by Adam Croft
‘The working theory is that the symbolism is meant to represent Roger Clifton being a vocal atheist, and therefore the killer being a Christian, right?’
‘Right.’
‘But what if that’s not it at all? What if the symbolism of the church — Normanton Church specifically — is that it used to be a church?’
‘Dex, when I said dumb it down a bit…’
‘Alright, alright. So fifty years ago a bunch of families were displaced from their homes, yeah? They’d probably lived there for generations, tended the land, been part of the community. Then a big company comes in and decides to flood the lot. That’d fuck you up good and proper.’
‘Is that the official psychiatric term?’
‘Don’t forget the reason Normanton Church got deconsecrated was because of the flooding of the villages and the creation of Rutland Water. Otherwise, it’d still be a totally normal church on top of a hill, rather than a tourist attraction halfway underwater. Some of the families who lost their homes probably would’ve gone to that church.’
‘What, you think someone’s held a grudge for fifty years? And if that’s the case, why Roger Clifton? He was only a kid when all that happened. He’s hardly responsible for it, is he? Anyone who was involved is going to be long gone now. And anyway, attitudes have mellowed. Everyone knows it was for the best. The county’s booming now.’
‘Yeah, but what if they haven’t mellowed? What if someone’s been sitting there with it brooding for fifty years?’
‘Then why now? And why Roger?’
Dexter sighed. ‘I dunno. But we’re close. I’m sure of it. There’s got to be something we’re missing. I can feel it.’
Caroline looked at him. ‘Is that an admission that gut feelings are alright now, then? When they’re your gut feelings, I mean.’
‘No, I didn’t mean it like that. If I’m right, the religious thing might have more legs than I thought. But I don’t think it’s the motive in itself. We’ll get there. Just thought it was something worth mentioning. Maybe we might be able to put our heads together on it tomorrow.’
‘Yeah. Tomorrow.’
‘Perhaps Arthur Clifton’ll be able to shed some light on things. Alice seems convinced he’s been after the company for a while. Either way, I think we’re getting closer than you reckon. These things don’t take much. Only needs someone to slip something into conversation or make one wrong move, and we’re in.’
‘Thanks for covering for me, Dex. And thanks for dropping me home.’
‘Most of the way home. Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll get this figured out, alright?’
Caroline nodded. ‘I know we will.’
She got into the car and watched as Dexter walked back down Ashwell Road towards the town. She sighed heavily and rested her forearms on the steering wheel. Today had been an absolute disaster, in so many ways. She’d be glad to put it behind her. She hoped her weak excuse about not having eaten would wash with the team. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to feel she was weak or incapable. She’d got used to that being at the back of her own mind for too long — she certainly didn’t need anyone else thinking it.
She bumped the car back down the kerb and accelerated away, looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
32
Sleep, though, was hard to come by. It seemed that every step she took, the further she strayed from catching Roger Clifton’s killer. Whichever direction she turned, she found resistance and ran into roadblocks.
It was the most frustrating case she’d worked on in a long time. All of the ingredients were there, but it seemed impossible to stitch everything together in a way that formed a coherent case. There were still too many holes, too many inconsistencies, too many places in which this could easily fall apart.
Patrick Walsh seemed, to her, to be a lead worth pursuing. The affair with Alice Clifton seemed all too convenient, but it seemed she didn’t stand to make any benefit from Roger being dead. She already had the house, their separation had been amicable and she had no share in Arthur Clifton Construction. Then again, Alice Clifton’s reaction when she found out Arthur was going to inherit the business made it clear she’d at least suspected she might be first in line. But was it strong enough?
The missing link seemed to be the younger Arthur. She didn’t know what part he played, but his appearance back on the scene so soon after his brother’s death couldn’t be ignored. He had one thing, if nothing else: a motive.
The issue was that he wasn’t in the country when Roger died. There was, of course, always the possibility that he could have worked in cahoots with Alice and Patrick, but there was no reason for them to do so. Neither Alice nor Patrick had anything to gain from Roger’s death, so why would they agree to commit murder in order to help Arthur out?
In short, Alice and Patrick had the means and the opportunity, but no motive. Arthur had a clear motive, but no means or opportunity. And there was no compulsion or reason for any of them to have worked together and combine means, motive and opportunity together.
The more she thought about it, the more it made her head hurt. Tomorrow they’d go and speak to Arthur. That would let them get a sense of what he was like, allow them to draw some more information out of him and — hopefully — start to make some progress in what was fast looking like an impossible case to crack.
33
With the dawn of a new day, Caroline felt physically better, but Operation Forelock had still left her head in a mess. It hadn’t cleared by the time she got to the office, but she was alert enough to notice that Dexter’s usual cheery enthusiasm seemed long gone.
‘You alright, Dex?’ she asked, sitting down next to him at his desk.
‘Yeah. Yeah.’
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Up all night, trying to work this out in my head. There’s definitely something missing.’
‘You mean on the historical side of things?’
‘Yeah. You’re right. It doesn’t add up. We’ve got too much going on. Problem is, we’re working backwards rather than starting with the evidence and going forwards.’
