by Alan Fisher
“Fair enough” said Oliver, “disappointed?”
“A little. But you can’t get lucky all the time” said Debbie as she heard a faint tap on the door.
A face appeared around the edge of the door, an older looking man with gold-rimmed spectacles and a grey moustache in full view.
“Still got time for one more? he asked. “I’ve been in a meeting all morning and couldn’t get down to see you”.
“No problem” said Debbie, “come in and take a look at this photo if you would. We’re trying to identify the lady in the picture, but I have to warn you, the picture was taken between twenty and thirty years ago”.
“Okey dokey” said the man as he crossed the room, pushing his glasses back onto his nose. “Let me see, twenty or thirty years ago you say. Mmm, looks familiar”.
Debbie’s heart rate started to increase, and Oliver stopped pushing the rest of the papers back into the case that he’d brought with him. They both held their breath for a few seconds.
“It could be” said the moustached man, “a lot younger of course, but yes, I think it may well be her”.
“Who” said Debbie and Oliver in unison.
“Christine Grey. She was the manager of a children’s care home back in the 80’s, I think. Yes, it could well be her, I met her a number of times when I worked in Child Services. She was a looker too, tall and very elegant. People used to say she should have been a model rather than a manager. Sorry, that last bit about her looks is probably not relevant I’m sure”.
“That’s ok sir, how sure are you that it’s her, Christine Grey?”
“Erm 70% shall we say? It was a long time ago and my memory is not what it was”.
“Have you any idea where we could find her now? You said she was a manager; I assume she moved on?” said Debbie.
“As far as I remember, the home closed down in the mid-nineties, I have no idea where she may have gone from there, but I haven’t come across her since so I assume that she’s no longer with the Council”.
“We really do need to trace her sir, to find out if it’s her in the photograph or eliminate her from our enquiries. Can you think of anywhere that she could have moved on to?”
“Could be anywhere. But when I met her she had a younger assistant, Kelly Nichols. I’m sure she went to work for a care home in the Northumberland area, somewhere around Morpeth I think. I’m sure the Child Services department will be able to trace her if she’s still employed by them. She will know if it’s Christine Grey in the photo for sure. She may even know where she is now, they were close at the time I think”.
“Already on it” said Oliver as Debbie looked across at him.
Oliver quickly took out his phone and slipped out of the room.
“Well that’s been most helpful” said Debbie. “Can I just make a note of your name sir, and the department you work for, just in case we have any more questions?”
“Of course. It’s Walters, Stewart Walters. Housing Department”.
“Thank you Mr Walters, that’s brilliant” said Debbie, and Walters left the room only to be passed by Oliver coming back in.
“Spoken with the Chief, he’s on his way to Morpeth already. He said we should grab some lunch before heading back and he’ll let us know what he finds out” said Oliver.
“Ok then, lunch is on me. Does it always feel as good as this?” asked Debbie.
“Does what feel as good as this?”
“Being proved right?”
“Don’t know, never really thought about it” replied Oliver nonchalantly.
“You know, sometimes Oliver you can be a complete arse!” she said, not attempting to hide her annoyance.
Chapter 50
Jack sped out of the car park at Ponteland Headquarters, heading in the direction of Morpeth, the county town of Northumberland, having first rang Northumberland County Council Personnel Department to see if someone by the name of Kelly Nichols had ever worked there.
He gave himself a small metaphorical pat on the back at having had the common sense to contact the Personnel department because Kelly Nichols had been married during the twenty odd years since she’d left Durham, and was now called Kelly McLoughlin, and was working in the Estates Department.
In a little over forty minutes since he’d spoken to Oliver, he was shaking hands with Kelly in a small ante room and taking the photograph out of his inside pocket.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me Mrs McLoughlin, I won’t take up too much of your time” said Jack.
“Please, it’s Kelly” said the petite blonde, her shoulder length hair tied in a neat pony-tail. “How can I help you?”
“We’re trying to trace the woman in this photograph, would you take a look and see if you recognise her?”.
Kelly took hold of the photograph and didn’t need a second look.
“Wow, that’s Christine, Christine Grey, my old boss down in Durham. It’s quite an old picture though and I have no idea where it was taken, but it’s definitely her”.
“I hoped you might confirm that. A former acquaintance thought it looked like Christine Grey, but couldn’t be absolutely certain. He said if anyone could be certain, it would be you. We need to find her to assist us with our enquiries. I appreciate that it’s some time since you worked together, but I was hoping you might have some idea of her current whereabouts”.
“Yes it is a long time since we last worked together, probably twenty five years, or more. But we did keep in touch after the Children’s home closed. She got married a few years later as well, so she isn’t known by the name Grey anymore. But she still works somewhere down in Durham as far as I remember”.
“Do you know where exactly she works and what her married name is now?”
“Not exactly where she works, no. She works for some political group in Durham, don’t know which one exactly. She’s a secretary now I think, and her married name is Bell”.
A vision flashed in front of Jack’s eyes of the tall elegant grey-haired woman answering the door when he went to see Tim Southern at Andrew McMillan’s offices in Durham, and he could barely focus on finding the words to thank Kelly for her time.
