˜For?’
    â€˜Just a chat, sir, just to take the measure of him. If he’s on remand he’ll be looking at going back to prison for a while . . . See what response we get.’
    â€˜Very well.’ Vicary nodded his agreement. ‘Tom? Anything to add?’
    â€˜We also thought we would contact all the prisons Arnie Rainbird has been in; see if he had any consistent visitors in those ten years.’
    â€˜Good.’ Vicary stood. ‘That’ll keep you two busy tomorrow, but of those tasks, identifying as many of the girls as you can, that is the most important; that and the identity of the woman who controlled them.’
    An observer would have seen a short, rotund man dressed