by Edward Figg
‘Funnily enough I do.’ He gave a knowledgeable grin as he remembered what the florist told him. ‘They’re called Remembrance.’
‘Well. I’m impressed.’ She got up and pushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear, said, ‘OK. Let’s go eat. I’m starving.’
Later after dinner, while they were sitting in lounge and sipping on brandies, he leant over to her and kissed her softly on the cheek. ’Thanks for a fantastic evening. The meal was great. I must admit though, I think the wine and brandy has made me a little light-headed.’
‘Well! I can’t have you driving home in that condition, can I? I’d be neglecting my duties as a hostess if I did. I can call you a taxi if you wish?’
She gave him an inviting smile. Carter was about to say he was fine to drive but before he got the words out she said. ‘On second thoughts, maybe it’s best if you stay the night. I’d hate for you to be arrested for driving under the influence and taxis can be hard to get at this time of night. Can’t have that, can we?’ She smiled.
She returned his kiss with passion and feeling, then rising from the lounge, took him by the hand and led him out of the room.
‘What about the washing up?’ he said, jokingly.
‘It can wait.’
As Carter climbed the stairs he felt nervous and apprehensive. It had been a long time since he’d slept with a woman. He thought his fifty quid was a good investment and offered up a silent prayer, thanking Mike Reid. As they went up the stairs he hoped he was heading, not just to a bed, but to a long-term relationship with a woman he could happily share the rest of his life with.
Chapter 14
Monday 11th October
After making himself a coffee, Carter walked over to Luke Hollingsworth and explained to him about the flat. He gave him the phone number then walked on over to his office.
He shut the door and went over to the window, where he stood for a few moments looking out over the rooftops of the town and remembering the pleasures of the night before. He smiled with satisfaction when he thought of the two of them sitting down to breakfast. It was just toast and boiled eggs, a breakfast that he’d often made many times himself at home. This one was different. It was the best breakfast he’d tasted for a long, long time. It was something special.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Kirby and Reid walked in.
‘Morning sir,’ Kirby said, handing him a sheet of paper.
Carter greeted the pair. ‘Marcia, Mike, what’s this?’ He sat down, and read the report. He looked up. ‘OK. So, it’s a report from the night shift about a possible break-in at the lock-ups on Fenton Road.’ He laid it on his desk and looked at them. ‘What’s this about?’ he enquired.
It was Kirby who spoke. ‘We’ve just had a visit from the two PCs that were just going off shift. They said they were driving past, when they saw a man at the far end of the lock-ups just after one o’clock this morning. The man appeared to be tampering with one of the padlocks. They stopped and man ran off when he saw their car. They called it in and got two more cars to help in the search. They drove around the area but couldn’t find anyone. They went back and checked the locks. They were all secure.’
‘So, why is this of any interest to us?’ he queried.
Mike Reid answered. ‘All the lock-ups have outside lighting and both PCs said they’re sure the man they saw had white hair. He looked as if he was also wearing an army combat jacket. PC Hobson said it was just like the ones found over at Harris’s flat. It has to have been him.’
‘What’s in those lock-ups? Who owns them?’ said Carter, looking at Reid.
‘PC Hobson said they belong to the council. They’re used for storage. Road signs, tables and chairs for the halls. Parks and Gardens stuff, lawn mowers and the like. Also, stuff from the library. Book shelves, cabinets and books. According to Hobson sir, each unit is stencilled with the department’s name. It was the library one that he was seen outside of.’
‘Interesting! So, he’s still on our patch.’ Carter rubbed his stubbly chin. Christine had given him a ladies’ razor that morning. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror she laughed at his feeble attempt to scrape away the growth. He had to admit, it was no substitute for the one in his bathroom. ‘Let’s get over to this place and take a look. We’ll need to have a look inside to find out just what Harris was after. Leave it with me for a minute.’
Kirby and Reid headed for the office door, but Reid hung back. Then waiting to make sure Kirby was well out of earshot, said. ‘Seems the roses worked well sir?’ he smiled.