The sound of Tim Southern’s voice was echoing in his head as the name Bell ran to the front of his memory.
“I suppose Mrs Bell is the only permanent resident as it were. She’s been here since before my time, I think she came with Andrew from the local Council”.
Jack’s mind came back to the present, he needed to make a phone call, and quickly.
Chapter 51
“Think he’ll find her?” asked Debbie, after finishing the last bite of her tuna and sweetcorn sandwich.
“Kelly Nichols? If she’s still there, he’ll find her. Why?”
“Just wondering. How long’s it been”.
“Since what?”
“Since you spoke with him” she said in frustration at what appeared to be Oliver’s lack of attention.
“Almost an hour” said Oliver, checking his watch.
“Should be there by now then”.
“If he drives anything like you do, he’ll have been to Morpeth, interviewed her, confirmed Christine Grey’s ID and address, and be on the way back to headquarters by now I should think”.
“Very funny“ she said grumpily.
“What’s up with you, and why did you say before that I can be an arse sometimes?”
“Because you can be. But don’t worry about it, I’ll let you know when it happens again”.
“Good to know” smiled Oliver.
“You’re welcome. Are you done? We should be getting back to…”
But Debbie was cut short as Oliver’s phone sounded. He answered it quickly.
“Cole”.
Debbie watched as she wondered who was on the other end of the phone and what was being said.
“Yes sir”.
“One question answered anyway” she thought.
Oliver quickly took his notebook out of his pocket and D
ebbie slid a pen across the table to him.
“Will do” said Oliver, frantically scribbling down some notes.
After a couple of minutes Oliver clicked his phone off and put it back in his pocket.
“Confirmation?” asked Debbie.
“Yes. He’s spoken with this Kelly Nichols and confirmed it’s definitely Christine Grey in the picture, although she has been married since that picture was taken and she’s now Christine Bell. And get this; the DCI has met her before, she works at the Conservative Party Offices here in Durham, she was McMillan’s secretary”.
“His secretary?” gasped Debbie, “how come the Chief didn’t recognise her from the photo if he’s met her before?”
“I don’t know, do you want to ask him?”
“Maybe not, odd though, that he didn’t recognise her in the photo, don’t you think?”
“Maybe he only met her for a second or two and didn’t pay her much attention. And that photo was very old, she could have changed totally since then and only someone who knew her back then would recognise her as being the woman in the picture”.
“You’re probably right. So, back to work then?”
“Not yet, the DCI wants us to call in at her offices and invite her to come to headquarters for a chat”.
“We’re to arrest her?”
“No. the Chief was clear that we shouldn’t arrest her unless she refuses to come in voluntarily. At this stage she’s not a suspect in the murders, just assisting us with our enquiries”.
“Ok, let’s go see her then” said Debbie picking up her coat and bag off the back of the chair.
Fifteen minutes later Oliver and Debbie arrived at the Durham offices of the Conservative Party having driven into the city centre and parked the car closer to the offices. Following Jack’s directions, they found the right street and went through the open doorway between Greggs The Bakers and the small boutique ladies clothes outlet. They climbed the stairs to the first floor and rang the doorbell situated on the wall outside, the glass door bearing the title “Conservative Party – Durham Branch”.
“He gives good directions, the Chief. I’ll give him that” said Oliver as the pair stood waiting by the door.
A few seconds later the tall figure of Tim Southern appeared in the doorway. Dressed in jeans and an open-necked black shirt, with his thinning blonde hair tied neatly in a short ponytail, Oliver thought he looked more like a mature art student than a political advisor. Oliver recognised him instantly from the descriptions noted on the incident board.
“Dc Cole and DC Swan, Northumbria Police. Mr Southern is it?” asked Oliver.
“Yes, how can I help?” said Tim nervously.
“May we come in a moment?”
“Of course” said Tim, opening the door wide to allow them into the corridor. “if this is to do with Andrew’s murder, I’m afraid I have nothing to say that I haven’t already said to the Chief Inspector”.
“That’s ok sir, it’s not you we’re here to see, it’s Mrs Bell. Is she here at the moment?”
“No, I’m afraid not”.
“Do you know where she is, Mr Southern?”
“No, what’s this all about?”
“You know I can’t tell you that sir. But we would like to talk to Mrs Bell as soon as possible. If you have any idea where she might be, now would be the time”.
“She’s taken some leave. She rang me yesterday to ask for some time off, I think Andrew’s death may have hit her quite hard you know. I think she said she needed to get away for a few days”.
“She rang you yesterday you said?”
“Yes. Why, is that important?”
Oliver didn’t answer.
“Would you mind if DC Swan has a quick look in her office Mr Southern?”
“Of course not, I’m not lying”.
“We know sir, just dotting the I’s, Debbie? It’s along the corridor I think”.
Debbie went along the corridor and a few seconds later returned to the pair waiting in the corridor.
“All clear” she said..
“Ok Mr Southern. Would you be able to give us her home address please, we really do need to speak with her as soon as possible”.
“Of course, give me a minute”.
