by Anita Waller
‘No, just your husband. We firmly believe Liz Chambers is being targeted, and Oliver’s death is a possible escalation.’
The kettle started to hum; Julia’s mind went into overdrive. ‘Does Liz know?’
‘Not yet. Our priority was to notify you. We will need you to identify the body, possibly tomorrow. In the meantime, is there anybody we can call for you? You shouldn’t be alone.’
‘My sister, Catherine… I went to her when I first left Oliver. She’s speed dial 1 on my phone.’
Brent nodded to Lynda as she handed out the mugs of tea, and she went down the hall in search of the phone. They heard her lowered voice as she explained the situation.
‘She’ll be here within the hour,’ Lynda said as she returned to the kitchen. They quickly finished their drinks, Julia not saying much, trying to take in the enormity of the situation.
‘We will need to speak with you, again.’ Brent stood to leave. ‘Ring me if anything occurs to you, but let your sister take care of you. I’ll go and see Liz and Tom Banton, so no doubt they’ll be ringing you later. Give yourself an hour’s break from it, before the rest of the world knows. I’m really sorry for your loss, Julia; I know you were separated, but he was still your husband.’
She wiped away a tear. ‘I didn’t stop loving him, I stopped being able to live with him. He controlled me, controlled our lives. Which is why I’m querying the clothing you say he had on. That wasn’t the Oliver I’ve known for twenty years. If that Oliver had been around during our marriage, we would still have been together. Leaving him wasn’t a decision I took lightly. I had long conversations with Liz about it, and I suppose really it was her who gave me the courage to walk away. She basically said I had to be true to myself.’
Julia followed them to the door, then closed it softly as they left.
Lynda’s thoughts were racing. Liz had advised her friend to leave her husband, and Julia had acted on that advice.
‘Sir…’
‘I know what you’re going to say. It’s another link, isn’t it? Liz advises Julia to leave Oliver, and she sticks with that decision, doesn’t go running back to him at the first hurdle. She’s got a lovely home, all on her own; Oliver must have been resentful if Julia was silly enough to say “well Liz says”…’
She frowned. ‘But it’s Oliver who’s dead.’
‘Then let’s pray Phil Latimer and Jake don’t quickly follow. I was dreading telling Julia Hardwick, but telling Liz Chambers is going to be worse. And that’s not because Oliver is dead, it’s because she’s going to make the jump to who’s next.’
He put the car in gear and pulled out into the traffic. ‘Let’s go and get this over with, then we’ll head back to the station. I’ll tell Liz first, then I’ll ring Tom Banton.’
---
Liz was horrified. Oliver dead? She stared at Brent, disbelief written across her face.
‘So, you no longer believe his disappearance is connected to Phil and Jake’s kidnapping? Is that what you’re saying?’
‘No, I’m not saying that. We can’t form any theories until we hear from the pathologist. He will confirm time and manner of death. I didn’t want you to hear about this on the news, didn’t want you jumping to conclusions – which you are doing.’ He frowned at her. ‘We have no results yet, Liz. I can’t stress that enough. Nothing was clear at the site, apart from it was dark, wet and muddy. Our forensics people wouldn’t even speculate to me, they told me to go and they’d let me know as soon as possible, but would prioritise it.’
She gave a huge sigh. ‘I’ll ring Julia. She’ll be devastated.’
‘Catherine should be with her now. Did you tell Julia to leave Oliver?’
‘What?’
‘Liz, help me out here. I’m trying to make sense of this. If this death is murder, then all our previous thoughts still stand. If it’s suicide, which is how it’s meant to appear, then it brings into question Oliver’s mental state. And that, I suspect, would take it away from the investigation into Jake and Phil’s disappearance. So, I’ll ask again, did you tell Julia to leave Oliver?’
‘No, of course I didn’t.’ God, how she disliked this man. ‘I told her to be true to herself, and to come out of his shadow. I didn’t even know she’d left him until I went back to work after maternity leave. They were both secretive about it. If she interpreted my words as I must leave him, then so be it. But that’s not what I said. I tried to empower her enough to stand up to him, not to walk away.’
