‘Let Rae and me have a look, ma’am, before you disturb the locals. The way he approached the river last night means he could have come from his parents’ house. There’s something else that’s been at the back of my mind for days. Every time we see Rod he goes on about how much he hated gardening and his dad’s obsession with it, particularly the greenhouse. I want to have a look. It’s only a mile or so from Pete’s house, so the timing fits with what happened last night.’
And so it was. On the far corner of the greenhouse shelving, behind a row of seed packets, was an innocuous-looking plastic bag. Inside were bundles of banknotes, most of them still with wrappers around them. And tucked in behind them at the very back? A roll of grey sticky tape, partly used. Marsh thought back to George Warrander’s discovery of the tape roll at the murder scene and the boss’s observation that it looked too new to have been used. It was all coming together.
* * *
Pete Armitage was still in hospital, suffering from concussion. The doctor treating him was fairly sure that his injuries weren’t serious, but he wanted to keep Pete in hospital for another day or two for observation. The china vase used to assault him had Rod’s fingerprints all over it and that, together with the money found in Ted’s greenhouse, gave them a starting point for their questions. A lawyer arrived, and they were finally ready to interview Rod.
Marsh took the lead. ‘What happened at your uncle’s house last night, Rod?’
Rod shrugged.
‘We have your fingerprints on a vase found on the floor beside Pete. He was unconscious from a head wound, caused by that vase. Those are the facts, Rod. We need an explanation.’
‘He owed me some dosh and wouldn’t hand it over. It was bugging me. That cash was mine.’
‘What money?’
‘Toffee had given him some cash to pass onto me. Pete was holding onto it.’
‘What was it for?’
‘A job I done recently at the club. I needed some ready dough. I was skint.’
‘How much?’
‘About five hundred.’
‘So where is it, Rod? You didn’t have that much on you when we brought you in last night. Where’s the rest?’
Rod shrugged. ‘Probably at home. Maybe I dropped some when you lot assaulted me in Pete’s garden.’
Marsh looked at him. ‘Are you alleging assault against us?’
Rod didn’t reply immediately. He was obviously thinking hard. ‘No, I s’pose it was dark and your guy couldn’t see who it was. But that’s where I could’ve lost some of the cash.’
‘So you didn’t take it away and deliberately hide it somewhere? And it was only a few hundred? Think carefully before replying, Rod. Lies have a habit of coming back to haunt you.’
Rod reverted to his habitual bemused expression. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘I don’t know, Rod. That’s why I’m asking you.’
Rod shook his head. ‘No. I ain’t hid nothink. I lost it, like I said.’
‘It’s just that your fingerprints are all over the greenhouse in your parents’ garden, and they weren’t there last week when we dusted. There were bits of mud on the floor this morning, still damp. And their shape fits the sole-pattern on your boots exactly, our forensic team have checked. There was a reel of sticky tape hidden inside the greenhouse, with your prints on. It wasn’t there when it was searched after your parents’ bodies were first found. There was a package of money tucked away, hidden at the back. It had your prints on the outside. You were there last night, weren’t you? Hiding incriminating evidence. And it was a huge amount of cash, not just the few hundred you’ve claimed it to be. Where did that cash come from, Rod? How did you earn it?’ There was no reply. ‘We know where the money came from, which bank handed it over, and who to. So the really important question, Rod, is what did you have to do for Wayne Woodruff to earn you that much? It’s probably more money than you’ve ever had before. Can you explain that to us?’
There was no answer.
* * *
Sophie and Marsh called on Sharon Giroux late in the afternoon, and told her the news.
‘We’ll be charging Rod, Sharon. It might well be that he was only an onlooker when your parents were murdered, but he knew about it and helped to plan it, we’re convinced of that. Their deaths eased the pressures on several people who knew each other, but they stood to gain for different reasons. Your mum and dad were at the funeral when Woodruff slipped a bribe to Councillor Blythe, and he became paranoid about it. For Rod it was different. He got wind of your mother's idea of cutting him out of the will, possibly Pete knew as well. Pete was involved in the burglaries without a doubt, but we don't think he was in on your parents’ deaths. His business wasn't paying well and the break-ins gave him some easy money. The link between them all was Toffee Barber. He and the other murdered man, Tony Sorrento.'
Sharon was in tears. ‘Mum was starting to talk about giving a lot of her money away, like you said. I told her it was hers to do as she liked with, but wouldn’t Rod need something to help him pull himself together? She said it would just get wasted, like all the rest she’d given him. She said that maybe he needed a hard lesson, just like Dad kept saying. She swore me to silence. Rod wasn't to find out. I wonder if she somehow found out what they were up to with these burglaries. Maybe that's the real reason she was thinking of rewriting the will.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us?’