‘We haven’t got any evidence. Not really.’
‘There’s always evidence. We’re making too many assumptions. We’re jumping ahead. Let’s look at pure facts. The body was left on the rocks by Normanton Church. That’s a fact. Anything more than that in terms of symbolism, motive — all guesswork. Hear me out. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head and strangulation. The strangulation says the killer was stronger than Roger Clifton, but the whack on the back of the head could’ve taken him down and given the killer enough of a head start to strangle him. Am I right in thinking there weren’t any real signs of a struggle?’
‘Apparently not.’
‘So that tells me we’re looking at someone potentially weaker than Roger who wasn’t taking any chances. But they had to gain access through the gate, break the lock, then lift his body onto the rocks. Not strong enough to feel confident about beating him in a fight, but enough to lift his dead body and lay it out?’
‘An accomplice. Alice Clifton kills him in a fit of rage. Patrick Walsh — big burly rugby player — does the heavy lifting, so to speak.’
‘Again, that’s a theory. No evidence at all. But — and forgive me for my own theory here — what if we’re looking at it the wrong way? What if the head trauma and strangulation were because the killer wanted to make damn sure Roger was dead? Not a fight gone wrong or a cover-up, but planned in advance with a belt and braces approach.’
‘You’re still looking at one person lifting a dead body out of a car boot and over the ledge before laying it out on the rocks. Either way, we’ve got to be looking at a killer and an accomplice, at the very least. It still makes Alice Clifton and Patrick Walsh our main suspects.’
‘But that makes no sense either. Why not dispose of the body somewhere else? Why lay him out in the middle of the biggest tourist attraction in the area? Roger disappeare
d off travelling enough and was pretty reclusive otherwise. They could’ve bumped him off, hidden the body and claimed ignorance. Everyone’d think he’d gone off on a jolly or disappeared. But instead they laid him out on full display, knowing damn well the estranged wife and her burly bit on the side would be prime suspects. Unless, of course, that was someone else’s intention.’
‘You mean someone framed Alice and Patrick?’
‘Well, put it this way. I can’t see them having pointed a massive arrow at themselves.’
‘That’s the thing, though. It’s almost too massive. As if it could be a double bluff.’
‘Theory again. And no real motive. Alice didn’t need Roger out of the way. Sure, he was an arsehole, but he wasn’t a problem for her. She had the house, they barely saw each other, she had no financial interest in the business. Far too much of a risk to kill Roger for virtually no gain.’
‘But that’s the problem. No-one had anything to gain from killing Roger. Other than the brother, I mean, but he wasn’t even in the country at the time.’
‘Yeah. I dunno. I still think we’re missing something historical. You’re right on the symbolism, but I think we’re looking in the wrong place. I think it’s historical symbolism, not religious.’
‘Is that based on theory or evidence?’ Caroline asked with a wry smile.
‘Copper’s intuition,’ Dexter joked.
‘Good luck getting that to stand up in court. Can you narrow it down at all?’
Dexter pursed his lips and shook his head. ‘Not really. But I agree with you on one thing: the killer chose the church for a reason.’
‘Then we need to find out more about the location. See if we can pin down a reason why it might’ve been picked. Sooner or later, things will start to piece together. What was the name of that history geek? The one with the stupid jumpers.’
‘Howard Smallwood?’
‘That’s the one. You still got his number?’
‘Yeah. Reckon it’s worth giving him a call?’
‘Probably not, but if it stops you moping about and means you’ll get on with stuff, it’s got to be worth investing ten minutes. Come on, follow me.’
Caroline led Dexter through into her office and tapped the phone number Dexter gave her into her office landline, which she put on speakerphone. ‘Over to you, Columbo.’
Dexter waited for the call to connect and Howard Smallwood to answer.
‘Mr Smallwood? Dexter Antoine from Rutland Police. We met at Otters recently.’
‘Ah, yes! I remember. How can I help? Have you caught your killer yet?’
‘Almost. I was actually wondering if we might be able to pick your brains a little more.’
‘I’m not sure you’ll find much, but you’re welcome to have a go. What can I do you for?’
‘It’s about Normanton Church. We think the killer picked that site for a reason, and we think it might’ve had some historical significance of some sort. We were wondering if you knew of anything in the church’s history which might have made it stand out, somehow.’
‘Well, you know about the deconsecration and raising of the church floor, don’t you?’
‘Bits, yeah.’
‘That was all as a result of the planned flooding. Without that, the church wouldn’t be there now. It was a community effort that saved it and got the work done.’
‘Do you know who organised it?’
Howard exhaled heavily. ‘Not off the top of my head. I’ve got a copy of the petition in my archives somewhere. Might take me a few days to dig it out, but I can take a look. Mind you, I imagine everyone will be long gone by now. I was only a boy at the time, myself. Anyone who was an adult then will be in their seventies at the very least now.’
‘If you could take a look, I’d really appreciate it.’
‘Of course. Not a problem. Sorry I can’t be of more help.’
‘No, please don’t apologise. You’ve been great. I’m just sorry we can’t be more specific in what we’re looking for.’
