“Good luck with the rubbish search,” Isobel said.
Simon grinned. “Just how I like to spend my time. See you tomorrow.”
Isobel, Patricia and Adam made their way back to Adam’s car. Adam contacted his own station and one of his team supplied him with the name of the owner of the car that had hit Thomas Banks – Jennifer Green – and where she was now working.
Adam drove off towards the financial district.
Chapter 39
By the time they left Scotland Yard it was four o’clock and traffic was heavy. Despite the excitement of the meeting no one said very much, each of them alone with their own thoughts.
Isobel thought back over the last week and a half. It had been so intense. She realised that it was Anne Banks and what had happened to her that had motivated her – the idea of giving her a voice. In a similar way, Thomas Banks Senior had got to her, really touched her heart, and she wanted to be able to give him some answers – however, she acknowledged it might not be possible to do so and that one of the answers could be a terrible thing to live with. Was that fair to this old man? Would it just rob him of more of his peace of mind? She thought of Tommy Banks too, even though she’d never met him. He’d lost his mother a few months ago and now maybe his father if things unfolded the way they thought. All she could console herself with was that at least once the truth was out there was the possibility of healing. She hoped there would be for Thomas Banks Senior and Tommy.
For herself, Isobel realised that tired and all as she was she had also found some truth. She could see how Simon was motivated by evidence so that he could get justice in court. For her the motivation was different – it was about finding the truth and giving the victims a voice. Maybe she had a future somewhere. The last year and a half had knocked her for six and she knew her family had been worried. She had lost a sense of direction, any idea of what her life was about or where it was going. Now, for the first time in a long time she could feel herself looking forward with some hope, not fear.
Having got thus far in her musings, she gave herself a shake. Looking round, she saw that Adam seemed similarly thoughtful, while Patricia was engrossed on her phone.
“Everyone all right?” Isobel asked.
Patricia mumbled and Adam roused himself, saying, “Nearly there now. Jennifer Green is still working as a temp. She’s been here with this firm for six months. Actually she’s been with the same agency for ten years. She’s one of their most trusted employees, very capable, very competent. She likes variety in her work, and flexibility to take time off. Apparently she regularly goes off for three-month periods of travelling.”
They were now in the financial district and it was approaching five o’clock. Isobel was worried that Jennifer might have left work.
Adam, agreeing with her concerns, abandoned the car in a loading bay, putting up a sign saying that he was a police officer on duty.
They entered the ground floor of a multi-storey building. Checking the wall listing, they found that the office they were looking for was on the eighth floor. When the lift opened they were delivered to a small reception area with the name of the company on the wall. A young and glamorous receptionist was tidying her desk.
Adam stepped forward and Isobel and Patricia melted into the background. He put on a warm and charming smile which made him look very attractive.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m an old friend of Jennifer Green, in town briefly. I thought she might be finishing work and I was hoping to arrange to meet her for a drink. Could I have a quick word with her?” He smiled again and the receptionist was putty in his hands.
“You’re lucky to catch her. She normally leaves at half past five.”
“Could I just set something up with her quickly?”
The young woman got up and led him through some glass doors to a bigger office where there were a number of desks. She approached one and said something. She lingered but Isobel could see Adam pointedly wait for her to leave. The receptionist walked slowly back to her post, her eyes trained on Adam and Jennifer.
Isobel could see Adam talking urgently for a few minutes, then Jennifer smiled and shook hands with him. He came walking out and stopped at reception,
“Thank you,” he said, flashing his smile again. “I don’t think she recognized me at first. I guess I’ve changed since we knew each other, lost some of my looks!”
The receptionist shook her head, laughing. “She was probably just surprised to see you.”
Adam laughed too. “You’re probably right.”
He hurried over to Isobel and Patricia and they got into the lift.
When they were safely on their way down, he said, “I find it’s always best to have any witnesses come up with explanations of the inconsistencies.”
Isobel and Patricia burst out laughing.
“You’re good,” Isobel said.
He grinned, “We’re meeting Jennifer a couple of streets away in a café.”
They walked there, leaving the car where it was.
The café was busy with an afterwork crowd so there was plenty of sound around them. Adam went and ordered three coffees while Isobel and Patricia found a table in a corner. Jennifer must have left almost immediately because she arrived a few minutes later, waved to let them know that she had seen them and then collected a cappuccino.
She joined them at the table.
Jennifer had blonde hair in a bob and hazel eyes. Isobel guessed that she was forty-ish. She had a direct gaze and a firm manner, businesslike without being bossy.
“What’s this about?” she asked. “And thanks for not saying you’re police – that would have panicked the company no matter how innocent I am.”
Adam smiled. “We don’t want to cause you any trouble. We just wanted to chat, maybe get some information.”
She nodded.
“We’re looking into a hit-and-run that happened about ten years ago.”
Jennifer frowned. “Yes, my car was stolen and then burnt out after a man was killed. I thought it was concluded that it was a joyrider?”
