She put the report aside and started on the details for Pete Armitage, Ted’s brother, included because he benefitted from the will. Rae only had access to a few documents at this stage but she could see that Pete’s decorating business was not exactly in the best of financial states. It appeared that the work had dried up a little in recent years with income only just matching his overheads. Maybe some more probing was required. Rae collected her jacket and walked across to Barry Marsh’s desk.
‘I’m just off to have a chat with Pete Armitage, boss. There are a few gaps in our knowledge of his financial background. Okay?’
* * *
Rae found Pete at home on a late lunch break, so they talked at the kitchen table while he munched his way through some ham sandwiches. He lived alone since an early marriage had failed within a year of the wedding. He’d become so used to pleasing himself in his daily routines that he couldn’t imagine having to adapt to a shared life.
‘I hope you don’t mind me asking you these questions, Mr Armitage. As I explained on the phone, it’s necessary because you’re a beneficiary from the will.’ She took a sip from the mug of tea that he’d poured for her. ‘I know I’ve only seen preliminary figures, but it looks as though income for your business has slumped a bit in the past couple of years. Is that right?’
‘The crash hit everyone. I nearly went to the wall, and a lot of other people in the building and decorating trade didn’t make it. Trade’s picked up a bit since then, but it’s still not healthy.’
‘You’ve been employing Rod. Do you have any other workers?’
Pete shook his head. ‘I used to have someone full time and at least one apprentice, but that’s all changed. I’ve just got rid of Rod too. He was a liability and I only employed him as a favour to Ted and Sylvia. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been losing money. His work was poor and he only turned up when he felt like it. I’ve just hired a new apprentice starting next month, and I hope she’ll turn out to have a better work ethic than Rod.’
‘So any money coming your way will be useful?’
‘If you’re talking about the money Ted and Sylvia left me in their will, then yes, it will be useful. Obviously. But if you’re suggesting that I was involved in their deaths, then you’ve got it wrong. That money was a thank you for giving Rod a job when he needed one. And I’ve been doing it for quite a few years now.’
‘But you’ve got rid of him pretty quick, haven’t you? Now they’re dead? How do you think that looks?’
Pete looked at her angrily. ‘That comment doesn’t even deserve an answer.’
‘Did Ted or Sylvia give or loan you any money a few months ago?’
‘Why would they have done that? My business is fine, thank you very much, and I don’t go around asking for handouts.’
‘So is that a no?’
‘It’s a no. Now I have to get back to work. I have a job to finish.’
CHAPTER 19: Dense and Substantial
Thursday afternoon, Week 2
DS Stu Blackman sighed, stretched back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
‘Christ, this is tedious stuff.’
‘Isn’t there a way we can swing a quick visit out somewhere?’ asked McCluskie. ‘I need some air. I need to stretch my legs. You’re the boss. Can’t you think of a reason?’
‘Need to lubricate your throat as well? The problem is, Her High and Mightiness made it clear we have to get clearance to go out. That means the reason has to be a good one. And my brain has gone dead.’
‘So you do have one, do you? It’s just that sometimes I wonder. Like now, for instance. Why can’t we go and see those two uniformed squaddies who found the car? Just to double check that we have all the details and they match with forensics? Doesn’t that sound convincing enough?’
‘You’re a genius, Phil.’
‘No I’m not. It’s just that you have a brain the size of a pea. How you made it to detective sergeant beats me. Marsh has just come back in, so let’s try it.’
Blackman tightened his slightly grubby tie and left his desk, followed by McCluskie.
Two minutes later the pair were back in their seats.
‘Christ,’ Blackman said, loosening his tie again.
‘Ditto,’ replied McCluskie. ‘Doesn’t it make you want to weep? Her High and Mightiness and the Ginger Gremlin. What a duo.’
‘Treating us like that! It’s not as though we’re bloody prisoners, is it?’
