Dead Jealous

by Helen H. Durrant

  “Now you sound like a spoilt child! You’ve got Rocco. He’s due a leg up. You’d soon settle.”

  Calladine couldn’t tell if she was being serious. He felt sick. “I wouldn’t settle, as you put it.” He was quiet for a moment or two. “I’d retire, that’s what I’d do. Want to be responsible for that?”

  Ruth suddenly pulled up at the side of the road. “I’ve never heard such utter rubbish, Tom Calladine! That’s nothing less than emotional blackmail.”

  “I’m just saying, that’s all. I’m getting on now. Early fifties, it’s old for a copper. Anyway, I might enjoy retirement.”

  “You’d like retirement about as much as I’d like living down south! So give up and put your face straight.”

  “You were joking?” His expression brightened.

  Ruth smiled at him. “Sort of. I’m not giving up my job anyway, so relax. I don’t know what this teaching job will mean for me and Jake. But I’ve made my position clear, and he accepts it.”

  They drove on in silence, Calladine with a grin on his face. He felt like a man who’d just had a narrow escape. For a moment there, the bottom had dropped out of his world.

  Ruth nodded towards the car in the driveway. “Here we are. Do we really think he’s capable of killing Flora? I know he had Sean for a role model, but Ricky has never struck me as the violent type. This could be a big mistake.”

  “Let’s see what he has to say for himself first.”

  Inside, the house was very different from their first visit. It looked as if Ricky had emptied every cupboard and drawer in the place. Stuff was strewn all over the floor and every piece of furniture.

  Calladine blinked. “Looking for something?”

  “I’m selling up,” Ricky replied. “Now that Sean is gone, there’s nothing to keep me here.”

  “Ricky, we need to speak to you again. We have a witness who saw you near the Pheasant with Flora on the Friday she was killed.”

  Ricky Hopwood had been picking things up and dropping them. He stopped, stood up straight and looked at the two detectives. “Whoever it is, they’re lying! I told you, I went into Manchester that Friday night. Ask my friend with the restaurant.”

  “We’re having that checked right now,” Calladine told him.

  Ricky flushed and looked down. “Okay, I might have got the night wrong. Don’t blame my friend Josh. He thinks he’s doing me a favour. But I didn’t harm Flora, I swear. I wouldn’t, I liked her.”

  “So you did see her that night?”

  He nodded. “I arranged to meet her. I had no choice. She was being disruptive in the pub and Kyle was scared she’d try to trash the place.”

  “They could have called the police. She was underage. I thought the plan was to avoid Flora.” Calladine was puzzled. “That festival you didn’t want to go to? Is that why she was looking for you?”

  Ricky sighed. “Things got complicated.”

  “You will have to come with us, Ricky. We’ll talk more down at the station.”

  “Are you arresting me?”

  Calladine could see the confusion on his face. Ricky was in trouble, and for the first time in his life he didn’t have Sean to bail him out.

  “We need to clear up a few things,” Ruth told him kindly.

  “Can I have a solicitor?”

  Calladine nodded. “If you want one.”

  “This is him.” Ricky handed Adrian Hampson’s card to Ruth. “Would you get him for me?”

  They drove back to the station in silence. Ricky stared out of the window, his face expressionless. At the station he was put in an interview room until his solicitor arrived. Neither Calladine nor Ruth knew what to expect. Calladine wanted to keep an open mind, but he couldn’t forget that Ricky was a Hopwood. Ruth, on the other hand, thought the young man was sound.

  “I’ll interview him with Rocco,” Calladine decided. “That’ll leave you free to talk to the Chadwicks.”

  “Provided Frank is in a fit state. I’ll ring the hospital first. Look, Tom, don’t be too hard on Ricky.”

  “It was your friend Roly who gave us the information that put him in the frame. You can hardly blame me. I have no choice but to act on it.”

  Chapter 30

  The ED at Leesdon General confirmed that Frank Chadwick had been treated and sent home. Ruth decided to have that chat with them on her own. Rocco was interviewing Ricky with Calladine. Nigel had finally shown his face, and was reading through the alibis of the people who’d taken part in the meeting to discuss Sean Hopwood.

