by Lynda Stacey
‘Kate, you said you want to go in. Why would you want to do that? It could be so dangerous. Especially after we almost got shot by a man with huge knuckles,’ Eric asked as Kate sat down at her desk, her face and hands now mud-free. ‘They were big,’ he told her, holding out his shaking hands towards her. He picked up the coffee mug again, holding onto it like his life depended on it.
Kate shook her head. ‘Well, you’re right, he did have huge knuckles, I’ll give him that.’ Kate laughed nervously. ‘But to be honest, Eric, if a guy like him wanted to do some damage, I doubt he’d need a gun.’
Eric shook his head. ‘I’d rather not find out what his muscles or his gun can do, thanks.’
‘Eric, as I said before, I really don’t think he had a gun, I saw him walking around the house, and I did see a mobile phone, but I didn’t see a gun. Honestly.’
They both pulled faces and sipped their coffee. The relief that they’d both got away unscathed caused them to start giggling.
Composing herself, Kate pinned the surveillance pictures onto the noticeboard, wishing Ben was in the office with her. The pictures were blurred and only showed the man from the back. Kate shrugged and shook her head, as the door opened and William walked in.
‘How’s it going?’ he asked as he too stood in front of the evidence board, his hands clasped behind his back while he studied it.
Kate sighed. ‘I took some pictures, but they’re too distant. Sorry.’ She hadn’t wanted to admit to him that she’d made a rookie mistake.
‘Maybe I can enlarge them or something, try and see his reflection in the windows or door?’ She sat down at Don’s desk and fiddled with the keyboard then clicked on print.
‘Damn it,’ she cursed. ‘I still can’t see a face or what’s in his hand.’
‘No you can’t,’ William said as he pointed to the print. ‘But you can see that Isobel Reed is hiding behind the edge of an upstairs curtain. Well done. At least we know she’s definitely at home.’
‘But we’re not there anymore.’ Kate was puzzled and she picked up the print and squinted to see Isobel’s hiding place.
‘No, you’re not. But the other team are. Patrick took a second van across, so don’t worry. She’s still under surveillance. If there is something going on, we’ll find out about it.’ William leaned back and smiled. ‘Now, did someone mention coffee?’
Kate laughed. ‘Sure, I’ll go make you some.’
‘How did you get those?’ Kate quizzed as she returned to the office with a cup of coffee for William to see Eric flicking through the diary pages of Isobel’s life on his computer screen.
‘Ben got me to hack into her computer and we managed to retrieve her electronic diary. While in her garden I picked up her Wi-Fi and IP address and hacked in. I then sent the information back to the office. It’s easy; remind me to teach you how to do it.’ His attention turned back to the screen. ‘Having these pages gives us access to everything she does.’
‘Wouldn’t her Wi-Fi need passwords?’
Eric tapped his temple with a pencil. ‘My dear, you’re talking to a pro hacker.’
Kate laughed. Eric was a little bit geeky, and she smiled in admiration that he really did know what he was doing. She paid attention to how he studied and analysed every piece of information on the pages, cautiously cataloguing every clue, carefully working out its relevance.
Eric began drawing a timetable on the left-hand side of the board with one hand, while the other persistently pushed his glasses back up his nose. Reading from his notes, he began to fill in the timetable.
‘We know what days of the week she has set appointments: hairdressers’, beautician, etc. But what we need to do is to look at the gaps.’ He indicated towards the board as he began filling in day by day what appointments she had. These left clear blocks of time when she had no visible plans. ‘These are the times that Isobel would have the opportunity to go out. We also look for codes, you know multiple numbers, stars, repeated words. She could use these symbols to remind her of things that she didn’t want to write down,’ he said smugly as he looked at Kate with a ‘why didn’t you think of that’ look on his face.
Kate sat with her chin in her hands. ‘Of course,’ she said, nodding in agreement. ‘So, what else did you see or do while rummaging around her bedding plants?’
