‘I don’t want to. I have no unhealthy desire to put my head on the block. But for me, there’s no alternative. And I promise you that if what’s left of the team start going down the same road as us, I won’t steer them away.’
‘It’s a fine line, boss,’ Dunne commented. ‘I mean, we’re already holding back crucial information. Isn’t that steering them away?’
Bliss considered the question. Bobby was probably right. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘Let’s agree that I’m in the wrong here. I feel that as acutely as you two do. It’s understood. A given. If push comes to shove I’ll make it clear that you two were as much in the dark as anyone else on the squad. We’ll need to cover your arses, but we can figure it out. Bobby’s in for the time being. So, Penny, that just leaves you to decide if you’re along for the ride.’
‘Do you have to ask?’
He’d expected as much. Her loyalty to him might take her over the edge one day. Bliss hoped that day wouldn’t be soon.
‘Good. The main thing now, then, is to decide where we go from here?’
‘The pub?’ Bobby Dunne suggested.
Chandler glanced down at her watch. ‘Seconded,’ she said.
‘Approved.’ Bliss smiled at them. They all deserved a drink right now.
Chapter 28
The village of Castor on the western tip of Peterborough was close enough to reach within a few minutes by car, yet far enough away to stand a good chance of not being populated by coppers from Thorpe Wood on their lunch break. With the exception of the three who now sat in the public bar of the Red Lion pub.
As village pubs go, the Red Lion was about as clichéd as you could find. The building was more than four hundred years old and partially listed; heavy thatch laid a thick cover over Collyweston stone, and the interior was criss-crossed by sturdy oak beams. A renovation and extension had been completed sympathetically, and it was hard to tell where the sixteen hundreds began and the nineteen hundreds ended. Old world charm leeched out of every nook and cranny, leaving its patrons with a sense of tranquillity and warmth.
Bliss and Dunne had pints of IPA, Chandler a vodka diluted by sparkling orange. Chicken tikka baguettes were on order, plus a large bowl of house fries. Bliss continued to feel insanely stressed about what had happened to him and Connie Rawlings that morning, and he had to will his hand away from his scar on several occasions. He understood now that stress wasn’t good for his medical condition, either, and he could feel heat in both cheeks and a fullness in his ears. Right now, though, all he wanted to concentrate on was Jodie Maybanks and DCS Flynn.
‘Okay, here’s how I see things,’ Bliss began. Other than a ragged mutt lying on a seat in the far corner, they were alone in the bar, so he had no need to whisper. ‘In addition to Flynn, there are four main suspects involved one way or another with the Jodie Maybanks murder: Weller and Hendry, Alan Dean who handled the MisPer, and Clive Rhodes, who was on duty when the triple nine came in, and would have been around at the time Jodie Maybanks was reported missing. I never like to assume anything, but with this case I’m afraid that’s all we have. It does seem likely that all four officers aided Flynn in some way. Whether they played minor or major roles is what we have to discover. Weller and Dean are obviously of no help to us now, so that leaves Hendry and Rhodes. Let’s toss out a few suggestions as to possible involvement.’
Chandler leapt right in. ‘If we assume Weller helped with the cover-up, then we must presume Hendry did, too.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Dunne argued. He took a swallow of beer and shook his head. ‘If Weller was Flynn’s main ally, perhaps he persuaded Hendry to go along with it without the man knowing what was really going on.’
Bliss nodded. ‘Good point. You spoke to him, Bobby. How did Hendry come across to you?’
‘Well, I didn’t mention Jodie Maybanks or the discovery at all. We only discussed that call-out, and what his feelings were about it.’
‘He must have wanted to know where your questions were leading.’
‘He did. I told him our thinking was that someone actually might have been hurt that night, but that I couldn’t tell him much more. Him being a civilian now.’
‘And what was his reaction?’
Dunne shrugged. ‘Like I told you yesterday at the Pizza Hut, I didn’t see anything there, boss. No alarm, no guilt. No real interest, actually.’
