The Complaints Read Online Free PDF Page B

stressed. Inglis looked across at her colleague.

    ‘Except we haven’t,’ she reminded him. ‘Every week there’s something new, something more revolting. All of it accessible twenty-four seven. You sit at your computer at home, surfing, maybe buying stuff or reading the gossip, and you’re about four clicks away from hell.’

    ‘Or heaven,’ Gilchrist interrupted, eyes fixed on his own screen. ‘It’s all a matter of taste. We’ve got stuff that would make the hairs on your scrotum stand on end.’

    Fox knew that the Chop Shop considered itself a breed apart, different from the other cops at Fettes HQ: thicker-skinned, resilient, toughened by the job. A macho outfit, too. He wondered how hard Annie Inglis had worked in order to fit in.

    ‘You’ve got my attention,’ was all he said. Inglis was tapping at her screen with the tip of a ballpoint pen.

    ‘This guy here,’ she said, indicating the man with the Asian boy. ‘We know who he is. We know quite a lot about him.’

    ‘Is he a cop?’

    She looked at Fox. ‘What makes you ask?’

    ‘Why else would I be here?’

    She nodded slowly. ‘Well, you’re right. But our man is an Aussie, based in Melbourne.’

    ‘And?’

    ‘And, like I say, we know a lot about him.’ She opened a folder and brought out some sheets of paper. ‘He runs a website for like-minded people. There’s an entrance fee to be paid before they come aboard.’

    ‘They have to share,’ Gilchrist said. ‘Twenty-five pics minimum. ’

    ‘Pics?’

    ‘Of them with kids. Share and share alike . . .’

    ‘But there’s a nominal cash fee, too, paid by credit card,’ Inglis added. She handed Fox the top two sheets, a list of names and numbers. ‘Recognise anyone?’

    Fox went down the list twice. There were almost a hundred names. He shook his head slowly.

    ‘J. Breck?’ Inglis announced. ‘The J’s for Jamie.’

    ‘Jamie Breck ...’ The name did mean something. Then Fox got it. ‘He’s Lothian and Borders,’ he said.

    ‘Yes, he is,’ Inglis agreed.

    ‘If it’s the same Jamie Breck.’

    ‘Credit card comes all the way back to Edinburgh. To Jamie Breck’s bank, in fact.’

    ‘You’ve already checked?’ Fox handed back the list. Inglis was nodding.

    ‘We’ve already checked.’

    ‘Okay, then. So where do I come in?’

    ‘As of right now, his credit card’s all we’ve got. He’s not posted the photos yet - maybe he’s not going to.’

    ‘The site’s still active?’

    ‘We’re hoping they don’t catch wind of us, not until we’re good and ready.’

    ‘Members in over a dozen countries,’ Gilchrist broke in. ‘Teachers, youth leaders, church ministers . . .’

    ‘And none of them know you’re on to them?’

    ‘Us and a dozen other forces across the globe.’

    ‘One time,’ Inglis added, ‘the office in London arrested a ringleader and took over the running of his site. It took the users ten days to start suspecting something . . .’

    ‘By which time,’ Gilchrist interrupted again, ‘there was plenty of evidence against them.’

    Fox nodded and turned his attention back to Inglis. ‘What do you want PSU to do?’

    ‘Normally we would let London do the work, but this one’s local, so . . .’ She paused, fixing her gaze on Fox. ‘We want you to paint us a picture. We want to know more about Jamie Breck.’

    Fox glanced at the image on the screen. ‘And it couldn’t be a mistake?’ When he turned his attention back to Annie Inglis, she was giving a shrug.

    ‘Chief Inspector McEwan tells us you’ve just busted Glen Heaton. Breck works in the same station.’

    ‘So?’

    ‘So you can talk to him.’

    ‘About Heaton?’

    ‘You make it look as though it’s about Heaton. Then you tell us what you think.’

    Fox shook his head. ‘I’m not a well-liked man around those parts. I doubt Breck would give me the time of day. But if he’s dirty . . .’

    ‘Yes?’

    ‘We can look into