Chapter 34

‘What the hell happened to you?’

Frank Grinham’s dead watery eyes displayed an uncharacteristic glimmer of concern when Bailey sat down at his table in the visit hall. Her black eye and bruises were still visible enough to elicit concern.

‘It was an initiation,’ she said. ‘I submitted to it voluntarily. It looks worse than it is.’

‘If you say so. I was getting a bit worried I hadn’t heard from you.’ He paused and scrutinised her injuries. ‘Does that mean you’re in with them?’

She nodded, glancing around the busy visit hall, grateful that the noise and clamour, mostly from visiting children, was able to mask the sound of their conversation. They were sitting at the same corner table that they’d occupied on Frank’s previous visit. This time, Bailey took careful note to keep an eye out for Sharon, but it didn’t look like there was any sign of her in the visit hall today, which was a relief.

‘And?’ he said.

She turned her attention back to Frank.

‘It seems that the ABC operate in other prisons besides this one,’ she said. ‘They recognise each other by means of the distinctive tattoos on the lower back.’

‘I see. So they’re fairly well-organised. This is good stuff, Bailey. Now we’re starting to get a picture of how this drugs ring works.’

‘The head honcho here is a psycho called Toni Quinn. She’s in for murder and I think she’s more than capable of scalping somebody. Her lieutenant is called Keisha Stone. There’s another member called Rong Xi and a big one they call Muscles, who they use as an enforcer; her real name is Jane Foot. And then there’s their tattooist; her name is Poppy O’Shea.’

‘How are they getting the drugs into the prison?’

‘I haven’t found out yet. I’ve only just joined, remember? Plus, I’ve had a three-day unscheduled stay in the hospital. Anyhow, they’re not going to start dishing out all their secrets just yet.’

‘You need to locate the source. Remember what Alice said about him or her being well concealed.’

At that moment, a prison officer walked slowly by their table, patrolling the circuit of the visit hall.

‘Auntie Jean’s knitting you a sweater,’ said Frank in a normal volume of voice.

‘Oh, that’s nice,’ said Bailey. ‘It does get a bit draughty in here sometimes.’

The prison officer passed out of earshot. The brotherly smile dropped off Frank’s face, leaving him cold and exacting once more. He leaned across the table towards her.

‘Just don’t forget the focus of this operation. The drugs squad are the ones funding it, and their priorities are your priorities.’

‘And what about Alice’s murderer?’

‘Follow the drugs and you’ll find out who killed her.’

‘Drugs or no drugs, I’ll find out who killed her.’

Chapter 35

The Governor was thinking about his yacht. Well, technically it wasn’t his yacht just yet. In about six months he’d have enough money to buy it. Sailing was his passion and he’d been wanting to own a yacht for years and now the dream was soon to become a reality. He was a long-time subscriber to Yachting World magazine and had done plenty of research to identify the exact model he planned to purchase – a forty-foot Beneteau Oceanis. Once he got it, he’d sail it down to the Mediterranean and take a nice leisurely cruise around the Greek islands—