The Rules of Murder

by The Rules of Murder (epub)

  She carried on back into the office. Almost robotically she stepped over the bodies, the pools and spatters of blood and the white-suited FSIs, to Johansson’s desk. She grabbed a paper evidence bag and began to sift through what she could find. Thumb drives. DVDs. Papers.

  ‘Dani, what are you doing?’ Easton said.

  ‘Collecting evidence.’

  ‘You can’t do that.’

  ‘I’m doing it.’

  ‘We have to do this properly. Virtually everything in here is privileged.’

  ‘Not any more.’

  Easton came over and put his hand onto Dani’s, pinning it to the desk.

  ‘You know it doesn’t work like that. Just because Johansson is dead doesn’t alter her rights, or those of her clients.’

  Dani snatched her hand and glared back at him.

  ‘If there’s a crime involved, perpetrated by Johansson, it does change those rights, and you know it. And just because these two are dead, and I really am fucking sorry we were too late to save them, it doesn’t detract from the fact of what they did. If they covered up Oscar’s involvement in that crash, and through illicit means—’

  ‘You don’t know they did that.’

  ‘Which is why I’m doing this. We have to be sure.’

  Dani turned and pulled open the top drawer of a filing cabinet. She rifled through. Everything was filed alphabetically. She found files labelled ‘Redfearne’ in the third drawer down. She took them all. She continued on, taking anything obviously related to the Redfearnes, leaving anything obviously not, and making a gut call on anything that she couldn’t tell either way.

  It only took her a few minutes. When she was finished she had several piles of files and paper bags ready to take. Easton remained standing, arms folded, staring at her.

  ‘Now, I’m ready to go,’ Dani said.

  * * *

  They headed on foot the short distance back to HQ, passing by the office building where Dr Collins worked. Dani paused for a moment by the steps outside. Yes they’d made some headway in figuring out the true nature of the crash that had led to Curtis’s imprisonment, but the biggest question that remained for Dani was what – who – had set Curtis on his devastating killing spree? And why? She looked up and down the street. No sign of the car for Collins’s protection. Dani pulled out her phone and called the number for the officer assigned to her.

  ‘Where are you?’ Dani asked.

  ‘Visiting clients again today,’ PC Oxley said. ‘I’ve never seen so many prisons.’

  ‘Don’t let her out of your sight.’

  ‘Well, I mean… she’s inside right now. I’m in the car park, next to her car.’

  ‘You know what I mean.’

  Dani ended the call.

  ‘Collins isn’t going anywhere without us knowing,’ Easton said. ‘It’s Curtis we need to find.’

  Dani said nothing as she moved away.

  * * *

  Darkness had long descended, along with a vicious rain storm, later that night as Dani sat by the hospital bed in the gloomy room. The curtains remained open and Dani watched the trickles of water running down the pane. The sound of the rain pelting against the window did a good job of drowning out the whir of machinery and the blips of the monitors keeping watch over Jason’s flimsy signs of life.

  Dani stared at her boyfriend, as her brain rumbled with turmoil.

  ‘People are dying,’ she said, not much louder than a whisper. ‘People are dying, and I can’t help but blame myself.’

  She got nothing in response. No movement in his face, his body. Not even an uptick from his monitors in some sort of subliminal Morse code.

  ‘I just wish you could help me,’ she said, fighting to keep herself from breaking down. ‘I need you, Jason. I don’t know how I can do this without you.’

  Though she truly had no clue what she meant by this. The case? Her life? Both?

  She leaned over and reached out and delicately tangled her fingers with his. She got nothing from him in return; his hand was lifeless and cold to the touch. Yet she still gained an ounce of strength from the contact.

  She rested her head on the edge of the mattress, pressed up against his side, and closed her eyes.

  * * *

  Dani had an abysmally sleepless night, a combination of the worries of the case, her trauma at Jason’s ongoing physical frailty, and because of the seemingly constant toing and froing of nurses coming in and out of the room at all hours to check Jason’s vital signs.

