Animal Instinct

by Animal Instinct (retail) (epub)

  But now what?

  Did Duffy know the truth about Luke?

  Did Katie?

  Or had she existed for years without being aware of the consequences of her affair?

  How long had the relationship with Duffy lasted? Was it still going on? If so, which was worse: to feign ignorance or confront his wife and risk losing control of the situation, with potentially shattering consequences for Luke? The boy was having a tough time finding his way in the world. A revelation like this could set him back years. Joe sighed. There didn’t seem to be a right course of action, only a least-worst option. Even that would have to wait.

  The entrance to HMP Elmley resembled an out-of-town shopping centre. Once the paperwork had been taken care of, Joe and Duffy were assigned an escort, a crop-haired woman who whistled through her teeth while unlocking a series of doors and gates. She admitted them to a featureless interview room reserved for official visitors.

  Joe and Duffy sat and waited, the heavy silence remaining unbroken until Raoul Jonas was ushered in. The earring was gone. He looked haggard and pale, thinner than ever. Joe wondered how long it would be before he was transferred to a hospital, or perhaps a hospice. He watched the wraith-like figure enter the room and catch sight of Duffy’s bandage.

  ‘Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke,’ the man said, grinning.

  Duffy ignored the jibe.

  ‘We need to ask you about Liam O’Mara.’

  Jonas’s smile faded. ‘What about him?’

  ‘You’re aware he was adopted as a baby?’

  Joe winced at the crass opening gambit. What happened to ‘softly-softly’?

  ‘What’s that got to do with me?’ said Raoul.

  Duffy loosened his tie. ‘He’s disappeared.’

  The smile was back. ‘No kidding.’

  ‘His wife had a little girl,’ said Duffy.

  Raoul nodded. ‘And they all lived happily ever after.’ He met Duffy’s gaze. ‘Because that’s what happens in your world, right?’

  Duffy narrowed his eyes. ‘In my world?’

  Jonas splayed his legs and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. ‘I’ve nothing more to say.’

  He fell silent.

  ‘This isn’t just about you, Raoul,’ said Duffy. ‘Or Liam. There’s a kid involved now. A baby.’ The silence continued. The room was already stuffy. ‘Maybe you’d care more if it was a puppy,’ said Duffy. ‘Or a kitten. Or one of Ling-Ling’s pandas.’

  It was time for Joe to intervene. He took off his jacket.

  ‘What Raoul means is that our world and his are different. In ours, parents care about their kids. In Raoul’s, children don’t get love, they get abandoned. They don’t get a bedtime story, they get beaten. They don’t get a goodnight kiss, they get raped.’

  A muscle tensed in Jonas’s jaw.

  ‘What would you know about that?’

  ‘We know Liam was adopted,’ said Joe. ‘By an Irish couple.’

  A curt nod.

  ‘They took him to Ireland?’ said Duffy.

  ‘Dublin,’ said Jonas. ‘They lived there until he was six. Then the dad got a new job and they moved back to Kent.’

  ‘What happened to his new mum and dad?’

  ‘They died a few months later,’ said Raoul. ‘House fire.’

  Joe leaned forward. The final pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

  ‘Is that when Liam went into care? When you took him under your wing? He was six and you were fifteen, sixteen?’

  A nod. Joe focused on the man’s grey face.

  ‘When did you discover that Liam was really Gabriel Pennefeather?’ Jonas didn’t move but a flicker in his eye told Joe he’d scored a direct hit. He pressed on. ‘Long after you’d left the care system? Maybe on Liam’s eighteenth birthday when he got the letter from Adam. The day he realized what his life could have been. Should have been. The day that changed everything.’

  No response. Joe got to his feet and crossed to the water cooler.

  ‘Is that when the plan came together?’

  The man moistened his lips with his tongue.

  ‘What plan?’

  Joe poured two cups of water and placed one in front of Jonas.

  ‘To declare war on the family that abandoned him. To destroy their lives, like they destroyed his.’ He sipped his water before continuing. ‘The plan to fake a letter from a non-existent girlfriend called “Z”, to claim Gabriel was dead then use Adam’s money to kick-start Planet Pizza.’ He resumed his seat. ‘There was no point trying to woo a Pennefeather girl unless Liam was loaded. Saffron may like to think she’s a hippy but she’s still Daddy’s little girl. She’d need to live in the manner to which she was accustomed. And you don’t get that sort of cash by being a rent boy, flogging your arse around London, do you, Raoul?’

