Fatal Love

by Michael Patterson

  ‘But he didn’t arrive?’

  ‘No, he didn’t. I called again at five past five and again fifteen minutes later, but I couldn’t even get through to his voicemail. So, eventually, I decided he wasn’t coming and left for home at about five thirty.’

  ‘And he didn’t call you back later?’ asked Milner.

  ‘No. The last time I actually spoke to him was just after he’d left the club.’

  ‘Thank you both, once again,’ said Tom, offering his hand to each man. ‘You both now have my card. If there’s anything else you subsequently remember, please call me.’

  ‘Will you need to speak with us both again?’ asked Mr Cook.

  ‘I would imagine that’s a certainty,’ replied Tom.

  *

  A short while later, Tom and Milner were in the car, heading back to the station.

  ‘What do you make of all that?’ Tom suddenly asked.

  ‘It seems that each time we visit the golf club, we learn something new.’

  ‘So what do you think we learnt this time?’ asked Tom, interested to know Milner’s thoughts.

  ‘Well, firstly, as we suspected, Mr Burton was not universally popular amongst the members. That much was clear from the conversation we had with the club captain. It looks like there was, at best, a grudging acceptance of him being a member there.’

  Tom interrupted him. ‘And, incidentally, Mrs Burton thought the same thing.’

  ‘Exactly,’ he answered, before continuing. ‘Then there is the situation regarding Roger White and his shares. What’s obvious is how increasingly desperate he was to buy them back. I also got the feeling from what he told us that Mr Burton, for whatever reason, was stalling. Finally, of course, there’s the issue of his so-called missed meeting with Mr Burton at 5 pm.’

  ‘Why so-called?’ asked Tom.

  ‘Well, sir, we only have his word that Mr Burton never showed. He said he was hoping to meet at 5 pm, and that’s not long after the last known contact with Mr Burton.’

  When it became obvious Milner was not about to say anything else, Tom said, ‘For the same reason, I don’t think we should ignore Tony Cook. According to him he was out running at least part of the time after Mr Burton had left home. As with Roger White, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who can confirm this.’

  ‘Do you really think he’s involved?’ asked Milner.

  ‘I really don’t know. That’s why you should contact him again and get the details of his route. Once you have that, check to see if any CCTV cameras picked him up along the way. We can, at least, then eliminate him from the list of potential murderers.’

  ‘But what possible motive could he have?’

  ‘Again, I’ve got no idea. But a common link right now is the golf club, and especially the shareholdings.’ His antennae were now working overtime. ‘There’s just something about that place that doesn’t quite add up.’

  Chapter 24

  It was 8 am on the following morning and, once again, Tom, Milner and Bennett were back in their usual place. This time, though, they were all focussed on the chart, on which were written all the names of the people who they felt featured strongly in the investigation. One additional name, at Tom’s request, had just been added by Milner.

  ‘Who is Tony Cook?’ asked DC Bennett.

  ‘He’s the general manager of the West London Golf Club,’ answered Milner. ‘He knew Mr Burton but wasn’t at the club on the day he disappeared.’

  ‘That must apply to many people,’ suggested DC Bennett. ‘What’s so different about him?’

  Tom answered his question. ‘I’m increasingly coming to the conclusion that the golf club is the key to this. As general manager Mr Cook, therefore, had the best insight into everything which went on there. And besides, he conveniently was out running during the crucial time period on that particular Sunday. Until we have a rock-solid alibi for him, he should stay on the chart as a potential suspect.’ He walked towards the chart and added the word alibi? beneath Tony Cook’s name. Before anyone could ask any follow-up questions, he said, looking at DC Bennett, ‘I see you have copied the photo. Thanks.’

  This was reference to the photograph Mrs Burton had loaned to Tom, featuring her husband and the three other men, a copy of which had now been stuck in the centre of the chart.

