Pasha
Pasha thought she had made some progress. She thought she had started to fit into the team. Or more importantly, had begun to fit in with the DI, yet here she was sidelined in the office. The boss might have made some excuse, said she needed her to search through the information but Pasha knew it was a smoke-screen. She had excluded her. Kept her out of the team. Made her work alone.
Pasha was stronger than this though. She wouldn’t back down. She wouldn’t walk away. This was where she wanted to be and this was where she would stay. And if the boss had heard about her complaint on her last unit in relation to the racial language used and expected her to make a complaint here because she thought that was the way she did things then she was mistaken. It wasn’t her style. Back then it wasn’t a choice. Action had to be taken. Here she could kind of understand the difficulties and reluctance. She had made progress within the team and she knew eventually it would work itself out. All she had to do was hold on.
The work was slow and tedious, but the boss had wanted it done and had instructed her that it was of high importance and also that she trusted her with it. No one else in the office other than Aaron was aware of the work. This had soothed the itch of consternation that Pasha felt when left behind.
Everyone appeared to be engrossed in what they were doing, but for Pasha being stuck in the office when everyone was out, was dull. She hated the days that went by that were nothing but desk work. She preferred to get out and speak to people. Though people could often be frustrating it was always preferable than sitting at a desk. She hadn’t joined the job to sit at a desk. Quite the opposite. They never warn you when you apply for the police that it is such a high paperwork career.
What interested her about the task was the amount of cops who had interrogated the system just to be nosy, because they felt they had a right to the information.
Pasha had never felt the need to look. She heard enough from the chatter on the police grapevine. From personal experience she felt that the hurt of others didn’t need other people poking their noses in.
Poor Lee, he’d had to deal with this and had the problem with his nan to contend with at the same time. She could only begin to comprehend the level of distress he must have felt. How difficult it was for him to manage.
Again, she looked at the single name on the sheet of paper she had put to the side.
Then she took the next name on the list and checked it against HOLMES and the crime recording system. There was no reason for the officer to have done the search so her name went on the list for consideration.
Pasha looked at the single name she had put to the side again.
‘It’s the financial as well as the emotional,’ he had said.
She took his name and input it.
Next, she put a call in to the DI.
Hannah
The ambulance crew took Summers to the hospital. I requested a uniform presence with instructions to contact me before he was released so we could carry out an arrest. Technically police officers couldn’t demand to be in the same room as him at the hospital because he wasn’t currently under arrest, but they could keep a close enough eye on him and he was in no state to run off. I didn’t expect him to either.
He’d promised to provide all the information that he’d given us in the house in an official format, once he was out of the hospital. We would be able to keep Talbot for some time yet and could investigate Summers’ claims in the mean time before we made any arrest for the four other murders.
Now we knew what we were looking at we had an extra line of inquiry, we could look at Nathan’s movements, his alibis and focus in on him more. We’d presumed his fingerprints on Simon’s vehicle had been because he was his brother, but now it looked as though they were there because he had leaned into the window that morning. Though, the fingerprints alone weren’t enough, any solicitor would be able to talk their way out of them, that Nathan did have reason to have his prints on the vehicle.
We needed to find more.
Aaron was rubbing his arm.
‘You hurt yourself pulling me away from the wall?’
‘Yeah, I think so. I may have just strained a muscle in my arm.’
‘Do you need to get it checked out? And do I need to go on a diet?’
‘No, it’s fine, just pulled it. A few days and it’ll be as if it never happened.’
‘I don’t think I thanked you for turning up at the house, Aaron. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t.’
He looked at me. ‘Part of the job, Hannah.’
Of course it was. ‘But it wasn’t supposed to be, not today. You were supposed to be confined to the station. Sitting at your desk. Moving paperwork around.’ He watched me as I talked. ‘What made you leave the office and turn up here? Why were you here?’
‘If he was a bent cop, there was no telling what he would do to prevent an arrest. A cop behind bars? We all know how that story goes. I had to back you up.’
It was as simple as that. Aaron had my back. No matter who else was there.
‘Thank you.’ I had never meant two words more.
He inclined his head in acknowledgement, then straightened his tie.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I was exhausted. I pulled it out of my pocket. Withheld number.
‘DI Robbins.’
It was Pasha. She rambled, making little sense. Her speech way too fast for me to keep up.
‘Slow it down, Pasha, and try again. This time, think about what you want to convey.’
I heard the deep breath. She explained the name. How it hadn’t surprised her. How she’d ignored it for a while. Got on with the rest of the work. Then a conversation came back to her. He was in financial straits. She input his name and it linked everything. He was connected to it all. She didn’t want to cast aspersions, but, he’d taken off. He wasn’t at the office. He had been panicked. She presumed it was personal and now she wasn’t so sure.
I thanked her and hung up the call then turned to Aaron.
‘I think we have a problem.’
‘Really?’
‘Okay, another problem. It may be a problem we can resolve but it won’t make anyone very happy.’
‘Since when have you worried about making anyone happy?’
‘I don’t go out of my way to push people the wrong way.’
He rubbed his arm some more.
‘You okay? Need to get that seen to?’ I asked him again.
