Wild Thing: 'a chilling cold-blooded killer' (Ted Darling crime series Book 7)

by L M Krier

  Ted was never sure how much of what Jo said about his Catholic background was true or just part of the role he liked to cast for himself.

  'So we possibly have the killer's DNA?'

  'We have someone's, boss, for sure.'

  'Boss, there's something else that doesn't sit quite right with me.'

  Jezza again.

  Ted nodded to her to go ahead. Her ideas were often helpful.

  'Morgane gave the officers who attended her father's mobile number to contact him.'

  Seeing blank looks, she went on, her tone impatient.

  'Who knows phone numbers off the top of their heads, these days? Tommy does; memorising numbers is just one of the things he likes to do. But honestly, could all of you say you know your next of kin's mobile number without looking at your own phone to find it? Hardly anyone dials phone numbers any more, they're all saved on speed dial.'

  'I know Trev's,' Ted said without thinking, then saw the grins of his team. They all knew how close the boss and his partner were. 'All right, maybe not everyone does, but where does that take us? What are you suggesting, Jezza? That Morgane is somehow involved in killing her own mother?'

  'I'm not suggesting anything, boss, I'm just flagging up a couple of things which don't sit quite right with me.'

  'Which is what we need. Jo, we'll get a DNA sample from Max Newman in the morning, as soon as we can, and get that sent off for checking against that found in Morgane's bedroom. We'll see if we can get the lab to rush it through for us as it's clearly our most important lead so far. Morgane's father did mention that she knew a boy with a snake and that he might have been called Max. I think it's a bit too far-fetched to imagine we have two teenage boys called Max who both keep pet pythons and who both live on our patch.

  'I also want CCTV from the route the car would have taken to go from Broadway, or a road just off it, passing Lisburne Lane and finishing up at Seventeen Windows. Luckily, that limits the likely routes. Mike, can I put you in charge of that, please? I can't tell you much about the car, I'm afraid, just that Morgane said she thought it was small and black, or at least dark-coloured. I'll chase up the Professor to see if she can narrow the time of death down for us. That will at least save us time looking for the vehicle before the event. If we can clock the car leaving, we can work back from that moment when we need to. There's going to be hours of tape which needs viewing, so let's try to narrow it down as much as possible from the start.'

  'What exactly are we looking for, boss?'

  'Ah, that's the million dollar question. Let's concentrate on what we know, or at least what we think we know. Morgane said she was in the back seat, so probably a car rather than a van. She also said it was black and, being an artist, I don't imagine she'd get the colour wrong. So let's start off with dark-coloured cars. Ignore vans and anything light or brightly-coloured for now. She thinks she went out at ten and came back an hour or so later, and she was found just after midnight. She could be wrong in her earlier timings, so try looking initially between nine o'clock and midnight.

  'Right, I'll be interviewing Max Newman early. I've asked for him to be brought in at eight o'clock if that's possible. I'm hoping, if he's still half asleep, that he won't have had time to think up an alibi, if he is involved. So the Big Boss is in charge of morning briefing,' he said, nodding towards Jim Baker. 'Jezza, are you able to get in for eight? Can you sort out childcare for Tommy? I'd like you in on this if possible. You're good at picking up on anything that's not quite right.'

  Jezza nodded. 'No worries, boss, I can sort that in a phone call if you give me five minutes.'

  'Fine, come and find me when it's sorted and we'll talk about how I'd like the interview to go.'

  It was not long after he'd finished his discussion with Jezza that Ted's mobile phone rang. Kate Jones, with an update.

  'Morgane and I chatted for a bit after you left, boss. Nothing too detailed, I didn't push it. I want to gain her trust before I start asking too many probing questions. Anyway, she was clearly very tired so she's gone to bed for a snooze. I thought I'd try talking to her father now, see if he says anything useful when it's just me and him. Anything in particular you need me to ask about?'