Five minutes later, Lynda and Brent were on their way back to the station. Liz was in tears, wondering when all this was going to be over. So many tears. Oliver – dead. Unthinkable.
And Tom. How would he react? Brent had asked her not to contact him for an hour, he needed to speak with him first. But she guessed Tom would take it badly. They were friends as well as business partners; he would take it very badly indeed. And he would, eventually, place the blame at her feet.
---
Tom didn’t ring. He arrived at her front door, his face like thunder.
‘Tom, come in.’ Her voice was quiet.
‘We need to talk.’
‘I know.’
‘There are things going on that are coming to the surface, things involving Philip and Rosemary Latimer. Start talking, Liz.’
‘I had an affair with Phil.’ The statement was bald, uncompromising. ‘I loved him. I stopped it for two reasons – I was pregnant with his child, and I was putting my position at work in jeopardy. The main reason was Jake, though.’
Tom stared at her. ‘Liz Chambers, you’re a bloody idiot. Why didn’t you come to me at the beginning? Did Oliver know?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. If he had known, I would have been finished, I suspect. There was no bending with Oliver.’
‘This takes us around in circles, then. Who did know?’
‘Nobody at the time. Phil told Rosie after we had split up.’
‘She knows? And she’s not been taken in for questioning?’
‘She has an unbreakable alibi for the time of the murders. I’ve gone over and over this in my mind. I can’t believe Oliver committed suicide. Why would he? Okay, Julia had left him and made it clear she wasn’t going back, but he would have got over that, eventually. He had a more than successful business with you… none of this makes sense. DI Brent is convinced I am the sole target, somebody wants to hurt me so badly, but I’ve even made a list, trying to work things out.’
She reached into her bag and took out the small notebook. She opened it and handed her notes to him.
He was quiet while he read them, and then looked up at her.
‘Julia? You think Julia killed Gareth and your childminder? How does Brent feel about that?
‘I haven’t said anything to him.’ Liz dropped her head. ‘It was an exercise in bringing my own thoughts into focus.’
‘And?’
‘Julia has been my friend for years, Tom. How can I think that of her? How can I say to Brent that she could be holding my baby because she doesn’t have any of her own, or she wants me to suffer for some reason? None of it makes any sense.’
Tom reread her notebook and sighed. ‘This was why I became a solicitor, and not a policeman. You’re right, of course, none of it makes sense, and I’m sorry I was so damned angry when I arrived here. Maybe we should go have a chat with Rosie Latimer. Do you think that would help? This all seems to hinge around Phil Latimer. He disappears, and bad things start to happen.’
‘But the police have CCTV of whoever took Jake, and while nobody seems to know whether it’s a man or a woman, it definitely clears Phil. And you, for that matter.’
‘Me? You’ve seriously considered me?’
‘No, of course not, any more than I would seriously consider Oliver. But Phil is tall, he’s over six feet, and quite broad. That person pushing Jake down that road was slim, medium height… nobody would place either you or Phil in that category,’ she finished with a smile. ‘I’m go
ing over and over everything, every day – it’s a proper living nightmare. And now losing Oliver…’
Tom’s eyes dropped to the floor. ‘I have to go back to work and tell them. Karen knows, but I’ve asked her to say nothing. I think this needs to come from me. My God, Liz, he was such a good friend. What’s happened to him? Why has he done this?’
‘I don’t think Brent is convinced it was suicide. He kind of hedged his options when he was here. If it is murder, if somebody killed him and then hung him from that tree, it has to be whoever has Jake. But if it’s suicide, then why? After talking to Julia, I got the feeling that it was salvageable. I don’t believe for one minute that their marriage was finished. She still loves him, I know she does. He needed to soften, to stop the control. Julia’s not a child, she’s the same age as me, and he gave her no room to be herself.’
‘You think?’
