Up Close and Personal

by Alan Fisher

  They left the table and started to weave their way through the empty tables towards the door. Oliver caught his toe on a chair that had been left sticking out, stumbling slightly. Something caught his eye on the floor, a napkin had fell to the floor by the leg of the table in front of him.

  “Erm Debbie” he said stopping in his tracks. “You wouldn’t happen to have a magnifying glass in your desk would you?”

  “No, but I know Paul has one. Why?”

  “I think my subconscious might have just woken up”.

  Chapter 36

  Oliver and Debbie returned immediately to the office, which was occupied only by Paul Moore and Kevin, the temporary officer. Paul was on the phone trying to arrange interviews with Tom Campbell’s staff, still attempting to verify alibis for the night of Andrew McMillan’s death. Kevin was sitting at his desk looking out at the rain, presumably having nothing else to do whilst waiting for Robbie Wainwright’s return.

  Oliver went to his desk and picked up the photograph that had been proving so much of a problem and he knew why he’d selected it. Debbie was by his side waiting for Paul to come off the phone.

  “You remembered something?”

  “Not so much remembered, more like something just triggered. But the picture is too small to see very clearly”.

  Before she could comment, Jack entered the office with Robbie Wainwright trailing close behind him.

  “Ah Oliver, you’re still here. Robbie thinks he’s found the hotel where Robertson was murdered, Lumley Castle. I’m heading out there now, best grab your coat and meet me downstairs. You can fill me in on what the story is with these photographs while we drive”.

  Oliver thought for a few seconds, although it felt to him like hours. He came to a decision.

  “If you don’t mind sir, I’d like to stay here if that’s ok”.

  Jack looked at him to see if he had that familiar look in his eyes, the look that Jack had seen before when Oliver had found the right path. But is wasn’t there, not yet.

  “Problems?” said Jack.

  “Not problems, no. I just think my time might be put to better use here sir” said Oliver, choosing his words very carefully. “I haven’t found what I was looking for in the photographs yet, but Debbie has given me a fresh angle to look at and it may be worth exploring further. And, if you don’t mind me speculating, I think you’ll find a carbon copy of what happened at the Radisson Blu Hotel, at Lumley Castle”.

  “So nothing new then”.

  “You might get some better images from the CCTV cameras, if they have any, but other than that, probably not sir”.

  “Right then, I’ll leave you to your fresh angle and catch up with you later. Wainwright, you’re with me for this one. Get your coat and meet me in the car park. And make sure Kevin has something to be getting on with before we leave will you” said Jack, looking at Kevin out of the corner of his eye.

  “Sir?” said Oliver as Jack turned his back to head towards his office.

  “Something else Oliver?”

  “I was wondering if it might be a good idea to ask Dr Wilson to take a look at the evidence. He’s been more than useful in the past when we’ve been dealing with murder cases”.

  “Way ahead of you Oliver. I had a feeling you might ask, and I contacted Bob last night. Unfortunately he’s not available at the moment, he’s just had his appendix taken out and won’t be at work for a week or two”.

  “That’s a shame sir, his insight would have been invaluable”.

  “No doubt, but let me tell you what he said to me the last time we spoke after you and he had spent a few hours looking through the evidence on the last murder case. He said that your insight would make both him and I redundant within a year or two. He believes that, when you put your mind to it, you can provide equally as accurate an assessment as he can. Well, we don’t have a year or two. It’s time for you to have the courage of your convictions. I think we both know that you only wanted to consult with Bob to confirm your suspicions. Am I right?”

  Oliver looked at Jack, slightly taken aback at the compliment and aware that Debbie and Robbie were listening intently to the exchange. Even Kevin had stopped looking out of the window and appeared to be taking an interest.

  “No pressure then, I suppose I’ll just have to get on with it”.

  “Great” said Jack. “Let me know what you come up with”.

  Jack turned and went into his office leaving the rest of the room speechless until finally Debbie broke the silence.

  “Right then. Paul, can we borrow your magnifying glass please, we need a closer look at something”.

  As Paul was fishing in the depths of the bottom drawer of his desk, Jack emerged from his office with his cloth cap already firmly in place for the drive down to Lumley Castle.

  “Ready Wainwright?” he said as he passed by Oliver’s desk.

  “Yes sir” replied Robbie, who was giving last minute instructions to Kevin.

  With that short exchange, the pair disappeared from the office.

  “Well?” said Paul.

  “Well what?” said Oliver and Debbie in unison.

  “Are we going to talk about what just happened, or did I dream it”.

  “Nothing just happened” said Debbie. “The DCI just gave Oliver a compliment, that’s all. I know a compliment from the DCI is a rarity, but he didn’t say anything that we haven’t all known for a while. Except perhaps Oliver”.

  “I know, but wow, to hear the DCI acknowledge it”.

  “Shows he recognises good work when he sees it” said Debbie.

  “I am here you know” said Oliver as he scrutinised the photograph through Paul’s magnifying glass.

  “Just as well, seeing as how the DCI expects some serious revelations by the time he gets back. Does the magnifier help at all?” said Debbie.

