A Darker Place

by Rachel Amphlett

  Adrian paled, his bravado fading. ‘I-I couldn’t. More than me job’s worth.’

  ‘Adrian, if we charge Barry Clements and Alan Trentithe with the murders of Carl Taylor and Will Nivens, there is no job. Do you understand?’ Kay stopped in front of him, glaring. ‘Are you dealing drugs when you deliver the takeaway meals?’

  He nodded, his mouth downturned.

  ‘Look, all I wanted to do was make enough money so’s I could leave here, all right?’ He sniffed, angrily wiped at his eye and grimaced at the subsequent pain. ‘I ain’t got no qualifications so it’s not like I’m going to uni any time soon. I just want to get away.’

  Kay’s jaw dropped open as Adrian began to cry.

  He held his arm across his face, his cheeks red with embarrassment as sobs wracked his skinny frame.

  ‘I’m fucking scared, all right? I can’t leave. They’ll come after me. They said they would. Once you’re in, you’re in. And me dad’ll kill me when he finds out.’

  Kay heard a car pull up outside as blue flashing lights reflected against the closed curtains. ‘We’re going to need you to come back to the station with us to give a formal statement, Adrian. Let’s go.’

  She took a step back as Gavin helped the teenager to his feet and led him to the front door.

  Adrian locked it with a shaking hand, his head bowed as he was then shown towards the waiting patrol car.

  ‘Oi! What the fuck d’you think you’re doing?’

  Kay spun on her heel at the sound of the voice to see Adrian’s father stumbling towards them, his fist raised in the air as he picked up speed.

  She took a step back as he drew closer. ‘He looks three sheets to the wind.’

  ‘He’s going to kill me.’

  ‘Have you got somewhere else you can stay after all this?’ Kay said, turning to Adrian.

  ‘Me grandad lives over at Paddock Wood. He might let me stay, I don’t know. I’ve never asked him.’

  Kay turned and watched as one of the uniformed officers raised his hand and moved to block Adrian’s father from getting any nearer, then gave the teenager a gentle shove towards the house.

  ‘I’ll ask the lads to take you over there when they’ve finished with you and ask him to help for a while. Go and grab some clothes while I have a chat with your dad. Go on.’

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  It was well after midnight by the time Kay returned to the interview room and glared at the man in front of her.

  Alan Trentithe’s confident demeanour had slipped in the hours since she last interviewed him.

  Beside him, his solicitor looked shambolic in a now-crumpled suit, his face already weary with the realisation the new day was about to present him with some long hours.

  Kay didn’t waste time once Barnes had formally restarted the interview process.

  ‘According to the evidence, which is supported by two witness statements, Mr Trentithe, you have been using your business to deal in large quantities of cocaine, profit from that illegal supply and launder the proceeds.’

  Trentithe sneered. ‘The witnesses are liars, Detective Hunter. I’ve been doing nothing illegal. I’m a legitimate businessman and a supporter of many good local causes.’

  ‘You’ve been a supporter of a good many more things than that,’ she said. ‘Including extortion, bribery, threats to your employees and their families… It was all going well until Carl Taylor turned up, wasn’t it? Ruined all your plans, that one.’

  She watched as Trentithe clenched his fist, and knew she’d hit a nerve.

  ‘What did you do when you realised that he found out what you were really doing with that dark kitchen of yours? Did you threaten him first, or have Adrian follow Helen Taylor straight away?’

  Trentithe exhaled. ‘Fucking hell. I knew I should’ve never left Barry in charge of the place.’

  Beside him, Spencer Verdy’s eyebrows shot up to his fashionably shaggy fringe.

  ‘Detective, anything my client says…’

  ‘Shut up.’ Trentithe rounded on him. ‘It’s too late now, so just shut up.’

  Kay narrowed her eyes. ‘So this is all Barry’s fault, is it?’

  ‘Always is.’ Trentithe ran a hand over his face. ‘He was meant to be keeping an eye on things, especially after that bird found out. I thought he’d learned his lesson.’

  ‘Who gave Carl the drugs?’ said Barnes.

