The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 17*

Feeling a little shocked Sam and Hank looked at each other, almost as if to confirm what they had just heard. The feds? Really? What on earth were they doing here? This was never a good thing. It usually meant they were pulling rank on something which then in turn meant them taking over.

Sam could feel the anger building up inside him. He would be furious if they were thrown off the case now. They might not have been In Eustice for long but he, and his partner, had put a considerable amount of work into this and in all honesty, no one would know the case any better than they did right now. If they wanted this to be closed then they were the best people for the job.

Agent Masters walked around the office making eye contact with each of them in turn before stopping in front of captain Beesley's desk. "Morning everyone." he greeted them with a surprisingly soft and calm tone of voice. "Now then, let's get the bad news out the way first shall we?" He turned his head, enabling him to look directly at Sam and Hank. Sam's heart skipped a beat as he embraced himself for what was to follow.

"What bad news?" Sam asked, his hand clenched tightly in his lap.

"I'm afraid we've had to pull the detail you two placed onto Anthony Drummond," the agent answered. Sam and Hank both felt huge relief at first but quickly it was followed by confusion and a little anger as they realized what this would mean for their investigation. They both stared wide-eyed at the agent, waiting for an explanation. "If it helps lighten the blow in any case, I can confirm that Anthony Drummond is not involved with the case you are looking into. We know his exact whereabouts at crucial times during which any offense would have needed to have been committed." Hank closed his eyes and gritted his teeth; he knew that if this were true it would effectively waste nearly three weeks of research and virtually throw him and his partner back to square one again.

Agent Masters paused briefly before starting again. "Myself, and several of my colleagues, have been watching Mr. Drummond for quite some time now and unfortunately any further police presence could complicate, or hinder, an ongoing investigation. Now, this is the reason we have brought the four of you in this morning. We believe there is a crossover between the two cases you are both working on. What I'm about to tell you all now is both sensitive and confidential so must go no further than this room, is that understood?" Each of the four detectives nodded and gave verbal assurances that they understood and agent Masters continued his briefing.

"Mr. Drummond, we believe, is a part of a human trafficking ring which centers on the Blue Coast Inn hotel which we think is a front for their organization." Sam looked on, open-mouthed in amazement. He knew something bothered him about that place but he never thought for one minute it would be something like this. "Now then, once the victims have been smuggled into the country they are placed under the wing of one of the four hotel directors and are forced to work against their will at the hotel. Mr. Drummond, who runs his own cleaning company, supplies the cleaning staff. A second shareholder, who runs a catering company, supplies the kitchen staff. A third owns a textiles company and supplies the bedding and laundry facilities. Number four is their liquor license holder who staffs and stocks the bar and restaurant with any beverages it may need." He paused and looked at the detectives again. "This now brings me to the fifth and final member."

Agent Masters reached into his top pocket, pulling out a photograph which he then showed to each of the detectives. Sam held his breath and swallowed hard. Instantly recognizing the man he had followed through the airport last Friday afternoon. "This is Callum Henry, the ringleader of the organization and main shareholder of the hotel; and the one we are REALLY after. Quite possibly, the only one to actually legally employ anyone on the premises. He is responsible for the front-of-house staff, reception, and so on. We believe some of, or maybe even all, these people double up as security staff keeping an eye on the other employees if we can call them that. Which brings us to your case," Agent Masters turned towards the two local detectives. "Your victim, we believe, was illegally smuggled into the country and forced to work on the cleaning staff at the hotel. Possibly tried to make a break for freedom and was killed for doing so, quite likely by one of Mr. Henry's staff. The chances are this wasn't the first of their victims to die in this way, just the first that we have become aware of. It is very likely this has all happened before but they have dealt with and covered it up themselves.

"Thankfully, on this occasion, a hotel guest heard the commotion and dialed nine-one-one. This was followed by some good work from detective Brookes and her team recovering the murder weapon before they could move it on. Now, if that is the case and it was committed by one of the staff then we fully suspect the killer may has moved on elsewhere by now. We don't wish to stop your investigation entirely; if you do discover the perpetrator then, by all means, apprehend them but I'm afraid I must insist that the hotel remains strictly out of bounds. And that goes for all of you," agent Masters said, once again making eye contact with each of them, making sure they got the message. "And the same thing also goes for Anthony Drummond, and in fact Mrs. Helena Drummond, both of whom are to strictly remain off-limits. We don't think she is directly involved with the smuggling operation itself but she is well aware of what is going on and is employed by the organization in some sort of an admin capacity. It is quite possible that she is also helping them out with one or two other roles."

'Yeah like driving to and from the airport' Sam thought to himself.

"Has everyone got all of that? Any questions?" Agent Masters asked as the room fell silent. "Excellent. Well if everyone's happy then thank you all for your time. Now moving forward, captain Beesley here has my number so if any of you have any queries further on down the line, or if any of you need to contact me for any reason, you can do so directly through the captain. Are we all good?" The four detectives nodded in silence and slowly rose from their seats.

"Thanks, everyone," captain Beesley chirped up as the four of them made their way back to their own offices still looking somewhat shocked at what had just happened.