Home Help

by Gwyn GB

  Ed thought long and hard.

  'Not about that no. We were surprised when they said they were leaving.'

  'What about Alice?' Claire turned to Pauline now.

  'Nothing. She said they were leaving Jersey because David wanted to get back to the UK, but we were both a bit surprised as they'd seemed to really like it here.'

  'Is there anyone else in Jersey that David might have confided in?'

  'Don't know, his boss maybe? I think we were probably their best friends here.'

  When Claire left the Thompson's she glanced at the house across the close. What secret did David uncover? She was mulling over what she'd just learnt when her mobile buzzed in her pocket. It was Bob.

  'Hi,' she answered it.

  'We've got him. They've found a Swiss bank account in his name and a trail of money from transactions undertaken by Terry Morgan. Get back here, we're bringing him in.'

  31

  Claire, Friday 10th November 2017, Jersey

  While Anna provided further confirmation that James Parkin had been at home at the time the phone call was made to Terry Morgan, which made it look like a slam dunk for Mr Parkin, what Claire had just learnt from the Thompsons, suggested he might not be their man, or if he was, he wasn’t acting alone.

  When she got back to the station, the incident room was buzzing. James Parkin had been arrested at his office and was downstairs being processed by the Custody Officer. Claire listened to the banter, the release of tension and euphoria that they'd got their man - the room was swimming in it.

  'You should have seen the look on his face when we arrived,' Larry Anders, a local Jersey FCU officer was telling the room. 'I tell you, if I hadn't seen that Swiss account with my own eyes, I'd have believed his shock. He played it well, obviously never thought we'd find it, said it wasn't his.'

  'Are we sure it is?' Claire asked.

  Larry rounded on her.

  'What are you talking about, of course it is.'

  'I've just spoken to a neighbour of David Lyle’s, he said David told him he was onto something but it involved a woman. He said her name began with an M.'

  'You talking about Melanie Parkin? She wouldn't have the brains to steal from a blind man, let alone set up this sophisticated fraud,' Larry was squaring up to her now, clearly taking her query as a personal slight. She was used to bullies so she wasn't about to back down to him.

  'The note Terry wrote had the name Melusine in it, perhaps it is, or perhaps we got it wrong, or he heard it wrong, maybe it is Melanie.'

  'Or maybe it's James using a code word.' Larry spat back.

  'And besides, is it that sophisticated? If you spotted it and found the bank account, then that suggests the person hasn't been clever enough and I don't get why someone like James Parkin would want to risk it all when he's already wealthy.'

  'I don't get why you are trying to make excuses for James Parkin.' Larry replied.

  Claire's mind flitted back to her father and what he'd said about James, could anyone know about that, had he been into the station? It knocked her confidence.

  'I just want to be sure that's all.'

  'Oh and we don't? We take justice seriously in Jersey you know, it's not just you London police who want to bang up the guilty, there are no kangaroo courts here.'

  Claire could feel him turning increasingly vitriolic and personal. She wished she hadn’t started the conversation, but at the same time, she wasn’t going to let him walk all over her.

  'I think you know that I have the highest regard for the work you have done on this case, I was merely suggesting we should keep an open mind.'

  'And I think we need to look at the evidence.' Larry retorted.

  Claire was aware of the room, silently watching their altercation, and of the fact she was an outsider come into a small team. She didn't want to alienate everyone, but she wouldn’t let him have the last word. She tried to keep it professional.

  'If you don't mind I'll just get ready to go and interview James now. You appreciate that we have a murder enquiry to solve.' She knew that the murder case took priority over their financial enquiries and so they would get first dibs at James Parkin. That would annoy Larry.

  The confrontation had unnerved her slightly, she was used to them in her job, but rarely did it happen with colleagues. A year or so ago it might not have bothered her so much, but her confidence had taken a big slap down and that's made her more cautious. Something told her it wasn’t James Parkin, and she was sure that something wasn't her dad. The seed had been there before he stuck his nose in. The problem was, something also told her that there was an issue at the SoulMates dating agency and look where that got her.

  Claire met Bob in the corridor, and he didn't help the situation.

  'Got him,' he said smiling, 'I've just been looking through the information about the Swiss bank account, there's a clear trail between that and Terry Morgan's transactions. The deals also tie in with sensitive company information that Parkin would have known. There's even a transfer to a bank in the Philippines for a few hundred thousand, which I'm betting is to pizza man. I've put London on to that one now.' Bob stopped and looked at her. 'What's the matter?'

  Claire wasn't sure if she should share her thoughts with Bob, not after SoulMates. He'd backed her last time, but had been burnt and now she felt like she was on probation, she needed to focus on her police work and not her gut feelings, and she also needed more evidence than just the hearsay of a former neighbour.

  'Nothing, just tired,' she smiled back. 'Let's go and speak to Mr Parkin and hear what he has to say.'

  Claire hoped Bob wasn't going to get to hear about her little disagreement with Larry, although a room full of cops wasn't exactly the most discreet place to have had an argument.

  They took the lift down to the custody area where James Parkin had been 'checked in' to hotel Police HQ. He was currently in the Consultation Room with his legal adviser, so Bob and Claire went into an interviews suite to get prepared.

