Brutal Pursuit

by Diane M Dickson

  “Ha ha. Funny – not.” Tanya shook her head at him. “Thanks, Dave, if anything unexpected comes up let me know, will you?”

  “Course I will. This yours now, is it?”

  “I have to see the DCI, but they sent me, so, I’m hopeful.”

  “So, you’re all better then?” He had replaced the lock into his evidence box and now pointed at her arm, which had needed surgery after the violent events at the end of her last case.

  “Yes, it’s fine thanks. I’ve done my physio like a good girl, and they’ve signed me off and put me back on the rota.”

  “Ah, just in time for this, lucky you.”

  “I guess so. I’ll go and have a word with Doctor Hewitt, and then I’ve got stuff to sort. Thanks, Dave.”

  “No problem. It’s good to have you back in harness. Is the enquiry about your last job finished?” he asked.

  “Yes, thank goodness. The DCI always told me there was nothing for me to worry about, but it was a big relief when they said we’d done it all right.”

  “Course you did. You always do.”

  She didn’t make friends easily and his comments surprised her. With Charlie gone maybe it would be nice to have some other, different mates among her colleagues after all. More than that though, she appreciated the unasked-for vote of confidence. As for friends, trouble was she wasn’t sure she really wanted any. Life was simpler without them.

  Chapter 4

  There was no way to cross the dirty, fly strewn floor without disturbing the small evidence tents that the SOCO team had placed to protect things that needed to be examined more closely, or where samples had been taken. There were already several people stepping carefully around each other.

  The pale shape of the naked man was tight against the wall, the cover a stained and noisome heap alongside. The place stank of vomit, but she had already been told that the scene was contaminated by the reaction of one of the poor individuals who had found this carnage. The medical examiner was speaking quietly into his recorder, while his assistant and a photographer made notes and recorded the terrible images. Simon turned and raised a hand. Tanya indicated that she would wait outside. He nodded and continued his examination of the corpse.

  She stepped into the plastic porch and phoned her boss. “I’m at the golf course, sir. There’s no doubt it’s a suspicious death. Parts of the body are missing.”

  “Are you fit, Tanya?”

  “I am. I was signed off last week. I’m itching to get back to work. I’ve been stuck at home with paperwork and my niece for weeks. I’m tearing my hair out.”

  He laughed. “I can imagine. Okay. Get your usual team together, those who are available. I’ll make some calls from here, clear their assignments. Let me know if you need anything else. You’re going to be one short anyway, now that Charlie has gone. I’ll see what I can do, maybe find you another bod. Keep me informed and I’ll see you in the morning for an update. Call my secretary to set up a time.”

  “Yes, sir, thank you.” She smiled, then felt guilty – pleasure was inappropriate, but it felt so good to be working again.

  Her first call was to Kate Lewis. The Detective Constable had been assigned, with several others, to investigate a spate of violent muggings. The victims were mostly old people who didn’t understand what had happened to them or why. It was depressing and ugly, she was happy to move on.

  “Thanks, ma’am. Do you want me to make the other calls, save you time? I can go in now if you like and sort a room for us, have the computer generate an operational name. It’s early yet and it’ll save time in the morning.”

  “Brilliant, thanks, Kate. I’m looking forward to seeing you again. It’s being cleared with your current DI. Will they be able to manage? Without you?”

  “I reckon so, they are about ready to bring in the scum. It’s winding up.”

  “Excellent. I’ll call Sergeant Harris myself. I need him to come out here and meet me.”

  She liked Kate. They had forged a good working relationship. Though she would never understand the older woman’s lack of ambition, she had great respect for her skills on the computer and her ability to spot things hidden in the data. She could leave it to Kate to have things ready to go by the time they met up in the morning.

  There was still no sign of Simon Hewitt, so she called Serena at home. “I’m going to be a while yet. Can you sort yourself something to eat?”

  “Yeah. I might go out anyway.” The girl sounded sullen and bad-tempered.

