Dead Lucky

by Lee Wood

  Roger told Ian. “I can’t believe the police are powerless to do something about these people. I’ve been looking into them to find information I could pass on to the police, to try to get some sort of justice for my daughter, but it all takes so much time. Before my daughter’s death, I had planned a few days away on a cruise starting next week, but I might cancel it and look deeper into the O’Connors. Surely someone has to stand up to them.”

  Before the two men parted, Ian gave Roger a last piece of advice.

  “I’m sorry for what happened to your daughter, but I must advise you not to get involved with these people. They are unscrupulous, with a total disregard for the law. If you do decide to get try to uncover their activities, watch your back and tread carefully or who knows what might happen. And don’t expect much help from the police.”

  17

  Out of Court

  In his mind, Roger kept going over the time spent sitting in the courtroom during the trial. He had seen just how cold the man in the dock had been. And he had witnessed first hand the members of the man’s family sitting around him in the public gallery. The things he had overheard them say. The threats they had made to the people who came forward to give evidence. And then there was the matter of the main witness who had changed his story so that Kevin O’Connor, with the help of his clever lawyer, had been able to walk free from the court.

  And when he had been in the corridor waiting outside the courtroom, Roger had overheard a couple of the police officers talking about the O’Connors and how the police had been after him them for years but could never find enough evidence to convict them. So it seems they had always managed to stay one step ahead of them. His lawyer had confirmed that the O’Connor family were ‘people of interest’ to the police but they seemed to operate outside of the law.

  And he remembered one or two of the remarks the two detectives had made during their recent visit.

  They believed the witness had either been paid off or more likely, threatened, to change his story. The things they had told him about how they would like to do more but sadly lacked the resources.

  The more Roger thought about everything that had happened the more determined he was to try to get some justice for his daughter.

  He was confident he could change that. As a relatively wealthy man, he had all the resources it would take. He could discover what Kevin O’Connor’s illegal activities were, gather the evidence against him and present it to the police so they could convict him. It might not be for causing the death of his daughter and her best friend, but it would represent some sort of justice. And besides, with his daughter gone, what else did he have to occupy his mind?

  Trentbridge Engineering could run without Roger at the helm. The four divisions each had strong leadership and his PA could handle all the day-to-day matters. Two years ago, when he had gone on a trip to the US and Australia the business had run without him for the two months he was away. In fact, he was proud that many of his team had introduced new systems into the business. So he was in no doubt they could cope while he was spending time looking into the affairs of the O’Connor family.

  But he would have to be careful. He was about to go up against a family who would stop at nothing to get their own way. From things he had overheard the police officers in court discussing, he wondered how many more people the man had killed in the past. And how many more would suffer in the future at the hands of the unscrupulous family?

  Roger had seen the police were virtually powerless to stop Kevin. If he was going to do better, then he needed to do things the police were unable or unwilling to do. But keep within the law.

  He had spent a lot of time working on a plan, and now he was ready to carry it out. Whatever the risks.

  The clock on the dashboard displayed 6.02 a.m. Roger pressed the remote and the garage door opened to allow his Range Rover to emerge. He set the satnav for Fen Road, an area of Trentbridge he knew mainly by reputation and had only visited on one occasion that he could recall. Twenty-four years earlier, when he was first starting his engineering business and was looking for cheap premises he had looked at a unit on a small industrial estate there, but it didn’t have the three-phase electricity supply he needed, and so he opted for a small start-up unit on the Milton Industrial Estate.

  With virtually no traffic to contend with, it took just fifteen minutes before the satnav showed Roger was close to reaching his destination. The Range Rover turned onto Fen Road, and he drove along at fifteen miles an hour to take in the surroundings. He knew he would be able to review everything later thanks to the front and rear HD-quality dash cams attached to his vehicle. He could view everything using the BlackVue app on his phone, which he could then download and watch on his computer.

  He drove to the end of the road, passing the various caravan parks and small commercial estates that were spread the length of the road. At various points, he could see the River Stern that sometimes ran close to the road and at other points disappeared behind the houses or structures that made up that side of the road.

  Fen Road was a no through road that came to an end when it reached the blocked-off entrance to Manor Farm. As he turned around and drove slowly back the way he had come, he noticed across on the neighbouring Pickstone Council estate a handful of ‘To Let’ boards, with the names of various estate agents, one of which was on a board opposite the Two Oaks Caravan Park. He recalled in one of the newspaper stories reporting the trial it had mentioned that Kevin O’Connor lived in a large house next to the Two Oaks caravan site. The newspaper had even shown a photograph of the property, together with a photo of Kevin which had been taken as he entered the court.

