Haines looked at the scene, then back to DC Angel. 'Visible from the road?'
'Well, you can see the garage from the road.'
'You'd better hope Patterson is in a good mood and I can get him to voluntarily open the garage.'
They knocked on the door and Reg Patterson answered. 'Rob, this is surprise. Will you come in? I could put the kettle on.'
'No, we can chat out here. It's a lovely evening.'
'So, what's up, Rob? I see there's two of you so I'm guessing this isn't a social call.' Reg Patterson appeared to be an old man, but DC Angel felt it was an act. She was sure a slight stoop had crept in when he'd seen Haines wasn't alone.
'It's a bit of both. This is DC Angel; she's just joined the department. She's been trying to track down a dark blue Fiesta that was caught on CCTV near a series of crimes. It's a bit overzealous but she's been working through a list of all the matching cars in the area.' Reg Patterson's eyebrows shot up. 'I know, I know, there's a long list. Anyway, one of the names that came up was yours. As I know you, I thought it'd be polite if I came round and asked if we could have a look?'
'Of course! Always willing to help. You'll have to bear with me though. Can't remember where the garage keys are.' He disappeared into the house, returning a minute later with the keys. He kept up a running commentary as he walked over to the garage. 'It's not even my car, it belonged to Margery, my wife. It's funny how you get to the big things like bank accounts and probate and organising the funeral, then the small ones drop through the cracks. I probably should have told the DVLA that she no longer owned it. But then I was going to sell it, never got round to that either. Here we are – what do you want to see?'
Reg Patterson swung the old-fashioned wooden doors open and revealed the very ordinary dark blue Fiesta inside. DC Angel's heart leapt. It was the car that had haunted her thoughts. Three white scratches on the wheel arch and a torn yellow car dealer sticker in the back window. She moved sideways and she knew. It was five door, the right age, sitting on steel wheels with one cracked hub cap.
In turn that meant that very possibly herself and Haines were stood on the drive with a man who'd stalked and killed the women of Bradwick. She felt slightly sick at the thought. She didn't feel in danger, not with Haines there. He'd had her back enough in the past.
She turned to DCI Haines and tried to convey her excitement with a curt nod. He merely nodded back and turned to Patterson. 'I'm sorry to have troubled you. Like I said, she is overzealous. Still, it's another one we can tick off the list.'
'Excuse me, sir,' DC Angel asked as Haines took her by the elbow. 'Does anyone else borrow that car? Nephew maybe?'
Patterson stopped for a moment and a curious expression crossed his face. DC Angel swore she saw a mixture of pride and regret mixed with something else that could have been sorrow. He shook his head. 'No, no. I don't think it's been driven since. Well, since my wife couldn't drive. I took her to the last few chemo sessions. Terrible thing.' He then turned and walked back to the house without another word.
'What did I tell you? I ask the questions!' Haines was furious.
'But you weren't asking the right ones.' They marched back to his car in silence.
When they were driving away, DC Angel said, slightly sulkily, 'It was the right car. I've spent ages looking for that Ford Fiesta and I have found it.'
'And you're sure? They've been using false plates.'
'I've been looking for a mark seven point five, dark coloured, five door Fiesta SE. That's what Patterson just happens to have in his garage.'
'Of course you didn't share this with anyone!'
'It is all on the system, it's just that no one went to look for it.'
Haines was reminded of his initial assessment of DC Angel – not a team player. However, he did trust her instinct. 'Okay. I can buy that, although it'll be hard to run it past the CPS and into court.' DC Angel pulled the car over to the kerb. Haines leant back in his seat and closed his eyes. When the silence had stretched uncomfortably, he said quietly. 'It can't be Patterson. I've known him for years.'
'Okay. You've known him for years. What's changed recently in his life?'
'Don't think I can't see through you. You're trying to establish causes and reasons for offending.' DC Angel decided to let the silence drag out. 'All right! Yes, he retired three years ago.' About when Dark Car Man started, DC Angel thought, but didn't say anything. 'And of course, you know that his wife died eight months ago following a long illness.'
