The Value of Life

by Andy Crowson

  Chapter 15: A New Team

  Josef woke at seven with a thumping headache and fumbled through his bathroom cabinet for aspirin. He gulped two down with water and dived in the shower. He was getting dressed when his mobile rang, he didn't recognize the number.

  "Josef Lindahl," he said

  "Good morning," PC Whitlock said brightly. "I got your message, any progress or do you still want me to follow up with the families today?"

  "Actually," Josef said, "I think it's best if you come to the briefing this morning, get the full update, what do you think?"

  "Okay," she said.

  "Meet me in the canteen in half an hour?" he asked.

  "Sure," she said, and hung up.

  Josef got dressed double quick and was in the car in ten minutes, he didn't notice his headache was gone until he was halfway to the station. When he arrived in the canteen Whitlock was not there, so he bought two cups of coffee and biscuits, and waited at an obvious table. Five minutes later she entered and came over.

  "Good morning," she said. "Tired are you?"

  "Exhausted actually why?" he asked, frowning.

  "Your tie's on inside out," she said smiling. Josef looked down and saw the seam and the label in the back of his tie facing out.

  "Nah that's a new fashion," he said.

  "Yeah, I've read about that," she played along, "but you're supposed to do it with Armani ties, not sock shop!" She smiled.

  "Ah," Josef frowned. "Well, I've got an Armani one just like this, must have got mixed up on my tie rack."

  "Mmm," Whitlock said.

  "Why did you want me to come to the meeting?" she asked.

  "Well, there was another kidnapping last night," Josef said.

  "Bloody hell," Whitlock said, "what happened?"

  "A boy got taken on his way home from football training," he explained. "We found his football boots in the front garden."

  "Shit," she said. "Were the parents home?"

  "Yup."

  "Right under their noses every time." She sat shaking her head staring into the coffee mug.

  "Come on," Josef said. "We'll be late for the meeting."

  They were first in the interview room so Josef had a chance to check his notes before the meeting started. When everyone was in the room Bentworth began.

  "First things first. Let me tell you that I've been told to put together a public appeal and press conference. I've got to give a statement at twelve o'clock today and put together the appeal by six. I'm going to be talking to the families today to try and get them involved so any contact with them goes through me."

  He looked around the room. "What this means is I'm going to be busy with this all day and I'm going to be tied up organizing telephone hotlines and dealing with the press, so my involvement from now on is going to be minimal. I'm appointing DI Mason lead, he'll be taking these briefings and keeping me up to speed on what's happening. Unfortunately this is turning into a political minefield and with the first deadline tomorrow." He looked again around the room, nods of understanding coming from various places. "Well, that said, let's hear what you've got."

  Mason was first with his briefing.

  "The cab office is clean, the estate agent was shut and the owner has an alibi, the cabbie was also clean. There are no cameras on that part of the High Street so we can't get a look at who left the note. Looks like it was just a well executed scam though I can't see why he just didn't post it.

  "The analysis of the Beachams' computer showed nothing useful from either web activity or email. Nothing matched the Martins' computer except a search page and a few news pages from the BBC web site. The Beachams' ransom note is exactly the same as the first, just the cabbies prints on it and the PC who took it at the door," he concluded. "We didn't get anything from the first two families or scenes."

  "The second ransom note was in a stamped addressed envelope like the first one," Josef said. "Like he was going to post it then didn't."

  "Meaning?" Mason asked.

  "Meaning why didn't he?" Josef said.

  "Can't trust the post office to deliver anything on time?" Mason jibed. Josef ignored him.

  DS Ward summed up the door to door.

  "We didn't find anything, not a single thing," he said. "Not even the usual busy bodies who just want to complain about their neighbor." Bentworth nodded. Josef spoke next.

  "I asked PC Whitlock to speak to the families of the victims, find out some of the family background, she turned up something interesting on Mr. Martin." Bentworth nodded.

  "Fill us in Ms Whitlock," he said. She briefed them on the window breaking incident and the punishment.

  "Thanks, sounds interesting and runs with the abuse theory," Bentworth said. "Dig around and talk to friends, in my experience other kids notice more than adults." He turned to Josef.

  "Have you made any progress with the families or with the tapes?" he asked.

  "Not yet," Josef said. "But I've got some ideas I want to follow up on, we'll see how that goes today."

  "Good, well, that about sums it up and I've got to dash, dismissed," he said and as the others left and he was about go himself Mason held him back.

  "Sir," he said, "I didn't even know that woman was involved in our case, he can't just go recruiting whoever he likes."

  Bentworth smiled, "Sorry Brian, it was my call, I forgot to tell you."

  "I don't want her involved, she could ruin things," Mason persisted, "she doesn't have the experience we need, it's bad enough having one newbie on this case." Bentworth though for a moment.

