‘Well, I’m seeking legal advice.’
‘Right, OK, enjoy the rest of your Christmas.’
Emma watched the pair walk to the front entrance, and cast her mind back to when Sarah Peaks had come to them, bereft and desperate to prove her boyfriend was an incompetent buffoon when it came to computers.
But it wasn’t just his technical language that made Emma go to her computer. It was the fact that Faith Shaw was still in the mortuary fridge awaiting autopsy. No one yet knew if she had drugs in her system, or whether it was drugs that had killed her. Not even the police. And how the hell would Blackman know that the most likely scenario was that she’d been taken to the forest and left there?
She’d given the registration details of the three vehicles to the ANPR data centre. So far they were on upwards of fifty hits, and Emma had told them to keep going. Scouring camera images took police hours, but most of the initial work was done by a computer, and they were after something very specific: all three vehicles in the same time frame and the same location. So far, nothing had been found, except what they already had on the Whinlatter roundabout.
Emma looked to see if they had any registration details for a vehicle owned by Tony Blackman. They did, as part of their initial charging process. She called the data centre and asked them to add his details to the list. After ten minutes, she had a call back.
All four vehicles had been tracked travelling south on the M6 two weeks ago. They had all pulled into the same service station within ten minutes of one another, and left within five minutes of each other. Emma called the service station and told them she was on her way to examine their CCTV.
Chapter 57
Kelly ordered a crime-scene reconstruction where Faith had been found. The thaw had revealed vehicle tracks that an expert said were fresh before the snowfall. He could absolutely prove this beyond doubt, because they were frozen to perfection. Once the surface ice had thawed, the soil underneath was virgin, unsullied by the common detritus of the forest such as twigs, leaves, animal droppings and spider’s webs. An estimate was made that several of the tracks – two sets of car tyres and one set of motorbike tyres – were made only hours before the first snowfall. The only other tracks in the vicinity had been soiled with fragments of foliage and weathering, indicating that they were much older. The three fresh sets were filled with plaster and sent away to be made into prints. The process of identifying the types of tyres, and then linking them to vehicles, would take weeks normally. Kelly reckoned that in a case like this she could speed it up to a week.
The re-creation of any crime scene involved, first and foremost, sterility. The area had been preserved as it had been found, minus the body, and Kelly watched as the crime-scene specialist walked this way and that, pulling tape, planting poles, asking questions and looking up to the sky. She was a local and knew the area well, which was always a bonus. Kelly had once witnessed a reconstruction in London where the investigator had stopped thirty minutes in, looked up to a block of flats and announced, ‘It came from number 32, my cousin lives downstairs.’ He’d then proceeded to inform the team of all the exits from the block, which one was likely used and even which petrol station the suspects could have stopped at on the way out of the city. He’d been correct, and CCTV footage from the garage had caught them.
Kelly didn’t need to be here, but it beat sitting beside her mother’s bed in hospital; she allowed Nikki that honour. It was extraordinary that since she’d found out about Ted being her father, her guilt towards Nikki and her own behaviour had disappeared. She owed her sister nothing, and didn’t even feel any compulsion to explain. She could tell that Nikki was puzzled, wondering where her arch-nemesis had gone, but Kelly didn’t care anymore.
She’d checked on her mother twice already this morning, and her condition had neither worsened nor improved. Sitting in a waiting room drinking copious amounts of tea made by staff hovering like funeral directors didn’t help anybody, and Kelly wasn’t about to indulge anyone’s need to weep. She’d forced Ted to leave and go back to his hotel, to shower and sleep, and had given Matt a hand finding something to entertain the kids while Nikki kept vigil. Everybody had different needs when faced with sadness, and no one had the right to judge what others chose. She toyed with the idea of offering Ted her spare room. His flat in Carlisle was an hour’s drive away, and the intimacy of sharing her home was intimidating. He was comfortable in a small guesthouse near the castle, and that’s how she left it.