‘All right,’ Bliss said. ‘Maybe we’ll come back to Hendry. So that leaves Clive Rhodes. I’m not about to believe that his illness and sudden desire to get away for a winter break is a coincidence, so I’m betting he knows more than is good for him.’
‘The question is,’ Chandler said, ‘has he really taken himself off on holiday, or has he gone the way of Weller and Dean?’
‘That is the question,’ Bliss agreed. ‘And it’s one we need an answer to today. If we focus on our side of the investigation, we need to reach Rhodes and find out what he knows. He may even put Flynn in the frame for us. We probably ought to push Hendry a bit further, too. And we should also talk to a few of the people Flynn worked with back then. Starting with those no longer in the job.’
‘Good idea,’ Dunne said, nodding. ‘Don’t want word getting back to Flynn at this early stage.’
‘If Flynn actually is responsible for all this, he must be wondering what’s going on. Must be paying close attention, waiting to see if someone is going to piece it all together.’
‘I take it he’s not spoken to you about the case.’
Bliss shook his head. ‘Not as such. We bumped into each other on the stairs last week and he told me his door was open if I had problems working the inquiry. Nothing since then, no request for reports or updates. If he’s concerned, he’s keeping it in check.’
Chandler swirled her drink around in its glass. ‘I can’t help but wonder how deeply or otherwise involved all these men were. I mean, right at the start, Flynn could probably have spun both Weller and Hendry a simple story. You know, slight accident, no one hurt, personal problems he’d rather just went away. Asked them to back off. After all, there was no sign of an accident, no sign anyone had been hurt.’
‘According to their initial report,’ Dunne pointed out. ‘But yes, you could be right. It could easily have been a simple cover-up at that stage. And then Flynn reacts to the MisPer report by approaching Alan Dean and pushing the same buttons. Maybe Rhodes sniffed out a potential link between the two incidents. But even then, none of them needed to know that Jodie Maybanks was dead. And which of them would even have suspected Flynn at that point?’
‘Maybe they never did. Or at least, not until the body was uncovered last week.’
‘I have a problem with that,’ Bliss told them. He’d listened with growing enthusiasm, but had concerns about the way it was being laid out. About to continue, Bliss paused as the barman came up with their food. They each had a bite to eat while they waited for the man to retreat a safe distance away.
‘Go on,’ Dunne prompted. ‘You were saying.’
Bliss swallowed down some of his baguette, the spicy chicken hitting home. ‘I have a problem with it because I’m not convinced that the person who killed Jodie and buried her in Fletton was the same person who later dug up her remains and then reburied them. For the first burial to remain undetected for such a length of time, we have to reckon it was done properly. Deep enough and far enough off the beaten track. The way you would expect. But the grave at Bretton Woods was shallow, and not far away from an arterial pathway. The initial burial implies time and patience, the second suggests panic.’
Dunne and Chandler looked at each other. Shrugged. It made sense, Bliss knew. They would both see it.
‘I think Rhodes may now be the key,’ he continued. ‘Weller and Dean are dead, presumably because they posed a threat. And… now that I think about it, here’s an interesting theory: what if Rhodes is behind their murders? Everyone we’ve mentioned, other than Flynn, was on duty the night Jodie Maybanks was murdered, so he is still looking
good for it. But maybe it was Rhodes who panicked and reburied her, and then hit Weller and Dean when Jodie’s body was discovered.’
He ran it through his mind one more time. It was certainly possible, and a viable thread. Dunne and Chandler were in immediate agreement.
Chandler said, ‘The only thing that keeps us from liking him for the whole shebang is that he was on duty when the triple nine came in. We know he didn’t murder Jodie, so…’
But Bliss was shaking his head. Even as Penny had started speaking an idea had come to him. He pushed his plate and glass away and clicked his fingers. ‘No, we believe he didn’t. Couldn’t have. But only because of the link between the original emergency calls and Jodie’s resulting murder. Throughout this investigation we’ve tied the two things together and made them all part of the same incident. But we don’t actually know how long a gap there was between the two events.’
