by M A Comley
“I’ve heard enough. Put him in the car, Jack.”
The man wriggled fiercely, but Jack managed to overpower the brute and pushed him through the entrance and into the car.
Sally kissed her father. “You did well, Dad. I’ll get someone else to question him when we return to the station.”
“Thanks, love. So glad we’ve got him. What about his mate?”
“He doesn’t look the type not to tell tales, especially if there is a deal on the table. I think he’ll spill the beans in a matter of hours. Let’s hope so, anyway. I better get going.” Sally pecked her father and Simon on the cheek and climbed in the car, where Jack was keeping the suspect company in the back seat.
“Great, now I’m gonna be subjected to a woman driver taking me to the nick,” the thug grunted.
Sally grinned at him in her rear-view mirror. “It’s just not your day, love, is it?”
Jack laughed. “Hey, at least you only get to put up with her driving once in your lifetime. I’m subjected to it every day.”
Sally chuckled and inserted the key in the ignition. The backup panda car followed them back to the station, where Jack handed the thug, who was still refusing to divulge his name, over to the uniformed officers for the desk sergeant to deal with.
Feeling elated, Sally ran up the stairs and into the incident room.
Joanna smiled and waved a sheet of paper at her. “It’s through, boss.”
Sally rushed towards her and surveyed the warrant. “Bloody brilliant. Okay, Jordan, Stuart, Jack and I will shoot over to the house now while you man the phones, Joanna. I don’t suppose there’s any news on another address yet?”
“No such luck, boss. I thought I’d give Craig’s daughter a call but wanted to run it past you first.”
“Great idea. Get on to that now and call me if you come up with anything.”
“I will. Good luck,” Joanna called after them as the four rushed out of the room.
In the car park, Sally opened her car door. “We’ll meet you there, boys.”
Just under an hour later, Sally pulled the car to a halt outside Gillan’s cottage. There were no cars in the drive. Jordan drew his car up alongside Sally’s, then they all gathered at the front door. She knocked on the door, but it remained unanswered.
Turning to Jack, she ordered, “Do your thing, Bullet.”
Jack shoulder-charged the front door, which gave way on the second attempt and banged against the wall in the hallway. He entered first, followed by the others.
At the base of the stairs, Sally said, “You two see what you can find upstairs.” Then she followed Jack through the hallway to the back of the house. The characterful cottage had low beams everywhere, but the rooms were too claustrophobic for Sally’s taste.
“Ouch, shit! That’s the fourth frigging beam I’ve hit,” Jack complained, rubbing the slight bump already developing on his forehead.
“Oops, maybe it would be better if you walked around on your knees,” Sally joked.
“Ha bloody ha. Where do you want to start?”
“Well, every room has to be searched, so you choose which one you want, and we’ll begin. Just a sec… I’ll check on the boys first. Anything up there?” she called out from the bottom of the stairs.
“No one’s up here, boss. Want us to start searching?” Jordan called down, standing at the top of the stairs.
“Yep, make sure you wear your gloves.”
“Already on, boss. Are we looking for anything in particular?”
“Anything pertaining to either Anne or Craig Gillan for now, and then we’ll go from there.” Sally walked back through the house and started searching the kitchen, leaving Jack to search through the built-in storage cupboards in the lounge. That job, at least, he could carry out while down on his knees.
Sally started rifling through the drawers in the pine dresser in the kitchen. She hated the smell of old wood; it tickled the inside of her nostrils until she finally sneezed. Inside the first drawer was everything needed to lay a table: a nice set of cutlery and coasters with placemats, both everyday ones and a posher set she assumed the occupants preferred to use for dinner parties. Apart from that, she found very little else. A search of the second drawer produced the same result. Sally moved around the room, searching in the kitchen cupboards, both high and low, but it proved fruitless.