At work, she could focus, and she was never far away from Penrith. Each time she’d been to the hospital, she’d been aware of Nikki’s glare, scrutinising her for her blatant callousness. Kelly wasn’t interested. She was liberated. Nikki wore her fatigue and the dark circles under her eyes like badges of honour, as if saying to anyone passing by: ‘Look how dedicated I am in my grief.’ Fine.
Fucking fine.
‘The car parked here and turned here,’ the CSI said, indicating. ‘The footprints down here evidence a struggle; either that or they were dancing or jogging on the spot. See how the footprint is incomplete, and the sharp, narrow trail away from the full print, here? Then over here, where the body was found, there are crawl marks and drag marks, here and here.’
Kelly followed her, and nodded with every point.
‘But they could all be explained away by a group of teenagers having fun, or play-fighting,’ she pointed out.
‘Of course, but you’ve got a deceased person, so it wouldn’t really convince anyone.’
The forensic officer nodded towards the dog handler, who’d been waiting patiently with a spaniel called Maisie. She was a drug dog. Police sniffers were bred for generations from trusty workers with illustrious histories, and Maisie’s ancestors were fourth-generation police workers. The bond between canine and handler was awe-inspiring, and Kelly and the CSI watched as Maisie was let off the lead. Her nose never left the ground and her tail pointed upright in the air, the excitement of pleasing her handler almost too much. It didn’t take long for her to begin howling and barking from under a bush, and the handler joined her and spoke to her as though to a toddler.
‘What is it, girl? What have you got?’
Kelly watched with admiration as the handler bent down and retrieved a small plastic bag. Maisie sat obediently and the handler rewarded her with her favourite ball and some treats. Kelly took the bag with a gloved hand: it contained a dust-like substance. The chances of it being the sugar portion for someone’s school food technology class was remote. It was bagged and tagged.
The forest was eerily isolated, and Kelly thought it an odd place to choose to score a drugs deal. There were plenty of places around Keswick that could offer the privacy needed for such an activity; they really didn’t need to come so far, unless the intent to cause harm was already there. There was always the possibility that things had spiralled out of control, and Faith was the unfortunate victim. Kelly had yet to work out who the real ringleader was, but she suspected it wasn’t who’d she initially thought.
Her phone buzzed: it was Emma.
‘Guv, I’ve just had the strangest conversation with Tony Blackman.’
‘I’m listening. What did he have to say for himself?’
‘Two things bother me. One is that he told me that Sadie Rawlinson and Luke Miles are both drug addicts and it was probably their drugs that killed Faith Shaw.’
‘But we haven’t got any toxicology results yet.’
‘Exactly. He also on two occasions said that “they” – plural – were in his flat, rather than just “she”, as in Sadie.’
‘What about what the caretaker’s son said about him?’
‘Flatly denied it. The second thing is that he talked about his computer like an expert when I told him of our findings. At one point he mentioned firewall settings.’
‘I thought he was supposed to be a technology dummy.’
‘Exactly.’
‘It sounds all wrong.’
‘That’s what I t
hought, boss. That’s why I ran his car through the ANPR with the others. I got an instant hit, but that’s not all. There’s a fifth vehicle and they’ve got an image for me. Have you got your Toughpad on you?’
‘It’s in my car, why?’
‘I’m emailing you the image of the car and its driver. I swear it’s your Nedzad Galic.’
Chapter 58
Back at Eden House, Sadie had been brought in. Her mother had not accompanied her. Kelly was in no mood for games and she wanted some straight answers.
She’d been to see Faith’s parents. She hadn’t stayed long; just enough time to make a vow to nail whoever had done this to their beautiful daughter and to find out exactly what had happened in the last few moments of her life. Looking into Michael’s eyes had been the hardest moment of her career so far, and she’d found it tough keeping her voice steady. It had made her want to kick something, so she had to be careful with Sadie, who was, after all, a minor.
The girl looked terrible.
‘I’m struggling here, Sadie. It seems to me like everyone is lying, including you. Why don’t you do yourself a favour and tell me what you know? You’re fifteen, aren’t you?’
