Stone Dead

by Frank Smith

  Freeman stood up slowly, his face chalk white. ‘Are you arresting me?’ he demanded.

  Paget shook his head. ‘No,’ he said evenly, ‘but I’m quite prepared to do so if necessary. Besides, it’s not as if you’ll be alone. Mr Porter will be there as well.’

  TWENTY-FOUR

  ‘GERALD RAMSAY. Age fifty-two. No previous—at least, not under that name. Last known address: 148 Middles-brook Road, Cardiff, where he lived for seven months before leaving there six weeks ago. No forwarding address. Receives a disability pension, according to his landlady in Cardiff, so we’re checking to see if he has sent in a change-of-address to them.’

  Molly Forsythe reeled off the information with barely a glance at the sheet in her hand. ‘He’s described as a very quiet man; keeps himself to himself, and he’s never been in any trouble. No known friends or acquaintances. He gave no notice when he left, but he paid his rent to the end of the month, which was unusual, since he rented by the week. According to Mrs Phillips—the landlady in Cardiff—he just packed up and left without saying anything to anyone.’

  Jim Dean grunted. ‘Did she happen to say where he’d come from before taking rooms with her?’

  Molly shook her head ‘She says he just appeared one day in answer to a notice she’d put in the window of a local newsagent’s. He seemed all right, so she let the rooms to him. He was very punctual about the rent, but he never talked about himself.’

  ‘What’s the pension for?’

  ‘I asked about that. Mrs Phillips said she didn’t know. She said he’s got all his arms and legs, doesn’t limp or anything, and all in all seemed very fit.’

  ‘What about the pension people?’

  ‘Ah,’ said Molly. ‘Now they were very cagey. Wouldn’t give me anything over the phone, so I’ve asked the locals to see what they can find out. But it sounds to me like it might be mental.’

  Dean snorted. ‘You’re probably right,’ he said. ‘The way this country’s run today. Handing out pensions to blokes like that who prey on school kids. Jesus!’

  ‘We don’t know that,’ said Molly, but Dean wasn’t listening.

  ‘I shouldn’t tell Tregalles that,’ he said. ‘He’ll go spare.’

  ‘I hadn’t planned on it,’ said Molly, drily. ‘The description of the car was circulated last night, but so far we’ve had no reports. He may have gone to ground; probably has a garage somewhere. But he’ll be back. I’m sure of it. Can we not put a watcher in the street?’

  Dean shook his head. ‘Sorry, Molly, but it’s impossible. We don’t have enough people to go round as it is. But with Tregalles’s father there, and Olivia being kept home from school, she’s safe enough.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ said Molly, but she didn’t sound convinced. What if the man changed his tactics and went after some other child? So far, there had been no sign of violence, but you could never be sure that his behaviour wouldn’t change.

  Molly closed a mental shutter. To start thinking like that would do no good. Take it one step at a time, she told herself, and make damned sure you don’t miss anything.

  * * *

  SUPERINTENDENT ALCOTT opened the door of the interview room and poked his head inside. ‘A word, please, Chief Inspector,’ he said cryptically.

  Paget stood up, but Mike Freeman was up and around the table ahead of him. ‘Just the man,’ he said. ‘I have a complaint to make about my treatment at the hands of your man, here. He came into my office making accusations, then dragged me down here under the threat of arrest. I’m appalled that this sort of thing can happen to someone in Broadminster. I’ve heard…’

  Alcott held up his hand. ‘In due course, Mr Freeman,’ he said. ‘Please sit down. I’ll deal with this.’

  Mike Freeman grunted. ‘You’d better,’ he said. ‘I’ll not be treated like this.’

  Alcott motioned Paget to follow him. Once outside the office, Alcott turned to Paget. ‘Just what the hell is going on, Paget?’ he asked fiercely. ‘I’ve just had a call from Mr Brock. He is not a happy man. He wants to know why Mike Freeman is being held, and he wants to know now! Says he had a call from Freeman’s secretary. Apparently Freeman told her to ring him after you’d left the office.’

  ‘Personal friends, are they, sir?’ asked Paget mildly.

  Alcott’s eyes narrowed as he drew deeply on his cigarette. ‘They sit on the same boards together,’ he said thinly, ‘and for all I know they probably belong to the same lodge. Now, why is Freeman here?’

