by L M Krier
Ted nodded as Maurice disappeared. He was seriously concerned to hear that Jezza was so worried. He did not consider himself particularly intimidating and he had certainly been careful with how he had handled her so far. He stood up and put the kettle on. He could certainly do with some tea and he thought it might be useful for Jezza, too.
Before long, Maurice reappeared and ushered a subdued Jezza into the office. As predicted, she had a formidable lump on her forehead. She looked marginally less tired but Ted was troubled to see that she looked as if she had been crying.
'Come in, Jezza, please sit down,' he said as gently as he could. 'Would you like Maurice to stay?'
She shook her head, just sitting there looking thoroughly miserable.
Ted nodded his thanks to Maurice, who withdrew quietly. He could be surprisingly tactful and sensitive when the occasion required it.
'Would you like some green tea? I'm just having some,' Ted asked, wishing he was better at this sort of thing.
To his astonishment, Jezza blurted out, 'Don't be nice to me, for fuck's sake. I can cope with anything but that.'
None of the other team members would ever have used such strong language in front of the boss. They knew he didn't appreciate it and never said more that the odd 'shit' or 'bloody hell' himself in public. Ted was just about to remonstrate with her when, to his further surprise, he saw big, fat tears well up in her eyes and start to trickle down her face.
Wordlessly, he reached into his pocket and took out the clean, neatly ironed handkerchief Trev always insisted he carry with him at all times. He handed it across his desk to Jezza, then busied himself making the tea, giving her the chance to cry without him looking at her.
Only when her sobs had subsided somewhat did he put the mugs on the desk and sit down opposite her.
'So, first things first,' he began quietly. 'How are you feeling? Are you all right to be in work?'
'I had to come in,' she said miserably, studying her hands. She was wringing the now wet handkerchief as if trying to dry it. 'You're obviously going to kick me off the team, so I needed to get it over with.'
'Why would you think I was going to kick you out?' Ted asked, astonished. 'The manager of Cottage Row told me that what happened was an accident. She also spoke very highly of you.'
'But I let Angela get away,' she wailed forlornly. 'I'm rubbish at my job!'
'If people got kicked out for every suspect they allowed to get away, I'd never have made DI, believe me,' Ted told her. 'Whatever gave you the idea that I would make a decision like that, without at least hearing your side of the story?'
'You try being rational on less than four hours sleep a night,' she said, sharply.
Now they were getting to it. The real reason why Jezza was as she was. Ted knew there was something troubling her. He doubted that Maurice's theory was the correct one. He certainly hoped it was not.
'Perhaps if you explain the reasons …' he suggested, and left it hanging in the air.
'Why are you so understanding? Every other senior officer I've had would have put me on a disciplinary by now.'
'In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not like every other senior officer,' Ted said wryly. 'Try me.'
For a moment, he thought she was going to refuse to talk. Then she began. Hesitantly at first. Soon the words were tumbling over one another, in their haste to get out. Ted was a good listener. He just sat quietly, sipping his tea, letting her talk.
'I have a kid brother,' she began. 'Tom. Tommy. He's eleven and autistic. Very bright, very intelligent. Just very … different.'
She took a swallow of her tea before continuing.
'A couple of years ago … ' there was a slight catch in her voice. She drank some more tea. 'Our parents were killed in a car crash. We have no other family. Just me and Tommy.
'I made a big mistake. I thought the best thing would be for Tommy to come and live with me. Our parents were well-off, with a big house in Prestbury. I expect Maurice told you about my flat? They bought me that. It was a bribe, really. I wanted to become an actor. I did drama at A Level and took acting lessons. But they wanted me to do the whole settle down, have a decent career thing. So I joined the force. It was my attempt at rebelling.
'I thought they would be horrified, but they weren't. They were very supportive, in their own way, that's why they bought me the flat. And the car. No one was more surprised than I was that I turned out to be quite good at being a copper. Up to now.
