Death Watch

by Deborah Lucy

  ‘Yes, Greta was great, she was a laugh.’ Felix’s face lit up momentarily, as if from an instant memory of happy times.

  ‘In what way?’ Kelly asked, softly.

  ‘Well, she’d sit with us around the pool, she’d join in on our conversations, liked listening to our music. She wasn’t like my mother. She was fun to be with, understood us. She was just really cool, I mean, seriously cool.’

  ‘Let you have a few beers, did she?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Do you know how James felt about her, did he think she was a good mum?’ Kelly asked.

  Again, the eye contact dropped.

  ‘James thought she was fun too,’ he said, slowly.

  ‘Did James ever confide in you about Greta? She was a very attractive woman, wasn’t she? Did you think so, Felix?’

  ‘She was really fit, yeah.’ He coloured again.

  ‘Did James confide in you, did he tell you things about Greta, about him and Greta?’

  Shifting in his chair, Felix was clearly uncomfortable from the line of questioning and Kelly sensed, from his body language, he knew more than he was letting on. She was on the right course.

  ‘It’s OK, Felix, you can tell me. You won’t be in any trouble. This is a police investigation, it’s serious. You’ll help us and help James in the process,’ she coaxed.

  ‘I don’t, I don’t know what it is you want,’ he mumbled.

  ‘Just for you to tell me what James told you of his morning with Greta.’

  Again, Felix shifted uneasily in his chair. He looked around him. The Dame moved forward. Kelly caught her movement out of the corner of her eye and for a moment, she thought she was about to call time on their session.

  ‘Look, I …’

  ‘Just tell me, Felix, all I want is the truth,’ pleaded Kelly gently.

  He felt cornered. He let out a sigh and blurted it out.

  ‘He loved her. He wouldn’t hurt her. He really loved her.’ His face reddened and he looked into his lap as he spoke.

  ‘How do you know that, Felix?’ asked Kelly, softly.

  ‘He told me. He told me he loved her, loved being with her. She was so cool.’

  ‘And yet he spent the day with you?’

  ‘That was because she told him to. James didn’t mind me coming over and staying the weekend at his, but he didn’t like being away from Greta if he could help it. She told him she was going out on Saturday and said for him to go and have some fun and stay with me. So he did.’

  ‘Despite him not wanting to?’

  ‘He was OK about it. As I said, he was really happy.’

  ‘What made him so happy that day if he was doing something he didn’t really want to do?’ Kelly asked.

  Felix again dropped his gaze and looked down at the floor.

  ‘What had made him happy, Felix?’ Kelly insisted.

  ‘He told me that she had made him happy.’

  ‘How? In what way? How had she made him happy?’ she pressed, cognisant of the Dame moving again and about to leap to her feet.

  Felix shook his head.

  ‘You know,’ he mumbled.

  ‘No, I don’t know,’ said Kelly gently. ‘I wasn’t there so I need you to tell me. What did he say, Felix, what happened?’ She had one eye on the Dame.

  ‘That they had sex and that made him happy,’ he said quietly.

  Kelly momentarily let silence hang between them before she continued.

  ‘Was this a regular thing or something that happened for the first time that day?’ she coaxed.

  Felix rubbed his face with his hands and looked round the room, as if searching for an escape route.

  ‘It’s what they did. Just what they did. He was in love with her and she loved him.’

  ‘So, this wasn’t the first time?’ asked Kelly.

  ‘No,’ Felix mumbled.

  ‘So you knew about this. How long to your knowledge had this been going on?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘When you stayed over at the house, do you know if they had sex?’ Kelly asked.

  ‘I guess so, sometimes,’ he said, quietly.

  ‘Did they know you knew?’

  ‘No, I mean, she didn’t know that I knew, but James told me. He swore me to secrecy. She’s not his real mother, see …’ Felix hung his head, ashamed at the betrayal of his friend.

  ‘OK, Felix, you’ve done really great, I’ll write out a statement now for you to sign. Just tell me, what happened last weekend? Did James go back to school with you on Sunday evening?’