  'Try to find out about friends, of Morgane and of her mother. Ask about relatives, too. Let's get full details of the close family circle. Oh, and we're going to need. ..'

  'The clothes she was wearing when she found her mother.'

  Not so much interrupting him as finishing the sentence for him, showing him again how on the ball she was.

  'I already asked about those, but they've been washed. Morgane stuck them straight in the washing machine, once she got home from hospital, before she'd even showered and changed.'

  'And her shoes?'

  'She binned them, boss. Said they'd never clean up to the point where she'd wear them again so she threw them in the bin. And it's been emptied since, I checked.'

  'We're going to need Morgane's fingerprints and DNA, and get her father's too, please, as soon as you can. We'll need to know exactly who handled what in the house.

  'About washing the clothes so quickly. I did mention to her father that we'd need them. Is that normal, from Morgane, would you say, or a bit hasty?'

  'Perfectly normal, I would say. Her dad said she spent ages in the shower, too. I can imagine it must be awful to have yourself and your clothes covered in your mother's blood. Also she doesn't seem to have many things here so she'd be thinking of having a clean change of clothing. I doubt she'll feel much like going out shopping at the moment. Is it worth bringing the clothes in to see if any traces of anything are left?'

  'I think anything's worth a shot. Can you drop them off here? I know you're not mobile ...'

  'I'm getting my partner to taxi me, so I'll bring them in when I leave here. He works sensible hours so he's free to help, and my children are with their doting granny, who loves any excuse to babysit them for as long as possible. If you've already left, I'll see you in the morning for the briefing, boss.'

  Ted highly doubted he would have left by then. He intended spending some time going through the notes of his interview with Morgane before he left for the evening. He'd already resigned himself to missing his martial arts session, although with regret. Jim Baker, though, had other ideas.

  When he stood up and started to gather his things together, he told Ted, 'Time you were making a move, too, Ted. Isn't it your judo night? You look as if you need something like that. Sitting here half the night isn't going to make any difference in the greater scheme of things.

  'I'm going home to Bella and a nice home-cooked meal. You should go and spend some time with Trev, while you can, doing whatever it is you do. And no, I really don't need to know. Just go and burn off some energy. You look like you need to. I'll see you here in the morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.'

  Put like that, Ted had to admit it sounded inviting. And Jim was right. He could sit here for another few hours looking through CCTV images but he'd not really be any further forward with the enquiry until he had the results of the semen stains found in Morgane's bedroom. More importantly, until they'd been checked against Max Newman's DNA, which they wouldn't even have until the following morning.

  'Is that an order, boss?' he asked with a grin.

  'I can make it one, if it means you'll get your backside out of here at a decent time and go and have some fun.'

  For once, Ted didn't need telling twice. He was going to be too late for the children's self-defence group, but he could at least now do his own judo session and was eager for some fast and furious randori with Trev. Despite Trev having the height and weight advantage, Ted had the speed and technical skills to beat him every time, especially fired up as he was by the current case.

  He knew their coach, Bernard, would always put him with Trev when he could see that Ted was wound up by work. He was looking forward to it, an unexpected bonus, as he'd resigned himself to not getting there. But he knew that meant he was pushing his
luck if he hoped to get away at a decent time to eat with Siobhan and the visitor she was bringing on Friday, as he'd promised to try to do.

  He went home first to pick up his kit bag and change into sweats. He was immediately accosted by the cats, looking accusing and shamelessly claiming to be starving, although Ted could see that Trev had already given them food and cleaned up after them.

  'It won't work, you lot, I don't believe a word of it. I can see that you've already eaten. I'm going out now, but I won't be long. Oh, and make yourselves scarce when we get back. I want to spend a bit of time with Trev without competing with you for his attention.'