  The jailor brought James Parkin and his solicitor into them about twenty minutes later. James looked frightened, he wasn't the confident man Claire had met just a couple of days earlier. His jaw was tight with stress and his eyes flitted from her face to Bob's anxiously.

  Bob read out his rights and gave the standard verbal explanation of what was about to happen.

  'I have no idea what this is about,' James said.

  His solicitor held up his hand to shush him and he took the hint.

  'Mr Parkin, we are investigating two murders. The death of David Lyle in London and Terence Morgan in Jersey. Potentially linked to these murders, we have evidence which suggests you have been using confidential information, gleaned from Ludder & White for financial gain. We have become aware of a bank account in Switzerland in your name which contains a substantial sum of money that hasn't been declared.'

  James Parkin's eyebrows rose with each potential charge.

  'Can you explain this bank account and the payment?'

  'It's just not true. I know nothing about any of it.' James said but his solicitor prompted him again. 'No comment,' he then added.

  ‘We have evidence to suggest that you placed a phone call to Mr Terence Morgan on Tuesday 31st October, making a significant purchase of Mabel Wick shares which were then sold for a considerable profit after it was announced that the company was being bought.'

  'No comment,' he was getting the hang of his solicitor's advice now.

  'We believe you arranged for the murder of David Lyle and Terence Morgan, by paying for a professional hitman. We have evidence to suggest that the Swiss bank account in your name recently paid a sum of four hundred thousand pounds to a bank in the Philippines, which is where we believe the hired assassin is from.'

  James's jaw dropped now and he looked at his solicitor, panic written across his face.

  'No, that's just not true,' he blurted out.

  'So you are denying that you made the payment?'

  'I
'm denying it all.' James added, then, 'no comment.'

  'Mr Parkin if you keep saying no comment to everything we ask you, it is not going to help us investigate this case. If you really are innocent then you have to talk to us.'

  James Parkin looked again at his solicitor who shook his head.

  'Mr Parkin we have a warrant to search your home and office. This is currently being undertaken. If there is anything you would like to share with us now then I suggest you do.'

  James Parkin sat up straighter and looked Bob right in the eye.

  'I have nothing to hide and I will be suing this police force for defamation of my good name - you can be sure of that.'

  Bob sighed and looked at Claire.

  'Did you ever meet David Lyle, Mr Parkin?' she asked now.

  He turned his attention to her.

  'No. No comment.'

  'Is that no you haven't met David Lyle?'

  James Parkin seemed to implode at this point, his face turned red and his eyes bloodshot.

  'This whole thing is preposterous, I have never met these people, I have not authorised these transactions, I do not have a Swiss bank account and I certainly have never killed anyone.'

  Claire let the power behind his outburst settle a little before she spoke again.

  'Mr Parkin, at present we have evidence that says you do have a Swiss bank account and have been undertaking insider trading. We also have indications that you might be behind the murders. So, if you know something or somebody that can explain otherwise, then you have to appreciate how this is currently looking to us. If there is anything you know, then you need to tell us now.'

  James looked to his solicitor for salvation.

  Claire continued, 'We are currently contacting the Swiss bank with our evidence of insider trading, that will nullify your privacy rights and we will be able to verify signatures on the account.'

  'Good,' James simply replied. 'I have nothing to do with any of this I'm telling you. Someone has stolen my identity.'

  'Stolen your identity? Who might have done that Mr Parkin? Do you have any evidence of this?'

  The solicitor held up his hand again and finally spoke.

  'My client has had an incredible shock. He denies all these charges, but he and I need some time to go through them and work out a considered response.'

  His words were directed as much to James as to Claire and Bob. The interruption seemed to work on his client because everything they asked thereafter received the stock 'no comment' aimed at terminating the interview asap.

  'You can have a break now Mr Parkin,' Claire told him, 'but our Financial Crimes Unit colleagues will be down here shortly to talk to you about their investigations.'

  Bob and Claire took the stairs up to the canteen on the first floor.

  'What do you think?' she asked Bob.

  'Not sure,' he replied thoughtfully. 'There's certainly the evidence there with the financials, but for the murders? Unless we can prove that the transfer to the Philippines was to pizza man and link the two of them, that's all we've got. We've no motive yet for killing David, or certainly none that has any evidence backing it up, and if he was using Terry Morgan for his share deals, why kill him, unless David was about to tell him something he didn't want him to know. That leads us right back to how James could have known David, which so far, we don't know that he did. Unless there's some evidence to show he was blackmailing him, we've zip.'

  They'd reached the canteen by now and the conversation paused while they ordered coffees. Once they’d sat down by the window, Claire decided to tell Bob what she’d learnt from the neighbour.

  'A woman?' Bob nodded, 'Are we underestimating the wife here? Has anyone looked into her? Perhaps she wants him out the way for a new lover. Or maybe it’s some kind of revenge.'

  Claire was relieved that Bob wasn't immediately dismissing the doubts in her mind.

