Dave Slater Mystery Novels Box Set Three

by P. F. Ford

  Slater grimaced. ‘And is he?’

  ‘Not that I can see,’ said Norman, ‘but she insists I’ve got to keep following him and she keeps on paying ...’

  ‘You always said you wouldn’t take jobs like that.’

  ‘I seem to recall we both said it,’ Norman reminded him, ‘but it’s a necessary evil. I have to make money somehow. Even though I don’t eat anywhere near the amount of food I used to, I can’t live on fresh air.’

  ‘I said it would be like that,’ Slater told him, but again there didn’t seem to be any hint of smugness.

  ‘Yeah, I know, but I’m sure if I’m prepared to put up with a few crappy jobs to start with, the good stuff will find its way to me in the end,’ said Norman. ‘Anyway, enough about my work. What are you going to do now you’re back?’

  ‘I have no idea. I’ve burnt my bridges with the police, that’s for sure.’

  ‘Walking out the first time was risky,’ agreed Norman, ‘but doing it the second time certainly wasn’t your finest hour. I know you were upset, but maybe you should have waited for the dust to settle first.’

  ‘I wouldn’t want to go back again, Norm. It was a mistake going back last time. I’ve always believed right is right and wrong is wrong, but the older I’ve got, the more I find I have to compromise my principles to do my job. Bad people get away with bad things far too often for my liking, and as a police officer, I just had to sit back and let them get away with it. Even when we know they’re guilty, we have to let them free on some stupid technicality, and they laugh in our faces as they walk out! I’ve done a lot of soul-searching while I’ve been away, and I know I can’t work like that again.’

  ‘I get where you’re coming from, but I don’t think there’s a vacancy for Superman right now,’ said Norman.

  Slater smiled. ‘Just as well, really. I’ve never felt comfortable wearing my underwear on the outside. It’s not a look that suits me.’

  ‘But seriously, what are you going to do?’

  ‘I’ll think of something.’

  ‘You could come and work with me,’ suggested Norman.

  Slater looked across at him. ‘I thought you said you only had one job.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I’ve been looking at another one today, and I think it may be the one I’ve been waiting for.’

  ‘I’m not sure spying on cheating husbands is my thing.’

  ‘This isn’t about spying on anyone.’

  ‘I don’t know, Norm ...’

  ‘Look, if this is because of me being selfish, I promise you I’ve changed. And you won’t believe how tidy I have had to become to keep Jane happy.’

  ‘When did I ever complain about you being selfish?’ asked Slater.

  ‘You didn’t,’ said Norman, ‘but when I was working with Naomi, she pointed it out to me. She told me how I always used to leave you to do all the paperwork and crap that I don’t like doing. She said I was selfish, and it must drive you mad, but you wouldn’t complain because you’re you. She said you went back to the police because you didn’t want to work with me.’

  ‘I went back to the police because I was an idiot,’ said Slater, grimly.

  Norman wasn’t sure how to respond to that and settled for saying nothing.

  ‘You did tend to leave me to do the crap,’ admitted Slater, ‘but it never stopped me wanting to work with you. I can honestly say I enjoyed working with you, I always did.’

  ‘So why don’t we start again? Only this time I’ll do my fair share, and if I don’t, you’ll let me know.’

  ‘I thought you and Naomi were a team.’

  ‘We were, sort of, but when that homeless kid got killed, she took it badly. She felt it was her fault. Now she’s decided she can’t do it anymore.’

  ‘I thought she wanted to make a difference.’

  ‘Yeah, but didn’t we all at one time? She still does want to make a difference, but now she thinks she can do more good by working with people who need help, like the homeless.’

  Slater nodded his approval. ‘She’s probably right. Maybe I should do something like that.’

  ‘The point is, Naomi’s out of the picture, so what do you say?’ asked Norman.

  Slater thought about it. ‘But if you’re getting together with Jane you’re going to need the money, Norm. It wouldn’t be right for me to come barging in now, not after you’ve spent money and done all the work getting things set up for yourself.’

