Double Jeopardy (Hero Book 4)

by MA Comley

  That evening, when they were in bed, Hero confided in his wife that although he had been prepared to take a few days off work to lend his support at the hospital, he’d now changed his mind and was intending to go back to work the following day as usual.

  ‘I understand, love. Do me a favour and keep ringing the hospital just to get an update from the nurses. That way you won’t leave yourself open to any criticism in the future.’

  ‘Wise words, love. Anyway, Cara’s only got to check her phone to know that I’ve been ringing her constantly. I hate being out of touch like this.’

  ‘It’s not fair. Hurt feelings are at play, nothing else. Give them time to come around.’

  ‘I will. Goodnight, love.’ They shared a lingering kiss and fell asleep cuddling up to each other.

  The following morning, the sun streamed through the bedroom window. Having slept right through the night, Hero reached for the phone and rang the hospital to check how his parents were. The nurses on both wards told him there was no change to either of his parents. He then tried to call his sister again, but her phone remained unanswered, so he left a message. ‘Hi, Cara, it’s me. Give me a call when you have a spare minute. I miss you all … and umm, I’m sorry for being such an insensitive fool,’ he added, trying to bridge the gap that had formed between them. He realised at times like this how much stress everyone would likely be under, and he was willing to be the first to apologise, if only Cara would answer her damn phone.

  Fay smiled and rubbed his arm. ‘Don’t be too hard on yourself, Hero. You’re a good man. Remember that.’

  ‘I’ll try. I better get ready. I forgot to tell you that I also saw another snippet on the news, something which refers to the case I’m working. The victim’s house was on fire. I sent Julie to the scene. I would have gone myself, but Mum was about to have her operation. In hindsight, if I’d gone, Cara wouldn’t have fallen out with me.’

  ‘Hush now. God, that’s terrible about the fire. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as you thought if Julie hasn’t got in touch with you since attending the scene.’

  ‘Maybe. I’m surprised she hasn’t given me an update. Maybe she didn’t want to worry me, since she knew why I was at the hospital. I’ll find out soon enough. I’ll get a wriggle on and jump in the shower.’

  Half an hour later, Hero marched through the doors to the station, hoping that his work would take his mind off his parents’ predicament. Julie was sitting at her desk, head down, typing on the keyboard.

  ‘Morning, Julie. Everything all right?’

  His poor partner almost jumped out of her seat.

  ‘Frighten a girl while she’s engrossed in her work, why don’t you?’ she scolded before adding, ‘How are your parents?’

  ‘Mum’s recovering, but it’s touch-and-go with Dad. If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather discuss the case. How did you get on with the Spalding fire?’

  ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to intrude.’

  Hero nodded his acceptance and leaned against the desk next to hers.

  ‘When I turned up at the address, the fire brigade were just getting the fire under control. They sent a team in with breathing apparatus to search the property, but they returned twenty minutes later to give the all-clear.’

  ‘Rachel wasn’t at home? Okay, well that’s going to raise my suspicions for a start.’

  ‘Mine, too. Luckily, I had her sister’s name and address in my notebook, so I drove over there. They were having a family barbecue and totally oblivious to what was going on back at the mansion. She was devastated, kind of. Let’s just say that I couldn’t tell if she was putting on a show for the crowd because she thought it would be expected of her to react that way. Might be a little harsh on my part, but that’s how it came across to me.’

  ‘You’re usually astute in these situations. Strange that the family should be having a barbecue when Ross has just been murdered.’

  ‘Yep, I’d agree there. After she’d calmed down a little, I took a statement from her. I wasn’t about to let her get off scot-free. According to Rachel, she arrived at her sister’s place around five that afternoon, which her sister and brother-in-law corroborated when I questioned them separately.’

  ‘Did the fire chief, or whoever was in attendance, give any clue how long the fire had been raging out of control? She could have lit the flame and then drove over to her sister’s before it took hold.’

  ‘No, he’s got to wait for the fire assessment officer to give that kind of information. He refused to commit himself. Which doesn’t help us at this stage. That report could take weeks to come in.’