He disappeared into one of the office off the corridor and returned a couple of minutes later with a piece of paper in his hand. He handed it straight to Oliver.
“Thank you Mr Southern, and for your time, if Mrs Bell does contact you, would you ask her to contact DCI Collier at Police Headquarters as soon as possible please”.
“Of course, no problem”.
Debbie followed Oliver down the stairs, desperate to know what Oliver had picked up on but understanding that he didn’t want to say anything in front of Tim Southern. As soon as they had exited the building, she grabbed his arm.
“Whoa, hang on a minute. What did I miss? Why is it so important when Mrs Bell asked for a couple of days off? she asked.
“Because it was yesterday” said Oliver, taking his phone out of his pocket.
“And?”.
“Yesterday was when the media released Robertson’s name. I think she could have connected the two names and suspects she may be on the killers list. She’s legging it”.
“Debbie half laughed at the expression,
“Legging it? You watch too much TV Oliver; you need to get out more. But seriously, you think she knows more than we think and is making herself scarce?”
“It’s over a week since McMillan’s body was found, and she decides she needs some time off now? It’s too much of a coincidence, the timing of her going missing. And you know what the Chief thinks about coincidences”.
He stopped her with a hand gesture before she could speak as he heard a voice on the other end of the phone.
“It’s me sir, Oliver. Mrs Bell isn’t at work. Apparently she contacted Southern yesterday and asked for some time off. If you remember, yesterday was when the media released Robertson’s name sir, I think she’s put two and two together and decided to disappear for a while. But I’ve got her home address here just in case I’m wrong, it’s 17 Quinn Close, Peterlee”.
Oliver listened for a while whilst Jack was speaking.
“Yes sir, of course, will do”.
He closed his phone.
“He wants us to hang around here for half an hour in case Southern makes any kind of move. He doesn’t expect him to, but wants to be sure. After that we should return to the office. He’s going to send someone out to her home, probably someone from the Durham team, in case she’s still at home. And he’s going to put out a notice to the ports, airports and train stations to take her into custody if she’s spotted. The only problem is we don’t have an up to date photo. not that it should be a problem if she heads for an airport”.
“Ok, looks like we have our instructions. I suggest we get a coffee whilst we wait. There’s a coffee shop across the road there where we can watch the doorway from. Come on, I’ll get the coffees, you keep watch” said Debbie who seemed a little more excited than seemed reasonable in the circumstances.
Chapter 52
It was late on Wednesday afternoon when Oliver and Debbie finally returned to headquarters after their brief vigil watching Tim Southern had concluded with - absolutely nothing happening.
Everyone had been called back into the office, not because there was any emergency briefing happening, but because the mystery woman in Robertson’s photo had been identified as Christine Bell, and any further searches would have been futile.
Most of the team seemed relieved to have been given a brief rest bite from being constantly out of the office, and took advantage of the time to catch up on the report writing that was necessary from all of their recent activities.
It was close to 5pm when Oliver finished his latest round of reports and he thought it would be a good time to get home. Nothing was happening in the hunt for Christine Bell, at least nothing that any of the team could be involved in. A watch
was being kept on her home and all ports and airports had been notified.
Debbie had already left for the day and it looked as if Robbie wouldn’t be much longer either, given that he was already locking his drawers and switching off his computer.
As DS Glover got up from his desk and knocked on Jack’s door, Oliver pulled his jacket from the back of his chair and went to walk out of the office with Robbie.
Jason stood outside Jack’s door with a thick brown folder in his hands and waited.
“Come in” shouted Jack.
“Got a minute sir” said Jason, sticking his head around the door rather than entering.
“Of course, come in and grab a seat. Time we had a chat I think”.
Jason did as he was instructed and took Oliver’s usual seat.
“Think we’ll find Mrs Bell?” said Jason as he sat down.
“At some point, hopefully sooner rather than later”.
“You think she’s involved in the murders?”
“Not directly, but I’m keeping an open mind. I rather think she has much more to tell us about what was going on all those years ago. I think she’s frightened because she connected the deaths of McMillan and Robertson and, rather than speaking to us, decided to disappear, perhaps believing she may be next”.
“So none of this, the three murders, Mrs Bell’s disappearance, has anything to do with McMillan and Robertson being involved in fraudulent activity then, you’re convinced”.
“The evidence so far would suggest that for sure. But that doesn’t mean that you haven’t done an excellent job in digging into the fraud material and building a case, it’s impressive work”.
“Thank you sir”.
“There are, however, a couple of problems that need to be resolved”.
“Yes sir, can I help clarify anything?” said Jason nervously.
“It’s clear that you have sufficient evidence to have convicted McMillan of fraudulent activity, were he still alive, regarding breaking the planning rules of Durham County Council. And you also have sufficient evidence linking Robertson and the others to gaining significantly from those activities. But from where I’m sitting, I cannot see anything that links McMillan and Robertson together directly. They were clever in keeping McMillan’s name away from any corporation titles, perhaps a result of having such learned minds involved. I think knowing there is a link and proving there is a link might be rather difficult”.