Double Jeopardy (Hero Book 4)

by MA Comley

  The man thought over the question for several moments, no hint of recognition on his face, then shook his head. ‘Nope, nothing comes to mind.’ He tapped his temple. ‘It’s not doing bad for my age. I’ll be seventy on my next birthday. But it’s still as good as it has ever been.’

  ‘That’s good to know, Mr. Drake. So after finding the body, you called 999. Is that it?’

  ‘Yep, that’s about it. Your lot were on the scene within ten minutes. I was really impressed with that, considering my neighbour had some sheep stolen last week and your mob still haven’t shown up to take a statement or do anything about it.’

  ‘That’s a shame. I’ll look into that case upon my return. That should never happen. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.’

  ‘One good deed and all that. You expect us to keep a vigilant eye on things in the community, but when your call is ignored … well, people just won’t bother in the future, will they?’

  ‘You’re right, of course. Is there anything else you think we should know about? Have you had any strangers either up at the farm or call you, perhaps?’

  ‘Not that I can think of. I’m out there most of the day. What about you, Liz?’

  Mrs. Drake finished pouring the malt vinegar in the last of the jars and stood back against the worktop. ‘Nope, nothing is ringing a bell with me. Sorry.’

  ‘Not to worry. Okay, we’ll just get you to sign the statement and then be on our way in that case.’ Hero reached for his mug of coffee and downed the cool liquid.

  Julie pointed to certain parts of the statement for Mr. Drake to sign, then, she too, downed her drink and stood up.

  ‘Sorry I couldn’t be much help. Will you let us know when you catch the bastards who did it?’

  ‘We will. Thanks again for all your assistance. I hope this doesn’t disrupt your work too much.’

  ‘I’ll take the day off and get back to things tomorrow. Don’t forget to chase that sheep rustling up for me in return.’

  ‘I won’t. I’ll get someone on it as soon as we get back to the station – you can be assured of that. Goodbye, sir.’ Hero shook his hand.

  ‘Will I be able to use that field tomorrow as I wanted to?’

  ‘Maybe leave it until the afternoon, sir.’

  ‘Okay, I might just delay my intentions for a day or two, until I’m more up to it. It was such a shock seeing what I saw this morning. There are some things in this life that you’ll never be able to unsee.’

  ‘I’m sorry you had to witness that. If you hear anything or think of anything else we should know, please don’t hesitate to ring me.’ Hero placed a business card on the table then followed Mrs. Drake and Julie back through the house to the front door. ‘Look after him, Mrs. Drake. Tonight will be the worst when he tries to close his eyes and get to sleep.’

  ‘Thanks for the warning. Maybe I’ll put a tot of something in his cocoa.’ She smiled warmly and closed the door.

  Hero and Julie dashed to the car as the heavens opened again. Once inside, Julie said, ‘Poor bugger. It’s really rocked him.’

  ‘To be honest, Julie, you handled seeing the victim far better than I anticipated. I was on the verge of puking back there.’

  ‘It surprised me too, sir. Maybe I’m just getting used to seeing the evidence of how vile people can be towards each other.’

  Hero started the car. Maybe his partner was right. ‘Do me a favour – place a call to the station, chase up that sheep rustling complaint. Mr. Drake has a point. Someone should have visited his neighbour by now.’

  2

  On the edge of Manchester city centre stood a tall building mainly constructed of glass. It was at least ten storeys high. The name Spalding Enterprise was etched into a large metal sign outside the front entrance. Hero and Julie entered the foyer through a revolving door and walked up to the pretty brunette smiling broadly at them from behind the reception desk.

  Hero flashed his warrant card. ‘DI Hero Nelson, and this is my partner, DS Julie Shaw. We have an appointment with Mr. Spalding’s PA, I believe.’

  ‘Ah yes, Miss Windsor rang down telling me to expect you this morning. If you take the lift up to the tenth floor, Katherine on reception up there will point you in the right direction.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Their heels clicked on the polished marble flooring as they made their way over to the lift. Once they entered the lift, Hero realised it was on the outside of the building and also made of glass.

