“Rubbish. I don’t know anyone in Oldston well enough for them to have formed any sort of opinion about me.”
“Exactly the point. How long have you been here, a few months? And during that time you’ve done nothing but work. You’ve never been to the pub with the lads, or been seen in any bar. You don’t go to restaurants. Like I’ve said before, you need to get out, be seen around the town, dispel the rumours. Whether you like it or not, you are part of this community now and you have to fit in.”
Was she right — possibly? He was far too fond of his own company. When he finished work he liked to listen to music, read a good book and go over the day’s work. He wasn’t naturally sociable.
“You could be right. If me and Suzy make it, I will take her out, show her off.”
“Do that. I’d quite like to meet her.”
* * *
“There’s not much we can do here,” Greco told Craig. He checked his watch.
“Back to the station, sir?”
Greco nodded. He was silent for much of the ride back. He was trying to work things out. Brenda and Rose went missing at roughly the same time. Gibbs knew Rose; he didn’t know Brenda. Gibbs used Hopper as an alibi for possession of the watch, and Hopper was one of the two who put the device on the coach — a Webb’s coach. Someone went to Gibbs’s flat, used the laptop and most likely planted Rose’s phone. Had that someone also planted the potato peeler; first ensuring Gibbs’s print was on it? One way or another someone had gone to a lot of trouble to incriminate Grady Gibbs, but why? What was the motive?
Back at the station he gathered the team together.
“We’ll go over everything,” he said, once they were seated in front of the board. “Grace, you reckon that Gibbs and Rose knew each other years ago?”
“Yes, sir, and they had a child, one Liam Donnelly,” she said, with certainty.
“Do we know if Gibbs and Rose saw each other recently?”
“It doesn’t seem so,” Grace said. “They led separate lives. I have checked all the sightings of Rose. From what I’ve been told, she was last seen at about five thirty on Saturday afternoon.”
“More or less the same as Brenda. Both women are taken, Brenda ends up dead pretty quickly but Rose is tortured before she’s killed. An attempt is made to seriously incriminate Gibbs and then he’s killed. Can anyone suggest a motive?” He’d asked the question, but niggling at the back of his mind was the terrorism thing. It was important but where did it fit in?
“They wanted him incriminated,” Craig said.
“Didn’t work though, did it? We kept dragging Gibbs in but nothing stuck, and that was down to the evidence. There was too much that conflicted with everything that was planted. They really wanted Gibbs to take the rap for murder, and when that failed they had no choice but to kill him,” Quickenden suggested.
“They didn’t want him incriminated for just any murder though, so why Rose? Why not one of his gambling buddies from the pub?”
“Because whoever our killer is, sir, he wanted them specifically,” Grace suggested.
It was a good point. A killer whose target was both Gibbs and Rose — so who knew them both? Lots of people in this town probably. The real question was, who knew them as a couple?
“So we’re back to that link again.” Greco looked at Grace.
“So who is this person? Who would want both Rose and Gibbs dead?”
“And Brenda Hirst, sir,” Grace reminded him.
That comment was met with blank looks. No one, including Greco, could work out how she fitted into all this. “It had to be someone Gibbs knew and knew well. This someone has gained his trust recently, become a friend.”
“Geegee didn’t have friends, not from choice he didn’t. I mean, who’d want to be friends with that thug?” Quickenden rolled his eyes. “People tolerated him, played cards with him and were happy to buy his drugs, but that was it.”
Greco was thoughtful for a moment. “Recently that changed. Someone has deliberately targeted Gibbs. Got to know him well enough to be allowed into his flat — to use that expensive laptop.”
“That’s another thing. What were they using it for, sir?”
He didn’t answer. Until Tanweer Hussain and Darren Hopper turned up, Greco was keeping what he knew about that to himself.
“Perhaps Gibbs got scared,” Craig suggested, “felt pressurised.”
“Believe me, people, Geegee doesn’t do scared — he loves violence, laps it up. He’s sooner talk to you with his fists than waste breath on conversation.”
“Who or what haven’t we looked at yet?” Greco looked around at the puzzled faces.
“Their child, Liam Donnelly,” Grace said with a shake of her head. “He is the only link between Gibbs and Rose that I can see.”
“The oil samples might tell us something,” Craig suggested.
“Darren Hopper — we need to speak to him,” Quickenden added.
“Okay, that’s our list,” Greco decided. “Who can stay — make a start?” He saw Grace look up at the office clock, it was gone five. “Leave if you must, Grace,” he told her. “The rest of us don’t have your responsibilities. Now that Suzy is back, I’ve been let off the hook too.”
Greco got to his feet and drew a large red question mark in the middle of the board. “We need to find who it is that belongs at the centre of all this.”
Chapter 20
“You seen Geegee?” Les asked the lad as he walked into the Spinners.
“No. Been busy all day. Get me a pint,” he asked feeling in his pocket for some money. “Coppers will have him again.” He smirked. “They’re trying to pin every crime in the city on him at the mo.” He put a tenner on the counter and took hold of his beer. “Get me a whiskey to go with this and keep the change.”