  Yet bizarrely, come seven a.m. in the morning, when Dani finally gave up on trying to keep her eyes closed, she felt somewhat rejuvenated, at least mentally.

  One thing she knew for sure: she couldn’t sit by and wallow. As disturbed as she was by everything that had happened since Damian Curtis had first set out on his grim mission, she also felt as though she was one of the few people who could crack the case and bring him down.

  She had no choice. She had to bring him down.

  She put a twenty pence piece into the slot, selected extra strength and extra sugar and the machine rumbled away as the curiously brown/grey concoction that was supposedly coffee began to squirt out into the paper cup. She knew the machine coffee tasted like crap here, but at least the sugar would provide her brain with some fuel and the warm liquid would soothe her insides.

  ‘Rough night?’

  Dani turned to see Easton right there behind her looking not so bright and breezy – an awkward look on his face like he didn’t know what to say.

  ‘About as bad as yours I reckon,’ Dani said.

  He didn’t seem to get that. Dani took her coffee. When she looked back up to Easton he was staring at her quizzically.

  ‘There’s something on your face,’ he said.

  Dani frowned and wiped at her left cheek where Easton had indicated. Her hand came back with a small red smear on it. Dani shivered when she realised what it was. When she’d left the crime scene the day before there’d been a large blotch of blood on the side of her trousers, whether from Caroline Redfearne or Amanda Johansson, she didn’t know. She’d handed the trousers over as evidence, but had the blood somehow transferred to her skin during her getting changed? She’d not had the chance to shower since.

  ‘I thought you might want a lift to the office,’ Easton said.

  ‘No, I’m not going to the office. Not yet. I need to freshen up first, but then… Well, you’ll see.’

  * * *

  The weather remained seriously gloomy and strangely chilly for midsummer as Easton drove up the tree-lined drive, rain-drenched Drifford House in front of them. The whole experience on a day like this was far less climatic and impressive than on the previous occasions Dani had been, as though the bricks and mortar, too, were locked in grief the same as the house’s remaining occupants.

  As well as the police car by the front gates, there was another parked up on the gravel in front of the house: the protection the family should have had all along, if only Dani had known they remained targets of Curtis.

  Yet it was the Redfearnes’ deception which had sealed their downfall in a way, not that that made Dani feel any better for what had happened.

  Pamela, dressed all in black – mourning, or was that just her normal attire? – showed them through to a lounge that Dani hadn’t been in before. Like everything in Drifford House it was huge and ornate and in many respects tasteful, although the overarching mood was sombre and the man sunk into a sofa, staring out of the window, was downright miserable. Although smartly and immaculately dressed as always, with a tailored blue shirt and grey trousers, Henry Redfearne looked dishevelled and lost.

  ‘Mr Redfearne?’ Dani said, grabbing his attention. He turned to them but didn’t make to get up.

  Dani and Easton moved over and sat down on the sofa opposite.

  ‘I’m very sorry for your loss,’ Dani said.

  Henry still said nothing.

  ‘We won’t take up much of your time today, but—’

/>   ‘Where were you?’ Henry said, finally catching Dani’s eye. His tone was hard, and the clear accusation knocked Dani slightly.

  ‘Sorry?’ she said.

  ‘You’ve been running around this city for days while that madman is out there killing at will. Where were you? My son… my wife… I’ve lost everything.’

  With those final words, his initial bravado cracked. However strong and bullish Henry Redfearne was under normal circumstances, right now he was understandably dazed and broken, and Dani felt immensely sorry for him, even if she still didn’t trust him or like him.

  ‘I’m very sorry, Mr Redfearne,’ Dani said, trying to sound as apologetic as she could. ‘Believe me, we’re doing everything we can—’

  ‘Why was nobody watching her?’ he said as a tear rolled down his face. He didn’t attempt to wipe it away.

  ‘We didn’t know she was a target,’ Easton said.

