If Fear Wins

by Tony J. Forder

  ‘So, if that’s an accurate description of events, let’s go straight to the moment you each found out your friend was absent. FO Thomas, please explain to me how and where you learned Duncan was missing.’

  Bliss was careful not to refer to Livingston’s absence as him being AWOL. That formal term was one step away from denigrating the officer as a deserter, and Bliss thought these men would clam up tight if they believed the interview was in any way official at this stage. As he asked the question, his eyes scanned the reactions of all three airmen. Thomas’s eyes momentarily flicked across to the RAFP officer, as if searching for permission to respond. White continued to stare straight ahead, while Allen flashed a quick glance at Thomas.

  ‘I share a house with Dunc,’ Thomas said. He was one of two dressed in uniform, and he sat with his hands clasped together on the table, thumbs worrying each other. ‘He was due on duty at the same time as me, so when I noticed he wasn’t kicking about and I heard no noise coming from his room, I knocked. When I got no joy, I went inside. Dunc can be untidy and if he even bothers to make his bed it’s only when he gets home off shift. The bed was made, so I immediately assumed he hadn’t come home.’

  ‘Was that a regular event?’ Chandler asked. ‘Duncan not coming home.’

  ‘Not regular, Miss, but it does happen from time to time. Sometimes he’d crash elsewhere on base, and occasionally he’d stay off base. We all do it.’

  ‘So finding him not at home first thing of a morning was hardly unusual?’

  Thomas shook his head. ‘No, it was unusual unless he’d arranged to stay somewhere overnight. If he did that then he’d pack a bag and take his uniform with him. He hadn’t done that, so it was strange him not being there getting ready.’

  ‘Tell me what your immediate thought was,’ Bliss said. ‘Your very first instinctive reaction.’

  This time the young man smiled. It was easy and disarming. ‘I thought he’d pulled Karen and gone home with her. I assumed he’d either overslept or was getting a full English, if you know what I mean.’

  ‘So you were not at all concerned?’ he asked.

  ‘No, sir. Not about that. Only that he’d be late for duty.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  All three officers were of a similar age, build and physical appearance. Tall and lean was how the RAF seemed to like them. Bliss turned his attention to the man sitting in the centre of the three, also in uniform. ‘Now, FO White. Same question to you, please.’

  ‘I work directly alongside Duncan, Inspector. First I knew was when he didn’t show for duty. Flight Lieutenant Holbrook was on the first of two days’ annual leave, so FL Butler asked me if I was aware of Dunc being ill. I told him we’d been out the night before and as far as I knew he would have a mild hangover at worst.’

  ‘And when your friend failed to show?’

  ‘I didn’t know what to think, to tell you the truth. I also thought he might have copped off with Karen, but I couldn’t imagine him staying on wherever she lived without at least calling in sick. Not to hear from him at all was worrying.’

  Flying Officer Allen had a similar story to tell. He had not been on duty, as it was the first of three days’ annual leave for him. However, he had been on base, and word had spread quickly. By lunchtime, pretty much everyone knew Livingston was absent.

  Bliss paused to consider what he had heard. Everything so far had rung true. He decided to press further.

  ‘So you all initially made the assumption that Duncan had spent the night with the barmaid.’

  The consensus was that Karen Bailey was gorgeous and friendly and had seemed interested in their friend. Logical conclusions were drawn.

  ‘So at what point did you start to have concerns?’ Bliss asked.

  ‘Immediately,’ Allen said. ‘No way Dunc would miss duty without notifying his commanding officer. Something had to be wrong. I went back to the pub at lunchtime. Karen told me she and Dunc had shared a kiss and a cuddle and that, but that her brother had picked her up in the car and Dunc started to walk back to base. I got word through to the others, and then we heard about the appeal for volunteers to search the probable route home. I was part of the first wave, and those who’d been on duty came later. By then it was dark, though, so it was called off just after six, I think.’

  ‘So your friend and colleague is missing,’ Chandler said, scribbling something in her notebook. ‘In your own words it’s unlikely to be by choice, and there are no obvious signs that he was involved in an accident. Therefore, are any of you able to offer any thoughts as to what has become of Duncan?’

