by Alex Clare
Only Ravi’s eyes moved as he scanned his screen.
‘Ravi.’ Robyn raised her voice and realised it was futile. She moved in front of him and mimed taking off the headphones.
Reaching for his phone, Ravi turned off the music. He pushed back the hood, sliding the headphones around his neck.
‘How are you, Ravi?’ Robyn moved closer to be able to read the sheets he was working on.
Shrugging, Ravi looked back at her without speaking.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m going through the guest list and checking everyone for criminal records.’ Ravi tapped the page in front of him. ‘Found four so far.’
‘I appreciate you are anxious to help.’ Robyn found herself tensing. ‘But, because we are talking about your cousin, you cannot be involved.’ There was no sign of acknowledgement as Ravi began typing again. ‘Lorraine and I are here, on Sunday, to continue the investigation. If you don’t believe we’re going to give this case the attention it deserves, then you don’t know either of us very well.’
Turning over the sheet, Ravi began scribbling on the other side.
‘I gave you a direct order, Ravi.’ A stiffening of his jaw was the only sign he might have heard. ‘You cannot work on this case because you are a suspect.’
Ravi stood up so fast, his chair cannoned backwards, spinning into the one behind. ‘A suspect? Me, attack Shazia? If you think something twisted like that, I really do need to do this all myself.’
Lorraine stepped forward. ‘Don’t be so precious, you know what she meant. Just like any crime, everyone who was in the hotel is a suspect until we eliminate them. The fact that you can’t accept you’re included shows why you can’t be involved.’
‘You didn’t know Shazia! She had big plans, wanted to go places.’ Ravi ran his hands through his hair. ‘I have to try and convince her parents someone will get punished when there are loads of cases which just got dropped when things were difficult. I’ve seen them on the system.’
Losing patience, Robyn fetched the nearest chair and moved it to the centre of the floor, then pulled her own forward. She wanted some of the tension to dissipate before trying to answer. She sat down. ‘Ravi, come here, sit down and we will talk this through.’
Lorraine shuffled her chair next to Robyn. ‘Come on, Ravi. You aren’t Batman. We’ve got to do this as a team.’
Glowering, Ravi slouched forward and slid into the empty chair, crossing his arms.
‘You’ve raised a serious allegation, that I do not investigate cases properly.’ Robyn saw Ravi’s mouth open and her hand rose to stop him.
‘You’ve had your say. Now listen to me.’ Robyn paused, watching Ravi’s eyes widen as he stared at the bandages. ‘You know full well the cases you’re referring to were dropped when DI Prentiss ran this team. Since then, we have only given up on a case when there are no more leads to follow, not because we can’t be bothered or because the girl isn’t pretty enough.’ She took a perverse pleasure in seeing Ravi wince. ‘Justice for Shazia means dealing with evidence without prejudice and without making any assumptions. You are off this investigation, and there is no room for discussion. Lorraine will lead it with my support.’ She paused. Ravi’s head had fallen: he was staring at the floor.
A burst of music cut through the silence. Lorraine scrambled for her mobile. ‘Sorry, Guv. It’s Kelly.’ Pushing the chair back, she headed for the corner of the room.
Ravi watched her go. When he swivelled back, his eyes met Robyn’s for the first time. ‘What am I supposed to do then?’
‘Last night, we were called out to a suspicious death.’ Now was not the time to mention who it was. ‘Graham will lead and you will support.’ She paused again. ‘Just to make it clear: if you intrude in any way onto Lorraine’s investigation, I will suspend you, which will be bad for your career. Do you understand?’
A loud laugh from Lorraine made Ravi’s mumbled reply inaudible.
‘Sorry, I missed that.’
‘What am I going to say to my family?’
‘You tell them the truth. To make sure the investigation is robust, we have to have an independent officer. It’s nothing to do with how good you are, you’re just too close.’ For the first time, Robyn felt sorry for him. ‘Would it help if I were to meet your family, tell them what we’re going to do?’
Before she had finished, Ravi was already shaking his head. ‘No, Guv. Thanks but no. Probably better Lorraine does that.’
‘Because your family don’t approve of what I’m doing.’ It came out before she could stop herself.