He saw the look. Les would be wondering why he was throwing his money around. Well, let him wonder. There’d be a whole lot more where that had come from soon enough. He looked around, the place was filling up. Mostly with Geegee’s friends looking for a game. He laughed to himself; they were out of luck. But there were also those looking to buy drugs, and they might fare better.
He poured the whiskey into the beer and walked across to a bench by the front door. A group of young blokes had gathered there. They were waiting for Geegee. They needed their nightly fix. He could sort them but he wanted more than just a bit of casual dealing. The lad wanted the lot.
He planned to be the one the dealers came to, not just the users. He was going to be the man with the supply. As far as this town was concerned, and given time, the only man.
“He’s not coming,” the lad grinned at them. “So you’re out of luck.”
“He can’t do this. We’re regulars. He knows not to cross us.”
“Geegee has . . . well, let’s just say he’s retired,” he told them. “And he’s passed the business over to me, lock stock and list of customers.”
“So we buy off you — now that Geegee’s gone?”
“Yeah.” He leaned forward. “But not until I’m ready. Got it?”
They moved a few yards away from him. There was a lot of low mumbling with the occasional raised voice, and then one of them turned to the lad. “What do we call you?”
“Liam,” he replied with a smile. It was the first time he'd ever used his birth name. “And tell your mates. You want dope, then from now on you deal with my people or you get nowt.”
He checked the time. Nearly six, where was he? Five minutes later a voice rasped at him from the doorway.
“He won’t come in. He wants you outside, in the car.”
Liam didn’t move. He didn’t like to be told what to do and he didn’t like to be kept waiting. Kashif Hussain needed to learn his new place in the scheme of things. But nonetheless he took hold of his drink and followed the young man outside. Kashif was sitting in the back of a gleaming white Mercedes. The young man opened the door and Liam slid in.
“You dealt with him?” Kashif began gruffly
.
“Of course,” he replied arrogantly. “Geegee won’t be bothering anybody anymore. You — sorted your little problem with the police? You got out pretty quick, the cells not suit you?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Because I put you there,” he replied coldly. “And without a swift attitude change I’ll make sure you go right back.”
“You can’t do that. You don’t have the power.”
“Let me spell it out for you, Mr Hussain, so that we can avoid any unpleasantness in the future. The authorities think your little brother is involved in a terrorist plot. There is plenty of evidence, damning evidence too, but the authorities don’t have it. Cross me and the police will get chapter and verse. Let me down, try anything clever and you will regret it. Tune in to the local news if you don’t believe me,” he offered with a snide smile. He paused, watching Kashif’s face harden as he fought the urge to lose his temper.
Liam laughed, annoying Kashif even more. He was deliberately piling on the humiliation. “Young Tanweer has been keeping bad company. Currently they think you are at the bottom of it. Upset me and they will get all the proof they need to lock you both up for a very long time.” He paused, giving Kashif time to mull this over. “Now, we’ll try again. You have the customers and I have the supply. For now we merge, work things together.”
“I’ve already got a supply. It has never failed me. So why should I get involved with you?”
“We’ve covered all this. Didn’t you hear what I just said? Plus — you wanted rid of Gibbs. I’ve done that, so now you owe me. It’s your turn to show some goodwill.”
Kashif grunted.
“I hope you are not going back on our deal.” Liam tutted. “I had a feeling — you being who you are — that would happen. So I took out some insurance. That insurance is your brother. After what he’s been involved in today the police will watch your every move. You won’t be able to sneeze without some cop writing it down. No, Mr Hussain, your days of bringing dope in through the docks are over. You are reliant on me now and I will run things my way.” He stared at him for a moment, his eyes glittering with triumph. “So take it or leave it.”
* * *
“Would you like to come round, eat with us?”
“I’m planning to work late,” he explained to Suzy.
“I’ll keep something for you. Matilda might be in bed but that’ll give us the chance to talk. What do you say?”
“Okay, I’ll come when I’m done here.” He put the phone down.
Supper with his ex. A few weeks ago he’d never have believed it. That aside, unless they had some sort of breakthrough he wouldn’t be very good company. His head was too full of possibilities. Grace had gone home, George too, leaving him, Quickenden and Craig. Quickenden had a bundle of statements and was ploughing through them again. Craig was on the computer trying to find out if there was a ‘Liam Donnelly’ living locally.
His phone rang. It was Julian Batho. “You working late too, Professor?”
“Indeed, and with a good outcome. I have finished processing some of the DNA results. As I suspected we found traces of DNA on Brenda Hirst’s watch. The most numerous were those of Brenda Hirst herself, followed by Gibbs and Lily Dawson. However, there was another. The individual must have worn it and left a sweat trace. We don’t have a match on the database but I can say with certainty that the DNA is from the offspring of both Gibbs and Rose. When I found a link to Gibbs I looked at Rose again and made that link too. It was your DC Harper who suggested it.”
Grace had been right. The son, Liam Donnelly, was their killer but where was he? Had Rose known about him? Did he make contact with her? The questions were coming thick and fast but he had no answers. “Thank you, Professor. That gives us a name; all we have to do now is find him. If you find the same DNA on the laptop would you let me know at once?”