She walked into the dining room next door, where a long sideboard stood along one of the walls. It had three drawers and three large cupboards. When she opened the first cupboard, it was full of games such as Monopoly, Cluedo, Jenga and quite a few packs of cards. In the second cupboard, there were mainly kids’ toys, and in the third were a bunch of archive files. On the spine of the first file was written bank statements. Sally extracted several statements and skimmed through them. No large sums, in or out, jumped out at her, except for Kenny’s monthly salary. However, she discovered there were two separate mortgage payments coming out of the account.
Jack came into the room behind her. “What have you got?”
“His bank statements show signs of him having two properties. Two separate mortgage payments going out every month.”
“Interesting. Must be where he’s hiding out. Want me to contact the mortgage companies?”
“No, I need you to help me look through this lot. I’ll ring Joanna, tell her to check the mortgage company.”
She dialled the station. The ever-efficient Joanna answered the call on the first ring. Sally rolled off the information for her to trace then hung up. She then handed three of the files to Jack and placed the other three on the floor for herself to search.
“Bingo! Maybe that was a wasted call you just made, boss. I’ve found insurance policies for this address and an address in Cromer.”
Sally grimaced. “Crap, that’s about an hour and a half from here. Okay, well at least we have proof of another property. Let’s see if we can find anything to do with either Craig or Anne amongst this lot. Let’s put a time limit on this of ten minutes then shoot over to the Cromer address.”
“I doubt that’s going to happen. Would he really keep something like that on show, where his wife could stumble across it?”
Sally glanced at the picture of Kenny and his beautiful blonde wife, sitting in a gilt frame on top of the sideboard. “I wonder if she knows.”
“I wouldn’t have thought so, if he did the deed. We haven’t found any proof of that yet, boss.”
“I know, but I think it’s only a matter of time before we do.” They heard the footfalls of Jordan and Stuart coming down the stairs.
The two men appeared in the doorway. “Waste of time upstairs, boss,” Jordan told her, his eyes rolling up to the low-beamed ceiling.
“It doesn’t matter. We think we’ve found the proof we need in these files. We’ll continue to search in here.”
Jack clicked his fingers. “I’ll be back in a sec.” He stood up and immediately bashed his head on one of the beams. “Shit, damn and blast. You lot can stop laughing. It’s lucky you’re all short arses.”
Jordan and Stuart punched him in the arm as he passed. “Shorter, not short,” Stuart complained. “Hey, where are you going?”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“It’s not like Jack to run out on me. Grab a box, you two. We might as well complete the search—who knows what we’ll find next?”
“What then?” Stuart asked.
“We’ve located a second address. I’ve put a limit of ten minutes at this location, then I think we should shoot over to Cromer to see if Mr. and Mrs. Gillan are hiding out there.”
They spent the next five minutes rifling through the Gillans’ personal papers, unable to find anything else of significance, until Jack entered the room again, wearing the smuggest of grins. “I’ve called SOCO. They’re on their way.”
Sally’s brow furrowed. “Why? What have you found?” She rose to her feet, shaking out the pins and needles in her legs.
“The car. Remember we spott
ed it in the garage the other day? I noticed an insurance document for it and found the key to the garage on a hook in the hallway. I opened it up and went inside to have a look. I doubt it’s been used in years. Two of the tyres are flat. I found what looks like blood in the boot. I left the garage and rang SOCO straight away. Looks like we’ve found all the evidence we need to bang the weasel up, when we can get our hands on him.”
Sally clapped her hands in glee. “Fantastic. Well done, you. Right, here’s what I think we should do next. Jordan and Stuart, I want you two to stay here until SOCO have dealt with the car. They’ll probably tow it away and search it back at the laboratory. I’ll ring Simon, make him aware of what’s going on and what we need from the examination. In the meantime, Jack and I will head over to the address in Cromer, see if we can track down the elusive Kenny. Give me two ticks, Jack. Maybe you could ring Joanna and fill her in?”
“It all makes sense to me,” Jack replied, dipping in his jacket pocket for his mobile while Sally left the cottage to ring Simon.
He answered his mobile, out of breath.
“Sorry, were you busy?”