  Felix’s relief at Kelly telling him they had finished was obvious. He visibly relaxed as the tension left his body.

  ‘No. He left. He was going to stay over, but he went back home late on Saturday evening, back on the last train to Bedwyn, to see Greta. I haven’t seen him since. He didn’t come back, he didn’t come into school on Monday.’

  CHAPTER 29

  TEMPLE RECEIVED KELLY’S brief over the phone. ‘Nice work, Kelly, really well done.’

  ‘He’s just reading through the statement now.’

  ‘Get it signed and get back here with it and get it onto Holmes. In the morning, sort out capturing the CCTV at Bedwyn railway station and checking with cabs that might have taken James back to Wedwellow.’

  With James Ashton-Jones at the scene of the murder at the right time, Temple was now frustrated by his medical condition. He rang Sloper for an update and told him Kelly’s information.

  ‘I’ve just been speaking to the doc,’ said Sloper. ‘They will be doing a blood transfusion very shortly. Maxwell’s just doing a blood test now as he wants to help out.’

  Temple realized the doctors may be about to tell Maxwell some unwelcome news.

  ‘We’ve got the results of the DNA test for James. They’ve come back positive on the mixed profile and for the foetus,’ explained Temple.

  ‘Thanks for telling me,’ said Sloper sarcastically. ‘Dirty little bugger, no wonder he was so nervous and in the state he’s in; he was shagging his stepmother.’

  ‘Keep a watch on Maxwell and let me know any change in demeanour, it’s important. And let me know of any change in James’s condition, of course.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked Sloper.

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ said Temple.

  Temple set off early the next morning to see Brett Forrester, who reluctantly provided a DNA sample.

  ‘I suppose you’ve heard about James, Mr Forrester?’ asked Temple.

  ‘Yes, Maxwell rang me from the hospital. I can’t imagine what the lad must have been thinking. I suppose he’s taken Greta’s death harder than we realized. It seems as though it’s one thing after another.’

  ‘It would seem so. You can’t think of any other reason why James might take an overdose?’ asked Temple.

  ‘No, I can’t. He’s a fit, healthy, intelligent young lad, I can’t think of any reason except that Greta was a mother to him and that he must have been thinking about her murder.’ For once, Temple felt that Forrester was telling the truth.

  Temple left and went to Headquarters to the Telecommunications team. They had mapped out a timeline for the call traffic between the mobile phones. Of significance was a phone call at 23.58 on the Saturday evening in the vicinity of Ramsbury from James Ashton-Jones to Jonathan Silvester. This would tally with Felix’s assertion that James got the last train to Bedwyn and would have been after James would have arrived home from Bedwyn station. This was further evidence that had him squarely near the scene of the murder at the time Doctor Yardley had given for the time of Greta’s death. Temple studied and checked the detail – this made James his prime suspect.

  Following this was a call from Jonathan Silvester to Maxwell’s phone at 05.17 on the Sunday morning. There was also a call from Brett Forrester to the home of Jonathan Silvester, coinciding with Temple’s visit to Forrester when Temple had given him the news about Greta’s pregnancy. It confirmed for Temple the conspiratorial nature of the
relationship between them all.

  But the more he thought about it, Temple couldn’t believe the lad had killed Greta. He couldn’t believe that he wouldn’t have totally broken down when he had first seen him. Yes, he had been distressed, and the results of the DNA tests had shown why that was, but he didn’t look or feel like a killer. Temple needed to know why he called Jonathan Silvester at 23.58 on the evening of Greta’s death and what prompted Jonathan Silvester to call Maxwell in Sydney. He had to speak to James, while he was on his own in hospital.

  Temple also knew he had to get some technical equipment into Jonathan Silvester’s house; he needed to know what was said between Jonathan and Maxwell. He needed to know what they knew, particularly around James’s paternity. If the doctor disclosed to Maxwell the fact that there was no blood match to James, he would know that James was not his son. Temple wanted to fracture their relationships, and cause doubt and suspicion amongst them.

  Temple rang Maxwell Ashton-Jones. He was at the hospital.

