Never Forget

by Lisa Cutts

  In the living room, we each sat on a sofa with our tea. I’d declined a biscuit, noticing that the cheeky cow was offering me a cheap own-brand rather than the deluxe chocolate ones I’d just handed her. My phone bleeped with a new message. I’d get it later.

  Now my tears were dry, I didn’t want to talk about Stan any more. Annie respected that and we caught up on what she and her family had been doing. As much as she’d want to share with a police officer, anyway. Some things I truly didn’t want to know about. Annie’s two sons doted on their mum and she on them. Their dad had been a very violent man and the burn on her face from a clothes iron still reminded me just how violent. It was no doubt a constant reminder to her, too, whenever she looked in the mirror, and to her sons when they looked at their mum.

  ‘Those murders down your way were bad, weren’t they?’ she asked.

  ‘Murders usually are bad, Annie, what with the dead people.’

  ‘Alright, you funny mare. You know what I mean.’

  ‘Sorry.’ I let her speak. I didn’t want to press her.

  She sat forward as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear, even though there was no one else present. ‘I ’eard they was done by the same person because of all the stab marks.’

  ‘Really? Where did you get that from?’

  Annie gave me a look of disgust. ‘Like I’d tell you that even if I knew. It’s just talk. All round the estate. News travels fast, you know.’

  I knew that this was highly unlikely. People did not discuss the specifics of who murdered whom thirty or so miles away. There was more to it, but I knew Annie well enough to say with some degree of certainty that she would not tell me where this information came from. From experience, I trusted that if she wanted to tell me more she would, but in her own sweet time. Any information she passed to me usually had some truth to it or I would have stopped passing it on years ago. I had a feeling there was more to come, but I would have to be patient and not rush her.

  Chapter 15

  When I left Annie’s, I checked my phone and listened to the message. It was Wingsy, asking me to call him back. I returned the call.

  ‘Hi, mate. How was Crown Court?’ I asked.

  ‘The usual. Sat around and then they didn’t need me. Had a lovely bit of carrot cake from Jean in Witness Services, though. Anyway, you up for an early start in the morning?’

  ‘Yeah. What time and why?’

  ‘Get here for 5am; there’s a team going out to nick someone. Can’t say any more than that. I don’t know any more than that. By the way, how did you get on with Pierre?’

  ‘Did you know he’s gay?’

  Wingsy laughed so loud, I had to move the phone away from my ear. ‘Didn’t exactly know. It’s not something you throw into the conversation.’

  ‘You total git. You told me he was single.’

  ‘Well, he is. Someone else told me his relationship had ended. Blimey, I was trying to do you a favour.’

  ‘You mean that the manicured fingernails and Calvin Klein aftershave didn’t give you any hints?’

  ‘The thing is, Nina, I look after my fingernails and wear aftershave; it doesn’t mean I’m gay. How was I supposed to know?’

  I ended the call, got into my car and headed home. I thought it was better to have a drink earlier than anticipated if I was going to be getting up at 4am. I gave Laura a call to see if she fancied meeting me as soon as she finished work rather than the time we’d arranged.

  At four o’clock on the dot, I was sitting in the Dog and Gun with a glass of red wine in front of me. Out of habit, I’d deliberately chosen a table tucked at the back but with a clear view of the front door. A gin and tonic awaited Laura on her arrival. When she appeared in the doorway, a couple of the old regulars at the bar turned to watch her walk across to where I was sitting. She was single, a stunner and they didn’t stand a chance. She sauntered towards me with an air of confidence and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before removing her cashmere jacket and sitting opposite me.

  ‘How’s tricks, Nina?’

  ‘Not bad, Lol. Things much the same as ever in the office?’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘You could say that. Too much work, and that miserable cow Beckensale has had it in for me since you’ve been gone. She clearly just needs someone to pick on.’

  ‘Yeah, she gave me a speech when I left about how troublesome I was and how she’d be glad to see the back of me. The feeling was mutual. I just don’t get what her problem is.’

  ‘Perhaps she needs a shag.’