  “No, it’s not strong enough. Have you anything with a stronger magnification Paul?”

  “Let’s have a look at what you’re trying to see Oliver, maybe there’s another way” said Paul stretching out a hand.

  Oliver handed over the photograph and moved to the side of Paul’s desk. He positioned the magnifying glass over a section of the picture.

  “There, you see that small white blemish under this guy’s arm. It looks like a napkin or something has fell from the table at the back and is lying on the floor by the table leg. Any way of getting a closer look at that?”

  “Not with a glass, no. But with modern technology, quite possibly. Hang on, give me a couple of minutes”.

  Paul took the back off the photo frame and removed the photograph from behind the glass. He looked at it for a few seconds and then went out of the office.

  Five minutes later he returned and sat at his desk, typing furiously on his keypad.

  “Ok then. I’ve scanned the photograph onto the computer, easier to magnify it from there. Let’s see what we’ve got.

  Paul rolled his finger over the mouse and enlarged the photo frame by frame, narrowing in on the white blemish that Oliver had pointed out. Slowly, click by click, the blemish enlarged and started to come into focus.

  What they saw surprised everyone. Except of course Oliver, who knew what it was before the picture had even cleared.

  Chapter 37

  John Latimer knocked loudly on the door to the small conference room where DS Jason Glover and DC Alan Cuthbert were hard at work pouring through a truckload of Planning Applications covering a five year period in the early 90’s.

  The clock had moved significantly past 5pm and he was keen to finish for the day. After a hard week and a particularly worrying day, the prospect of a spaghetti bolognaise, a bottle of red wine, and a couple of days off work made him impatient to get away.

  “Come in” shouted Jason.

  Even by normal office standards, John could see that the room was a complete mess. Open files were strewn across half a dozen tables, and individual papers were not only filling the rest of the tabletop space, but wer
e also taking up much of the room on the floor.

  “Sorry about the mess” said Jason, standing up and stretching his aching back.

  “No worries” said John, trying to hide his annoyance. “I just popped in to ask if you were close to completing your investigation or if you needed more time. I can arrange to have the room locked over the week-end if needs be, so that you can return on Monday morning”.

  “No need Mr Latimer, I think we’re just about done here. Give us half an hour and we’ll tidy things up before we leave, I’ll give you a call shall I”.

  “May I ask if you found what you were looking for?” asked John, fishing for any indication of what might happen next.

  “I’m afraid I cannot really make a comment on that Mr Latimer. I need to report to my DCI and let him know what we’ve been looking at. Any action that might flow from that will be a decision for him to make rather than me. But I want to thank you for your co-operation and for the use of your facilities, that will go in my report”.

  A feeling of relief spread through John Latimer’s whole body. He hadn’t had any personal concerns when the pair had asked for the files, they were, after all, only relevant to before his time. But he was still relieved to hear that his personal co-operation would be acknowledged.

  He looked at the mess on the floor and decided that everyone would be happier if Glover and Cuthbert would leave as soon as possible.

  “No need to tidy, I’ll arrange for everything to be put back where it belongs in the archives. I’m sure you have much more urgent things to take care of”.

  “Well, if you’re sure” said Jason.

  “Absolutely, please, gather your things together and I’ll show you out”.

  Jason pulled the nearest papers together from the table in front of him and placed them in his carrying case whilst Alan was putting his jacket back on.

  “You’ll pass on our thanks to Tony won’t you, for all of his help bringing the files to us” said Jason as he slipped an arm into the sleeve of his coat.

  “Of course, but maybe not until Monday” said John.

  “Oh, has he left already?” asked Alan.

  “No, it’s just that he’ll be putting all this back again and I don’t want to spoil his week-end”.

  “Oh, right, sorry” said Alan.

  John led them back down the corridor and downstairs to the main reception area. Thanks and goodbyes were said once again, and Jason thanked Alan for his hard work before sending him home with an instruction to say nothing about what he’d seen. He also told him that they might have to travel to London early on Monday to visit the Land Registry Offices, and that he would let him know over the week-end what was happening.

  Jason went across to his car and climbed in, checking his watch as he fastened his seatbelt, it was approaching 5.20pm and he hadn’t spoken with, or heard from, Jack all day. He thought it best to check in before the week-end in case he needed to interrupt his investigation. But primarily he wanted to give Jack a heads up on what he’d discovered. He took out his phone as Alan Cuthbert pulled out of the car park, and speed dialled Jack’s number.

  “Collier”, said Jack.

  “It’s me sir, Jason. Just thought I’d better check in and see how things were going”.

  “Ah Jason, how’d you get on down at the Council Offices?”

  “Extremely well sir. Cuthbert and I have been going through a fair number of planning applications covering the five year period at the start of the 90’s”.

  “Sounds onerous, find anything?”

  “Quite a bit sir. There are at least a dozen or more planning applications that were signed off by McMillan concerning plots of land that Cuthbert reckons are now either housing estates or out of town commercial parks”.

