SEAT 97: wrong place, wrong time: the mystery of a very public murder by Tony Bassett

Author:Tony Bassett [Bassett, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: THE BOOK FOLKS bestselling crime, thriller and mystery books
Published: 2023-04-15T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Just before eight o’clock on that cloudy Wednesday morning, Kevin Campbell’s blue articulated lorry thundered into Nazarin Street. The cobbled lane was deserted.

Campbell stopped his vehicle opposite the grey, shuttered goods entrance of Diamond Enterprises. Leaving the engine running, he darted across the street. Almost at once, alerted by the sound of the engine’s roar, Mickey Diamond emerged from a side door.

The boss’s son beamed at him. ‘All right, mate? You’ve made good time. I’ll just open up.’

Mickey ducked back inside and, moments later, the giant shutters clattered open. His heart was beating as he switched on the overhead lighting.

Campbell, a brawny, dark-haired, six-foot-tall Scotsman with tattooed arms, was met by a team of men as he drove the lorry inside – among them Clifford Martin and Freddie Valmar. Martin clambered onto a forklift truck. After the blue curtain had been hauled aside, he began unloading the boxes of toys. As he toiled, the sun emerged from behind the clouds and bathed the lorry bay in light.

Mickey Diamond brushed his dark-brown hair out of his eyes – small, alert eyes that darted around, suggesting a duplicitous nature. He was unconcerned about the toys. His priority was to lay his hands on the sixty kilos of cocaine that, according to his father, lay concealed in the trailer’s floor. On the street, the value of the consignment was estimated at five million pounds.

Thus he was on edge as, assisted by Campbell, he climbed on board the forty-five-foot-long trailer and watched as the driver raised the wooden board covering the secret hatch.

Campbell grinned as he drew out the first plastic bag. Then his smile faded.

Mickey sensed a problem. ‘What’s the matter, Kevin?’

As Campbell gazed through the transparent plastic covering, the parcel in his hand should have been a grubby white in colour. Instead, it was red. Brick red.

‘We’ve been rumbled, Mickey. Those Border Force bastards have switched the packets.’

He pulled two more out. Wrapped tightly in plastic, his secret stash amounted to an assortment of house-bricks.

Mickey’s face turned as red as the bricks. ‘You bloody clown. My dad’s going to go mental. He said you’d checked the load.’

‘I did. But I wasn’t careful enough. I know they examined the kayaks so I thought they wouldn’t examine the lorry floor. I thought I’d put them off the scent. When I checked in here, everything seemed untouched. But they must have removed the gear and put these bricks in their place.’

Mickey jumped to the ground and wandered round in a circle with his head in his hands.

Valmar stopped unloading boxes of toys. He’d overheard the conversation. He strode to the rear of the trailer where Mickey was standing, gazing up at the driver.

‘It’s no good holding a bloody inquest,’ Valmar stormed. ‘The cops will be here faster than a plague of rats. Get all the bricks out and hide them. Then, when they check the hatch, they’ll find nothing and that might – just might – screw up part of their evidence. Then we’d better get the hell out of here.

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