by Martina Cole
Annie looked at the woman who suddenly seemed interested in what was going on in her sons’ lives. ‘When was this?’
Sandra Barber turned off the gas stove and, wiping her hands on a grubby tea towel, she walked through the hallway and into the front room.
‘I work out at the petrol station by Crooks Point. We’re the last place before you hit the M25. I saw her on my way to work last week . . . might have been the week before. I take a shortcut through the woods to the bus stop, and she was there. I chatted to her until the bus arrived. Beautiful hair, and all natural too. She looked lovely, bless her, so I told her.’
‘Where did she get off the bus?’
Sandra sighed and shook her head. ‘I have no idea. I was reading my magazine and she sat right at the front. I sit at the back. To be honest, I wasn’t taking any notice. I mean, why would I?’
Annie Carr was listening intently. She fished a card out of her pocket and placed it on the coffee table. ‘If any of you can think of anything else, please give me a ring.’ Then, turning to Justin, she said in a warning tone, ‘Don’t make me get you busted, boy. No more dealing from here, OK?’
He barely nodded.
Annie and DC Karim left the maisonette, both with food for thought.
Chapter Ninety-four
‘She sounds a right card.’
Kate laughed softly as she said, ‘Honestly, Annie, it’s like I said to Pat, she’s better than a play. Really interesting, though a bit eccentric. But she is a mine of information where Grantley and the surrounding areas are concerned. I told her that you would be in touch with her, and she was happy for you to do that.’
Annie was smiling into the phone. ‘I’m still looking into what Sandra Barber had to say. It’s interesting that Justin picked Janet Cross up by Gains Lane, and his mum saw her on a bus that goes out to nowhere. We are going to follow the route and see what we can come up with.’
Kate sighed over the line. ‘Yes, it is odd. But then one thing I can guarantee you about young girls, there is never a rhyme to their reason! She might have just fancied a bus ride to show off her new finery. But by the same token the precinct would be a better option for her to do that. I can’t think what is out that way that would interest a young girl. There are few houses out that way, and not even a decent pub. But you need to get a car out to follow the route, see what might be out there. Somewhere the kids might be meeting up to drink, take drugs, whatever. There are a few abandoned places out there.’ She sighed once more. ‘Kids can find a place to meet up, and they ain’t fussy. All they want is privacy.’
Annie laughed sadly. ‘It’s a melon scratcher all right. I’ve had Margaret Dole searching through all the planning applications going back through the years. Bloody hell, Kate, you would be amazed at how many people have requested cellars for wine, cold storage and the like. I said to Ali Karim, it’s like being in America where those nuts build bunkers in case there’s a nuclear war or the Rapture starts one night!’
Kate laughed with her. ‘Some nut-nuts, I grant you that one, darling!’
They were quiet for a few moments, both wondering what might be the importance of the latest information.
‘Anyway, look, I have to go. I promised Patrick we would go out to dinner tonight. We need a bit of alone time, I think.’
‘OK, Kate. I’ll keep you posted, and thanks.’
Annie turned her phone off and looked at her desk. She wondered what the hell she was missing. And like Kate before her, she sat back in her chair and started to trawl through everything once again, in the vain hope that she might see something of importance.
DC Karim was at his desk and looking through his files too. Like Annie he felt that they were at an impasse. There was nothing new happening, and there was nothing that they had not seen and looked into. It was frustrating for them all, but there was nothing any of them could do about it.
Annie Carr actually felt a depression washing over her as she scanned the statements and the evidence; she knew that if there had been anything of value, someone would have found it by now. That stood to reason.
She glanced at her watch and saw that it was gone seven, and she yawned noisily. ‘I am calling it a day, people. I suggest you all do the same. Get some sleep, and hopefully we will have fresh eyes tomorrow.’
DC Karim walked to her desk and said quietly, ‘Fancy a drink, boss?’
Annie smiled, and nodded her agreement. ‘Sounds good to me. Fuck-all going on here.’
As they left the station together, Annie lit a cigarette and smoked it with relish while they walked to the local pub. They were soon settled in the small garden area, drinks in front of them.
DC Karim said tiredly, ‘Nice family, the Carters, but if I’m honest, Annie, I don’t like that kid, Stephen. There is something about him. I can’t take to him.’
Annie shrugged. ‘Why? What bothers you?’
DC Ali Karim was quiet for a few moments, before he said seriously, ‘I am not sure, Annie. But there is something underlying there . . . with him . . . with the way he acts. I know that it is completely without any substance, but I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.’
Annie laughed at his words. ‘We all feel like that about people, but there’s nothing we can do about it.’ She leaned towards him and said in a whisper, ‘I don’t like DC Allison’s wife. Now if you want off, she’s the one! Strange as fuck and twice as weird! But that doesn’t mean anything, Ali. All it means is that they rub us up the wrong way.’
DC Karim laughed at her words. ‘You’re right, but there’s something about him, especially today. I felt like he was laughing at us. The fact he didn’t get off the sunlounger when we came . . . Oh, I don’t know exactly what bothered me. His grandmother saying, “What’s he done this time?” stuck with me because, the more I think about it, the more I think she wasn’t joking.’
