by Paula Lennon
“If he ever knew how close he came to killing a young girl...” said Rabino.
“Him did wicked sometimes, but him woulda never want to do dat,” replied Zadie, surprising herself by her need to defend him. Even in death he maintained a hold over her.
“When we did ask Lester if him know you as Carter girlfriend him never even want to acknowledge you,” said Spence, watching her closely. Without all the make-up and bravado Zadie looked just like what she was, a naive nineteen-year-old girl.
Zadie allowed herself a tense smile. “Dat sound like Lester.”
“Guess him couldn’t say ‘yes is Carter girlfriend and my sometime chick too.’”
“When Carter dash me weh Lester tell Carter say him is a fool, but him couldn’t mad tell Carter anything ’bout me and him,” sniffed Zadie. “Since Carter dead is only one time me see Lester until today. Him give me de bracelet and tell me dat me must give it a few months for everything to quiet down before me and him could talk again.”
Spence shook her head. “Dat man don’t have no heart.”
Zadie shivered and rubbed her upper arms. Rabino took off her thin linen jacket and placed it around Zadie’s shoulders. “We’ll get him, young lady. Don’t worry.”
*
Preddy looked up when Rabino and Spence got back to Pelican Walk.
“You took a while. Everything okay wid Zadie?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, her father came for her,” explained Spence. She grinned broadly. “Speaking of which, we went on a diversion to see Darnay. Since he eventually gave you de information we needed, we decided to return de favour.”
Harris spun around, a deep frown in his forehead. “What favour exactly?”
After slicing him with a look, Spence turned to Rabino and said, “Let me be Darnay, and you be me.”
“Er, no.” Rabino gulped from a bottle of cold water. “You be you, mad woman. I’ll be Darnay.”
“Chuh! Alright.”
Rabino slouched into a seat, kicked off her shoes and put her trousered legs on the desk, eyes closed. Spence walked towards her holding out her black linen jacket. “Mr Darnay, look what I brought for you. You forgot your jacket.”
Rabino barely raised her lashes as she mimicked Darnay. “Ah no my jacket dat, natural lady.”
“Ah no your jacket?” Spence studied the fabric with exaggerated thoroughness.
“Me never have on no jacket.”
“You sure ah no your jacket?” Spence held it up in the air and waved it as if to straighten out the creases.
“Den me no must know what me wear?”
“Sorry, my mistake. I coulda swear ah your little jacket dis.” Spence made a show of neatly folding the garment. “Alright, sir, try to sleep peacefully.”
Preddy joined in the laughter. Harris watched, amused by both the performance and the subsequent hilarity. “Okay. I didnae get what that was about.”
“He thinks a baby boy is his,” said Preddy. “Not de boy we saw at de garage, another younger boy. We say Darnay got a ‘jacket.’”
Harris absorbed this information with a frown. “So if someone comes here tae report a stolen jacket they’re really talking about child abduction?”
“No,” Spence chuckled and wiped her eyes. “Mind you don’t make people box you down fi insult dem.”
“What would you say in your country?” asked Rabino.
Harris shrugged. “That he’s an unlucky sod?”
“A child deserves to know their real father.” Rabino sat upright and straightened her clothes. “Saves Darnay a lot of money and heartache in the long run too.”
“If he gets it,” said Harris, before realisation dawned on him. “Och, so that’s what the tattoo business was about?”
Preddy nodded. “When de medication wears off he’ll put two and two together.”
“We were hoping to find Lester hiding in him room, but no luck,” said Spence. “You hear anything else yet, sir?”
“Not a thing,” replied Preddy, before he could stop himself.
Harris shot Preddy a look. “Naw. The media are reporting that there’s been an incident at the Empire Hotel involving Lester Chin Ellis and we want tae speak to him in regard tae our enquiries.”