  ‘All right. Then we need to look at CCTV footage in that area right away. Do we know what car Rachel drives?’

  ‘Yes, an MR5. I’ve run the plates already. I’ll get Jason on that when he arrives.’

  ‘Anything else I should know about?’

  ‘That’s it at the moment, boss.’

  ‘I’ll deal with the paperwork first then do some chasing up from Friday. I think it’s imperative now to find out what was in Ross’s will. His solicitor is due back today.’

  Julie nodded and got back to work.

  Hero tentatively stepped into his office, dreading the amount of post that awaited him, but he was relieved when he spotted only a handful of letters to deal with. His eyes rose up to the ceiling. Thank you. Nice to see you’re on my side, at least some of the time. He raced through the post within ten minutes, leaving him free to ring his reporter friend, Dave Wheeler. ‘Hello, my old mucker. How are things?’

  ‘God, I haven’t been called that in years. Fair to middling, mate. Glad you’ve rung. I was going to give you a call later with some news.’

  Hero sat upright in his chair and dragged a blank sheet of paper in front of him, poised with a pen in his hand. ‘Go on, what do you have?’

  ‘Nothing too exciting. It’s pretty mixed, really.’

  ‘Whatever it is, it’ll be better than what we have now, mate. Hit me with it.’

  ‘Like I say, it’s hit-and-miss. With regard to a name for the shooting incident, none of my contacts could assist me there. It was a different matter concerning the stolen car, however.’

  ‘You win some; you lose some. Go on.’

  ‘I spoke to six of my contacts, and one name in particular keeps cropping up, a Jed Mills. Do you know him?’

  ‘Mills … Mills. The name rings a bell somewhere deep in my mind. I’ll get Julie to check him out.’

  ‘I can give you a brief summary of what I know, if that’ll help?’

  ‘It would. Fire away.’ Hero scribbled down the man’s name.

  ‘He’s in his mid-twenties. Small-time criminal, car thief and drug dealer. He’s got a record, too – went over the top when confronting a druggie who refused to pay him and got banged up on a GBH charge.’

  ‘Very interesting. I take it being inside hasn’t led him to go on the straight and narrow then?’

  ‘Nope, anything but. Word is, he met up with a nasty piece of shit who has conned him into doing his dirty work for him on the outside until he’s released. Can’t supply a name or verify the story as yet.’

  ‘Not to worry, I’ll do some digging on that at this end.’

  ‘Okay. I’ve also got a few more names for you to consider: Sky Anderson and Brad Faust. All I know is that they’re possible car thieves in the area. My snitch couldn’t give me any further details than that, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Hey, man, that’s brilliant. As long as we’ve got a few names to go on, it should be a breeze for us to track them down.’

  ‘Well, that’s all I have at present. If anything else filters back to me, I’ll get on the blower ASAP.’

  ‘Cheers, mate. I’d be lost without you. Take care.’

  ‘Speak soon.’

  Hero ended the call and headed back out to the incident room with the sheet of paper in his hand.

  All the team had now assembled and were all busy at their desks.

  He walked over t
o Sally, who immediately looked up at him and smiled. ‘Sorry to hear about your parents, boss. Sending them positive vibes for a full recovery.’

  ‘That’s kind, Sally, thanks. Right, I’ve had a call from an old friend of mine who has come up with a few names. I need you to check them out for me.’ He handed her the sheet of paper.

  ‘Okay, I’ll get onto it now, boss. Do you need anything in particular?’

  ‘Their addresses and any possible records. We’re pretty clued up on Jed Mills, as you can see, so it’s just the other two names you need to concentrate on, plus get Jed’s address for me too. Get their pictures printed out, ready for circulation. Let’s up the ante on this one, peeps. We’re already a week into the investigation and lack anything positive to show for it. Julie, did you ask Jason to look at the CCTV for me?’

  Julie nodded. ‘I did, boss. He’s searching now.’

  Hero drifted over to Jason’s desk. ‘Be as quick as you can with that, lad. We need to find out what time Rachel left the property and if any other cars were seen arriving at the premises. Can’t see the CCTV cameras at the house being any good after that blaze.’