  ‘She’s not the only one, but I’m pretty sure I don’t go around talking to people the way she does. It gets my goat.’

  Laura chuckled. ‘Can’t you just be single and happy?’

  ‘I don’t want to get married, just have sex.’ I said that a lot louder than I’d meant to and the old boys at the bar looked round again. ‘But not right now,’ I added, looking in their direction.

  ‘What’s wrong with them, then?’ asked Laura, inclining her head towards the bar.

  ‘I’ve not reached the point yet where I’ll settle for a man who doesn’t have at least a couple of his own teeth.’

  ‘You know who’s single and has all his teeth?’ said Laura. ‘Alf, the caretaker.’

  ‘Very funny, Lol. I think he may just be a bit too old for me.’

  ‘Handy around the house, though. One minute he’s in custody unblocking the toilets; the next he’s fixing a flat screen telly to the wall.’

  ‘Why didn’t you say? My U-bend can be temperamental.’

  ‘Mind you, Nin, you’ll have to get in quick. He’s going to live with his son in Spain. I was talking to him the other day when I dropped some files off at Riverstone nick. His son’s loaded and owns a bar. And he’s good-looking.’

  ‘A bar, you say? I may have been too hasty.’

  We hadn’t been in the pub long before a familiar face showed itself. We’d just got our second drink, bought by Laura, who’d seemed not to notice the barman flirting with her. She slid back into her seat, temporarily blocking my view of the door, and, as she sat down, Joe Bring came into view behind her. He paused in the open doorway, eyes accustoming to the dingy light, then ambled into the bar. Something was wrong with his walk.

  Bloody hell, I thought, if he’s about to start selling knocked-off legs of lamb out of his gusset, I’m not going to be able to avoid nicking him. He’d walked into the pub opposite the police station where two officers he knew were watching his every move. This was my only day off in nine days and I was facing another six of solid work, starting in the morning at 5am.

  Laura followed my gaze. We made up half of the customers in the pub. He couldn’t fail to see us. He looked straight at me and something resembling fear flashed across his face. This was an unusual reaction. Being arrested and having your plans for the next twenty-four hours ruined was one thing, but being frightened didn’t usually feature for a criminal like Joe.

  ‘He got bail, then?’ I asked Laura, watching Joe as he backed out of the pub the way he’d come in.

  ‘Yeah. Went to court and gave it the usual about having a sick child, wife couldn’t cope and it was all the fault of the system. Not a dry eye on the magistrates’ bench.’

  Another hour and a coffee later, I said that I had to get home as I had an early start. I also couldn’t drink any more alcohol as I had the car, so we walked to the car park together and wished each other a good night.

  Chapter 16

  23rd September

  I slept heavily but woke up refreshed and keen. Within forty minutes of the alarm jolting me into the day I was pulling into the nick’s car park, already trying to guess what the day would hold. I hadn’t been able to resist making a few phone calls the previous evening, I’d wanted to know what was happening today, but everyone I’d called had been tight-lipped. An arrest was imminent, but few knew the person’s identity.

  Swiping myself into the building, I made my way to the meeting room, which was more compac
t than the previous one, only capable of housing about twenty of us. I was one of the first, arriving at the same time as Bill Harrison. I hadn’t seen him since he’d searched Connor’s house with me a couple of days ago. He had his same team on their way and I could hear them noisily coming along the corridor, with Lila loudest of all. Jerry was making her laugh at something he had in his pocket. I was intrigued, but not so much that I could be bothered to ask him. Wingsy had already taken a seat, so I sat next to him. At one minute to five, DCI Nottingham walked through the door and shut it behind him.

  ‘Are we all here?’ he asked. ‘I’m not going to risk waiting.’ He made his way to the chair furthest from the door. ‘Only a couple of us know who our target is today. I’ve got Bill and his team of six, Nina and Wingsy, myself, Simon and Kim here. Apart from us, only the Chief knows that our target is working on this nick.’

  Stunned silence. Some uncomfortable looks were exchanged. I remembered the noises I’d heard on Friday evening, from the room next to the briefing room.

