by Alex Clare
‘You might want to check.’ Matthew sounded serious. ‘Fell said we should have known because apparently there’s a dedicated Meresbourne representative on Operation Emerald. Do you know who it is?’
‘Oh hell.’ It was Robyn’s turn to look at the ceiling. She dropped into the chair opposite Matthew. ‘It’s Lorraine. I thought this would be a good opportunity for her to get her name known before going for sergeant.’ She stopped, thinking through the consequences. ‘This wasn’t quite how I meant.’
‘No.’ Matthew rubbed his temples. ‘I don’t think this is quite how any of us meant.’
There was a pause. There was half a thought in Robyn’s mind she should apologise though the more she examined it, the less inclined she felt to do it. ‘Look, do you want me to let the prisoner know he’s free to go?’
‘No, I’ll do it. I need to explain about his car.’ Matthew heaved himself to his feet. ‘Happy days. I’ll keep the brief out for my guys to look for your attacker but some more details would be handy so we don’t end up doing this again.’
‘I’m seeing Fell at eleven forty-five before he meets the family of the rape victim. I’ll let him know it was me who asked for the pick-up.’
‘Thanks.’ Their eyes met for a second before Matthew left. In the corridor, Graham was shuffling his feet. ‘What are we waiting for, Guv?’
‘We leave it.’ Robyn jerked her head up. ‘Orders from on high.’
‘What? He’s guilty as hell.’ Graham banged the desk with the flat of his hand. ‘What’s Fell playing at?’
‘It’s all to do with a bigger operation. So, we keep out of it and focus on our business.’ Robyn started moving down the corridor: she didn’t want to be there when Matthew brought the man out. ‘And we need to talk about Newman. I still can’t see a motive.’
Graham took the bait and followed Robyn to the corridor. ‘I don’t think we need to worry too much about motive, Guv. We know Trudwick was the football team’s enforcer. He finds out Newman is planning to leave the team and gets angry and forces something down Newman’s throat, making him eat his words.’ Graham shrugged. ‘Maybe he didn’t mean to kill him and we’re looking at manslaughter. Either way, it gets a nasty creature off the streets.’
‘Have you completely discounted the theory it was something to do with his ex’s new boyfriend then?’
‘This seems more promising, don’t you think? And because we’ve got Trudwick’s DNA on file, it should be easy to pick up if he was at the crime scene.’
They walked into the CID office. Lorraine jumped to her feet. ‘Guv –’
Robyn held up a hand. ‘OK, it’s worth considering all angles here. Think about it: Newman might have asked Trudwick to help him out with a plumbing job or even getting the decorations out of the van on the morning of the wedding – his DNA might be in the van for all sorts of reasons.’
Graham slouched to his desk. Robyn closed her eyes for a second. It felt delicious – she could sleep for hours. There was no chance: Lorraine had crossed the office and was leaning on her desk.
‘God, Guv, what’s going on? We were on the Operation Emerald call talking about the information we had to share and then someone cuts in to say there’s been an arrest in Meresbourne and this is going to put everything at risk.’
Robyn heard a phone ring. Graham hunched over his desk, almost buried in his jacket’s collar.
‘A dealer was arrested yesterday evening.’ Robyn ran her hands through her hair. ‘We’ve got orders to release him.’
‘Blimey. Everybody’s going to think I knew all about it.’ Lorraine flopped into her chair. ‘Fell will think I can’t do my job.’
‘It was bad luck and bad timing, nothing else.’ Robyn perched on the edge of her desk. ‘How were you supposed to know all of the details on your first time in the group? I’ll tell Fell when I see him later.’
Lorraine chewed her lip. ‘Do you really think he’ll care? My career’s buggered.’
‘Stop worrying.’ The words were sharper than Robyn meant because a headache was threatening to close down her vision. ‘He matched the description of a violent attacker, so Fell can’t blame us for wanting to get him off the streets.’
After scrabbling in her handbag, Lorraine pulled out a crumpled packet of sweets and shook a couple into her palm before popping them into her mouth.
‘Guv.’ There was sweat on Graham’s forehead. The eyes meeting Robyn’s were crinkled in appeal.
