Letter From The Dead - a crime thriller (Detective Inspector Declan Walsh Book 1)

by Jack Gatland

  Doctor Marcos nodded at this and rose, pulling the dongle out of the iPad.

  ‘See you back at base then,’ she said to Declan before walking over to the car.

  ‘When you said you built a unit of people who were too clever to fire, you weren’t kidding,’ Declan said. Monroe shrugged.

  ‘A man is only as good as the team he has,’ he replied. ‘And talking of which, it’s time for this team to get moving before DCI Warren works out what we did.’

  Rising from his plastic chair, Monroe walked back to the black Mercedes as Declan looked down at the iPad. With the photos now removed, the CCTV footage of Declan and Kendis had returned onto the screen. Picking up the iPad and turning it off, Declan walked back to his own car, stopping as a thought struck.

  The assailant had arrived fifteen minutes before Declan had returned to his apartment.

  But how had he known when to arrive, or that Declan was even returning there? Declan could have intended to spend another night in Hurley.

  Declan had only phoned to inform one person he was going back there, after interviewing Susan Devington. The same person who phoned the exact moment that the assailant attacked.

  DCI Monroe.

  He looked up at the black Mercedes as it pulled out onto the road, already on its way back to London. Shaking the thought off as madness, Declan returned to the car.

  This wasn’t the time to start thinking up conspiracies.

  First he needed to chat to Andy Mac.

  18

  The Shakedown

  Declan’s phone rang as he pulled up outside the gate to Andy Mac’s house. Looking at the screen, he saw that it was Anjli. He answered, letting the car connect the call to the system.

  ‘Heard you’re off to see MacIntyre?’ she said through the car’s speaker.

  ‘Just got there. What’s up?’

  ‘Just so you’re in the loop,’ Anjli replied. ‘Sebastian’s phone was last seen yesterday morning in Teddington.’

  ‘Studios or in Andy Mac’s apartment?’

  ‘Doesn’t say. The cell towers only pick up the area, and they’re right next to each other.’

  ‘Fair point. You said last seen.’

  ‘Yes, because it was turned off.’

  Declan wasn’t surprised by this. If anything he would have been more surprised if the phone hadn’t been turned off. It might even have simply run out of battery.

  ‘Have you managed to get anything from it?’

  There was a rustling of sound on the speaker, most likely by Anjli on the other end of the line as she flipped through her notebook, but it was Billy who spoke next.

  ‘They pulled two messages off it,’ he said. ‘There was nothing else that they could find, and the phone was apparently only purchased a week earlier.’

  ‘What were the messages?’

  ‘One from Sebastian to an unknown number. We’re tracing it down now. It reads So what do you think? Can we do this?’

  ‘Interesting, but could be taken in several contexts without the previous communication,’ Declan replied. ‘That could be connected to something on the set, or in the office, maybe he was buying something big. We need to know the recipient of these.’ He quickly wrote the phrase down in his notepad. ‘And the second one?’

  ‘A reply from the number he texted to. Hell yeah. Send me the best ones and we’ll finish the bastard once and for all.’

  ‘Okay, so maybe the context is a little more clear now,’ Declan said as he wrote the second message down. ‘Looks like Sebastian was working with someone,’ he mused. ‘But the send the best one line is the one we need to follow. What could be sent to finish someone once and for all?’

  ‘Evidence of something?’

  Declan nodded. ‘Possible, but the message tells us that Sebastian had multiple things that could finish someone off, but that someone, this mysterious other person wanted just one. The best one. Any photos on the phone?’

  ‘No, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any,’ Billy said. ‘They could have been deleted.’

  ‘Is there any way we can find them? Could they be backed up on the cloud, on some server or something?’

  ‘That’s what we’re hoping,’ Billy replied. ‘Working on it.’

  Declan sighed. He really didn’t want to speak to Andy Mac right now.

  ‘Right then, I’d better have a chat with him.’

  ‘Is Monroe with you?’

  ‘No, he’s returning with Doctor Marcos,’ Declan said. There was a chuckle down the phone line.