McCluskie looked at him shrewdly. ‘That’s exactly what we are. She’s keeping us here so we can’t get up to any mischief. So the key question, Mr Mastermind, is what mischief are we in danger of getting into? What are we supposed to have done? ’cause she hates having me within half a mile of her, believe me, I know. I reckon there’s been a glitch in the investigation, maybe a leak, and we’re on the suspect list for it. Better to have us on the inside pissing out than on the outside pissing in. If I’m right and, let’s face it, I’m rarely wrong, we’ve stumbled onto something interesting. Let’s try to find what that glitch could have been.’
‘Then what?’
‘Manipulate a better deal for ourselves. What else?’
* * *
‘So who might resent the potential loss of inheritance money? You say she’d mentioned it to Sharon, Rae?’
The whole team was assembled in the incident room for the late afternoon summary. Rae nodded.
‘Yes. I called her and she said that her mum had mentioned the possibility. I suppose the people most affected would have been Sharon herself, Rod, her brother Pete and Pierre, Sharon’s husband.’
‘And you spoke to Pete earlier this afternoon?’
Rae nodded. ‘It was mainly because I could see that his decorating business is not very profitable. He can only just be making ends meet, and he’s just given Rod the sack. I wanted to question him about that, but I did ask him if he knew about any charity donations Ted and Sylvia were making. He denied it.’
‘And did you believe him?’
‘Not sure. He got a bit uptight when I mentioned it. He also got angry when I suggested his sacking of Rod was a bit soon after the deaths. I think he’s got a shorter fuse than I first thought.’
‘The other thing we don’t know is how well the parents got on with their son-in-law, Pierre.’
‘He’s next on the list to interview again,’ Sophie added. ‘He’ll be back from Oxford late tonight, so one of us can see him in the morning. He seemed a very pleasant and co-operative man when we spoke to him last week. You see him, Barry. He won’t try to use that Gallic charm on you.’
Barry grinned. ‘Every reason to suspect him then?’
We don’t know a lot about him. It might be worth doing some background checks. If Sharon was the apple of her dad’s eye and Pierre was in need of money, he might have approached Sylvia on the quiet. It’s a thought, isn’t it? Anything else, anyone?’
‘We got on well with Rod, ma’am,’ McCluskie said. ‘We discovered his liking for certain illegal substances, so if he needs to be interviewed again we’d be good to go.’
Sophie was non-committal. ‘I’ll bear it in mind.’
‘It would be good for us to visit the scene, ma’am,’ continued McCluskie. We’re going through all the forensic stuff and crosschecking it, but it would make sense for it to be in context. Can we do that?’
‘Okay, but contact Rose Simons first and arrange for her to go with you. She can take you through what she spotted. And keep me in the frame.’ She looked at the clock. ‘She’s just about to come on duty. You could go now.’
Sophie waited until Blackman and McCluskie had left the room, before turning to Marsh. ‘That went well. Thanks for prompting me with Blackman’s request. I just need to get a message to Simons and Warrander before they head off with our transparent ‘tec duo.’ She fished her mobile phone out of her bag.
* * *
George Warrander and Rose Simons led the way south to the crime scene, then took Blackm
an and McCluskie through their discoveries of the previous week. All except one: the missing role of tape that had mysteriously reappeared.
Blackman shook his head. ‘Sounds bloody horrible. I’m glad it was you that found the bodies and not us. Who’d do such a thing?’
‘You’re the detectives,’ Rose answered. ‘That’s for you to discover, not us to speculate. And how come you’re back in favour all of a sudden? That’s a bit of a turn up, isn’t it?’
McCluskie grinned. ‘We’re just too good to be kept out of things for long. And it was our case originally, remember. Maybe she saw sense.’
Rose nodded slowly, apparently serious. ‘Yes, I can see the undoubted strengths that the two of you will bring to her investigation. You’ll fill a real hole. Don’t quite know what you’ll fill it with, but if something dense and substantial is required, you’re the two for the job.’
McCluskie took a step forward, arm raised and anger on his face.