‘Go.’ Robyn searched for words which wouldn’t sound empty. ‘Take care.’
As Graham grabbed his briefcase and dashed through the door, Lorraine turned to Robyn, her mouth opening.
‘I guess it was a bit much to expect to pick our attacker up the first night of looking for him.’ Robyn wanted to stop the obvious question of what was wrong with Graham. ‘After all, we know almost nothing about this guy except he seems to be strong and may have small hands and blue eyes. Oh and he smells “intense”.’ Her stomach rumbled. She took feeling hungry as a good sign. ‘Can I have one of those?’
Lorraine passed the packet across. She raised one eyebrow. ‘Intense? Didn’t you say she barely spoke English – are you sure she didn’t mean, say, incense?’
Robyn shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. She was sharp and knew what she was talking about. We need to work out what she meant.’ The toffee had fluff on it but the burst of sweetness on her tongue was wonderful.
‘It feels like we’re getting nowhere, Guv. A rapist we can’t nail, an attacker we can’t describe and we may or may not have a murder.’ Lorraine drummed her fingers on the desk. ‘Oh and we’ve only got half a team.’
‘And sniping at each other is not going to make anything better.’ Robyn held her hands clasped in front of her to give her stability. ‘Remember what you said to Ravi: we can’t unhappen anything, so we focus on where we can make a difference.’ She took a deep breath, turning to where Chloe sat, almost hidden behind her monitor. ‘Look, both of you. If Shazia’s family are not likely to press charges, then there is nothing we can do about it, except focus on the other cases. We made a mistake over the attacker – we start again with the old cases. We’ve got leads we can follow up. We know he’s using a car now, so let’s see if anything was picked up on the cameras where Dominika was attacked. Chloe, that’s a good lead for you to follow up.’ She waved at the board. ‘Then there’s Newman’s death – there are still far too many loose ends. Lorraine, why don’t we start by going to see Newman’s ex and check whether there’s anything there. Then you can drop me at the town hall to see Fell and I will tell him the problem this morning wasn’t your fault.’
The fresh air of the car park was a relief. ‘Can you drive? My hands are still a bit tender so I took a taxi this morning.’
‘Glad you had a good time last night, Guv.’ There was a knowing tone in Lorraine’s voice. ‘My car’s just here.’
Robyn wondered whether she was fooling anyone – she knew she looked terrible. When the stereo came on, she winced, bearing the noise for a few seconds, then turned off the sound, searching for something to say to cover her action. ‘I really enjoyed listening to the band. I’d forgotten how music becomes something else again when you hear it live.’
‘Thanks, Guv.’ Lorraine grinned, eyes on the roundabout. ‘I don’t know why Graham dashed off though. What is wrong with him?’
The urge to tell her the truth about Graham was strong. ‘Just something he needs to deal with.’ It was only a partial lie. ‘Graham is a bit old-fashioned. He thinks young ladies should only play waltzes on the pianoforte rather than this new-fangled jazz music.’
Lorraine laughed without the usual volume. ‘There is something else though, isn’t there? He’s been acting funny for a while. I think it’s something to do with me going for sergeant and he won’t be top dog any more.’
It was Robyn’s turn to laugh. ‘What, you think Graham doesn’t want you to go for promotion? No way. Why would he get upset by you progressi
ng your career? I’m amazed he hasn’t already offered to give you “the benefit of his experience”.’
‘I know, I know. It’s just something’s wrong and I don’t know what else it could be. And now Ravi as well. Maybe now isn’t the time to start a team lottery syndicate.’
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Robyn tried to sound reassuring. ‘Graham is an expert in taking care of himself. I will speak to Fell as soon as Tracey gets back and you can put in for your sergeant’s exam when you feel ready for it.’
They drove into the Docks estate where the watery sun struggled to bring colour to the tower blocks. ‘Three days in a row we’ve been here – feels like I’m back in Uniform.’ They had to drive around to find a parking space. ‘Tells you all you need to know: shouldn’t all of the owners of these cars be at work?’
‘I guess a lot of people work shifts but yes, it’s a different world around here.’ Robyn buzzed doorbells until someone opened the door. ‘And yet they still let anyone in.’