  ‘No-one. He nicked them off us a couple of weeks ago.’

  Kay’s pen froze about her notebook. ‘He did what?’

  Trentithe held up his hands. ‘I know, right? Barry thought he might’ve done. It wasn’t like the first time Carl turned up instead of Bonnie. There was no-one helping him unload this time around, so no-one to keep an eye on him. One of the kitchen porters – a new kid – just told him where to put the stuff. It was only when Barry was getting the goods ready for shipment later that afternoon he realised there was one missing.’

  ‘So he panicked.’

  ‘Bloody right he did. Came straight over to me at the unit and told me.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  Trentithe drummed a devil’s tattoo with his fingers on the chipped table surface before answering. ‘I run a business, detective. I did what I’m good at – I waited until Carl left work the next day, and I approached him with a deal.’

  ‘You mean you threatened him.’

  An evil glint flashed in the man’s eyes. ‘Oh, no – that never works, not threatening the people who’ve wronged you. No, it’s much more effective if you tell them what you’re going to do to their family or friends.’

  ‘Is that when you started having Helen Taylor followed?’

  ‘We already were – as soon as Barry came to me and confessed, I got eyes put on her. It was easy enough to do, because the pair of them share everything on social media. All I had to do was show Carl a photo of his wife walking along the street outside her office that morning, and he agreed to return what was mine.’

  ‘Except he didn’t.’

  ‘Cheeky bastard came to me a few days later and told me he wanted in on the work, and thought he could tell me what I was going to pay him for his silence.’

  Kay leaned back in her seat and hoped the shock hadn’t registered on her features as she took a deep breath.

  Trentithe smiled. ‘I guess all those foreign holidays him and his missus liked to take were costing him a fortune and he fancied he could muscle in on my business to help pay for them. Like I said, cheeky bastard.’

  ‘Did you agree?’

  ‘Fuck, no. ’Course I didn’t.’ Trentithe slammed his palm on the table, his face turning red. ‘What d’you take me for?’

  The door to the interview room opened, and Gavin peered in, concern etched into his features.

  Kay shook her head and waited until he’d retreated before she turned her attention back to Trentithe.

  ‘So you killed him.’

  He shrugged, as if they were discussing a minor detail in a business deal. ‘Can’t have people trying to tell me what to do.’

  ‘Why kill Will Nivens?’

  ‘We didn’t realise Carl had someone with him that day, until it was too late to back off. Wrong place, wrong time – that’s all. We couldn’t wait for another day – Carl had already threatened to take everything to the police if we didn’t comply with his demands. He left me with no choice. If anyone’s to blame for Will’s death, it’s Carl – not me.’

  ‘Why did you make Barry dump Carl’s body at Mike O’Connor’s garage?’

  Trentithe laughed then, his eyes twinkling. ‘The new restaurant owners weren’t interested in offering the locals catering, and none of the locals wanted to risk asking me direct. All the time Ann and Mike were offering the catering, the locals could pretend they knew nothing about how the drugs got to their parties if your lot raided it. More hands-off, you see?’

  ‘So you put all your time into building up the dark kitchen side of things instead to deal the drugs, is tha
t it?’

  ‘It was all going well until Carl Taylor came along.’ Trentithe paused, ran a hand over the back of his neck and then exhaled. ‘Bloody Barry. I knew I should’ve taken care of it all myself.’

  Kay leaned back in her chair, and let his words sink in for a moment.

  Despite all her years as a serving police officer, the callous and barbaric way in which Trentithe spoke about the two dead men and the way in which he had Barry Clements dispose of Carl’s body – to settle a grudge – sent a chill across her shoulders.

  She took a deep breath, then spoke the words she hoped he would take to his grave.

  ‘Alan Trentithe, I am charging you with the murders of Carl Taylor and Will Nivens…’

  Chapter Fifty

  Kay paused on the pavement outside Mike O’Connor’s Used Car Sales and emitted a surprised “huh” before Barnes bumped against her arm at the sudden deceleration in her pace.

  ‘Look,’ she said.