  “Doesn’t sound particularly illegal, given that McMillan was on the planning committee”.

  “There’s more sir. Each of the planning applications that were approved were made by a company called Tudor Enterprises and were passed by majority votes. In all of the cases we looked at, the same five members of the Committee voted in favour. Added to that we couldn’t find a single example of Tudor Enterprises ever having an application refused”.

  “You suspect palms were being greased to get approval?”

  “It certainly looks that way”.

  “What’s the next step?” asked Jack.

  “I need to find out who was running this Tudor Enterprises and what happened to the land after the applications were approved. If we can establish that the land was sold on and that either McMillan or Robertson had any connection with Tudor Enterprises, we may well have a motive. I also need to talk with the members of the planning committee who passed the applications”.

  “Sounds like you have everything in hand, that’s great work Jason”.

  “Thank you sir, anything developing back at headquarters?”

  “I’m not at headquarters, I’m at Lumley Castle. Wainwright and that other temporary officer, Kevin, found where Robertson was murdered. They simply rang round hundreds of hotels and found one that was missing a rug from one of the rooms. I’m looking at the CCTV footage now and it’s a carbon copy of McMillan’s murder, except that Donna Yates has used a different name this time around”.

  “So nothing new then sir” said Jason, and Jack heard the echo of Oliver’s voice.

  “Not here, no”.

  “Anything on those photographs from Robertson’s house?”

  “Not yet, I’ve left Oliver at the office to keep looking but it doesn’t look promising”.

  Jason felt a warm glow spread over him which had nothing to do with the car heater being switched on.

  “I wasn’t optimistic myself sir either. I think we are more likely to be on the right path here with Tudor Enterprises”.

  “See it through Jason, continue your investigations You may well have to book a train down to London though, as far as I remember the offices for Land Registry are down in Croydon”.

  “Yes sir, that was my understanding. If you’ve no objections I’ll head there first thing Monday morning”.

  “No, I can look after things here”.

  “You sure sir, I can still come in, do some research on the internet first”.

  “No need, it’s important you see this through and I’m not sure the information you’re looking for will be computerised from twenty odd years ago”.

  “Ok, will do sir, have a good week-end”.

  “You too, see you sometime next week, keep me informed”, and Jack hung up.

  Jason relaxed into his driving position, feeling good. His enquiries were going well and likely to have some success, Cole’s theories were sinking faster than the Titanic.

  “I might just enjoy this week-end” he said out loud as he put the car into gear.

  Chapter 38

  “How the hell did you spot that from a casual walk along a wall full of photographs?” asked Debbie as she stared at the screen in complete amazement.

  Paul, Debbie, and Oliver were all staring at Paul’s computer screen showing a blown up image of a small piece of one of the photographs that Oliver had borrowed from Justice Robertson’s home. To their surprise, the white splurge that Oliver had wanted a closer look at turned out to be the image of a playing card, the two of clubs, lying by the leg of the table where it had fallen on the floor.

  “I’ve been looking at that all day and all I could see was a white speck, and even then you had to point it out” she grumbled.

  “Didn’t that article of yours say that when we look at pictures we generally only see what’s in the foreground rather than what may lie lurking behind”.

  “No, nothing of the sort”.

  “Maybe it should have done” smiled Oliver.

  “Ok seriously, did you know that tiny splurge of white on the floor, that no-one else could see, was a playing card?”

  “Of course not, I didn’t even notice the splurge of white until I looked with the magnifying glass”.

>   “But how did you know to even look using the magnifying glass?”

  “I don’t know. The subconscious must have been on overtime that day” offered Oliver. “Anyway, what’s important is it confirms that these murders could be connected with someone in this photograph. These people are playing a game of cards, maybe poker or something. And with both victims having playing cards stuffed into their mouths, it has to be connected”.

  “But we’ve no idea who they are, except for Justice Robertson. We’ve a partial image of the bloke he’s standing with but not the other three.

  “Three?” asked Oliver.

  “Yeah three, him. him and him” she pointed at the screen. “All you have of one is the back of his head, a side-on view of him, and this one has Robertson’s arm across his face. I doubt even their mothers would recognise them”.

  “Don’t forget the woman in the background” said Oliver.

  “Surely she’s just a member of staff pouring some wine”.

  “Maybe, but she’s in the photo so she needs to be identified as well as the others”.

  “Don’t forget the other bloke as well” said Paul.

  “What other bloke” snapped Debbie, “I can’t see another bloke, unless it’s Tom Thumb sitting behind the waitress”.

  “Funny one that” said Paul, “I simply meant don’t forget that someone was taking the picture, so you have to add him or her to your list, even though you can’t see them”.

  “All right, fair point” conceded Debbie.

  “So now what do we do?” asked Paul.

  Both Paul and Debbie looked at Oliver in full expectation that he would know.

  “We need to print off a copy of what’s on the screen first, the DCI will want to see that when he gets back. Is it possible to print off enlarged but clear pictures of the faces of the four men and the woman in the photograph Paul?”

  “Yeah, I can do that”.