Devil's Demise by Lee Cockburn Page B

behave when out?” Nicky chuckled pointing to her bruised face, changing his approach to just being rude.
    Taylor replied with a vicious stare, threatening him with her eyes not to go down that route.
    Nicky sat down on his giant arm chair, covered with a large faux fur. He looked at the detectives and told them to take a seat, nodding his head towards the corner suite, large, black and leather, with reclining seats and numerous pillows, a 50 inch wide screen television on the wall and various other tasteless trinkets dotted around the living room.
    “Look, I’ve told you everything I know, lady. She’s gone and she owes me a lot of cash, the little whore,” Nicky growled, obviously still pissed off at Layla’s premature departure. Taylor took into account that he actually seemed genuine. His anger at Layla for leaving without a word really seemed to grate on him, and it didn’t appear to Taylor that he had anything to do with her disappearance.
    “Look, I know she was out on Halloween night, and one of the girls saw her at the end of the night and she said to her she was gonna turn a few more tricks cause the punters were out in force and paying good money that night. She saw her turn down towards the links, and she didn’t see her come back again after that.”
    “What’s the girl’s name that saw her?” asked Marcus.
    “Crystal. That’s what she’s known as. I don’t know much about her. I think she’s from the west coast,” Nicky replied.
    “Layla hadn’t said anything to anyone that she was planning to leave, which suggests she may not have wanted to go. Everyone tells someone their plans.”
    “She’s not taken any of her stuff, nothing. No make-up, underwear,cash - absolutely nowt!”
    Taylor asked, “What about her passport? There’s dubiety as to whether you have it or she does, and that really tells a story of its own.”
    Nicky’s expression changed, and it was noted by both of the detectives. They had an eye for deceit; body language was an invaluable tool in gleaning evidence from people, as was knowing when to push things that little bit further. Taylor decided to lead with how the issue would be dealt with. “If you have the passport, that means that there is most definitely something more sinister to investigate here, and we were hoping she had just gone back to Poland. But if you have it, you better start telling the truth. We still have a missing girl on our hands and you would be our prime suspect if she doesn’t turn up! Help us out here Nicky. Don’t start obstructing us now or we will come down on you with everything we have, starting with a full forensic search of your flat and your detention for further questioning for as many hours as we can request. You’ll not be able to operate any longer. You won’t even be able to take a fucking piss without us knowing about it.”
    “Okay, okay, I held her passport from her as security to get my share of her cash for protection and I still have it. I keep it at my mum’s house and it’s still there. I checked when she went missing but I’ll give it to you.”
    Taylor looked at him, disgust in her face as he had just admitted preventing the girl leaving the country and forcing her to turn tricks for him to give him money. Taylor informed him that he would be getting charged for his admissions but confirmed that it was better than being in the frame for murder.
    “Where does Crystal live?”
    “She stays in the Magdalane area. I don’t know the address, I think it’s on the Drive. Just ask around, someone will know her. She’s on the junk and she’ll be out to get it on a regular basis.”
    “Thanks for your help”, said Marcus. “Why didn’t you just say this in the bloody first place?”
    “You’re under arrest,” chipped in Taylor. “You are not obliged to say anything in answer to your arrest, but anything you do say will be noted and may be used as evidence. Do you understand the caution?”
    “Come on lady, is