by GS Rhodes
“So maybe she was there and he moved her.” Forensics would clear that up. But even as Kidd said it, he knew that they wouldn’t find anything. She wasn’t there.
“Ben!” Zoe shouted. “You’re getting way ahead of yourself here. Look, what we need to be doing right now is going to talk to Peter West, okay? We can’t go in there shouting the odds at him and hoping he’s going to start talking. We need to know where he’s been, we need an alibi for all of his movements, but we’re not about to go in there and give him a caution and drag him down to the station.”
Kidd knew that she was right. If they went and dragged him down to the station with nothing more than a hunch and not a lick of proof, they’d end up in trouble. Either the press would get hold of it and absolutely lampoon them for it, or if Peter was proved innocent, they would end up in serious shit.
Kidd was pretty sure that Weaver would already be doing damage control for the fact that they’d just had Peter West’s front door smashed in. They’d had good reason to look there
They made their way to Richmond Green, back to West’s mother’s house.
I should have come back here yesterday, he thought, trying to think back to what spare moment he’d had. He was even more frustrated when he couldn’t think of one. He knew that hindsight wouldn’t help him right now, he knew that beating himself up about it wouldn’t help either, but he just couldn’t stop himself. He’d gotten distracted by everything else that was going on and it might have ended up putting those children at risk. He hated himself for that.
They got out of the car, Kidd taking a few deep breaths as they walked up the pathway to Peter’s mother’s very fancy house.
“Good morning,” Eveline cooed as she opened the door. She was a short woman, her grey hair perfectly coiffed, her eyes small and pinched in the middle of her face. Her glasses were on a chain around her neck, dangling down on her chest. She looked up into their faces. “I’ve been expecting you,” she added.
They had come to her house to ask her about Peter in the original case, they then, had to come here to tell her what he’d done and that he’d been arrested. Understandably, she’d been devastated and heart-broken by the news, but she had mostly been angry. It was why Kidd was so surprised to find that she had let Peter back into her house.
“You have?” Kidd said. “It’s been so long, I didn’t think you’d recognise me.”
“How could I forget?” she replied. “You were so fiery. Wouldn’t let that DCI fellow get a word in edgeways when you came to question me.”
“Now, that doesn’t sound like you,” Zoe said with a smirk. Eveline turned her attention to Zoe, a question running across her face. “I’m Detective Sergeant Zoe Sanchez.”
“Are you in charge of him now?” she asked.
“Only in her dreams,” Kidd said, trying to keep his cool, not wanting to rush the woman, but worried that too long a wait would give Peter a chance to get away.
“Oh, going up in the world I see,” she said with a raising of her eyebrows. She put her glasses on to look at him again. “You’ve certainly grown up a lot since I last saw you.”
“Is that your way of telling me I look old?” Kidd said with a smile. “I’d say you haven’t aged a day.”
“Well, now you’re just trying to get on my good side,” she said dismissively, though Kidd could see the pink tinging her papery white cheeks. “I assume you’re here to see my Peter,” she added, darkly.
“Yes,” he said. “We came around yesterday, and I think my colleagues might have left you messages, we hoped you’d tell us when you were back home.”
“I’m home now,” she said. “How’s that as a message for you? He’s just upstairs,” she added. “He was out yesterday at a group therapy session. It takes up most of his days at the moment. He’s just trying to get better. Prison changes you, you know.”
Kidd didn’t know. He didn’t want to know. What he wanted to know was where Peter had been for the last few days. If Eveline didn’t have tabs on him, he could have been absolutely anywhere.
“I’ll go and get him. Would you like to wait in the kitchen?” She gestured down the hallway. “It’s right at the back of the house. Can’t miss it.” She started up the stairs, leaving them alone.
“She seems nice,” Zoe said, starting down the corridor.
“She always was,” Kidd said as he followed. “It’s not her I’m worried about. It’s Peter.”
There was a fresh pot of tea on the sideboard that was enough to make Kidd’s mouth water. The teacup that was already full was pure white, a thin line of gold running around the rim. He was fairly sure they would be the exact same ones he drank out of all those years ago.
There were footsteps upstairs, walking across the landing and coming down the stairs. Kidd braced himself to come face to face with Peter West once again.
Peter stepped into the kitchen a much bigger man than he had been when he’d been sent to prison all those years ago. He had a bigger belly than he had done, but along with that had come broader shoulders, bigger arms. He looked like if he wanted to, he could rip DI Kidd apart with his bare hands. Not something Kidd wanted to test at this exact moment.
“I should have known I’d be hearing from you eventually,” Peter said, his mouth twisting into a snarl. “A child goes missing and I’m your first thought? A little bit predictable, don’t you think?”
“We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t come and speak to you, Peter,” Kidd said. “If it makes you feel any better, you weren’t our first thought. More like our second or third. We’re just checking in.”
“It doesn’t,” Peter said. “What do you want?”
“We just have a few questions,” Kidd said. “Do you mind if we sit down? I think everyone would be more comfortable.”
“I’ll bring over some tea,” Eveline said, making her way to the kitchen counter.