“Only just arrived back at work. Your dad and I decided to hang around at the auction house longer than anticipated.”
Sally cringed. “Oh no, that sounds expensive.”
“Don’t worry, we didn’t buy anything else. We wanted to experience the feel of the auction more, studied what the punters were doing, their discreet behaviour, looking for tips for the next time, I suppose you’d call it.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. Not sure Dad should be taking on too much work at the moment, not until he’s fully recuperated.”
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of burying him under more pressure. He’s got another builder lined up to come onboard with us.”
“Fabulous news. Maybe Dad could become more of a site manager rather than get his hands dirty on future projects.”
“My sentiments exactly. Anyway, what can I do for you? I take it this call is about business, considering we only parted company a few hours ago.”
“It is. I think we’ve finally struck lucky. Jack has just contacted SOCO about a car we’ve found at Kenny Gillan’s address.”
“The warrant came through then?”
“Yes. I wondered if you could work your magic and get the tests hurried along for me.”
“Of course, I will. Have you found anything suspicious inside the vehicle?”
“Jack thinks he’s spotted some blood in the boot.”
“If that’s her blood in the boot of Kenny’s car, then that should be enough to put him away. Blimey, fancy Craig’s own brother doing the dirty on him like that and allowing him to take the blame for fifteen years. I wonder if they were having an affair.”
“Anne and Kenny? I can’t see that myself, but who can tell? It’s definitely something I intend asking Kenny, once we catch up with him. Okay, I better go. I’ll see you later. Oh, and congratulations again on adding to your property portfolio.”
“See you later, darling. Oh, and Sally… it’s our property portfolio, not mine.”
“I love you, Simon Bracknall.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Damn, that’s all we need,” Sally said angrily, watching large drops of rain bounce off the windscreen. “We’re only five minutes away from the house now.”
“A drop of rain has never hindered us before. I’m sure we’ll cope,” Jack replied, rubbing his palm against his thigh.
“Are you nervous?”
“Me? No. Anxious to catch the bastard after the run-around he’s given us. How could he do that to his own brother?”
“I concur. Only it’s not just his brother this has affected—it’s Molly and Jamie, too. The whole situation is tasteless, and I can’t wait to hear what his bloody reason is for robbing that poor family of such a lovely lady.”
“What I want to know is how he’s slept at night, knowing what pain he was causing.”
“Let’s just say I’m going to enjoy ripping him apart in the interview room. I wonder if his wife knows?”
“I doubt it. If he’s managed to conceal the truth from his brother and the kids all these years, he’s probably done the same to her.”
A few minutes later, Sally drove past Kenny’s address.
“Looks like his car is there. What now?” Jack asked.
“I’ll park up in an adjoining road and we’ll walk back, catch them unawares.”
She found a parking place in the adjacent road, switched off the engine, and sucked in a large breath, then let it out through her teeth. “Let’s do this, partner.”
They left the car and dashed back to Gillan’s road. Sally paused to survey the area. “I can’t see an alleyway leading to the back. We’re both going to have to take the front and hope he answers the door.”
Jack nodded and they set off. The heavens had opened even more, and Sally’s hair was already clinging to her face. They had just crossed the road a few metres from the house when the front door opened and a man stepped out.
“Shit, it’s him.” She called out, “Kenny Gillan?”
The man’s eyes narrowed to see who was shouting his name, then he bolted towards his car. He jumped in the driver’s side and started the vehicle. The engine roared. Sally hopped into the road and ran towards him. Jack stayed on the pavement but matched her pace.
Kenny put the car into gear and revved the engine. Sally remained defiant and strode towards him. Suddenly, the car accelerated and hurtled towards her, naught to fifty within a few seconds. Sally heard Jack shout, and the next thing she knew, they both struck the ground as the car flew past.
Jack let out a whistle. “Jesus, that was close.”
“A sure sign of guilt. Quick, back to the car, Jack. We can’t let him get away again.”
Jack hauled her to her feet and Sally winced. She’d turned her ankle in the fall.
