by Peter James
‘He’s doing a good job so far, but I’m keeping a close eye on it.’
‘Helped by you killing the chief suspect?’
‘Very funny. I tell you, this is a very strange one. Are we in the midst of a domestic abuse epidemic or something?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘There are three suspects in Lorna Belling’s murder – and we’re not ruling out the possibility of suicide, either. Two of them have a history with the police for violence against women.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Her husband was arrested after shoving dog shit in her mouth a couple of days before she died – and he had previous for similar offences. The next suspect, a little toerag called Seymour Darling, turns out to have form for violence against women. And now we have Mr Respectable, Kipp Brown, one of the city’s biggest charitable benefactors, who has become the latest suspect.’
‘Kipp Brown? You mean that Trust Kipp guy?’
‘Exactly.’
‘What’s your gut feeling?’
‘I don’t have one on this yet, I have a totally open mind.’
‘Want me to get involved?’
‘No, we’ve got enough people on it. What I need from you right now is a lot of help on the Tooth, Crisp and Bentley cases.’ He tapped the three manila folders on the small desk. All three were bound with white tape, one marked OPERATION VIOLIN, another, OPERATION HAYWAIN, and the third, OPERATION SPIDER. ‘Evidence on Tooth, Op Violin, and on Crisp, Op Haywain, is pretty strong. With Tooth, we have our suspect on life support in hospital, with the medics unable to predict the outcome, so all we can do is wait. I’m less confident about Jodie Bentley, Operation Spider.’
‘What are your worries about her?’
‘I’ve got a case conference in chambers coming. We’ve key evidence from four principal expert witnesses. Dr James West from Liverpool University; the herpetologist Mark O’Shea; the Home Office pathologist Dr Colin Duncton, and our forensic podiatrist, Haydn Kelly. We are very reliant on Kelly’s evidence for identifying her in several key locations – I think you should start by going through the evidence dossier, pulling out everything we are planning to use that he’s given us, and see if you can book him for a day to come down and go through it all with you.’
‘Are you worried about his evidence, boss?’
Grace shook his head. ‘No, he’s rock solid and has never let us down. He was brilliant on Operation Icon, the Gaia Lafayette case, and everything we’ve used him on. Just make sure we’ve got every box ticked on Op Spider. He’ll be wanting to cooperate – another conviction helped by his evidence will be good for his career.’
‘I’ll call him right away.’
‘So – wedding bells ringing soon with you and Siobhan? Should I phone Moss Bros and book my suit?’
Branson suddenly looked coy. ‘Yeah, actually, maybe. There’s something I was going to ask you – well – at the appropriate moment.’
‘Oh?’
‘Is this appropriate?’
‘You tell me?’
With a big smile, Branson banged his fist on the Detective Superintendent’s desk. ‘There you bloody go again!’
‘Go again?’
‘Yeah – you always used to drive me mad, and now you’re doing it again.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Replying to everything I ask you with a question.’
‘What have you asked me?’
‘You’re doing it again.’
‘I’m sorry, mate, you’ve lost me. Wind your neck in!’
Branson raised one finger in the air, then a second, followed by a third, counting out loud. ‘One . . . two . . . three . . .’
Grace grinned.
The DI took a deep breath. ‘What I want to ask you is – Roy – would you be my best man?’
‘Blimey, you’re really scraping the barrel. Couldn’t you find someone you actually like?’
‘Screw you!’
‘I’d be massively honoured. Thank you. Seriously.’
‘So long as you promise not to trash me in your speech, yeah?’
Grace looked him hard in the face. ‘You look so damned happy – I’m thrilled for you, matey, I really am! You two are really good together. So when’s the big day?’
‘We’ve not set it yet. We’re thinking this autumn.’
‘Well don’t leave it too long – I’m getting the impression you think I’m so old I might not last many more months.’
‘Just keep taking the tablets.’
There was a knock on the door.
‘Come in,’ Grace called out.
It was Guy Batchelor, looking pleased, waving a sheet of paper in the air.
59
Monday 25 April
‘What do you think, should we pull Brown back in?’ Batchelor said.
