Shadow of Death (9781476057248)

by Ellis, Tim

  Parish thought about this new development and wondered how it helped them. ‘Can Steve use it to find out where they are?’

  ‘Wait out.’

  Another short silence.

  ‘It’s Steve... Yeah, but they’ll know we’ve found it.’

  ‘I don’t think that matters.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll come back to you.’

  It was ten minutes before he heard Steve’s voice again.

  ‘I think we might have something. It could be another false alarm, but I don’t think so.’

  ‘What have you found?’

  ‘I bounced a signal down the fibre-optic cable and it terminated in another building on the edge of the site.’

  ‘I’m on my way up.’ He looked at Heather and decided to take her with him. ‘You can come too.’

  They traipsed back to the security office, which was located in the south-western corner of the site. Steve and Yugai – who had the keys – then led them north along a path to a building standing on its own abutting the eastern security fence. A sign outside indicated it had once been the Physiotherapy Department.

  Yugai unlocked the wooden door. Inside, there was a small foyer with four doors leading off it – two on either side. Straight ahead – through double doors – was a large gymnasium-type room with a wooden floor and walking bars still bolted to the floor.

  Parish opened each of the doors, which revealed a male and a female toilet, a storeroom with cleaning materials and a stack of toilet rolls on a shelf, and a small office with the desk and chair still wedged in.

  ‘Can’t you be a bit more specific, Steve?’

  ‘Sorry, it’s somewhere in this building, that’s the best I can do with this equipment. Now, if I had...’

  ‘Okay.’ He walked into the gymnasium. Apart from the walking bars it was empty. At the far end were three more doors. One stood open and two were closed. There was nothing in the small room with the open door. The middle door was locked so Parish took the crowbar off Heather and levered it open easily. It was empty, and so was the third room. He shone his torch up at the vaulted ceiling, but there was no second floor.

  ‘Yugai, does the basement go under here?’

  He shrugged.

  ‘Where’s the nearest access point?’

  ‘In nurse’s block... I take you?’

  ‘No, not just yet.’ He brought the radio up to his mouth. ‘Ray?’

  ‘Here?’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Um!’

  ‘In fact, ignore that question. Look at your blueprint.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘I’m in the building on the western edge of the site. Not the V-shaped one, but the small one above it.’

  ‘Yeah, got it.’

  ‘Can you walk along the corridor as far as you can go, and then contact me?’

  ‘On my way.’

  To Steve he said, ‘You’re sure it’s not a wireless access point again?’

  ‘Different signal.’

  ‘And it’s definitely in this building?’

  ‘Here, or hereabouts.’

  To Heather, he said, ‘Take a walk round the outside of the building and see if you can find anything.’

  ‘Okay, Sir.’

  ‘Jed?’ It was Kowalski.

  ‘Here.’

  ‘I’m not sure, but it looks as though the wall that ends the corridor has been built fairly recently.’

  ‘You’re not going to break it down with a battering ram?’

  ‘Highly unlikely.’

  ‘Then there must be an access point beyond the wall.’

  ‘I guess so. Do you want me to come up?’

  ‘Yes. In fact, all units converge on Inspector Kowalski’s position. Bring them all up here, Ray?’

  ‘Will do.’

  ‘Where’s the access point?’ he said, more to himself than anyone else. ‘I’ve checked all the rooms, and no access point. How would someone get into the basement? There’re no stairs...’

  Heather came back into the building. ‘There’s nothing outside, Sir.’

  ‘In which case, a door to the basement must be inside the building.’ He checked his watch like a marathon runner on a schedule. It was quarter to five. The sun would soon make its appearance, and he had his appointment with the Chief Constable in five hours. ‘Check everywhere in the building again,’ he said to them.

  Heather went back to the foyer area. Steve moved to the rooms at the far end, and Yugai had no idea what he was doing so followed Parish as he checked the wooden floor in the large gymnasium, shining the torch as he walked up and down.

