Chapter 7: Welcome On Board

Brian opened it with Ryding’s keys. It had two shelves in it. The bottom compartment was stacked completely full of bundles of cash. The middle compartment was half full and jumbled. A couple of bundles of cash and some papers were in the top compartment. Locking the safe and closing the cupboard he went into the kitchen.

‘Could you come into your husband’s office for a moment,’ he said to Mrs Ryding. ‘Can my daughter come too?’ she asked. ‘Of course,’ Brian told her, ‘She will find it easier to cope if she knows exactly what is happening.’ He smiled sympathetically at the daughter. They went through, Brian bringing up the rear with an extra chair from the kitchen.

He shouted up for Reg, then once they were all seated, he asked. ‘Are you aware of the safe in this room?’ ‘Yes,’ Mrs Ryding said, ‘But I’ve never seen it open.’ He looked at the daughter who said, ‘I didn’t even know we had one.’ ‘John didn’t like anyone coming into this room.’ Mrs Ryding said. ‘Even when his customers called, he left them in the porch whilst he came and got their receipt.’

‘What was his business?’ Brian asked. ‘He dealt in reconditioned office furniture.’ she told him. ‘Customers would call with their orders, and I presume payment. Then he would arrange for their purchases to be delivered.’ Brian opened the cupboard and then the safe.

He heard a gasp from both women as they saw the amount of cash in the safe. Brian nodded to Reg who started pulling it all out onto the desk. Then as he started counting it, Brian took out the papers off the top shelf. There were deeds to the house, plus another house in a road two miles across town.

Two bank statements, one with a balance of eighty-three thousand pounds and one with a balance of sixty-seven thousand pounds. The other house and the bank accounts were clearly a surprise to Mrs Ryding. Reg finished counting. At a nod from Brian, he announced, ‘One hundred and two thousand pounds.’

‘Do you accept that figure?’ Brian asked, ‘You are welcome to check it yourself.’ ‘No, I’m sure the young man can count better than I can,’ Mrs Ryding said. Brian gave her a receipt for the cash and the paperwork. He asked her to sign against the amount of cash. She did without any protest, her hand shaking as she signed.

‘Ok, let’s go through to the lounge.’ Brian said. ‘I’ll bag this cash and the papers then I’ll be with you.’ He followed them through and sat down opposite them. ‘I’m sorry to spring this on you,’ he said, ‘But I’m afraid that there is no mistake. Your husband has been buying massive quantities of drugs from an importer. Then selling it to smaller dealers. They are the people who have been calling to pay him.’

‘When did you see your husband last?’ Brian asked. ‘About an hour and a half ago?’ Mrs Ryding told him. ‘He got a phone call and dashed out shortly afterwards.’ ‘It looks like he got a tip off that we had raided his shop.’ Brian said. ‘He hasn’t got a shop.’ Mrs Ryding said startled. ‘I’m afraid he has,’ Brian told her,

‘He rents a shop premises in Halton. The shop is called Antiques and Other Bits.’ ‘I know it!’ Mrs Ryding exclaimed, ‘I was shopping further down the block the other day and looked in the window, I remember thinking what a load of old junk.’ ‘The furniture is just a cover.’ Brian told her.

‘I had word a few moments ago that your husband’s car had been found at the main railway station, unlocked and with the keys in it.’ he said. ‘I have to assume he has done a bunk. When we catch him, because of the quantity of drugs involved, he will get at least twenty years in prison.’

‘We will be seizing this house, your husband’s car, all the cash in the safe and the two bank accounts plus the other house, under the proceeds of crime legislation. That will require a court case which will be public. Now it’s clear to me,’ he told them. ‘That neither of you knew what he was doing. I don’t want to punish you for his misdeeds. So, I’m going to risk upsetting my superiors by making you an offer.’

‘If you voluntarily surrender everything we would otherwise seize, I’ll see you keep enough of the proceeds from the sale of this house to buy yourselves a small house elsewhere. You can also keep the money in the smaller bank account. If you do that, there will be no need for a court case, so the press will not report it.’

‘Think about it,’ he said. ‘Take whatever advice you need then my assistant Constable King will contact you within a week to find out what you decide. Then if you accept, he will help you sort everything out. If you decide to accept before he gets back to you, put this house up for sale and start looking for your new home.’

At that point, Reg popped his head in to say they had finished searching. He was introduced to Mrs Ryding then they all got up to leave. ‘I’m sorry to be the one to wreck your lives.’ he said, ‘We’ll see ourselves out.’ As he glanced back, the two of them were arm in arm crying. He deserves his fate just for the pain he’s caused them he thought to himself.

They all returned to the station. Ryding was on his way to be dealt with. There was Ryding’s suitcase of cash. Russel’s bag of cash which Brian didn’t know about yet. Plus, Lewis’s bag of cash, all for the Supers special fund. And loads more for the public purse.

They were all chatting over a coffee when Brian got a call from William to report about Gregory Booth. He had spent the night in the police station cells. Because the raid had been late, it wasn’t until the following day that he was able to see his solicitor and be charged, so he was kept overnight to appear before the magistrate the following morning.

Brian contacted the prosecuting officer to ask him not to oppose bail as he anticipated Booth would lead them to other suppliers. He was instead to ask for a tag to be fitted. The prosecutor informed the magistrate beforehand, so he understood the reason for the request.

Reg said to Brian, ‘I’ll just go down to the car park and remove the other tracers.’ Then he said quietly, ‘Can you pop down as well.’ He had just finished removing them and turning them off when Brian arrived in the car park. Reg took him over to his car. They got in then Reg said, ‘I had wondered previously about how one would fund something that probably wouldn’t fit in under the normal funding rules,’ he said with a grin.

‘I had already thought how nice it would be if the criminals themselves could finance it,’ he said, ‘But I couldn’t see how. Then your comments before I went to see Mrs Russell showed me a way. I have in the boot of my car, a bag of Russell’s money that no one else knows about, as a donation to that end. If I have got my wires crossed, it can just be added to the other money I brought back.’

‘You did well,’ Brian told him. ‘We’ll have our chat in the next few days.’ They got out, then Reg gave him the bag, which Brian put in his own boot. Then they returned to the others. Reg put the traces in the box when no one was paying attention.

Later the following morning Booth, and his colleague appeared before the local magistrate charged with the distribution of illegal drugs. They both pleaded not guilty on the grounds that their boss had forced them to go along with him.

To everyone’s surprise the police did not oppose bail providing they were both fitted with a tag and put under curfew. They were bailed, tagged, and told to return to court in six weeks’ time. The two left court happy that their story had been swallowed.

Brian was now planning to deal with Booth and the four original dealers who had crossed the border. They had been arrested and charged once the shop had been raided. They too had been bailed to appear in court six weeks hence. As it had been successful before, the tactic of the screens in front of the empty shops was going to be used. Alan and Glenda were thanked and sent back home with a few days off as a reward.

Celia and Peter were also sent home, but Tommy came to join them in Widnes. Brian had taken Reg aside earlier. ‘We’re going to remove the four dealers originally tagged as well as Booth,’ he told him. ‘As we haven’t had a chance to chat yet, I’m going to send you home with Alan and Glenda.’