Roy Grace looked at the printout that had been passed on by Surrey and Sussex Forensics. It was the fingerprint report on identifying marks found in the flat giving a match with the fingerprints of Kipp Brown.
‘The problem is, Guy, as we’ve said before, this is not telling us anything new. Kipp Brown already admitted in the interview that he’d been in the flat, and had sex with Lorna Belling on the afternoon of April 20th. This report just confirms he was there. How would it help us to recall him now?’
Batchelor looked awkward, standing, nodding thoughtfully. ‘Yes, I guess you’re right, chief. I just got overexcited by this result.’
‘Look, Guy, you need to remember, if you are building a case against a suspect in this kind of investigation, we work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service. They’ll appoint a lawyer to work with us. They can be the bane of our lives but ultimately, however obscure at times it may seem to any of us, they are on our side. I’ve been in court too often in my career with an absolute slam-dunk of a case, only to see a villain walk free thanks to a smart defence brief, or a bonkers jury. That’s what we have to arm ourselves against here, OK?’
‘I’m suitably chastened, boss!’ Batchelor said, and bowed his head.
‘Don’t be, you’re doing a good job, Guy.’
‘Say that when we have the bastard who killed Lorna behind bars.’
Grace grimaced, but said nothing. Privately, he wasn’t sure that was going to happen any time soon. Neither Brown nor Darling’s body language had signalled they were killers. He still harboured the feeling that the killer was in a mortuary fridge, short of his legs. But to be sure, he needed Batchelor to eliminate Seymour Darling and Kipp Brown – as well as any other possible suspects who hadn’t yet shown up on their radar.
His phone vibrated. It was ACC Pewe.
‘Good morning, sir,’ Grace said. He disliked this man so much, it stung him every time he had to say the deferential word sir.
Dispensing of any pleasantries, Pewe cut straight to the chase. ‘Roy, you are aware, are you not, of the budget cuts to Sussex Police?’
‘Very aware – sir.’ The current government’s dislike of the police – and savage budget cuts – were something every officer was only too well aware of. The feeling that they had been let down by the Conservatives – normally a pro-police party – was palpable.
‘In which case, can you justify the cost of keeping a 24/7 guard on someone on life support who is, according to the doctors, in a persistent vegetative state?’
‘Yes, sir, I can.’
‘I’m all ears,’ Pewe said.
‘This man is a professional killer – a hitman – who we are pretty certain murdered two people in the UK last year, one in Sussex, and nearly murdered a third, a young boy. We believe he came back here to carry out another killing, possibly more. We can’t take the risk of him escaping.’
‘For God’s sake, Roy, the man has a Glasgow Coma score of three!’
The Glasgow Coma Scale is a way of assessing a patient’s response and awareness. A score of three means the patient does not open their eyes, does not respond verbally and does not move when stimulated to do so.
‘Seven bordering eight?’
‘Yes, sir. That means he opens his eyes in response to stimulus, makes incomprehensible sounds and demonstrates abnormal flexion to painful stimuli.’
‘What’s his prognosis?’
‘No one really knows, sir. He suffered severely venomous snake and spider bites, and the medical staff have no experience of someone bitten by a combination of these creatures. He’s been seen by a leading specialist brought down from St Thomas’s in London, who had never dealt with such a combination of poisons before. The venom from each species, apparently, inflicts different long-term metabolic damage. At this stage we have no idea whether he will pull through, but he’s clearly hellishly tough.’
‘The cost of the guard on him is simply not justifiable, with his condition. It’s not a good use of resources.’
‘He’s escaped from us twice before, sir. This is an extraordinarily resourceful man. I don’t think we can take the chance.’
‘We can’t afford to keep a 24/7 police guard on him, Roy. It’s an unnecessary drain on resources. I’ve spoken to the consultant in charge of him at the hospital who agrees that in no way is Tooth a flight risk. Or indeed any kind of a risk to anyone.’
‘What do you suggest, sir? Would you like my wife and I to invite him to come and stay with us for the weekend, perhaps?’
‘There’s no need to be flippant.’