  Ted found he was suddenly in an extremely good mood. Jim had been right; he needed to let off a bit of steam and spend some time with his partner. When it came to music, both he and Trev were big fans of Queen. But alone in his car, as he was now on the way down to the dojo, he indulged his ill-kept secret love of country music. Kenny Rogers, at full throttle, singing 'We've Got Tonight' with Dolly Parton, his preferred version. Ted joined in with his more than acceptable tenor voice, drawing some odd looks whenever he stopped for traffic lights.

  Trev had just finished with the juniors by the time Ted had got changed into his judogi and gone into the dojo. The way Trev's face lit up when he saw his partner never failed to make Ted's heart race. Trev was encircled by adoring youngsters but he extricated himself skilfully and came over immediately. They were always discreet in front of the youngsters but for anyone who could read body language, the chemistry between them was obvious.

  'Hey, you, I didn't think you could get here. I'm glad you did.'

  'You may not say that when I've finished with you,' Ted said huskily, his voice low enough so the juniors couldn't overhear him.

  Trev laughed delightedly. He was just about to reply when Flip bounded up to them, his face beaming almost as much as Trev's. His arm was still in plaster, although the bruising to his face was fading fast.

  'Hi, Ted; Trev said you weren't coming tonight. Can I stay and watch you train? Please?'

  He looked hopefully from his hero to his foster mother. Ted hadn't really wanted an audience. As wound up as he was, he sometimes got a bit carried away and Bernard had to step in to calm things down. But seeing how eager Flip was, he hadn't the heart to say no.

  More than ever, Ted was yearning to get to his Krav Maga club soon. He hadn't had time to go recently and it was there more than anywhere that he could burn off pent-up energies and frustrations. In this dojo, under the watchful eye of Bernard, and now the adoring gaze of young Flip, he would have to keep control of himself.

  Even so, both he and Trev were sweating and out of breath when they’d finished the session.

  'Shower here, or when we get home?' Trev asked as they went to the changing room to put their outdoor clothes on.

  'I think at home would be safest, don't you?' Ted asked him with a suggestive smile. 'What about food? No doubt we'll want something later.'

  'I put a casserole in the oven before I came out, on a low light. It'll be fine, until we're ready for it.'

  The shower turned out to be a long and an interesting one. Afterwards, Ted realised that with the bacon rolls a distant memory, he was ravenous. Once he'd finished eating and sided away both their plates, he sat for a moment, smiling at his partner.

  'We're more than all right, aren't we? I sometimes worry that we're not. But we are.'

  Trev laughed.

  'If you still have doubts after that, then I don't know what I can do to convince you.'

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Max Newman's father looked bleary-eyed and disgruntled when Ted and Jezza went into the interview room where he and his son were waiting. He was unshaven. He'd pulled an unbuttoned shirt on over his dirty T-shirt which looked and smelled as if it had not been washed since Ted had last seen him in it a week ago. His body odour was tempered only in part by that of stale beer and cigarettes.

  His son, sitting next to him, looked smaller than Ted remembered, clearly ill at ease. His eyes were travelling ceaselessly from the two officers to his father and back.

  'Is all this bloody fuss still over him nicking a few biscuits from another kid and shoving that other lad over when he tried to attack him? It's a bit of bloody overkill, isn't it? Sending a squad car round for all the neighbours to see?'

  'I just need to ask Max a few more questions, Mr Newman,' Ted said patiently. 'Max, you're not under arrest, but I have to ask you a few more things, in connection with a rather more serious matter. Your father is here as an appropriate adult to ensure that your interests are protected because you're under the age of seventeen. Do you understand that?'

  Max nodded warily, as if worried about what he might be agreeing to.

  'Max, can you tell me if you know someone called Morgane Edwards, please?'

  The expression in the boy's eyes changed as if iron shutters had clanged down. He shook his head emphatically but didn't speak.

  'You said you did, you little git,' his father said to him. 'When it came on the telly, about her mam being murdered, you said she was at your school.'

  'Please allow Max to speak, Mr Newman. Your role is to support him, nothing more.'

  'Yeah, well just tell them the truth, then we can get out of here.'