  ‘Yeah, she’s something, isn’t she,’ Anjli said. ‘Speak soon.’

  ‘One last thing,’ Declan quickly said before the phone went dead. ‘Do we have anything on the meetings Shaun and Sarah had at Queen Anne Chambers?’

  ‘Actually yes,’ Billy replied. ‘It’s now a hotel but back then it was a series of short term rooms and apartments that MPs could grab some sleep in if they’d gone into the night. It was within earshot of the Division Bell, so that MPs staying there could get to Parliament in time to vote. Neither Shaun nor Sarah stayed there, but I’ve found seven occasions of an F. Wilson booking a room there for a short time between January and June 1998.’

  ‘The assistant booked the getaways,’ Declan nodded. This matched what Susan had said. ‘Nothing after that?’

  ‘Not that we can see, but she was pregnant around then. Maybe her libido disappeared. And then shortly after that she resigned.’

  Declan wrote this down. ‘Good work, guys. Keep on it.’

  Disconnecting the call, he stared out of the window at the house. It wasn’t large compared to many of the houses around here, no more than a five bedroom, but the driveway and garden was enough for a far bigger estate. And the gate that blocked the way was imposing.

  Luckily, Declan had a magical key that opened all gates like this.

  Climbing out of the Audi, he walked over to the gate pillar, buzzing it. While he waited, he thought through the information he’d recently received. Sebastian was dead and had been buried ten miles south of here, on a road that only an off road vehicle could get down. Andy Mac had such a vehicle, but it had allegedly been stolen. Which meant that he couldn’t be tied to the murder, as yet. Of course, there was another option; that someone else had killed Sebastian and taken the Land Rover. But in that case why bury it so close, unless it was a deliberate attempt to frame Andy for this?

  Declan wasn’t sure. And the uncertainty annoyed him.

  ‘Yes?’ A voice on the intercom brought him back to the present.

  ‘DI Walsh, here to speak to Mister MacIntyre,’ he said into the video screen of the gate buzzer, showing the warrant card as he did so.

  ‘Mister MacIntyre isn’t here,’ the voice responded.

  ‘Look, we’ve spoken to his employees and I know he’s here, so let me in,’ Declan said irritably. ‘Or I’ll come in and arrest you for wasting my sodding time.’

  There was a pause. Probably the amount of time needed for whoever was operating the buzzer to either find Andy and confirm that it was okay to let the police in or, if the voice had indeed been him, for Andy to eventually decide to press the button himself.

  The gates slowly creaked open as Declan walked back to his Audi. Taking a moment to compose himself, he clambered back into the driver’s seat, closed the door and drove into the house’s driveway, the gates closing as equally slowly behind him.

  19

  Holy Ghosts

  ‘You look terrible,’ Andy said as he walked Declan into the sun room, a small glass walled conservatory to the side of the house. ‘Can I get you anything? Aspirin? Paracetamol?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Declan said, sitting down on one of the chairs. ‘And I’m not here to talk about me. I hear you had an eventful night too.’

  ‘You did?’ A momentary flash of panic crossed Andy’s face before composing back to what Declan believed was mock concern.

  ‘Your car being stolen,’ Declan added.

  ‘Oh, that,�
�� Andy nodded. ‘Yes, it’s a pain, but it happens more than you’d expect. Land Rovers can be broken into quite easily when they have a keyless locking system.’

  ‘I’ve heard,’ Declan opened up his notebook. It was well known that car thieves could buy equipment online that allowed them to ‘hack’ the key system of recently produced cars. For a £30 outlay, you could steal dozens of five or even six figure cars in a night. ‘I believe it can be tracked though?’

  ‘Only if the fob isn’t in the car when it’s stolen,’ Andy sighed. ‘Unfortunately, one of the crew took it to the shops yesterday and left it in the little divider area between the two seats.’

  ‘That’s unfortunate. Still, it’s not as if the vehicle doesn’t stand out,’ Declan opened his notebook. ‘I’m sure we’ll find it quickly.’

  He looked up to Andy with a smile.