Greco went to the incident board and rubbed off the red question mark, replacing it with the name. He stood back and looked. Liam must have hated his parents with a passion to have done what he had. To seek vengeance in that way it must have festered in his head for years. But why Brenda? And what was the link with the bomb threats? If he could understand that, then he might stand a chance of finding him.
* * *
“I’ve made a vegetable lasagne. I even made the tomato sauce myself. Hope you’re hungry.”
Suzy seemed very jolly as she ushered him into her house. A far cry from the cold indifference he was used to.
“I might not be great company; bad day that’s left me with more questions than I started with. But at least we’ve made some progress. We do have a prime suspect now.”
“You do a good job, Stephen. You’ll get your man, you always do,” she assured him.
Not what he was used to hearing, either. “Have you been to work?”
“No, I’m still on leave but I will go back in a day or two.”
“Is the job still to your liking?” he asked, taking the glass of wine she offered him.
“It’s probably the only good thing to come out of the move. I love it,” she confessed. “It’s a good team and the department is on the up. We’re offering a lot of new courses and there is no shortage of students.”
“Sounds like hard work.”
“It is. FE is so full on, but you know I like what I do. The job I had in Norwich was on the skids, the department was failing on all counts. Oldston has a large cohort of school leavers all looking for college courses.”
“So you don’t want to move back?”
“No.” She smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved our home and the village we lived in. Oldston is so different and it takes some getting used to. Leesworth is nice though, and I like the hills. The villages around here are just as pretty as in Norfolk but in a different way.”
“I’m glad you’re happy,” Greco said tucking in to the food she’d made.
“And you, Stephen? What do you intend to do?”
He shook his head. “I’m still not sure. This place is harsh, brutal. Don’t misunderstand me, I’ve seen plenty in my time, but this place is so depressing.”
“And what about our marriage?”
The question hung in the air between them.
“We’re divorced, remember? Your idea; I simply rolled over and gave in.”
“Perhaps you shouldn’t have. Perhaps you should have fought.”
“I doubt it would have got me anywhere. You had made your mind up and you didn’t want to listen to my opinions.” He shook his head. “Then you were gone. I didn’t think I had any choice but to do as you’d decided.”
“I do regret that now,” she admitted, reaching for his hand. “I think I was probably ill, depressed. I wasn’t thinking straight and leaving you is the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. I won’t beg, Stephen but I want you back.”
“I have a new job. It’s tough but I am getting used to it and my new team. They’re a bit rough around the edges but they’ve begun to show promise. You and me,” he smiled at her, “we’ll take things slow. I’m not going to change anything workwise just yet, so let’s see what happens. You’ve met Grace’s mum, Denise? She’s a pleasant woman and Matilda likes her. Having her as backup will make things easier. We could go out. We could even try dating again.”
He watched her laugh. Suzy looked happier than she had in months, and that was good. He was also beginning to feel better about things.
Chapter 21
Friday
“We need to find Liam Donnelly.” Greco gave Grace an approving look. “You were right. Your instincts were spot on.” He tapped the name on the board. “Last night Craig searched the electoral roll for Oldston and the surrounding area and found nothing — no Liam Donnelly and as you said before, no Judith Calf. So if he is living here, then he’s living under the radar.”
“I don’t understand why this Judith Calf claimed him all those years ago, if she wasn’t his mother. But given that she did, she will have changed h
is name,” Grace suggested.
That, unfortunately, was what Greco thought had happened.
“Gibbs and Rose were his parents. Recently he must have reconnected with Gibbs. He talked to him, went to his flat, and used his stuff. We don’t know if Gibbs knew who he was but he must have trusted him.” He raised an eyebrow at Quickenden.
“Geegee never trusted anyone, sir. It wasn’t in his make-up. Everyone was fair game and there to be turned over. Like I said before, Geegee didn’t make friends, he used people.”
“Speedy, you saw him during the last weeks: who was he with? Did he say anything about finding his son? Was there anyone hanging around who was new, different from the others?”
“He called him Speedy again, did you hear?” Grace whispered to Craig.
“There was nothing unusual. It was the usual crew in the pub, the card school, the kids looking for dope and those who dip in and out for a drink. There never is anyone new. The Spinners isn’t that type of pub. You wouldn’t take your latest bird there, for example.” Quickenden paused for a second. “But there was the lad, I’d completely forgotten about him. Remember, the one who told me about the watch Geegee was trying to flog. He was new, never seen him before.”
Greco shook his head. “How many times have I asked the question, Sergeant? Why didn’t you recall this earlier?”
“I did mention the lad,” he excused.
“But you didn’t say he was someone new, did you?”
“I don’t think he is. I’ve seen him around, just not in the pub.”
“So Liam Donnelly isn’t new to the area, just new to the Spinners. He’s someone who is always there, someone everyone knows and doesn’t notice, like background noise.”
There was murmuring as this idea took root.
“So Liam knew Gibbs but Gibbs had no idea who he was?” Grace postulated.
“It looks like that. If a son turned up out of the blue then I’m sure Geegee would have boasted about it,” Quickenden told them.
Complete Detective Stephen Greco Box Set Page 18