  ‘Because he’s been lying to us,’ said Paget flatly. ‘He and Frank Porter followed Gray and Lisa out to Bracken Cottage that day. They’ve finally admitted that. Freeman pinched Gray’s car and drove it back to Porter’s house. He says he wanted to hear what Gray had to say when he finally reappeared, and perhaps that was the original intent. But someone drove that car another twelve or thirteen miles before it was returned to the office Sunday morning, and I am sure it was either Freeman or Porter. My guess is that it was Freeman.

  ‘The man is hiding something,’ Paget went on. ‘I think he believes he can stonewall us, but Porter is another matter altogether. He’s on the verge of breaking, and once he does, Freeman is done for.’

  Alcott eyed Paget narrowly through a wall of smoke. ‘You think Freeman killed Gray and Remington?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m not sure who killed them, sir,’ said Paget cautiously. ‘But Freeman is hiding something, and at the very least he and Porter have done their best to obstruct the investigation.’

  Alcott looked grim. ‘I hope to God you’re right,’ he said. He turned and led the way back to the interview room.

  Freeman was on his feet at once, smirking. ‘I take it I can go?’ he said laconically as he moved toward the door.

  ‘I’m afraid not, Mr Freeman,’ Alcott said. ‘It appears that you have lied to us and deliberately misled some of my officers. I suggest your only course of action is to cooperate fully with Chief Inspector Paget. I shall look forward to reading your revised statement. Good morning, sir.’

  * * *

  AS PAGET HAD PREDICTED, Frank Porter was the weak link. Once Tregalles started putting pressure on him, he began to look for a way to save his own skin.

  ‘Look,’ he said desperately, ‘I didn’t want any part of this. It was Mike. He made me do it. I mean, I work for him; what else could I do?’ Porter’s hands moved constantly on the table in front of him. He seemed not to know what to do with them.

  Tregalles nodded sympathetically. ‘Let’s just go over it once more,’ he suggested. ‘Just to make sure we have it straight for the record. You say the first you knew about all this was when Mike Freeman rushed into your office and asked to use your car. But you balked at that and said you’d drive him to wherever he wanted to go. Right?’

  ‘That’s right. He almost dragged me out to the car, and when he saw the back end of Gray’s car disappearing, he became quite frantic. He grabbed the keys out of my hand, and jumped in the car. I only just managed to scramble in when he took off.’

  Porter licked his lips. ‘He wasn’t supposed to be driving, not after his heart attack,’ he went on, ‘but you can’t tell Mike anything when he’s in that sort of mood.’

  ‘So you followed Gray,’ Tregalles prompted. ‘What happened next?’

  ‘Well, as I said, this woman was waiting for Gray. He stopped and picked her up, and when she got in the car, he leaned over and kissed her. Mike kept saying, “I wish I had a camera; I’d show Janet what her fancy boy is like.” He was so excited I was afraid he might have another heart attack and wreck my car.’

  ‘You followed them to the cottage,’ said Tregalles. ‘Did they stop anywhere on the way?’

  ‘No. They went straight there. Gray parked the car behind the hedge so it would be hidden from the road, and they walked up to the house.’

  ‘You saw all this?’

  ‘Just as we drove by. Mike went on and parked around the corner about fifty yards up the road, out of sight of the cotta
ge. Then he got out and walked back. He was gone so long I started to get worried, but then I saw him coming back.’

  ‘Whose idea was it to take Gray’s car?’

  ‘Mike’s, of course,’ said Porter indignantly. ‘He said he was going to take the car to my house and leave it there, and I was to follow him. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all, and I told him so. But he just laughed, and told me not to be such an…’ He broke off abruptly.

  Tregalles raised his eyebrows. ‘Not to be what, Mr Porter?’

  Porter moved his broad hands across the table as if sweeping crumbs away. ‘Does it matter?’ he said. ‘The point is, I had no choice but to do as he said. He left the car in my driveway, then I took him back to the office.’

  ‘And cooked up this story about having gone out to talk business,’ Tregalles supplied. ‘Whose idea was that?’

  ‘Mike’s, of course,’ said Porter swiftly.