Preddy turned his attention back to his paperwork. He badly wished that Zadie Merton had phoned them first before going to confront Lester. It was not hard to understand how anger and outrage led to her doing so, but vigilantism was not to be encouraged under any circumstances. Now their person of interest had morphed into their prime suspect and gone to ground. His parents adamantly denied all knowledge of his whereabouts. His villa at Sandy Bay was under heavy surveillance, yet so far nothing. Preddy had placed phone calls to every person he could think of, but there were no sightings of the man at all.
The detective had theorised at length about Nembhard’s role in the murder and had drawn the conclusion that Lester’s injuries were caused purely by chance. No-one inside or outside of the station had hit him with anything. Nembhard had placed the gym weights on the rear passenger foot-well of his jeep which bore the evidence in the form of shallow indentations, as he always carried them there. An intoxicated Lester had either stumbled into the vehicle and made contact with the weights, or he had lain flat on the backseat and fallen onto them during the ride. Lester’s face had been covered with a balaclava so he might not have been able to see properly. The microscopic hairs that Valerie had detected in the photograph were fibres from the hood and not from a towel. But the detective was not yet ready to share his theory with the team and certainly not with his new leader.
Preddy retrieved the reports provided by Officers Wilson and Nembhard and ran through them yet again. He then reviewed their disciplinary records. Nembhard should not even be on the force, but he had successfully appealed a decision to dismiss him for being absent without permission on various occasions. There was a definite pattern with this officer. Hard evidence was needed to nail Nembhard this time, but nail him he would. Preddy walked across the room towards Harris, pulled out a chair and handed him Nembhard’s report.
“What are we looking at?” asked Harris.
“When Nembhard was asked why he didn’t call a doctor he said Lester didn’t need one. Textbook stuff, if someone is injured you get a doctor or take dem to hospital. What you don’t do is reach a conclusion dat dey are okay.”
“Agreed.”
“Nembhard said he took de injured Lester from his cell at around 4:30 a.m. as he needed to separate him from de inmates. Wilson did not see Lester at all after he was booked in, so we only have Nembhard’s word for it dat dis is what happened. Nembhard was not seen again until 5:25 a.m., so even if we believe him dere are at least fifty-five minutes unaccounted for where he was unseen. He was out driving Lester.”
“Seems like Officer Timmins was mistaken and we do offer a chauffeur service after all,” mumbled Harris.
“The city is not so big and the roads were almost empty. That’s plenty of time to commit the crime,” said Rabino. “Nembhard. I can’t believe the man could have helped Lester.”
“And him still around here too,” said Spence. “A gwaan like.”
“I can have him arrested,” said Harris.
“I don’t think dat is a good idea,” interjected Preddy, adding as an afterthought, “sir.”
“Och, and why is that?” asked Harris. He tapped his pen repeatly against his desk while focusing on the detective.
Spence sat upright and stared at her new boss. Rabino glanced towards Preddy. If they could harness the ice in the air there would be no need for the oscillating fans.
“Circumstantial evidence does not work well wid juries in dis country,” replied Preddy. “If we arrest him on what we have we are going to regret it, trust me.”
“A true,” muttered Spence. “We no have no murder weapon. All we have is Darnay and him never see Nembhard.”
“Nembhard is no fool,” said Preddy. “He has been on de force long enough to know h
ow to play a game of cat and mouse. Once he finds out dat Darnay cannot identify him it will be a much harder game for us.” If it came to it Preddy would call on Jerry Knight to identify Nembhard, although he was determined to keep the misguided young man and his hardworking mother out of it if possible.
“That’s right, sir,” said Rabino. “Nembhard has been up against the brass more than once before. We’ll soon hear about victimisation.”
“He stuck a gun in Darnay’s mouth,” said Harris.
“And if he had pulled de trigger we would have him,” Preddy retorted.
Harris took a deep breath and got to his feet. “I’ll think about it. I’m popping down tae the front desk. Call me if there are any sightings of Lester.”