‘I’m sure. So, we have to look further afield if it is suicide. Maybe he’s left a note.’
‘The police have already gone to his home. We have to wait; Brent said he’d be in touch once he knew more.’
Tom stood. ‘I’ll get back to the office. And I’ll ring Chloe – I’ve already told her, she was sobbing when I put down the phone. Then I’ll have to tell the staff. God, this is hard.’
‘I know.’ Liz touched his hand. ‘I’m sorry I’m not there supporting you.’
She followed him to the door, and watched as he drove away. She felt strangely uneasy; he had been really angry with her when he arrived; in all the twelve years she had known him, he had never so much as raised his voice.
She turned to go back into the lounge, and saw Dan.
‘I didn’t want to interrupt…’ he said. ‘Are you okay? He sounded a bit stroppy.’
‘He’s angry because he’s lost his business partner and best friend.’ She paused. ‘Dan… can you find plans of houses on the internet?’
He tried not to smile. ‘I can find plans of the Pentagon on the internet.’
‘What?’
‘Oh sorry, I shouldn’t have confessed that… what do you want to know?’
‘If I give you an address, can you find plans for the house?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is it legal?’
‘Fudged.’
‘What? What does that mean?’
‘Mum, give me the address.’
She tore a page out of the notebook and wrote down Julia’s address. She handed it to him, and he glanced at it. ‘Give me an hour. I’ve got something running that I need to finish first.’
He went to head back upstairs.
‘Can you really get the Pentagon plans?’ she called.
‘Of course.’
She shook her head and smiled. She hoped he was joking.
Chapter 44
Phil was hungry. Working on Jake’s sleep patterns, he reckoned it was two days since the dumb waiter had last arrived.
This was scary. He was concerned about the intermittent pains he was experiencing in his chest, the prolonged ache in his back, the weakness he felt generally. He was rationing milk, nibbling at food – what he wouldn’t give for a big fat juicy steak. Jake was okay; he had enough baby food for a month or so, but without an adult to give it to him…
Had this been Captor’s intention all along? To get father and son in this cellar, before walking away? To leave them to die?
Whoever Captor was, the planning was incredible. Phil had no idea how long he’d been held, but knew it must be months. He had never heard any voices other than Captor’s own disguised voice, so obviously nobody knew of the existence of this prison.
Phil took a small bite out of the stale sandwich, and chewed it slowly. When his own food was all gone, he would have decisions to make about the baby food.
He needed to live to keep Jake alive.
Chapter 45
Rick Naylor walked into DI Brent’s office carrying the backpack and wallet. He was tall and starting to carry a little too much weight to be healthy. Brent looked up as the door opened.
‘Rick! Didn’t see you at the crime scene.’ He held out his hand to shake Rick’s. ‘Seems ages since we’ve been out for a drink.’
Rick grinned. ‘About six months, I reckon. I got out of the crime scene job. Was a bit wild and woolly, I understand. Everybody came back wet through. Anyway, brought these up for you. The report’s been emailed to you, but it basically says it was suicide. That backpack has a note in it, explaining why. I brought it straight up here because it gives you even more problems. It makes everything that’s happened in your murder case so far, look like trivialities. It’s all been logged, and the victim’s fingerprints are all over the note. It seems he climbed up the tree, tied a rope round his neck and jumped. Deeply disturbed chap.’
‘Sit down for a minute. Take me through it.’
Rick opened the bag and withdrew a small plastic bag with a letter inside it. He passed it across to Brent.
‘This is the main item. It’s dated two days ago.’
Brent took the handwritten letter from Rick and read.
DI Brent
I am possibly making assumptions, but I am presuming that you have, by now, worked it out that I am the one who killed Sadie Fremantle and Gareth Chambers. If you hadn’t have reached that conclusion, it would have only been a matter of time before you did.
I cannot, of course, go to prison. Therefore, as you are reading this, I am dead. That solves that particular problem.
Brent lifted his head and stared at Rick Naylor. ‘Shit.’