‘I couldn’t. I was trying to get on better with Rod. I could see that he’d need me when Mum and Dad finally passed away, and I was trying to keep some kind of a relationship going. I decided that even if they did change the will, I’d still give half of my inheritance to him. But I didn’t tell them that, and I didn’t mention it to him.’ She gave Sophie a long look. ‘He’s my brother. Despite everything, I still loved him and I really didn’t believe for a moment that he was involved with killing them. But now? After what he’s done? He can rot in hell. And Uncle Pete?’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t know what my life is about any more. Every time I think it can’t get any worse, it does. And those burglaries! They’ve been going on for some time, you say?’
‘Five years, we think,’ said Marsh. ‘Rod, Pete and Toffee Barber together. Barber had contacts all over the area and he got rid of the stuff they stole. They were being helped by a bent police officer.’
‘What will happen to him?’ Sharon asked.
‘He’s dead. He killed himself a few days ago.’ Marsh paused. ‘He was a friend of mine.’
CHAPTER 40: Catsuit
Saturday Evening, Week 3
The Black Swan Inn is an old, stone-floored pub, situated on Swanage High Street, a few minutes’ walk from the town centre. Barry Marsh’s engagement party was now in full swing in the function room. Buffet food was laid out on a couple of side tables alongside a large bowl of punch. He’d suggested an informal party, but had been overruled by Gwen, who’d surprised herself lately by discovering a taste for exotic fancy dress costumes. She’d come as Nell Gwyn, complete with a basket of oranges. Marsh wore a swashbuckler’s outfit, and felt decidedly self-conscious during the early part of the evening. Most of his friends, though, had put real thought into their costumes and, as they turned up in Spiderman, zombie and Ghostbuster outfits, he began to relax. The captain of his amateur football team came as a very attractive Wonder Woman and his wife was a surprisingly realistic Batman.
An hour or so into the party, Marsh looked around him. There was Rae, recognisable despite her Marilyn Monroe dress and blonde wig, chatting to her new boyfriend, Craig, dressed as a gunslinger. And Lydia, only just arrived and resplendent in regal attire. Even Jimmy Melsom had made an effort, although he was undoubtedly in danger of suffering from heatstroke inside his gorilla suit. But where was the boss?
He sidled across to Lydia, who’d been staying with the Allens for the last two nights. ‘Why hasn’t the boss arrived yet? I thought she was coming with you.’
Lydia laughed. ‘Haven’t you spo
tted her? Not surprised. Back at their house it took all my will-power not to gape when she appeared downstairs. I think Martin was having a fit and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him sooner rather than later. He was on the phone making hurried changes to his evening plans when we left. She was a bit shy and crept in behind me.’
Marsh looked around. ‘So she’s here? Where?’
Lydia nodded towards a corner, trying hard not to giggle. ‘Over there, trying to hide behind the people at the punch table. Jade spotted the outfit in a charity shop and wore it to a New Year party, apparently. She talked the boss into it. Well, bullied her to be more accurate.’
Barry looked over and his jaw dropped. ‘Not . . .?’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘Christ. I wondered who had dared to wear that. I thought it was one of my teammates’ girlfriends, doing it for a prank. She looks, well, stunning. But very extreme.’
‘I think we need to go over and calm her nerves, Barry. She’ll be fine once she gets a drink or two inside her.’
Sophie was wearing a skin-tight, stretchy cat suit in a leopard-print pattern, complete with mask, whiskers and tail, along with stiletto-heeled knee boots. She was sipping at a small glass of punch as Marsh approached. ‘That bloody daughter of mine! She talked me into this, Barry. I need a pint.’
‘Of milk?’ he replied with a straight face. ‘Shall I fetch a saucer?’
His boss aimed at him with her glass. Luckily it was empty.
Lydia laughed. ‘Miaow.’
THE END
THE SOPHIE ALLEN BOOKS
Book1: DARK CRIMES
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CRIMES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01B1W9CIG
http://www.amazon.com/CRIMES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01B1W9CIG
A young woman’s body is discovered on a deserted footpath in a Dorset seaside town late on a cold November night. She has been stabbed through the heart.
It seems like a simple crime for DCI Sophie Allen and her team to solve. But not when the victim’s mother is found strangled the next morning. The case grows more complex as DCI Sophie Allen discovers that the victims had secret histories, involving violence and intimidation. There’s an obvious suspect but Detective Allen isn't convinced. Could someone else be lurking in the shadows, someone savagely violent, looking for a warped revenge?