  'I think you're right, we still need to keep an open mind,' Bob continued, 'Let FCU deal with James Parkin for now, that will tie him up for the foreseeable so we don't need to worry about him absconding. Let's go see the wife again in the morning, I'll come with you. See what kind of a woman Melanie Parkin is. In the meantime do some digging, see if you can find anything else about her.'

  32

  Claire, Friday 10th November 2017, Jersey

  Claire headed home to her parents, the image of James Parkin spending his first night in a cell on her mind. How could James have known David, or did they not know each other? Did David simply spot something in Terry's accounts that linked him to James? Before she left the office, she'd sent Terry's accounts to London and Steven Cordon, who she'd worked with before on financial crimes. She wanted a second opinion, someone with fresh eyes to be looking for what it was that David Lyle could have seen. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her Jersey colleagues, it’s just they had been coming at it from a completely different angle. There were the trade deals and patterns London had found on David's work computer. Somehow this was bigger than just Terry Morgan, but how were they linked and who was controlling it all?

  As she drove past the airport and got closer to her parents' house, her mind left James Parkin and forced her to confront the thing which had been niggling her all day - her dad and his complete disregard for her professionalism. He'd been retired more than ten years now and things had moved on a fair bit from his day, but he still knew protocol. Why had he done it? Was it because he missed his old job and was interested in hers, or was it because he was checking up on her? Either way, he was out of order and his reaction when she'd found out was not the reaction of someone who regretted what they'd done or even appreciated how wrong it had been.

  She was dreading getting home. Having to sit in a room with him without exploding was going to be virtually impossible, but with her mother potentially ill, she was going to have to do it.

  When she opened the front door, the voice of Michael Ball floated towards her. That was unusual, her dad wasn't keen on music being played. When she walked into the sitting room and found her mum on her own reading the Jersey Evening Post, she wasn't surprised.

  'Hello love,' her mum said to her. 'How's your day been?'

  'OK thanks mum, and you?'

  'Oh you know, so, so. Your dad's been out all day. Says he'll be back before midnight.'

  Claire's heart skipped, what had he been doing all day?

  'Oh yes, what's he been up to?' she asked her mum, nonchalantly.

  'Don't know, just said he has some business to sort out. Have you seen this?' she waved the paper at her, 'it's the first ever sighting of a humpback whale off Jersey, isn't that amazing. I'd love to see a whale. We saw dolphins when we went to Carteret last year, but no whales.'

  While Claire was worried about what exactly her dad might be doing, the good thing was it enabled her to spend some time with her mum. They de-camped to the kitchen where a spaghetti bolognese was heated up for her.

  It brought this morning back, finding her mum confused. Claire wasn't sure how she should broach the subject, but she didn't have to worry for long, her mum beat her to it.

  'Sorry about this morning,' she said to her, not looking her in the face. 'I get a bit confused about things sometimes.'

  'That's OK mum, but I'm worried about you. You said you’d been to the doctors?'

  Her mum didn't answer straight away, she reached for the pronged spaghetti spoon and started ladling some of the pasta into a bowl for Claire.

  'Yes. It's all a bit depressing I'm afraid. They've run some tests and it appears I have early onset dementia.'

  Claire's stomach plummeted.

  'Oh mum, why didn't you tell me this before?' Claire stood up and went to her mother.

  'Didn't want to face up to it I guess, and you’ve been so busy. It's rather a frightening prospect.'

  Claire took the spaghetti spoon from her and turned her round so she could give her a big hug.

  'I'm so sorry mum. There must be something they can do to help you? I
s there anything I can do?'

  Her mother sighed and snuffled into her shoulder.

  'Unfortunately there's not much they can do love. I've just got to manage it as best I can. There's some drugs which can help slow it down, but I'm realistic, they don't do much.'

  'What does dad say?'

  Her mum pulled away from the hug now and looked at her daughter.

  'He doesn't know. I’ve tried to tell him a couple of times, but you know what he’s like. I’m not really sure how to tell him if I'm honest. I was hoping that maybe you could help me with that.'

  Claire pulled her mum back into a hug, 'Of course I will, I'll help you any way I can.'

  There's nothing like a health shock to get things into perspective. You could bowl through life, worrying about silly things, stressing about the stuff which ultimately doesn't matter, but when you hear a piece of news like her mum just told her, it made it all seem insignificant. At the end of the day, health was the most important thing of all and without it, we had nothing. It brought back memories of her brother and the prospect of losing her mum.

  Claire's anger at her father was now mixed up with an anger that he hadn't noticed the change in his wife. She could imagine her mother as she tried to tell him and the way he barely took any notice of what she was saying, unless it was something which benefitted him. She dreaded how he would deal with the conversation they were going to have to have. They needed to handle it right. She needed to handle it right and focus on her mum. She was going to need him on side and helping.

  Claire went to bed, her dad still not home, angry at the gods for what they'd brought on her mother. What did she ever do to deserve this, hadn't she been punished enough in her life by losing her son? Now she had to live with a ticking time bomb in her head, a living death sentence that couldn't be seen or touched. It wasn’t like cancer, a physical illness that you could comprehend. Dementia struck and you didn't even know it had happened. That fear of losing your mind, of not being in control must be terrifying her mother.