  In the corner to the left of the door he found it: a trapdoor inset into the wood, but it had a key lock and it was locked.

  ‘Heather?’

  She came out of the darkness, and he helped himself to the crowbar.

  After three tries the trapdoor splintered open to reveal a vertical metal ladder fixed to the wall.

  Just then, Kowalski and the rest of the team burst into the gymnasium.

  ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Kowalski and I are going down there, the rest of you be prepared to come down when we say.’

  He started down the ladder with everyone crowding round the opening. Ray followed him down. The basement was similar to all the others he’d checked during the long night.

  There was only one way they could go because the corridor terminated to the west a short distance from where they were stood.

  They began moving along the corridor. Parish took the left and Kowalski the right.

  ***

  ‘You were good in there, Harry,’ Adrian said as Harry came back into the monitoring room.

  Harry would have said something like, ‘Yeah, I feel on top form tonight. Now, I’m going to give that sweet Cathy just what she deserves,’ but he didn’t say that, because the silent alarm began flashing.

  He smiled; looks like they’ve found us, Adrian.’

  ‘Time to go?’

  ‘Time to go.’

  Harry lifted the protective cover and flicked the switch. The LED display immediately started counting the seconds down.

  ‘Seven minutes isn’t long, Harry.’

  ‘Long enough, Adrian, long enough.’

  The two of them left the monitoring room and began walking briskly along the basement corridor. They walked past the room where Louise Trenchard was sobbing after just being pleasured by Harry.

  As they walked past the locked room where Richards and Catherine were drifting in and out of sleep, Harry felt a pang of disappointment that he wouldn’t be able to build relationships with the two beauties. ‘Maybe next time,’ he mumbled under his breath.

  ***

  Parish found the monitoring room. ‘Ray?’

  Kowalski appeared beside him. ‘Bloody hell, it’s like the NASA Control... What’s that?’ he said, pointing to the LED display counting down, which stood at four fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven... ‘Fuck...’

  They turned, burst out of the monitoring room, and began running along the corridor checking each room.

  ‘Here Ray,’ Parish shouted when he reached a locked room. Kowalski had the battering ram. It took him two tries before the metal door crashed open. Inside was a second wooden door, which splintered under both their weights.

  ‘Oh God,’ Louise Trenchard managed to say when she saw them.

  While Kowalski released the woman, Parish said into the radio, ‘Ed?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘There’s bomb on a timer, and we probably have about three minutes left. Tell the rest of them to get as far away as they can. We’re sending Louise Trenchard along the corridor. Help her up and then get the hell away.’

  ‘What about you and Ray?’

  ‘We’re looking for Richards and Catherine.’

  ‘Good luck.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  Kowalski helped the naked Louise Trenchard into the corridor, pointed her towards the opening, and told her to run.

  ‘Now or
never, Ray,’ Parish said as they set off along the corridor. The second door they came to was locked.

  ‘Richards?’ he shouted at the top of his voice.

  ‘In here, Sir...’ he heard through the metal.

  He stood back to let Ray get in with the battering ram. It took three hits until the door scraped open. They splashed through water and found Richards and Catherine side by side, strapped naked on mortuary tables.

  ‘Oh God, Sir, thank heavens...’

  ‘We haven’t got time for that, Richards... There’s a bomb about to go off in less than a minute, but needless to say, I’m going to kill you if we get out of here alive.’

  ‘I know.’

  They ran into the corridor.

  ‘Hurry,’ Parish said.

  They reached the metal ladder.

  Parish sent Kowalski up first, then Catherine, who Kowalski pulled clean out when she was half way up, and he did the same with Richards.

  ‘Go,’ Parish shouted from the bottom, but Kowalski waited and yanked Parish out as well. They ran for the door. As they did so, they heard a rumble behind them, and were lifted off their feet and thrown over the security fence, across the road, and into a swimming pool that needed cleaning at the bottom of somebody’s garden.