Ravi pressed his lips together, his skin paling.
‘Whew. Kelly’s got a cause of death for Newman and you’ll never guess what it is.’ Lorraine plonked herself back onto her chair. ‘Come on Ravi, your starter for ten. Male found dead, lying in the back of his own van: he’d been in a scuffle earlier but all the visible injuries were superficial. What killed him?’
It was tempting to pull rank and cut across Lorraine to finish with Ravi though when she looked across, she saw Ravi’s shoulders had relaxed. It was a confrontation Robyn hadn’t been looking forward to and now the moment had gone.
Ravi gazed at the ceiling. ‘I don’t know – strangled?’
‘No!’ Lorraine rolled her eyes. ‘You’d have bruising and marks. I said only minor stuff visible.’
‘OK. Poison.’
‘Nope. Try again.’
‘Heart condition, one of those undetected things?’
‘Nope.’ Lorraine smiled. ‘One more guess and if you don’t get it, I’ll tell you because this could take all day.’
Ravi appeared to concentrate, brow furrowing. ‘He – was – he was electrocuted.’
‘Better but no.’ Lorraine inclined her head. ‘He choked on his chewing gum. Kelly found a lump of it in his wind pipe. Looks like my mother was right all along about not swallowing gum.’
Ravi laughed, a weak sound which tailed off after a second.
‘We found gum in the cab.’ Robyn looked at Lorraine. ‘Is Dr Shepherd saying there’s something suspicious about the death?’ She knew how perverse it was, hoping the death was at least manslaughter because it would keep Ravi occupied.
‘He just said he believed this wasn’t a natural death.’ Lorraine shrugged. ‘He hasn’t done the full autopsy yet, just said he was curious because he didn’t like not knowing how someone died so he did some outline checks. He’s got a whole load of toxicology tests he wants to run too.’
‘When will we get the full report?’ Ravi uncrossed his arms.
‘Tuesday afternoon.’ Lorraine smiled at him. ‘You know, the more I think about it the odder the situation was. What’s been bothering me –’
‘OK. Here’s what’s we’re going to do.’ Robyn held up her hand. ‘Ravi, go home and get some sleep. You and Graham start this case fresh on Monday. Meanwhile, Lorraine and I will keep working.’
Ravi’s attention was on the papers across his desk. ‘What about the records I’ve checked?’
Robyn looked him full in the face until he had to look away. ‘We’ll use the work you’ve done and that is the limit of your involvement. Understood?’
‘Yes, Guv.’ His head dropped. There was a second, two quick breaths, before he began pulling the sheets together into a pile. He took his time aligning the corners before he held the pack out to Robyn.
‘Thanks.’ Robyn took the papers. ‘Now go home.’
Without enthusiasm, Ravi stood up. ‘What did you do to your hands?’
‘There was a riot here yesterday and the Guv was right in the middle of it.’ Lorraine leaned forward to switch on her computer. ‘Didn’t you know?’
‘A what? Here?’ Ravi paused in pulling his jacket off the back of his chair. ‘I was up at the hospital last night, didn’t see any news. What the hell?’
‘Goodbye, Ravi. We’ll see you in the morning.’ To get him to go, Robyn made a point of collecting his papers and putting them into her
in-tray, then was surprised to see Ravi frown. She glanced down. Her in-tray was, as usual, full to overflowing and the notes had spilled onto the desk. Gathering them, she crossed to Lorraine’s desk and placed them in the centre. ‘As soon as you go, we will start.’
There was a second’s pause. Ravi hadn’t moved.
‘Bye, Ravi.’ Lorraine held up her hand. ‘Take it easy.’
With slow steps, Ravi slouched out. As the door swung shut, Robyn allowed herself to relax. ‘You are going to have to tell me if he tries to intrude. I am serious about suspending him.’
Lorraine looked as if she wanted to say something, then dropped her eyes. ‘Yes, Guv.’ She fanned out Ravi’s notes.
‘Right.’ Robyn rolled her chair back to her desk. ‘Let’s start with the hotel’s CCTV and pick up movements in and out of the room, then we can cross-check it against the photos from the ballroom.’