  ‘And when did you decide to go back to the cottage yourself?’ Tregalles asked quietly. ‘Using the company car.’

  ‘I didn’t,’ Porter protested. ‘I never touched the car.’

  ‘Someone did. And since Mike Freeman had no qualms about telling my boss that you were in on all this, I doubt if he’s going to hold back about the second visit to the cottage.’

  Tregalles leaned forward and lowered his voice. ‘You’ve worked with Mike for a long time, now,’ he said. ‘Do you really think he’ll admit his part in what happened? Think about it, Frank. If it’s a case of him or you, he’s going to drop you in it, and with Janet to back him up, I’d say you’re going to be in deep shit.’

  ‘Janet would never…’

  ‘Janet will do whatever her father tells her to do if it’s a matter of his neck or yours,’ Tregalles said. ‘Think about it, Frank. Like I said, you know Mike. You know what he’s like.’

  Porter’s hands moved jerkily across the surface of the table. ‘I had nothing to do with Gray’s death,’ he burst out. ‘It was Mike.’

  * * *

  IT HAD BEEN a busy morning for Audrey Tregalles, but she enjoyed having her parents there. She felt more relaxed than she had for days, what with Olivia safely at home, and her father in the house. Solid and formidable, Roy Spooner had struck terror into the hearts and minds of raw recruits for years, but Audrey had always been able to twist her father round her little finger.

  ‘You’re too soft with her,’ her mother used to say, and he’d agree, and slyly wink at Audrey. Olive Spooner was more practical when it came to raising children. She had to be, with four boys and a girl in the house.

  ‘I wish you’d told us before,’ said Roy for perhaps the tenth time. ‘We’d have been glad to come.’

  ‘I didn’t want to worry you,’ said Audrey. ‘John’s colleagues have all been very good and now they think they know who the man is.’

  ‘But they haven’t caught him yet?’

  ‘No. But I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.’

  ‘I hope so,’ said Olive Spooner. ‘It must have been so worrying for you, dear.’

  ‘I must admit I haven’t had much sleep,’ said Audrey. ‘And I’m thankful that you’re here now.’ She was about to say something else, but the sound of the door bell stopped her. ‘I wonder who that could be?’ she said as she started toward the door. ‘Just be a minute.’

  Audrey closed the door of the living-room behind her and walked to the front door. She could see a shadowy silhouette through the frosted glass, but she couldn’t make out who it was. She opened the door.

  Shock took her breath away. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Fear paralysed her, and she could only gape as the grey-haired man pushed his way inside. He spoke, but her mind refused to accept the words.

  ‘I’ve come for Wendy,’ he said coldly. ‘I know she’s here.’

  TWENTY-FIVE

  ‘THERE’S A MISS FREEMAN asking to see her father, sir,’ said the duty officer, ‘but I understand he’s with DCI Paget, being interviewed.’ The man cupped his hand around the phone. ‘She’s not too happy, either, sir,’ he said quietly. ‘What would you like me to tell her?’

  Alcott looked across his desk at Tregalles. The sergeant had just given him a run-down on Porter’s story. Alcott smiled. ‘Tell her to have a seat,’ he said. ‘It may be some time before Mr Freeman is available.’

  He turned to Tregalles. ‘Pull Paget and tell him what you’ve just told me,’ he said. ‘Freeman may be more willing to talk if he knows Porter has caved in.’

  * * *

  ‘MR PORTER has told Sergeant Tregalles what happened, Mr Freeman,’ said Paget. ‘It seems rather pointless to continue to deny that you went back to the cottage later that night.’

  ‘It’s Frank’s word against mine,’ said Freeman hotly. ‘You have no proof of anything.’

  ‘Do you still insist that you had your heart attack in your house, and that you fell on your own stairs?’

  Freeman scowled. ‘That’s right. Janet will tell you the same.’

  ‘I’m sure she will. She took you to the hospital?’

  ‘I’ve told you she did,’ said Freeman waspishly.

  ‘In her car?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You were conscious throughout the journey?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How long did it take you to get to the hospital?’

  Mike Freeman gave a sigh of exasperation. ‘Five minutes,’ he said. ‘Though what the hell that has to do with anything, God only knows.’