  Stretched across the front of the forecourt was a hand-painted banner, its bright colours screaming that all of the used cars were reduced in price and that potential customers should hurry while stocks lasted.

  She ran her gaze over the vehicles forming a semi-circle either side of the front doors to the office and noted that similar signs were displayed in each windscreen, with some of the older cars nearly half price.

  Movement towards the back of the forecourt caught her eye, and she peered over the top of the roof of the nearest vehicle to see Mike O’Connor carrying a bucket that sloshed dirty water over the sides as he stomped towards a drain off to one side of the building.

  ‘Is he on his own today?’ said Barnes.

  ‘Let’s find out what’s going on,’ she said, and stalked towards the used car salesman.

  O’Connor poured the water into the drain and then turned to face them, his mouth downturned. ‘Come to gloat, have you?’

  ‘Where’s Kevin?’ said Kay.

  ‘He decided he didn’t want to work here anymore.’ O’Connor shrugged. ‘Can’t say I blame him to be honest. The poor lad got one hell of a fright. Working for me wouldn’t look so good on his résumé anyway, I guess.’

  ‘How’s the sale going?’

  He glared at her. ‘I only started it today. Luxford decided he didn’t want to buy the business off of me after all, and I haven’t sold a single car since that bloke’s body was found here.’

  ‘If it’s any consolation, we’ve arrested two men this morning in relation to Carl’s murder. I think you’re familiar with at least one of them – Alan Trentithe.’

  O’Connor blinked. ‘Alan?’

  He staggered a little, and reached out to steady himself on a drainpipe that ran down the length of the building.

  Kay watched as his face turned grey. ‘What I’d like to know, Mr O’Connor, is why Barry Clements chose to leave Carl’s body here. Why target you?’

  ‘Because I tried to walk away. I told him I didn’t want anything to do with his business.’ O’Connor dropped the wet sponge into the empty bucket before crossing his arms over his chest. ‘And you don’t walk away from people like Alan Trentithe.’

  ‘Did he threaten you, prior to dumping Carl Taylor’s body here?’

  ‘Not to start with, no.’

  Barnes gestured to the open office doors. ‘Shall we go inside out of this heat and you can tell us what’s been going on?’

  O’Connor’s shoulders slumped. ‘All right. I suppose it’ll all come out in the end anyway if you’ve arrested Trentithe.’

  Goosebumps prickled Kay’s skin when she entered the sales office, the cool interior offering welcome relief from the sun that was reflecting off the car windscreens outside and baking the concrete hardstanding.

  She followed O’Connor over to his desk and waited while he sat, rolling up his sleeves as he appeared to mull over his words.

  Barnes sank into a chair opposite and pulled out his notebook. ‘Why don’t we start with the arrangement you had with Trentithe at the restaurant?’

  The salesman’s lip curled. ‘We honestly had no idea what was going on at those events, not until we told Trentithe we were selling the place. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he turned up that day.’

  ‘When was this?’ said Kay.

  ‘About four weeks before we moved out. We kept the sale to ourselves for as long as possible – it’s better that way for the new owners, and for us. Some people can take umbrage at change, you see, and we wanted to make it as easy as possible for Tom and Zoe to make a success of it.’

  ‘How did Trentithe find out?’

  ‘Ann spoke to the woman who works at his office to tell her we wouldn’t be needing the catering or takeaway services anymore. About an hour later, Trentithe came storming through the front door of the restaurant demanding to speak with us. He scared the shit out of the young girl on reception that day.’ O’Connor shook his head. ‘Thank Christ he didn’t turn up while we had customers in.’

  ‘And this is when he threatened you?’

  ‘He told us we had to convince the new owners to continue with the catering side of things, otherwise he’d make sure we’d never run a business again. That’s when we found out what had really been going on.’ He dropped his gaze to his hands. ‘If I’d known he was getting his lot to deal drugs at those events and using our takeaway service to set up his network, I’d have come to your lot and reported it.’

  ‘Why didn’t you?’ said Barnes. ‘I mean that was, what, more than a year ago you found out?’