“Are you all right?”
“I’ll be fine. Take the keys. Get in the car. I won’t be far behind you.”
Jack sprinted the couple of hundred metres to the car while Sally hobbled after him. She cursed her luck as she saw the tail end of Kenny’s vehicle turn the corner of the long road. He already had an advantage on them because he knew the area. Sally shook off the negativity as Jack drew the car up alongside her and flung open the passenger door.
She jumped in the car. “Quick, after him. Don’t worry about me, go, go, go.”
Before she’d even closed the door, Jack slung the car into gear and the car lurched forward, slamming the passenger door shut as it sped after Gillan. “We’re gonna need backup now, boss.”
“I agree.” Sally picked up the radio and requested the help of any nearby patrol cars. The control room responded within a minute or so to say four cars were in the area and on the case. “That’s a relief.”
“You’ll need to keep control informed about our location, boss.”
“Really? Is that how this works, Jack?” Her reply was laced with sarcasm. “I’m sorry, my ankle is bloody sore, making me a grouch.”
“I didn’t think anything of it. You sound the same as normal to me,” Jack joked. His ribbing earned him a thump in the leg.
“Let’s hope he hits traffic up ahead.”
“Highly possible, given the time of day with the kids coming out of school.”
Jack did well to catch up with the vehicle within minutes. They heard the sirens around them, indicating that backup wasn’t far away.
Sally stared ahead as the road curved. “I hope the patrol vehicles can get ahead of him and cut him off. They’re more likely to do it than we are.”
“If not, I have no idea how we’re going to stop the weasel.”
“Stick with it, Jack. Lady Luck will have an answer for us soon.”
Jack snorted. “Well she ain’t been on our side so far, what with this rain and you doing your ankle in.”
“Okay, fair point. We mustn’t lose heart.”
Gill
an decided to slam the brakes on and take a shortcut. Jack was right behind him in the manoeuvre. Sally was impressed with his driving skills, considering it was her car he was driving. She relayed the car’s whereabouts back to the control room.
At the end of the alley, Gillan took a left then a sharp right, then he was back onto the open road, heading towards the coast.
“At least he’s heading out of town,” Jack noted.
Sally let out a relieved sigh and radioed the information back to base. “Wonder what he’s got in mind?”
“I reckon all will become apparent soon enough.”
The chase continued, a convoy of police cars following Gillan. Sally urged the control room to set up some kind of roadblock and appealed for the patrol cars to organise a stinger operation. But she was disappointed when the operator told her that they had no other spare units available to head Gillan off. Frustration tied her stomach into knots. She feared Gillan was about to get away from them again and there wasn’t a damn thing they could do about it, unless one of the patrol cars sped past them and intercepted Gillan’s car.
“I recognise this route now. We’re going towards the pier.”
“Really? Would he be stupid enough to leave his car when he knows we’re right on his tail?”
“I have no idea what his intentions are. I just know where he’s heading.”
Ten minutes later, Kenny Gillan slammed the brakes on and deserted his car. He ran for the pier, just as Jack had predicted.
“Go, keep up with him, Jack. I’ll get the boys in blue to assist you.”
Jack yanked the handbrake on and took off after Gillan. Sally hopped out of the car, literally, and instructed the uniformed officers to follow them. “Is anyone Taser-trained?”
“I am, ma’am,” a middle-aged officer said, placing his hand on the Taser resting in his belt.
“Don’t be afraid to use it. We believe the man murdered his sister-in-law fifteen years ago.”
The man mock-saluted her, and the eight officers ran after Jack. Sally retrieved the keys from the car’s ignition and locked the door before hobbling after the officers. She could see the men gathered around Gillan, who was shouting at them to stay back. He was on the very edge of the pier. Sally finally caught up with them and weaved her way through the officers to where Jack was standing only a few feet from Gillan. The memory of trying to coax Endecott away from the edge of the factory roof blazed through her mind. She shook the image free and spoke to Gillan. The officer with the Taser had it aimed at Gillan’s chest.