  Bliss observed the three men. If one of them was the obvious leader, he would have expected the other two to throw a glance their way. But there were no exchanged looks, merely shaking heads. To Bliss, that suggested Livingston had been the head of this particular band of brothers.

  ‘He wasn’t in any trouble,’ Allen said. ‘If that’s what you’re getting at. Look, we all like a laugh, and none of us are exactly quiet when we’re out on the piss, but we don’t cause trouble, we don’t start fights, and we don’t get involved in anything that might make someone take it out on Dunc. He wasn’t like that as a person. None of us are.’

  ‘I’m his closest friend,’ Thomas said. ‘If there was anything going on I’d know about it. I’m not covering for him. I’ve already had this out with our own police. I don’t know where he is, and I have no idea why anyone might want to hurt him.’

  Bliss nodded. He turned his head. ‘Pen? Anything else?’

  When Chandler shook her head, Bliss got to his feet. ‘I think we are done here, gentlemen. Thank you all for your time. Officer Lundy, if we could be shown back to our vehicle?’

  Five minutes later, Bliss was nosing the Insignia out of the base and indicating to turn onto the A1(M) when his mobile rang. He pulled the car over, rested his foot on the brake and thumbed the receive button. He listened, spoke only twice in response, then killed the call. He looked across at Chandler and slowly shook his head.

  ‘Damn! That was Olly. They just got a call from pathology. Dental records confirm our victim is Duncan Livingston.’

  8

  The proprietors of The Coach Inn at Barnack rather grandly described the eighteenth century honey-coloured limestone property as a hotel and restaurant. In fact it was no more than a decent sized pub with a couple of rooms to let and some wholesome hot food dished up for evening meals. Karen Bailey, the barmaid with whom airman Livingston had fancied his chances, was serving drinks when Bliss and Chandler entered the warm and snug bar. Jet black hair with olive-tinged skin, Bailey looked to be barely out of her teens and was every bit as stunning as Livingston’s friends had described her. Bliss caught her eye, leaned across the bar and showed his warrant card.

  ‘A word when you’re done, please,’ he said, pointing over towards the table at which Chandler had just pulled out a chair.

  A couple of minutes later, Bailey checked with the landlord before joining them at the table.

  ‘This is about Duncan, I assume,’ Bailey said, fidgeting with a chain around her neck. ‘Have you found him yet? Is he okay?’

  The detectives had agreed not to share their fresh information with the young woman. Bliss had reasoned that the two had not been close enough for confirmation of the airman’s murder to require reporting to Bailey, and Chandler agreed that news of his death might cause the barmaid to falter, even clam up completely during the chat.

  Bliss ignored the question and instead said, ‘Miss Bailey, how about you fetch us a couple of drinks for now, plus order us a ham salad sandwich each to go. When you come back with the drinks we’ll have a chat. I’ll have a bottle of whatever lager you do, and a lime and soda for my colleague, please.’ He handed the barmaid a twenty. ‘Have one yourself while you’re at it.’

  ‘That’s unusually generous of you,’ Chandler said, removing her jacket and folding it across her lap. ‘I thought I saw a moth fly out of your wallet earlier.’
/>   ‘You cheeky bint. When was the last time we went anywhere and you paid? You even got away with the baguette yesterday.’

  ‘Bloody hell, how long are you going to hold that over me? And did you just call me a “bint”? You do know that’s a derogatory term and I could have you on a charge for using it?’

  Bliss hiked his shoulders. ‘Believe me, I know worse and probably more appropriate terms for you should I choose to use them. Anyway, my word against yours. Who do you think the DCI will believe?’

  Chandler just looked at him.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, nodding. ‘Stupid question.’

  Bailey returned to the table carrying a tray. She set it down and Bliss was pleased to see a bottle of Peroni starting to sweat. After handing Bliss his change, Bailey took a breath and said, ‘So, can you tell me anything?’

  ‘Not at the moment,’ Bliss replied. He took a long swig straight from the chilled bottle, using the moment to consider his next words. ‘I know you’ve already been through this with the uniformed officers, but we’d like to know a little more about your relationship with Duncan Livingston.’