  ‘So, how did it go with Mr Mercer?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Nothing revealing, I’m afraid,’ DC Bennett answered, his voice tinged with disappointment. ‘He knew, of course, about Mr Burton’s death but, I have to say, still seemed genuinely shocked. He had last seen him about two weeks before his disappearance, when they had agreed a few changes to Mr Mercer’s investment portfolio. Other than that, he says, there hadn’t been any other contact between the two of them.’ As neither DCI Stone nor DS Milner made any comment, he carried on. ‘I have checked his recent movements and he was, in fact, out of the country – in New York, actually – on the Sunday Mr Burton disappeared.’

  ‘Did he mention his wife during your conversation?’ Tom asked.

  ‘No. He didn’t mention her.’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Tom, in the way he sometimes did when he was considering what he’d just been told. ‘I still think we should keep him on the chart, though.’ He wrote the words cuckolded husband beneath Mr Mercer’s name. ‘Right, let’s have a look at what we’ve got.’ He took up a position at the side of the chart, still holding the marker pen.

  ‘Here’s our murder victim,’ he said, pointing the pen at the photo. ‘Apparently something happened, which made him angry, between the time he left Mrs Mercer and the time he left his house. What do we know about him?’ He carried straight on. ‘Not especially liked, particularly at the golf club. That much is obvious. Also a bit of a serial womaniser, but, of late, seems to have been focussing his attentions on this particular one, Caroline Mercer. She was clearly besotted with him and was even planning to leave her husband so that they could be together permanently.Jonathan Mercer is her husband but, at least as far as we know, had no idea they were having an affair and, anyway, was out of the country on the day Glyn Burton was murdered. Next, there’s Roger White.’ He pointed once again at the photo. ‘Played golf regularly with the victim. Sold most of his shares in the club to Mr Burton so that he could pay off a gambling debt.’ He paused. ‘And, I suspect, prevent it becoming common knowledge at his beloved golf club. Was hoping to buy most of them back, but this death has, so far at least, put paid to that. Tried to meet with Mr Burton on the evening of his disappearance but claims he never turned up, and I’m sure he’s still not telling us everything he knows. Anyway, then there’s this man, Tony Cook.’ He pointed at the name. ‘We’ve just discussed his involvement. We leave him on until his alibi is corroborated.’

  He then moved his marker pen until it touched the image of Mike Preston on the photograph. ‘Another of the victim’s golfing buddies – well, that was until Mr Preston discovered that Glyn Burton had been seeing his wife. He, out of everyone, probably had the strongest motive to murder him, especially after their bust-up in the car park at the golf club. It also turns out that Mr Preston was, basically, thrown out of the golf club, due to the public fight with Mr Burton. So, looked at dispassionately, there’s two strong motives. His wife, Amy, we still have to talk to, but all the indications are that she has been forgiven as their marriage seems to have survived the affair.’ He went on. ‘The third woman in all of this is, of course, the victim’s wife Jane. She readily admitted that they were no longer living as man and wife and strongly suspected he was being unfaithful to her at the time of his death.’

  Tom’s flow was suddenly interrupted by Milner. ‘Sir? Do we really think that one of the women might be the murderer? Mr Burton was quite a big man and it would need some sort of superwoman to be able to beat him to death, put him in the car and then push the car over the edge into the quarry.’

  ‘That true. I had thought of that,’ he answered, ‘but that assumes the killer was one person. It could be that
they had an accomplice.’

  Milner looked far from convinced but decided not to respond, and so Tom continued. ‘And that just leaves Craig Blackwell.’

  ‘Leaving the best until last, then, sir?’ said DC Bennett.

  ‘What do we know about him?’ Tom asked rhetorically. ‘Understandably he was concerned about his business partner’s affair with the wife of their biggest client, and recently he has been making regular cash withdrawals from the business. Why was he doing that?’ The question was directed mainly at himself. He stepped back from the chart so that he could more easily see all the names on it. ‘Anyone like to comment?’

  ‘It’s a difficult one,’ said Milner.

  ‘Murder usually is,’ answered Tom.

  Milner ignored this. ‘You could make a case for any of them to be the murderer. They all, to a greater or lesser extent, had a motive, but I really do think we should focus on the men. I hear what you say, sir, about the possibility of more than one person being involved, but I just think that this is unlikely.’