Annie was listening to him intently; she sympathised. Everyone got feelings like that in their job, and she was not going to shoot him down in flames. So she sipped her wine and said evenly, ‘Look, mate, we have three dead girls, and fuck-all to go on. That makes us all fucking irritated, and it makes us look for things to latch on to. I get that, but what we have to do is keep it in perspective, you know?’
Ali Karim nodded his agreement, but he wasn’t convinced. And Annie could see that.
Instead she said brightly, ‘Tell you what you can do. Tomorrow have a closer look at him and see what comes up. His school records and everything else so far seems to be in order. But I’m willing to go along with you, because it will put your mind at rest. Still, he has an alibi for everything. We made sure of that with everyone concerned.’
DC Karim smiled as he sipped his gin and tonic. He suspected his feeling was without foundation, but he was determined to find out what he could about the boy and his family.
A couple of other officers were in the pub, and Annie waved them over. Before long they were all chatting and telling old war stories. DC Ali Karim put his thoughts to the back of his mind. After a couple of gins he wasn’t so sure that he was being rational about the situation after all.
Chapter Ninety-five
Todd Richards was small for his age, but with a big personality and a natural confidence. He lived in a small cul-de-sac in the nicer part of Grantley. His parents, Alice and Jim, both worked in local government and were a quiet couple who were well liked and respected. Todd had been a late child; Alice and her husband had never thought they were going to be parents, and Todd’s arrival when they were in their forties had been like a miracle. He was everything to them, and they adored him.
It was now gone ten o’clock, and his parents were starting to get genuinely worried about him. He’d been unusually quiet the past couple of days but they hadn’t wanted to pry. Fifteen year olds were prone to mood swings after all. But this wasn’t Todd-like behaviour. They had rung his mobile but couldn’t get through. Then they had rung round his friends, and no one had seen him. As they watch
ed the news they were both on red alert to hear his key in the front door.
At ten thirty Jim went to the landline and phoned the police. He knew that his son wasn’t the type to stay out or cause them any kind of worry. Even if Jim was made to look a fool, he didn’t care. He had a bad feeling, and he needed to feel like he was doing something.
He poured his wife a medicinal brandy as they waited for the police to arrive.
Chapter Ninety-six
Danny Foster was so angry he had to go into the office in his house and pour himself a large Scotch. He wasn’t a man who suffered fools gladly, and that was one of his strengths, one of the reasons that Patrick Kelly held him in such esteem. So to find out that a pair of absolute fuckers like the Christmas brothers could even think of aggravating him was outrageous. But it seemed that, even though he had given them the hard word, they still thought they could take him for a cunt.
He knew that he had to sort this before Patrick Kelly found out about it, and that is exactly what he was going to do.
He made a few phone calls and then, when he was satisfied he had done all he could, he drove himself into East London.
Chapter Ninety-seven
Annie Carr felt like shit, but she had sobered up enough to take a quick shower and make her way to the Richards’ house. She had called PC Jenner to pick her up, because she wasn’t sure she should drive. But she kept that to herself, obviously.
As they made their way over, she got the girl to stop off so she could get herself a strong coffee. She also bought some extra-strong mints; she knew the drill. Her brain was telling her that this could not have anything to do with the missing girls, but she was too experienced to rule anything out. The fact the boy was a pupil in the same school was a red flag in itself. But she knew that she had to look at this with completely fresh eyes.
She remembered the kid and he didn’t seem like a troublemaker. But she was hoping he would turn up, half-pissed and embarrassed. She felt sick and tired, and she was wishing that she had not had the last few drinks, but there wasn’t much she could do about that now.
She walked into the house and the fear in the air was palpable; her heart went out to the couple who were obviously going out of their minds with worry. It was at times like this she was glad that she wasn’t a parent – she didn’t envy these poor people their fear or their terror. Because they both looked absolutely terrified, and she didn’t blame them. She would be the same if she was in their position. It was the price you paid when you had a child.
As she turned to the boy’s parents she forced a smile on to her face, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. ‘So where did Todd say he was going tonight?’
His father was sitting on the sofa, his arms around his wife, who, Annie could see, was incapable of coherent conversation, and he said sadly, ‘Well, that’s just it. We don’t know. He left the house in a hurry about five, saying he’d be back later. We didn’t think anything of it. It’s summer, with the long evenings, we just assumed he was off meeting his friends. But he never stays out late without calling us. He’s a good kid. He just wouldn’t worry us like this.’
‘Did he say where he was going, or mention a friend’s name today?’
Jim Richards shook his head sadly. ‘He didn’t say anything, we trust him to come home at a reasonable time. If he is going to be late, he always lets us know. This is not like him, Todd knows that we worry, especially his mother. He wouldn’t frighten us like this.’
Annie believed the man, but she knew that teenagers could go AWOL on a whim. Not that she would say that, of course. But most missing kids turned up with their tails between their legs and the promise of a serious bollocking – even the so-called good ones. It was par for the course and part of growing up.