  Bailey forced a breath through her nose and shrugged. ‘There’s really nothing to tell. We didn’t have a relationship. Not in the way I think you mean. Duncan and I got on well whenever he and his friends came in for a drink. He chatted me up a bit, I flirted back.’

  ‘So you were interested in him,’ Chandler suggested.

  ‘Yes. Sort of. I mean, he’s not my usual type, and definitely not the sort of bloke I would bring home with me, but he was nice enough.’

  ‘And two nights ago when he was here last he stayed behind after his friends had gone. Why was that exactly?’

  The young woman smiled and ran a hand through her silky, thick hair. To Bliss it looked like a well-practiced gesture. ‘I mentioned that I was being picked up a bit later than usual. Duncan offered to wait behind with me. I think he thought there might be something in it for him. We had a natter, and when I got a text from my brother to say he was outside waiting, I kissed Dunc goodbye. You know, to thank him for hanging around. That was the sum of it, really.’

  ‘Did you offer him a ride back to base?’

  Bailey nodded. ‘I said I’d ask my brother, but that as we were headed south we’d be on the wrong side of the A1.’

  Bliss leaned forward a little. ‘You sound as if you weren’t sure about him getting that lift. You also mentioned earlier that Duncan wasn’t the sort of bloke you’d take home with you. What did you mean by that, Karen?’

  ‘My family are travellers. I have three brothers and a sister. Duncan was a bit too… clean-cut and straight, if you know what I mean. My family don’t tend to trust men in uniform.’

  ‘Not even the armed forces? The police I can understand, but the RAF?’

  ‘A uniform suggests a certain kind of person. Honest, upright, bound by rules and regulations. I love my family, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t really want to associate with anyone who is part of the establishment.’

  ‘And by virtue of that, might not necessarily like it if you were, either.’

  Bailey nodded. ‘I hope Duncan turns up safe and well, but there’s no future for me and him. There was nothing between us other than a bit of harmless flirting.’

  ‘He saw it that way as well?’ Chandler asked. ‘He didn’t try it on for more that night?’

  ‘No. Believe me, I can look after myself. If he had, I would have slapped him down. But no, he was sweet and gentle. He didn’t push.’

  ‘So were your parents or siblings even aware of Duncan?’ Bliss said. ‘That you and Duncan were flirting a little bit with one another?’ It occurred to him that a family who held a long-standing suspicion of anyone in uniform might consider taking matters into their own hands. He wondered if the brothers might have jumped Livingston as he walked back to the base.

  Bailey’s eyes widened and she shook her head, her hand reaching for her thin gold chain once more. ‘Oh, God, no. My brothers are protective of me as it is, and if they thought an airman was after me they…’ her voice tailed off. Her features grew stern and a deep ridge formed between her eyebrows. ‘Oh, I get it now. I see what you’re suggesting. We’re travellers, so we beat the crap out of anyone we don’t agree with. Well no, as I was about to say, they would not have taken kindly to it and would for sure have dragged me away, but they would not have touched Duncan provided he gave them no reason.’

  ‘I’m sorry for any offence caused,’ Chandler said, resting a hand on Bailey’s arm. ‘But it had to be asked. It wasn’t because you’re travellers, though. We’d have asked exactly the same of anyone with a large, over-protective family. So you’re saying Duncan’s flirting, or even his presence when you came out of the pub and got into your brother’s vehicle, would not have been enough of a reason?’

  ‘First, nobody other than his friends and one or two regulars here were aware of Duncan and me being close. Second, I asked Dunc to give me a few minutes before he left. My brother had no idea he was even there, let alone who he was or where he was headed afterwards.’

  Bailey continued to fidget with the chain around her neck as she spoke. She took a couple of quick sips from her own drink. The young woman seemed to be unsettled, but Bliss figured that was probably more due to the line of questioning than anything she might have to hide. He moved on to discuss the evening in more general terms, asked whether there had been a recent change in clientele. Bailey laughed at that, telling them she could name the drinkers by heart and that strangers would stand out like a polar bear on roller skates. According to the barmaid, Sunday night had been an ordinary night, and the four airman had been loud but fun and well behaved as usual.