  ‘Crap, not so keen on this, sir. I think I’ll take the stairs instead.’

  Hero pressed the button before Julie could back out. ‘Just close your eyes. We’ll be there in a jiffy, knowing how fast these things can travel.’

  ‘Great, thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better,’ she grumbled. Julie squeezed her eyes shut and didn’t open them until the ping announced they’d reached the tenth floor. The doors opened, and she barged past him before Hero could take a single step.

  He laughed and walked over to the reception desk, where he produced his ID for the redhead behind the counter.

  ‘Ah yes, Georgina and the others are expecting you. Take a seat, and I’ll let her know you’re here.’

  Julie flung herself in the chair while Hero paced the reception area, reading the noticeboard behind his partner. ‘What is it they do here?’ he asked quietly.

  ‘Not quite sure. He was some kind of entrepreneur. In what field, I have no idea.’

  ‘First question to be asked then when they finally get around to seeing us. I’ll give them five minutes to get organised and then start stamping my feet to be heard.’

  Julie offered him a taut smile.

  Within a few minutes, a smartly dressed, petite blonde appeared out of one of the offices off the hallway. ‘Hello there. Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m Georgina. I have everyone assembled, waiting for you to speak with them.’

  Hero shook the woman’s fragile hand gently. ‘That’s very kind. We’d like to see everyone one by one. Are there many to see?’

  ‘Six people who are on the premises.’

  The woman turned on her heel. Julie jumped to her feet and joined Hero as they followed her into a vast office that had an oblong glass table in its centre. Six people, five men and one woman, sat around it.

  Georgina had gathered the executives who worked closely alongside Ross every day, and as the PA introduced them, Julie jotted the names down in her notebook.

  Hero smiled tautly at the group. ‘Nice to meet you all. Sorry it’s under such grim circumstances. Is there another room where we can interview people individually?’

  ‘Yes, next door.’ Georgina pointed through the glass at the adjacent room.

  Hero sucked in a breath and tutted. ‘Any chance it can be somewhere else, some place more private?’

  Georgina tilted her head for a second before it dawned on her why he was objecting to her suggestion. ‘Ah, I see. Just a second.’ The woman flew out of the room and down the corridor. She returned seconds later, wearing a relieved smile. ‘Found something. It’s a bit snug, but I’m sure it will do for what you have in mind. Who would you like to see first?’

  ‘That’s brilliant. Sorry to be a nuisance. How about we go through the ranks, most important person first,’ Hero said quietly so the rest of the group, who were talking amongst themselves, couldn’t overhear.

  ‘That’d be Laurence Whitehall. He was Ross’s partner in the business, his right-hand man.’

  ‘Great, and he is which one?’ Hero asked.

  ‘Laurence, the officers would like to question you first, if that’s okay?’

  A man who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties rose from his chair and eased his way around the room towards them. Hero noted the lack of a smile on his face and put it down to the man being in shock regarding the news about his partner’s death.

  Georgina led the way down the corridor and stopped at the end. She opened the door to reveal what looked to be some kind of storeroom.
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  ‘Surely there’s a better place than this, Georgina?’ Laurence asked harshly.

  ‘I’m sorry, sir. This is the only private room available as the inspector requested. Can I get anyone a drink?’

  Hero shook his head and was the first to enter the room. ‘Not for me.’ He surveyed the space, which was filled from floor to ceiling with archive boxes, all neatly stacked and numbered. At the end of the narrow room was a basic canteen-type table, and three chairs had been placed around it.

  ‘Not for me, thank you,’ Julie said as she sat down next to Hero.

  ‘Yes, a strong black coffee, thanks,’ Laurence requested as he took his seat opposite them. ‘What do you need to know?’

  Hero waited for Georgina to close the door before he spoke. ‘Thank you for seeing us. Sorry about your partner. We’ll need background information on him to help us with our enquiries. Have you and Ross Spalding been partners long?’

