Snatched From Home: What Would You Do To Save Your Children? (DI Harry Evans Book 1) by Graham Smith
Authors: Graham Smith
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Cumbrian accents of the other team members.
‘Why didn’t she tell me that from the start? I could have been using profane language or being politically incorrect about one of my team. Tell the stupid splitarse never to fuck me over like that again.’
‘Enough with the bullshit, Quasi! Get to the bloody point!’ DCI Grantham’s roar almost deafened Campbell and Evans.
‘Hello, sir. Could I please inquire of DC Bhaki as to which garages have been conned and if there is any pattern?’ Evans’s voice was sweetness and light as he winked at Campbell.
Campbell could picture Grantham’s apoplexy and had to bite his lip when the slamming of a door came through the speaker.
Bhaki filled the silence echoing down the line. ‘Sir, there’s been seven garages complaining of the con over the last six days.’
‘We’re halfway between Ambleside and Keswick, are there any near us?’
‘Duncan’s in Silloth and the Gateway Garage in Cockermouth are the nearest. Do you want directions?’
‘No, I know where they are. How much did they each have missing?’
‘Duncan’s were down by two thousand exactly; so was the Gateway Garage. Both sold a car for five grand.’
‘Did any of them have CCTV?’ Campbell joined the conversation.
‘No, they didn’t, but Duncan’s sold their car to a woman and the Gateway Garage sold theirs to a man.’
‘What about the other garages, did they all have a two grand deficit on a five grand motor?’
‘Yes, and they all said the customers walked into the showroom and done the deal there and then. In each case, they drove the car away. Sometimes they bartered down the price to five grand and sometimes they paid the asking price of four nine nine five. All of the garages sold a car to a person who gave their address as fifty-one News Street, Wigton. DS Chisholm looked the address up on Google StreetView and it’s the police station.’
‘Get onto them all and get descriptions of the people who ripped them off and compare them. Lauren, what have you found out about the farm robberies?’
‘I’m still working on it and compiling lists for cross-referencing, but from what I can gather about a dozen places have been affected in the last week alone.’
‘Send it through to us and let me know as soon as it’s been sent.’ Evans hung up.
‘I’ve seen this kind of thing before, and think I know how they are doing it.’
‘How?’ Evans fumbled in his pockets for a lighter and lit his cigarette as they rounded a sharp bend.
‘By jumping up numbers when counting. This is done by distracting the seller with questions. When we get to a shop I’ll get some playing cards and show you. It’s easier than explaining.’
They arrived at the Gateway Garage in Cockermouth and found the salesman who had made the sale. Campbell took the lead with questioning him, asking for details of the car and its number plate and vehicle identification number.
He also asked if the V5C paperwork had been sent off to the DVLA yet to register the car with its new owners.
‘Yes, of course it has.’ The salesman took Campbell across the forecourt and through the tired showroom with dirty windows in desperate need of a clean to a small office.
Campbell pulled out the two packs of playing cards he had bought on the way to the garage. He handed them to the salesman and told him to count out one hundred cards.
‘Why?’
Campbell noted a marked difference between the salesman’s accent and the harsher more guttural sound of East Cumbrians like Evans and Lauren. The salesman possessed a softer, more drawn-out accent. His words were stretched, rather than the abbreviated slang common to quick-speaking Carlislers.
‘I’m gonna show you a trick. Harry, come and see this.’ Evans had wandered around the forecourt and was paying more attention to a second-hand M5 than he was to Campbell.
Campbell got Evans to re-count the cards the salesman had counted and they both agreed there were one hundred
‘Why didn’t she tell me that from the start? I could have been using profane language or being politically incorrect about one of my team. Tell the stupid splitarse never to fuck me over like that again.’
‘Enough with the bullshit, Quasi! Get to the bloody point!’ DCI Grantham’s roar almost deafened Campbell and Evans.
‘Hello, sir. Could I please inquire of DC Bhaki as to which garages have been conned and if there is any pattern?’ Evans’s voice was sweetness and light as he winked at Campbell.
Campbell could picture Grantham’s apoplexy and had to bite his lip when the slamming of a door came through the speaker.
Bhaki filled the silence echoing down the line. ‘Sir, there’s been seven garages complaining of the con over the last six days.’
‘We’re halfway between Ambleside and Keswick, are there any near us?’
‘Duncan’s in Silloth and the Gateway Garage in Cockermouth are the nearest. Do you want directions?’
‘No, I know where they are. How much did they each have missing?’
‘Duncan’s were down by two thousand exactly; so was the Gateway Garage. Both sold a car for five grand.’
‘Did any of them have CCTV?’ Campbell joined the conversation.
‘No, they didn’t, but Duncan’s sold their car to a woman and the Gateway Garage sold theirs to a man.’
‘What about the other garages, did they all have a two grand deficit on a five grand motor?’
‘Yes, and they all said the customers walked into the showroom and done the deal there and then. In each case, they drove the car away. Sometimes they bartered down the price to five grand and sometimes they paid the asking price of four nine nine five. All of the garages sold a car to a person who gave their address as fifty-one News Street, Wigton. DS Chisholm looked the address up on Google StreetView and it’s the police station.’
‘Get onto them all and get descriptions of the people who ripped them off and compare them. Lauren, what have you found out about the farm robberies?’
‘I’m still working on it and compiling lists for cross-referencing, but from what I can gather about a dozen places have been affected in the last week alone.’
‘Send it through to us and let me know as soon as it’s been sent.’ Evans hung up.
‘I’ve seen this kind of thing before, and think I know how they are doing it.’
‘How?’ Evans fumbled in his pockets for a lighter and lit his cigarette as they rounded a sharp bend.
‘By jumping up numbers when counting. This is done by distracting the seller with questions. When we get to a shop I’ll get some playing cards and show you. It’s easier than explaining.’
They arrived at the Gateway Garage in Cockermouth and found the salesman who had made the sale. Campbell took the lead with questioning him, asking for details of the car and its number plate and vehicle identification number.
He also asked if the V5C paperwork had been sent off to the DVLA yet to register the car with its new owners.
‘Yes, of course it has.’ The salesman took Campbell across the forecourt and through the tired showroom with dirty windows in desperate need of a clean to a small office.
Campbell pulled out the two packs of playing cards he had bought on the way to the garage. He handed them to the salesman and told him to count out one hundred cards.
‘Why?’
Campbell noted a marked difference between the salesman’s accent and the harsher more guttural sound of East Cumbrians like Evans and Lauren. The salesman possessed a softer, more drawn-out accent. His words were stretched, rather than the abbreviated slang common to quick-speaking Carlislers.
‘I’m gonna show you a trick. Harry, come and see this.’ Evans had wandered around the forecourt and was paying more attention to a second-hand M5 than he was to Campbell.
Campbell got Evans to re-count the cards the salesman had counted and they both agreed there were one hundred
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