by Frank Smith
‘Janet didn’t mention him when she was talking about taking her father into hospital,’ Paget said. ‘And she most certainly didn’t mention using the company car. I suppose she could have phoned Porter for help, but why were they in two separate cars? That sports car belongs to her; I’ve seen it in the car-park in her slot. Frank drives a white Ford. So, how did she come by the company car? And why didn’t she just phone for an ambulance?’
‘Sounds like Miss Freeman just went to the top of the charts,’ Tregalles said. ‘Do you think she killed Gray and Lisa?’
Paget grunted. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, ‘but I do know she has a lot of explaining to do. When we get back, I want you to check on the calls made to and from the phone in that car,’ he said. ‘They might give us a clue about where she was calling from.’
Before they left the hospital, they checked on the condition of Foster and Merrick. Both, it seemed, were recovering. Foster’s throat and one side of his face were a mass of bruises, and he would be on liquids for some time, but there would be no permanent damage. As for Merrick, his condition was listed as serious, but no longer critical. He was conscious and all indications were that there would be a full recovery.
* * *
THE LIGHT was beginning to fade, but Audrey Tregalles was reluctant to go inside. It was a bit early to be putting out some of the plants, but the front of the house caught the afternoon sun, so they should be all right, she reasoned.
Brian and Olivia, who had come out to help her, had wandered off. Brian was busy making roads for his cars, while Olivia was talking to a friend in the street. The girl, Joy Davies, told Olivia she was going with her parents to Llandudno on the weekend to visit an aunt who was ill, and she might have to miss school on Monday. Wasn’t that fab?
Still chattering away, the two girls drifted toward Joy’s house four doors down, where they stood talking for a few minutes before Joy said goodbye and went inside.
Olivia didn’t notice the car as she walked back. Her mind was miles away. In Llandudno. Not that she’d ever been there, but it sounded nice. She wished she could go with Joy.
She didn’t pay any attention when the car door opened behind her, and it was only when someone spoke to her that she turned round.
‘Come along, Wendy,’ said the grey-haired man. He spoke softly, coaxing. He held out his hand. ‘Time to go home,’ he said. ‘It’s getting late.’
Audrey stood up, stretching to ease her back. It was getting chilly. Time to go in. ‘It’s a bath for you, young man,’ she said to Brian. ‘Make sure you bring all your cars in. Come on, now, there’s a good lad. Where’s Olivia?’
‘Talking to Joy,’ said Brian. ‘Can’t I stay out a bit longer? It’s not dark yet.’
‘It’s gone seven thirty,’ his mother said. ‘Now come on, pick up your cars.’ She couldn’t see Olivia. Frowning, but by no means worried, she went to the gate and looked up and down the street.
She saw Olivia. And she saw the man!
‘Olivia!’ Even as she screamed her daughter’s name, she was through the gate and running.
* * *
THERE IT WAS. Staring him in the face. Paget gave a grunt of satisfaction as he set the file aside.
He’d spent the last two hours going through statements, looking for inconsistencies, and it looked as if he’d found one. He’d have to check it in the morning with Weller. But Weller was a careful man; he didn’t usually make mistakes.
The chief inspector stood up and stretched. He looked at the clock and was surprised to see the time. Eight o’clock. He groaned. He should have phoned to tell his housekeeper, Mrs Wentworth, that he’d be late. He just hoped she hadn’t left him something for his supper that would spoil.
He toyed with the idea of stopping somewhere to have a meal, but it would only make it that much later by the time he got home.
He was on his way to his car when a car screeched to a halt beside him. Molly Forsythe rolled the window down. ‘The man we’ve been after showed up at Tregalles’s house,’ she said quickly. ‘I’m on my way over there right now. Thought you might like to know.’ She slammed the car into gear and was gone.
Paget raced to his car. There might not be anything he could do, but just in case they needed a hand …
* * *
IT WAS ELEVEN by the time he got home. Paget went straight through to the kitchen, turning on lights as he went. Once there, he stood in the middle of the room, not quite knowing what he wanted to do next. He should eat something, but he didn’t feel like preparing anything. He’d like a beer, but he knew if he had one he’d be up in the middle of the night, so scrub that idea. He opened the door of the fridge and surveyed the left-overs with distaste. He sighed, and took out three eggs. To hell with the cholesterol.