'Come on, sir. If this wasn't your friend, you'd be all over this. The car matches, he's had upheaval in his life and he admitted that no one else drove his car.'
'He did say that it hadn't been driven at all.'
'My point still stands. We have CCTV of that car all over Bradwick. We've caught him out in a lie. Definite probable cause.'
'We can't get a warrant. He's an ex-ACC and most of his career was in Wootenshire. He knows every magistrate. This will spread like wildfire. This could ruin him if it's not true.'
'So, go back in there,' DC Angel said. 'Play the whole old friends angle. Ask him for alibis. Let me have a good look at the car. And try to be objective, see if you think he's lying or not. Don't forget that there might be another explanation. We need to check who has or had access to keys. All we need is one copy of the garage and car key that he's lost track of and he'd be completely in the clear. But we do need to establish the facts.'
'I don't want it to be him.' DCI Haines stared out of the windscreen. The car was parked on the promenade and he was looking at a picture postcard scene of beach and sea just before sunset. 'He was the first boss I had in CID. He taught me what I know. Everything about being a police officer that they don't teach you at Hendon.'
'I know. But really this is what we do.' DC Angel stopped and thought. She summoned up from her memory what Haines had said in the past. 'Listen, you're on the same page as Reg Patterson. Whatever he taught you, you protect this town. Only thing is that Patterson might have gone rogue. He could be a danger to this town. So you need to step up.' There was an ominous silence. DC Angel thought she'd try one more track. 'Have you noticed how tough this case is? No evidence left anywhere, no CCTV, random victims. Every single aspect is a dead end. I've been thinking for a while now that the suspect has to be someone highly trained and experienced. Like a police officer.'
'I know you're right,' Haines said eventually. 'I do. It's just that it's Patterson. Reg.'
'Come on, let's go and chat to him. We'll do it by the book. I'll take some photos of his car and then we can have someone from Traffic compare it against the CCTV footage. That'll make it independent and all above board and no personal vendetta.'
DCI Haines swore under his breath as she started the engine and pulled back onto the road. He was so close to his promotion now that he could almost touch it. His philosophy, if he'd ever had one, was always to keep on moving forward. And he knew, deep down, that DC Angel was the future and that Reg Patterson was the past. As tough as it might be, that was the truth.
Even worse, if DC Angel had figured it out then someone else could come after her and reach the same conclusion. And they might also work out that he had known and done nothing.
The world now was so interconnected and so wrapped up that some days Haines felt that no secret could stay hidden forever. And he was on his way to uncover the one that would do the most damage to himself.
Chapter Fifty-One
They arrived back and found that Patterson's car was still in the driveway. Instinctively DC Angel parked so that there was no way Patterson's Jaguar could leave.
As they walked up to the house, DCI Haines said, 'I mean it this time. I'm in charge. You've convinced me, but you must let me handle Patterson.'
'Okay.' DC Angel tried not to sound too smug. Then she saw that the side door of the detached garage was ajar, light spilling out into the darkening evening. 'Rob, look. That wasn't open before.'
'Seems to be in plain sight to me
,' DCI Haines said, changing direction towards the garage.
The door opened onto the end of the garage, with the car to the right and another door to the left. This door was also open and led through to a small workshop that had been partitioned off from the main garage.
'You take the photos you need of his car, I'll check in here,' Haines said.
DC Angel was in the middle of photographing scratches and dealer stickers when she was called through by Haines.
'What have you got?' She was still looking at the car as she walked back to the workshop. 'Oh crap. I mean, I thought. Oh.'
She stood next to Haines and looked at the desk. There was a stack of number plates and a machine that she could only assume made them. Further along was a big box of letters, numbers and blank plates. From memory she recognised at least one plate that they were trying to trace.