'Anyway, after they died, I sold their house and moved Tom in with me, into the flat. He needs someone to keep an eye on him all the time. He's in mainstream education but he struggles. He has no social skills at all. But there's a trust fund for him. I can easily afford paid childcare to cover when I'm not there. I thought I could manage.
'I have a really good friend who looks after him on the rare occasions I get a night out. She can't do it often, as she's busy. But I make the most of it when she can. Sometimes I let my hair down a bit too much and get drunk punchy in the street, with complete strangers.'
She risked a wry smile over the rim of her mug as she said that. Ted returned the smile but made no comment.
'But I didn't realise how bad Tommy gets with any unexpected change in his routine. If the person he thinks is coming to look after him has to be replaced at the last minute, he goes into meltdown. I can't always leave on time to come to work if a different person turns up to take him to school.'
She drank more tea. Looked warily at Ted to see how he was reacting. He nodded encouragingly for her to continue and prompted, 'Weekends would be worse, I imagine? No school, change of routine?'
'Exactly,' she said. 'Moving house was horrendous. I thought he'd never settle down again. But he does have a coping skill. It's what stops me sleeping.
'Dad always used to play Trivial Pursuit with him. Tom knows the answer to every question on every card in every edition of it that exists. So he decided to start making up his own questions. He comes and tries them out on me, whatever time of day or night it is.
'He doesn't seem to need to sleep, like I do. He thinks nothing of just wandering into my bedroom, at any time of night, to ask what was the pattern on the china in the first class dining room on board the Titanic, for instance.'
'Or who scored the winning goals in the 1966 World Cup?' Ted surmised, remembering her knowledge of it. 'Why have you never mentioned this before, to any of your previous senior officers?'
'Yeah, right,' she scoffed. 'Because the force just loves officers with childcare issues. Especially women. So now you know, what with that, and me letting Angela slip away, I suppose I'll be on the move again?'
Ted leaned back in his chair and looked at her thoughtfully.
'Isn't that you being more than a bit judgemental of me?' he asked mildly. 'I've told you, I'm satisfied that what happened with Angela was an unfortunate accident, nothing more. Not your fault. Could have happened to anyone.
'As far as childcare issues go, now I know, I can understand, perhaps even help in some way. I wish you'd trusted me with this sooner, but I can understand why you were reluctant.'
Jezza was sipping her tea, still looking warily at him over the mug, holding it protectively in both hands.
'You're not going to kick me out, then?' she asked, seeking clarification.
'I like a challenge,' Ted told her, with a grin. 'I'm not so keen on bad language though, if you could avoid that in the future.'
'Message received and understood, boss,' she said, with no apparent trace of irony.
'Now, there's something I want you to consider, which you may not like,' Ted told her. 'You're not yet really an integrated member of this team.'
Ted held up a hand as she started to interrupt him.
'That's not a criticism. I'd like you to tell the team some of what you told me. Just mention that your brother gives you some problems. None of us much likes talking about our private lives, but you might be surprised,' he said. 'We work well as a team because we he
lp and support one another. At least if they know, they'll be more understanding. Will you do that?'
'I don't want pity,' she said defensively.
'You won't get it,' Ted assured her. 'We have a serial killer to catch. If one team member is struggling, the others need to get behind them. It's how we roll.'
She nodded reluctantly. Ted went to the door and put his head out.
'Mike, can you get the team together in, say, half an hour? Jezza needs to talk to everyone.'
Ted suspected that it was her drama training that got Jezza through a difficult few moments, talking to the rest of the team.
'I just wanted to say sorry for being a bit of a cow since I joined the team, and not pulling my weight. And sorry I let Angela get away yesterday. Not that it's any excuse, but I've been a bit light on sleep.'
She proceeded to tell the team, briefly, a bit of what she had told Ted about her younger brother. Once she'd finished, she looked round hesitantly, as if not sure Ted had been right in asking her to tell them.
