by MA Comley
‘It’s imperative that we find the car quickly, as we feel it will hold vital DNA evidence. Can you help us? Did anyone see someone perhaps acting suspiciously around the entrance to the building’s car park entrance that evening? Maybe a few days before even? I don’t suppose there are too many of these cars around, so surely someone out there must have seen it?’
Hero took a sip of water before he continued. ‘Did anyone see two men, maybe three men, having an argument that night? Maybe close to the field where Mr. Spalding’s body was found? I can’t give an accurate time of death as yet due to Mr. Spalding’s injuries, and to be honest with you, we may never know that information. Do you know Mr. Spalding? Were you with him recently? Did he voice any concerns with you about his safety? Perhaps he was worried about someone hanging around? Anything along those lines. Someone must know something. This happened in the heart of the city, early evening, therefore I’m presuming there would have been a lot of people passing by at that time, possibly on their way home from work. Were you one of them? Did you see Mr. Spalding’s car leave the premises that night? Which direction did the car go? Was he alone in the vehicle?’
Hero then decided to open the room up for questions. ‘Yes, Linda?’
‘Tell me, Inspector, if clues are few and far between – your words, not mine – how are you going to solve this case?’
‘Good question, Linda. That’s why I’m counting on the public for help. The victim was shot at close range. Someone must have heard the shot that night. Do you know anyone who has an illegal firearm in the house? We had a gun and knife amnesty only last month. Did someone you know go out and obtain a weapon after the amnesty? Next.’ Hero pointed to a young man at the back of the room.
‘Michael Ward of the Daily Record, sir. What are the prospects of finding the perpetrator this long after the crime has been committed?’
‘Again, we’re hopeful that the public’s help will be pivotal in this investigation. It’s not long since the crime was committed. Therefore, we’re hoping things will still be fresh in people’s minds. Anyone else? If not, I’d like to end this meeting and get back to the investigation as time is of the essence, as I’m sure you’re aware.’
Hero left the stage and sought out Dave Wheeler. ‘Come with me, Dave.’
Wheeler walked alongside Hero down the hallway to one of the vacant interview rooms. ‘This is all a bit cloak-and-dagger, Inspector.’ Wheeler laughed.
‘Sorry about that, Dave. You know how nosey your colleagues can be. Between you and me, I wondered if you’d heard anything regarding this case on the streets. I know you have valuable contacts out there. Any whispers at all?’
Wheeler shook his head. ‘No, this was the first I’d heard about the case. I can certainly ask my contacts for you if you think it’ll help.’
‘It’s the gun angle that’s puzzling me, Dave. Someone on the streets must know who either sold this killer the weapon or who had possibly been asking around for one. If you can come up with a name, easy I know, then that’ll be the case wrapped up.’
‘If only it were that simple, Hero. You know I’ll do my best for you, like I always do. Give me a few days. I should have something for you by Monday at the latest. How’s that?’
Hero shook Dave’s hand and led him back up the hallway. ‘Excellent, fingers crossed that we can get this bastard off the street before he kills someone else.’
He walked Dave to the exit and shook his hand again.
‘I’ll do my best. Speak soon,’ Dave replied.
Returning to the incident room, Hero headed straight for the vending machine. Julie joined him, looking a little disappointed. ‘Everything all right, Julie?’
‘Not really. The solicitor is on holiday, and no one at the office was willing to speak to me. They had no idea Ross Spalding had been murdered. The secretary told me to ring back on Monday but couldn’t promise I would get an answer that day or not.’
‘Bloody marvellous. So we have no idea when the will is likely to be read or if Ross had taken out any life insurance. How the hell are we supposed to get that information, if not from them? Sorry for swearing, but these guys are such arseholes at times.’
‘No need to apologise. I feel exactly the same as you. How did the conference go?’
‘It went. Not sure anything will come of it. I guess we’ll find that out later this evening or tomorrow after it’s been aired tonight, on the evening news. I did manage to have a word with Dave Wheeler, asked him to speak to his contacts. He’s helped us out before, so thought it was worth a shot.’
‘We’ll see. What do you want me to do now?’
‘Are we up to date on the employees’ backgrounds? The ones we spoke to yesterday?’
‘Nearly there. Nothing much has shown up so far, except Laurence Whitehall being an ex-MI5 operative. Maybe that channel is worth investigating further, sir? Or do you think I’d be wasting my time, considering he’s no longer with us?’
Hero nodded. ‘Yes, I think we should look into that further, Julie. He’d definitely left MI5, I presume, unless he was planted there in a covert operation.’
‘For the past seven years? Would that be likely?’
‘Okay, silly me. I guess not. Nothing untoward has shown up about Spalding Enterprise anyway, has it?’
‘Nothing that I’ve seen so far. I’ll continue digging, look into Companies House’s records, and see what shows up there.’
‘Good idea. I’ll check with the desk sergeant, see if one of his guys can man the phones for us this evening, and then I think I’m going to call it a day. I have a feeling we’re going to be run ragged tomorrow, or should I say, I hope we’ll be run ragged tomorrow?’
