Suffer the Torment by ML Rose

Author:ML Rose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ML Rose
Published: 2023-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 34

Roy knocked on Nugent’s door, and the D. Sup.’s gruff voice bade him enter. There was a stench of cigarette smoke in the room as usual. Roy waved his hand around and sniffed. Funny how he used to smoke once, and now the mere whiff of it was distasteful.

Nugent sat back in his chair and contemplated him with a gleam in his eyes. Roy didn’t like it. Nugent wasn’t relaxed, but there was a slight supercilious sneer in his lips that was getting pronounced by the second.

“Heard you got the boy who ran away from the victim’s school today. Up in Parkwood Springs.”

“Yes,” Roy said shortly. “About to interview, then probably charge him. Anything I can help with?”

“You need to let him go.” The smug look on Nugent’s face was tempered with his habitual snarl.

Roy frowned. “Why? He’s our prime suspect. I know he’s less than eighteen—"

The smugness vanished from Nugent’s face, and his barrel chest heaved. He tapped the desk with a podgy, hairy finger. “Sit down.”

Roy did, with a sinking feeling inside him.

“You’ve just messed up a six-month-long surveillance operation. I got a call from the National Crime Agency. They had Paul Walker under surveillance, and also Jason Smart. Jason’s a clean skin, no police record. He was supplying the county lines. Paul was the middleman.”

The sinking sensation was turning into a bottomless pit. Roy grit his teeth. “Who’s at the top? An organised crime network?”

“The OCN is supposed to be the Wrexham Hill lot, based in Hartlepool, they supply the whole of the Northeast, and now moving into Yorkshire. Heard of them?”

Roy shook his head. OCN’s and narcotics wasn’t his branch, but he knew of their existence. The networks often used teenagers to go across so called county lines – new areas where they could find more customers.

Nugent was trying hard to control his glee. “The NCA want to speak to you. I gave them your number. Hope that’s okay.”

Roy ignored him. “What about the girl who died? We’re moving fast. By tomorrow we’ll have more leads. If Jason or Paul are suspects, we have a right to bring them in.”

His phone rang, and he answered in front of Nugent. “DCI Roy.”

“This is Inspector Rob Jackson from the NCA. I need to speak to you regarding the arrest of Jason Smart.”

Roy mouthed NCA to Nugent, who raised a hand in understanding. Roy left the room and walked past the desks where his team looked up at him. He caught Sarah’s frown and raised a finger to denote he needed some time. He went to his office and shut the door behind him.

“Yes, Inspector Jackson, I heard about the surveillance operation.” Roy wasn’t about to apologise. As far as he was concerned, he’d done nothing wrong.

“Okay. I understand you have Jason Smart as a suspect for the murder of a girl in his school. Correct?”

“Yes. Jason ran when we tried to question him, and then hid in a forest till we grabbed him. He’s now in custody. The plan is to question him now.

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