‘Are you sure we can really separate the two investigations, Guv?’ Lorraine had her head on one side. ‘After all, we’ll need to go over all Newman’s movements for the Saturday including the wedding.’
‘As Newman left before Shazia was attacked, there may not even be any connection.’ Pausing, Robyn felt her eyelids drooping and wondered whether her judgement was impaired. ‘For me, the big question is what took Newman out from home again so late?’ She wondered what she could say to remove the doubt from Lorraine’s face. ‘Is there anything useful on Ravi’s list?’
‘You can tell where he’s coming from. He’s focused on the groom’s relatives even though three quarters of the guests were from the bride’s side.’ Lorraine looked up. ‘We’re going to have to look into them though. I was doing a bit of searching last night and it seems rape is a real problem in India.’
‘In India, maybe, however, we’re in Meresbourne.’ Robyn stifled a yawn. ‘What about the criminal records Ravi talked about?’
‘Petty stuff, shoplifting, an insurance fraud, apart from one case of assault. Let’s have a closer look at that one.’ Lorraine flicked through the list. ‘Ah, here it is. Well, well.’
‘What?’
‘The one with the assault conviction is another one of the ushers, Trudwick. These boys get everywhere. Let’s have a look.’ She tapped details into her computer. ‘Tum-te-tum – is there a handle I can turn to make this go faster? Right. So, he was a bouncer working at Quiksilva. Threw a girl out of the club and then beat her up in the street. Charged with using excessive force, found guilty, fined and had his door licence suspended for six months.’
‘Nothing sexual?’
‘Nothing so far.’
‘Every offence has a first time. Let’s start with the CCTV.’
‘This is becoming a habit, Guv, you and me watching CCTV together. Like an episode of that programme, Square Eyes.’
It felt good to laugh, even if her chest twinged. ‘Thanks. Join the police and see the world.’
Lorraine checked her notebook for a web address, then cursed when the password was rejected. ‘If that useless manager gave me the wrong details for the security camera access – oh, hang on, maybe that’s supposed to be an underscore – there.’ She swivelled her screen so they could both see. ‘OK, here’s the list of cameras – which one do you want to start with? We’ve got one from the first floor corridor and one from the lobby showing the main stairs.’
‘Let’s go with the corridor, because we already know lots of people were in the lobby.’ She thought back. ‘Bugger. I’ve just realised I didn’t ask Eldon whether there was anyone else in the room. I was about to then Ravi burst in and …’ She realised how weak it sounded.
‘Oh well.’ The corners of Lorraine’s mouth turned down. ‘Surely he would have said if he’d seen another person?’ She chewed her lower lip for a second. ‘It’s possible though, isn’t it? When Eldon went into the main part of the room, if someone was in the bathroom, they could have sneaked out while he was looking at Shazia.’
As a welcome distraction, the screen filled with the black and white image of the Lady Ann’s first floor. Robyn peered at the screen. ‘OK, the camera must be at the far end of the corridor.’ She fast-forwarded the film through a period of emptiness. There was movement on the screen when the time-clock showed thirteen forty-seven. A number of people appeared almost directly under the camera. One small shape detached itself and ran down the corridor, followed by a woman who grabbed the child’s hand near the top of the left-hand branch of the stairs. A man with a smaller child followed them and they trooped out of view.
‘From the register, they must be the Barkers.’ Riffling through the papers on her desk, Lorraine pulled out a print-out. ‘We’ve got their address in Birmingham.’
‘Nothing out of the ordinary so far.’ Robyn fast-forwarded again. At fourteen ten, two shapes appeared at the end of the corridor.
‘Where did they come from?’ Robyn kept her eyes on the screen. As they walked towards the camera, their shapes grew clearer: a man holding a Panama hat and a woman with a walking stick. They stopped at a door before the far stairs and disappeared from the screen.
‘The lifts are up there.’ Lorraine pointed to the top of the screen. ‘They must be the couple in 106. Shame they couldn’t tell us more.’
They had been so close to missing these important witnesses. Robyn shook her head, thinking how much she had allowed her personal problems to interfere with the investigation. ‘Yes – hang on, who was that?’