‘No flippancy intended, sir. I’m trying to be realistic. This is a man who jumped into Shoreham Harbour last year, whom we presumed was drowned. He also previously disappeared from hospital after being admitted unconscious and seriously injured from a collision with a cyclist. We now have him back, and whilst he is currently incapacitated, we would have one hell of a job explaining to the media if he escaped from hospital – however improbable that might be.’
‘You just have no idea about operational intelligence diversity, do you, Roy?’
Puzzled, Grace said, ‘I’m sorry, sir, you’ve lost me on that one.’
‘I lose you on everything,’ Pewe snorted and hung up.
‘Have a nice day, sir,’ Grace said into the dead receiver. Then as he turned back to Batchelor there was a rap on the door, and without waiting for any answer, Norman Potting came barrelling in.
‘Chief! Sorry to interrupt.’ He looked at both of his senior officers with glee in his face. ‘I thought you ought to know right away – we have a major development on Operation Bantam.’
‘Yes?’ Grace said.
‘We have a new suspect!’
60
Monday 25 April
Potting perched himself on the empty chair beside Guy Batchelor, and looking at each of his three fellow detectives in turn said, ‘I’ve just found another best friend of Lorna Belling’s, a lady called Kate Harmond – and been to see her.’
‘How did you find her, Norman?’ Batchelor asked.
Looking rather pleased with himself, he said, ‘Facebook. I went to Lorna Belling’s page and looked at the people she liked and had messaged. There seemed almost a bit of code going on between these two ladies, so I figured they were more than just plain Facebook pals. I was right. She’s the manager of a boutique in the Lanes. Wasn’t too much of a hardship seeing her – cor – she’s a belter!’
‘Did you say we have a new suspect or that you have a new date, Norman?’ Grace asked a tad impatiently.
‘Sorry, guv.’ Looking contrite, he pulled out his notebook, opened it and read for a moment. ‘According to Kate Harmond, Lorna had been having an affair for some while.’
Grace frowned. ‘With whom?’
‘Is it Kipp Brown?’ queried Batchelor.
‘No, someone called Greg,’ Potting replied.
‘Do we have his last name?’
Potting shook his head. ‘No, she said she never told her his last name. She said his wife was called Belinda, but she was always very circumspect with her about him.’
‘How come her other best friend, Roxy Goldstein, didn’t give us all this information?’ Batchelor asked.
‘Perhaps she didn’t know. Kate Harmond told me, in confidence, that Lorna had covered for her some years back when she’d had an affair – so she was reciprocating now.’
‘Greg and Belinda?’ Batchelor said. ‘She’s her best friend and she never told her his full name? Isn’t that odd? What about his profession – what did he do for a living?’
‘Sounds like he lied for England, chief,’ Potting replied. ‘Kate Harmond had a very tearful phone call from Lorna on Friday morning, April 15th, the week before she died. This man – Greg – seems to have been stringing her along that he would leave his wife, and that Lorna and he would have a life together. According to Kate, this was what kept Lorna going – sustained her – through her very abusive marriage. But he’d given her one excuse after another for not leaving his wife.’
Potting turned the page. ‘She said Lorna had apparently found out the truth by chance. This Greg told her he was taking his wife away on a holiday to help her get over the trauma of her father’s death and was going to break the news on their return that he was leaving her. A hairdressing client who was by chance on the same island in the Maldives had met them – Lorna Belling saw a photograph of them all looking very loved-up. Lorna did some checking on his real identity and found out this Belinda’s father is still alive and well, that Greg had totally lied about his profession, and – one other thing that really floored her, that he had never told her – he had a daughter. He’d always told Lorna he and his wife weren’t able to have children, and that when they got together, finally, they would start a family.’
‘Shit,’ Glenn Branson said. ‘What a complete bastard.’
‘So he was just stringing her along all this time?’ Batchelor said. ‘For a bit of sex on the side?’
‘That’s what it looks like,’ Potting agreed.
‘Right, we need to look at her appointments diary, which I believe has been recovered from her home, and as a priority action, trace all her clients. They may have something to add.’