Naylor nodded. ‘Thought you might say that. I’ll leave you to it then,’ and he stood to leave Will’s office.
Brent held up a hand. ‘Hang on, Rick. You’ve read all of this?’
Naylor nodded again.
‘Then don’t go. I can’t miss anything in this, any little nuances there might be. Let’s go through this together, if you can spare me the time.’
Naylor let out a small whistle. ‘Bloody ’ell, Will. We’ve never had a DI before who knew the word nuances, never mind knew what it meant.’ He retook his seat opposite Brent and waited.
Brent picked up the letter again and continued to read, this time aloud, so they missed nothing.
Elizabeth Chambers has caused so much heartache, so much pain in my life, she has had to be punished. I only intended taking her baby; that was the plan. I would keep him for a few weeks, then leave him somewhere he would be found. I wanted her to know that she couldn’t interfere in, and subsequently destroy, other people’s lives.
But then Rosemary Latimer came to see me. She was distraught. She told me her husband, Philip, had been having an affair with Liz, and the baby was her husband’s child. Not only was Liz forcing her way into my own life by dripping poison into Julia one drop at a time, she had destroyed another family.
Julia ultimately left me, and there is no hope left in me of a reconciliation.
Brent paused again, while he digested what he had read aloud.
‘It gets better,’ Rick said. ‘Or worse, depending on which way you look at it.’
‘This man is seriously disturbed,’ Brent growled. ‘He’s changed from being a solicitor, to take on the role of judge and jury.’
I decided to set up the place where I would keep the baby, but after Rosemary had told me about Philip, I knew the man had to be the first. If Liz loved him as much as Rosemary said she did, it would wound her deeply to know he was missing. I followed him one day, dressed as a jogger. He was walking in Ecclesall Woods. It was early in the morning – I didn’t sleep much, and I had sat in my car, near his home, all night waiting for him to go out. It was a regular routine for him to walk every morning.
It was simple. I stabbed him in the neck with a syringe of Rohypnol, and he fell to the floor. I dragged him back to my car and within an hour, before he recovered from the drug, he was in my place of captivity. He is still there. I removed his watch, his wallet and two mobile phones before locking him away.
&nbs
p; The significance of the second mobile phone, a Nokia, was revealed when Liz Chambers tried to contact him. I decided to use that phone to let her think she was speaking to her beloved Philip.
I fed him inadequate amounts daily, via a dumb waiter I constructed. I watched him the whole of the time via CCTV cameras I rigged up. At first, he was angry, but every so often I would do something decent, like providing an extra blanket, and he would cry with gratitude. I was playing with his mind.
‘Dumb waiter? Is he holding him in a cellar then? Or a bedroom? This man is a psycho… I feel like a complete idiot. I’ve interviewed him twice, not because he was a suspect, but because it was part of the general routine, really. He came across as one smart guy, polite, friendly, and extremely professional. He also came across as clearly being fond of, and supportive of, Liz Chambers.’
‘That type of persona was what gave Harold Shipman credence. The professional bit. Don’t beat yourself up about it, Will, it seems he’s fooled everybody, not only you. Nobody from his practice has raised any queries, have they? Not even his partner?’ Rick could see Will was winding himself up over it.
‘Shit,’ Will groaned. ‘His partner. I’ve to tell one of the most respected solicitors in Sheffield that his partner has murdered two people, kidnapped two more…’ and then realisation hit him.
‘Where are they, Rick? Is it at the end? We need to get officers to wherever it is, and get that baby back to his mother.’
Rick shook his head. ‘Don’t bother rushing with reading it – he makes it clear he’s not going to tell anyone where they are.’
Brent felt numb. Could the day get any worse? He returned to reading out the letter. Rick sat forward, listening intently. He had read it, but listening to Will’s audible version of it made it… different.
Then I became even nicer to him. I sent hot drinks down to him.
‘Down to him… so he definitely has them in a cellar. The dumb waiter is travelling down, not up.’ Brent wrote cellar on his notepad.