  By the time they were finished with their drinks they were also done talking. Bailey fetched them their sandwiches and thanked Bliss for her drink. He sat in the car with the engine idling for a few minutes after the interview. He wanted to know what his partner’s immediate impressions were.

  ‘I liked her,’ Chandler said. ‘And I can see why she’s a big hit with the airmen.’

  ‘Did you clock the pulling of that chain around her neck. Seemed like nerves to me.’

  ‘Well, she was being spoken to by two detectives about a young man currently AWOL. That alone would be enough to unsettle most people, but throw in her family’s antipathy towards us and the uniforms, and I imagine that sends it up a notch or two.’

  Bliss nodded. He did so reluctantly. ‘I suppose. Did you get the sense she might be hiding something?’

  ‘Like the fact that she knows what happened to Livingston? No, boss. She had no clue, that much I am sure about.’

  As he drove out of the car park, Bliss eyed the pub. He could see inside one of the windows, and Karen Bailey was back behind the bar deep in conversation with the landlord. He agreed with Chandler’s opinion. Bailey was completely unaware of what had happened to the young man she had flirted with. As for others within her family, that was another matter entirely.

  9

  Bliss had just finished the morning briefing when he was informed by a uniform that he had a visitor waiting for him in interview room two on the ground floor. Whilst receiving a member of the public at the station was unusual, it was not unheard of. Occasionally a nervous witness would demand to speak only to the person in charge of an investigation, and Bliss hoped that was the case this time – he and his team could do with a break. The briefing had been short and to the point – they were chasing leads. He took the stairs down and stopped by the front desk on his way through. These days it was often unstaffed, but a female PC was talking on the phone and making handwritten notes on a ring-bound pad. She rolled her eyes and shook her head as Bliss approached, clearly not appreciating the conversation she was having. A few moments later she was done.

  ‘A woman wanting to report her daughter’s school Principal as a child abuser for allowing staff to hand out too much homework,’ she explained.

  ‘I trust you directed
her to the Education Minister, Steph.’

  ‘I did indeed. Let that bugger earn his corn for a change. Your lady is in two.’

  ‘Thanks. Did she say what it was about?’

  ‘No. Sorry, sir. Gave her name as Mrs Curtis and asked to see you. Said she’d discuss the reason for her visit with you and you only.’

  Bliss thanked the constable and headed to the interview room which was two doors along a side corridor. His leather-soled shoes made a clomping sound in the narrow space, and he could hear the reluctance in his own gait. He wasn’t in a particularly good mood. The previous day’s revelation that their torched murder victim was the missing airman had stuck in Bliss’s craw and refused to dislodge. A frustrating afternoon of chasing their own tails had led to a second successive unsatisfactory evening briefing. Other than now knowing the identity of their murder victim, the team had no further leads. CCTV footage had been expected overnight, as the company on whose property the cameras stood had eventually agreed to provide it without the need for a warrant. The digital video had still not arrived as arranged, and Bliss had instructed DS Short to contact the company to find out the reason for the delay. Beyond that, his team were working flat out on nothing and running on fumes.

  Because he was about to meet with a member of the public, Bliss first adjusted his tie and then entered the room with a warm smile plastered across his face. He came to an abrupt halt, the smile fleeing his lips, as his gaze fell upon the woman sitting on one of the soft chairs on the far side of the room waiting for him. The last time he had laid eyes on Mrs Curtis she had gone by the name of Emily Grant, and had just informed him that she had no intention of continuing their fledgling relationship when he moved back down to London to take up his posting with the newly-founded Serious and Organised Crime Agency.

  ‘Hello, Jimmy,’ she said now. The deep, strong voice he remembered was now weak, both her eyes sunken and glazed. Emily looked as if she and sleep had become strangers recently. Otherwise, the dozen years that had passed since their last night together had been extremely kind to the person his team at the time had referred to as the Bone Woman. She had gained a little weight, perhaps, and now had a vibrant copper tinge to her shoulder-length hair, and Bliss was struck by the lack of impact time seemed to have had on her. She wore a royal blue coat over a black-and-white checked dress, and black leather boots that came just below the knee. She looked good, but decidedly uncomfortable.