‘Don’t try it, sonny-boy,’ Rose responded. ‘By the looks of you, you’d have trouble swatting a fly. Whereas me, well, I heave drunks into the back of vans all night long. I could floor you with one punch and without breaking sweat. We’ve done what you asked and now we need to get back to some serious policing. So if there’s no other information you need, let’s go.’
They made their way back to their cars. Warrander driving, he and Simons followed the two detectives out onto the road north.
‘What was that all about, boss?’ Warrander asked.
‘Those two make me sick. At least your pet DCI has the sense to keep them where she can see them. But they’re not happy bunnies, and my guess is that’s because they’re actually expected to do a decent day’s work for once. She’s up to something with them, that’s my guess. Particularly since she asked me not to mention the missing tape turning up.’
‘Why are they still in the force?’ asked Warrander. ‘And how come a moron like Blackman’s a DS?’
‘Well, that’s a story and a half. Contacts, Georgie boy. His uncle was a chief superintendent when rules were there to be broken. He used his influence just before he retired, or so it’s said. Blackman was okay for a while, but he buddied up with McCluskie when they were DSs together, and fell under his influence. When McCluskie was demoted a couple of years ago Blackman stuck by him. Misplaced loyalty. Now he’s under McCluskie’s thumb even though he’s the senior officer. McCluskie is a shrewd operator, way beyond Blackman in ability. He’s clever in a sly sort of way, but he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder. Anyway, I’ve talked too much. Let’s get back to civilisation, shall we? Or at last what passes for civilisation in the Wild West town of Blandford Forum. Mafia thugs look out. Here we come.’
Rose sent a quick text message to Sophie.
CHAPTER 20: Double Checking
Friday Morning, Week 2
Pierre Giroux showed Barry Marsh into the sitting room.
‘This shouldn’t take long, Mr Giroux. I just need to get all the facts about your trip to Oxford from Cornwall, and then confirm all the other details about your holiday.’
Pierre settled his tall slim frame into a chair facing Marsh. ‘I just took the one week’s leave from work, the second week of the holiday. My normal work pattern is to work from home for three days each week and to be in Oxford for each Wednesday and Thursday. I managed to spread my work across the two weeks, apart from those two days. I worked most mornings and joined Sharon and the children on the beach after lunch.’
‘Except for the two days she was in Exeter,’ Marsh added.
‘Yes, of course. Those two days were cloudy with some light rain, so we visited Truro, then the Eden Project. That was the Monday and Tuesday of our second week. Sharon was back with us in time to put the children to bed on Tuesday evening.’
Marsh checked his notes and nodded. ‘Right. Now, take me through your two days away. What time did you set out?’
‘At six thirty in the morning, the same as Sharon the following week. The local taxi picked me up and took me to St Austell to get the train to Reading, then I changed for Oxford. I worked on the train. I was in Oxford for the afternoon and stayed overnight in my usual hotel. I was in the office all day and most of the evening, then got the first train I could to get back to St Austell the next morning. Sharon and the children picked me up from the station at lunchtime.’
‘Doesn’t Newquay have a train service? It’s a lot closer to St Mawgan, so why not travel from there?’
‘It would have been ideal, but the service is terrible. Trains don’t start running until mid-morning. It’s a lot easier to go direct from a station on the main line.’
Marsh made a note to check this information.
‘You appear to have been busy all the time you were in Oxford. Didn’t you have a few hours free at some time? Maybe an evening?’
Pierre shook his head. ‘No. I did as much work as I possibly could in those two days. It meant that I had more time with my family when I was back in Cornwall.’
‘I can see the sense in that, but I will need some names, Mr Giroux. People who can corroborate what you’ve told me. And have you kept your tickets? That would be useful.’
‘The one to Oxford was kept by the machine, but I still have the one for my return home. They make ideal bookmarks.’ He crossed the room to a pile of books, pulled a ticket out and handed it to Marsh.
‘Did you go out at all in Oxford? Maybe for meals, or to socialise?’
‘Not until mid-evening. I had lunch in the office canteen. I had a pub meal each evening in the Lamb and Flag on my way back to my hotel. It’s on St Giles. They have some good wines there, and I use it most weeks.’