  ‘And we’re very good at finding things people want hidden.’

  Andy shifted on his seat.

  ‘Well I’m guessing that you didn’t drive all this way to talk about my stolen car,’ he said, forcing a smile. ‘What else can I do for you?’

  ‘You lied to me,’ Declan carried on staring at Andy, not breaking eye contact as he spoke. ‘When we spoke before.’

  ‘I did?’

  ‘You said you barely knew Sarah Hinksman, but you were with her the night she died.’

  Relief once more flooded Andy’s face, and Declan realised he’d seen the same expression the first time they met. It was almost as if Andy had been expecting a far worse question, and the expression that appeared was a relief that this was a question he could answer.

  So what was the question he was scared of?

  ‘It was a long time ago, and I haven’t really thought about it that much. And, when you visited me yesterday I’d just taken some major pain meds.’ Andy waved his hand, professionally rebandaged since they’d spoken. ‘I was a little all over the place.’

  ‘How major?’

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘The meds you took. Are we talking something over the counter or more prescription?’

  ‘They were strong. I have a prescription.’

  ‘For what?’

  Andy was starting to get irritated. ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘Sure. I mean several hours after we spoke, you popped into your Tesla and drove here. I’d hate to think you would take something strong and try to drive.’

  Declan was definitely on the right track. Andy’s face was paling as he spoke.

  ‘So would you like to change your answer?’ Declan pressed on.

  Andy put on his most winning smile and told Declan the exact same story that he’d already heard from Charles Baker; that Sarah had been with Shaun, how she’d appeared at the Party Conference, and how he’d been asked, begged even to keep Sarah out of sight, a task completed by sticking her in the members’ bar of the hotel and feeding her bourbon.

  ‘Who asked you to do this?’ Declan asked. ‘Shaun or Charles?’

  ‘Both, actually,’ Andy replied. ‘I mean, it was Michael that asked me to do it, but they both had reasons to hide from her. I just guessed that they were too chicken to ask me themselves.’

  ‘Really?’ This was a surprise to Declan. ‘I know Shaun’s reason, but why Charles?’

  ‘Don’t know,’ Andy said, more careful now with his answers. ‘I just felt something was going on, you know? He made a point of disappearing when Sarah appeared in the offices after she resigned.’

  ‘But that was it. You just did the job, fed her alcohol.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And the ketamine?’

  Andy looked confused, and this time it felt genuine.

  ‘You didn’t know,’ Declan continued, ‘that she had enough ketamine in her system to down a horse?’

  ‘No.’ Andy looked angry now, as if realising something.

  ‘What did you think of?’ Declan asked. ‘Just then? Who gave her the ketamine? You know, don’t you?’

  ‘It was a party conference,’ Andy replied, back to his calm manner. ‘Hundreds of people could have had some.’

  ‘Did you?’

  Andy nodded. ‘But the fact that I’m admitting to that should show you that I’m not trying to hide anything. I was an addict while I was in office, true, but even I knew that mixing K and booze was probably fatal.’

  ‘Then who did you think of?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Andy replied. ‘I won’t speak ill of the dead.’

  Declan wrote this down. The only currently dead people he could think of that would have been there were Michael and Victoria Davies. He decided to move on, but he wasn’t letting Andy Mac off the hook that easily.

  ‘So there was nothing personal between you?’

  ‘God no. Look, I might not have been a saint back then, but I had my morals.’

  Declan pulled out the folded photo of Sarah Hinksman.

  ‘If there was nothing personal going on, why did you have this in your flat?’ he asked. Andy took it, his face visibly whitening as he looked at the image.

  ‘Where did you get this?’ he asked.

  ‘It was on your floor when I visited,’ Declan replied.

  ‘And you took it?’

  ‘I didn’t get a chance to return it before you pushed me out of the door.’

  Andy swallowed. There was a moment of silence. Then, he looked up to Declan.

  ‘You should give it to its rightful owner,’ he said. Declan knew that something had shifted here. Andy Mac seemed to have a new narrative that he was going to follow.

  ‘And who would that be?’