A shape had appeared on the screen. ‘Ah, there’s Newman.’ The time showed fourteen twenty-one. They watched as he galloped up from the stairs and into 108. Less than three minutes later, he came out wearing a t-shirt and jeans. After looking both ways, he jogged towards the camera before ducking out of sight to the right.
‘He didn’t want to be spotted, so he went down the fire escape.’ Lorraine mimed hitting her head. ‘Of course, that’s why no one saw him leave.’
The film was still running. ‘And now here’s Shazia.’ A small figure stepped up from the stairs. Her movements looked hurried and jerky and she seemed to struggle with the lock of 108 before the door closed behind her. A minute passed. A figure filled the screen, getting smaller as a man walked down the corridor, collected a tray from outside a room at the far end before walking towards the camera again.
‘And the staff use the fire stairs because it comes out near the kitchen.’ Lorraine reached for the remote. ‘Can we watch the last bit again? This angle is really annoying – I want to check if that was Keith Eldon.’ The figure walked up the corridor. ‘Yep, definitely him, his bow-legged walk is quite distinctive.’
The screen was empty while the timer ticked from two twenty-eight to twenty-nine. Robyn found herself holding her breath. A figure appeared at the top of the stairs. He slowed and glanced around him before crossing to 108 and knocking. He stood close to the door as twenty seconds ticked by, then he knocked again. Eleven seconds later, the door was opened. The man stood for another few seconds on the threshold, then stepped inside.
Lorraine reached for the controller. ‘Got him.’ She began to rewind.
‘No, let’s watch to the end. I want to see whether he was in the room when she jumped.’
‘OK.’ Lorraine pressed the button and the film ran again through the scene on the doorstep before the door closed behind him. ‘This is horrible, knowing what he’s doing in there.’
‘I know.’ Robyn forced her breathing to slow as another minute ticked on. A pair of people appeared from the lift. They walked towards the camera, two women in saris, one leaning on the arm of the other. They went into one of the rooms before the farther staircase.
Robyn checked the notes. ‘Room 106 made the complaint around now.’
The younger woman of the pair left her room and walked alone up the corridor towards the camera before turning down the stairs. At fourteen thirty-six, the door of 108 opened. The man, tie undone, looked up and down the corridor before starting for the stairs. At the top, he stopped, retied the bow-ti
e and took the first steps down and out of screen. Barely a minute later, Keith Eldon plodded up into view and stopped outside 108. He knocked on the door, waited, knocked again then used a card to open the door. The seconds ticked past for nearly three minutes before the screen filled with people: the manager; the older receptionist and another porter.
‘So many chances.’ Lorraine pressed to pause. ‘If Newman had been just a couple of minutes later. Or if the two women had turned up earlier.’ She restarted the film. ‘This is really clear, we can get a still from this and blow it up, Ravi’s good at that.’
Robyn shook her head.
‘Oh, no, not Ravi. Maybe Chloe knows how to do it.’ Lorraine stepped the film back until she had a clear shot. There.’ She leaned towards the screen. ‘Hmm. I don’t recognise him from yesterday – someone else must have interviewed him. Who’s the best person to identify him – someone from the groom’s family, I guess?’
‘It could be easier than you think.’ Taking a swig of water, Robyn rested her chin on her hands. ‘Look at his clothes.’ Even with the high angle of the camera, it was possible to see the long jacket. ‘The only people wearing tail coats were the principals.’
‘Of course!’ Lorraine grinned. ‘There were only five of them and we know Newman had changed and the groom was sat on a throne where everyone could see him. That leaves a choice of three: two ushers and one best man.’ She dived across to her desk. ‘Notes from yesterday, notes from yesterday. Here we are.’ She extracted her book from under a pile of statements. ‘Right, so from what Newman gave us, we’re looking for … Axeman, Lassie and Julian. Oh for goodness sake – it sounds like a sixties pop group.’
Robyn felt her pulse rise, the feeling of being close to an answer. ‘Or a kid’s cartoon. So which one have we got here?’ She leaned in close to the face frozen on the screen.
‘It’s not the one called Axe.’ Lorraine sounded confident. ‘I talked to him yesterday and he’s taller with lighter hair. Can you look up Julian Gage and I’ll take Bartholomew, aka Lassie?’