  The man folded his arms.

  ‘Get rich, get Saffron,’ Joe continued. ‘That was phase one. It didn’t take Liam long, not once he’d got the seed money from Adam. Less than five years. Hardly surprising. His granddad started a brewing empire and his father was no slouch at making money. No wonder Liam’s business-savvy.’

  Raoul took a sip of water. His hands were trembling.

  ‘I need to go back to my cell.’

  Joe pretended he hadn’t heard.

  ‘You went through hell together. You and Spider.’

  The man blinked.

  ‘That’s what you called him, isn’t it?’ said Joe. ‘Raoul, Duwayne and Liam: Superman, Batman and Spiderman.’ He leaned forward in his chair. ‘Spiderman became Spider, your blood brother.’

  He jabbed a finger in Raoul’s direction. ‘That’s why Liam vowed to look after your son, to give Sammy the chances you never had.’ He paused for effect. ‘And that’s why you agreed to kill Bella.’

  Silence descended. Raoul cleared his throat then gave an unconvincing snort of derision.

  ‘As if.’

  Joe leaned back, allowing Duffy to take the reins.

  The DS cleared his throat. ‘You need to come clean about Bella,’ he said. ‘Your DNA was on her body. It was also on Daniel De Souza’s clothes, after you knifed him. You love animals but you hate people, especially those who run zoos or make money out of fur.’

  Jonas gave another unconvincing smile.

  ‘Your lab’s rubbish. The samples must be contaminated.’

  Joe stared at the emaciated man opposite and took the lead again.

  ‘You killed Bella so Liam could have his hands clean, so he could be in London when she died, buying petrol, captured on CCTV. A cast-iron alibi.’

  He saw a hint of a smile on the man’s lips but Raoul said nothing.

  ‘Was it you that planted Adam’s bootprints and the whisky bottle in the elephant house?’ said Joe. ‘Or did Liam do that?’

  Raoul shrugged. ‘Your guess is as good as mine.’

  The details aren’t important,’ said Joe. ‘You killed Bella. You strung her up in the meat store. Then Liam framed Adam, faking lies about him on Bella’s phone.’

  He got to his feet and began to pace the room.

  ‘You and Liam lured him to the cliffs, tried to make his death look like suicide.’ He could feel adrenalin coursing through his veins. He took another sip of water. ‘How did you get Adam there, Raoul? I’m guessing that was down to Liam. Did he tell Adam he had a lead on whoever killed his daughter? Or was there something else? Some other way to get him up onto the cliffs in the middle of the night?’ Still no response. The man’s arms remained folded. ‘Did Duwayne help?’ said Joe. ‘He told me Spider was dead but that was just muddying the waters, right?’

  Raoul’s lips twitched into another smile but he said nothing.

  ‘It’ll come out in court.’ Joe sat down and leaned back in his chair. ‘But that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Your obsession with animal rights dovetailing with Liam’s need for vengeance. You went along with his plan because you hate people – especially people like the Pennefeathers
– and because your blood brother – Liam, Gabriel, Spider, whatever you want to call him – he’s richer than God, and he’ll look after Sammy, the only human being you’ve ever loved.’

  He saw Raoul’s jaw tightening.

  ‘You, Duwayne and Spider, you went through hell together: the “uncles”, Muxworthy, Christ knows what else.’ He leaned forward, moving closer to Raoul, feeling the man’s breath on his forearm. ‘But it made you what you are – you and Liam. And when a man comes from where he did, when a man is Gabriel Pennefeather from Pennefeather Hall, abandoned like an unwanted Christmas puppy when he should have had it all…’

  Raoul snapped.

  ‘You have no idea what we went through.’ He met Joe’s gaze. ‘No. Fucking. Idea.’

  Joe leaned back in his chair. The seconds ticked by but Raoul merely stared into the middle distance, breathing heavily, eyes glazed with tears.

  ‘Fuck off,’ he said quietly. ‘Both of you. Just go.’

  Duffy’s chair creaked as he leaned forward.

