‘This is all conjecture. There was never any proof, you understand.’
‘What happened to this woman? I assume it was a woman.’
‘Oh, yes, it would definitely be a woman. As far as I am aware and was later told by my father, he’d paid the woman off and she left.’
‘How long would this be?’
Fulborough raised his eyes to the ceiling, thinking. ‘Fourteen or fifteen years ago.’
‘You would have been a teenager at that time?’
‘Something like that, yes.’
‘Did you see this woman or know her?’
‘Yes, I knew of her. She worked in the estate office.’
‘Doing what?’ Jake leaned forward in his seat.
‘I don’t know exactly. She was a bit of a looker from what I remember. The raging hormones of an adolescent boy notices these things.’ He smiled again, as if he felt more comfortable talking to them. The aggressive attitude had ebbed away a little.
‘Any idea what she did around the office?’ Randall questioned.
‘Just seemed to be there all the time. Office manager I think. I don’t really know.’
‘What about your own mother. Do you think she knew?’
‘I think she had suspicions. She knew that Father always had an eye for the ladies. Power and land get them excited.’
‘Including you?’
Fulborough’s grin was cold and he said nothing.
‘So, would it have been enough for your mother to kill her, perhaps?’
‘No, Virginia wasn’t like that.’
‘Do you believe that either of them could have killed her?’
‘I really don’t know. I doubt it.’
Randall opened the file he had in front of him. ‘How long has Philpott been working for you?’
‘About twenty years.’
‘Could he have done it? He has the right – temperament, shall we say?’
‘I suppose so. He’s a big lad.’
‘Is it possible?’ Jake re-iterated.
Fulborough sat forward conspiratorially. ‘I’ve never liked the fellow personally.’
‘Would you ever fire him?’
‘If the opportunity came along I would, yes.’ Fulborough sat back in his seat. He looked across at his solicitor who had not said a word, but had been writing copious amounts on his brown leather embossed note pad and using a very expensive ink pen.
‘What about these remains then?’ Randall said, bringing Fulborough’s attention back towards him. ‘Do you have a photo of her?’
‘I may have an old one somewhere.’
‘Can you find us a copy?’
Fulborough looked across at his solicitor, who nodded lightly.
‘Did you know her name?’
‘Avril, I think.’
‘What about a surname?’
Fulborough shook his head. ‘I’d have to think about that, I can’t recall ever hearing it.’
‘OK, it’s obvious that the remains found in your wood is not specifically down to you, but it would be much better, if we had your co-operation during our enquiries. We’re trying to find out who both remains belong to.’
‘I understand that, but it’s still an inconvenience. I can’t do anything with that land until you’ve finished with it.’ A little of his aggression had resurfaced. Jake wondered whether he had some issues in that regard.
‘As soon as we have, we’ll let you know. One final question – there is evidence that this woman had given birth. Do you have any knowledge about that?’
‘No, never heard anything.’ Fulborough hesitated. ‘Look, I’m sorry that we got off on the wrong foot. It’s not every day that you get two bodies found on your land.’
‘Very well, but we may need to speak to you again.’
‘I understand.’ Fulborough stood to leave, as did his solicitor.
Randall showed them out of the station and the officers watched them walk back to his solicitors car, a Porsche Cayenne.
‘Do you believe him?’ Jake asked.
‘I think that he knows more than he’s letting on, that’s for sure. He knew the remains were female and we haven’t told anyone that yet. Not even the press.’
‘If he was a child when all this was going on around him, he may only have put together snippets of information and come up with a completely incorrect solution.’
‘Possible, but I bet any money he knows a lot more. What we need is DNA, or evidence of Fulborough’s or Philpott’s involvement. There’s stuff going on up there that makes me very suspicious.’
‘A proverbial upper crust “can of worms” it would seem.’
27
The realisation that they had a multiple murderer on their hands became obvious, after Andy Thomas had received the new toxicology reports from the motorway collision and he’d immediately told Jake.
PC Thomas’s concentration on rendering the scene from his laser scanner was such that he did not hear Jordan enter his office. Thomas had been the only one in the office, the silence only interrupted by the occasional burst from the Airwave base unit on top of a filing cabinet in the corner, of their new spacious and airy office. It still had that new building smell of paint and plaster. The grey industrial carpeting was beginning to form track marks from the constant comings and goings of officers and staff with mucky boots. Thomas turned to Jake as he tapped him on the shoulder.
‘What! Bleedin’ hell. You wearing Jesus creepers? Skulking around offices?’
‘I thought I’d made enough noise, Andy, but you were so engrossed in your pictures.’
They glanced at the screen with a line drawing of the collision slowly appearing.
‘OK, perhaps. What can I do for you?’
‘I’ve just seen the tox reports from the motorway fatals,’ Jake said as he took a seat opposite Thomas.
‘Yeah. That unknown substance has popped up again.’ Thomas rubbed his forehead. ‘What do you think we ought to do about it? You said that Major Crimes wouldn’t even look at it.’