  O’Connor shook his head, and when he finally looked up Kay saw the sadness in his eyes.

  ‘It was too late by then. Ann had gone and published that bloody book, and we’d made a lot of money because of the catering we subcontracted out to Alan Trentithe’s lot. You’d have had us for profiting from the proceeds of crime or something like that, wouldn’t you? And if we did report him, he’d have come after us.’ He jerked his chin towards the forecourt. ‘He did come after us. All because we sold the restaurant and he lost an income stream – a lucrative one, too. That’s the thing about Alan Trentithe, you see. He bides his time, but he never forgets. I’ll never be able to sell this business now. I’ll never be able to pay back Ann all the money I still owe her. I’ll probably never sell a car again, either.’

  Kay stepped back as Barnes pushed himself from the chair and tucked his notebook inside his jacket pocket.

  She sighed as she took in the broken man sitting behind the desk.

  ‘At least Trentithe and his colleague, Barry Clements, are in custody,’ she said. ‘Chances are, they’ll be held on remand until their trials, too. You won’t have to worry about Trentithe – he won’t be out for a long time.’

  ‘Good luck with that, detective,’ said O’Connor. ‘But just remember – there’ll always be someone ready to take the place of people like Alan Trentithe.’

  Chapter Fifty-One

  A sense of relief filled the incident room as Kay tossed the last of a series of reports into her top tray and dropped her pen onto her desk.

  She cricked her neck and rolled her shoulders, then rose and leaned across to Barnes’s desk, taking one of the croissants from a plate next to him.

  ‘Oi, you said you didn’t want anything when I went up to the café, guv,’ he grumbled.

  ‘I lied.’

  She grinned, then took a bite and savoured the still-warm pastry. ‘Shall we get this last briefing done, and then we can let this lot have an early finish?’

  Barnes snatched away the last croissant before she could steal that one as well, then followed her over to the whiteboard while the rest of the investigation team gathered in a semi-circle around them.

  ‘First of all, thanks to all of you for a good job this past week,’ Kay began. ‘This wasn’t an easy one, and we’re still looking into whether any charges ought to be laid against Mike and Ann O’Connor but, for now, some of you will be moving on to other cases.’

  ‘Lau
ra – I’ll need you to work with Debbie to make sure we catalogue everything for the CPS review. In the meantime—’ Kay paused and picked up the whiteboard eraser, then tossed it across the room to the younger detective ‘—I’ll let you, Phillip, and Gavin bicker about whose turn it is to clean the board. That was a great result based on your work in locating the shipping containers. Well done.’

  Her words were met with a smattering of applause, and she waited until it died down before clearing her throat.

  ‘Okay, on to the final task. Ian, can you arrange to visit Helen Taylor and Louise Nivens to let them know we’re charging Alan and Barry before you head home? I’ll follow up with them both once the CPS have processed everything, so you can assure them I’ll keep them up to date with progress.’

  ‘Will do, guv.’

  ‘Gavin, you’ll need to phone Lucas this morning to advise him that charges are being laid so he can release both bodies for burial please.’

  ‘No problem, guv.’

  ‘All right, thanks, everyone. That was a good result in difficult circumstances. You’re dismissed.’

  Kay popped the nib on her biro, shut her notebook and watched as her team dispersed to their desks.

  A lightness filled the room now, the invisible pressure that had underpinned the past week slowly retreating to the edges as officers cleared their desks and filed final reports.

  She knew it wouldn’t last for long but, as she walked back to her desk and eyed the blinking voicemail icon on her desk phone, she savoured the moment and let the resulting sense of achievement sink in.

  ‘Guv? Are you going to head off soon as well?’ said Gavin, approaching her desk and holding out a sheaf of documents needing her signature.

  ‘I am, but I was going to suggest we all catch up later at mine for a barbecue,’ she said. ‘Looks like it’s going to be the perfect evening for it.’

  ‘I’m never going to say no to one of Adam’s barbecues,’ said Barnes, looking up from his computer screen with a grin. ‘I’ll bring the wine.’