She felt a shiver down her spine. This had been an intellectual exercise up 'til now. A case of taking photos from the CCTV and trying to match them to a vehicle. But now she had the emotional weight descend on her. She had caught Dark Car Man and undermined Haines' mentor.
She turned to Haines and saw that he was holding a black, hard cover exercise book in his gloved hands. 'What's that?' she asked.
He snapped it shut. 'It seems to be his diary, about what he was doing here, how he became Dark Car Man.' He tucked it protectively under his arm and DC Angel didn't dare ask if she could read it.
'Look,' DC Angel said. Feeling like a visitor in a museum she pointed to a walking stick hanging on a peg. Instinctively DCI Haines moved towards it. 'No. Leave it there. It's a good surface for fingerprints and our best chance for trace DNA. We should get scenes of crime in.'
DCI Haines took a deep breath and looked around. 'I know. I just want to preserve his reputation even if this is all true. He has nieces, nephews, and cousins all over the county – some lawyers, some councillors, and even a couple in the police. We need to think very carefully about who else we get involved.'
DC Angel held her hands up. She was feeling the high of finally catching the man who'd been terrorising Bradwick for weeks. But at the same time she was still being blocked by her boss who seemed more intent on protecting his friend.
'Wait a minute,' DCI Haines said, 'I never saw him with a walking stick.' He peered closer at the stick, which was shiny black with a simple hand grip at the top.
'He didn't use a stick?'
'No, he used to boast about running miles every morning. And if I'm honest, he's probably fitter than I am.' DCI Haines shook his head slowly. 'The way he looked, you'd never question a stick if you didn't know him. The guy was a fraud and I never saw it.'
'And that stick would work just like a side handle baton.' She stopped to look around. 'Whatever is going on, we need to get other people in. This is a crime scene and needs to be secured and properly processed. The same goes for the car.' When he shot her a look, she continued. 'Listen, this is a bit too pat, too easy. If we deal with this right we can see if he was set-up or not.' She paused and looked around, frowning. 'Is Patterson organised? I mean, is he one of those guys who plans things out and has a tidy desk?'
'Yeah, he was. Always cleared his desk at the end of the day, locked up his documents.' Haines stopped talking and turned full circle, taking it all in. 'This is a display. He wouldn't leave all the doors open and the equipment all spread around.' He pulled open a steel cabinet under the workbench – it was empty. 'This was meant to delay us, but also to confirm his guilt. Patterson knew that this was the best thing to slow us down.'
'So, the big question is, where is Reg Patterson now?'
'He was always boasting about how he still runs miles every day. He could've run from here or been abducted.' DCI Haines walked out to the drive and looked around. 'We've got both cars contained here but he could've got a taxi or gone to the train station.'
DC Angel joined him and pointed up at the house which was still lit up. 'When you hear hoof beats, you don't think zebras, you think horses. Let's do the obvious first. He was here thirty minutes ago, his cars are still here, so most likely he's in there.'
Ten minutes of banging on doors and calling his phone number later, they were still outside the house. DC Angel cocked her head to one side. 'Phone his mobile again, I thought I heard something?' While he dialled, she held open the letterbox and listened closely. 'Yep. His phone's in there. Shall we effect entry? I take it you don't want to involve anyone else yet?'
Being the house of a retired police officer, this proved harder than usual. In the end they broke and removed most of a half-glazed back door before DC Angel climbed in and found the keys, out of sight on a hook.
Cautiously they both walked through the house. No amount of training or warrant cards could remove the feeling that they were trespassing. Every now and then they called out but there was no response. Both of them felt that something was badly wrong, but neither wanted to say anything to the other.
Eventually, the trail of lit rooms led them to a closed door at the bottom of a set of cellar steps. Haines cautiously opened the door. At first all they could see was a room with the light on. It was lined with bookcases and had a thick carpet with a leather armchair – a gentleman's club in miniature.
The two police officers paused for a moment on the threshold. There were unmistakable scents in the air – gunshot, whisky, and cigars. And over it all, the all too familiar metallic tang of fresh blood.