  ‘I’d like to speak to you, sir, when convenient. When would be a good time?’

  ‘They’ve managed to stabilize James’s condition, things are better here now, so yes, perhaps I could meet you at Marlborough, on my way home, Inspector?’

  ‘Will Jonathan Silvester be with you?’ asked Temple, sensing an opportunity.

  ‘No, I can leave him here with James, just in case he comes round.’

  ‘We’ll meet at Marlborough station if that’s all right, in an hour maybe, twelve noon?’ he suggested.

  The meeting was set. Temple seized his chance. He rang the control room and the duty inspector put him in touch with the on call superintendent. Temple explained the urgent nature of his inquiry and requested authority to insert technical equipment into Jonathan Silvester’s house. After twenty minutes on the phone, the paperwork was set in motion and an appointment was made with the chief constable who would ultimately give sanction. Temple was told he would receive a phone call when the paperwork was signed.

  Impressed with the speed of the bureaucratic trail for once, he rang the Technical Support Unit.

  ‘I need some listening equipment put in a house near Newbury as a matter of urgency. Can you get a crew over there? The occupants will be away for a couple of hours.’

  ‘We could do it, where do you want it?’ came the response.

  ‘In the kitchen,’ directed Temple.

  ‘We’ll need an Authority.’

  ‘I’ll get you Authority.’

  ‘Give us the address.’

  Before he left Headquarters for Marlborough to meet Maxwell, Temple met DC Craig Toff. His stocky frame hobbled towards him on crutches, his toes poking out of a heavily plastered foot and ankle. Temple opened the door to a tiny office. With no windows, it looked like a cleaning cupboard. Inside, there was only enough space for a desk on which was a listening device and headphones and a chair; the rest of the floor space would be needed for Toff’s sleeping bag.

  ‘I want you to go in there, Toff, make yourself comfortable and then put the headphones on and listen. Record any conversation you hear and only go to sleep when the people you’re listening to go to sleep and only for a few hours. I don’t want you to miss anything and ring me with anything that you think I’m going to be interested in. Do not, under any circumstances, leave this room unmanned. And don’t ring your CID mates and tell them what you’re doing. This is strictly covert.’

  ‘I’m hardly likely to go far, am I?’ said Toff, balancing on his crutches. ‘I’ve brought my sleeping bag and clock as you said. I’ll even piss in a bottle if it makes you happy.’

  ‘It does, Toff, I like your initiative.’ For the first time, Temple felt as though he was on the front foot with his inquiry.

  CHAPTER 30

  TEMPLE WATCHED AS Maxwell drew up at the station in his car. He alighted carrying a briefcase. Temple watched him as he walked to the foyer, looking for any signs of stress. Maxwell certainly looked less composed. With them all out of the house, it would give the technical crew a chance to rig a listening device in the kitchen. Temple showed Maxwell into a small interview room.

  ‘I just need to clarify some points,’ said Temple. ‘You told me about Antonia Peronelli. I’m curious,’ he said, ‘why not just end it with Greta before now?’

  ‘There’s a lot to sort out, Inspector. I had to prepare my finances. I know it sounds mean now and perhaps even distasteful, given the current circumstances, but I had to prepare for divorce. Financially, it wasn’t something I could just do without causing myself a lot of financial damage. I was in the process of trying to mitigate my financial losses in that kind of scenario.’

  Temple watched him.

  ‘Go on. What do you mean by “mitigate”?’

  ‘I was speaking to Jonathan regularly, who is my financial advisor. We were liquidizing certain assets, ISAs, some art, paintings and such like, stocks and shares, that sort of thing. A flat was sold.’

  ‘You were basically trying to hide money from Greta then. That’s pretty calculating of you, if you don’t mind me saying so,’ said Temple.

  ‘I know, I can see how it looks, particularly as I said, under these circumstances. I was only doing what many men in my position would do.’ Maxwell looked back at Temple, impassively.

  ‘And what position is that exactly?’

  ‘Well, finding someone that they want to be with when they are married to someone else. You start to think of your new life and start preparing for it.’