  Norman felt his face begin to redden. ‘Ah, yeah, well, that’s where it gets a little embarrassing,’ he said, sheepishly. ‘The thing is, I haven’t exactly spent any money. The business remains “Slater and Norman”, and I’m using the stationery we had printed that says the same thing. I was going to get it changed once I started to make some money.’

  Slater laughed at Norman’s discomfort. ‘And you were worried about telling me that?’

  ‘Well, I thought maybe you wouldn’t want your name to be associated—’

  ‘Jesus, Norm, I’ve never been embarrassed to be associated with you. Why would I? You’re my best mate, for God’s sake. If anything, I’m the embarrassment, the way I go storming off in a huff every time things don’t go quite how I want them to.’

  ‘I wouldn’t put it quite like that,’ said Norman. ‘You have principles. I understand that.’

  ‘You don’t have to dress it up, Norm – we both know I’m a forty-something who can behave like a toddler.’

  Norman wasn’t sure quite how he should respond to Slater’s honesty, but luckily, he didn’t have to.

  ‘However, in my defence,’ Slater continued, ‘I’ve just spent several weeks learning how to be a better person, so I should be able to behave a bit more like an adult in future.’

  Now it was Norman’s turn to laugh. ‘You’re going to be an adult? You’re kidding me, right? Does Watson know about this?’

  Slater could see the funny side, and he was smiling too. ‘Having shared a hotel room with me for two weeks, she says she likes the new, adult me even better than the old one.’

  ‘Is she gonna be upset that I know about you and her?’

  ‘Nice try, Norm, but you’re not going to catch me out. I already told you there is no me and her. She was happy to walk through customs with me, but I was the one who suggested we shouldn’t come out together because I thought it might not look good for her new job if anyone saw her with me.’

  They drove on in silence for a few minutes until Norman spoke again. ‘Well, while you’ve got nothing else to do, I could do with some help.’

  ‘What about this guy you should be spying on?’

  ‘They’re in Portugal for three weeks, staying with her parents. She says he wouldn’t dare risk messing around in front of them. And if you’re worried about an early start, I don’t usually start until ten. It makes up for all the times I have to work late.’

  Slater grinned. ‘You don’t give up, do you?’

  ‘What else have you got to do?’ asked Norman. ‘Why don’t you sleep on it and let me know in the morning?’

  Chapter 3

  Despite having had little sleep, Slater was intrigued by Norman’s new case. As they ate breakfast, he asked questions.

  ‘So, this convicted guy is called Steve Harris, and his story is that his wife, Julie, had arranged to go away for the weekend to see an old friend. While she was away, her sister, Jackie Smith, moved in and kept her side of the bed warm, right?’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Norman, ‘but at the time, the sister said that was a lie, and her husband insisted she was at home with him.’

  ‘It was the Smiths’ word against his, and that meant his alibi was toast, right?’

  ‘To be honest, if we’d been investigating this case, we’d have thought his alibi was bullshit too,’ said Norman.

  ‘But now a priest has come forward to say the sister confessed she was lying and Smith was with her that weekend?’

  ‘That’s about the size of it.’

  ‘And the
re’s no forensic evidence to link Harris to the murder?’

  ‘That’s how it looks,’ Norman said. ‘The whole case against him relied on three things. First, the witness who claimed to have seen the car. Second, that he didn’t report her missing until Monday evening. Third, the fact all their friends said they had the sort of marriage that was mostly arguments that sometimes blew up into actual fights.’

  ‘Why didn’t he report her missing?’

  ‘He says it was because Jackie Smith was still at his house on Monday morning. He says she didn’t want to go home because she was frightened of her husband.’

  Slater pulled a face. ‘What about Harris fighting with his wife? Was that his fault?’

  ‘Probably. It seems our friend Mr Harris is the type of guy who regards adultery as a hobby – just like some guys go fishing, he went shagging. But his wife wasn’t the sort to take that without a murmur. He openly admits he couldn’t resist a pretty face and was a crap husband. On the other hand, he also claims he loved his wife and would never raise a hand to her.’