He crawled into bed at midnight, but his mind would not let go of how close a thing it had been for young Olivia. If her mother hadn’t been right there. If the neighbour hadn’t come out just then.
It didn’t bear thinking about. But at least Tregalles had managed to get the number as the car sped away. He’d been in the house when Audrey screamed, and he’d come running out just in time to see the car go past. He’d kept his head and written down the number, but he was still shaking when Paget arrived.
Olivia, thank God, seemed none the worse for the experience. In fact she showed no sign of fear of the man, and that alone was driving John and Audrey out of their minds.
‘At least now Molly has something concrete to follow up,’ Paget had told Tregalles. ‘If you need some time off, John, then take it. God knows, you’ve got it coming.’
‘Thanks.’ Tregalles rubbed his face with both hands. He looked tired. ‘All right if I let you know in the morning? I’m having a bit of trouble thinking straight right now.’
Lying there in the dark, Paget recalled the haunted look in Audrey’s eyes. It was still with him an hour later when, at last, he drifted off to sleep.
TWENTY-THREE
Friday 12th April
TO PAGET’S SURPRISE, Tregalles was at his desk when he arrived next morning. He looked grey with worry, but insisted he was all right.
‘Audrey spoke to her mother and dad on the phone after you left last night,’ he said, ‘and they came down by car at the crack of dawn this morning. We’re keeping Olivia home today, and I feel better with Audrey’s dad there. He was an RSM when he retired from the army a few years back, and I’d hate to tackle him even now.’
‘How’s Olivia this morning?’
Tregalles looked perplexed. ‘That’s the funny part about this whole business,’ he said. ‘Olivia doesn’t seem to understand how serious this is. I mean, she’s a clever kid even if I do say so myself, but she has me baffled. Do you know what she said last night when she went to bed? She said, “He wasn’t going to hurt me, Dad. Really. He wasn’t.” I tell you, I just went cold when she said that. I don’t know how to get through to her without making matters worse.’
He drew in a long breath and let it out again. ‘He’s a persistent bastard, whoever he is,’ he went on. ‘He must have followed Olivia and Audrey home from school. But why Olivia?’ The sergeant’s face grew dark. ‘Just give me five minutes with the twisted sod, that’s all. Just five minutes. He’d never go after kids again. I’d make sure of that!’
‘Anything on the owner of the car?’
‘I spoke to Jim Dean a few minutes ago, and he said that Molly has a name and is following it up. He wouldn’t give me the name, but he said it looked promising.’ Tregalles reached for the phone. ‘Perhaps I should give Molly a ring to see…’
Paget put out his hand and pushed the phone back on its cradle. ‘You can still have time off if you want it,’ he told Tregalles, ‘but you’re either here or you’re not. If you’re here, then let Jim and Molly do their job. It isn’t going to help anyone if you keep ringing up to find out what’s happening.’
A frown of annoyance crossed the sergeant’s face, but it only lasted for a moment. ‘Point
taken, sir,’ he said. ‘I’m here. So who’s first on the list today?’
* * *
‘YOU WANTED TO SEE ME, Chief Inspector?’
‘Please come in, Mrs Owen, and have a seat.’
Peggy Owen sat down and folded her hands in her lap. ‘How can I help you?’ she asked quietly.
The perfect secretary, Paget thought as he studied her. Efficient, loyal, patient. Peggy Owen had all those qualities, and perhaps that was part of the problem.
‘I’ll come straight to the point, Mrs Owen,’ he said. ‘We have reason to believe that you may not have been … shall we say, quite as forthcoming as you might have been regarding the events that took place immediately following Lisa Remington’s telephone call to Mr Gray the day he disappeared.’
Mrs Owen moved her feet, but apart from that she remained perfectly still. ‘I don’t think I follow you, Chief Inspector,’ she said. ‘In what way was I not “forthcoming”, as you put it?’