  “No, I don’t want you to. You need to stay in. We discussed this, Serena. I told you that if you were going to stay with me it was by my rules. I don’t know how long I’ll be, and I don’t want to be worrying about you on top of everything else. Stay in.”

  “Oh, bloody hell.”

  With the expletive, the girl cut the call. This wasn’t going to work for much longer. It had been manageable while she had been on sick leave. They had spent hours together, talking. Tanya had let the girl unburden herself, not only about the events in Holland but the problems at home that had led to her rebellion. There had been some laughs, a few trips to the cinema and Pizza Hut. Now, she would have no time for dealing with a moody and temperamental teen. She called her sister and was relieved to hear the voice mail message.

  “Fiona, we need to talk. I’m back in work now, things are going to have to change. I can’t deal with my job and your daughter. Ring me. Leave it until later, after nine.”

  She knew she sounded sharp, but this wasn’t her problem. When Serena had disappeared, a few months earlier, Tanya had gone to Scotland and found her. Though she had very possibly saved her life, she didn’t believe that made her responsible for her ongoing care. It was time for Fiona to step up and take responsibility. She had always been spoiled and selfish but enough was enough. The poor soul inside this stinking hut deserved all of her attention, and he would have it.

  The plastic curtain over the doorway moved and she turned to see Simon Hewitt stepping through. He pulled down his face mask. “Tanya, lovely to see you again. You look well, but actually a bit, erm, irritated. Is there something wrong?”

  She laughed. “Well yes, but I’m handling it. It’s good to see you again Doctor… Simon.”

  It was. He looked good, in spite of the unflattering outfit.

  He held out a hand. “Welcome back.”

  Chapter 5

  Tanya phoned Paul Harris as she trudged back along the designated route towards the car park and the little huddle of brick buildings. “Sorry to interrupt your weekend, Sergeant.”

  “That’s okay, ma’am. The wife’s got her family here, it’ll be a relief to escape to be honest. I reckon I’ll be there in about half an hour, give or take a bit for the traffic.”

  “There’s a plod on duty, I’ll let him know where I am so that you can find me,” Tanya said.

  In the clubhouse people were doing their best to look appalled and sad, but they couldn’t hide their ghoulish, suppressed excitement. All eyes turned to the door as Tanya walked through. She glared at the nearest person – a red-faced, overweight individual in a check sweater and pink trousers. “Where will I find whoever is in charge?”

  The man obviously thought he was deserving of a bit more deference, he’d paid his dues after all; greens fees, membership – this was his club. “Who are you exactly?”

  Tanya didn’t speak, she flashed her warrant card and stared silently at him across the small space. Tension built, but at the end of the day, she was ‘the authorities’ and had the upper hand. With a huff, he waved towards a door set in an alcove beside the bar. He wasn’t giving up without a fight though. “When will I be able to leave? I have things to do; we all have things to do.”

  Tanya had begun to walk away but she stopped and turned. For a moment she lowered her head. When she raised her eyes to him, he took a step back at the glint of anger sparking there. “I will let you know when you can leave. We will have to speak to you – all of you.”

  She
glanced back and forth to include the others in the room – some sixteen or seventeen people; nearly all men. “You will need to give us your contact details, amongst other things. We can’t get on with that until I have more officers available, so I ask you to be patient. Have another drink maybe. This is a serious situation and there are routines we will follow. Now, excuse me.”

  As she moved away the antagonist huffed under his breath. “I’ll have a word about this, the Assistant Chief Constable is a personal friend.”

  Tanya half turned towards him. “In that case, sir, I am sure he’ll be pleased to hear that everyone co-operated fully with our enquiries.”

  She threaded her way through the groups of golfers and knocked on the office door. It was flung open and the secretary stepped aside, allowing her through. He peered at the members muttering in the club room, and wagged a hand at them, as if to say – go away, stop milling around. Then he turned to follow Tanya. Once inside, with the door firmly closed on the frustrated, nosey group outside, he indicated a chair in front of his desk and he passed behind it to take his own seat.