* * *
‘It all checks out, ma’am,’ Marsh reported to Sophie. ‘I even phoned the pub and spoke to the manager, who confirmed his account. At the moment there’s no reason to doubt his story. The same with his wife, I expect.’
Sophie shook her head. ‘Her story is not quite so innocent, but I don’t think she was up to anything that was linked to her parents’ deaths. It all hangs together and she has good alibis. So, at the moment, I think we can remove them both from our list of suspects. But I’m still a bit uneasy about them. Sharon is more of an emotional wreck than I suspected and Pierre is just a little too smooth for my liking.’
‘Maybe that’s just because he’s French, ma’am.’
Sophie raised her eyebrows. ‘I don’t think so. I’ve got French cousins and I get on with them really well.’ She paused. ‘What intrigues me is Rae’s idea that the murders might have pre-empted a large charity donation. Apparently Sylvia had a regular standing order out to a cancer support charity, ever since her own mother died a couple of decades ago. What if she was thinking of making a large donation that would have reduced someone’s inheritance, maybe significantly? We’ve also got to bear in mind the possible link to this Woodruff family who, let’s face it, might be just a wee bit shady in their operations. And then there’s this new thread. There doesn’t seem to be a link, but could there be one? We need to know more about the Woodruff lot. Hasn’t anything come back in from Bournemouth yet?’
Marsh shook his head.
‘Maybe I’ll pop across and see Kevin McGreedie now he’s back from leave. It’ll give me an opportunity to find out how Jimmy’s getting on in his new job.’
Jimmy Melsom had been Marsh’s assistant in Swanage. The young detective constable had worked with Marsh on three of Sophie Allen’s earlier cases, but had moved to join Bournemouth CID when Marsh joined the Violent Crime Unit as Sophie’s permanent number two. Kevin McGeedie was a senior detective in Bournemouth and was a longstanding friend of Sophie’s.
‘It’s been almost a year now, ma’am.’
‘Do you miss him, Barry?’
‘Of course I do. He was a good lad. Not suited to the kind of insight we need, but in general CID work he’ll be fine.’
‘My thoughts exactly. And he should do well, working for Kevin.’
* * *
Sophie walked in through the swing doors of Bournemouth police headquarters and showed her warrant card to the security officer. She took the stairs up to the CID offices, pausing to admire the view across Bournemouth from the lobby windows before entering the place she referred to as "Kevin’s Lair.”
McGreedie was just coming out of his office. ‘Well, to what do we owe this pleasure?’
She gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek. ‘I haven’t seen you for ages, and I’ve missed you.’
‘Hah! You’re up to something, I can tell.’
‘Well, that as well. I hear you were away last week. Anywhere nice?’
‘Just back to Selkirk to see Laura’s mother. We had a good rest though.’
‘How’s Laura?’
‘She’s got breast cancer. Really badly. That’s why we went to see her mum.’
‘Oh, Christ. Kevin. I don’t know what to say.’ She reached out and touched his arm. ‘Is it really that bad?’
‘Afraid so. Apparently it’s unusually aggressive, so the omens aren’t good. She’s just about to start a course of treatment, so we’re all trying to keep our hopes up. What else can we do?’
‘I’m glad I came across now. Why didn’t you let me know, for goodness sake?’
He shrugged. ‘Laura didn’t want it bandied about before she had confirmation, which was only a few days before we went away. She hates fuss and bother, as she puts it. She really can’t cope with pity.’
‘Knowing her, I can understand that. You must give her my love and let her know that I’ll help in any way I can. And I really mean that.’ She thought for a moment. ‘How would she feel about an evening out, across at our place for a meal? Maybe Saturday? Matt and Tracy are already coming and it’ll be no bother to have two more. I’ll get Martin to cook. You know how he loves to pretend he’s a chef, complete with mock French accent.’
TWISTED CRIMES a gripping detective mystery full of suspense Page 12