‘I’m on that, Guy,’ Potting said. ‘There’s a bit of a problem – it seems to have been mislaid. It’s not in the exhibits cupboard.’
‘You need to find it quickly, Norman, and get on it.’
‘Yes, guv.’
‘So what was it this Greg told Lorna he did for a living, Norman?’ Batchelor asked.
‘Kate Harmond was a bit vague on that – she said he’d told Lorna he was in financial services.’
‘That’s interesting,’ Batchelor observed. ‘Just like our friend Kipp Brown.’
Then Grace asked, ‘So what does he actually do, Norman?’
‘Well, this is the thing. Kate was away on a week’s buying trip in Italy when she had that call. She’d arranged to meet Lorna for lunch last Thursday, April 21st – the day she was found dead – and Lorna had promised she’d tell her all the details then. And here’s the most significant bit – she said that Lorna was livid with this man and was going to expose him to his family and work and ruin his life. She didn’t actually tell Kate what his job was. Kate said she told her not to act impulsively, to wait until they’d met up and talked it through – she was concerned for her about the consequences of blowing it all open and her husband finding out. Apparently Lorna replied that she didn’t care. Her sister lives in Sydney, Australia, recently divorced from a wealthy guy with a big settlement and a fancy house, and she was planning to up-sticks and join her out there.’
The four of them were silent for some moments. ‘Nice work, Norman,’ Guy Batchelor said.
‘So what we don’t know is’ – Glenn Branson was looking pensively up at the ceiling, as if thinking out loud – ‘did Lorna Belling lose the plot with him on or before the day she was killed?’
‘Greg is in financial serv
ices. Could it be Kipp Brown using a pseudonym?’ Grace posited.
‘It sounds like it could well be, chief,’ Batchelor said.
‘We need to find out urgently the real identities of Greg and Belinda,’ Grace said. ‘Are there any clues on Lorna’s social media pages?’
‘Nothing on Facebook about either of them,’ Potting said. ‘Lorna has a Twitter account, but she only has seven followers, all in hair products.’
‘There’s a problem with that, boss,’ Batchelor said. ‘We still haven’t found her computer.’
‘What about phone calls to him? She must have made calls or sent texts to him?’
‘They’ve gone back two months on the phone that was in her house,’ Potting said. ‘In addition to Kate Harmond and Roxy Goldstein, Lorna Belling made calls to her husband, to the police, toa few takeaway places – a Thai, a pizza place and an Indian. To a couple of car dealers, and to the man we already have as a suspect, Seymour Darling. You’d have thought if she was having an affair there would be dozens of calls or texts, or both, to her lover. But nothing. That would indicate she had a second phone.’
‘We know she had a second phone, from Kipp Brown’s interview, and we have the number,’ Grace said. ‘It’s a burner – a pay-as-you-go – make a note that we need to get the records. Perhaps whoever killed her took both that phone and the computer and ditched them. It sounds possible that she confronted this Greg after catching him out, perhaps threatening to expose him, and he killed her to stop her from telling anyone, then took both that phone and her computer.’
‘It’s a good hypothesis, boss,’ Glenn Branson said.
‘Which puts this mysterious Greg as our prime suspect, do you think?’ Guy Batchelor asked.
‘It does, but I’m not ruling out anybody at this stage. We just don’t know what happened between that call she had with her friend in Italy on the Friday and Wednesday afternoon or evening.’ Grace thought for a moment. ‘Greg and Belinda. Have we talked to any other friends of Lorna Belling?’
‘We’re working through her clients that we know about,’ Potting said. ‘After the Argus report some of them came forward, including a lady called Sandra Zandler who was due to see her early Thursday morning at Lorna’s home address. There was no reply when she got there and she was devastated, because she was flying off early in the afternoon on a special fiftieth birthday trip, with her husband, to Venice. We asked if she knew any of Lorna Belling’s other clients, but she didn’t. I’m afraid without the appointments book it’s very slow progress. We’ve definitely not spoken to everyone yet. DCs Jack Alexander and Velvet Wilde are on it – and our American friend, NotMuch.’