Maurice spoke first.
'You should have said, bonny lass. I'm not much good at most things but I'm good with kids. Maybe I could babysit some time? I have two lasses myself.'
'Tommy's not very good with other children. They think he's weird. He's better with adults, though he's not always good with them. He's very geeky,' she said.
Maurice laughed.
'Geeky? Send him round to mine, then, he and Steve were clearly separated at birth.'
'A few of us might be able to help, Jezza, now we know what the problem is. Some of us might prefer looking after Tommy to working extra shifts to cover when you can't get here,' Mike said with a laugh.
'Right, that's more like it,' Ted said. 'We're a team, we need to look out for each other. Now, a swift half in The Grapes for lunch, because Jezza can join us then but not in the evenings, because of getting home for Tommy. And then let's get on with finding Angela and bringing her in.'
Chapter Thirty-eight
Angela seemed to have gone well and truly to ground. On the positive side, that meant no more killings. The downside was that it also meant that they did not have a prime suspect in custody, nor even in their sights.
The team now had plenty of information about her, including her car registration number and bank card details, thanks to Steve's computer work. But there was no sign of the car anywhere and her credit cards had not been used for several days.
None of the neighbours could throw any light on her absence. They knew very little about her, other than that she was a widow whose husband had died a few months ago. She had always been, they told the officers who asked the questions, aloof to the point of being anti-social. It seemed she and her husband were more than happy in each other's company and had no need of anyone else.
The story was the same both at the firm of solicitors where she worked and at her GP's surgery. She was a person who kept to herself and no one knew much about her at all.
Ted had sent the team round the care homes once more to ensure the food ban stayed in place and to ask that any sightings of Angela, in one of her different guises, were reported immediately. They were still not sure how she usually looked, when not disguised, but had tried showing the CCTV stills from the hospital, the best they had to date.
'So I presume you're now considering putting her house under observation in the hopes of finding her?' the Ice Queen asked Ted, as he brought her up to speed in her office.
'It's tactically tricky, ma'am,' Ted told her. 'There's nowhere even an unmarked car can park and stake it out without being seen. It will mean extra hours. Officers in the field, literally, watching the place, then two teams in unmarked cars on the road if she makes a break for it. Assuming she does eventually turn up there.'
'In view of the pressure the Chief Constable is putting on both of us, I don't see the extra hours as a problem,' she said dryly. 'Speak to Inspector Turner about a few extra officers as and when you need them. I think at the moment it is our best chance. Sooner or later, she's bound to head for home, surely? And you don't want to go public with an appeal for help in finding her, yet?'
Ted shook his head emphatically.
'I'd prefer not to,' he said. 'I'd like us to try to bring her in. I'm trying to persuade her employers to give us information from her personnel file, but you know how cagey solicitors are. It may take a warrant.'
'Very unfortunate that she slipped through DC Vine's fingers.'
'Not her fault, ma'am,' Ted said, instantly on the defence of his team.
'At ease, Inspector,' she said with a smile. 'That was an observation, not a criticism. I know by now about your unswerving loyalty to your team. How are things going now with DC Vine?'
'Now we know what the problem is, the rest of the team are all rallying round.'
With Jezza's permission, Ted had explained her circumstances to the Ice Queen, whose only comment had been, 'We must be seen to do all we can to be supportive of a promising young officer.'
To Jezza's surprise, her brother had hit it off well with both Maurice and Steve. Steve in particular was hugely popular, with his endless patience at searching out complex answers for Tommy on the Internet. She had even found that, as a result, he was starting to sleep better. It gave her an extra option for childcare and meant that she could start to do more shifts outside his school hours.
Now the team knew what the problem was, they were being more tolerant of Jezza and were even including her in some of the gentle banter. She was still desperately hoping to be the one who finally collared Angela. Only then would she feel she had truly earned her place as one of them.