  "She can partner Lindahl, you can partner Dave, but I want Lindahl involved in ALL the important interviews." Mason seemed pleased.

  "Okay," he said.

  "I mean it, ALL the important interviews," Bentworth persisted.

  "Sir," Mason nodded and was gone.

  Bentworth found Josef by the vending machine getting a sugar fix, Whitlock was with him.

  "I want you two to work together on this, Brian and Dave are one team, you two are the other," he looked Josef in the eye. "Try to stay clear of him will you, if you have any problems you have my number, keep me posted on anything you think is significant or that Mason doesn't want to follow up. I might not be around but I'm still in charge, and Jo," he leaned in conspiratorially. "I would have put you in charge but you don't have rank, I think this is your kind of case, anyway, call me if you have any trouble."

  When Bentworth had gone Josef was still shocked.

  "You hear that?" he said looking at the door through which Bentworth had just disappeared.

  "Sure did," Whitlock said in a teasing tone. "CDI's golden boy, Jo?"

  "Give it up," he said casually, hoping he wasn't as red as he felt. "Wanna chocolate biscuit?"

  They sat at a desk with the coffee and chocolate, Josef's notes in front of him.

  "I've got a list of friends of Jamie Beacham, school friends and karate. I've got a list for Bryan Collridge as well, boys from football and school and the team coach's name and phone number. I think we should start with those. I'd like to be close by today anyway in case they get a note. I think if we have reason to go there we should."

  "Don't you think Mason will be there?" Whitlock asked.

  "If he has a reason, but as Bentworth said, we've got to go through him," Josef reasoned. "I don't think he'll want Mason dogging the victims for him. He needs this press appeal to go smoothly, that's what his job is about."

  "But if Mason is so bad why has Bentworth put him in charge," she asked.

  "He's a good detective. There are a million cases a man like Mason would be perfect for, this just isn't one of them."

  "No gangsters," she said quietly and Josef laughed.

  "We need to drop off the Collridges' computer to forensics and pick up and return the Martin's. Just a quick stop and it won't interfere with Bentworth's plans. Then I suggest we talk to Bryan's football coach first if we can, he's the PE teacher at Bryan's school."

  "Sounds
like a plan," she said.

  They called the school, the forensics unit and the Martins', and then headed out to the car. After a short stop to swap computers they parked in Eastbourne Road near the Martins'. Mr. Martin opened the door.

  "Hi," Josef said, "just stopping by to drop this off."

  "Come in," Mr. Martin said. Josef carried the computer into the hall and Whitlock followed.

  "We're really sorry to disturb you, we're not supposed to be here today with the press appeal and everything but we didn't turn up anything useful on this and we thought you might want this back."

  "Actually it's nice you're 'ere," Mr. Martin said. "We're beginning to feel like you'd forgotten 'bout us, put it there." When the computer was on the floor he continued. "We feel so bloody useless now and we haven't seen anyone since you were 'ere the 'uver morning, we didn't even know there'd been an'uver kidnapping till your boss, Bentworth, called an' asked us to take part in his appeal; that's just shit," he concluded.

  Josef could understand how the couple felt, he was sure they'd talked with no one but him since the night of the Kidnapping and now it seemed there wasn't even a PC in the house.

  "I'm sorry," Josef said, his face passive, "I came by to talk with you last night but it was after one in the morning and the lights were all out so I didn't knock." Mrs. Martin appeared in the kitchen doorway but said nothing.

  "I wish you 'ad," Mr. Martin interrupted, "we don't really sleep no more."

  "Anyway, I didn't stop," Josef continued. "But I wanted to tell you about the third kidnapping and to play you a tape made by that family, maybe there's a connection between you."

  "Have ya got it with ya?" Mr Martin asked eagerly, "we'd feel more bloody useful doing sommin' 'uver 'an just sitting round scratchin' our asses."

  "Actually I do," Josef said theatrically patting a pocket. "Trouble is, like I said, we've been told not to talk to you today so it'd have to be hush hush."

  "Who came up with that bollocks?" Mr Martin said. "We won't say nuffin', we can do it in the kitchen, put the kettle on luv."

  "Nice moves," Whitlock said as they walked into the kitchen.

  When they were all seated at the table, coffee in hand, Josef played the tape. The Martins sat listening intently with the notepad in front of them. When the tape had finished they looked blank.

  "Sorry," Mrs. Martin said. "I can't think of a single thing." Josef took out the photos and laid them on the table, they both looked carefully. Mrs. Martin shook her head.

  "You know, I'm sure I've 'eard that name Longmarsh Boys FC before," Mr. Martin said. Josef's heart skipped a beat. "Ya know, maybe I just read in the paper, I can't 'fink where I've 'eard it, but I'm sure I 'av."