  The man’s eyes glazed over a little. ‘Around seven years, although we’ve been friends for fifteen years since the business started up.’

  ‘Can you tell me if Ross had any enemies?’

  ‘Around here?’

  ‘Either at work or outside, if you knew him that well.’

  ‘Not that I know of. Ross was always one to keep to himself, really. He might attend the odd function out of necessity if he was trying to broker a new deal that required his expertise, but most of the time, I dealt with that side of things. You know, wined and dined people interested in doing work with the company, even though Ross was the brains of the outfit. He would pitch in when we had a client that was trying to screw us for a better deal. He wasn’t really one of those people you could walk over. Ross knew every detail of his work backwards and forwards. No one could trip him up like they tried to with me.’

  ‘What exactly is the business? He was an entrepreneur, right?’

  ‘Yes, if there was an investment opportunity to be had, Ross would jump on it. We work mainly with innovators. Ross was very down to earth for a rich guy, never forgot his council-house origins and always rooted for the underdog. He was aware how many of these intelligent innovators get shafted by people. He went out of his way to make sure that didn’t happen.’

  ‘He could have been one of these guys on Dragons’ Den then. Is that what you mean?’

  ‘You’ve got it. He had millions that he willingly invests every year if the right product comes his way.’

  ‘What about those he turned down?’ Hero turned sideways to make sure Julie was scribbling down the responses.

  ‘They try elsewhere. We get at least ten people through our door every week who think they have invented the next best thing that will go viral. Not always the case, though.’

  ‘And people just accept that?’

  Laurence nodded. ‘Yes, Ross always made sure he gave them the name of our competitors before they left, to soften the blow, as it were.’

  ‘I suppose that’s fair enough. Not every business would do that. What about around here? Did he get on with the other members of staff?’

  ‘Of course. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be working here.’ The man shifted in his seat and avoided eye contact with Hero.

  ‘What about maintenance staff or other members of staff? Everything all right there?’

  ‘Yes. I don’t understand what you’re getting at. Are you insinuating that a member of this firm has something to do with this?’

  ‘At this point, we need to keep an open mind, Mr. Whitehall. This is the first day of our investigation, and it’s up to us to dig deep from day one. Although I can’t go into specific details about how Mr. Spalding died, I can tell you he met a very gruesome end. Someone set out to intentionally kill your partner – this wasn’t some kind of freak accident. So, you must forgive me if my questions seem a little personal at times.’

  ‘My God, I had no idea. All Georgina told me was that Ross’s body had been discovered. Who would do such a thing?’

  ‘Who, indeed. Now, maybe you can understand why I asked if anyone at the firm could have had a vendetta against Mr. Spalding.’

  ‘Yes, I understand. But I still can’t answer the question. I’m sorry. Maybe one of the others will be able to help you out there.’

  ‘Was there anything going on to do with the business that we should be made aware of? Something out of the ordinary happened lately?’

  Laurence ran a finger under his collar, and sweat broke out on his forehead, raising Hero’s suspicions that he’d struck gold.

  ‘Mr. Whitehall, are you okay?’

  ‘Yes.’ He paused when Georgina walked into the room and deposited a cup of coffee in front of him. He watched the PA retrace her steps before he spoke again. ‘Sorry, this is all a little too much for me. I’m under the doctor for a dodgy heart.’

  Hero was surprised to learn that, given the man’s young age. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. Would you rather we spoke to one of the others and talk to you again later?’

  ‘If you wouldn’t mind. My medication is in my office. I dread to think what will happen if I don’t pop a pill.’

  ‘No problem. Would you send the next person in on your way back to your office?’

  Laurence rose from his seat a little unsteadily, picked up his coffee, and headed out of the room without saying another word.

  ‘Hmm … well, that was a tad strange, if you ask me.’ Julie wrote something in her notebook and circled it half a dozen times.