  ‘One of the interns, Sebastian Payne,’ Andy replied, calm once more. ‘He was Sarah Hinksman’s son. I’m guessing that he must have dropped it when visiting.’

  ‘You had him in your apartment?’

  ‘I have a lot of people in my apartment, DI Walsh. Often they’ll be bringing or taking away equipment.’

  Declan remembered the large case he’d seen the last time he was there.

  ‘Was he there the day before I arrived?’

  ‘Probably.’ Andy started to nod, as if remembering something. ‘Yes, actually. He brought me a flight case filled with lights. I was going to film some vignettes, but then when I cut my hand I decided to wait.’

  ‘The one you were struggling with.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And what happened with that case?’

  ‘I put it back in the studio. Took a while, one handed, but I’m quite resourceful.’

  ‘I’ll bet. Why didn’t you just wait for Sebastian to return, and get him to do it?’

  Andy shrugged. ‘I am not my brother’s keeper, detective. I didn’t know when he’d return.’

  Declan nodded, writing this down. ‘Why did you hire him?’ he asked. ‘I mean, was it because he was Sarah’s son?’

  ‘I didn’t know that when we took him on,’ Andy admitted. ‘The surname was Payne, you see. I only learned when he spoke of his mother. When he…’ he shook a little.

  ‘When he showed me that photo.’

  ‘What prompted it?’

  Andy shrugged. ‘We were talking about family. Sebastian was asking me… About faith. As in when you knew that God was calling.’

  ‘Was God calling him?’ Declan leaned closer. ‘Or was it something else?’

  ‘Like what?’ Andy was starting to sweat a little. Reaching to the coffee table between them, he poured a glass of what looked like lemon squash, taking a large sip. Declan waited for him to finish, letting the moment hang.

  ‘Maybe he blamed you for his mother’s death,’ he suggested.

  Andy didn’t flinch at this, and Declan wondered whether this was the question that he had been prepared for.

  ‘I didn’t kill Sarah,’ Andy replied calmly, no emotion visible in his voice. ‘It was an accident. She shouldn’t have mixed her vices and driven.’

  Declan leaned back in the chair and stared at Andy. In his mind, he tried to remember what had been i
n the room when he visited it. There was a bike, some lights, a television…

  ‘What happened to your award?’ he asked. ‘The YouTube one?’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Andy replied, his voice rising slightly.

  ‘It was dented.’

  ‘It fell.’

  ‘What’s usually inside a flight case?’ Declan started another line of questioning.

  ‘Equipment.’

  ‘No, I mean the lining. If I was to open one up, what would I see?’

  ‘Foam, maybe some fur lining, I don’t know. There’s so many.’

  ‘And they’re made of metal?’

  ‘Aluminium. Why?’

  Declan changed tack again.

  ‘The night of Victoria’s murder, you said you couldn’t remember anything. Did you know that Charles Baker had the same problem?’

  ‘We never spoke of it.’

  ‘Never? The night a woman died?’

  ‘No. As I said, the place was pretty toxic. Charles was already working out how to use this to his advantage, like he’d done the snip.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You should ask Charles that.’

  Declan was impressed. That was clever, to try to throw the conversation onto someone else.

  ‘Let’s go back to your comment about faith,’ he continued. ‘Do you believe in God?’

  ‘What kind of stupid question is that?’ Andy replied angrily, finally snapping. Declan shrugged.

  ‘You wouldn’t be the first preacher to lose faith.’

  ‘I believe in God.’

  ‘And Heaven? And the ten commandments?’

  ‘To believe in one is to believe in all.’ Andy was drinking from the glass again, his face flushing slightly.

  ‘Will you go to Heaven or Hell?’ Declan asked.

  ‘Only God will decide,’ Andy said calmly, as if it was a line he’d used a lot.

  ‘But you have to follow His commandments, right?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘So let’s go through them.’ Declan had done his time at Sunday School, and he still remembered them from when Jessica had done the same. ‘Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour’s Ox. That’ll be jealousy, right? Be envious of something that someone else had?’