Sadie nodded.
‘Too young for this shit. What’s going on?’
Sadie put her head in her hands and started sobbing.
‘It was just a joke.’
Kelly passed her a tissue and Sadie blew her nose hard. Kelly waited, not wanting to ruin the moment, but inside, her blood boiled.
‘We left her in the forest. It was a joke, I swear. She never wanted the gear. She was amazing like that. I always told her I didn’t know how she did it. I wish I could.’
Kelly’s phone buzzed and she glanced down at it: Johnny.
‘We forced her out of the car. She pretended to play along but I know she was scared.’ Sadie wiped the snot from her nose.
‘Did you keep her bag?’
Sadie nodded. For just a moment, Kelly wished she wasn’t a police officer. She could easily have reached over the table and punched the girl.
‘That’s nice.’ Her teeth were gritted.
‘We went back, but we couldn’t find her.’
‘Let me get this straight. You all went to the forest. Drugs were taken, you partied. You played a joke on Faith, forcing her out of the car, then you drove away.’
Sadie nodded.
‘Where did you go after that?’
‘Up the pass, until I said we should go back.’
‘It was your idea to go back?’
She nodded again.
‘You went back at what time?’
‘I dunno. I don’t have a watch.’
‘Your phone?’
Sadie shrugged her shoulders.
‘Goddamn it!’ Kelly stood up. ‘Your friend is dead. Dead. What time did you go back?’
‘I think it was before ten.’
‘It was before ten, because at ten o’clock we have CCTV footage of Luke’s car leaving the forest.’
Sadie’s eyes widened.
‘I’ve also got Bobby Bailey’s motorbike and Danny Stanton’s Ford entering the forest at the same time.’
‘He called them.’ Sadie began to shake.
‘What?’
‘Luke. He called Bobby in a panic. Faith was saying she’d go to the coppers. He was bragging about what he’d done to Jenna and said he was going to do it to her too. She was so scared.’
Kelly took a breath and tried to process the information in her head. She spoke very quietly, forcing herself to remain in control. The uniform who was in the room to chaperone the girl had glanced at her a few times and she knew she had to be careful.
‘And what did Bobby say?’
‘Not to worry, that he’d fix it.’
Kelly left the room, slamming the door, and called Johnny.
‘I know I was only supposed to call you if it was about your mum, but I just wanted to let you know that Ted came over to yours and we got talking.’
Kelly closed her eyes and tried to be understanding. It wasn’t a good moment.
‘What about?’
‘Everything. You. The girl. He’ll do the autopsy. He’s gone into the hospital this afternoon to make a start.’
‘It’s too early.’
‘He knows that, but he’ll at least be able to give you an indication of when it will be. He needs something to do, Kelly. The guy’s crushed.’
‘Thanks, Johnny. I really appreciate that. I’m going to ask him if he wants to stay at mine for a while.’
‘I think he’d like that. Any joy?’
‘Ah, the usual crap. These kids can’t tell the truth to save their lives. Literally. I’ll get there. I’m sorry I’ve screwed up the holiday.’
‘Don’t be stupid. I’ll see you later.’
They hung up, and Kelly felt a tenderness towards Ted that she’d only experienced before she’d found out about her parentage. They used to share so much time together, just the two of them, chewing over facts and figures, crime scenes and scenarios, and she’d missed him.
She called him.
He was breezy as always, and she realised that she loved that about him: he was indomitable. No matter what the rest of the world was up to, Ted Wallis’s ability to stop the madness and reset time was utterly indestructible. She felt safe with him just on the other end of a phone. He sounded as though he was thankful to be busy and the work would do him good. They were so similar.
‘I’ve examined her, and I reckon another few hours.’ It was quicker than expected and no-one could really predict with frozen bodies.
‘You have no idea how happy that makes me, Ted.’
‘I think I do.’