‘Let’s hope so,’ Julie agreed.
6
Hero spent the night tossing and turning. When his alarm went off at seven, he felt relieved to get out of bed. Fay’s hand touched his back when he swivelled and sat on the edge of the bed.
‘Hey, you. Anything wrong?’
‘Nothing a cool shower and a bucketful of coffee won’t cure. Go back to sleep. I’ll reset the alarm for seven thirty.’ He leaned over and kissed her.
‘Don’t bother. I’m wide awake now. Want me to knock you up a decent breakfast before you set off.’
‘I’d like nothing more but promised I’d be in early today. I’ll grab a couple of rounds of toast and eat it on the run instead, if that’s okay?’
Fay shook her head. ‘I doubt it’ll be okay for your digestive system. You should always eat a good breakfast. It sets you up for the day.’
‘Yes, Mum. Wanna join me in the shower? That’ll set me up for the day rather than a full English.’
‘Cheeky sod.’
Hero took the hint and walked into the bathroom, alone. He emerged ten minutes later, feeling far more refreshed, to find Fay sitting up in bed, reading her book. She looked up and ran her eyes over his glistening body. He moved his hands to the towel slung around his midriff and dropped it to the floor, revealing his pleasure at seeing her. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Get dressed. Otherwise, you’ll be late. We’ll revisit this scene this evening.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Is that a promise?’
Fay smiled and winked at him. ‘Yes, it’s a promise. Now get a move on.’
He finished drying himself then slipped into his newish grey suit and white shirt. He plucked a red tie from the rack on the wardrobe door. ‘Will this do?’
She threw a pillow at him. ‘You know what that tie does to me. Get out before I …’
Grinning broadly, he replied, ‘That’s both of us who’ll be looking forward to this evening then.’
She tutted. ‘Goodbye, Hero. Have a good day.’
‘I will. You, too, love.’ He blew her a kiss from the door then left the room and crept down the stairs, trying not to wake the kids on his way into the kitchen. Sammy greeted him with a stretch, his tail swishing from side to side. ‘Come on, boy. Want to go for a quick one?’ He shooe
d his four-legged companion into the garden and filled the kettle with water, not that he had time to boil it and make a drink.
When Sammy scratched at the back door, Hero let his companion in, patted him on the head, and offered him a treat. ‘Good lad. See you later.’
Hero left the house, ready to face yet another day at the station, but first, he had the morning traffic to contend with. The flow of cars was very slow, and it wasn’t until he approached the junction at the end of his road that he realised why. The drivers were busy rubbernecking the accident that had happened between a feisty redhead driving a Mazda sports car and a rather rotund cabbie driving a black cab. Hero would have pulled over if he’d thought the young woman was in trouble. However, she appeared to be giving the cab driver hell, and he could hear a siren blaring in the distance, so knew that one of his colleagues would soon be on the scene to cool things down. Furthermore, it would be criminal for him to lose his place in the queue.
When Hero pulled into the station car park almost thirty minutes later, Julie was just getting out of her car. She seemed to be in a world of her own and didn’t even hear him call her name. He briskly walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Didn’t you hear me?’
Startled, she placed a hand over her chest. ‘Crap, you scared the shit out of me, sir. No, sorry, I didn’t hear you.’
‘Off in your own little world again, Julie?’
‘I suppose I must have been distracted. I was wondering what we were going to walk into this morning after yesterday’s appeal.’
‘Quite a lot, I hope. We’ll soon see.’
As they entered the station, a smug-looking desk sergeant greeted them with a knowing smile.
‘Morning, Ray. Anything of use come in last night?’
‘There’s a pile of messages on your desk, sir, some of which will be of particular interest to you.’
‘Excellent news. Thanks.’ Hero ran up the stairs two at a time while Julie chose a more sedate way of ascending the stairs. When she joined him in his office, Hero was sifting through the messages, sorting them into two piles: one for possible leads and the other for time-wasters.
He handed the possible-leads pile to Julie. ‘Chase these up and let me know if any of them are any good later on this morning. Looks like I’ll be stuck in here for a few hours.’ He motioned to the stack of brown envelopes littering his desk.
‘What about that pile?’ Julie pointed at the time-waster messages. ‘Should we hang on to those just in case?’
‘Might as well. Sling them in a drawer for now.’
Julie left the room and returned a few moments later with a cup of coffee in her hand. ‘Thought this would help.’
‘You’re a star. Thanks, Julie. Let me know when you have anything worthwhile to share.’
‘Will do, sir.’
Hero sat down behind his desk and opened the first letter, which was actually about his partner. It was stating that Julie had applied for the inspector’s job after all. Seeing it in black and white, he wondered if he’d done the right thing by putting her name forward and urging her to go for the promotion. On a personal level, it was selfish of him, but he couldn’t help wondering who would be her replacement. It was unlikely that any of his present team members could or would be willing to step into her shoes. No point dwelling on that now. Let’s see if Julie gets the job first, then I can start worrying about what lies ahead.
The morning dragged by until Julie poked her head around the office door and smiled. ‘I think I have something, sir. It might not be much, but it’s better than a slap in the face.’