  ‘Is money very important to you then, Maxwell?’ Temple suspected he already knew the answer.

  ‘Look, I’ve worked hard and I realized that if I divorced, I’d lose half of it. I was trying to make that as minimal as possible.’

  ‘Did all your money come as a result of your hard work, Maxwell?’

  ‘Most of it, yes.’

  ‘Sure of that? We’ve been through your finances and we’re talking of some pretty big numbers, aren’t we? You had a payment of £350,000 when your first wife, Olivia, died, didn’t you? And now you find yourself a widower once again and with another insurance payout due, so the financial side of things and domestic side of things have resolved themselves rather neatly for you, haven’t they?’

  ‘I can appreciate how it looks.’

  ‘I’ve also been looking at the coroner’s report into Olivia’s death. Death by accidental drowning. In Riyadh.’ Temple watched him.

  ‘Olivia’s death was an awful, tragic accident.’

  ‘And did you have the same arrangement with Jonathan Silvester and Olivia as you did with him and Greta? Did you agree to an affair between them? Was it your intention to divorce Olivia at some point?’

  ‘No, Jonathan didn’t have an affair with Olivia.’

  ‘Were you a faithful husband to Olivia?’ Temple asked.

  ‘Not that it’s got anything to do with your inquiry – no.’

  ‘Was she faithful?’

  ‘No, Jonathan told me that she was having an affair with a steward.’

  ‘What did you think about that?’

  ‘We’d reached the stage by then whereby I was looking at other women. Things change once you have a child. I wasn’t very good at turning down opportunities when they presented themselves. Good looking women, easy access to hotels, sunny and exotic climates, I don’t need to draw a picture …’

  Temple knew that he himself had a few difficulties when the opportunity arose, but this guy, he was in a different league.

  ‘You still haven’t answered my question – how did you feel about your wife having an affair?’

  ‘If you’re asking me if I flew into a jealous rage, no, I didn’t. I’m not like that. How did it make me feel – disappointed, I suppose.’

  ‘And what about Curtis Coleman, Maxwell, what can you tell me about your involvement with them? Adrian Coleman told me that you were a friend, employee and a client – what did he mean by a client, Maxwell?’

  Temple stared back at hi
m; the awkward look on Maxwell’s face told him that at last, he’d hit on something. He hadn’t been expecting that.

  ‘This isn’t a formal interview is it, Inspector? I don’t think I am obliged to tell you all my business.’

  ‘No, it’s not a formal interview as you know, but I do want to know what he meant by you being a client and if you don’t tell me, then I might think that you are obstructing my inquiries. If you don’t tell me, I’ll apply for a Production Order to gain access to Curtis Coleman’s records. I don’t suppose they’d be overly pleased with that, do you? The police sifting through all their records, looking at their client list, what they get up to … Might not be a good advert for their claims to operate a fully confidential service.’

  ‘OK, OK, Inspector. I used to pilot for them, in between periods of leave at BA. It was lucrative work, every other job was cash in hand, one went through the books, one didn’t. There were other perks too, like tips from wealthy clients—’

  ‘That makes you an employee, not a client,’ Temple interrupted.

  ‘I’d charter an aircraft every so often. When I was seeing Antonia and on occasions with other women before that, I sometimes used a plane belonging to Curtis Coleman to get from one end of the country to another. Antonia used to live in Cheshire until she moved and when our relationship developed, I could get to her quickly and easily by plane. Clench Common airfield is nearby at Ramsbury, which is partly the reason I chose to live in the area.’

  ‘What sort of plane are we talking about? Not the jets you fly around the world?’ asked Temple.

  ‘No, the jets are a small, personal but expensive way of flying; internal flights can be undertaken by good semi-light and light aircraft.’

  ‘Did you always stay in England?’

  ‘By and large, although I flew to France and the Channel Islands too.’

  ‘And what was your first introduction to their services? How did you get yourself out of Riyadh?’

  ‘If you know already, Inspector, why don’t you say?’ Maxwell asked.

  ‘Because I want to find out if what I know correlates with what you tell me, Maxwell. Why and how did you get out of Riyadh?’