‘Well, if anything else pops to mind, you’ve got my number. I’m going away next week, though — late Sunday, early hours of Monday — so if you need me after that I’ll be incommunicado.’
‘Don’t worry, we hope to have everything sewn up before then,’ Dexter said.
‘I hope so. Shout if you need me!’
Caroline chuckled as Dexter ended the call. ‘Mad as a box of frogs.’
‘No madder than us bumbling about like a tit in a trance.’
‘Well,’ Caroline said, looking up at the clock on the wall, ‘it’s about time we headed off to see Arthur Clifton. The site’ll be open by now. He’s our only man with a motive, after all.’
They headed out, as planned, to meet Arthur Clifton at the construction company’s offices — the company which now bore the same name as its owner. There was a different feel around the place compared to their last visit. When they’d come before, there was a sense of suspicion and unease, as if no-one quite knew what was going to happen. This time there was an air of stability, of things getting back to normal.
‘Hello again,’ Sonya Smith, the office manager, said as they pulled up in the yard. She was leaning against the wall of the hut, smoking a cigarette.
‘Morning. How’s it all going?’ Caroline asked.
‘Alright, I think. Looks like we’ve all still got jobs, so that’s the main thing.’
‘Good. Is Arthur in?’
‘In there,’ she said, nodding her head towards the building she was leaning against.
Caroline and Dexter stepped inside, to find an attractive, tanned man hunched over a laptop.
‘Hi,’ Caroline said, jolting him back to reality.
‘Hi, can I help?’
‘You’re Arthur, are you?’
‘Yeah, I am.’
‘DI Caroline Hills. This is DS Dexter Antoine. We’re leading the investigation into your brother’s death. Have you got a few minutes? It’d be good if we could chat.’
‘Well I can’t see it being any more painful than trying to sort out these bloody spreadsheets. Right now I’d take waterboarding over this, so fire away.’
‘Were you and Roger close?’ Caroline asked, sitting down on a spare chair.
‘Not massively, no. I don’t know what you’ve already heard, but I’ve been living in Spain, so obviously we weren’t physically close. If you mean the other sense, let’s just say we were brought up by a traditional sort of father. A stiff handshake counted as intimacy.’
‘So have you moved back to the UK now?’
‘Uh, well I hope not. Obviously I came back when I heard about what happened to Roger and I found out he’d left the company to me. I’m spending a bit of time getting to grips with where it is, what’s going on, then I’ll probably put someone in charge of the day-to-day running of it.’
‘Have you got a business background then?’
‘Yeah, I’ve run a couple of bars and things over in Spain. Totally different kettle of fish to this, though. Construction never really interested me. One of the reasons why I went off and did my own thing instead of getting involved with the family business in the first place.’
‘Someone mentioned to us that you and Roger drifted apart over the years. Would you say that’s the case?’
Arthur shrugged. ‘We lived in different countries. So compared to growing up in the same house, yeah, obviously we were further apart. We didn’t have a falling out or anything like that, though. We were just never close.’
‘Did you know Roger had left the company to you before he died?’
‘No, no idea. First thing I heard was when Alice spoke to the solicitor to find out what she should do. Apparently he’d filed documents with them years ago.’
‘And he never told you?’
‘No. But then again we didn’t really speak, so there wasn’t the opportunity to.’
‘How did Alice react when she found out?’
Arthur sighed and leaned back i
n his chair. ‘I think she was probably expecting to inherit the company herself. She didn’t seem too happy about it. Not at first, anyway.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Oh, she was ranting and raving about it all and threw me out. I think she was just upset and coming to terms with what had happened to Roger. It’s a lot to try and process.’
‘Threw you out? You were in the house?’
Arthur shuffled awkwardly. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I was staying there.’
‘Since when?’ Caroline didn’t recall seeing any sign of Arthur when she’d visited the Clifton residence.
‘Only a few days. Things are alright now, though. We sat down and had a chat yesterday and worked out a few potential options. Enough to keep her quiet for a bit, anyway.’
‘Options? What options?’
‘Oh, we spoke about potentially giving her a share, making her a director. Sorting something out. Like I say, just a bone to keep her happy and quiet for now. No idea what’ll actually happen, if anything. I’ll need to speak to the brief again and find out what my obligations are.’
‘Presumably none if the company’s all yours.’
‘You’d think so.’
‘So are you staying with Alice now?’
‘No, I’m at a hotel in town.’
‘Which one?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Only if you think it’s worth hiding from us.’
Arthur looked at them for a few moments before speaking. ‘The Wisteria,’ he said.
Caroline and Dexter left the meeting a little over half an hour later, feeling even more confused than before they’d gone in.
‘I don’t buy it,’ Caroline said, starting up the car.
‘How so?’
‘Well, come on. Roger Clifton, who hasn’t seen his brother in years, leaves his successful construction business to him, despite having no interest or experience in construction?’
‘He’s got business experience.’
‘Yeah, running bars in Spain. And why didn’t Alice Clifton mention that he was back in the country and had been staying with her?’