‘I believe you forgot to mention that you went into Mr Freeman’s office before Mr Gray came out to ask you to get the spare set of car keys from Mr Freeman. Was there a reason for not mentioning it?’
Her chin came up. ‘Because it isn’t true,’ she said defiantly.
Paget shook his head. ‘I have statements from others in this office saying that it is true, Mrs Owen.’
Peggy Owen’s eyes never left Paget’s, but there was no mistaking the slow tide of colour rising in her face. She must have felt it, because she caught her lip between her teeth. ‘If I did, I’ve forgotten it,’ she said, but her eyes betrayed her and she looked away.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Paget gently. ‘I think it was you who went in to tell Mr Freeman that Mr Gray was making arrangements to meet Lisa Remington, and that’s why he and Mr Porter rushed out after him. Did he ask you to do that for him?’
Mrs Owen opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. She began to get up. ‘I have nothing more to say…’ she began, but Paget stopped her.
‘Sit down, Mrs Owen,’ he said sharply. ‘I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that it is an offence to obstruct the police in the course of their enquiries. The question is a simple one: Did Mr Freeman ask you to monitor Mr Gray’s calls or not? And I would remind you that lying to the police is a very serious offence.’
Peggy Owen subsided into her chair and tilted her head defiantly. ‘I did nothing wrong,’ she said.
‘I didn’t say you did,’ Paget said. ‘But you could have saved us a great deal of time if you had been honest with us a week ago. Please answer the question.’
Mrs Owen looked down at her hands. ‘There were rumours,’ she said. ‘Around the office. Mr Freeman was worried that there might be some truth to them. He didn’t want Janet to be hurt, and neither did I. I’m sorry, but I didn’t want you to think that Mr Freeman would do anything like…’ She broke off and fell silent.
‘Like kill Mr Gray?’ Tregalles asked quietly.
Her head came up. ‘He didn’t!’ she said fiercely. ‘He couldn’t. He had nothing to do with David Gray’s death. He may have followed him, but that’s all. Mr Freeman is not a murderer. He couldn’t have. Mr Porter was with him.’
Paget studied her. Perhaps she was right. But Mike Freeman was an impulsive man. How far would he go to protect his daughter? And how far would he go to keep her from marrying any man who might take her away from him?
‘Thank you, Mrs Owen. That will be all for now,’ he said crisply. ‘I’ll have someone take another statement from you later on this morning.’
* * *
JANET FREEMAN was not in the office, but her father was. ‘I suppose I can spare you a few minutes,’ he told Paget, ‘but I hope this won’t take long. I have a lot to do today.’
‘It rather depends on you,’ said Paget neutrally as he sat down.
‘Oh?’ Freeman’s eyes narrowed. ‘What’s this all about, then?’
‘It’s about the fact that the statement you signed regarding your whereabouts on the afternoon of March 12th was false,’ said Paget evenly. ‘As was that of Mr Porter. My sergeant is talking to him now about that.’
‘Don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about,’ said Freeman. His voice hardened. ‘And I don’t take kindly to being called a liar.’
‘Then I suggest you start telling the truth,’ said Paget. ‘We know you followed David Gray that afternoon. We know you had Mrs Owen monitoring his calls, and we know that she told you of Lisa Remington’s call to Gray that afternoon. We also know where Gray’s car was between the time he left here and when it turned up again on the weekend in your car-park.’
‘Frank and I went out to talk business,’ said Freeman. ‘That’s all. As for this other claptrap, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘The business being your proposed expansion in Bristol?’
‘That’s right. It’s a confidential matter, and I wanted to make sure it stayed that way.’
‘You told me that your daughter’s a full partner in the business,’ said Paget. ‘Is that correct?’
Freeman eyed him. ‘Yes,’ he said cautiously.
‘Then, how is it that when I mentioned it to her, she told me that no such move was contemplated? She said it had been considered some time ago, but was dropped.’
