by A L Fraine
“What do you want then, Jimmy?” Nathan asked, using the name the man had given when he’d signed in.
Jimmy smiled. “A reward.”
“You mean money?”
“I think this information is valuable. I reckon I deserve a reward, like. Don’ yeh think? I mean, I could go to the press.”
Nathan stared at the man as if he were something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Kate watched him chew on his cheek for a moment, and then turn and make for the door. “Kate,” he said.
She followed him out.
“What do you think?” Nathan asked after he closed the door.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if I believe him or not. If there was some way of verifying that he really does know Steve, then maybe I’d be happy digging into my wallet.”
Nathan nodded. “Yep. I’m reluctant to let him go without getting the information from him, though. If he really does know where Steve is, and we don’t try to follow this up, then we’re up shit creek if Steve is the killer, and kills again.”
“Negligence,” Kate muttered.
“Right,” Nathan replied. “Okay, let’s see if we can find anything out.”
Kate followed him back into the room. This time Nathan sat in one of the seats facing Jimmy, and Kate took the one beside him as he began to talk.
“Alright, we’re interested, but need to kn-“
“I want to speak to her,” Jimmy interrupted him.
“What?” Nathan asked.
“I don’t want to speak to you. I want to speak to her. Kate. Right?”
Kate got a sinking feeling as a shiver rippled up her back. That was a little creepy, but maybe she could turn this to her advantage.
“Alright,” Kate replied. “You can talk to me.”
“Good,” Jimmy said with a smug grin.
“But as Detective Halliwell was saying, we need a little more than just your say so, that you know who Steve is.”
“Alright. Well, I know the fellah. So, ask me a question.”
“What’s his wife's name?” Kate asked.
Jimmy smiled. “Ex-wife, you mean.”
Kate smiled back. “Ex-wife,” Kate corrected herself.
“Naomi. An’ he ended up on the street when his restaurant went tits up, like.”
Kate looked over at Nathan, who nodded to her, apparently satisfied.
She sighed and pulled the small wallet she usually carried in her jacket from the inside pocket and folded out the three notes that were in there. Nathan did likewise and handed her the money. It wasn’t much. It was just over fifty quid, but she hoped it was enough. She held it up before her.
“Will this be enough?”
“Aye, it will, like,” he said reaching across for it.
Kate pulled it away. “The info.”
Jimmy’s eyes flicked between her and the money, clearly suspicious. “Gimme half before, and half after.”
Kate thought about it and then pulled two of the notes out. She handed them to him. “You can have twenty now, the rest when we’re satisfied with the information.”
Jimmy hungrily stuffed the notes into his pocket, and stared at the remaining money in her hand, apparently wrestling with himself.
“Okay. Alright,” he said and recited an address to them that both she and Nathan copied down. “He’s there right now.”
Kate knew roughly where the address was in Guildford and it wasn’t too far away. Still, she eyed the information suspiciously and looked back at Jimmy. “You’re sure about this?”
“Positive,” he said, holding his hand out for the rest of the money.
Kate looked over at Nathan, who shrugged and then nodded.
Kate handed Jimmy the cash, who snatched it from her hand and counted it quickly. Apparently pleased, he stood up.
“Thank you very much, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”
A short while later, they stood in the corridor outside the interview room, watching the uniformed officer show Jimmy out.
“Do we check this out?” Kate asked.
“Absolutely,” Nathan replied as they spotted DCI Dean enter the corridor and approach them.
“There you are. What are you doing down here? There’s been another killing, you know.”
“Sorry sir, we had a walk-in with some information.”
“Oh, and?”
“We have a lead on the whereabouts of Steve Brewster, our main suspect. The walk-in gave us an address. A disused building that’s being used as a squat.”
“Was he credible?”
“Very,” Nathan replied. “He knew details of Steve’s life that a stranger would not know.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Leave the details in my office, get out there and bring him in.”
Nathan nodded. “Okay, good. I’d like some uniform backup on this,” he said.
“I’ll get a couple of officers to meet you out front, now go!”
CHAPTER 24
After a quick visit upstairs to the office to make sure they had everything they needed, leaving the details of the interview with Jimmy on the DCI’s desk, they headed outside to find a marked car with two officers inside, waiting to follow them. Kate jumped into Nathan’s car, and within moments they were away, speeding into Guildford, making for one of the parades of shops just out from the centre of town.
“I hope this isn’t a wild goose chase,” Kate said as they drove in.
“The walk-in seemed genuine enough. I’m hopeful,” Nathan replied.
Kate nodded. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I’m not sure. Depends on what the property looks like. If there’s only one entrance, we’ll head in as one unit, but if we have a front and rear entrance, we might need to head inside in pairs. Two in the front and two in the back.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kate replied, preparing herself for what was to come. Entering somewhere where the police were not welcome always got the adrenaline pumping. She’d been involved in a few of these kinds of raids while in uniform, and they were often dramatic affairs.