  Roger made a note of the estate agent’s details and then drove out of Fen Road and around to the council estate to view the property. After checking out the house from the front, he walked down the side alleyway and came to the back garden. From there he had a view of Kevin O’Connor’s house. It looked like the view from one of the upstairs rooms would be far better but he would need to check that when he came back with the estate agent and had a tour of the inside of the house. He would phone them later and make an appointment.

  After pouring the milk onto his muesli, Roger sat down at the kitchen table, opened his laptop and typed in the estate agents website address. It didn’t take long to find the details of the house. It was on a six-month let while the owners were working abroad. Allowing them a few minutes to settle in and grab a coffee, he called the estate agents at 9.05 a.m., the lady he spoke to arranged to meet him at 39 Cheney Way at midday.

  It turned out to be a fully furnished three-bedroomed house, and after the tour and confirming the back bedroom would give him a good view so he could track the comings and goings from the O’Connor residence, he agreed to rent the property for the six-month period, telling the lady it was for one of his employees.

  They agreed to meet at her office at 2 p.m., and sort out all the paperwork. He could collect a set of keys so ‘his employee’ could move in without delay.

  After sorting out the paperwork, Roger set off to his next appointment. He had seen a small second-hand van being advertised on the local buy and sell website at a small garage.

  The silver VW Transporter on offer was in good condition and previously owned by a company which he presumed had gone bankrupt. It still had their name sign written on the side: Ravendale Couriers.

  The garage said they could remove the signs and deliver the van within a couple of days. Roger told them he needed the van quickly and he could arrange for the signwriting to be removed. He said he would buy the vehicle if they could deliver it later that day to his engineering business address and hand the keys over at reception. He arranged a bank-to-bank money transfer for the £3,000 asking price and phoned his secretary Wendy, for her to arrange the insurance and tax of the vehicle.

  18

  Undercover

  Having the vehicle would allow Roger to drive round and people would think he was making deliveries. />
  No one would take much notice of a courier vehicle and might expect to see them darting about from one place to another. It would enable Roger to get a sense of what Kevin O’Connor was up to.

  Roger could hardly ask the police what information they had on Kevin O’Connor or what to expect from the man, so it would take a lot of time and work to build up the information Roger needed. The sooner he started the better.

  That night, he would stay in his own house and get an early start. Then, the following evening he would move into his new home at Cheney Way.

  When he left the house at six the next morning, it was too early for the local bakers to be open, so Roger made a stop at the Shell garage that was open twenty-four hours and picked up a couple of sandwiches and soft drinks. It could be the evening before he had a chance to get something to eat.

  Just after 6.30 a.m., Roger parked his van on Fen Road, close to the Two Oaks Caravan Park and with a view of the O’Connors’ driveway so he could see any vehicle coming or going.

  For the next hour, he watched as various vehicles passed by from the various caravan sites, most of them Transit-size vehicles with company logos for trades such as tarmacing, landscaping and gardening services.

  At 7.30 he saw a Transit van drive out of Kevin O’Connor’s driveway. On the side of the van, he saw the name ‘KC Landscaping Services’. The van drove off, and Roger followed at a discreet distance. The vehicle drove across town to the more affluent area of Cherrywood where Roger’s house was. Finally, he saw the vehicle stop outside a house on Luard Road. These were very sought-after houses close to the town centre and Fenner’s Cricket Ground. It was obvious Kevin was there to undertake or quote for landscaping work.

  Roger watched and after ten minutes, saw Kevin and his son Tyson emerge from the house and unlock the ladder attached to the roof of the Transit van and go back to the house.

  An hour and a half later the two men re-emerged. They had what looked like three bags full of tree branches cut into pieces and then proceeded to put the ladder back on the roof. Roger watched as an old lady came out of the front door and handed Kevin an envelope, which he opened and seemed to be counting. He couldn’t see the note denominations, but it looked to be a fair amount of money, especially if it was for less than the two hours they had been there.

  Roger followed the Transit out to a country lane where it suddenly stopped in a layby. As Roger pulled in to a farm drive to avoid being seen, he watched as Kevin and Tyson unloaded the three bags of tree cuttings into a ditch, obviously to avoid having to take it to the local council tip and paying the fee they charge for commercial users.

  The Transit moved off, and Roger followed them again. On two occasions, due to traffic, he nearly lost them and on one of these occasions had to jump an amber traffic light. He knew he couldn’t continue to follow them in this way.

  The next house they stopped at was in the area of Trumpington, and once again it was a reasonably large detached house. The same thing happened with the ladder being unlocked and less than two hours later, the two men emerging from the house. This time all Roger saw was Kevin stuffing a brown envelope into his back pocket as he walked to the driver’s side of the Transit.

  Roger managed to follow without losing them as they headed back to Fen Road. He parked up in the same place he had occupied first thing that morning.