  “Were they giving you hassle? I’m sorry. Everyone is upset, stressed out. It’s terrible – Spencer and Peter are dreadfully distressed. I wonder if they should be taken to the hospital, to be honest. I’ve put them in the first aid room, I hope that was okay. They weren’t fit to be out there, with everyone asking them about it. Was that okay?”

  “Is there anyone with them?”

  “There was Doctor Lawler, but he’s had to go to an emergency. There’s a police constable, one of the ones who arrived first, and the club first aider.”

  “Excellent. I’ll go and speak to them now. I have my sergeant on the way and, as soon as we can, we’ll take statements from your members and let them get off home.”

  “Will the club have to close?”

  At the question, Tanya’s eyes widened in surprise. “You do understand there’s a body out there?”

  “Well yes, but I just thought maybe if we just close that tee, we could allow members to play. Not today, obviously; well, it’s too late anyway, being wet with the storm and all.” He glanced out of the window.

  Tanya understood that people dealt with trauma in different ways but nonetheless she was appalled. “I’m sorry Mr…”

  “Traynor, Stephen Traynor. Secretary.”

  “Right, well, Mr Traynor, your club will be closed until we’re satisfied that we have found whatever there is to be found. By that I mean, anything and everything that may help us to identify this person and hopefully lead us to who did this dreadful thing. I don’t know how long that might be.”

  He didn’t have an answer. She saw him struggle; watched as he acknowledged he had screwed up.

  He coughed. “Well, yes, of course, of course. I just… the thing is, you see they will want to know.” He pointed at the door. “The owners, they’ll be in touch no doubt, I just …” His speech fizzled out and he coughed again, dragged a notepad towards himself. “What is it you’d like us to do now? We’ll be as much help as we can, obviously.”

  “Thank you. We’ll do what we can to move things along swiftly. In the meantime, I would appreciate a room where myself and my sergeant can interview your members and the staff.”

  “You can use this one, for as long as you need. There’s a phone here, there’s WiFi; oh yes, I’ll let you have the password.”

  Tanya was amused. Embarrassment and over-reaction made him gabble and become effusive. She nodded, glancing around.

  “This will be fine. Thank you.”

  There was a quiet knock on the door. Traynor opened it and Paul Harris stepped in. He grinned at her. Although he wasn’t her favourite member of the team, a misogynist and at times crude, she smiled back at him.

  This was happening, she was back.

  She walked across the little room, passed the shelves of trophies and a golf trolley with a bag of clubs on it pushed up against the wall.

  She spoke quietly, just above a whisper. “Paul, good to see you. We can use this room to interview the people outside. I don’t think we need much beyond the basics at this stage. Names and addresses and what have you. We can probably get through it ourselves in an hour or so unless something unexpected comes up.”

  She glanced at her phone, “I’m still waiting to speak to Doctor Hewitt, but I have a feeling the death occurred a while ago, probably not here, so it is very likely the golfers who were on the course today will be of little help. We do need a list of all the members and when they were here last. I noticed there is CCTV on the car park, possibly elsewhere. We’ll need to have the recording from that for as far back as possible, and at least for the past week. I’ll speak to the secretary about that myself.” She jerked her head backwards indicating the man sitting at the desk, craning his ears for any snippet that would give him one up on the other members.

  “Right, boss, do you want me to go down and view the deceased?” Harris said.

  “No need, and to be honest you wouldn’t want to. Could you ask that numpty outside to let Dr Hewitt know where I am? I would like a word before he leaves. He can radio his rather more intelligent mate who is down at the scene. Then you come back here. The sooner we get started, the sooner these people can get off home.”

  “On it, boss.”

  As he left, she turned to find the secretary clearing things from the top of his desk. “Thank you, Mr Traynor. If you could just show me where the first aid room is, and then maybe you’d like to wait in the bar with the members.”