  ‘In my experience, Milner,’ said Tom, ‘when someone starts a sentence with I hear what you say, what they are really saying is that they absolutely don’t agree. Is that what you are saying?’

  ‘Yes,’ answered Milner. ‘I think that is what I’m saying.’

  ‘Well, let’s hope you are right. So you think we should just concentrate our efforts on the men?’

  ‘I think we should, sir,’ he replied.

  A slight change in Tom’s facial expression was enough to indicate that, whilst he didn’t totally agree, he was, nonetheless, willing to go along with Milner’s suggestion.

  ‘DC Bennett? What do you think?’ he asked.

  ‘I think I’ve made my thoughts clear already, sir. Craig Blackwell is our man. I thought this from the very first time I met him and I haven’t changed my mind. There’s something not quite right about what he’s been telling us. I’m sure he’s been lying or trying to cover up something.’

  ‘So, you, DS Milner, think it could be any one of the men – but not any of the women – whilst DC Bennett is sure it’s his business partner.’

  ‘And what about you, sir?’ asked DC Bennett.

  ‘At the moment, I’ve got no idea, but what I do think is that the golf club could be central to solving this. What we need, though, is just one more piece of information, or evidence, and then we’ll have a much better idea as to which of us might be right.’

  What he didn’t know was that they would soon receive more than just one additional piece of information, although this wouldn’t necessarily move the investigation much further forward.

  Chapter 25

  ‘Now, that is interesting,’ said Tom, closely examining the piece of paper he was holding.

  It was later that same morning and, after their meeting earlier in the day, DC Bennett had received an email. The attachment listed all the calls and texts that Glyn Burton had made or received on the day of his disappearance. Alongside each number was the name of the person who owned the phone. As soon as he’d received it DC Bennett had informed Tom and suggested the three of them get together again so he could share this new information with him and DS Milner.

  ‘It looks like the last communication,’ Tom said, ‘was the one I’ve seen myself, when he texted his wife to say that he might not be home that night. After that, his phone just seemed to go offline, as there is no further record of any calls made or received.’ He hesitated briefly. ‘What’s this here alongside the time?’

  ‘It’s the location of the telephone mast which picked up his signal. So he must have been somewhere relatively near that mast when he texted his wife,’ answered DC Bennett.

  ‘Isn’t that also quite close to the quarry where his body was found?’

  ‘Yes. It’s only a few miles away.’

  Tom was now deep in thought, as he considered what DC Bennett had just said. Eventually, he spoke again. ‘That’s really interesting. It increases the possibility he was murdered on the day he disappeared.’

  ‘Given his track record it might also have been the place where he was seeing another woman,’ suggested DC Bennett. ‘I’ve checked on the map, and, although it’s not that far away from the M3, it’s still quite rural in that neck of the woods. The perfect spot if you wanted to be alone with someone else.’

  ‘It’s possible. Of course, it could be purely a coincidence; perhaps he was murdered on another day and his body brought back and then dumped in the quarry. But . . .’

  Before he could finish what he was about to say, Milner did it for him. ‘But you don’t believe in coincidences, do you, sir?’

  ‘No, I don’t, DS Milner, especially when it comes to murder. Something, incidentally, you should think about during your career in the force.’

  ‘Thank you for that advice, sir. I certainly will,’ he replied.

  Tom gave him one of his quizzical looks but decided to carry on. ‘I think there is sufficient evidence, circumstantial or not, to check the location out. I know it’s an isolated area, but there must be some CCTV coverage. Anyway, get on to it. To begin with, I suggest you concentrate on between, say, 4 pm and 7 pm on that Sunday evening. Hopefully, we’ll at least pick up his car on its way there.’

  He then continued reading from the sheet of paper DC Bennett had handed him. ‘The first call listed is one he made at 10.02 am to Mrs Mercer and lasts two minutes. That stacks up with what she told us and must have been when he called her to arrange their meeting at the coffee place. The next one he received at 10.05 am from Roger White.That would have been when he tried to discuss buying back his shares. The next was at 10.29 am from a Brian Sharpe and lasted about three minutes. So that would have been after he’d left the golf club, but before he met with Mrs Mercer.’ He paused and said, ‘I wonder who Brian Sharpe is,’ before immediately carrying on. ‘Anyway, we urgently need to speak to Mr Sharpe. Milner, why don’t you get on to that straight away?’