  An hour later, Roger noticed a large black 4x4 BMW coming out of the O’Connor driveway. Once again he followed the vehicle, keeping a discreet distance until it indicated and turned into the car park of the Lion and Lamb pub. Roger drove past the pub, turned his van around and parked in a layby twenty yards from the pub car park entrance. It had proven to be a blessing as he had been desperate to take a leak for the past hour.

  It was nearly 2 p.m., and Roger unwrapped the second sandwich and can of Coke. The next day, he would come better prepared with a flask of coffee he would make before leaving his new home.

  It was close to three hours before Kevin drove out of the pub car park. He turned right, heading back the way he had come. Once again, Roger followed at a discreet distance. The 4x4 seemed to be wandering from side to side like the driver was drunk. Roger didn’t know how much Kevin had had to drink, but he thought you wouldn’t spend three hours in a pub and only sip one pint.

  From what he had learned of the O’Connor family, they liked their drink. This had been the reason his daughter had been killed. In court, they said the police officers visited Kevin’s home after the accident and taken him to the police station where he was given a drink-drive alcohol test, and it had been positive. Even after the elapsed time, he was still three times over the limit. If something wasn’t done to stop him, it was only a matter of time before he did the same to someone else. Another incident involving the son or daughter of some other unfortunate family.

  Roger spent the time wisely, sitting in the layby opposite the Lion and Lamb. He used his phone to search eBay for covert vehicle tracking devices and found a listing for ‘Covert Magnetic GPS Tracker TK104’. The company listed them at £85 each and the sales blurb said ‘The 104-Pro is supplied ready to use out of the box and once powered, it will automatically start reporting its location and speed along with many other useful parameters to our cloud tracking software GPSLive’.

  So rather than try to follow the Transit or any of Kevin’s other vehicles and risk being seen if he could manage to attach one of the devices to the vehicles he could follow at a much greater distance to avoid being noticed. He ordered three of the devices. That way, given a chance he could attach them to the different vehicles Kevin used. He’d seen the Transit and the 4x4 but from the court case it seemed the vehicle Kevin had been driving on the day he hit Julie and Sarah was a vehicle not registered in Kevin’s name. It had been stolen in Birmingham a few days earlier.

  During his online search, Roger also purchased what the website described as a Travel Continence Aid. In other words a plastic bottle with an attachment he could use to pee in to.

  After following Kevin back to Fen Road, Roger drove the short distance to his new address. He just needed to find a local shop to buy some fresh milk and bread.

  19

  Tracking

  The next morning, with only a short distance to travel, Roger arrived and parked up on Fen Road as he had done the previous morning.

  To be on the safe side, he arrived at 6.30 a.m. Based on the previous day, he expected the Transit to leave at around 7.30. However, at 8.20 there was still no movement of any vehicles. He needed to have a better view of what was happening inside. That would be tricky, but Google maps had shown the house backed on to the River Stern, and there was a public footpath that ran past the back of the house.

  Roger decided if no one was going to leave, it was worth having a look around the back. Maybe there was a chance to set up a surveillance camera so he could learn more about the activities of Kevin O’Connor.

  One thing was certain. Taking on this man and his family was not going to be easy. It certainly wasn’t like the movies where you have a computer wizard who can hack into systems and traffic cameras and follow suspects across town. This was going to be far more complex and time-consuming. But nothing was going to put Roger off. He was going to find evidence of this man’s illegal activities and present a watertight case to the police so they could take him to court.

  The only thing Roger had going for him was the fact he was a wealthy man. He could afford it and was prepared to spend whatever it took to destroy this evil family before they hurt someone else.

  The pathway from Fen Road down to the river was about fifty yards along from Kevin’s house. As Roger got to the end of the path and proceeded to walk towards the house, he noticed what looked like Kevin unloading boxes from a canal boat that, from what he could see, was moored directly behind the property. Rather than risk being recognised, Roger turned left and walked in the opposite direction. About 400 yards further on was a bridge. It might have been a good idea to get a better v
iew from the other side of the river, especially as there were open fields over that side and behind the path on that side was a raised bank. That would give Roger a better chance of seeing what Kevin was up to.

  Roger walked over the bridge and stood behind one of the grey metal pillars so he could observe what was happening without being seen. He wondered what Kevin was up to. Roger was fairly certain it couldn’t be legal the way they were skulking round. He wondered what was in the boxes.

  He watched as Kevin and two extremely scruffy men unloaded the boxes and take them through a gate in the high metal fence that stands at the rear of the property. In total, Roger counted twenty-seven boxes but he knew there must have been more unloaded before he arrived. Once they finished, Kevin disappeared through the gate and shut it. The two men returned to the canal boat and he watched as they set off down the river towards Stonebridge.