  ‘Will do, boss. Leave it with me.’

  Hero patted the young man on the shoulder then returned to his office. He looked through the notes regarding the case on his desk to find the number he needed. He rang Spalding’s solicitor’s office. ‘Hi, this is DI Nelson. I’d like to speak to Mr. Christos, please?’

  ‘I’ll put you through. Just a moment,’ the receptionist replied, putting him on hold with the sound of Mozart drifting into his ear.

  Moments later, Mr. Christos answered. ‘Hello, Inspector. What can I do for you?’ the man said, a slight accent to his voice.

  ‘Hello, Mr. Christos, thank you for taking my call. I know you’ve been on holiday, but I assume you’re aware of your client’s passing?’

  ‘Yes, everyone is in shock around here, myself included. Have you caught the offender yet?’

  ‘No, it’s still early days. I was wondering if there might be something in his will that could help us with our enquiries.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘The usual, maybe someone has been added recently as a beneficiary. Such an addition would be deemed suspicious, requiring our investigation.’

  ‘Such as his fiancée, is that what you’re getting at, Inspector?’

  ‘Maybe. It’s my job to suspect everyone until I can prove otherwise. Are you aware that Mr. Spalding’s mansion was destroyed by fire on Saturday, five days after his death?’

  ‘No, I wasn’t aware of that. Was anyone in the residence at the time?’

  ‘Fortunately, or coincidentally, his fiancée wasn’t at home at the time. Now can you see why the investigation is going down this route, Mr. Christos?’

  ‘I can. Although I have to tell you that the will won’t be read for at least another couple of weeks. I have a lot of things to sort out regarding the reading first, people will need to be contacted, distant relatives et cetera.’

  ‘I appreciate that – I honestly do. However, it’s really important for us to find out who the beneficiaries are before we proceed with the investigation. A list of names will do. I’d hate to be forced to obtain a warrant to get the information.’

  ‘I understand. Leave it with me. I’ll have to run it past my partners. This is not something I’ve had to deal with before. I’ll get back to you this afternoon, if that’s okay?’

  ‘Of course, the sooner, the better. While you’re on the phone, do you have any idea who Mr. Spalding had his house insurance with? Or a business insurance, if he had one?’

  ‘For the same reason, I take it?’

  ‘Yes, just covering our backs.’

  ‘Again, leave it with me. I’ll look through his file and see if I can find you that information. Have you tried his secretary at the office?’

  ‘Not yet. I’d rather keep things quiet about that for now. I can trust you not to spread anything around; not sure I feel the same about people he used to work alongside.’

  ‘That’s understandable. Leave it with me. I’ll get back to you soon.’

  ‘Thank you, that’ll be a great help.’ Hero hung up, feeling hopeful rather than downbeat about the man’s delay in sharing the information with him.

  Before he joined the rest of the team, he made a quick call to the hospital. It had been several hours since he’d last rung. The nurses on both wards assured him that neither of his parents’ conditions had changed since he’d last checked in with them.

  The rest of the morning was spent with his team, delving into every possible lead available to them. Jason managed to locate Rachel’s car leaving the mansion around three thirty that afternoon, which matched what the brother-in-law had said about Rachel turning up around five. ‘Maybe she stopped off to do some shopping en route. Either way, it’s not inconceivable that she could have started the fire before she left the house.’

  ‘You’re right, of course, boss, although, I’m not sure she’d be able to start a large fire like that with an innocent flame burning in one of the rooms. Julie, did the firemen mention if they smelt anything odd in the house?’ Jason called across the room.

  ‘You mean some form of accelerant?’

  ‘Exactly,’ Jason agreed.

  ‘No, they were a little cagey, didn’t want to point us in the wrong direction, I suppose.’

  Jason nodded and chewed his bottom lip. ‘Thanks. Sorry, boss, but this reeks of arson to me. Which begs the question, would Rachel Elliott really do that to the house she was living in?’

  ‘Let’s see what the solicitor has to say about the contents of the will before we discount the woman. An open mind to anything and everything we uncover should do us no harm at this stage. Who’s for lunch? I’m buying.’