  Ruth wasn’t looking forward to this. She knew Frank from the birding group. His wife, Annie, helped to organise the trips. She sighed. It was her job to find the truth. That was what she had to do, and hopefully it would be enough to eliminate the Chadwicks from the enquiry.

  Heron House was unusually quiet. No shouting. No shrieking kids tearing along the decks. The killings were finally getting to folk. Ruth knocked on the Chadwicks’ front door. Annie poked her head out.

  Ruth smiled. “Can I have a word? I know Frank is poorly, so I won’t keep you long.”

  “He’s been dreadful. At one point this afternoon I thought he was a goner.” Annie led the way inside. “He’s in there, love, sat by the fire.”

  It was a warm day but there was a gas fire roaring away in the sitting room. It was oppressively hot. Frank was sitting practically on top of it, wrapped in a blanket.

  “They’ve given me oxygen,” he said. “There’s nowt much else they can do.”

  The tank was behind his chair. “I’m sorry, Frank. What happened to bring this on?”

  “Walked too far. Overdid it. You’d think I’d know better, man in my condition.”

  “What is it you want, love? Is it about the trip?” Annie asked.

  Ruth had forgotten all about the birding trip. She doubted she’d be going now. Work was stacking up, and she still had Jake and his new job to deal with.

  “I’m here about Sean Hopwood, Annie,” she replied.

  Annie and her husband exchanged furtive glances.

  “I know you went to the meeting with Dolly and the others at the cricket club, Frank. What I need you tell me now is what you did after that.”

  “Dolly Appleton been blabbing, has she? Can’t blame her. She’s got enough on her plate as it is.” He looked up at Ruth. “I came home, love. Had some breakfast then went up to my allotment.”

  “Did anyone see you? Did you talk to anyone, Frank?” Same old questions.

  He shook his head. “Don’t think so. It were early. There was no one about.”

  “Have you had your hand seen to, Annie?”

  “I went down the health centre like you said. The nurse did it for me and the doctor gave me some pills. It’ll be right soon.”

  Ruth jumped. Frank had banged his walking stick against the wall. “It’ll never be right, woman!” he shouted. “That bastard hurt you so bad you can hardly use that hand!”

  His face crumpled and he started to cry. Annie rushed to his side, and tried to comfort him. Ruth watched, horrified that she’d caused this upset. Frank was gasping for every breath again.

  After a while, he patted Annie’s arm. “It’s no use. I’m going to tell her. They’ll find out anyway in time.” He kissed his wife’s cheek and turned to Ruth.

  “I was furious, love. He hurt my Annie real bad. Not content with that, he has the cheek to come round here bothering us again. Threatened to do her other hand. Stood there at the front door, shaking his fist and spouting obscenities. Said it’d be the last time she cooked breakfast or anything else if we didn’t pay up.”

  “You should have rung us straight away,” Ruth told him. “We would have stopped Hopwood, Frank. All it would have taken was witnesses willing to speak out.”

  “We didn’t have time to mess about. He had hold of Annie and would have hurt her there and then. I couldn’t have that again. I’m not a strong man but I had to stop him. I saw red. I grabbed the bread knife from Annie and put paid t
o the bugger once and for all.”

  Ruth closed her eyes. Now she’d have to arrest the poor man, and he was in no state. She needed to speak to Calladine.

  * * *

  They sent a female uniformed officer to sit with the Chadwicks. Ruth looked at her boss, and her eyes pleaded. “Self-defence? They are elderly. Frank is no match for a man like Hopwood. He did the only thing he could at the time.”

  Calladine shook his head. “It’s not for us to say. Hopwood was stabbed with real force. Frank knew what he was doing. We’ll take a statement and go from there. See what the CPS have to say.”

  “He can’t go to prison, Tom. It’d kill him.”

  “We’ll simply have to wait and see. The good news is that we can cross one murder off the list. Now all we have to do is find out who killed Flora.”