  ‘Already on it, sir,’ he answered, in a matter-of-fact tone. ‘In fact, it was the first thing I did. DC Bennett showed me the list earlier and his name, being a new one to us, jumped out. I rang the number, but there was no answer, so I left a message. I’ll keep trying.’

  ‘Very impressive. You’ll be telling me what I should be doing next.’

  ‘I doubt that very much, sir,’ he simply answered.

  Tom returned to the sheet. ‘He then received a call at 11.20 am – so presumably just after he’d left Mrs Mercer, and whilst he was on his way back home. It was from a Mr Jordan but lasted less than a minute. Almost immediately after he’d taken that call, at 11.22 he phoned Craig Blackwell, and that call lasted almost five minutes.’ He looked up from the sheet he had been reading from. ‘I wonder if the two calls are related. It would certainly make sense. Whatever he and Mr Jordan had briefly discussed would appear to have then prompted him to call Craig Blackwell straight away.’

  Tom looked at DC Bennett, who couldn’t resist making a comment.

  ‘What did I tell you?’ DC Bennett asked, an almost triumphant tone now in his voice. ‘I knew Blackwell had lied to us. I specifically asked him if he’d had any contact from Mr Burton and he said no. Didn’t he, sir?’

  ‘He did, yes,’ Tom replied. ‘Looks like your instincts were right all along. But that doesn’t mean he murdered Mr Burton.’

  If Tom’s comment was designed to dent DC Bennett’s enthusiasm, it didn’t appear to have been successful. ‘He’s definitely well in the frame now, though,’ Mr Bennett said with obvious relish.

  ‘I expect you’ve already contacted Mr Jordan as well?’ asked Tom, looking towards Milner.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered. ‘I spoke with him just a few minutes ago. He does the accounts and tax returns for Mr Burton’s company. He was a bit reluctant, at first, to tell me why he’d called Mr Burton, so I suggested we could always pay him a visit. That did the trick and he then told me.’

  ‘And?’ said Tom, impatient to find out.
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  ‘It seems Craig Blackwell has a bit of a history when it comes to sudden cash withdrawals. Apparently something similar happened a year or so ago, but the amounts then were less than the recent amounts. Mr Burton had asked Mr Jordan to let him know if they ever restarted. Mr Jordan had been doing some preparatory work on the accounts and spotted the two recent withdrawals on the bank statement. The last one was just three days before Mr Burton’s disappearance. That’s why he called Mr Burton.’

  ‘Did they discuss it?’ asked Tom.

  ‘No. He simply passed the information on to Mr Burton, who just thanked him.’

  ‘I wonder what Mr Burton said to Mr Blackwell,’ Tom said. ‘Anyway, it will be very interesting to hear what Craig Blackwell has to say about it. I wonder if he’ll tell us the truth.’

  ‘I wouldn’t hold your breath,’ said DC Bennett.

  ‘Well, well. Now here’s an interesting name,’ said Tom, focussing again on the names on the sheet of paper, his enthusiasm level now almost matching that of DC Bennett. ‘So, he called my friend, Tony Cook, at 11.35 am – just before he arrived home – and they spoke for about three minutes. Now, I wonder what all that was about. That should be an interesting conversation when we next pay him a visit. It’s all suddenly getting very mysterious.’ He went on down the list. ‘The next one is from Roger White, at2.45 pm, but it only lasted a few seconds. That, presumably, was when he called to suggest they meet later that evening, but it just went to voicemail.’

  He placed the sheet of paper on the table. ‘Excellent piece of work. Well done,’ he said. ‘It seems hardly anyone is telling us the truth. Or, at least, telling us the full story.’ He turned to face DC Bennett. ‘Could you set up another flip chart and write down the sequence of all these phone calls? I have a feeling that might help us find the answer as to who murdered Mr Burton.’

  ‘How do you want to handle this, sir?’ asked Milner.