Adam said, “Yes, that was one of the theories at the time. Recently, however, there have been some queries about the incident and we’re re-interviewing everyone.”
“It was very upsetting to think that my car had killed someone.”
“What time was it stolen exactly?” Adam asked.
“I’m not sure. I was out for dinner with some friends. I wanted to have a drink so I didn’t take the car. It was parked at the house when I left at about seven thirty. When I returned by taxi, at just before midnight, it was gone. I reported it immediately but I think the accident had already happened at that stage. I don’t know if any of my neighbours saw anything and I don’t know if they were interviewed at the time. I guess that was your department.”
“It was, yes.”
Jennifer was silent a few moments then added, “What always kind of freaked me out was the fact that the man who was killed – well, I’d done some work in the same company he worked for a few months before. I didn’t know him, I never met him, but it was a strange coincidence.”
Adam tensed but asked as nonchalantly as he could, “Did you tell the police that at the time?”
“I didn’t know at the time. They showed me a picture of the man who was killed, and I didn’t recognise him at all. They told me his name and I didn’t know him or the area he lived in. But when he was cremated a month or six weeks later, I read about him because my car was involved. In the little article about him in the paper it said where he worked. It was a strange coincidence but I didn’t think it was worth going into a police station for . . .”
The others exchanged subtle glances.
Isobel reached into her bag and drew out a photograph of the true Thomas Banks. Jennifer looked at it but showed no signs of recognition.
“That’s the man who was killed,” Isobel said.
Jennifer looked distressed. “Sorry, I didn’t recognize him after all these year
s.”
Isobel drew out another photo. This one was a single shot of Matt Cooper from when he was in college. “What about his man?”
Jennifer took the photo and each of them could see the spark of recognition. “Yes, I knew this man. He worked for that same company. He wasn’t in my section but I used to bump into him sometimes at lunchtime.” She threw a quick glance at them and said, “To be honest, I kinda fancied him. I helped him out a few times with things.”
Isobel asked, “What sort of things?”
Jennifer looked into the distance. “I typed a report for him when he was under pressure on one occasion. I also did some work on his CV another time. I thought he was interested in me so one weekend I even lent him my car so he could go and visit family.” She shrugged. “Nothing came of it. I left the company and moved to a new firm and he never kept in touch.”
“What was his name?” Isobel asked.
“Matthew – although everyone called him Matt. I think his surname was Cooper. I was disappointed, I thought he liked me.” She blushed and looked down.
“So he had the keys to your car?” Adam asked.
“Just for that one weekend. What is this? Why are you asking me about Matt?”
“We’re just establishing who knew who in the company at that time,” Adam said. “Matt gave you back the keys, I presume?”
“Of course he did. Anyway, that was some time before the car was stolen.”
“When you worked on Matt’s report and his CV, did you do that at your place of employment?” Patricia asked.
Jennifer looked uncomfortable. “The report, yes, but not the CV. It was to apply for another job so he came to my house.”
“He knew where you lived then,” Adam said.
“Well, yes,” Jennifer acknowledged. “Do you think he was involved in this man’s death? Do you think he did it?” Her voice was rising.
“We’re just establishing some facts that we weren’t aware of at the time,” Adam said. “They may have no impact on the case whatsoever.”
Jennifer listened but didn’t seem one-hundred-per-cent convinced.
Adam spoke again. “Jennifer, we don’t want anyone to know we’ve questioned you or what you’ve told us. Please keep our conversation totally confidential.”
Jennifer breathed heavily. “You do think he’s involved.”
Adam, now the forceful policeman, said, “We’re not prepared to speculate at this time,” then more humanely added, “nor do we want any innocent parties unduly distressed.”
Jennifer responded better to that. “Of course not. I won’t say a word to anyone.”
“Thank you, Jennifer.”
She nodded her acknowledgement and rising they all left.
Jennifer walked away towards the Tube, her head down.
The others walked back to the car. There was no parking ticket on it, nor had it been clamped.
Isobel laughed. “I need to get one of those signs.”
Adam laughed too. “No way. They’ll have rung the police station to check that this is a registered police car, signed out to an on-duty policeman.”
Isobel shrugged. “Oh, not so easy then.”
They piled back into the car and Adam asked where they were going. Patricia gave Peter’s address, saying, “Come on, Isobel, we need to go and fill Peter in on what’s happened. He’ll be dying to hear all the new developments. Why don’t you come too, Adam?”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I need to write up my report on what we’ve done today. I’ll drop you off though.”
Patricia said, “So Matt Cooper took Thomas Banks’ job. And now we know that he knew where Jennifer lived and quite possibly had a copied key for her car.”
“Is there any way to find out if he did?” Isobel asked.
Adam winced. “It’s a long time ago. Such places would have changed staff – that’s if they haven’t gone out of business. Maybe if we knew at the time we could have found something, but it’s too long ago now. And they probably wouldn’t have taken his name in the first place for a small quick job like that, probably done over the counter.”