Jake stood and paced the office, glanced out of the window and turned back to Thomas. ‘I don’t think we have a choice, Andy. We don’t have the resources to deal with something like this. We’ve six deaths, all suspect, standing orders don’t give me a choice. Whether they like it or not, Major Crimes have got to take at least some of it on.’
‘And they’ll tell us that they don’t have the resources either and they’ll want to know which budget it’s coming from. We’ve had this discussion before. You’ll be lucky if you get any support for it.’
‘But we’ve got to try. The same unknown substance in six different blood samples, in six different locations, at six different collisions. What other assumption can we come up with other than the fact that it may have been administered by the same person or group of people?’
‘It seems that we certainly have something going on here. What about Dr Kingsfield, could she help, as she’s your friend.’
‘Andy, I’m her FLO, not her boyfriend,’ exclaimed Jake, exasperated. ‘Jesus!’
Thomas looked at Jake with a wry smile. ‘You can’t fool us, Sarge, it’s common knowledge.’
Jake raised an eyebrow. Said nothing.
‘I’m surprised that the bosses haven’t said anything to you already.’
Jake thought about the visit he had recently had from Beccy Burnett. ‘Why should they?’ Jake asked defensively.
‘You’ve committed an FLO sin, you got involved.’
‘It wasn’t supposed to be like that.’
‘Look, Jake, I’ve known you for a long time, and believe me, I understand where you’re at, but you are both quite high profile, considering what you’ve both done in the past.’
‘To be honest, Andy, I don’t really care. They can say what they want.
’
‘That’s right – don’t let the bastards grind you down.’ He smiled.
‘Which bastards are we talking about?’ Chief Superintendent Burnett stood at the door to the office.
‘Oh, you know, ma’am,’ Thomas said.
‘Don’t worry, PC Thomas. I knew what you were talking about anyway.’
Jake looked at Burnett, questioningly. ‘We know. The whole bloody force knows.’
‘Except Randall, it seems,’ he said without thinking.
‘I told you to be careful, didn’t I? I gave you fair warning, but you didn’t listen.’
‘Anyway, what are you doing down here, ma’am?’ Thomas asked.
‘I was looking for you, Jake, but caught onto your conversation. Seems we have a problem with these collisions, don’t we?’
Jake invited Burnett to sit down at the desk opposite, as he recounted the information they already had, along with the occasional interjection from Thomas.
‘So, we’ve got to add the motorway collision as well?’
‘That’s about the size of it.’
‘What do you need to do?’
‘We want resources and the only way we are going to get that is by handing it on to the detectives. It should be put on HOLMES. That’s the only way we’re going to correlate information, particularly about the toxicology.’
‘I doubt very much whether Major Crimes will set up a HOLMES profile for us to work on. But they may give us some manpower. It seems to me that we have an issue we need to resolve and I agree that the only way to get to that point is to involve them.’
‘Do you think they will go for it?’ Thomas asked, fiddling with his picture.
‘We can but ask, Andy. Let me make a few phone calls.’ She went to leave the office, then turned to them both as an afterthought. ‘I assume that the strange toxicology is now confirmed?’
‘Once we’ve heard back from Dr Nicholls, we’ll have a better understanding, but yes, by all accounts it is.’
Burnett nodded, then indicated for Jake to walk with her. They walked in silence, until Jake could not wait any longer.
‘Are you not going to say anything then, about what you heard?’
‘Pointless me saying anything, about that which you already know.’
‘Christ, does everyone know then?’
‘If I know, they must know. I did warn you.’
‘I understand that, but you have to believe that it’s a natural progression – two single people, working together to overcome a difficulty. It’s not a crime, you know.’
‘I know that, Jake, because I know you,’ she said, stabbing a finger towards his chest, ‘but that’s not what everyone else sees. You’ve been told to back off, not just by me, but the ACC as well.
‘It’s natural, and Kirsty and I will be making it public soon.’
‘I’m sorry, Jake, but I may not be able to stop the process that’s started.’
‘What process?’ Burnett found an empty office and indicated for them to go in.
‘What process, Beccy?’ Jake asked, more frustrated than angry.
‘Professional Standards are onto it.’
‘It’s got bugger all to do with performing seals. Why?’
‘There’s been a complaint.’
‘From who?’
‘I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.’
‘Fuckin’ Randall – just because he’s been sniffing around.’
Burnett kept quiet.
‘I take it from your silence that I’m right?’
‘I’m not saying you are, but you were her Family Liaison Officer. For God’s sake, Jake, you’ve broken the rules. FLOs have been disciplined for doing what you’re supposedly not doing. So I’m telling you to desist.’
‘I’m sorry, ma’am, but I cannot.’
The use of the ma’am word towards Burnett, shook her, Jake could see that. He knew, it would instantly change whatever relationship they’d had as a crew. Up to now, he’d seen her as his ex-crew-mate. But this indicated to her that she was not going to get any further with him. He could see from her face, that whatever she was going to do next would hurt her as much as it would hurt Jake.