  ‘I hear you’re going to conduct your own defence, Raoul. Turn the trial into a soap box for animal rights.’ He smiled then turned the knife. ‘If the cancer doesn’t get you first.’

  Raoul turned to face the policeman.

  ‘Your village called,’ he said. ‘They want their idiot back.’

  Joe swallowed a smile, watching Duffy’s face redden. He turned back to Raoul.

  ‘There’s a baby caught up in this. An innocent victim, just like Liam was. Like you were. Like Sammy is.’ He let the words sink in. ‘It’s only a matter of time before Liam is found. There’s no way he’ll be able to help Sammy then. Not from behind bars.’

  The man blinked twice in quick succession. Joe had touched a nerve.

  ‘Where is Liam?’ said Joe. ‘Where is Spider going?’ He leaned in closer. ‘What’s the plan?’

  Raoul paused for a moment then got to his feet.

  ‘I can’t help you.’ He crossed to the door and rapped on the panel. ‘Now piss off. I’m in the middle of a game of chess.’

  33

  As the sun dipped over Canterbury police station, streaking the sky salmon pink, the answer to Joe’s question – where’s Liam? – appeared to come from a preliminary analysis of O’Mara’s laptop. But it wasn’t Bryan Messenger who made the discovery, it was Katie.

  ‘I didn’t expect to see you here,’ said Joe as he entered the incident room with Duffy. He took stock of the scene. The whiteboard. The photos. The familiar faces hunched over their computers.

  Katie frowned. ‘Are you allowed in here?’

  Messenger cleared his throat and moved to pre-empt the possibility of marital discord interfering with the business at hand.

  ‘Play nice, you two,’ he said, giving Joe a tight smile. ‘Katie was in at the beginning. I asked her to go through O’Mara’s laptop.’ He put a hand on Katie’s shoulder. ‘Joe’s been helpful from the start of this case. So it’s all hands on deck, OK?’

  Katie rolled her eyes then caught sight of the bandage on Hugh’s nose.

  ‘What the hell happened to you?’

  Duffy gave a sheepish shrug. ‘I fell in the shower.’

  She raised a quizzical eyebrow.

  ‘You don’t have a sh—’

  She tailed off, her face flushing with embarrassment. Messenger’s eyes flickered from Katie to Joe. Realization dawning, he looked away, feigning interest in a stain on his tie.

  Joe pretended not to hear his wife’s slip of the tongue. His own indifference told him all he needed to know. His marriage was over. There was no time to process the thought.

  ‘We found Duwayne,’ said Messenger. ‘He’s got a solid alibi for the night Bella died. We’re checking his story for the time of Adam’s death. But he confirms that Liam’s nickname was Spider.’

  Joe gave a nod. ‘I guess telling me that Spider was dead was to throw me off the scent?’

  Messenger gave a shrug.

  ‘He didn’t go into detail about what happened in care. We’ll bring him in if the second alibi doesn’t check out.’

  The whiteboard was dotted with photos of the principal players: from Bella, Isobel and Saffron to Felix Goodchild, Tom Lycett and Raoul Jonas. The photo of Liam had pride of place in the centre of the board. The man’s crooked smile seemed to have taken on an edge of mockery. Joe prised the photo from the board and stuck it next to the picture of Saffron.

  Liam’s wife.

  The mother of his child.

  His sister.

  ‘How did you get on at Elmley?’ said Messenger.

  Duffy loosened his tie.

  ‘If Jonas knows what Liam’s up to, he’s not telling us.’

  Joe nodded. ‘He only has one priority: making sure Liam looks after his kid when he’s gone. And that’s not going to happen if Raoul shops him.’

  Messenger sat on the corner of Katie’s desk.

  ‘It was worth a shot,’ he said. ‘Meanwhile, we’ve got the Met staking out O’Mara’s flat. We’re on to every branch of Planet Pizza. We’ve got alerts at ports and airports.’

  Katie was focusing on Liam’s laptop. She straightened up in her chair.

  ‘Eurostar.’

  ‘Already on it,’ said Messenger.

  She shook her head. ‘It’s here, in O’Mara’s cache. The timetable for tonight.’

  The three men crowded around the desk, peering at the computer.

  ‘O’Mara kept logging on,’ said Katie. ‘Eight times, three days ago.’ She scrolled through the website history. ‘He’s also been checking out ferry timetables. Kept alternating between the two: Eurostar trains and Dover ferries.’