  ‘We do have to ask you some questions, though—’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because we need answers,’ Dani said. ‘You lost your son eleven days ago and you’ve repeatedly said you have no idea why Damian Curtis would target him. Now Curtis has killed your wife too. Perhaps you’re a target, even. We can only help if we know what we’re dealing with.’

  He said nothing to that, though Dani was sure a sliver of his old confident self was returning in his demeanour, as he no doubt got ready to batten down the hatches.

  ‘Mr Redfearne, you can have someone here with you if you like,’ Easton said. ‘A friend or a lawyer?’

  ‘A lawyer? Except she’s dead too.’

  ‘But that’s one of the things I wanted to ask you about,’ Dani said. ‘Because, was she your lawyer, or your wife’s?’

  Henry glared at Dani now as he weighed up an answer. He didn’t look anywhere near as broken as he had moments before. Dani was glad to have the real Henry in the room; she felt much happier challenging this man than the one who’d lost his wife and son.

  ‘It’s just that from the case files I’ve seen that Johansson kept, Caroline seems to be the main point of contact,’ Dani said.

  It was true, although Dani hadn’t had nearly enough time yet to read through all of the files she’d taken from Johansson’s office.

  ‘Is that a problem?’ Henry said.

  ‘No, I’m just trying to figure out the dynamic.’

  ‘Caroline had known Amanda for years. That’s all.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘How?’

  ‘How did they know each other?’

  ‘Fuck knows. Who gives a flying crap? They knew each other. From getting their nails done or from the spa or something.’

  ‘Would there have been any business between them that you weren’t aware of?’

  ‘Business?’

  ‘Did your wife seek out legal advice from Johansson on a personal basis, as opposed to in relation to you two as a couple?’

  ‘Well how the hell am I supposed to know the answer to that? You’re asking me to confirm something that by the very definition I wouldn’t know about.’

  ‘I think DI Stephens is suggesting you could have been aware of the fact your wife was seeking advice in a personal capacity,’ Easton said, ‘even if you weren’t aware of the details of that advice.’

  Now it was Easton’s turn to receive the glare.

  ‘Mr Redfearne? Are you able to answer that?’ Dani said.

  ‘I don’t know anything about their dealings together.’

  ‘Were you aware that your son was involved in a road traffic accident when he was fourteen years old?’ Dani asked.

  No response.

  ‘He was driving a car registered to you. A Mercedes S550.’

  Still nothing.

  ‘We have reason to believe on the night of the seventeenth of January 2016, while driving on Clement Hill, he caused another driver to leave the road. That car was being driven by Damian Curtis. His girlfriend and her son died that night. Damian Curtis was convicted of their manslaughter. Did you know about that?’

  Henry was saying nothing.

  ‘The thing is, there was no reference to your son being there that night in any official records.’

  Henry looked away now, back out into the garden.

  ‘Were you aware that your wife, together with Amanda Johansson, paid bribes to have your son’s involvement in that crash wiped away?’

  ‘How dare you bring these allegations against my wife?’ Henry said, turning back to face Dani. ‘I’ve not even identified her body, and you’re trying to smear her integrity.’

  ‘Is that a yes or a no?’ Dani said. ‘Because while I appreciate the sensitive timing of this, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a serious crime, nor from the fact that if you had anything to do with this, you could be next on Curtis’s list.’

  ‘Like you said, Johansson was my wife’s lawyer. Not mine.’

  ‘So that’s a no?’ Dani asked.

  Henry didn’t answer.

  ‘Why was your wife going to see Johansson yesterday?’ Easton asked.

  ‘I’ve no idea.’

  ‘Did you know that’s where she was going?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Can you think of a reason why they would be meeting?’

  ‘No.’

  Henry Redfearne abruptly got to his feet. He straightened out his trousers.

  ‘I’ve really got nothing more to say to you two, about this, or about anything else. Good day, detectives. I’ll get Pamela to show you out.’

  With that he promptly walked out of the room. Easton and Dani glanced at each other, Dani as bemused as Easton looked.