As they approached the property, they turned off their sirens and lights to avoid spooking the squatters and pulled over about fifteen metres up the road. Kate jumped out, ran around to the boot of the car and opened it up. She pulled out one of the black stab vests that were inside, pulled it on over her head and grabbed a baton as well. Nathan joined her and did the same.
Within moments, they were hustling up the pavement, approaching the squat. The building they needed to enter had clearly been disused for a while. Its downstairs windows were boarded up, with graffiti all over the walls. There was a six foot, double gate on the side closest to them. A loose chain secured it but allowed a gap big enough for someone to easily slip through. Ahead, beyond the gate, the front door led straight onto the path, but they couldn’t see it clearly from where they were, tucked up against the wall to try and keep from being spotted.
Nathan, who had taken point, assessed the building and turned to address them.
“You three, stay here, I’ll check the front entrance,” he said, and jogged along, past the gate, and up to the front door. Kate watched him check it, pulling on the boarding with little effect, and then jog back.
“Shut fast, they must get in through the back,” he said, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the gate. “Come on.”
Nathan led them through the gap in the gate, into a sizable yard area, filled with overgrown weeds embedded in the cracked concrete, or taking over areas of hard packed mud. Rubbish and debris were dumped everywhere, but several pathways had been cleared through the mess to the gate and a back wall with some boxes piled up next to it. To their right, the dilapidated building loomed above them, with a single entrance leading into it.
Kate felt a rush of both excitement and fear as she looked at the property, and steeled her nerves against the urge to flee the potential danger.
Nathan led them forward, threading them through the yard and up to the doorwa
y, which sat slightly ajar. He turned to Kate and the two officers behind her.
“Ready?” he whispered.
Kate nodded and saw the two backup officers do the same.
“Good. You come with me, you stick with Kate,” Nathan directed them. “Kate, go left, I’ll go right.”
Nate shoulder barged the door and rushed inside.
“Police! Show yourselves.” He yelled as he moved inside. Kate followed. Nathan lunged to the right, towards the front of the house.
Kate moved left through another doorway and found herself in the kitchen.
“Police,” she shouted as she moved, only to find a young woman sat at the table, her arms raised in surrender.
“I ain’t done nuthin’,” the girl called out.
“Steve. I’m looking for Steve,” she said to her.
The girl shrugged. Kate hadn’t expected cooperation and moved on through the room to the far door.
“Police,” Kate called out as she entered the next room, only to be tackled from her right. She was thrown against the wall with a thud that rattled her skeleton.
“Piss off, filth,” the man yelled as he pushed her up against the wall.
Kate grunted as she swung her baton and caught him in the ribs. He made a pained noise, only to have a tall, strong man in police-black smash into his side and throw him off her.
Kate’s legs went wobbly for a moment as she caught her breath and sank into a crouch.
The attacker yelled in pain as he hit a table that stood in the middle of the dirty room, and fell off it. Detritus was everywhere. Empty food cartons, rubbish bags, boxes, and all kinds of drug paraphernalia scattered over the table and floor.
“You won’t kick us out. You can’t. This is private property,” the attacker muttered, clutching his ribs.
Kate stood back up and walked over as she heard Nathan breach another room on the other side of the house.
“I don’t want to kick you out. I just want to find Steve,” Kate said.
“Steve?” the man said, sounding confused.
“Is he here? We need to speak to him.”
Kate watched the man’s eye flick to look upstairs, and then sideways as he considered his answer.
“Umm…” he prevaricated.
“Upstairs, yeah?” Kate cut him off. The man’s eyes went as wide as plates. Gotcha, she thought and smiled smugly at him.
“Er, no. He’s not up there,” but he sounded desperate.
“Then you won’t mind us taking a look, right?” Kate said and began to make her way across the house towards the front door, where she guessed the main staircase was.
Walking out through another door, Kate found herself in a reception area at the front of the building, with a staircase leading up to the next floor. Nathan strode out of another room on her right.
“Any trouble?” he asked.
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Kate replied as they reached the foot of the stairs.
Looking up, a man with a beard was five steps down from the top, frozen in place, as if scared to move. The moment Kate looked up at him, his eyes bugged.
“Shit,” he hissed under his breath and bolted back up the stairs.
Nathan was after him the next second, charging up the stairs, taking three at a time. “Steve Brewster? It’s the Police, stay where you are,” he shouted as he ran.
Kate followed, their shoes banging on the bare wooden steps as they ran.
Steve dodged left and tried to shut a door on Nathan, but he got a foot in the door and rammed it with his shoulder. It slammed open, hitting the wall with a bang as Nathan barged through. Kate reached the landing and glanced around, checking no one was moving to interfere.
She couldn’t see anyone and followed Nathan into the room. Her partner had knocked the man with the beard to the floor, but he was struggling against Nathan’s grip. Kate moved to Nathan’s side and helped him wrestle the man’s arms into a pair of cuffs.
As they clicked home, the fight seemed to drain out of the man, and he relaxed on the floor as one of the other officers who’d accompanied them, appeared in the doorway.
“Everything alright?” he asked.