  ‘I think it will become apparent, Mr Freeman, when you try explaining to me how it was that you arrived at the hospital in the company car you had previously hidden in Frank Porter’s driveway? And if it only took five minutes, how is it that your daughter was in contact with the hospital, using the company car telephone, for a good twenty minutes before you arrived? We have the telephone records, Mr Freeman, and the hospital staff will verify those times.’

  Freeman looked grim. He stared across the room, muscles working in his face. ‘Tell me, Mr Freeman,’ Paget went on, ‘who are you trying to protect? Yourself or your daughter? Was it she who…?’

  Freeman came half-way across the table, forefinger jabbing at Paget, and the young constable standing beside the door started forward.

  ‘You leave Janet out of this,’ Freeman snarled. ‘She had nothing to do with it. And I’m not protecting anyone.’

  Paget motioned the constable back. ‘Sit down,’ he told Freeman curtly. ‘There’s no point in trying to tell me that Janet wasn’t involved,’ he went on, ‘because we know she was. Porter has signed a statement to that effect, and I’m sure Miss Freeman will confirm it in her statement. I understand that she is in the building now. She was there with you and Porter when you went out a second time…’

  ‘No!’ Freeman slammed the table with his fist. ‘She came out afterwards,’ he said. ‘She…’ He stopped abruptly, leaned back in his chair, and covered his face with his hands. ‘Shit!’ he said softly as if to himself. He shook his head from side to side as if he couldn’t believe what he’d said. He lowered his hands.

  ‘I had nothing to do with killing Gray,’ he said wearily. ‘Christ, Paget, what kind of man do you think I am? I’ll admit that I didn’t want him to marry Janet, but as God is my judge, I was not the one who splattered his brains all over the pillow like that. In fact I didn’t know he was dead until you told me last week, and that’s the truth. Neither did Janet.’

  Paget eyed him coldly. ‘Go on,’ he said.

  Mike Freeman rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward as if by doing so his words would be more convincing. ‘You have to understand,’ he said earnestly, ‘that what I did was for Janet’s sake. I didn’t want to see her hurt. But the more I tried to get her to see what a bastard Gray was, the more she refused to believe me. I had to do something.’

  It began, Freeman said, at dinner. He’d felt so pleased with himself that he had something on Gray at last, that he’d had a few celebratory dr
inks that afternoon, and Janet had commented on it.

  ‘She didn’t like me drinking,’ he explained. ‘Said it was bad for the heart. She was a bit sarcastic about it, and asked me what I was celebrating.’ Freeman pursed his lips and shook his head. ‘I should have kept my bloody mouth shut, but I started throwing out hints about having something on her precious David.’ He shrugged. ‘To be honest, we ended up in a slanging match. Finally, she ran off upstairs. I remember shouting after her that next time I’d get pictures.’

  Freeman went on to say that he’d spent the remainder of the evening drinking and brooding about Gray. And then it hit him. Why not get pictures? From what he’d seen through the window, Gray would be spending the night at the cottage, and if he could get inside somehow, he’d take pictures, and prove to Janet what Gray was like once and for all. He didn’t have a camera of his own, but Janet had an old 35mm Konica, and she always kept film in it.

  Freeman said he realized now that it was a stupid idea, and if it hadn’t been for the drink he would never have considered it.

  Paget wasn’t so sure about that. It seemed to him that Freeman was prepared to go to almost any lengths to keep his daughter from marrying, whether it be to Gray or anyone else.

  Freeman said he waited until he was quite sure that Janet was asleep, then phoned Porter and told him he was coming over. Porter, who had gone to bed, objected, but Freeman told him if he wanted to keep his job he’d better get dressed and meet him at the door.

  ‘I wanted him to drive us to the cottage, then stay outside with the engine running in case I had to leg it,’ Freeman explained.

  ‘How did you plan to get inside?’ Paget asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Freeman irritably. ‘Like I said, I’d had a bit to drink, and I suppose I thought I’d find a way when I got out there.’

  Once there, Freeman said he told Frank to park in the same place they had parked the previous afternoon. When Paget asked him what time that was, Freeman said his best guess was somewhere around one o’clock. He said he left Frank in the car while he walked back to the cottage and crept up the driveway. It was only when he got closer that he realized there was a light on in one of the upstairs rooms.