‘I saw that she had a visitor.’
Kate jumped up. ‘Really? Who was it?’
‘Well, I don’t know who he was. But he had been there overnight and he wore brown leather brogues. I could see them through the glass in her hallway.’
‘Did you get a photograph?’ William asked.
‘Sure, but I took it on my phone,’ Eric replied as he tossed the phone across the desk. ‘I’d only just arrived and hadn’t got all my gear organised. I only just avoided being seen.’
‘So?’ Kate questioned as she looked at the photograph over William’s shoulder. ‘How do you know he’d been there all night?’
Eric laughed and pushed his glasses back up his nose. ‘That’s easy. His shoes. It was raining and had been for some time and so if he’d been out within an hour of my seeing them, there would have been signs of dampness on the leather or mud on the heels.’
Kate looked at him in amazement. ‘Eric, that’s very clever.’
Eric shrugged. ‘It’s not, it’s easy. You just have to look for the clues. The shoes were dry, there was no mud. So, I assume that the shoes had not been outside that morning. Seeing as it was still early and not many people go visiting before eight o’clock in the morning, I’d assume he’d stayed the night.’
Kate suddenly jumped up from her chair. ‘The brogues, Luca Bellandini wore brogues exactly like that, I saw them, in the library. Actually, I got a photograph, entirely by accident, and they had a tiny tear in them, right on the top. Sorry, I have a thing about shoes.’ She picked up her mobile and flicked through the pictures.
‘The brogues I saw did have a slight tear,’ Eric said and grinned at Kate.
‘This means that it was most probably him that stayed the night, which means we solved a part of the case. The shoes were Luca’s. So he’s definitely involved.’
William nodded. ‘Not necessarily. Just because he may or may not have stayed the night does not make him a drug dealer. I’m afraid you need more proof than that,’ he said as the door opened and Ben marched into the office.
Ben looked Kate up and down. ‘Are you okay?’ His eyes searched hers and she nodded. ‘You’re not hurt, are you?’
Eric coughed. ‘Hi, Ben. I’m okay too, even though I almost got shot. But, hey, thanks for asking.’ He smiled and Kate noticed that William quickly vacated Don’s chair and patted Ben’s shoulder before leaving the room.
‘Right, fill me in on everything that’s happened,’ Ben said to Eric and Kate.
Ben sat at his desk and gave them his full attention, while both Kate and Eric told him what had happened that morning.
‘So, you’ve solved one tiny part of the jigsaw,’ he said when they had finished. ‘But not all of it. Now we need to fit all the other parts together, preferably without getting ourselves killed.’ He studied the dry wipe board, trying to fill in the gaps.
‘What we suspect is that Luca Bellandini is having an affair with Isobel Reed. It was him that led us to Isobel in the first place, so this confirms a connection. But if Isobel is supplying drugs to dealers, we need to find out who those dealers are and whether Luca Bellandini is definitely one of them. Once we’ve done that, we not only need to find out how she’s getting the drugs into the country, but who her main supplier is. Then and only then can we claim the couple hundred grand reward. So we’ve still lots of work to do.’
Kate thought about what Ben had said. He was right. Even her own messy life was one big jigsaw. She had a huge, caring, loving heart that had been torn apart. One piece of her heart would be missing for each part of her life that had been broken: the death of her brother, the scar on her face, her poor sister Eve, her
relationship with her parents, and the loss of her grandmother, the only person other than Eve who’d truly understood her.
Everything and everyone had changed. Even Rob was different and she had no idea why. But she was determined to find out and piece by piece, she intended to mend her broken life.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kate was still furious. The night before had been a nightmare. Her mother had insisted that she should be home in time for dinner and had then promptly announced that she was going out, which would have been exactly what Kate would have wished for, if she’d not had some cock and bull story from Rob as to why he was going to be late, again. She’d vaguely heard him come in. It had been gone midnight before he’d entered the bedroom and had slept so close to the edge of the bed that at one point Kate had worried that he might fall out. She’d lain awake for hours, desperate to talk, desperate to ask him what on earth was going on. But she hadn’t thought that the middle of the night in a small cottage, with your mother in the next room, was the right time to discuss anything.
