Greed: A DI Scott Baker Novel by Jay Nadal Read Free Book Online Page B

navy carpets, ornate tall plants, a bank of monitors allowing the owner to survey his domain, and a dark mahogany desk and leather chair which took centre stage in the room.
    Scott and Abby wandered off in different directions as they started to look through his desk drawers and the various assortment of paperwork left behind.
    The search of his desk threw up nothing of importance, but all the paperwork, a laptop, files and folders were bagged up and recorded for review back at the station. As they moved their attention away from his desk, Abby found a safe buried into the wall behind some garish wall art.
    “Guv, there’s a safe here, but it’s locked. We need to get this opened.”
    “Get onto control and ask them to arrange for a locksmith to attend, we need to see if there’s anything inside of interest.”
    With that, Abby left the room to make the call outside.
    As Scott moved around the office he attention turned back to the corner of the room behind the door, and a squat mirrored table set in-between two low armchairs. Moving towards the table for a closer look, he noticed that the dust wasn’t the type that had collected through a lack of cleaning. He could clearly see a light sporadic scattering of white granular powder. If his hunch was right then this was the remains of a class A substance.
     
    ***
     
    Abby was just coming off the call when Scott approached her, tapping her on the arm to get her attention.
    “Yes, Guv?”
    “Organise a dog, we’ve got some evidence of class A activity on the small table in the office. Meet me outside when you’re done.”
     
    ***
     
    Phone reception must have been intermittent in the club, because no sooner had Scott stepped outside onto the pavement, his phone buzzed in his pocket to signal a missed call and text message from Raj.
    Scott hit the redial and on the third ring, he answered.
    “Guv, we’ve searched Stone’s flat and found a black holdall at the bottom of a wardrobe in the third bedroom. Inside there’s a few large fuck off packets of white powder we believe to be class A. We’ve bagged it up and will bring it in. His missus swears blindly that she knew nothing about it.”
    “Do you believe her?”
    “Hard to say Guv, she looks mortified, but she could be putting it on.”
    “Ok Raj, good work, let’s get it tested first and once we have confirmation, we can pull her in for further questioning if needed.”
    The expectancy rose in Scott. His team now had something to work with.
    Scott relayed the news to Abby as they walked down to the seafront to visit Stone’s second club Urban on the seafront.
    The search of the second club didn’t throw up anything that raised suspicion. All paperwork on the desk had been bagged up and logged in the same way as the Phoenix. They did however notice a strong smell of cannabis in the toilets and Scott instructed Abby to get the drugs dog to check both clubs.
     
    ***
     
    Scott had suggested that they grab an early lunch so they headed off to one of Scott’s favorites, All’Angolo in East Street.
    Scott tucked into a tuna melt panini, whilst Abby picked at her spicy halloumi & roasted vegetable salad.
    “You going to be able to head off to the gym later today?” he asked.
    “Depends how we get on today, Guv. I’ve not had a chance for a few days as I had the kids this weekend. If I can’t today, then I’ll go tomorrow morning and do a couple of classes before my shift starts at two.”
    Scott raised his eyebrows and shook his head, whilst using his napkin to wipe his mouth. “Flipping hell, I just don’t know where you get the energy. One class is enough, but you do two or three classes in a row. You’re either a machine or have a screw loose,” he replied in bewilderment.
    “Oi watch it. No, it’s fine. You wouldn’t make it through circuits, you lightweight.”
    “Erm, you’ll find that I can give you a run for your money.”
    “Dream on,” laughed Abby as she tossed her head back in an