“I wouldn’t worry, Mum, they won’t be staying very long,” Peter replied. Eveline seemed to stop mid-movement. Her mouth hung open as if she were about to say something, but she stopped herself. Kidd almost wanted to go off at him for the way he was speaking to his mother, the woman who had taken him in after everything he had done, but he would be more likely to catch this particular fly with honey, than with vinegar.
Peter took a seat opposite DI Kidd and DS Sanchez. His legs were spread, his eyes not landing on them at all. He didn’t seem interested in whatever it was they had to say. Kidd couldn’t place whether it was the act of an innocent man or a guilty one.
“We need your whereabouts over the past week or so,” Kidd said.
“Looking for an alibi?” Peter asked.
“Anything that you say to help us discount you from the investigation, Peter.” Kidd tried to keep his tone measured, but he could feel that Peter West was trying to play with him, trying to get him riled up. He couldn’t let it work.
Kidd’s phone buzzed in his pocket. It was DC Campbell. He silenced it and put it back in his jacket.
“Do you need to get that?” Peter said with a smirk. “We can always do this some other time if you’re busy.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly be too busy for you,” Kidd said.
Zoe flinched next to him, her phone now buzzing too. She checked it, a number Kidd didn’t recognise across the front of the screen. She shook her head and silenced it. “Sorry about that,” she said. “Carry on, DI Kidd.”
“Now, about your whereabouts. Where were you on Wednesday afternoon, between two and four pm?”
Peter smirked. “I had a group therapy session from one until three,” he said. “It’s at the community centre in Teddington. They have CCTV all over the building. They’ll be able to tell you I was there.” He locked eyes with Kidd—a challenge, at least it felt like one. “Will that be all?”
“No,” Kidd replied sharply. “We’d also like to hear where you were on Saturday just gone. Almost a week ago now.”
“I was with Mum,” he replied. “It was a
beautiful day, if I remember correctly. There was a rugby game on, we went out and did a little bit of shopping, came back and watched it on the TV.”
“You a fan of rugby, Mr West?”
“Can’t stand it,” he replied. “But that’s what we did, isn’t that right, Mum?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice coming out like a squeak. Kidd had forgotten she was there, blending into the kitchen. “We went to Waitrose to get something to have for dinner, something to put on the barbecue because it was such nice weather, and then we watched the game. I fell asleep.”
“And what were you doing while your mother was asleep?” Kidd asked, turning his attention back to Peter.
“Watching the game,” he said firmly. “I know what you’re trying to do here.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re trying to pin this on me,” Peter replied. “You’re bloody clueless and you’re hoping that it’s me because that would be a darn sight easier than carrying on and stumbling through the dark to figure out who it really was.” Peter laughed. “You always were a little bit lucky, DI Kidd. You were lucky to catch me, and I’d wager you’ve been lucky to catch every single criminal you’ve caught up with since.”
“I think luck plays a bigger part in policing than any of us would care to admit.” That’s what Weaver had said to him some months ago about The Grinning Murders. He’d hit the nail on the head. Had Kidd’s luck finally run out?
“It wasn’t me,” Peter said. “I’ve told you everything I know.” The man paused, hesitating. He almost looked like he was going to say something else, but he changed his mind. “If that will be all, I’ve got plenty to be getting on with today.”
Peter got up from his seat at the table and started out of the room.
Kidd didn’t need to stop him. He would check in with the group therapy centre, and he would check the CCTV at the Waitrose in Richmond town centre. But Kidd felt he was running out of options. And he knew he was running out of time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kidd’s phone rang again as they left Eveline West’s home and started back to the car. It was Campbell again.
“He’s here, boss,” Campbell said. “Daniel Walters has shown up for his interview. He’s getting a little bit antsy with you keeping him waiting.”
“Make sure he knows I’m a busy man,” Kidd replied. “And the more he complains, the slower our drive back will be. Between us, we’ll be there as soon as we can. We’ve just finished up with Peter West.”
“And?”
Kidd shook his head, even though Campbell couldn’t see him.
“Nothing,” he said. “He’s got an alibi for both kidnappings, we’re going to have to look into both of them to make sure. Just got to keep moving on this one.”
“Do you want me to still check the CCTV of the surrounding area, sir?”
Kidd considered it. It was probably still worth doing. Even if they couldn’t pin it on Peter West, at least they would be able to see who it was who was getting rid of the coat.
“Keep looking,” Kidd said. “Like Mrs Walters said, the coat is very distinctive, whoever it was that dumped it should be pretty clear on the CCTV.”
Kidd’s phone rang again as he hung it up, a number he didn’t recognise across the front of it. Cautiously he picked it up, half expecting to hear some automated voice on the other end telling him that he had been in an accident recently or something.
“Hello?”
“Hello, can I speak to DI Kidd please?” The voice was familiar, though Kidd couldn’t quite place it. They were whispering.
“Speaking,” he said. “Who is this?”
“It’s Louise,” the voice said. “Louise Harker from All Out Recruitment.”
When she introduced herself like that, Kidd half expected her to be offering him a job opportunity or something. He tried not to laugh.
“Everything okay?” he asked, quickly mouthing “Louise” to DS Sanchez, who turned to him with great curiosity.