  ‘It’s not an officer; it’s one of the contractors who’s been on the site, painting and what not. That’s another reason for it being so early: there are three contractors working here and the other two will be here at 7am. Kim’s to go in the van with the entry and search team. She’ll brief you on the way. You go in, do your thing, arrest him for the murders of Amanda Bell and Jason Holland, and then Nina and John will join you. The suspect’s name is Gary Savage. Grounds for arrest are a DNA hit on Holland. Anyone have any pressing questions, as I’m handing you the warrant and leaving you in Kim’s hands?’ Without waiting for us to say anything, he got up and walked out, leaving the door open. We stood up, glanced at one another and left without a word.

  In the yard a couple of minutes later, Wingsy and I watched our uniform colleagues piling into the van. We’d all made the workmen cups of tea from time to time. On several occasions I’d popped to see Alf and found him in his cubbyhole amusing at least one of the decorators with his navy stories. Last to get into the van was Kim, carrying a file and a notebook. As we approached, she was handing out photographs of Gary Savage.

  ‘Sarge,’ shouted Wingsy. She looked at him. ‘Grounds for arrest are a DNA hit but what other details do you have?’

  ‘A hair was found on Holland’s body. You’re not making the arrest so you don’t need to worry about it.’ She pulled the sliding door of the van shut and began her mobile briefing.

  Wingsy was holding the car keys in his hand, pressing the remote unlock button, attempting to locate our car in the badly lit yard. ‘Best get going, mate,’ I said. ‘We didn’t even get an address.’

  ‘Yeah, and that briefing was shite,’ he said, marching towards the car whose indicators had flashed. ‘Just what is going on here?’

  Chapter 17

  We stayed out of the way while Bill and his team entered Savage’s terraced house. It was nothing out of the ordinary, though on the outside at least the decorator’s house could have done with a lick of paint. The last one out of the van was Kim. She came over and got into the rear seat of our Golf, bringing the cold in with her.

  Her first words to us were, ‘One of Savage’s hairs was found on one of Jason Holland’s stab wounds. Holland had twenty-seven identifiable wounds inflicted on him but unlike Amanda, who drowned in her own blood, he would have died just from those. It would seem that he was left to bleed to death.’

  A pause allowed this information to sink in. She continued, ‘Not going to need you two for much, as the senior CSI is on her way. You’re here only in case anything mundane needs doing.’

  The interior light in the car came on as she got back out again. I looked over at Wingsy in the driver’s seat. He was shaking his head as he watched her walk towards the house under the orange glow of the lamppost. ‘Must be a full moon,’ he said.

  ‘Perhaps she’s just not a morning person?’ I said. ‘Let’s try not to rub anyone up the wrong way after just a couple of days.’

  ‘Take it you didn’t get three sheets to the wind last night or you’d not be quite so charitable. Who’s that just come out of the house?’

  I couldn’t make out the figure clearly but could see the high-visibility part of a police stab-proof vest heading towards us. A few seconds later, I recognised Lila’s cropped red hair.

  Wingsy let the driver’s window down as she approached. ‘Hello, gorgeous,’ he said. ‘Are we needed?’

  ‘Right, he’s been nicked, and Kim, or Sergeant Cotton as she’s told me she prefers, has asked that you two have a quick look in his car and his works van. Both are parked on the road.’ She handed Wingsy two sets of keys and pointed with her free hand at some parked vehicles on the other side of the street. ‘The white van and the blue Ford. Oh, and she said to tell you to wear gloves. And if you find anyone in the boot bleeding to death, be sure to let her know before you call an ambulance.’

  ‘You’re having a good morning too, then, Lila?’ I asked.

  We all looked up as car headlights came towards us. The senior crime scene investigator, Joanna Styles, pulled up behind us. Wingsy and I got out of our car. We waited beside our vehicle for the latest arrival to get out of her white van. She was met with a trio of genuine ‘Morning, Jo’ greetings and was filled in while we waited for the uniform officers to bring Savage out. She chatted to us as she sorted out her files, camera and equipment. We told her as much as we could, but it turned out that she knew more than us anyway. That didn’t surprise us. Wingsy and I left her to it and returned to the task in hand.