  Chapter 31

  Ricky Hopwood sat beside his solicitor in silence. He was debating what to tell the police. Adrian Hampson advised the truth, but if Ricky did that, he knew they would try to pin Flora’s murder on him.

  He turned to Hampson. “I want out of here. They’ve kept us waiting around for ages. Surely they can’t do that?”

  “Calm down. It will be over soon. Do as I say. If I give you the nod, keep your mouth shut.”

  “I didn’t do anything! I’m not Sean. I don’t go around hurting people.”

  “The police wouldn’t have brought you in if they didn’t have a sound reason for doing so. You would do well to talk to me, Ricky. At least so I know what we are up against.”

  “They think I had something to do with the murder of Flora Appleton.”

  “And did you?”

  “No!”

  “The police are acting on information they’ve been given.”

  “They’ve got it wrong.”

  “If you are telling the truth, if you had nothing to do with the girl’s death, then tell them what happened. Whatever it might look like to you, it is better than spinning a web of lies. The police aren’t stupid. They will soon find out that you lied, and it won’t go well for you.”

  * * *

  Calladine and Rocco entered the interview room. Calladine smiled. “Sorry to keep you, Ricky. I’ve got a couple of questions, if you don’t mind.”

  Calladine looked at the two men sitting in front of him. Ricky Hopwood looked pissed off. As for the solicitor, he looked like a man who’d been dragged into something decidedly dodgy, and wanted to be anywhere but here. “A witness has come forward. They have told us you were in and around the Pheasant on the Friday Flora Appleton was killed.” Calladine paused, watching the young man’s reactions. Ricky looked at the table in front of him.

  “Reliable, is he, your witness?” Hampson asked.

  “Actually we have more than one,” Calladine said. “So come on, Ricky, what really happened that night?”

  Ricky kept his eyes on the table. “She’d been hounding me about that bloody festival all day. In the end I agreed to see her at the pub. But when I arrived, Flora wasn’t there. Barman told me she’d been talking to Kyle then left. I don’t know what she did after that. I had a pint and went home.”

  Calladine watched him. The words rolled easily from Ricky’s lips, but he doubted they were true. “Why didn’t you tell us that in the beginning?”

  “Sean told me not to. He said you’d blame me for Flora’s death. He said once you knew I’d been anywhere near, you wouldn’t bother looking at anyone else.”

  “Your brother was wrong. We’re only interested in the truth. Want to start again?”

  “No. It’s like I just said.”

  “Kyle tells it differently.”

  “It’s got nothing to do with Kyle.”

  “He was there, he spoke to Flora. He says you did too, and then you went back into the pub after.”

  Ricky turned to his solicitor. “Can’t you put a stop to this?”

  “No, he can’t,” said Calladine. “You saw Flora that night. You may even have argued with her. This isn’t a trap, Ricky. Just tell us what happened.”

  “I didn’t kill her. She was fine when I left.”

  “But you did see her and you did argue.”

  “We were always arguing. There was no pleasing Flora sometimes.”

  “What did you fight about?”

  “It wasn’t a fight,” Ricky insisted. “I didn’t hit her or anything.”

  “Perhaps I should have a word with my client alone,” Hampson suggested. “It could benefit everyone.”

  Calladine nodded. Hampson might well instruct Ricky to come clean and tell them the truth. He certainly hoped so.

  * * *

  Calladine and Rocco returned to the incident room. Both Kyle and Ricky had admitted to seeing Flora that night. Now he just needed one of them to say what had happened.

  “Roxy Atkins has been on. She’d like a word,” said Ruth.

  Calladine disappeared into his office and closed the door.

  “That blood we found on the blades of grass,” Roxy began. “It doesn’t match the DNA profiles of anyone involved in the case, and there is no match on record.”

  That surprised Calladine. “Not Kyle Logan or Ricky Hopwood?”

  “No,” she replied. “And neither of the two other boys who found the body. It also rules out Mark Wallace, landlord of the Pheasant. Given that the murder happened within the vicinity of his pub, I checked the database. He’s been in trouble before so his DNA is on record. You’re looking for someone you haven’t considered yet. That blood was found at the same spot as Flora’s body. We know from her hands that Flora fought her attacker.”