  "Please, try and think," Whitlock encouraged, "it's very important." They sat in silence for another five full minutes, Mr. Martin's eyes screwed tight shut. When he finally opened them he looked defeated and shook his head.

  "Nah, nuffin', just can't 'fink of it."

  "It's OK," Josef tried to relax the situation. "If you can't think of something directly then sometimes it's best to let your subconscious work on it. Try thinking about times you talked football, maybe with Daniel, or watched it together. Other times you might have heard the name, or read the paper again, your subconscious can sometimes lead you to the memory."

  "Whatever," Mr. Martin smiled, "you're the shrink."

  "You know it might just be that you want to recognize something, you might never have heard that name," Josef added.

  "I know," Mr. Martin said, "I'll 'fink about it"

  "Thanks for your time," Josef said collecting his things together. "We really appreciate it."

  "So do we," Mr. Martin said, pulling his wife close to him.

  Whitlock opened the front door and as they were about to leave Mrs. Martin spoke, "Detective," she said. "Can I ask you something about tomorrow?"

  Josef nodded, "Of course."

  "We've only managed to get eighteen thousand pounds, and that's with Michael's boss giving us five thousand, we just can't get any more." She stopped there and Josef could feel the question coming but he said nothing and allowed the woman to ask it.

  "Do you think that's enough?"

  Mr. Martin pulled his wife even closer, they needed something from Josef now and he could see the pressure they'd been under.

  "That's a lot of money," he said. He walked back into the house and stood directly before them, facing them both. "You know, I don't think this man wants to hurt those boys. You know what I think, is that this man is after hurting you two, and I think the pain you're in right now is what he wants. About the money, I'm really sorry, I don't know if that's gonna be enough money or not, but there's a long time between now and then, and I'm still hoping we can find a connection and catch him."

  The Martins' stood close together and silent, Josef couldn't tell if they'd found any comfort from what he'd said. He moved towards the door again.

  "Thanks," he said. "Call me straight away if you think of anything."

  "Thank you for being so honest," Mrs. Martin said. "I had to ask you know, in case you're not here tomorrow."

  "We'll be here," Josef said.

  As they walked back to the car he noticed Whitlock looking at him.

  "Maybe I should take a degree in Psychology if it makes people that nice," she said.

  "Doesn't make everyone nice," Josef denied, embarrassed. "Look at Hannibal Lector. And besides, if I was that nice you'd tell me your name."

  Whitlock smiled and was silent for a moment.

  "I hope he remembers something," she said as they got in the car, "I feel so bad for them, did you see there wasn't anyone with them in the house."

  "I know, and like I said, this guy's probably gonna take a drive by sometime soon and without anyone on watch, how are we going catch him if he does?"

  "I meant they shouldn't be on their own," she reprimanded.

  "That too," he agreed.

  "Where now?" she asked as Josef pulled away from the curb. He checked his watch.

  "The Collridges'," he said.

  "You're gonna get us hung."

  "Nah, Bentworth likes me," Josef said smiling, "and besides, it's about time for first post."

  They found a space in Markham Road about three doors down and opposite the Collridges'. As they got out Whitlock saw the postman twenty or so houses away on the opposite side.

  "Looks like you got the timing right," she said pointing.

  "Perfect," Josef smiled.

  They walked up to the door and knocked,

  "Why are we here?" Whitlock asked.

  "Leave that to me," Josef said as the door opened. Mrs Collridge stood in the doorway,

  "Oh, hello," she said, opening the door wider.

  "We're sorry to come and bother you like this, I know we're not supposed to be around here today but I've mislaid the list you gave me yesterday, the list of Bryan's friends." Josef patted his pockets and shrugged.

  "It's OK," Mrs Collridge answered, "I'll write it again for you. Please come in, have a seat." She showed them into the living room where a toddler in a sagging baby grow was playing in a playpen. Josef pulled his notepad and pen from his jacket.

  "Please, if you could write the list in here I won't loose it again," he said handing the notebook and pen to her.

  "I'll just get the phone book, I've only got a couple of phone numbers but they're home numbers. Some of these kids have mobiles, Bryan didn't though," she said and left the room. When she came back she took the pad and started writing.

  "I spoke to the parents of the first boy that was kidnapped this morning," Josef said. "He thought he'd heard the name Longmarsh Boys FC somewhere before." Mrs. Collridge looked up.

  "Really, where?" she asked.

  "He couldn't remember. That's what I was going to ask you, do they get much of a mention in the local paper or anything?"

  "They do, but you'd have to be a football nutter to find it," she said. "It's only ever in the tiny let
ters they use when they put the scores in once a week," she measured tiny between finger and thumb. "I don't think they've ever been written about or anything."

  Josef nodded and Mrs. Collridge went back to writing.

