Vishal nodded but kept his eyes fixed on the ground.
Karen moved on to the next man. ‘And what’s your name?’
He was muscular, light-skinned and fair-haired. Much taller than Vishal, he looked healthier and not as dirty. Karen wondered if he’d been a recent addition to the Perry staff. He looked strong enough to overpower Rod Perry easily, but things were never as simple as that. In these kinds of cases, the perpetrators often exerted a psychological control over their victims, perhaps by threatening loved ones or just treating them in such a way that they felt worthless and unable to fight back.
The big man stared at her before nervously looking around at the other two men.
‘What’s your name?’ Karen asked again.
His gaze met hers and then shifted away. He glanced to the side, at Rod Perry, and shook his head.
Karen turned to Vishal. ‘Do you know his name?’
Vishal looked horrified to be put on the spot. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the big man cut in. ‘Aleksy. Aleksy Iskow.’
‘Okay, Aleksy, we’ll get you checked out by the doctor, too. Have you been working here?’ Karen asked.
He regarded her stonily. A muscle twitched at his jaw, but he made no indication he’d understood her question.
Karen decided to come back to him and turned her attention to the third man. He had light brown hair, blotchy pale skin and a wild look in his eyes. His hair was fine and thin but stuck up at odd angles as though he’d been pulling at it.
‘And what’s your name?’ Karen asked him.
His breathing was rapid, and he was trembling.
‘It’s okay, I only want to know your name.’
‘It’s Joe,’ he said, and Karen was surprised to hear his Lincolnshire accent.
‘You’re a local boy, Joe?’ Karen asked.
He swatted a hand around his head as though a fly or bee was buzzing near him, but Karen couldn’t see one. ‘Yeah, I’m a Lincolnite.’
He grinned at her, displaying yellow, decaying teeth. He wasn’t old – Karen thought he was probably under thirty – but his dental hygiene had definitely been neglected for years.
‘Where are you from, Vishal?’ Karen went back to the small man, as although he seemed nervous, he was the least jumpy of the three.
‘Originally, I’m from Nepal.’ He spoke excellent English with only a faint trace of an accent.
‘How long have you been in England?’
‘Ten years,’ he said.
She tried Aleksy again. ‘Aleksy, where are you from? Europe?’
Aleksy stared at her stubbornly and wouldn’t reply. Karen didn’t know if he was non-responsive because he was scared, or if he didn’t understand English well enough to answer her.
‘Aleksy? Is that a Polish name? Russian?’
Still no answer.
Eventually, Joe piped up. ‘Aleksy’s from Poland.’ He looked confused, a frown crumpled his forehead. ‘But I don’t understand—’
Joe fell silent and shook his head. Clutching his arms around his chest, he began to shuffle from foot to foot, clearly distressed.
‘It’s all right, Joe, we’re going to take you somewhere safe and we’ll have a chat. Everything will be explained to you.’
All the men would need medical attention, but Karen suspected Joe was suffering from mental health problems and would need specialist help. It made sense. Often, exploited workers were people who came from vulnerable backgrounds. Immigrants, individuals with psychological issues and addicts were commonly preyed upon.
The men were a strange mix. A Lincolnite, a Polish man, and a man from South Asia. She wondered what circumstances had brought them all here.
DI Morgan approached with an update. ‘I’m going to bring the Perrys in. I think we have enough on them. We’ll need a warrant to search the premises, and I’ve arranged for the men to be taken to Nettleham HQ to get checked out before questioning.’
‘Right. I think we might need a translator, too. Aleksy is Polish. He’s not responding to my questions, so I think arranging a translator now will help speed things along.’
Morgan nodded. ‘I’ll get the ball rolling.’
Karen attempted to keep the men calm as she kept one eye on Morgan’s progress, ready to step up if he needed any help. But he looked like he had the arrests under control.
The Perrys were sitting in the back of Morgan’s car when backup arrived. The three men they’d found in the garage relaxed a little once Rod and Patricia were out of sight.
The team would have a lot of questions for them, but before they could make a start on the investigation, all three would have to be given appropriate medical attention and care. They’d been living in squalid conditions. Physically, Joe and Vishal did not look well, and Karen suspected that their mental health could be even worse.
Once the three men had been taken for processing back at Nettleham, and the Perrys were in the back of a marked police car, Morgan asked, ‘Who is this solicitor – Norris? Do you know him?’
‘Not really. I think he’s been the Perrys’ solicitor for some time, at least going back five years. He objected to our warrant the last time the pub was searched, but the objection was overruled.’
Morgan looked thoughtful. ‘Perhaps we could look into his client list.’
They walked back to his car in silence. A great deal of work lay ahead of them on this case.
‘Should we call in Rick and Sophie?’ Karen asked.
Morgan thought for a moment and then shook his head. ‘Not yet, it’s Sunday evening. It’s better if they’re in bright and early tomorrow. We won’t be able to get much out of those three men tonight. Let’s focus for the next few hours on trying to get an ID for our murder victim.’
Karen wasn’t sure they’d be able to get an ID within a few hours. ‘Do you think all this has anything to do with the murder?’
Morgan frowned as he unlocked the car. ‘I’m not sure, but I’m glad we paid the Perrys a visit today.’ He opened the driver’s-side door and got in.
As he started the engine, he said, ‘It’s awful, isn’t it? To see human beings treated like that.’
Karen agreed. She found the whole situation very disturbing. The Perrys were a bad lot, but even she hadn’t suspected them of that level of evil.
She should have been focused on the next steps in the investigation, but her mind kept returning to Patricia Perry’s words: You should have learned your lesson last time.
CHAPTER SIX
When they got back to Nettleham police station, Karen organised medical care and temporary accommodation for the three men they’d found in the Perrys’ garage. She ran the background checks while Morgan filed a warrant.
By the time the Perrys’ solicitor, Andrew Norris, arrived, they’d managed to get through a lot of the paperwork.
Norris was a slippery character, and as Karen had expected, the interview didn’t go well. They interviewed Patricia first. She sat beside her solicitor, looking incredibly smug.
Norris had red, watery eyes. ‘Sorry. Hayfever.’ He sniffed. ‘My client is happy to help with your enquiry, but I’d like to make it clear she has done nothing illegal.’