Carter gave him a quizzical look. ‘Why’d you say that?’
‘Don’t need to be much of a detective to work that one out sir. Been there. Done that myself sir. One, when you came in a while ago you were grinning like a Cheshire cat. Two, you still have on yesterday’s shirt. And three, the stubble. It’s a dead giveaway.’ He backed slowly out, closing the door behind him. Carter caught the faint trace of a wink as Reid closed the door.
‘Bloody hell,’ thought Carter, staring at the door. Was it that obvious?
******
‘Miss Evans? Good morning. It’s Detective Chief Inspector Carter, Kingsport CID.’
‘Good morning inspector. What can I do for you this bright and sunny morning? Don’t tell me you found the culprit that broke in?’
He looked out at the overcast sky and noticed a few drops of rain appear on the window. ‘What planet was she on?’ he thought.
‘Err, yes. Good morning Miss Evans. In answer to your question, no, we haven’t found the culprit yet.’ Carter had a good idea who it was but for the time being he had decided to keep it to himself. ‘Anyway… I was wondering. Do you have the keys to your storage unit on Fenton Road?’
‘Yes, we do. Funnily enough I was over there only the other day. I had to take a load of books over there. We keep old and damaged books there for our end of year book sale. Umm, err… may I ask: why do you need the key inspector?’
‘We had a report of someone behaving suspiciously around that area last night and we’d like to make sure that everything is OK. If that’s all right, I’ll send one of my people around to pick it up in, say, ten minutes?’
‘Strange.’ She hesitated for a few seconds. Carter could hear muffled sounds, like things being moved. She came back on the phone. ‘That’s odd. I just looked at the keyboard here under the desk and the key’s not here. I could have sworn I put it back. In fact, yes, I do remember putting it back.’
‘When did you last see it?’
‘That’s easy to remember. It was the afternoon before the break-in. I took some books over to the lock-up. I know I put the key back. I distinctly remember doing it. Oh, this is very distressing. You’ll have to get one from the council offices. They keep spares.’
‘Thank you, Miss Evans,’ he hung up.
Carter called Reid back into his office and told to him about the key.
‘Well, Mike, I’m bloody sure it was Harris who broke into the library. All he was after was the key. He’d know all about the lock-up for sure. It’ll be an ideal hiding place for him. It’s no wonder they couldn’t find anything missing from the library. Who in their right mind would have thought about checking the keys?’ Just one other thing before you go. If the padlock’s not in place, it could mean he’s in there. We still don’t know if he is armed, so I’m not leaving anything to chance; don’t attempt to go in. I’ll put the Armed Response Unit on standby. You call them and let them sort it out. I don’t want any heroics. Is that understood?’
‘Yes boss. I’ll take Marcia with me. We should be fine. We’ll check the place out first. If he is there, then we’ll send for the ARU.’
‘OK, just be careful.’
*******
After leaving the council offices, Reid, Kirby and a council staff member set of to the lock-up. Although Reid had possession of the key the supervisor, a little weed of a man who liked the sound of his own voice, was adamant that one of his sta
ff accompany them. It was not easy to get permission to have the key and they were passed on from person to person, finally ending up on the top floor, in the office of the Town Clerk. He gave permission for the supervisor to hand over the key and said he’d get one of his people to go around later and check the rest of the lock-ups.
The council employee got out of his car and came over to where Reid was parked.
‘Well,’ Reid said, getting out of the car, ‘if you’d just like to wait back in your car, we can handle it from here.’
Reid and Kirby walked slowly up between the rows of lock-ups looking for the one marked ‘Library Storage’. They located it, then stopped some distance away.
‘From what I can see, the padlock’s still in place. So, assuming he’s not Houdini and not capable of locking himself in from the outside, he’s not in there?’ said Kirby. They walked up to the door and examined it more closely.