  ‘That’s two escape routes we can count out,’ said Joe.

  Messenger turned, frowning. ‘How do you work that out?’

  ‘He’s been plotting this since his eighteenth birthday. He knows stations, ports and airports will be on high alert; and he knows we’re on the lookout for his registration number.’

  Messenger shrugged. ‘So he’s got another car.’

  ‘And a fake passport,’ said Duffy.

  Joe shook his head. ‘It’s too easy. A bluff to distract us from his real plan.’

  Duffy narrowed his eyes. ‘Which is?’

  Joe smiled. ‘I have no idea.’

  Messenger sighed. ‘You’re as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.’

  He got to his feet and reached for his jacket, turning to Duffy.

  ‘I’ll take Eurostar, you take the ferries.’

  ‘What about me?’ said Katie.

  ‘You’ve done your bit,’ said Messenger. ‘We can’t risk you being too hands-on. Don’t want trouble with the CPS.’

  Katie’s eyes widened. ‘Are you serious?’

  Messenger nodded. ‘Luke is still part of this case. I can’t have everything jeopardized by your conflict of interests.’ He picked up his keys and mobile. ‘When we nick O’Mara you can count on a spritzer, plus a pint for my old mate Joe.’

  Joe stood beside Katie, watching Messenger walk out of the office, Duffy in his wake. There was no eye contact between Katie and the DS. Joe felt sure they’d had a falling-out.

  It was clear his wife was trying to keep a lid on her temper. She resumed her scrutiny of the websites on Liam’s laptop.

  ‘You really think this is a bluff?’

  ‘Maybe, maybe not,’ said Joe. ‘But I don’t believe escape is his top priority.’

  ‘So what is?’

  He met her gaze.

  ‘Revenge.’

  * * *

  Forty minutes later, sitting in Katie’s car, Joe watched her flash her ID at the PC stationed outside Pennefeather Hall. She drove along the tree-lined path that curved towards the mansion. Darkness was closing in. The keepers were carrying out their evening chores, feeding animals, transferring others to night-time enclosures.

  Once again, the wildlife park had been closed to the public, this time on the instructions of Felix, who had taken charge on
behalf of his sister and niece. Joe wondered if Raoul’s anti-zoo crusade had inflicted a fatal blow. Had permanent closure of the wildlife park been the aim of Liam’s campaign, or a fringe benefit for Jonas?

  As shadows lengthened over the meadow, two bison drank from the trough, paying no heed to the car. Rounding the bend, Joe glimpsed the Sumatran tiger loping through its habitat, passing the waterfall before vanishing into a clump of vegetation. The Colobus monkeys clambered around their enclosure, swinging from frames on the far side of the fence.

  Moving on, they passed giant anteaters, snow leopards and ocelots, before reaching the corral that housed the honey badgers. The sight of the ferocious creatures made Joe think of Chrissie McBride. The reporter had been notable by her absence. He guessed she was no longer receiving pillow-talk tip-offs from Duffy.

  Passing the plaque that commemorated the (supposedly) short life of Gabriel Pennefeather, Katie slowed the car.

  ‘How could he do this?’ she said. ‘How could he?’

  Joe studied his wife’s face.

  ‘I guess we never know what goes on in people’s heads.’

  If his voice contained a hint of reproach, Katie didn’t notice.

  ‘But having sex with his own flesh and blood – deliberately…’

  Joe thought back to Isobel’s tirade, aimed at Saffron: As for you – nine months pregnant and rutting like an animal while your sister’s lying on a slab. You disgust me.

  Joe had seen a documentary about genetic sexual attraction, the powerful, often irresistible, erotic charge that can be overwhelming when siblings separated at a young age meet in later life. What had Bella written in her diary?

  Saffron and Liam still SEX MAD after two years!!!

  Katie was fulminating, her lip curled in disgust.

  ‘The cold-blooded calculation involved in making his own sister fall in love with him. And then getting her pregnant. It’s depraved.’ She shuddered then eased the car forward. ‘Punish the parents – that I can understand. But what did Saffron do to Liam? What was Bella’s crime?’

  ‘They had his life,’ said Joe. The mansion loomed before them. ‘They had this.’