‘What are you wittering on about, Shaw?’
‘I need to ring the caller back later, after school, but I spoke to her mother, who urged her daughter to ring in last night.’
‘And tell us what?’ Hero leaned back in his chair and let out a frustrated sigh.
‘The girl saw two men sitting in a beat-up red Toyota outside the car park a few nights before the murder occurred.’
‘We need to speak to this girl ASAP. What about going to see her at school?’
‘I asked the mother that very question, sir, but she said she’d rather be with her daughter during the interview. Not only that … the girl is due to sit a few exams today. But she’s due home around four thirty, and the mother told us to drop by then.’
Hero shrugged. ‘In that case, we’ll just have to wait it out. Anything else of use in that pile?’
‘A few people think they saw the car that night, but were unable to say where. Not that helpful, I know. It’s a pretty distinctive car.’
‘Exactly, which is why someone would surely recognise it if it was sitting in a side street or somewhere equally obscure.’
‘You’d think so. Unless it’s already been stripped down by the criminals.’
‘Maybe. I’m inclined to believe that it’s too early for anything major like that to have happened to the car. We’ll see what Dave has to say on Monday once he’s had a word with the guys on the street. Anything else?’
Julie shook her head. ‘Sadly not. I’ll let you get on.’
‘What we need to do is start looking into people’s alibis. Can either you or Sally do that for me?’
‘Alibis? Of the employees we questioned the other night?’
‘Yes, and that of the girlfriend. She said her sister and brother-in-law had visited the property, right?’
‘Okay, that one I can look into. The employees might be a little difficult.’
Hero frowned. ‘I’m not following you.’
‘I don’t think we asked everyone we interviewed where they were.’
‘Damn, that’s pretty shoddy on my part. Can you remedy that and give the ones I didn’t ask a call?’
‘I was just about to suggest the same. Will do.’
Hero mentally kicked himself. There was no excuse for neglecting to ask everyone. He recalled some of the employees saying they were due to have dinner with Ross and Laurence that evening, but not all of them. He nipped out of the office and grabbed another cup of coffee to soothe his disappointment and to help him tackle the final leg of his boring paperwork. He’d just sat down again when his phone rang.
‘DI Nelson. How may I help?’
‘Ooo, get you being all formal.’
‘Hi, Cara. I’m not in the mood for being wound up, so kindly get to the point pronto.’
‘Bloody hell, who or what has rattled your cage? Have I offended you, or are you just in a prissy mood today?’
‘Sorry, you didn’t deserve that. This bloody case is exasperating me, and I’m stuck in the office knee-frigging-deep in ‘important’ paperwork. Go on, say something that will cheer me up. Lord knows I could do with it.’
‘I’ll try. I know I said I could come at the weekend to the adventure park, but now I’m definitely coming.’
‘What? Am I supposed to understand what you’re saying? Or are you talking in code again?’
‘Okay. Initially, I said yes, although secretively, I was going out with the girls on a shopping trip. However, two of them have had to postpone, so the rest of us agreed to delay the trip for another week. This is good news – it means I’m in the clear. I don’t have to upset anyone with the decision I make. Phew, what a relief that is.’
‘Christ, Cara. Why do you do that to yourself? If you had other plans set in stone already, why didn’t you just say you couldn’t make it?’
‘Because I hate letting you and the kids down. You were kind enough to include me in the outing. The last thing I wanted to do was decline the invitation. Anyway, I’d much rather be in my scruffs at the weekend, knee-deep in mud, than walking up and down Manchester city centre in high heels, trying to impress anyone who cares to look at me.’
‘Bloody hell. Is that how women go shopping nowadays? Don’t let Mum hear you talk like that. She’d be furious.’
‘It’s what we do as a group. I wouldn’t be seen dead going out like that on my own, honest.’
‘This conversation is confusing the hell out of me. Why the heck would you do something that makes you feel uncomfortable? You’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. I can’t imagine you going out all dolled up anyway.’
‘Gee thanks! A girl likes to feel important sometimes, Hero.’
‘Important? Sounds a bloody nightmare to me. I know you can take this because you know I love you, but seriously, what do you and your girlfriends think you’re achieving by parading around the shops like that?’
‘Grr … just bloody forget I mentioned it if that’s your take on the subject. You’re such an old man at times, brother dearest. So, what do you want me to bring in the way of food?’
‘Thanks for the compliment,’ he grumbled. ‘Just bring yourself, minus the stiletto heels. Mum and Fay’s mother have got all the food in hand, I believe. Oh wait, you promised a cheesecake.’
‘Damn, I forgot that. Okay, should I turn up in my army gear then? Would that appease you?’
‘Sarcastic cow. Just wear jeans, T-shirt and trainers, as normal. The kids are really looking forward to it, or should I say Louie is.’
‘I bet. I hear he’s doing well in the Scouts, too.’
‘Yep, I’ll tell you all about it at the weekend. Some of us have work to do. Speak later.’ Hero hung up.
A full two hours passed before Julie popped into the office again. She had her notebook in hand, ready to share what she’d learned.