She pulled her car into a parking space in front of the office. Tears of frustration had filled her eyes and she sat, dabbing them and taking a moment to compose herself, before getting out of the car, where the aroma from the bakery next door stopped her in her tracks.
She walked in and eyed the pastries, cakes and scones that smelt as though they’d all come straight from the oven, before choosing a selection of pink and chocolate iced doughnuts.
‘That should cheer us all up,’ she thought as she carefully took the box from the assistant and walked out of the shop and in through the front door of Parker & Son.
Her eyes were immediately drawn to the brown leather settee, where Ben was sitting. He was laughing with a very young, slim, dark-haired woman, who may as well have been sitting on his knee. Her hand rested close to his leg, making Kate’s head spin around, looking for Gloria, who for once, was not in reception.
‘I … I brought doughnuts.’ Was all she could think to say as she hurried past. ‘Shall I put them in the kitchen?’
‘That’s great,’ she heard him shout behind her. She stood for a moment, her back to the kitchen door. She turned and dropped the doughnuts on the side and felt a huge rush of disappointment. After spending the night before with Rob, who had made it more than clear that he was only in their bed because her mother was in the next room, she’d barely slept, and for some reason, she’d been looking forward to seeing Ben. She’d been hoping for some reassurance from him and had felt a surge of jealousy fly through her, for which she immediately berated herself. He was young, free and single. He had every right to sit with whomever he wanted, but it had been the last thing she’d expected to see, especially at the office, and the sight had more than disturbed her.
Kate rushed from the kitchen to the office, slammed the door behind her and stomped over to her desk. Eric looked puzzled. He was standing at the evidence board filling in more information on the chart.
‘How do you fancy a haircut?’ he asked as he glanced across, making Kate’s hands immediately fly up to her hair. She pulled a compact from her bag and checked her appearance. Her auburn hair was poker straight as normal and hung loosely around her shoulders.
‘Why, what’s wrong with my hair?’
‘Ohhhhh, touchy, calm down, calm down,’ Eric joked. ‘I’ve gone through the diary. Isobel is due to have her hair cut later this morning and Gloria has secured you an appointment, right at the same time, in the same salon, but with a different stylist, of course.’
‘Oh?’ Kate picked up the ruler that had been haphazardly thrown on her desk, lined it up with the keyboard, then shook her head, opened the drawer and dropped it inside.
Eric was laughing. ‘Of course, Parker and Son will pay for the haircut and you, my dear, will be in the right place at the right time. Women tell their hairdressers everything, so what better way to listen in on her conversation? Ingenious, isn’t it?’
‘Who’s the damn woman in reception? she’s draped all over Ben.’
Eric spun around on the spot. ‘Ohhhhhhh, that’s what the attitude is all about. Would one of us be jealous?’ His finger waved up and down in the air, before pushing his glasses back up his nose.
Kate shook her head. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. She looks like she’s about twelve. Not the type I’d have thought Ben would be into. Anyway, none of my business.’ She looked back at the door. The woman was obviously much older than twelve, but still looked far too young in comparison to Ben. ‘I brought doughnuts, for everyone, that’s all. Her being here took me by surprise. I didn’t count on extra guests when I bought them.’ She sat down and picked up the telephone, held it to her ear and then placed it back down. ‘Does this thing ever ring?’ she asked in a vain attempt to change the subject.
‘So, you and Rob, you’re all lovey dovey again, are you?’ Eve’s sarcastic tone came down the line. ‘Since when?’ Kate could imagine her sitting in the wheelchair pulling faces at the phone.
Kate sat in her car, counting to ten. She’d arrived at the hairdressers’ early, parked her car and had decided to phone Eve to catch up on the gossip. She looked at her watch; it was almost time for her appointment.