  Chapter 6

  There was no doubt the two men who had discovered the body were shocked and distressed. Unless they were brilliant actors, their reaction to the grisly find negated any possibility that they could have been involved. Indeed, once she had the complete account, Tanya dismissed them as nothing other than unfortunate witnesses. Anyone who had dumped the body in that hut would never go back to seek shelter there, not even during the greatest storm in Christendom.

  “Do you think either of you need to be taken to the hospital, and treated for shock or whatever? We could take you in a patrol car, no need for an ambulance.”

  They both declined, and Peter Baker raised his shot glass and wiggled it back and forth. “A drop of brandy helped, rare to get a freebie around here.” He managed a short humourless laugh. “My wife’s agreed to come and take us both home. I don’t think I’m fit to drive and Spencer’s not.”

  He nodded towards his friend who was sat, head down, with his shaking hands clasped between his thighs. Apart from answering direct questions, he hadn’t spoken. His grey eyes had flooded with tears as he described the dreadful scene.

  He gulped and spoke quietly. “I don’t think either of us will ever get that out of our minds, Detective. I can still smell it. How can you get rid of that? It’s in my throat. God, I swear I can taste it.”

  “If you smear something else just under your nose it sometimes helps – something like Vicks, that sort of thing.”

  “Thank you, thanks. I’ll do that when I get home. Can we go?”

  “Yes. We may need to speak to you again but thank you for your help. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this.”

  As he stood and picked up his coat, Cartwright turned to her again. “I don’t suppose you know who he is – that poor bugger?”

  “Not yet, sir, but we will find out. We’ll find who did this and we’ll bring them to justice. It’s what we do.”

  He lifted his coat and held it inches from his face. “I can smell it on here.” He thrust it towards the first aid man. “Jamie, do me a favour would you? Burn this.”

  They trudged out through the silent bar room, all eyes turned towards them, but they kept their gaze down and didn’t acknowledge anyone. A car pulled to a halt in the middle of the car park and a tall, slender woman jumped out. She gave Peter Baker a quick hug and then leaned to give Cartwright an air kiss near each cheek before opening doors for both of them. Tanya wondered if they would ever fully reco
ver. Doing the job, you became more accustomed to the horrible things you saw, but as she watched them drive away, she lifted her arm and sniffed at the sleeve of her own jacket. It was there, maybe in her nose, maybe on her clothes – despite the protective suit.

  It didn’t take them long to interview the rest of the members. Some had been out on the course and scurried for cover when they saw the storm coming. Some had been in the clubhouse waiting for it to pass. Several were there only for the drinks and the break from Sunday chores, and relatives, and shopping with their wives. There was nothing concrete to ask them yet, all that was required was to record their names and addresses and get a feel for them. Nothing stood out, nobody appeared particularly nervous, nobody was flustered or evasive. It was just as she had expected it to be.

  Simon Hewitt walked into the bar just as the last of them drove off. The constable on duty replaced the crime scene tape, glancing back as he did so to see Tanya watching. She smiled to herself – it hadn’t been his best day and she could imagine him yearning for the end of his shift.

  “Tanya.” The medical examiner held out a hand. He had removed the protective suit and was dressed in well-worn jeans, a sweatshirt, and a fur-lined leather jacket. Down time clothes. “It’s good to see you looking so well. Injury all healed now?”

  In response, she flexed and bent her arm. “Good as new. The pin will stay in forever apparently, but there’s no pain now and I have full movement.”

  “So, you’re back in the swing then?”

  “I’m getting there. I have to admit I was bored to death at the house. Serena is still there but it’s like living with an alien. I think it’s been good for her but it’s time to finish it. She needs to go home, so this is great.”

  She felt her cheeks heat as she realised what she’d said. “Well, not great, obviously for that bloke.” She pointed back towards the hut. “Not good for him, bu… oh, you know what I mean.”