“Yeah, we got it,” Kate replied, and moved to get a better look at the man. She recognised his features, even with all the ragged facial hair. “It’s Steve, right?” Kate asked.
“Who wants to know?”
“Steve Brewster,” Nathan said. “We’re arresting you under suspicion of the murder of Jordan Donaldson and Naomi Sawyer. You do not-“
“What? Naomi? What’s happened to Naomi?”
“Steve, you do n-“
“What’s happened to Naomi?” Steve yelled, his voice cracking from the emotion in it.
“She’s dead, Steve. Murdered.”
“No. No, that’s not true. No. That can’t be true. I saw her last night. She was fine.”
“You argued with her last night. Fought with her,” Kate pressed.
“Yeah, I know. But I didn’t hurt her. How can she be dead? You must be mistaken.”
“I wish we were,” Kate muttered.
Steve seemed to withdraw into himself then, muttering under his breath in somewhat incoherent ramblings as Nathan finally managed to recite the Police Caution without being interrupted.
Nathan then hauled him up with Kate’s help, pulling him to his feet as he continued to mutter to himself. They got him out of the house and into the marked car without further trouble, and they set off back in convoy.
“He didn’t seem to know that Naomi had been killed,” Kate said as they set off, this time following the marked car out of the city.
“Hmm,” Nathan answered her.
Kate frowned, wondering what this meant for their investigation, providing that Steve wasn’t putting on an act to try and throw them off the scent. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone had put on an Oscar-winning performance to try and escape justice.
She knew she had to be careful though, and not get too focused in on one suspect to the exclusion of all others, despite the evidence against him.
“Are we barking up the wrong tree here?”
“I don’t know, but that was a hell of a reaction to the news of her death,” he said, shaking his head. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Kate agreed. “I know what you mean.”
Back at the station, they took him in through the custody suite and booked him into one of their holding cells before retreating back upstairs to the Murder Team’s main office.
“So, what do we have?” Di Mason asked as they entered the office. He’d walked over with a curious smile. “Some kind of homeless mastermind? A crime of passion by the victim's former husband? Not much of a conspiracy there,” Sam smirked.
“We don’t know he did it yet, sir” Kate replied, as Nathan seemed to bite his tongue to keep from saying something stupid.
“Of course. Well, if you find out he’s part of some kind of knightly order or something, be sure to let me know, yeah?”
Kate didn’t find his comments amusing and cocked an eyebrow at him. Nearby, DS Taylor laughed at his partner's wit. Nathan had already walked off, making his way back to his desk.
“Was it something I said?” DI Mason asked no one in particular, looking hurt, before laughing again.
Kate rolled her eyes as she crossed the room to her desk. “Ignore them,” she said as she sat down.
“I’m used to it. They’re idiots.”
“Yeah. They are. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“Hmmm,” Nathan replied half-heartedly. “You didn’t seem too convinced with my theories the other day either.”
Kate paused and gave Nathan a little side eye. She cleared her throat as she thought through her response to him. “Well, it was a lot to take in, to be honest. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, I’m just saying, give me time, and proof.”
Nathan nodded to her as he watched her through narrowed eyes.
Sh
e wasn’t lying to him, but she was far from convinced of his ideas about there being some kind of secret group behind these killings. Also, with the way this case was turning out, it felt more like some kind of crime of passion than anything else.
Steve had put on quite the show back at the house and seemed genuinely shocked that Naomi was dead. But that was a reaction he could have practised, along with an alibi or story that he might have cooked up between last night and now.
“Alright, let’s pull together our evidence and work out what we’re going to ask him.”
Kate nodded, and turned to her desk, still slightly distracted by the comments Nathan had just voiced. They were ready within the hour and only had to wait a short time for Steve to be finished speaking with his appointed duty solicitor before they could head downstairs.
“Do you want me to take the lead again?” she asked.
“We’ll share it,” Nathan said as they approached the room. Kate nodded and followed Nathan inside, where Steve sat with his solicitor.
Kate set the DIR to record, and joined Nathan at the table, opposite Steve and his legal counsel. Nathan let Kate run through the necessary info for the recording, stating everyone’s name and making sure that Steve knew he was still under caution before they proceeded. Kate noted the look on Steve’s face as he sat and watched her run through the procedure. He looked fed up and somewhat defeated by what had been going on.
Again, she began to doubt that he was the killer they were looking for, but repeated to herself that she needed to keep an open mind and realise that it was in his interest to avoid being charged with Naomi’s murder.
“Tell me about your relationship with Naomi Sawyer,” Nathan asked once Kate was finished.
“She was my wife,” Steve said.
“But she isn’t any longer?”
“We’re divorced,” he admitted.
“And why is that?” Nathan continued.
“We broke up. She left me.”
“Why did she leave you, Mr Brewster?” Nathan pressed.
“I guess we weren’t suited to each other,” he said with a shrug.
“And…?”
“And what?” Steve asked. He appeared genuinely confused by Nathan’s question, even though it was painfully obvious to Kate what he was getting at.