‘We didn’t exactly fall out, Eve. He’s been late home once or twice and stayed on the settee for a few nights. That’s all,’ she answered defensively as she glanced in the rear-view mirror. She really didn’t want to admit that her relationship with Rob was still feeling precarious. To admit it would make it more real and if Eve found out, then her mother would be the next person to know and an onslaught from Mother was the last thing she needed.
It was obvious that Eve knew something was wrong. After all, they were twins and Eve had always been able to tell when she was hiding something.
Kate closed her eyes, leaned back against the car’s headrest and allowed the April sun to warm her face. She knew how self-centred Rob could be. Just about everything he’d ever done had been for himself. There had been so many occasions when she’d been suspicious of his motives, wondered what the reasons were behind his actions and why he’d disappeared for days and sometimes weeks at a time, without any real explanation.
‘Maybe he’s putting on a show for Mother’s sake, you know, coming home, sleeping in your bed, playing happy families?’
Kate knew that Eve was angry, she could hear it in her voice, and knew that she was digging deep to get a reaction. It was a reaction that Kate couldn’t give away. Not yet, not at this point.
‘Maybe he just loves me, Eve.’ Kate rummaged in her handbag and pulled out one of the chocolate bars she’d tossed in there that morning. ‘Have you ever thought of that?’ she said, opening the foil packet and nibbling at the edge of the bar. ‘Anyhow, have you spoken to Mother yet?’ she asked to change the subject.
‘Yes, she says she’s staying for around a week, maybe longer.’
Kate knew that having her mother in her home for another whole week would drive her insane. She could imagine that by the end of it one of them could end up dead and buried under the patio and, at this moment in time, Kate had no idea which one of them it would be.
She wondered if she really should try and phone her father. He used to take her feelings into consideration, but that was before. If Mother was driving both her and Eve mad, surely he’d come over and take her home? But then again, if her parents were fighting too, he’d probably be happy that her mother stayed away.
‘Eve, please let her stay with you,’ Kate begged as her sister went quiet and sulked. Kate knew that Eve had a problem with it, but couldn’t understand why. Other than Max, Eve lived by herself, she always complained of being lonely and what’s more she had a spare room with an en suite. Unlike Kate’s cottage that only had two small bedrooms, paper thin walls and one bathroom between them.
Kate thought about Rob. She had to consider their relationship. Had to decide what to do, but had no idea how to do it, especially with her mother watching their every move.
‘I don’t really want her here, Kate, but for your sake I will. I think things are much worse between her and Dad than you think though. I’ve never seen her like this before.’
‘Eve. Why would you say that? They’ve always fought, you know that. His job is high profile. It’s harder for him now, working for another firm rather than working for himself, he’s always under pressure and some days it gets too much for both of them, especially since James died.’
‘She cried, Kate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry before. She said she was scared, scared of the future, said she had nothing left and she sobbed for hours. I think she’s having a nervous breakdown, or something. Some of the things she came out with were really weird, it’s like Dad can’t do anything right, and you know how much she adores him. And she talks about James as though he’s still alive. It was freaky, Kate. I don’t think she’s grieved properly, you know, with everything going on, and I think it’s all catching up with her now.’
‘I didn’t know. I just thought she was being horrid and still blaming me for the accident.’
‘Kate, what if she does something, you know, something stupid?’ Eve’s voice broke and for a moment she thought that she too would end up in tears. For their mother to move back to Caldwick, to where her worst nightmares had happened, even if it was just for a few weeks, must mean that things were either really bad between her and Father or she really was going through a breakdown. She’d hated the idea of their mother living with her, she needed to keep up her exercises if she wanted to walk again. But she had no choice, Mother needed someone to look after her. And with Kate and Rob’s relationship being so difficult at the moment, they needed time to sort their life out. Which meant that looking after Mother was going to have to be down to her.