  ‘Ford or van?’ asked Wingsy.

  ‘You romantic. Mel’s a lucky girl. Ford, just in case someone is in the boot.’

  A cursory search of the Ford revealed nothing much, except the man’s obsession with fast food and scratch cards. The transit van was a little more interesting. The rear double doors on the van were unlocked. Shining the torch over the floor showed little but a couple of dust sheets in the far right corner. A glint of metal stood out against the dirty white floor.

  ‘Is that – ’ I said.

  ‘A knife,’ said Wingsy. ‘Better wait for Jo. I don’t want to climb all over the back of this van.’

  ‘I’ll go and let her know,’ I said. ‘I can see them leading a bloke out of the house so she can’t go in there yet. She may be glad to start out here.’

  Jo was a CSI, which made her a civilian employee in our force. Being a civilian, she was never allowed to be the first through the door in a volatile situation, and from the noise Mrs Savage was making it was best that Jo gave the house a wide berth for now. From across the road I could hear Mrs Savage hollering something about someone hanging around the past couple of nights in the street near their car and how the police hadn’t done anything to investigate it. Over the noise, I explained to Jo what we’d found and waited for her to get her equipment. She came back over to the van with me, shining her torch through the open doors.

  ‘Best organise a recovery truck for this van,’ she said. ‘I can’t risk getting in the back of it in an uncontrolled environment. I need to examine it under cover. The knife’s covered in blood.’

  Chapter 18

  Suspect in custody, vehicle seized and the house searched, Wingsy and I went back to Riverstone nick and headed for the interview remote viewing room, equipped to allow us to watch Savage’s interview, actually taking place in the ground floor custody area, from the CID offices on the second floor.

  Pierre and another detective Wingsy and I didn’t know had already started interviewing Savage. For a long time it was slow progress; often he gave only a slight nod of the head in answer to questions put to him. But then Savage seemed to go to the other extreme. He avoided Pierre’s last question, not by refusing to answer, but by rambling on about his mum. As fascinating as it was to hear that the old girl loved a game of bingo but never went to the bookies, it wasn’t what we wanted to know. DCI Nottingham, who was also watching the interview with us, didn’t look too interested either. S
everal times he sighed, stopped writing and threw his pen down on to the desk.

  ‘Gary, this isn’t relevant. I’m asking you about Jason Holland,’ said Pierre. ‘I’ve told you that your DNA was found in the room where his body was discovered. Did you know Jason Holland?’

  ‘No, officer. I didn’t know him.’

  ‘Have you ever been to 17 Preston Road?’

  ‘Yes, I have.’

  ‘When were you there?’

  ‘I can’t remember the date but the council sent me to price up a job. You can check with them. Some old fella had died and the place was a right mess. I was there for about twenty or thirty minutes and I cut my hand somewhere upstairs. May have dripped a bit of blood upstairs or down. I can’t remember where. There was nothing in the house at all to stop the bleeding so I may have wiped the cut anywhere. Check with the council. Is someone talking to them? Bloke called Andy, Andrew Wells, I think. I’ve got his number in my phone, or just ring the council and ask for him. He’ll tell you,’ said Savage, red in the face. He appeared satisfied with his answer. We were not.

  ‘How did you cut your hand, Gary?’ asked Pierre.

  ‘I caught it on a nail at the top of the stairs,’ answered Gary without a second’s hesitation. He nodded along as he spoke. ‘See here?’ he said, holding out his left hand towards Pierre. ‘There’s a bit of a scar here. You can still see it. I showed it already to that nurse in the cells. She marked it on a piece of paper.’

  I thought Gary was going to laugh, he looked so relieved. It made no difference that when he’d been booked into custody the nurse on duty had marked his injuries on a body map diagram. He still had to explain his hair on a dead body, not his blood dripped on to the floor.