*
Darnay’s common law wife called Pelican Walk repeatedly, ranting about the police holding onto her sick man for nothing. The nuisance calls ended when an infuriated Spence returned one of them and informed the woman that if she still wanted to make it to Vancouver she should not phone again. Spence had also given the woman directions on where to find Darnay’s smartphone and suggested that she might want to bring it in. Less than an hour later the phone was with the policewoman and she had identified the phone number Darnay claimed belonged to Lester, which differed from the numbers Zadie had given them. It came as no surprise that the phone rang unanswered.
Preddy was having better luck as he had received the phone call he had been waiting for. After a painstaking search among overgrown bushes and sharp brambles, Timmins had found a discarded black hood in the extensive grounds of the Orchid Bar, but no gun. It would now be a matter of collecting Lester’s DNA and he felt sure that it would be a perfect match.
“Thank you for trusting me, sir,” said Timmins hesitantly.
“I know you never shoot dat dog,” Preddy replied.
“What dog, sir?”
“Carter dog.”
*
The team was assembled in the conference room making phone calls to Lester’s known haunts, as there were many within and outside of St James. Harris was waiting for Superintendent Brownlow to finish his meeting to give him the latest news and Preddy was feeling aggrieved that he was not the one awaiting the superintendent’s availability. Harris could not have done this without him and would now no doubt pretend that he had been instrumental in getting to this point.
Preddy was not about to let that happen because, as Rabino had correctly assessed, he was not a man given to being humble, worse still in the presence of a foreigner. He would read any report Harris produced and demand to be allowed to include his own comments where the men differed in their recollection of events. Nobody was going to retire him off without a fight. There would be no joining the expats and returnees in the cool hills of Mandeville to await death.
“Detective, are ye ready tae go?” said Harris, getting to his feet and gathering his papers.
Preddy was startled out of his musing and said nothing. Harris could surely not be speaking to him, although he was looking straight at him.
“The Super is ready tae hear us. He’s got the commissioner with him as well.”
“Umm, yes,” Preddy replied, stumbling as he pushed back his chair. He grabbed a stack of papers. “Can I suggest you invite dem to de evidence room, Detective? It will make things easier to explain.”
“Aye, I can do that.” Harris headed for the door.
“I wonder which one a dem going hit de other first,” said Spence as they left.
“The commissioner isn’t going to let anybody raise their voice in his meeting, much less raise fists. He’ll throw the two of them out,” replied Rabino.
A table and chairs were arranged for Harris and Preddy in front of Commissioner Davis and Superintendent Brownlow. A jug of iced water and four glasses were in the middle. The commissioner had never been in the evidence room before and he took his time sauntering around and inspecting the local maps, whiteboards full of comments, and well-fingered mugshots stuck to the walls by drawing pins.
“Speak, gentlemen,” demanded the commissioner, eventually taking a seat and looking directly at Harris.
Harris waved his hand in Preddy’s direction. “I have asked Detective Preddy tae fill ye in.”
Commissioner Davis scowled. “Oh, I thought you were leading the investigation?”
“I am, sir. That’s why I can ask ma colleague tae do the honours,” said Harris, maintaining the commissioner’s gaze.
The superintendent coughed and looked at Preddy. “Go on, Detective.”
Preddy stood up and moved to the whiteboard. “The Chin Ellis brothers were arrested at 2:08 a.m. and brought to the station, arriving at 2:23 a.m. The arresting officers Timmins and Franklin released Carter at around 4:06 a.m. Dere is at least a ten-mile radius in which all dis happened.”
Preddy pressed coloured pins into the blown-up map of the parish of St James as he spoke, highlighting the distance between Pelican Walk station and Carter’s Red Hills home. He also identified the side road where Carter had collected Lester’s car and used another pin to indicate the Orchid Bar.
“Minutes later Nembhard took Lester out of his cell to an unknown location. Wilson was not as alert as he should have been, but I don’t think he was involved. I think Lester changed his clothes and Nembhard gave him back his phone. He called Darnay. He knew dat Darnay hung out at de Orchid every Saturday night and he wanted to make sure he was dere. Nembhard drove Lester out of de station and straight to de Orchid. Lester called Darnay again from de car park and got him to bring de car keys outside. Lester took de Subaru and went after Carter.”