“I just wanted to let you know that…that Daniel is meeting up with Leigh again later on today,” she said.
Kidd nodded. “Okay, thank you so much for telling us.”
“I only mention it because…well…it’s strange, that’s all.” She didn’t sound sure of what she was saying. Maybe it was the whispering, but the only strange thing that was happening just now, was this phone call.
“Strange how?”
“Three consecutive days is a lot for them,” she said. “And it was Leigh that arranged it rather than Daniel. She was very…sharp on the phone. It sounded urgent.”
“Okay. You think this might have something to do with the investigation?”
“I-I don’t know,” she said. “I just thought it was worth mentioning just in case.”
“Well, thank you for getting in touch,” he said. He hung up the phone and got in the car next to DS Sanchez. She turned her attention to him immediately, not switching on the engine just yet.
“What was that about?”
“Daniel is seeing his mistress again this afternoon.”
Zoe’s eyes widened.
“Horny devil,” she said. “Is that what we’re going to get from her now? We’re going to be getting updates of Daniel Walter’s sex life?”
“I bloody hope not,” Kidd said. “She thought that it might be relevant that he was seeing her so often. Apparently, it’s strange.”
“Do you think it’s relevant?” Zoe asked.
Kidd considered it. If they weren’t seeing each other all that often before the kidnapping, maybe it was a little bit strange that things were picking up. Maybe they had more to discuss than usual.
“It’s possible,” he said. “We don’t want to rule it out and she’s just trying to be helpful.”
Kidd pulled on his seatbelt and leant back in his chair, his gazing falling outside the window and back at Peter West’s house. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit annoyed that they had left with nothing. Though it did calm his conscience somewhat that not going to see him yesterday hadn’t cost him the case.
“You alright?” she asked.
“Fine.”
“You seem spooked,” she said flatly. “Don’t let him get under your skin.”
Kidd smiled, though even he knew it was half-hearted. He couldn’t help but let what Peter had said play on his mind. It was like he had dug right down to the core of Kidd’s insecurities and then laid it out in front of him.
But Zoe was right, it wouldn’t be good for the case if he let it affect him. They still had an awful lot of work to do, including talking to Daniel Walters. He knew that was going to be an enlightening conversation, maybe even more so given what Louise had just told them,
“Believe me when I say I’m trying not to,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve been all that focussed on this case. I can feel everything getting on top of me again.”
Zoe narrowed her eyes at him. “How do you mean?”
“When I got signed off with stress, it was starting to feel exactly how it is now,” he said. “Of course, Craig wasn’t around then, but I was looking for him almost constantly. And the case that I was working on was more intense than this one, but the feeling is the same.”
Zoe nodded.
“You don’t need me to tell you this because, frankly, your head is big enough,” she started. “But you’re a bloody good detective, no matter what that bastard in there says. Luck does play a part in what we do, it has to. Sometimes it’s pure detective work and you manage to figure something out entirely based off the evidence that you find, other times something falls into your lap at just the right time. So long as the case is solved, so long as lives are saved, what does it matter?”
It was a very good point. But Kidd still struggled to shake that doubt away. It wasn’t something he experienced very often. He was more likely to be sure of himself and rely on his hunches, but letting Peter West slip by yesterday, jumping the gun and breaking into his house today, he felt
like he was losing his grip on the reigns. He felt like it was all getting away from him.
He took a breath.
“Daniel Walters is waiting for us at the station,” Kidd said. “He’s getting annoyed at how long we’re taking apparently.”
Sanchez raised an eyebrow. “Is that your way of saying you want to go and have a long lunch and make him wait a little longer?”
Kidd couldn’t help but laugh, albeit darkly.
“Fun as that might be, I think we should get moving,” he said. “Peter West might not have had anything to hide, but we know that Daniel does. About time we found out what it is.”
◆◆◆
They got back to the station and Kidd made sure they were in the most claustrophobic interview room possible. While Daniel wasn’t under arrest and would be free to leave at any time, the added pressure of a room where even Kidd felt like the walls were closing in, might be useful.
Daniel was dressed in a smart-looking blue suit. It was a different look to the one he had presented them with at their house yesterday. The shirt was done up for a start, as was the tie, and his hair was slicked back with so much product it looked like it would be solid to the touch. He definitely looked like he fit in with the guy they had met at the recruitment firm yesterday afternoon.
They sat down opposite him and started the tape.
“Is that entirely necessary?” Daniel asked, pointing at the tape recorder.
“I think so,” Kidd replied. “Everything is evidence and our conversation, I think, will be quite enlightening.”
Daniel looked confused. It gave Kidd a little thrill to know that he had no idea what they were about to ask him. It would be fun to watch him flounder.
“For the purposes of the tape, I am Detective Inspector Benjamin Kidd, also present is Detective Sergeant Zoe Sanchez,” Kidd started. “This is an interview of Daniel Walters, father of the victim, Maggie Walters.” He turned his attention to Daniel. “How are you, Mr Walters?”
Daniel’s face screwed up in confusion. “I’m fine, worried about my daughter, what is this in aid of? I’ve got work to do, you know? You’ve pulled me out of meetings for this.”