  Hero leaned over to see what she’d written: Definite suspect. ‘Maybe we should give him some slack considering he’s just lost his partner. He seemed okay up until the point I told him Ross had been murdered.’

  ‘Exactly, maybe he had something to do with his partner’s death and arranged someone to bump him off, but had no idea how they were going to do it.’

  ‘Loving your warped thoughts on this one, Julie, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Let’s hear what the others have to say first and try and slot all the pieces together afterwards. I need to step out of the room for a second. Be right back.’

  Julie frowned at him, but Hero didn’t offer an explanation before stepping into the hallway to find a very animated Laurence angrily speaking to Georgina.

  ‘What should I do?’ Laurence was asking.

  As soon as the pair noticed Hero, they separated.

  Georgina turned on her heel, but Hero called out for her to stop. She turned slowly to face him.

  ‘Something wrong that I should know about?’

  ‘Not as far as I know. Laurence was saying his chest was bad, asked me what he should do. I suggested he have a rest in his office for a few minutes before he calls the doctor.’

  ‘I see. I believe the news of his partner’s death might have been a shock for him. I’m glad I’ve found you. I noticed there were cameras in the foyer and outside the building. I wanted to know if you could lay your hands on the CCTV discs for me.’

  ‘Of course. I’ll sort that out for you right away. What dates are you looking for in particular?’

  ‘Last night. Oh wait, if you can give me the night before, as well, that would be much appreciated.’

  Georgina hurried away but stopped outside the room where the other members of staff were waiting. ‘Nigel, would you like to go next?’

  A man in his early thirties walked out of the room and smiled as he travelled down the glass-walled corridor to meet Hero.

  Hero held open the door, and the man settled himself in the seat on the other side of the desk.

  ‘First of all,’ Hero began, ‘I’d like to apologise for keeping you waiting. I appreciate you probably have a lot of work to do and our questioning will be holding you up. Please bear with us for the next twenty minutes or so.’

  ‘It’s fine. I realise the importance behind the hold-up. Saying that, end of the month is a hectic time for me.’

  ‘What is your role here, Nigel?’

  ‘I’m the head accountant. I have a team of five under me.
Ross’s many acquisitions keep us on our toes, shall we say.’

  ‘I see. That’s a lot of staff. Would you be willing to share with us how much turnover was involved in the business last year?’

  He chewed his lip, as if unsure how to answer. ‘Do I have to answer that? I’m bound by a confidentiality clause in my contract. Admittedly, the clause didn’t state what to do during a murder investigation, but I don’t want to risk my job and all.’

  The fact the man had mentioned murder sparked Hero’s interest. He couldn’t have known that unless Laurence had spoken to him already, which couldn’t have been the case because Laurence had gone back to his office after talking to Georgina.

  ‘Okay, you don’t have to answer in detail. Just give me a rough guide, perhaps.’

  ‘Around the three billion mark.’

  Hero’s eyes widened. He hadn’t been expecting that. Although, looking around at his surroundings, with the exception of the room they were in, he shouldn’t have been surprised. ‘I see. Can you tell me what your working relationship with Ross Spalding was like, Mr. Ford?’

  ‘Excellent. Never a cross word. He was an extremely intelligent man. Knew every possible fact there was to know about the workings of the business. Could reel off the turnover going back five years without the need to look it up. I’ve never worked with anyone like him before, to be honest with you.’

  ‘Thanks, which begs the question why anyone would want to kill him.’

  He shook his head slowly. ‘It really is beyond me.’

  ‘May I ask if Ross has fallen out with anyone around here lately?’

  ‘People fall out all the time within large corporations, Inspector, but they soon forget their differences. Otherwise, it would reflect badly on the business and any likely profit there is to be made.’

  ‘Thanks for that insight. Did Ross ever confide in you about anything going on with the business? Perhaps something that didn’t sit well with him?’

  ‘Yes and no. We’ve thrashed things out over the years. Like I’ve already stated, he was an amazing man who kept an attentive eye on every aspect of the business.’