  When they surfaced for air, Kowalski said, ‘I don’t think my wife is going to let me come out to play with you anymore, Jed.’

  Climbing out of the stinking pool, they both laughed – more out of relief that they were still alive than anything else.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ‘Why didn’t you pass the body in the trunk Toadstone found at Bumble’s Green landfill site onto Hertford MIT right from the start, Inspector?’ Chief Constable Miller-Gifford said.

  At least the Chief Constable called him Inspector and not Constable, but he might have called him Jed. Hadn’t he saved the man’s life? Weren’t they the best of mates now?

  They were sitting in the large living room of the Chief Constable’s Grade II listed Georgian House in Chelmsford. The room was three times the size of his and Angie’s living room, and he wondered if there was a direct relationship between police rank and living room size.

  Richards was sitting next to him on the very comfy sofa biting the nail of her left little finger, which she reserved for special occasions. The Chief Constable had wedged himself into a leather chair in front of one of the two bay windows, and Assistant Commissioner Paula Tindall was sitting in a chair to his right that didn’t match either the sofa or the other chair. He’d often noticed this phenomenon in other rich people’s houses – they had lots of furniture that didn’t match, like poor families from the turn of the century. Maybe he and Angie should buy a smattering of odds and ends to give the appearance of opulence.

  He’d left Kowalski and Ed to phone the fire brigade and sort out the mess that used to be the derelict site of Harold Wood Hospital, but now resembled a World War II bombsite. Thankfully, they’d had enough time to return home to get showered and changed, and drive here for five past ten.

  Richards had wanted to explain, apologise, and generally make sure he was still talking to her, but he wasn’t. She had given him the fright of his life for no apparent reason that he could understand. All he would say was, ‘We’ll talk when I know I’ve still got a job.’

  There were a few, ‘But, Sir’s...’ but in the end she sat quietly in the car until they reached home. Catherine stared out of the window, but didn’t speak.

  ‘At first, we didn’t know Hertford were on the case. Toadstone did the post-mortem, I was suspended, and then everything began spiralling out of control.’

  ‘So, let me see if I’ve got this right. Toadstone carried out an unauthorised PM, and because of that you were forced to continue your investigation – which involved multiple murders – from the backroom of a civilian house?’

  ‘Yes, but it wasn’t Toadstone’s fault; I told him to do the PM.’

  ‘DI Kowalski and his partner were involved?’

  ‘Absolutely not, Sir.’

  ‘I’ll take that as a “Yes” then. Also, a local civilian reporter became a member of the investigation team – and I use the word “team” loosely, of course?’

  ‘Yes, but...’

  ‘I think it’s best if we sweep the whole thing under a rug, which is kept, in a deep dark place where nobody ever goes. What do you think, Paula?’

  ‘I can definitely see the logic of that, James. Imagine if the press got hold of it. Essex Police Force would be a laughing stock.’

  ‘What about this local reporter... Miss Cox?’

  ‘She won’t say anything, Sir.’

  ‘I’ll hold you to that, Inspector.’ He took a sip from the Irish crystal glass containing a shot of his 1937 distilled Glenfiddich, which he hadn’t offered to Parish, and said, ‘Well, as far as I’m concerned, it never happened.’

  ‘Thank you, Sir.’

  ‘What are you thanking me for, Parish? Just because it never happened, doesn’t mean that there aren’t consequences.’

  ‘I take full responsibility, and any punishment should be mine and mine alone.’

  ‘Very admirable, I’m sure.’ He finished off the whisky and poured himself another one.

  Parish wondered whether the Chief Constable realised it was only ten thirty in the morning, or whether he was suffering from jet lag – Did people get jet lag travelling from Switzerland?

  ‘The AC discovered that Lathbury – whose real name was actually Arthur Pocock – was blackmailing my DC, and that she in turn was blackmailing DCI Marshall. I’m happy to say that both have now resigned their positions and are a distant memory. Also, Klosters was a bit of mess, with four dead...’