  ‘I guess we’re done here then,’ Dani said.

  * * *

  As they drove away from Drifford House, Dani really hoped she’d never have to set foot in that place again.

  ‘It’s a pretty convenient excuse he’s got now,’ Easton said.

  ‘It is indeed. Wife dead, son dead, lawyer dead. Even if he was neck-deep in that scheme, he can claim ignorance to the whole event.’

  ‘But we have got access to their personal and financial records, don’t forget.’

  ‘We have,’ Dani said, ‘but unless we find a direct instruction from him in relation to paying someone off, or in relation to his son’s involvement in that crash, it won’t be enough.’

  ‘Perhaps, on this occasion, he really has suffered enough already,’ Easton said. ‘At worst, he paid a bribe to get his son off what might have been a pretty mild punishment for a minor crime. Oscar didn’t cause those deaths. Now Henry’s son and his wife have both been brutally murdered because of it all.’

  ‘Perhaps he has suffered,’ Dani said. ‘But I’m not going to let him off the hook just yet. I want to know exactly why Caroline was going to meet Johansson yesterday.’

  ‘You think it’s significant?’

  ‘A few days after her son was killed? Without her husband? And he’s claiming ignorance about the whole thing? I’d say as far as things not smelling right, that pretty much stinks.’

  ‘We’d better hope what you took from Johansson yesterday gives us the answers then, otherwise I’m not sure how we’ll ever find out.’

  Well he’d certainly changed his tune, Dani thought.

  ‘You know what, Aaron? I’m beyond hope now. I’m simply going to get this finished, whatever it takes.’ She looked over to him. ‘You with me?’

  ‘You’re the boss,’ he said. ‘Whatever it takes.’

  Chapter Forty-Four

  As they drove back to HQ, Dani made yet another call to PC Oxley.

  ‘You’re still at the prison?’ Dani asked.

  ‘En route to Birmingham, I do believe,’ Oxley said.

  ‘To Collins’s office?’

  ‘Apparently so.’

  ‘Good. Tell her I’ll be coming to see her later.’

  * * *

  In keeping with Dani’s own mood, the project room at HQ had a melancholy feel about it when Dani and Eas
ton arrived. With a bit of cajoling and an update on the various strands of the investigation, Dani managed to lift the downbeat mood slightly, and the team were soon busily scouring for the answers Dani was seeking. DC Mutambe had been given the new task of leading the search through Johansson’s case files, to add to his ongoing digging into the Redfearnes. Despite her brashness the day before, Dani wasn’t asking for a gung-ho rampage through every facet of Johansson’s professional life. The dead lawyer undoubtedly had numerous perfectly legitimate clients whose legal privilege remained intact, but any interaction between Johansson and the Redfearnes was fair game as far as Dani was concerned, and would be identified and filtered out for review.

  Grayling had the task of trying to find a connection between Collins, the Redfearnes and Curtis’s other victims. If they could identify any sort of motive for Collins in Curtis’s rampage…

  Meanwhile Constable was still busy leading on CCTV, busily pulling together every movement he could find related to Damian Curtis in the ongoing effort to pinpoint where he was so successfully hiding day in, day out.

  Dani left Easton to follow up on forensics and the crime scene from the previous day, while she decided to take some time to roam through a bit of everything. Which she did largely to frustration after frustration for more than two hours, until Constable piped up.

  ‘Boss, come and take a look at this.’

  Dani headed over.

  ‘We’re still trying to piece together Curtis’s movements in and around the crime scenes, and it’s becoming clear that he’s spending days scoping out each site beforehand.’

  He pulled up a spreadsheet that was crammed with data: dates and locations, times and references to CCTV towers.

  ‘If we look at Drifford House, for example,’ Constable said, ‘there were ten separate occasions over the four days before Oscar was attacked when Curtis’s Transit van was picked up in and around the area.’

  Constable pointed to the cluster of data on the spreadsheet all labelled as Drifford House.