  ‘But what about the fights?’

  ‘Plenty of people said they argued a lot, but no one can recall Julie ever saying he had hit her, nor seeing any bruises on her. One or two of the men reckon they had seen scratches and bruises on Steve, although he never complained about her.’

  ‘She was the violent one? That’s unusual.’

  ‘Yeah, but when that came out, it was used against him. They claimed Julie was leaving him and he followed her to try and stop her. An argument developed, she started hitting him, went too far, and he lost his temper and killed her in retaliation.’

  ‘As a theory, I suppose it works,’ said Slater. He chewed thoughtfully for a few moments. ‘What do you think, Norm? What’s your theory?’

  ‘Heck, I haven’t got that far yet, but we know the original case seems to hinge on the alibi or lack thereof. After hearing about the confession, you’d have to question that, right?’

  ‘But without the priest, you’ve got nothing,’ said Slater.

  ‘That’s true,’ admitted Norman, ‘but then there’s this other guy who claims someone else got paid fifty thousand pounds. I know he could be spinning a line, but if I can find him and he’s telling the truth, maybe we won’t need the priest at all.’

  Slater nodded. ‘If the priest is right and the Smiths were lying about her being at home,’ he mused, ‘you have to wonder what they were hiding – and why? What do we know about this Smith guy?’

  ‘Not much that I can recall,’ said Norman. ‘Like I said, I’ve still got a lot of reading to do.’

  Slater grinned. ‘If he’s the sort of guy who knew what his wife was up to, maybe he coerced her into the lie so he could make sure Steve Harris got the blame for the murder. Maybe Smith saw it as payback for Harris messing around with Mrs Smith.’

  ‘Jeez, d’you think so? That’s one hell of a payback.’

  Slater winked at him. ‘It’s a theory, right? It might be somewhere for us to start.’

  ‘Us? You mean you’ll help me?’

  ‘Like you said, I’ve got nothing else to do, have I?’

  Chapter 4

  When Slater and Norman had first taken over the converted stable block a few months ago, they never quite decided how they were going to use the rooms, and because he couldn’t make his mind up what would be best, Norman had chosen to decorate only the front office and keep the larger one empty. For this reason, it hadn’t been finished yet, but it was now ideally suited to become their ‘incident room’, the off-white boards that covered the walls quite adequate for the purpose.

  Slater stepped back and admired his handiwork. With all the photographs and a few notes pinned to the walls, it was beginning to look like they were running a proper investigation. Just at that moment, Norman walked in carrying two mugs of tea. He had his notebook tucked under his arm.

  ‘Wow! It’s almost like the real thing,’ he said.

  ‘I thought it might be a bit easier to follow things if we had it all laid out,’ said Slater. ‘We still need to join all the dots, but it’s a start.’

  He pointed to the photograph of Steve Harris. ‘I feel I should know this guy, but I can’t think why.’

  ‘I can’t help you there,’ said Norman. ‘If he was an old case, it was before my time. He was in prison long before I arrived on the scene.’

  ‘It’ll come to me, I’m sure,’ said Slater. He pointed to a photo of Jackie Smith. ‘Of course, if she were still alive this would be a bloody sight easier, but then I suppose that’s exactly why we’ve got this case.’

  Then he pointed to a photograph of a caravan. ‘What do we know about this caravan?’

  Norman put the teas down, joined Slater in front of the boards, and consulted his notes. ‘It was owned by the company that employed Julie Harris. Apparently, it was a staff benefit. For a nominal fee, anyone could use it as long as they booked in advance.’

  ‘And Julie had booked it?’

  ‘It wasn’t booked by anyone that weekend because the site closes down from the end of November through to the first of March. Apparently, there was maintenance work planned, but she would have known when that was due to happen.’

  ‘Was it the maintenance team who found her?’

  ‘The maintenance was never carried out, so it was several weeks before anyone looked inside.’