They were followed into the lift by three lads, all baggy tops and baseball caps.
‘Oh man.’ The one nearest Robyn jerked back, banging into his friend, who in turn leaned into Lorraine.
‘Hey babe, sorry like.’ The one in the shiny, green baseball top used the minimal space to look Lorraine up and down. He whistled, turning to his friends. ‘Man, check this out.’
Lorraine’s eyes were set on the indicator.
‘Better than here, bruv. Reckon this one’s got a dick.’
Robyn thought the lads were about fourteen though even the shortest was as tall as her. The lift was taking forever, clanking to a stop on the second floor. An elderly woman with a shopping trolley took one look inside and stepped away.
‘What are you doing with this guy, babe?’
‘Don’t you want a real man?’
‘He is a real man. I bet you.’
Lorraine yawned, leaning against the wall of the lift. ‘I didn’t realise the nursery was having an outing today.’
‘Hey, harsh.’
‘Like she’s calling us babies.’
‘You want babies, honey, I’ll make your babies.’
The lift stopped at the third floor and Lorraine walked out. Robyn, surprised, took a second to follow her.
‘Did you see how lady-boy here wiggled his ass at me?’
‘He didn’t wanna leave you. Wooh – on a promise.’
The doors closed, cutting off the response.
‘You OK?’ Robyn felt it was important to speak first. They were supposed to be going to the fifth floor.
‘Fine. I was just about to ask you the same thing.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Don’t know about you but I didn’t want to spend any more time with those charmers, so I pushed a button – didn’t see which one.’
‘I’ve had worse.’ Robyn smiled, to make sure she could still do it. She was angry at herself for not speaking up. ‘You can’t take something like that seriously. As you said, they’re babies.’
They started up the stairs. The door to flat twenty-seven had a brass knocker and letterbox rather than the standard plastic. Robyn knocked. The light metal made a genteel, discreet tap.
The door opened a crack. Behind the chain, a woman peered at Robyn through a heavy fringe. ‘Yes?’ The voice was little more than a whisper.
‘Crystel Marcos?’ Robyn held out her warrant card: a hand came through the gap to take it. From the sliver of her face which was visible, the thick, black mascara emphasised the number of times her eyes flicked between the card and Robyn’s face.
‘What do you want?’
‘We’d like to talk to you, miss, about an incident here on Saturday night.’
The door closed and there was the rattle of a chain. Robyn took a half-step forward, expecting the door to be opened. Instead, the door cracked open again and this time the woman slipped out into the corridor, pulling the door to behind her.
‘Me fiancé does nights and he can’t be having anyone waking him up at this time. What do you mean, something happened? Stuff happens all the time.’
‘Are you sure you’re happy to talk out here, miss?’
The woman tilted her head and took another half-step forward. ‘I’ve got nothing to hide. And he’s not much fun when you wake him up. What do you want?’ The woman stared at Robyn. There was no fear, which was good and not much hint of co-operation which wasn’t.
Robyn smiled, turning to look at Lorraine, who took the hint.
‘When was the last time you saw Jake Newman?’ Lorraine stepped closer, drawing Crystel’s gaze to her.
Crystel folded her arms. ‘Oh. Well at least you’re doing something useful. There are people who deserve to get done in and Jake wasn’t one of them. Good luck.’
‘Thanks.’ Lorraine smiled. ‘When did you last see him?’
‘A couple of weeks ago. He helped Ed get home from a stag night.’ She jerked her head towards the door. ‘He doesn’t drink a lot and they got him on spirits and he was hopeless.’ She uncrossed her arms and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. ‘Jake made sure he got back OK. That’s the sort of bloke he is … was.’ She pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her nose.
‘I’m sorry.’ Lorraine paused for a second. ‘Before the stag night, did you see him regularly?’
‘Around and about.’ Crystel’s hand went back in her pocket: the moment of emotion had passed. ‘He was just one of the guys from college.’
‘And your partner, you said he was called Ed?’
‘Fiancé.’ Crystel held up her left hand, a ring just visible in the gloom.
‘Could you give me his full name, please?’
The woman’s lips pursed. ‘Jones.’