“So he had motive, the job, the means because he had access to the car, and opportunity,” Isobel mused. “Well, we don’t know where he was that night, but we do know that he wasn’t in the pub with Thomas, so he could have done it.” She continued thoughtfully, “If the forensic gait analyst looked at the video of the hit-and-run driver walking back to the body, would they be able to tell us if the man walking is Matt Cooper, even if that was ten years ago? Would age have changed his walk?”
Adam looked at her. “I don’t know. But, I have to say, ladies, looking at the road, the pub, where the car would have to have started its acceleration from, it would be impossible for Matt. He would have to have been near the pub to see that it was Thomas leaving and then before he could get back to the car and accelerate forward Thomas would have been way down the street.”
There was silence in the car as they drove on.
As the shop around the corner from Peter’s flat came into view, Patricia said, “Just drop us here. We need to get a few things.”
“No problem.” Adam pulled in to the kerb outside the shop.
Isobel said, “Adam, could you get the forensic gait analyst to look at the footage of the driver walking and compare it with the guy who moved the body?”
“I guess.”
“Just to rule Matt Cooper out, definitively, so we can tell his father we did everything and found nothing.”
“OK, I’ll ask him.”
“Thanks, Adam. We do appreciate it.”
He nodded. “See you tomorrow.”
Chapter 40
Having recounted everything and also sated their appetite, they were now sipping tea and nibbling on chocolate.
Peter said in an awed voice, “Patricia, that was great that you figured about the clothes before Paul said anything.”
Isobel nodded emphatically. “I know. It hadn’t occurred to me at all.”
Patricia blushed.
Isobel smiled. “You really love this investigative work, don’t you, Patricia?”
“Yes, it’s fascinating – finding things out, getting people to talk, figuring out what really happened – I love it,” she enthused. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, “In fact, I love it so much I’ve had a look and there are actually approved courses that you can do and . . .” now she looked at Peter, “I’m thinking of going and doing one.”
Her words were met with a shocked silence.
“You would be great at it,” Isobel said then.
“Are you going to leave the firm?” Peter sounded crestfallen.
Isobel cringed, knowing that she was a gooseberry. However, she knew that she needed to talk to Peter about something before she left tonight. Standing up, she lifted the empty cups and said, “I’m going to make some more tea.”
Isobel adjourned to the kitchen, rinsed the cups and boiled the kettle again. She stood looking out of the kitchen window into the darkness of the city and the lights of houses and cars and streetlights illuminating it, shining light into the darkness. Her mind was miles away and she wasn’t conscious of the murmured voices from the other room. Suddenly, like a light illuminating the darkness, she had an idea. She gripped the sink as she turned the idea over in her mind.
Pulling out her phone, she rang Thomas Banks Senior.
“Hi, Thomas, this is Isobel McKenzie. I hope it’s not too late to be calling you.”
“No, not at all, love. I sleep very little now. It happens as you get older.”
“Those photos you gave us have been very helpful.”
“That’s good, love. The wife was a wild woman with the camera. After you left I spent ages looking at them and remembering the good times we had together.”
Isobel bit her lip. She took a deep breath. “Did you ever get into videoing family occasions?”
“No. We didn’t.”
Isobel could feel her heart drop. Maybe sh
e could contact Erica and see if the school had any video footage.
“That’s why we bought that one.”
“Sorry, Thomas, what did you say there? Bought what one?”
“I was just saying that because we had no video we bought the official video of the graduation at the university. I know Thomas is only on it for a few minutes, but we were so proud of him that the wife wanted to have all the speeches and the full ceremony. It was a great day. I watched it this afternoon. Thomas got a first, you know.”
Isobel heard the catch in his voice and there were tears threatening in her own even as inside she could feel hope bubbling up again. “Are Thomas’s friends on it too, like Matt Cooper?”
“Yes, they’re all there. We were so happy that day, the wife and I,” he said, choking a little.
Isobel gave him a few moments. “Thomas, I’m sorry if we’re upsetting you all over again.”
“Not at all, love. I can’t explain it. It’s as if Thomas is important to you too and, well, that’s a good thing.”
Isobel was nodding. “To help us to find out what happened to Thomas, we’re going to need to borrow that recording of the graduation and copy it.”
“I don’t understand how it can, but if it helps in any way you can keep it.”
Despite herself, Isobel’s eyes filled with tears. “No, no, you’ll get it back. The police officer who was on the case back then, Adam Bryce, is helping us look into things. Would it be all right if I get Adam to collect the video? If he called later tonight or early tomorrow, is that a problem?”
“Any time, love. I sleep in the chair here many nights.”
Isobel couldn’t stop herself. “Thomas, when I know more I’ll come and tell you everything.” Her conscience niggled her and she said, “But we may not actually find out anything.”
“I know, love. I do understand. I’m just glad that you’re looking into it. If there is something I know you’ll find it. I won’t get my hopes too high but I’ll be waiting. Goodnight.”
Isobel was crying by the time she hung up. Please God, this attempt on their part would yield some clarifying information.
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