Cold Killers by Lee Weeks

know the way,’ Carter said. ‘We used to drive to Margate all the time when I was a kid. We’d all pile in the taxi and off we’d go. If we had
time Dad used to take detours on the way back. Swanley was one of them. They had a great fish and chip shop there.’
    ‘What about Ramsgate, do you know it well?’
    ‘I know it, yeah. Been there many times, too. It’s a bit more upmarket than Margate. It’s got some great restaurants. There’s an Italian there that I used to
rate.’
    ‘The one Della Butcher’s family own? Della Cipriani?’
    He shook his head as he cracked a smile.
    ‘Christ, Eb, we’ve worked together too long and you must have done some serious digging to find that out.’
    ‘I suppose I did. I also read the report from the officer on duty where the wake was held. Della Butcher left in your car last night. Who was , or is, she to you?
    ‘I tried to find out about a family history for her but it says her parents live just outside Milan and then the trail ends. But she’s mentioned in Operation Argos. They gave her
maiden name as Vincetti, not Cipriani, and said that her last known address was in Ramsgate. Then I found out there are other family members there. What was she in Operation Argos? Was she a
suspect then? Most of the information about her is blacked out.’
    ‘I know, it’s complicated. She chose to change her name. Probably because she was marrying a Butcher. Maybe she didn’t want the Butchers to ever be able to interfere with her
real family.’
    ‘Again, how do you know all this? Who is she to you?’
    ‘We had a relationship once, many years ago.’
    ‘When?’
    ‘Let me think . . . I was in my mid-twenties. We met through our families, the Italian connection. My mum knew her dad’s family, that kind of thing.’
    ‘What happened? Why are you being so cagey about all this with me? It’s not like you.’
    ‘It’s difficult for me to talk easily about it. The usual happened, we didn’t make it. No one’s fault. The pressure of work, the relationship folded.’
    ‘Then she went on to marry Eddie Butcher?’
    ‘Exactly.’ He glanced across at Willis and rolled his eyes. ‘You couldn’t write it, could you?’
    ‘No, because it doesn’t ring true.’
    ‘It did to me, at the time. I was heartbroken.’
    ‘How did they meet?’
    ‘I don’t know. I’m not sure. It’s tricky, Eb.’
    ‘So, what did Della have to say last night?’
    ‘Nothing that helps. I gave her a lift back to her hotel near Gatwick. She was quiet. She didn’t understand why Eddie had been targeted and she didn’t think he had been into
anything other than legitimately building villas. She’s as much in the dark as we are.’
    ‘And you believed her?’
    ‘Yes, I think so.’
    ‘So what now?’ asked Willis as she looked across at Carter.
    ‘We treat it like we would any other inquiry.’
    Willis kept her eyes on Carter’s profile. A lot of things were running through her mind. It was the first time in five years she didn’t feel she had Carter’s trust. Something
new had just happened between them. Carter hadn’t wanted her involved in a vital part of an inquiry. He had personal reasons. Willis could understand that but they were partners – and,
if Carter didn’t trust her enough to confide in her, then they were not partners.
    ‘Were you going to tell me?’ she asked.
    ‘Not if I didn’t have to.’
    She shook her head, confused.
    ‘Eb, this is tricky ground. I feel the need to tread carefully. I don’t want you dragged into quicksand with me.’
    ‘Is that what you see this as, potential quicksand?’
    ‘A part of me does. I can’t lie. We all have things in our past, but they don’t all end up in a murder inquiry.’
    ‘Quicksand or not, I am in this with you.’
    He nodded but she could see she hadn’t convinced him.
    ‘If nothing else, you’re a heavy bastard and you’ll sink faster than me and I can stand on you to get out.’
    They took the road