“So we are sure Darnay didn’t do it?” asked the commissioner, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
“Darnay has a solid alibi, he was drinking all night inside the bar, sir,” Harris said.
“What does the CCTV show?”
“At Pelican Walk?” asked Harris. “Sir, as I’m sure the superintendent will explain, our CCTV cameras arenae... fully-functional. There is naw CCTV at the Orchid.”
The superintendent grimaced. “We have no good film from that particular camera. What we do have is very grainy.”
Preddy put another pin at the murder scene. “Lester shot his brother, drove back to de Orchid, threw away de hood and left de car for Darnay. Nembhard picked Lester up and smuggled him back into Pelican Walk, straight through de back door before dawn, changed clothes again. Wilson would not have seen dem if he was at de front of de building. He didn’t see Nembhard for nearly an hour.”
“What is our evidence?” asked the superintendent. “Marcus Darnay could be lying.”
“He could be, sir, but I really don’t believe he is. I think he loaned de car to Lester because Lester has a hold over him. He threatened to turn him in as a lottery scammer and Darnay is planning a whole new life abroad. Darnay only knew about de murder when he saw de news on TV on Sunday evening,” said Preddy.
“Hmm, well he would say that,” said the superintendent.
Harris looked at the superintendent. “Nembhard did draw his weapon on Darnay in the hospital and he didnae sound like he just wanted tae say hi. We had tae intercept him quickly.”
“Darnay has been given a second chance for his family. I think he is telling de truth. We do not have de murder weapon, but we do have de shell casings and bullets which match de eyewitness gun.” Preddy cleared his throat. “Officer Timmins has located what I believe to be de hood Lester wore to carry out de murder.”
Harris frowned and tried to catch Preddy’s eye, but the detective studiously avoided his gaze.
“We have his DNA sample?” asked the commissioner.
“No, sir,” said Preddy. “De evidence will be kept in secure custody until we do.”
The commissioner rubbed his sweating palms together. “Where is Officer Nembhard now?”
“He’s still on duty, sir. He’s aware that we’re very interested in him,” said Harris.
“So how did Lester get assaulted in Nembhard’s
custody if the two of them were working together?” asked the superintendent.
“Dat one had me confused for a while, sir.” Preddy pulled out the photograph of Lester’s bruise from among his documents and placed it on the desk in front of the superintendent. “De guy who is charged with assault, Jerry Knight, said he didn’t touch Lester and I believe him.”
The commissioner glanced over at the photograph. “What is this?”
“Lester’s face. I think Lester fell and hit his face on some weights dat Nembhard had in de back of his vehicle. Nobody hit him wid anything and even his own doctor says dat it is not a fist mark.”
Harris reached over the desk and spun the photograph around. He pushed the photograph back again and his face began to take on the colour of an otaheite apple as he stared at Preddy. Harris picked up the jug and poured himself a long glass of cold water.
“And you agree with this theory, Detective?” asked the commissioner, addressing Harris.
The Scotsman fixed unblinking eyes on Preddy. He held a paperclip in one hand, turning it over and over between thumb and forefinger, before slowly bending it out of shape and snapping it in two. As the seconds ticked by the commissioner grew impatient.
“Detective Harris?”
Harris’ steely green eyes pierced Preddy’s steady brown ones. “Aye. Absolutely, sir.”
The commissioner looked triumphant. “Good work, detectives. I’ll arrange the warrant, you go bring in our suspect. Alive.”
Harris allowed Preddy to precede him as they left the evidence room. Preddy headed towards his own office, aware that Harris was on his heels. His neck felt warm and he loosened his collar. It did cross his mind that if the fire-breathing foreigner picked up a heavy object along the way there would be no opportunity to duck and dive all Matrix, Keanu style.
“Ye kept that photograph hidden and I cannae think why,” said Harris as he slammed Preddy’s door, rattling the framed awards. “What’s with ye? We’re supposed tae be a team.”