Undercover Read Free Page A

Ivor Wolsey, aged thirty-seven, one previous conviction, for theft. Wolsey had turned Queen’s Evidence. That is, he would talk, would betray mates – tell everything he knew to the police. In exchange he’d expect kinder treatment by the court, suppose the case came to trial, plus special safeguarding as a snitch in jail, if he was sent down. Those who turned Queen’s Evidence came in for a lot of hate in the crooked world.
    INTERVIEW ONE
    Inspector David Hinds: ‘I’d like to begin, Ivor, with you and the others setting out in the stolen Volvo.’
    Answer: ‘Right.’
    D.H.: ‘What was the purpose of your mission in the Volvo?’
    A: ‘To locate and eliminate Justin Paul Scray.’
    D.H.: ‘Eliminate?’
    A: ‘You know.’
    D.H.: ‘No.’
    A: ‘Kill.’
    D.H.: ‘This was the specific objective?’
    A: ‘The only objective.’
    D.H.: ‘Why?’
    A: ‘Leo had decided after a long time thinking about it that Scray was damaging the firm. I gathered he’d had warnings.’
    D.H.: ‘Leo being?’
    A: ‘Leo Percival Young.’
    D.H.: ‘Head of the firm?’
    A: ‘Right.’
    D.H.: ‘He considered Scray was damaging the firm in which way, ways?’
    A: ‘Oh, you know.’
    D.H.: ‘No.’
    A: ‘The usual.’
    D.H.: ‘That being?’
    A: ‘A firm within the firm.’
    D.H.: ‘I don’t understand.’
    A: ‘Oh, come on. Of course you do. It happens.’
    D.H.: ‘What does, Ivor?’
    A: ‘Private dealing.’
    D.H.: ‘What kind of private dealing?’
    A: ‘As I said, a firm within the firm.’
    D.H.: ‘He looked for a clandestine profit?’
    A: ‘“Clandestine” – that’s it. That’s the word.’
    D.H.: ‘How did he make this clandestine profit?’
    A: ‘Clandestinely.’
    D.H.: ‘Thanks, Ivor.’
    A: ‘He made that very-well-named clandestine profit by not telling Leo and the rest of us about a string of special punters he’s selling to clandestinely. He clandestinely built his own little clandestine firm within Leo’s firm and clandestinely siphoned off a lovely amount of clandestine gains.’
    D.H.: ‘But how did he finance that personal firm?’
    A: ‘Overmixing, mainly.’
    D.H.: ‘What does that mean?’
    A: ‘Oh, come on.’
    D.H.: ‘Overmixing what?’
    A: ‘Overmixing the commodities, of course.’
    D.H.: ‘Which commodities?’
    A: ‘Oh, come on. Charlie, mostly.’
    D.H.: ‘I have to get things clear, Ivor. We’re talking about bulking out what was originally high-quality cocaine with cheapo additives like boric acid, procaine and so on, are we?’
    A: ‘I knew you couldn’t be as dumb as you were making out.’
    D.H.: ‘So Scray drew a nice personal profit, did he?’
    A: ‘Of course. Purity low, low, low of some of the stuff he pushed – down to not much more than thirty per cent.’
    D.H.: ‘Thirty per cent charlie, the rest filler?’
    A: ‘So what he got from the firm – Leo’s firm, the proper firm – went a good bit more than twice as far as it should have.’
    D.H.: ‘Scray and
his
self-created, parasite, discrete firm trousered the difference?’
    A: ‘Clandestinely discrete, that’s right. Almost right. Not just trousering. He was looking for even bigger gains. He invested.’
    D.H.: ‘He was after growth potential?’
    A: ‘With the clandestinely discrete, parasite profits, Justin provided for growth potential, yes. You’ll remember that parable of the bags of gold, called talents, in the New Testament. Some people hid their bags of gold away and although the gold stayed safe it didn’t grow at all. But one guy went out and speculated with his in true risk-taking, entrepreneurial,