  Calladine heaved a sigh. This wasn’t getting any more straightforward. He thanked Roxy.

  Another word with Kyle and Ricky was called for. They’d both seen Flora, but who else was there?

  Chapter 32

  Friday

  They’d had to release both Ricky and Kyle. Their stories tallied, and the blood that had been found wasn’t theirs. However, Calladine was still sure they both knew more than they’d told him.

  It was early, and like most days this week, he was first in the office. He stood staring at the incident board. What were they missing? A stroppy, teenage girl, popular with the boys, Flora had enjoyed more freedom than perhaps her mother should have allowed. Calladine had checked the records. Flora Appleton had rarely been in any trouble. But there had been something. Kyle Logan had been brought in a few times, but had been lucky enough to get off with warnings. On one occasion, Flora had been brought in with him and Isla Prentice too.

  Nigel Hallam arrived. Tomorrow was his final day with the team, and Calladine resolved to try and make these last days as pleasant as possible for the young man. With a smile, he asked Nigel to find any records on the database relating to Kyle and Flora.

  “Fancy a pint in the Wheatsheaf tomorrow?” he said to the young DC. “We should do something to mark your last day with us.”

  “Okay, great idea,” Nigel said.

  His enthusiasm made Calladine feel guilty. Perhaps all the lad had needed was a friendly face and to feel included. He took his coffee, went back into his office and closed the door. He’d go over the statements in the Flora Appleton case again before he decided on his next move.

  They’d taken DNA from everyone involved. So was this the work of a stranger, or someone clever enough never to have crossed their path before? Fat chance they had of getting him if it was. They had nothing but a couple of drops of blood.

  “Here you are, sir.” Nigel placed a number of printed sheets on Calladine’s desk. “Kyle Logan has been brought in four times in total. Each time he got off with warnings. On the third time, uniform rounded up the lot of them — Jack, Dean, Kyle, Flora and Isla Prentice. High as kites, they were. Parents were sent for and once again, they got off with a caution.”

  Isla Prentice. Calladine suddenly realised that it was quite likely they didn’t have her DNA. The boys had had theirs taken that night, when Flora was found, but Isla had gone ho
me by then.

  “High as kites, you say? Do we know what they’d taken?”

  “Booze and some drug or other. None of them would say what, or where they’d got it from.”

  “Thanks, Nigel. I think you’ve hit on something here. I want Isla Prentice and her mother bringing in for a chat. Take a couple of uniforms and go fetch them.”

  Calladine rang Julian Batho at the Duggan to ask if he could process Isla’s DNA quickly, once they had it.

  “I’ll do what I can,” Julian promised. “Roxy has told me about the DNA results with regard to the child’s father. And about those items left on the coffee table, I’ve run the DNA through the database again and there is a match for both Ricky and Sean Hopwood.”

  That didn’t come as any surprise, now that Calladine knew about the relationship. But it did mean they had been in Josie’s flat that day. They had never been questioned. At the time, no one had known that they had anything to do with Josie. Too late to speak to Sean now, and it was doubtful Ricky would recall much, if anything.

  Isla first, and then Calladine decided he would have to speak to Josie. He couldn’t put it off any longer.

  * * *

  Calladine decided he’d speak to Isla and her mother with Ruth. “We will have to get them to agree to have Isla’s DNA taken. You will be helpful on that score. If Isla does have something to hide, she will be reluctant. We have to get her mother on side.”

  But Joan Prentice wasn’t in the best of moods. She was annoyed at being brought to the station. “Everyone on our street will think we’re nothing but common criminals! What is so urgent that you couldn’t simply come round like before?”

  They were in the soft interview room. Calladine asked the uniformed constable to get them some tea. “It’s my fault. I do apologise,” he began. “But there was an omission made on the night Flora’s body was found, and we need to put it right straight away.”

  Joan Prentice frowned. “What do you mean? What omission? Isla has told you everything she knows.”

  “Everyone who had anything to do with that car gave a sample of their DNA, but because Isla wasn’t there, she was missed out.”