‘Look, Jake, I don’t have any other options here, friend or no friend. The reason I came to find you was to inform you that PSD want to interview you about it. They’ll be contacting you to make an appointment and they’ll want to make it soon. In the meantime, dependent upon the results of their investigation, we will decide as to your posting. You are also taken off all FLO duties.’
‘Including Kirsty?’
‘Yes, especially Dr Kingsfield.’
Jake stood, opened-mouthed, at what he had just been told. He sat down heavily in the nearest chair and shook his head. Fuck…
‘I’m sorry, Jake,’ was all Burnett could say as she left the office.
Jake sat there for a few more minutes thinking about what Burnett had said to him before standing and going to the locker room. He’d had enough and, glancing at his watch, decided to go home. No overtime today.
Jake stood in front of his locker and sighed. He removed his coat hanging on the open locker door. Part of him said it would be all right and that he’d be able to get away with it when they heard the circumstances, but the other part of him knew that he’d really pissed off the bosses and his chances for any advancement. What with him just missing out on another discipline over the Tyler affair twelve months earlier, his long-term plans of any type of advancement were truly up in smoke now.
He knew that what he had done was against the rules, but he had been with Kirsty all this time supporting her. The expectation that nothing would happen was a naïve view, if ever there was one. But the job worked in black and white, or so everyone thought. Policemen are not robots. And it was about time that management realised that.
Perhaps it was for the best. In any case, it didn’t matter who he had a relationship with if he wasn’t on FLO duty with her. In fact, he felt a little relieved that he need not try to keep what was obviously a well-known secret anymore.
Unlike the other lockers in the room, the insides of the doors were usually adorned with pictures of family, and in the case of single officers, the current love of their lives or fantasy. He’d removed the only photograph of Rosie he’d had in there, when they separated. He stood gazing at the marks on the door, where the picture used to be.
‘Penny for them?’
Jake looked up to see Andy Thomas, whose locker was in the same aisle as his. A brief smile crossed Jake’s lips. ‘No, not today, Andy. Thanks.’
‘Sorry, mate,’ Thomas said. ‘Shitty decision on their part.’
‘Yeah, it’s probably for the best.’ He shrugged on his coat, said goodbye to Thomas, and left.
28
He’d arranged to see Kirsty that evening, and now sat outside her apartment. His recent euphoria had degenerated into depression. A feeling that he’d not had in a long time. What was he going to tell her? What was he going to do? He had come to realise that the affection he had for Kirsty was something more than just friendship. It was a deepening love for everything about her, her very essence. He couldn’t suppress the feelings he experienced every time she was near him. But he didn’t know whether she felt the same. They were close, yes. Got even closer the other night, but he’d put that to one side for now. It was probably the alcohol in her that was talking. The fact was that he wanted to get closer – was that wrong of him? If he continued the conversation they’d started, what are the chances that it would destroy what they had? Or would it bring them closer together? Whatever the case, now that he’d been removed from FLO supervision duties, he had to tell her, come what may.
He got out of his car, pulling his jacket around him to keep out the autumn chill. He looked towards the darkening sky. A storm’s brewing,
he thought, in more ways than one.
Kirsty invited him into her apartment. Jake could smell something cooking and realised that he was quite hungry.
‘Thought I’d do a chilli.’
‘Smells good – I’m starving,’ he said, as she walked back towards the kitchen. She was wearing a pair of old blue jeans and a faded, black tee shirt with the slogan ‘Pathologists do it on a slab’ on the front. Jake smiled. She seemed happy and he wasn’t looking forward to what he needed to tell her and how his day ended. He’d leave it until they had eaten. But sitting together on the sofa, he decided to start off on another tack.
‘So, have you seen Randall for dinner yet? You said he’d asked you?’
Kirsty glanced across at him. ‘No. And between you and me, I won’t be.’
‘Oh, why’s that?’
‘I don’t know. I just find him a bit full on.’
‘Full on. What? In a stalker sort of way or his magnetic personality?’
‘I hadn’t considered the stalker angle, but he does seem to spend a lot of time at the morgue.’
‘Perhaps he’s a secret goth,’ Jake joked.
Kirsty smiled. ‘No, it’s just that he seems to be trying too hard, almost creepy, but there is something about him that I can’t get a handle on. Do you know what I mean? I think he thinks that we have something in common because of our personal circumstances. You know the loss of Jim and his wife.’
‘Yes, I think so. Perhaps he still needs some loss counselling, but it seems to me that he’s the sort who’d rather put a brave face on it and slug it out with himself. My conversations with him have been stilted, to say the least, but he’s new to the force, still finding his feet. I’m sure he’s OK really.’
Silence fell for a few moments, then Jake said, ‘You need to know that two things happened today, neither of them good.’
‘OK, should I be worried?’
Jake looked towards her and paused, before he said, ‘I got pulled from FLO duties and officially I am no longer your FLO. They’re going to allocate another one. If you want one they said.’
‘What! Why? I don’t want another FLO, if it’s not you.’
‘It’s because they think we’re in a relationship. It’s the rules.’
Driving Dead Page 13