  "He thought he might just have read the name in the paper, probably just seen it there a couple of times," Josef concluded.

  When Mrs. Collridge had finished the list she handed the notepad back to Josef.

  "Thanks," he said. "We're really sorry to have bothered you."

  "It's okay," Mrs. Collridge shrugged. "It's nice to have company."

  "Your husband not in?" Whitlock asked concerned.

  "No, he's gone to the bank to talk to them. We thought it'd be best if I waited here for the post, in case we got a note." Josef wandered over to the window and looked out.

  "Do you know what time the post usually comes?" Whitlock asked.

  "Didn't he tell you?" Mrs. Collridge replied, turning her head towards Josef, who looked embarrassed. "'Round twelve most days."

  Josef looked at his watch.

  "We should be going, we're not supposed to be here today," he said. There was a noise of someone nearly falling downstairs and after a moment a tall thin PC burst into the living room, he looked at Josef and Whitlock.

  "Just seen the postman a couple of doors away," he said, "someone's stopped him in the street." They ran for the door.

  Mason thought he'd been clever, he'd stopped the postman before he'd got to the Collridges' house so he hadn't disturbed them as Bentworth demanded. But he hadn't predicted that a uniformed PC, Lindahl, Whitlock and Mrs Collridge would come charging from the house yelling.

  "What the fuck," Ward said. Mason turned.

  "That shit," he fumed.

  As soon as Josef recognized the pair he stopped running.

  "It's okay," Josef said. "They're with us. They're policemen." Mrs. Collridge stood confused in the gateway.

  "Let's go back inside," Whitlock said soothingly to her, "just a bit of confusion that's all." She led the lady back inside throwing a harsh look at Josef.

  "Fix it," she said. Josef walked over to Mason.

  "Just what the fuck do you think you're doing in there," Mason attacked.

  "I lost the list I got from them last night and I just stopped by to get it again, find out who I'm supposed to be interviewing today," Josef said sarcastically. "So what're you doing here?"

  "What does it look like," Mason snapped, "Getting the ransom note." Josef noticed for the first time he was holding a plain white envelope and was wearing gloves.

  "You know interfering with the post is a crime." Josef wagged a finger at Mason. "Tut tut tut, you could be prosecuted."

  "Fuck you," Mason said and walked towards the Collridges' house.

  Inside the house they opened the ransom note. It was the same as the others but had a deadline of Sunday. Josef checked the postmark, it was the same as on the first note. He noticed that the stamp looked like the kind you lick and the envelope too. It didn't have the small straight flap like the ready gummed business type. This had the triangle flap that you lick yourself.

  "Take Mrs. Collridge in the living room," Whitlock said to the uniformed PC. "Call her husband and don't leave her alone until he gets here." The PC nodded and led the stunned lady away.

  They stood around the kitchen table looking at the note laid out on it,

  "It's weird that he can make the deadline on Saturday and Sunday," Whitlock said. "I know you can transfer the money anytime but it doesn't give them long to get any money together."

  "He doesn't care about that," Mason said, "he has to keep things goin' or we'll catch him up. If we were gonna get somthin' on that account or on the notes it'd take a few days. I think he'll see what he gets, maybe chance another kid or two."

  "I've told you it's not about the money," Josef said exasperated. "It's about the parents. It's a question, the money is just the answer, it's not for profit."

  "Yeah, it's the answer all right," Mason sneered, "no money, no kid." Josef turned to Whitlock.

  "We should go," he said. "You," he addressed Mason, "should get that to forensics. See if he licked it." Mason turned the envelope in his hand and looked at the flap.

  When they left the house Josef started venting his anger against Mason.

  "What an absolute dick head," he fumed. "What the hell did I ever do to him?" Whitlock put an arm across his chest to stop him at the curb, they let a car pass before crossing to the Renault.

  "Calm Down," she said, "he just wants to be the one who catches this guy, and so do you."

  When they were seated in the car Josef pulled his mobile from his jacket and rang Bentworth, it cut to voice mail so Josef left a short message.

  "Cock up at the Collridges', sorry. Call me for details but I think you should give them a call and make sure they're okay. They got a ransom note." He hung up.

  "Nicely put," Whitlock said.

  "Thanks."

  "Where now?" she asked.

  "Don't know about you but I'm hungry."

  "Then you can buy me lunch."

  "Only if you tell me your name."

  "Call yourself a detective?" she teased.

  "I can find out easily enough, but it wouldn't be the same," Josef smiled.

  "Oh I see," she taunted, "macho thing eh? I've got to give in have I?"

  "No, it's just..." He stopped and sighed, then turned and looked her straight in her beautiful green eyes. "Please," he said, feeling like someone about to pop the big question.

  "Ms Whitlock, tell me your first name." She looked at him for long moment then smiled,

  "Now that was close," she said.