  'So do you know her, Max?'

  The boy shrugged.

  'I know she's at the same school as me, but there's hundreds of pupils. I don't know 'em all. They announced it at school, what happened. I'm not in the same class or nothing.'

  'Do you know how to drive a car, Max?' Jezza put in at this point.

  She and Ted had agreed between them who was asking what questions, and at what point.

  Again the shrug.

  'I've messed about with cars a bit with me mates, nothing more than that.'

  'Do you have access to a car? Do either of your parents have a car?'

  The boy's father opened his mouth to reply but Ted cautioned him not to.

  'It's Max we're interviewing, Mr Newman. Please just allow him to speak. If you think he doesn't understand a question at any point, then you can help and advise him.'

  'We ain't got a car. Me dad had to sell it when he lost his job.'

  Ted took over the questioning again.

  'Max, we're going to ask you if you would consent to us taking your fingerprints and a saliva sample containing your DNA, so that we can eliminate you from our ongoing enquiries. Would you be happy with that?'

  Now the father was looking as wary as the son.

  'Do we need a lawyer or something? What's he done that you need to do all this stuff? How can I advise him if I don't know what he's supposed to have done?'

  Again, the boy was darting suspicious looks from one to another of them. He had muddy brown eyes. They finally settled on Ted's face with a look that was something like an appeal.

  'I want to talk to you. Just you. No one else. Not me dad, not another copper. Just you and me.'

  Ted was taken aback but trying not to show it. He measured his words carefully as he replied.

  'That's not really going to be possible, I'm afraid, Max. There has to be an appropriate adult present at all times when I interview you ...'

  'Not an interview. I just want to tell you summat and I don't want anyone else to hear it. Especially not 'im.'

  He jerked his head towards his father as he spoke. The older man's brows drew down in a frown as he looked at his son, clearly about to say something else.

  'Max, I'm going to have to go and take some advice on the best course of action. There are rules I have to follow when I'm talking to a young person, and I'm not someone who breaks rules. DC Vine will stay with you for the moment and I'll find someone to bring you some refreshments while you wait.'

  He looked at Jezza and she gave a barely perceptible nod. Message understood. The boss didn't want Max left alone with his father in case there was any undue pressure brought to bear on the boy, especially any threat of violence.

  I
t was to the Ice Queen that Ted went first. She was overall in charge of everything which happened in her station. If Ted did anything out of order, her head would roll first, fractionally ahead of his.

  'You have no idea what he wants to talk to you about? It's not likely to be a confession to killing the girl's mother?'

  'At this stage, I don't really know, but I get the feeling we're not going to get very far with him unless I do let him speak to me first. I think he's wary of his father. I had to stop him raising a hand to Max when I first spoke to him last week.'

  She was shaking her head.

  'I don't like the sound of it at all. You could find yourself in a compromising situation if we don't handle this very carefully. Would he speak in front of another appropriate adult, do you think?'

  It was Ted's turn to shake his head.

  'I get the feeling he wouldn't. He and I did have a chat together when he was putting his python away, when Megan and I went to the house last week to talk to him about bullying. We got on all right. Maybe he thinks we bonded a bit.'

  'Is Superintendent Baker in the building?'

  'He should be by now, I imagine. He's taking morning briefing while I'm questioning Max.'

  'I think DI Rodriguez is perfectly capable of taking over from him for that, don't you? I think the best course of action would be for you to talk to this Max in an interview room away from his father, but have the Superintendent Baker watch via the camera. Then at least you have a witness to what is said and done.'

  'I'll have to tell Max, if he asks if anyone is watching or listening.'

  'Of course. But you can tell him it's that or carry on as you are, with his father in the room. Or his mother, if he has one and if he prefers her. I think that's the best way forward.'

  Once Ted and Max were alone in the room, the boy's eyes travelled round every inch of the walls until he spotted the camera, high up near the ceiling in the corner.