‘Let’s see what’s in here,’ said Reid, inserting the key and removing the lock. He pulled open one of the double doors. He took a torch from his pocket. He played the beam up and down the walls until it came to rest on a light switch. He went over and flicked the switch. The interior was instantly bathed in light. The area, which was surprisingly large for a lock-up was filled with bookshelves that spanned the entire width of the lock-up. Some held books, others held files. They were butted so close to the wall that Reid had to suck his gut in to get down the length of the lock-up. He emerged the other end, into a space the size of a small kitchen. In there were some old chairs, a table with books on it and four filing cabinets. He went around behind the cabinets.
‘Marcia, Come and take a look at this.’ he called.
She squeezed her way through and joined him
‘Well what do you reckon we have here?’ he said, spreading out his arms.
She took in the scene, looking first at the sleeping bag then the camping stove with its array of pots and pans and then at the books on the table.
‘Very cosy,’ she replied. So, this is where he’s been hiding out.’
She bent down and looked at the tag on the sleeping bag. It still had the price on it. She then looked at the other items. ‘These have all come from that break-in at that camping store the other day,’ she said.
Reid was leaning over the table reading one of the books. ‘Christ!’ he exclaimed. ‘These are about Jack the Ripper. And look at this! He held up an exercise book. ‘It’s got the names and addresses of the victims and some notes about them.’ He turned over a page. ‘What do you make of this?’ He read aloud. ‘I will never forgive her for what she did to me. I am forced to wander through my life alone with only my mother’s harsh words for company. Woe betide any person that comes too close to me! They will all suffer as I have.’
‘Lord knows what it is,’ said Kirby. ‘Could be something that stemmed from way back in his childhood. Sounds to me like he had a bad time with his mother. He’s certainly disturbed and by the sounds of that, full of hatred.’ She pushed back her hair and looked around her. Lying next to the sleeping bag was a map of France. She picked it up and opened it out, examined it for a few moments then folded it back up and put it on the table. She suddenly spotted something sticking out from under the sleeping bag and picked it up. It was something wrapped up in a cloth. She examined it then laid it on the table and carefully unwrapped it. Reid, who had been watching made a whistling sound when he saw what it was.
‘It’s a Luger and pretty old from the look of it. Remember that gun cleaning kit we found back at his flat? Now we know what it was for. Don’t touch it. I’ll get firearms boys to come down and pick it up.’
‘The question now, Mike, is, do we leave all this and put it under surveillance or…? She shrugged her shoulders leaving the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.
‘Let’s see what the DCI has to say. Let him make that call.’ He took out his mobile and squeezed his way back, down through the rows of shelves, and went outside. He walked over to where the council employee was sitting in his car. The man wound down his window as he approached.
‘No need for you to hang around. You can tell your boss he can have it back when we are finished.’
The man’s nod was non-committal. He fastened his seatbelt, rolled up the window and drove off.
Reid walked back to the car and called Carter.
Carter was quick to answer. Reid told him of the find.
‘No! He’s smart enough to know we clocked him. Especially after seeing the patrol car last night. He’d know we’d check the place out. No, he won’t be back. He’s not stupid. From what you say about the lock still being intact it’s my guess that he was not trying to break in when the night patrol saw him, he was locking up on his way out. It’s the only time he can move around safely. Daytime would be far too risky. Yes. Anyway, I’ll get SOCO over. Make sure they get those books and anything else that you might think useful. We need his prints and DNA. Get everything of his bagged up. Come back here when you’re done. At least we now have the gun. That’s good.’
Reid rang off then went over to where Kirby was standing inside the entrance of the lock-up. He looked at her. ‘We could be here for a while. The boss is sending down SOCO to get prints and DNA.’ Stepping outside into the sunshine, he said, ‘There’s a café just around the corner on Lake Street. Toss yer for who goes for the coffee?’
A few minute later, as he was getting into the car, Kirby rubbed her hands together and called to him ‘And a sticky bun if they’ve got one.’