Ted was better able to concentrate on the task in hand, now he knew that Trev was all right. In fact, Trev was on sparkling form, free from the worry of possible serious illness. Literally fighting fit. At their last judo session together, Ted had, unusually, found himself on the mat right at the beginning of their randori.
His breakfall technique had saved him from any ill effect, but he still took a second or two to adjust to the unusual turn of events. Trev, meanwhile, was bouncing round him on the balls of his feet, eyes sparkling, shamelessly air-punching, and gloating in his phony accent, 'Down is where you went, uncle!'
Ted had included himself on the rota which Mike had drawn up to cover a watch on Angela's cottage. A few days into the surveillance operation found him sitting with Jezza in her Golf on the main road near to the cottage, facing in the direction of Romiley. The hood was well and truly up as it was raining heavily and looked set to continue throughout the night. Jezza's brother Tommy was round at Maurice's house, safely installed in front of the computer with Steve.
Virgil had drawn the short straw and was crouched miserably, binoculars trained on the cottage, in the sparse shelter of some trees, which dripped persistently down the back of his neck. He was a couple of fields away, in the only cover suitable. An officer from the uniform branch was keeping him company, wearing dark civilian clothes and grumbling a lot.
Rob was sitting in his car further down the main road in a lay-by, facing the opposite way to Ted and Jezza. He was accompanied by PC Susan Heap, also in plain clothes.
It was early evening, still daylight, but the visibility was not good because of the persistent rain. They were further hampered by the spray thrown up by the steady stream of traffic heading past, going home at the end of the working day.
'Do you think we make a likely courting couple, boss?' Jezza asked conversationally.
Ted smiled indulgently.
'An unlikely one, perhaps.'
'What, are you saying you wouldn't fancy me, if you were straight?'
She was clearly feeling very much more at ease in his company.
'People would be more likely to think I was your dad dropping you off to meet your boyfriend,' he suggested.
'Boss, there's a dark Fiesta, same model as Angela's, heading in your direction,' Rob's voice came over the radio. 'We couldn't see the number for the amount of spr
ay being thrown up.'
Jezza was keeping watch in the rear view mirror for any traffic turning into the lane where Angela's cottage was.
'Got visual on it now,' she said, 'and it's turning into the lane.'
'Virgil, do you copy'? Ted asked.
'Copy, boss. I can see lights coming down the lane, heading towards the cottage. The car's turning round in one of the parking spaces. Backing down to Angela's cottage.'
There was a pause, then Virgil continued, 'Someone has just got out but it looks as if they've left the car running. The lights are still on.'
'Quick visit to pick something up, ready for a speedy getaway?' Ted mused.
'Something from the garden, perhaps? Ready for her next victim?' Jezza suggested.
They had already had a discreet look in the garden when no one seemed to be around. They'd found foxgloves and aconite plants, a hedge of yew and an oleander shrub, growing in a sheltered corner against a wall. Full house of the poisons used in the killings. A look through the a corner of the kitchen window, where the curtain did not quite reach, had revealed an impressive shelf of books on the healing and harmful properties of plants.
'Everybody stay in position. Let's not spook her at this stage,' Ted cautioned. 'What's happening, Virgil?'
'A light's gone on in one of the upstairs windows,' Virgil reported. 'The car's still outside, with the lights on. Damn!'
'What?' asked a chorus of voices.
'Sorry, just a massive big trickle of cold water down the back of my neck,' Virgil apologised. 'Hang on, the upstairs light has gone out. Front door is opening again. Suspect has come out, carrying a small bag. Put the bag in the car. Got back into the car. Now she's driving off. It's over to you guys now, I'm just about to lose visual.'
Jezza started up the engine, just in case Angela turned in their direction. She imagined Rob would do the same in his vehicle.
Ted was also looking behind them, glancing through the back window, one arm casually on the back of the driving seat behind Jezza. To a casual onlooker, it would hopefully look like an affectionate gesture, not one which would suggest undercover cops at work.