  Jason volunteered to go out for the sandwiches, and they discussed the case over lunch. Hero had a sense that things were going to slot into place soon. All he was waiting on was the call from the solicitor regarding the will. He thought that would be the key piece of the puzzle.

  That call came in around three thirty that afternoon. ‘Hello, Mr. Christos, thank you for getting back to me today.’

  ‘That’s okay, Inspector. I wish the news I’m about to share was better.’

  Hero’s heart sank. ‘Go on, surprise me.’

  ‘The will Ross Spalding had in place at the time of his death hadn’t been updated in five years. Against my advice, I have to tell you. Every year, I used to ring him, badgering him to no avail. He always said he didn’t have the time to set aside to update the damn thing.’

  ‘I can understand that. I hear he was a workaholic. In that case, can you tell me who the beneficiaries are?’

  ‘He left his entire estate to his parents.’

  ‘I see. That’s feasible. Just to clarify, Rachel Elliott is not mentioned in the will at all?’

  ‘No. I believe their relationship was quite new, wasn’t it?’

  ‘It was. You were aware of their relationship then?’ Hero asked, intrigued.

  ‘Yes, only because I rang Ross last month, prompting him to update his will. He actually sighed and said that he would need to come in and do it because his circumstances had changed. When I asked in what way, he said that he was now engaged and planning a big summer wedding to Rachel.’

  ‘Hmm … therefore it’s safe to assume that Rachel knew that a change was imminent, yes?’

  ‘I presume so.’

  ‘Or maybe she was under the impression that Ross had already made the changes. Thanks, Mr. Christos, you’ve been most helpful. Sorry, one last thing … you were going to check Ross’s file to see if you had noted the name of his insurers down. Any luck there?’

  ‘Nothing, sorry.’

  ‘That’s a shame. Okay, thanks for the information.’

  ‘You’re welcome. Sorry I had to run it past my partners before sharing the details with you.’

  ‘No need to apologise.’ Hero hung up and returned to
the incident room. He walked over to the whiteboard and noted down the snippet of information he’d just received. ‘Attention, everyone, for a moment. As you can see, I’ve made a note that Rachel Elliott was not a beneficiary of the will. However, the solicitor had persuaded Ross Spalding to amend that will, and a visit to his solicitor’s office to do just that was imminent.’

  ‘Are you saying that you’re pointing the finger at Rachel, boss?’ Jason asked, tapping his pen thoughtfully against his chin.

  ‘I’m saying we can’t rule her out. What we need to do is chase up the name of the house insurers ASAP.’

  ‘I’ll make it a priority,’ Julie volunteered.

  ‘We need to get our hands on all Ross’s policies, Julie. The question is whether he’s likely to have insured his home and business with the same firm. I really don’t want to ask his PA for that kind of information just yet. Let’s see what we can find out ourselves to avoid anyone getting any ideas from our line of enquiries.’

  The rest of the day passed as though a tornado had swept through the incident room, and the next time Hero looked at his watch, it was already six thirty. ‘Damn, look at the time, guys. Julie, well done on locating the insurers. You and I will pay a personal visit to their offices in the morning. Much better than discussing it over the phone. Excellent work today, team. I finally think we’re getting somewhere on this one. Go home, and we’ll start afresh in the morning.’

  Hero drove home, feeling far more optimistic about the case than he had on the journey into work that morning. The question was, if his optimism would last or if another barrier would present itself, preventing him and his team from cracking the case.

  10

  Hero had fallen into bed exhausted the previous night and woke up at six thirty, feeling refreshed and determined about the day ahead of him. Before getting out of bed, he rang the hospital. The nurse informed him his mother was feeling far perkier, but that his father was still in the same condition. Hero took heart from hearing that at least his father hadn’t deteriorated. He made a pact with himself that no matter how his day panned out, he would visit his family after his shift, whether that decision upset Cara or not. He had a right to see how his parents were for himself. He was also aware that the air needed to be cleared between them, and he hated being out of touch with his twin. They’d had a few spats over the years, which had been worked out within a few hours. Because of the current argument this was the longest they had not been in touch with each other, and he felt as though a major part of him were missing.