  ‘Four, Sir?’

  ‘The Swiss authorities found two bodies in the woods on the slopes of the Weissfluhgipfel, which I can only assume belonged to the two agents sent there to kill or maim me. Also, there was one death in the hotel, and Tremain – or should I say Lathbury/Pocock – died early yesterday morning in Davos Hospital.’

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘Yes, I know you wanted him alive, Parish. Paula has told me how this all came about. I spoke to a friend at MI6 last night, and he rang me back early this morning. They have no file on you or your parents. He could only conclude that Pocock was acting alone, but using MI6 resources to cover up whatever he was involved in.’

  ‘So, they won’t be sending someone else to kill me... or you, for that matter?’

  ‘No, whatever it was all about died with Pocock.’

  ‘Oh well, I’ll just have to live with not knowing.’

  ‘And that’s the point, isn’t it, Parish? At least we’re both alive. So, Richards, you’re looking a bit forlorn. What’s your story?’

  Richards burst into tears and ran out of the room.

  ‘Was it something I said?’

  ‘She’s had a traumatic experience, Sir. And not only that, she disobeyed my orders, and I’ll have to discipline her.’

  ‘Bear in mind that in comparison to your crimes, Inspector, it’s a drop in the ocean.’

  ‘I understand, Sir.’

  ‘So, let’s talk about Monday.’

  ‘You mean I won’t be driving up to Yorkshire?’

  ‘Believe me when I say that it’s crossed my mind to let the punishment stand, but no – you’re reinstated as a DI, the disciplinary charge and award has been struck from your record, and DI Kowalski has been returned to the team. As an aside, the Head of Traffic Analysis said he was worse analyst they’d ever had and were glad to get rid of him.’

  ‘I can understand that, Sir. What about a new Chief?’

  ‘Yes. Slightly more difficult, but I think I’ve found someone who will meet with your approval.’

  He didn’t say anything, but took a swig of his whisky.

  ‘Are you going to tell me, Sir?’

  ‘I’ll tell you only that Chief Superintendent Abby Kirby was a long-time friend of Walter Day, and she attended the funeral. At one time
they were romantically involved, but that was a long time ago.’

  ‘So, I’ll meet her Monday morning?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You mentioned consequences earlier, Sir?’

  ‘So I did. What do you think about community service, Paula?’

  ‘I’m sure the Commissioner would approve of a DI helping in the community, James.’

  ‘That’s settled then. You’ll be helping with the Youth Crime Action Plan on education and training one day a week for a period of six months, and..’

  ‘But...’

  ‘But I hear Yorkshire has some lovely countryside, and did you know that nobody can actually get out of Beck Hole in the winter because...’

  ‘Working for the YCAP sounds fabulous, Sir; it’ll give me a chance to broaden my experience, and give something back to the community.’

  ‘I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me, Parish.’ He stood up. ‘Well, I think our business is concluded, and I still have a day and a half of holiday left.’

  ‘What about Hertford, Sir?’

  ‘All sorted. We put it down to a lack of communication.’

  ‘And Toadstone?’

  ‘As you say, he was acting under your orders, but you’re not to drag him or his team members into the gutters with you again.’

  ‘No, Sir. One last thing- Angie and I are getting married on 25th June.’

  ‘Congratulations.’

  ‘Thank you, Sir. You and your family are, of course, invited, but in the absence of Walter Day, would you do us the honour of giving Angie away?’

  ‘I’d love to, tell her.’

  At the door he called, ‘Come on, Richards.’

  Her head appeared out of a doorway.

  ‘Are you staying here?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Well, get your... moving.’

  ‘I’ve been having tea and scones.’

  ‘Very nice.’

  Richards didn’t speak until they reached Tyler’s Green on the A414.

  ‘I’m sorry, Sir.’

  ‘You’re sorry? You were sorry last time, but you didn’t learn from it.’

  ‘I will this time, I promise.’

  ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to be punished.’