She sat down on a dining chair and, taking out her notebook, she started to question them in as kind a way as possible. But she had a bad feeling about this; and she felt in her heart that it was connected somehow with the girls who had been murdered. She couldn’t prove anything, but the timing was too coincidental for there not to be a link. Now she had to question these two people about how well their son knew the dead girls.
Chapter Ninety-eight
Kate and Patrick were both relaxed and pleasantly enjoying being in his restaurant in Manor Park. It was a new endeavour; Patrick had financed it, and it had turned out to be a good investment. It was full of Faces, but they paid, so that was a result in itself. Patrick had put out the word that anyone who took the piss had to answer to him. The chef was a young guy whose cooking was unbelievable and who also had a good head for business. He was a diamond, and he could have a row if the situation was needed; Patrick really liked him. All in all, he was pleased with the purchase, and Patrick knew that the restaurant was already getting a lot of interest through word of mouth. What more could he want?
Tonight had been a really good night; both he and Kate had needed some time together, especially since he had just done whatever he wanted, without even asking her about any of it, where Joseph O’Loughlin was concerned. The fact that she had accepted his decisions was something he appreciated more than she realised.
‘I love you, Kate – you know that, darling. I know that this isn’t what we envisaged, but I can’t do anything else. He is my son, and those kids are my flesh and blood.’
Kate sighed and then laughed. ‘I know they are your flesh and blood – it’s not like you haven’t reminded me fifty times a day, Pat. For fuck’s sake, I get it, OK? I understand, but you must remember that Joseph needs a fucking serious wake-up call, and that is my last word on it. Now let’s change the subject, shall we? This is supposed to be about us, not anything or anyone else.’
Patrick laughed at her. ‘Do you know what, Kate? You are the only woman who could talk to me like that.’
Kate picked up her wine glass and sipped loudly. Then she pretended to do a loud swallow. ‘I’m not so sure, Mr Kelly – I think Renée might have had a few words with you over the years!’
Patrick grinned. ‘Not like you do, though, Kate. She would keep me in my place, but she wouldn’t jump on me as often as you do. She picked her fights, and she was shrewd enough to make sure they were fights she could win. Big difference, lady.’
Kate looked at the man she had loved for so long, and she understood that he was trying to tell her that she had finally replaced Renée. And the strange thing was she didn’t care about that any more.
‘All I want is you to sort Joseph out, because I think he’s weak, Pat, and those children need him to be strong.’
Patrick nodded and said sadly, ‘I know, Kate, he’s all over the place. But he will get there, I’ll make sure of that.’
Kate knew when to let things go; she had said her piece and she would leave it at that. It was useless with a man like Patrick Kelly to keep smashing the point home – that would just make him more determined to prove himself right. She smiled to herself, because she knew him better than he knew himself.
Her mobile rang and she answered it as Patrick was ordering himself a brandy and a cigar. It was the Chief Superintendent, and Kate listened to him in shock as he asked her humbly if she would be kind enough to come on board and give her valued opinion on the murders of the three local girls. He also informed her that a young man was now missing, and he would appreciate it if she would be good enough to give her invaluable insight into the cases.
Kate was so shocked she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But she knew that the fact he had rung her – on her mobile and at this time of night, no less – meant that this was serious.
‘Of course, sir, anything I can do to help.’
She didn’t tell him that she already had everything pertaining to the cases and that she had been helping Annie Carr from the get-go, although she had no doubt the two-faced fucker already knew. Instead she just said nicely, ‘I assume you have already talked to everyone concerned and they are aware that you have requested my help?’
She couldn’t resist stickin
g the knife in. She knew, and he knew, that she was already on board – had been from day one. Now he was just making it official. She smiled to herself as he assured her that he would make sure that she would be welcomed with open arms.
‘I know that your experience will be invaluable, Kate, and I appreciate you agreeing to come in.’
Kate couldn’t resist saying innocently, ‘I will do my best, sir.’
When she put the phone down, she immediately called Annie who, it was clear, had no idea that Kate had been seconded to the team. She was pleased to have Kate back on board in a professional capacity, but she was not thrilled that it had been done behind her back. But, as Kate pointed out to her, this wasn’t personal; it was about the Chief Super saving his own arse.
Chapter Ninety-nine
Kate was in bed and Patrick was enjoying a solitary nightcap when he took the call about the Christmas brothers. He was not impressed at all. In fact, he was fucking fuming at the diabolical liberty they thought they could take with him. He was also not impressed with Danny Foster, who apparently didn’t think that he should have even mentioned it to him. As he was driving into East London he wished that he had not had another large brandy but, as he told himself, there wasn’t much he could do about that now.
He pulled up outside the garages he owned off the Caledonian Road and, getting out of his motor, he wondered at these two brothers who could be so fucking dense that they thought they could have him over. They’d been warned to keep away from the clubs and had they listened? Had they fuck! It was a complete fucking piss-take of the first water. He opened the boot of his Mercedes Sport and took out a baseball bat, and then he walked over to the garages and banged on the only door with the light showing underneath it.