******
Tuesday October 12th
Carter had risen early that morning, leaving home just after six. The clouds were low and menacing and the threat of rain hung heavy in the morning air as he drove into town. Rather than waste time at home he decided to breakfast at the café. It wasn’t so much that he was too lazy to get it himself, it was more that he just needed to be close to her, to see her once again. He left his car in the council car park just as the rain started. He ran across to road and pushed open the door. A warm inviting aroma of coffee and frying bacon filled his nostrils. From an unseen radio, there came the voice of the Radio Kent announcer as he read out the early morning news. Carter quickly looked around but there was no sign of her. Apart from one old man, who was seated at the far corner table caressing a large mug of tea with head bent over a newspaper, the place was empty. Hearing the door open and close, Christine Wilcox came out from the kitchen drying her hands on a tea towel. She walked quickly around the counter and kissed him on the cheek. He took in her scent.
‘You’re an early bird,’ she said, brushing away a loose strand of hair that had fallen across her forehead.
‘Yes,’ he smiled. Then thinking of Harris. ‘There’s a big worm out there that needs to be caught.’ Still smiling, he paused for a moment, then knowing full well that he had ample in his fridge, said, ‘I forgot to do my shopping. Ran short on a few things, so I thought that I’d just pop in for breakfast before work.’
She wiped her hands down the side of her apron. ‘Well you just go and sit down while I get Helen to get it underway. Can’t have you going to work on an empty stomach, can we?’
While she walked over to the serving hatch to put his order through, Carter went over and sat at a table that looked out onto the street. He watched as the rain started to increase and run down the outside of the window.
It wasn’t long before she came back with his order. He tucked into his plate of bacon, eggs and fried bread. He ate slowly, enjoying every mouthful. He was hungrier then he thought. When he finished, he wiped his mouth with his napkin, took a big swig of tea and smiled at her from across the table as she sat down.
‘Beautiful,’ he said, looking straight into her eyes. ‘And so was the breakfast.’
‘Flattery will get you everywhere,’ she laughed. ‘If I didn’t know you any better, Bob Carter, I’d say you were angling for another sleepover.’
‘I could be tempted,’ he said, reaching out and holding her
hand. He leant over and kissed her on the cheek.
The bell over the door jangled.
She patted him on the hand. ‘Behave.’
She got up from the table, smiled at him, then picked up his empty plate and went over to the counter to serve a man who’d just entered.
As he sat there watching her, he decided to keep a change of clothes and a toilet bag at her place. He wasn’t going to get caught out a second time. I’m sure she won’t mind, he thought. He looked out onto the street. Even though it was dull, miserable and raining, nothing could dampen his spirits at that very moment. His day had gotten off to a good start.
Chapter 15
For Richard Austin, a devoted family man and weekend golfer, the day did not get off to a good start. It was at least a one-hour drive from his home in Dartford to Kingsport. He was already late getting away from the house. The argument with his wife from the night before had carried on over to the breakfast table that morning. His wife, Adelle, was still harping on about going on a Caribbean cruise. Richard, was all in favour of going to Venice, as they had done for the previous three years. Why change things? Richard was not a one for change. Their two children, Anna, aged 8 and Donald, aged 10 were just as vocal in their arguments, saying that they’d both like to go Disneyland in California. ‘Good grief,’ he told them, ‘I am not made of money.’
He was glad when finally he could break free. As he drove away from the house and headed out for the M2 motorway, a light shower of rain started. It just after eight thirty. Austin was one of three lawyers in the criminal law firm of Clapton, Wallis and Barns (Established 1824). He was due in court that afternoon to defend Reginald Denise Hunter in Kingsport on six counts of stealing money from department stores and uniforms from his former employer, Westerns Clothing Factory. As Hunter had a long record and had only recently been released from jail, Austin knew he had little hope of getting his client off. It was, to all intents and purposes, an open and shut case. The best he could hope for would be to get the judge to hand down the lightest sentence possible.