‘No, it’s fine.’ He winced. He didn’t look fine. We’d deal with this then I’d make sure he went to get himself checked out. ‘And, I know you don’t. But neither do you worry about other people if a line of inquiry takes you in a difficult direction and there’s a wall of some description in your way.’
‘At least I notice the wall,’ I pushed back.
He acquiesced, with a smile.
We were finding our footing together after his disclosure.
‘So, what is our new problem?’
I told him.
‘Damn it. You really think it’s possible. That he is the leak? Through all of this?’
‘There’s one way to find out.’
When people say the house looked quiet, I now understood what the phrase meant. It was dusky, light was fading. There were no lights on anywhere within the house. The top right window had its curtains closed but other than that, all curtains and blinds were open but there was no sign of life. The place looked soulless.
The grass at the side of the small pathway that led up to the door was on the long side, he obviously had too much on his plate to maintain the front of the house. There were no flowers, or pots, no sign of care here.
I rapped on the door, waited. There was no response. I knocked again. Lee’s car was parked on the road. I turned to Aaron, he shook his head.
‘Oh, hello,’ a bright voice appeared at the side of me, followed by a woman in a print dress and slippers. ‘I’m Francis from next door.’ Her face was soft and creased.
/>
‘Hi.’ The woman had an air of expectation about her. ‘Have you seen Lee Cave or his nan recently?’ I realised I didn’t know his nan’s name.
‘That’s why I popped round when I did, to see if they were all right. It’s not usual for there to be no answer at the door at this hour because someone is always home with poor old Peggy. Lovely lady she is, but she’s forgetful and gets quite angry about it. So sad when you get like that. I’m lucky to still have all my marbles, I am.’
I had to stop her there, or I thought she would have continued to talk the rest of the evening. ‘So, you’re worried because there’s no answer?’
She put a hand up to her chest. ‘Oh, yes. It’s not like them. Are they okay, dear?’
This was all I needed to be able to gain entry. ‘I’m sure they are, but we’ll check for you.’ I showed her my ID. ‘We’re from the police, colleagues of Lee’s. Try not to worry. If you want to wait inside, we’ll let you know…’ what had she said his nan’s name was? Ah! ‘…Peggy is okay as soon as we know.’
‘Okay, lovely.’ And with that she shuffled off back around the side of the house.
Inside there was an eerie quiet. There had been life here because I could smell the remains of dinner. There were plates in the sink. Scraped plates and cutlery. I had expected someone to be here because of what I knew about his nan. Unless of course he had to take her to the hospital for some reason – but his car was outside. Or he had taken her on the run and used a taxi or a friend to get them somewhere rather than take the car we knew about.
I looked at Aaron. He looked as puzzled as me.
‘Lee?’ I shouted. ‘It’s DI Robbins. Hannah. Are you here? I want to have a word with you, check you’re okay.’
I was met by silence.
‘We need a chat, Lee. Your nan will be taken care of.’ I looked at Aaron. ‘Maybe he’s taken her to the carer’s. Someone picked them up and drove them?’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe. Check upstairs. See if he packed?’
I agreed.
We made our way up the stairs. The thick air of silence followed us up, cloaking us. I flicked on the light switch at the bottom of the stairs and was shocked by the flood of light that bathed the landing and stairs.
‘Lee? Are you up here?’ Aaron shouted as he moved up the stairs in front of me.
The silence responded again, with a deep growl.
At the top of the stairs Aaron opened the first bedroom door. It was empty. He opened the next one.
‘In here, Hannah.’ His voice was quiet, in respect for the house. A whispered reverence.
I looked in the room. An elderly woman was laid in the bed. It was dark with the curtains closed – the front room we had seen from the road – and she was covered up to her neck by the duvet, but I presumed it was Lee’s nan. I walked over to her. I wanted to ask her about Lee but I didn’t want to scare her. I didn’t want her to wake and for her to be afraid by a strange woman leaning over the bed. I crouched down. Light from the landing spilled in but didn’t quite reach the bed where we were.
‘Mrs Cave?’ I asked gently.
There was no response.
I looked at her closer.
‘Hannah!’ Aaron’s voice cut sharp through the gloom. I stood reflexively and turned towards the sound of his voice.
‘Bathroom!’
As I pushed through the door Aaron had his arms hooked under Lee’s arms. His naked body pale, grey. In the dark pool of red water he floated in. As Aaron hauled him the water splashed around the room, falling from Lee’s body, covering Aaron, the floor, the walls. It was a mess.
I grabbed his legs and we threw him on the floor. I grabbed the nearest towel, tied it around a wrist as Aaron tied one around another. We were both soaked. I requested an urgent ambulance on the radio then felt for a pulse.
There was none.
‘Aaron…’
The bathroom was small, we knelt in the bloody watery mess of Lee’s body. Lee was gone. I couldn’t believe he would do this. I wasn’t a doctor though I started CPR and continued until a shout from downstairs told me the ambulance crew was here.
Heavy feet climbed the stairs. A woman pushed her way in from behind the door after I shouted our location to them. A smile slipped from her face when she saw the mess in front of her.