  ‘That was convenient for whoever murdered her. Do we know why the work never happened?’ Slater asked.

  ‘I can’t find anything about it. It’s something we need to check out.’

  ‘Julie was the boss’s secretary, wasn’t she?’

  ‘Two guys jointly owned the company. They shared her.’

  ‘Was there any suggestion they were …’

  ‘According to what we know, both marriages were fine, and there was nothing to suggest anything was going on that shouldn’t have been. But it was her job to keep track of the caravan bookings, so she would have known it was empty that weekend.’

  ‘And this place is in Wales, isn’t it? What’s that, a four-hour drive from here?’

  ‘About that, yeah.’

  ‘If he’d driven there, Harris’s car would have shown up on the CCTV across the Severn Bridge, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah, but they couldn’t find any sign of it,’ said Norman. ‘Their theory was that he could easily have gone the long way around, and avoided the CCTV.’

  ‘Bloody hell, how many hours does that add to the journey?’ asked Slater. ‘And did they have proof using the Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras?’

  ‘If they had proof, there’s no mention of it here.’

  ‘Christ, you were right when you said the case was circumstantial. You could drive a bloody bus through some of these holes.’

  ‘If you ask me, it wasn’t what the police could prove so much as what Harris’s defence couldn’t prove that led to his conviction.’

  ‘What do you make of this crime scene?’ Slater pointed to the photos beneath the caravan.

  Norman gazed at the photographs. He hadn’t had time to study them yet as he’d been reading all the written material. After a minute or so, he spoke. ‘That’s a very tidy crime scene if it was a fight that got out of hand.’

  ‘Right,’ agreed Slater. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Well, if that’s all the luggage they found, I’d say that’s a damned small holdall to pack if she was leaving home.’

  ‘That’s what I thought. That bag would barely hold enough to last a weekend.’

  ‘Unless you were planning on spending the weekend in bed,’ added Norman.

  ‘Exactly. I don’t think Julie was leaving home for good. I think she was on a dirty weekend of her own. So who was she hoping to spend that dirty weekend with?’

  ‘Even if we’re right and she was meeting someone,’ said Norman, ‘it doesn’t put Steve Harris in the clear. If anything, it reinforces the motive they put forward.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ said
Slater, ‘but that’s not what I’m suggesting. What happened to the guy who was meeting her? Why didn’t he find the body and report it? If he saw Harris arrive and kept out of his way I understand that, but why not come forward and tell the police Harris had been there? There wouldn’t be much doubt about who murdered her then, would there?’

  ‘Perhaps he did a runner because he had a wife of his own at home?’

  ‘But even if he didn’t want to show his face, he could have made an anonymous call. And what if he didn’t run away? What if he killed her?’

  ‘Maybe he didn’t show up for some reason, or perhaps you’re right and it was because he was the one who killed Julie – and Steve Harris is telling the truth.’

  ‘There you go, Norm. It’s just like the old days. We’re still on the same wavelength.’

  ‘So now you’re back in the saddle you’re starting to enjoy yourself. See, I said you would.’

  ‘If I thought it was going to be like this all the time, I would find it hard to say no,’ admitted Slater. ‘But we both know we’d be more likely to be spying on cheating spouses. I’m not sure I can handle doing that all the time.’

  ‘Aw, come on, don’t think like that,’ Norman urged him. ‘Who knows what might happen if we can crack this one?’

  ‘If we’re going to do this, we need to start by speaking to Steve Harris.’

  ‘No problem. While you were sticking things to the wall in here, I made a couple of phone calls. We’re going up there tomorrow morning.’

  Slater’s head snapped round to stare at him. Norman grinned back at him. ‘Hey, don’t look so surprised. I told you I was a changed man.’

  Slater gave him a wry smile. ‘I’m not sure I can handle all this efficiency. I suppose you’ve got this afternoon planned as well, have you?’

  ‘I haven’t managed to track down Peter Brooks yet, but we have to start somewhere, so I thought we might visit Julie’s old workplace, as its nearest.’