BOOK 2 DEADLY CRIMES
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DEADLY-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01DL5CGRK/
https://www.amazon.com/DEADLY-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01DL5CGRK/
A young man’s mutilated body is found on top of the Agglestone, a well-known local landmark on Studland Heath
It seems that he was involved in a human trafficking and prostitution gang. But why is DCI Sophie Allen keeping something back from her team? Is it linked to the extraordinary discovery of her own father's body at the bottom of a disused mineshaft, more than forty years after he disappeared?
Book 3: BURIED CRIMES
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SECRET-CRIMES-gripping-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01F6FAR06
https://www.amazon.com/SECRET-CRIMES-gripping-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01F6FAR06
Two women go away for the weekend, but only one comes back alive. Was it just the music they were into? And who was the man the victim met at the festival?
DCI Sophie Allen is back in charge after the emotional upheavals she suffered in 'Deadly Crimes,' but is she really in control? And Detective Constable Rae Gregson joins the team and immediately faces challenges that put her life in peril.
BOOK 4: BURIED CRIMES
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BURIED-CRIMES-gripping-detective-thriller-ebook/dp/B01I04EMTW/
https://www.amazon.com/BURIED-CRIMES-gripping-detective-thriller-ebook/dp/B01I04EMTW/
A family move into their dream home in Dorchester: it seems perfect, particularly for their two children, but when Philip and Jill Freeman move a buddleia bush, what they find buried beneath its roots will haunt them forever.
Glossary of English terms for US readers
ACC: assistant chief constable
Asian: someone who (or whose ancestors) originates from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Bladdered: drunk
Bob: money
Bod: person
Boffin: smart person, scientist
Boot: trunk, as in car trunk
Bother: as in bother, means in trouble
Charity Shop: thrift store
Caravan: camper or small motorhome
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chinwag: conversation
Ciggy: cigarette
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Copper: police officer (slang)
Cotton wool: raw cotton
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Coach: a bus, often used for travel, holidays or trips
Cos: because
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, body which decides whether cases go to criminal court
Council: local government body responsible for local services
Councillor: an elected member of a council
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Diary: appointment book
Dinner lady: lunch lady
Div: idiot (offensive)
Dodgy: not to be trusted, illegal
Dosh: money
Double glazing: insulated windows with two layers of glass
DC: detective constable
DI: detective inspector
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Fag: cigarette
Fancy: find attractive
FE: further education college
Freshers: Students in their first term/year at university
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gas people: company selling consumers gas for heating and hot water
Gobsmacked: surprised
Get off: make out
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Gran: grandmother
Guest house: a private house offering rooms to paying guests (in the days before Airbnb!)
Hard nut: tough guy
Hatchback: a car with an upwards-opening door across full width of back
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Home Office: UK government department in charge of domestic affairs
Inne: isn’t he
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Jobcentre: unemployment office
Jumper: sweater
Kosher: genuine or legal
Lad: young man
Lamped: hit
Lay-by: an area off a road where cars can pull in and stop
Lift: as in give a lift, drive someone somewhere
Loo: toilet
Lounge: living room
Lorry: a truck
Mobile phone: cell phone
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
Newsagents: shop selling newspapers, confectionery, cigarettes etc.
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
OCD: Obsessive-compulsive disorder
OS: Ordnance Survey, detailed map
Overalls: dungarees
PC: police constable
PM: post-mortem
Petrol: gasoline
Petrol station: gas station
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
Plod: policeman
Posh: upper class
Punter: client of prostitute / can also mean gambler
Randy: horny
Ready meal: prepared food which only needs to be reheated
Rock: a sugary candy often on sale at the seaside
Semi: semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only
Skinful: enough alcohol to make you drunk
Skip: a large container for building rubbish
Services: Shops and gas station by highway
Sixth-former: student in the final two years of high school (16-18 years old)
Sod: an annoying person
Sod it: expression meaning you’ve decided not to give a damn
Solicitor: lawyer
Squaddies: soldiers
Tea: dinner (Northern English)
Till: cash register
Tipsy: a bit drunk
Toerag: loser (insulting)
Ton: a hundred pounds
Torch: flashlight
Tosspot: wanker, an idiot
Tutor: university teacher
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
Two-up two-down: house with two bedrooms upstairs, and two rooms downstairs
Uni: university/college
Uniform: a police officer wearing a uniform, usually a police constable
Van: a vehicle for carrying goods
Warrant card: police ID in the UK
Wests: Fred and Rosemary, notorious serial killers
Young offender: criminal between 14-17 years of age
CHARACTER LIST
TWISTED CRIMES a gripping detective mystery full of suspense Page 24