She looked at her watch: it was gone two o’clock. That meant that Faith wouldn’t be ready until this evening, and the operation could take hours. She had to figure out how best to fill that time and use it to her best advantage. If she could go for a pint with Ted and mull it over, he’d come up with a few solutions – they both would – but she didn’t have that luxury available at the moment.
She called Craig.
‘Anything significant found at the scene?’ She referred to Bobby’s trailer.
‘Merry Christmas.’
‘Sorry.’
‘No worries. We’re looking through his phone. There are some interesting photos on it.’
‘What sort of photos?’
‘Of Faith Shaw on Sunday night.’ He let the news sink in. ‘He was watching her.’
‘Christ, Craig. I feel sick to my stomach. I’ve got Bailey placed at the scene by a witness this end, plus I’ve got motorbike tracks. I think Faith threatened to squeal, and Bobby was called in as the hard man. It’s pathetic. I can’t even begin to imagine her alone in the forest with him, and what he might have done to her. The autopsy will start tonight.’
‘I’ve got some other news too,’ Craig said.
‘Go on.’
‘I gave my pal in the Manchester drug squad the details of the bike, and he came back with a positive in the vicinity of an active surveillance they’ve got going on. They’ve been watching an illegal from Sarajevo for eight months now and they’re close to making arrests.’
‘Oh Jesus. It looks like your friends and I have a lot in common. We’ve got the same man meeting a couple of weeks ago with two other suspects. Do they know our angle?’
‘They didn’t know about Bobby until I flagged him up. They reckon he was a courier. They’ve tracked the bike back and forth to Cumbria seven times in as many weeks.’
‘Do they have a name for the foreign national?’ Kelly’s gut twisted. She thought of Dale Prentice’s details being found on Tony Blackman’s computer. It was no coincidence. She knew now that Blackman had been told to find the boy.
‘Nedzad Galic.’
Kelly closed her eyes. So, Galic had come back for his son.
After she’d finished speaking to Craig, she went to find Emma and told her to arrest Blackman.
‘Yes, guv. I’ve got Luke Miles’ mobile phone records back,’ Emma said.
‘Tell me there’s one to Bobby Bailey’s number.’
‘Yes, but there’s also one to Tony Blackman’s just before it.’
‘What?’
‘Look, at 9.39 p.m., then a minute later, the call to Bailey.’
‘Bailey’s motorbike was seen travelling into the forest at 9.52 p.m. So whatever Luke said to him, he got there fast.’
Kelly sat down on a chair and stared into space.
‘I wonder how long Tony Blackman has been dealing drugs to his students.’
‘And shutting them up,’ Emma said. Kelly looked at her. ‘Why else would Sadie try to frame him, unless she was terrified of him?’
‘They wanted him out of their lives,’ Kelly said.
‘That’s why Luke and Sadie were both at his flat that evening.’
‘Sadie would have been too scared to go on her own. So Luke was with her. They played on his computer while he organised a quantity of drugs for them to take with them: to sell, no doubt.’
‘That’s when they downloaded the images,’ Emma said.
‘And he figured it out, but too late. He must have been ripping.’
‘And they’ve been terrified ever since.’
‘It’s plenty to get an arrest,’ Kelly said. ‘Have you got Jenna Fraser’s mobile records to hand?’
Emma nodded and brought them up on her computer. Previously, Blackman had only skipped about on the perimeter of their inquiries, but now they scoured the records for his phone number. It was there.
‘That’s the week before she died.’
‘He’s calling her three times a day.’
They looked at each other.
‘Why didn’t we find anything in his flat when he was arrested for the indecent charge?’
‘Sarah Peaks?’
‘Surely not. She doesn’t look the sort at all.’
‘They never do.’
Chapter 59
Ted tried to concentrate on scrubbing up. He knew that as soon as he placed his mask over his face, switched his mic on and unzipped the body bag, he’d be fine: his nerves would melt away and he’d be able to focus on what was in front of him. But at the moment, all he could think about was Wendy. He was doing this because he needed something to distract him; he was also doing it for the poor girl who lay under the plastic, but most of all he was doing it for his daughter.
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