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The buzz of conversation could be heard from the corridor. Even when Chalkie and Thurstan swept in, it didn’t die down.
“Settle down, guys! Come on!” Degsy tried to get their attention. In the end, he stuck his fingers in his mouth, the piercing whistle taking them all by surprise.
“Thank you! At last! All yours, Boss.” He sat on the edge of a desk.
Chalkie stifled a yawn as he stepped forward. “Sorry. As you probably know I spent last night and most of this morning at a scene of carnage in one of Southport’s less attractive parts.
“In respect of the enquiries and obs, we were going to carry out on our Albanian friends, to say our plans need readjusting would be a bit of an understatement. Just in case there’s someone who’s not aware, I’ll tell it like this” He paused, accepting a mug of coffee.
“Sometime around eight o’clock last night, our two main targets, Drit and Arbi Agani were assassinated, together with two others, as yet not fully identified but we believe they were known to the Matrix’s informant as Zef and Leke.” He turned to Thurstan. “I think assassinated would be the right term, wouldn’t it?”
Thurstan let a little smile escape and nodded agreement.
“Anyway, they died after what appears to be a well planned and co-ordinated ‘hit’. The brothers were caught in their office and Arbi shot three times to the chest and once to the head. In that order, we suspect. His brother, Drit, was shot twelve times to the centre of the chest.
“Seeing as nine-millimetre empty casings littered the floor, we believe that, in all probability, the weapon concerned was a semi or fully automatic. The two other guys were found in the yard and had been shot, so the pathologist reckons, with a high-velocity rifle, probably of the sniper variety. Having seen them, I wouldn’t disagree. Seeing as no one heard sod all, and the ability to fire into the compound is restricted by the lack of high rise accommodation in the area, we surmise that both weapons were fitted with silencers.” A hand was raised. Chalkie took the opportunity to take a mouthful of much-needed caffeine.
“Boss, you said the Matrix had an informant? Did they not have any form of obs on this place?”
Chalkie smiled. “You’d like to think, but sadly they only came upon this informant recently and were still evaluating his worth. At present, he seems to have gone to ground.
“Anyway, our Albanians first appeared in the area last year. The council, god bless ‘em, still insist they’re Syrian refugees.” Another mouthful of coffee.
“It wasn’t long, however, before they muscled in on local organised crime. The NCA took out big Russ Beveridge around the same time and this lot quickly filled the void. They played it cool to start with, only aggressive tactics ‘off screen’ but apparently the brothers have been using their own merchandise of late and getting a bit ‘overexcited’.
“Now, until the informant magically appeared, the Matrix believed they were Syrian but there wasn’t much interest being shown further up the ladder. To be honest, I think someone pulled the plug on an earlier enquiry ... for obvious reasons.” He rubbed his eyes several times, yawned again and sat on the edge of a desk. “In any event, what we need to do now is ... err ...” His hand ran down the front of his face. “What we need to do now ...” It had gone.
Thurstan stepped forward and whispered in his colleague’s ear. A quiet discussion, then Chalkie forced a tired smile and they shook hands, patting each other on the arms.
Thurstan called across the office, “Couple of volunteers to take your DCI home to his bed, please? It’ll need two drivers to get his car there and to get back.” A flurry of arms went up. “You’re one of mine, put your hand down,” he chided.
“I know, Boss. But I’ve got some shopping I could do,” Trigger grinned.
Another voice: “Glando’s got an ‘Aunty’ out that way he’s keen to visit, Boss.” It was followed by a low: “Fuck off, you knob,” from Sando amidst several sniggers.
Chalkie gone, the workload was divided up; who would remain with old job enquiries and who would be free for the new ones.
“Listen up! We’ve got a number of addresses to hit, courtesy of the council. Matrix Disruption said they’ll assist.” He turned to his DI. “Derek, you sort those out with Chalkie’s mob and whatever’s spare off ours. Wasn’t his new DI supposed to start today?”
Degsy glanced at his watch. “Bit too early yet, Boss. He was told to get here for ten. It’s only quarter to nine now.”
“Right, I hadn’t realised.” He raised his arms to the ‘crowd’.
“Be aware! Either we have a serious crime war going on or, as I suspect, our ‘vigilante’ team are back in town. Either way, it could get messy so whatever you’re doing, be careful out there. In the meantime, go get a drink or a bite to eat and be back here in thirty minutes.”
The room began to dissolve away into the corridor, some just back to their desks. Thurstan looked across at his Sergeants. “Alison, Sammy, not you two, I’m afraid. We’ve got work to do.”
Ten minutes later, Degsy wandered into Thurstan’s office. “I’m up to speed with the house searches and Arthur’s bringing us a brew. Oh, and some bacon and egg sarnies are coming up from the canteen.” He sat down on the spare chair.
“Thanks, Derek. Just to put you in the picture —” He was interrupted by Chalkie’s DS, Mike Patterson bringing in the sandwiches. Dealt out, they sat sipping their drinks and passing sauce packets to one another. “Right, the other things we need to discuss ...”
Later, sat on the edge of his desk, draining the dregs from his cup, Sammy asked, “So, what’s the new DI’s name, Spud?”
Alison rummaged through her handbag. “Chuck Morris. Don’t you know him?”
“I’ve heard of him. So, his first name’s Charles or Charlie?”
“No. It’s Brian. I’ve heard he’s a good bloke. Someone said, he was down here before as a Sergeant so he should know what he’s doing.”
Sammy was confused. “Why’d they call him Chuck then?”
She stuffed the bag beneath her desk. “See for yourself. He’s just come in.”
She pointed to the figure strolling towards the DCI’s office. Some might say he was a ‘ginger’, he much preferred ‘strawberry blond’. With a full head of lustrous hair complete with carefully trimmed matching beard, the similarity between the Hollywood martial arts star Chuck Norris and DI Brian Morris was evident.
Sammy nodded his head, knowingly. “Ah! I get it now.”