‘ECG leads, Graham.’ She spoke to someone behind her then manoeuvred herself down onto the floor with a large bag and started to attach pads to Lee’s body. Within a minute it was confirmed we had lost Lee as the paramedic announced life extinct.
I looked at Aaron. My scalp contracted over my skull as though a flock of birds had grabbed on hard with their tiny claws. My mind went to another part of the house.
‘Aaron?’
He looked at me. He was a mess. And was rubbing his arm again. My own arm throbbed. Painkillers would really help about now but I’d left them in my office.
‘Lee’s nan?’ I queried.
‘She slept through this?’
My thoughts exactly. I eased myself up. I didn’t like where my mind had gone. Aaron’s eyes widened.
‘Shit, Hannah. No.’
I backed out of the bathroom. One slow footstep at a time.
‘He wouldn’t…’ His voice was little more than a whisper.
Once I was on the landing I turned and bolted for the bedroom Lee’s nan had been laid in when I last saw her. I shouted her name as I entered, switched the light on as I did, I didn’t care if she was frightened by the noise and light.
There was no movement.
My stomach twisted. It felt empty and coiled.
I pulled the quilt back. I couldn’t see her breathing.
‘Get the paramedics in here,’ I shouted.
There were no injuries. He hadn’t used a knife. What had he done?
Footsteps thundered through to the bedroom. Aaron behind the paramedics.
The woman put her fingers to Lee’s nan’s throat.
‘She has a pulse. It’s weak. We need to get her to a hospital now.’ Her voice was short. Sharp. Determined.
It was then I noticed a box on the bedside table. Paracetamol. I lifted it and showed it to the paramedic.
‘We’re taking her.’ Her partner had run out the room. To get a stretcher I imagined. ‘You need to find evidence of what she’s taken and let us know as soon as you can.’
Within a matter of minutes Mrs Cave was loaded onto the stretcher, loaded into the ambulance and was blue-lighting it to QMC. My heart was in my throat.
The old woman. I couldn’t believe he would do that to the old woman.
Hannah
‘Mrs Cave has a fight ahead of her, but it looks positive. The problem is that he gave her mostly paracetamol which is a long-term problem drug as it works on the liver and time will tell if she will recover from this.’ The incident room was silent. Detective Superintendent Catherine Walker and DI Kevin Baxter were at the rear of the room listening in.
‘It seems we got there just in time and though he had given her enough to kill her, it was also a quantity that you can recover from. It’s like a game of Russian roulette and luckily the chamber was empty.’ Catherine smiled. She didn’t have much to smile about right now. Finding out the old woman had lived though had made her morning.
The chief constable wanted to see her today and the press were all over this. A corrupt cop being in with the biggest gang in the city, it wasn’t a story that would carry just one bag of chips then finish the cycle, this would run and run. And that’s what we now knew had happened. This was where it had all started. I had found a note on the dining table in Lee’s house and it had explained it all.
‘Talking to Sheila Emerson as well as the search of Lee’s house and those on Nathan Talbot’s address, initial conclusions on Lee are that he was in with Nathan prior to joining the police and applied at the request of Nathan with the sole intention of providing him information when he needed it, if and when he came across it. Lee’s reason for doing this was tha
t he needed money to care for his nan who he was responsible for. The Alzheimer’s meant she needed round the clock care, and as a young lad Lee could neither afford to provide this or physically provide it as well as going out to work to pay for the roof over their head. Nathan came up with this solution. Lee kept his wages from the police to pay for his way of life and Nathan paid for his nan’s care.’
Grumbling went around the room in a wave of disgust. Lee had thought it would be a simple task of giving small amounts of information. Before joining the police he had no idea how important or dangerous what he was signing up for would be. Not until the night Simon Talbot accidentally fired the gun he was holding at Ken Blake, and Lee was forced to keep quiet about what he knew and who was there. And to make it easier for him to do, they assaulted him. To afford him an alibi.
He was then to get on the investigation into Blake’s murder which he wasn’t able to do. Though his grief was completely real and in his note he begged forgiveness, though I could see this crowd wouldn’t be in the mood to grant him it.
‘I know it is a shock to everyone who does this job for the love of it.’ There was some laughter, though today it felt forced. We mocked the job but to find out someone, one of us, had sold us out this way, it cut deep and no one saw the funny side. He’d joined our ranks, our unit, to find out what we had on Simon’s murder, at the behest of Nathan again. With the threat of being called out for all he had done for them in the past and with the threat of having his nan’s care removed. He felt penned in, like he had nowhere to turn.
‘What you have to remember is that this is an isolated incident. We have a lot more to do in the way of inquiries, along with PSD.’ I made a nod at Deven Clarke who inclined his head towards me. No matter how difficult the situation had become the night Tremelle had been shot, Deven hadn’t changed in his attitude towards me. He was charming and polite. Always a smile for me. Who would have thought that I’d have a good relationship with a PSD cop? But I did. That night where we’d clashed was behind us.
The DI Hannah Robbins Series: Books 1 - 3 (Boxset) (Detective Hannah Robbins Crime Series) Page 68