'Is anyone there?' Haines called out but neither he nor Angel expected any response. The smell of cordite meant they were suddenly alert.
When he pushed the door open further however, Haines saw Patterson sitting in the other armchair. Half his head was missing and a service revolver lay in his lap. Next to him on a small table was an ashtray with one cigar butt, an empty crystal shot glass, and expensive bottle of whisky.
'There's your answer,' he said blankly, letting DC Angel see. 'Now we can call it in. Get the circus started.'
* * *
'Come with me.' Haines gently took DC Angel by the arm and steered her away from the house. She noticed that the diary from the garage was still tucked under his arm.
Halfway down the garden they found a couple of cheap plastic chairs and set them up watching the house. The blue lights of the vehicles parked out front made shifting patterns on the walls. The lounge was lit and without curtains so they could see the dark green figures of paramedics conferring with police officers and scenes of crime.
'He's gone.' Haines sounded bleak. 'I've known the bugger more than twenty years; dragged him through all sorts of scrapes and now he's just checked out.'
'You don't think we...' DC Angel couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
'Killed him? No. It's all in here.' He tapped the diary on his lap. 'I've only had a chance to have a quick scan though, read the first few pages. When he first retired, he saw a girl with headphones on while he was driving past. On impulse, he stopped to warn her, she panicked and ran.
'Despite the old fogey image, he was still sharp as a tack, Patterson. He saw that people were talking about it on Twitter. He figured that if he became a bogey man, then it would make girls walking home at night take more precautions. He thought he could scare the town into being safer.' There was a pause as he stared at the lounge doors. The green-suited paramedics were shaking their heads and packing up ready to leave. 'He was a good copper. He knew we'd catch him sooner or later. Do you think he just happened to have that revolver ready and loaded? In a soundproof office? Like you said, he left that display in the garage to slow us down, make sure he had time. Reg planned. He worked out the angles before he did anything.'
'I just don't know what to say. I'm so sorry.' All of the training in how to break the bad news hadn't prepared her for this. Haines had not only learned of the death of his mentor and friend of twenty years, but in the same instant his image of Patterson was destroyed as well.
'I need to talk to you. I've been meaning to for days but there w
as never the right time.' He stopped to push his fists into his eyes. 'Reg had some very fixed ideas about this town and what we could do to protect it. He believed that drugs always were and always will be the problem. They bring other crime with them and ruin communities. But he wasn't an idealist. He wasn't working to make Bradwick some great drug free town. That would be impossible.' Haines paused again as he reached the point, the sentence after which nothing would be the same. 'Reg Patterson had a close working relationship with the major local drug dealer in this town.'
'But he was your mentor. He handed over to you.' DC Angel was unable to keep the shock out of her voice. 'So that means...'
'You're a bright officer. If I'm honest I wish I had another five years so I could hand over to you, not Hargreaves. But you play the hand you're dealt. Did you never wonder about all those meetings I had to rush off to? Billy King.'
'But why? You're a good policeman!'
'I am. I did it for this town. Reg was right, we're never getting rid of drugs. But what I have done is I've kept county lines gangs at bay. I've stopped the trafficking of underage foreign prostitutes into town. I've protected our schoolgirls from being groomed into treats for out of town gangsters. Our schoolboys won't become couriers and killers before they need to shave.
'Billy King knows the limits. He knows what he can and can't do. And in return, every single one of his dealers reports in any threat which gets passed up the line to me, to us, to the police.'
'So, you're saying that Billy King is free to sell drugs across Bradwick and is doing so with police protection?'
'No. I'm saying that I have access to the best information network of any town anywhere in England!'
There was a pause as they both digested this. Thoughts of Professional Standards crept into DC Angel's head. She was still undecided how she was going to play this, so she needed more information.
'What about the drugs and the money?' she asked. When she got a querying look, she continued. 'There are rumours that after a drug bust not everything is entered into evidence.'
The Retirement Party Page 24