Mike Freeman eyed Paget stonily. ‘All right,’ he said at last, ‘suppose—just suppose—that Frank and I did follow that bastard, Gray. So what? I had good reason. He was about to become my son-in-law, for Christ’s sake. He may have been good for the business, but I could see what he was after, and it wasn’t Janet. He wanted to be sitting in this chair. That was his game.’
He glared at Paget. ‘So what do you plan to do about it? There’s nothing criminal in trying to protect your daughter from a con man, is there?’
‘There is if you kill him,’ said Paget.
‘I didn’t kill anyone,’ Freeman snorted. ‘We followed him out there, that’s all. That’s all I needed. I had the proof, and Frank was there to back me up.’
‘How do you account for the car?’
‘What…? Oh.’ Freeman shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘That was a mistake,’ he said. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was a damned silly one in retrospect.’ He sighed heavily. ‘I suppose I might as well tell you what happened, because Frank is probably spilling his guts all over the floor by now.
‘We followed Gray out of here and saw him pick up this woman. They went straight out to the cottage, and went inside. I—that is, Frank drove past and parked the car, and I got out and went back to take a look. I crept up to the window and took a look inside. Christ, they hadn’t been there five minutes, and they were down on the floor already.
‘I’d seen enough. Gray had parked his car just off the driveway in that little glade behind the hedge, and I had this brilliant idea.’ Freeman grimaced. ‘Like I said, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Why not pinch his car?—then let the bugger try to explain that when he got back. We all have keys to the company cars, so it was no problem. I went back and told Frank what I was going to do. But I didn’t want to take the car back to the office. I wanted to find out what Gray would do; what kind of story he’d cook up when he found the car was gone. I was going to let him explain it away, then show him up in front of Janet.’
Mike Freeman grinned suddenly. ‘Frank wasn’t exactly happy when I said I was going to park the car in his driveway. I think he thought Gray would think it was his idea, and beat the living shit out of him. Frank is not a brave man, Chief Inspector. It was a good spot, though; private, and nobody would think twice about it if they did happen to see the car there, with Frank being an employee.’
‘So you drove it back to town,’ said Paget. ‘I thought you weren’t supposed to drive?’
Freeman shrugged. ‘So what are they going to do to me for that?’ he demanded.
‘And you waited until Sunday morning to bring it back to the office,’ said Paget. ‘Presuma
bly while you were supposed to be out for your regular morning walk?’
Freeman stared. ‘How the hell do you know that?’ he blurted. Paget remained silent. Mike waited, then shrugged. ‘That’s it, then. So what are you going to do about it?’
‘Where else did you take the car?’
‘Nowhere. I told you.’
‘When did you tell Janet what you’d done?’
‘I didn’t,’ said Freeman.
‘Why not? Wasn’t that the object of all this? Are you telling me that she knew nothing about this when she reported Gray missing to the police?’
‘That’s right. I didn’t tell her.’
‘Why not?’
‘How could I? I mean, I didn’t know what had happened to Gray. I expected him to turn up the next day with some cock-and-bull story about someone stealing the car. When he didn’t, I didn’t know what to think, so I kept my mouth shut.’
‘Or was it because you knew David Gray would never return?’ said Paget. ‘Because you had driven out there later that night and killed him.’
‘That’s a lie!’ The denial came out swiftly, but to Paget’s ears, it sounded false. ‘I told you what happened, and that’s all that happened. Think what you damn well like!’
‘Then, how do you account for the extra mileage on the clock? Mileage that just happens to match the distance of a round-trip journey to Bracken Cottage. And how do you account for the fact that you arrived at the hospital in that same car about two thirty the following morning? A time, by the way, that happens to be close to the time that David Gray was killed?’
Paget stood up. ‘And how was it,’ he asked quietly, ‘that you managed to bruise yourself so badly, Mr Freeman? Could it have been when you emptied the shotgun into David Gray’s face? Shotguns have a nasty recoil, especially if they’re not held properly, and both barrels are fired at once.’
Paget moved to the door. ‘I’m afraid I’m not at all satisfied with your answers, Mr Freeman,’ he said. ‘I think it would be best if we continued this conversation at headquarters.’