‘Thank you. Do you know a friend of Newman’s, Jason Trudwick?’
‘Why are you asking anyway? You don’t think he did it, do you?’
‘We’re just trying to get a picture of the people Jake spent his last hours with.’ Lorraine was doing a good job of keeping her tone conversational.
Crystel shrugged. ‘He works doors with Ed. I never knew him that well.’
‘Thank you.’ Lorraine paused. ‘Were you and Jake a couple at all?’
‘A long time ago.’ Crystel laughed. ‘We was kids, it wasn’t serious. We’re all friends now.’ Her tone hardened. ‘Ed knows about it if that’s what you’re driving at. Doesn’t bother him.’
‘Did you see Jake at any point on Saturday night?’
‘Because he was found in the car park, you mean?’ The woman shook her head. ‘Nope. We was both working. When you work in bars, Saturdays is the busiest day of the week. I started at five, Ed at seven going through ‘til three of a weekend.’
‘No wonder you don’t want to wake him up. Is that one of the clubs on Riverside?’ As soon as she had spoken, Robyn was conscious of appraisal.
Crystel folded her arms again, stepping back against the door. ‘Yeah. So what?’
‘I can’t believe there are so many clubs around now.’ Lorraine spoke a little louder, trying to get Crystel’s attention back. ‘Paprika, The Love Lounge, Quiksilva, what’s the new one called?’
‘Melt.’ Crystel kept her arms folded. ‘It’s the biggest in town.’ Inside the flat there was a muffled shout. Her eyes darted to the door.
Lorraine smiled. ‘If Ed’s awake, is there a chance we could talk to him?’
There was another call from inside, louder now. Crystel tutted, pulled a key from her back pocket and let herself into the flat.
‘I’m not buying the jealous ex angle.’ Lorraine spoke under her breath.
The door was opened wider and Crystel stood aside to let them in. The flat was the mirror of Bartholomew’s but everything was ordered and neat. As the man settled onto the sofa, Crystel leant behind him to square the next cushion with its neighbour. Ed was in a bathrobe, the cord double-knotted around his waist. ‘So you’re trying to catch the bastards what did Jakey?’
‘That’s right.’ Lorraine nodd
ed. ‘His body was found in the car park downstairs, so we’re trying to find out why he was here and who he visited.’
‘Well it wasn’t us. We don’t really see a lot of him.’ Ed scratched his bare leg.
‘You didn’t go to the wedding?’
‘Nah. Bad enough having to take a night off for the stag. When you’re saving for a place, you can’t miss a pay cheque to sit around in a suit and have to shell out for a present.’
Crystel placed a coaster on the table and put a cup down in front of Ricky then stayed standing, holding her own matching mug.
‘Can you think of any reason why Newman might have been here in the early hours of Saturday morning?’
‘Nah.’ Ed blew on his tea. ‘Thanks, luv. Plumbing job, maybe?’
‘We thought that until we found he went out without his tools.’ Lorraine left a pause. ‘Could Newman have come to see you?’
Robyn wondered whether Lorraine had gone too far and was relieved when Ed shrugged. ‘Doubt it. He’s only been here once, that time a couple of weeks ago when he sorted me out.’
‘Do you know Jason Trudwick?’ There was a note of eagerness in Lorraine’s voice Robyn would have to warn her about.
‘Jase? Yeah, worked with me on the door at Quiksilva. Still there because I needed an experienced guy who could keep an eye on things when I moved over to Melt.’
‘Did you know he had a conviction for assault?’
The corners of Ed’s mouth turned down. ‘When someone’s out of their box and tries to glass you, you defend yourself. Only thing was, because the little slapper turned up at the police station in a pretty dress and cried, you lot believed her and not us or the CCTV.’
‘I thought this was supposed to be about who killed Jake?’ Crystel’s voice was flat.
Robyn smiled. ‘It is. If someone has a previous conviction, we have to check it out. Imagine if we were talking about child abuse and we didn’t follow up someone in the area who’d done it before – we’d get crucified. We have to ask.’
‘Yeah, well. You tell me why a bloke would kill a best mate of his? Doesn’t make any sense, does it?’ Ed took a sip of tea.