Bliss paused for a moment, thinking it through one more time. He felt a familiar flutter in his chest. What he’d said was true. They had all been side tracked, steered towards believing the murder had immediately followed the accident. When he continued, his voice was more measured.
‘We need to find out when Rhodes knocked off duty that night. There are many variables here, many permutations. So far we’ve gone with the most likely, maybe even the most logical, but perhaps we were too quick in cutting off other options.’
‘That may be the case, but Flynn must have been involved,’ Dunne stressed. ‘Not only was he one of Jodie’s regulars, but he also signed off on those two case files long before they should have been closed. Either way, he’s up to his neck in it. We can chase down Rhodes as much as you like, but Flynn is the one to fear.’
‘Of course. No argument there, Bobby. But Rhodes may still be the man who did the dirty deed. Let’s keep that in mind.’
‘Sure. But as things stand we at least have something on Flynn. Not hard evidence, but evidence all the same. We have absolutely nothing on Rhodes, except for the fact that he’s been elsewhere since Jodie was discovered.’
‘Rhodes needs to be tracked down,’ said Chandler. ‘And fast. Even if it’s only to eliminate him so we can focus elsewhere.’
Bliss glanced around the pub, the bar filling up a little more with, judging by the conversations with bar staff, regulars. Through one of the narrow windows he could see rain starting to fall yet again. Some days he wondered why he bothered getting out of bed.
‘You and I need to start on that as soon as we get back, Penny,’ Bliss told her. He turned to Dunne. ‘Do you fancy having another shot at Hendry? Feed him a bit more, link the two things in his head, see what he gives away.’
Dunne nodded. ‘Will do, boss.’
‘And if we draw blanks all round, we’ll put a list together of anyone else who knew Flynn, and then do a bit of digging. You both okay with that?’
They were.
‘Good. Then let’s finish this grub. I’m starving.’
On the drive back to HQ, Bliss outlined the direction the inquiry would take, making sure they each knew the way they were headed.
‘Be as vague as you like about what we’re up to when it comes to discussing matters with the rest of the team,’ he told them. ‘We’ll set them some procedural tasks and stall this case as much as possible.’ He squinted as rain began lashing against the windscreen.
‘What about the case notes and daily records?’ Dunne reminded him. ‘You can’t be vague with them, not when Sykes and maybe even Flynn himself will be looking at them.’
Bliss nodded. ‘You’re right. So far I’ve been able to avoid putting anything controversial across Sykes’s path, and he’s leaving me be for now. But I do need a bit of time to write something up. For all three of us, in fact. Bobby, there’s no reason why I can’t have you down as working with the team on archives and also include your interview with Hendry. Put something together along those lines yourself, and we’ll make sure they correspond.’
‘What about me?’ Penny asked. ‘How do I avoid writing up my trip to Lincoln?’
‘Same way I will. We’ll lie. How about you and I were checking out Palmer and Gordon Wilson? Then we spent time discussing the information from Connie Rawlings, plus piecing all the strands together. I’m sure we can cobble together something convincing.’
‘For Sykes, perhaps. But remember, we’re not at all sure exactly what Flynn knows. And if we stray too far from the truth he may start to wonder what we’re up to.’
‘The crux of that is whether Flynn already believes we’re on to him. I can’t see it, myself. If it weren’t for those hidden records in archives and the confirmation from Rawlings, we’d have no reason to suspect him. Provided we keep schtum about those items of information, I’m sure we’ll keep him at bay for a while yet.’
‘But what happens when you come to list suspects?’ Dunne asked. ‘The next stage in the investigation? What do you write or tell them then?’
Taking his time with the question, Bliss switched on his lights as the sky moved from ash grey to murky black. ‘It’s a matter of keeping all the balls in the air at once,’ he said. ‘The squad don’t know about Weller and Dean, so we can keep well away from having one of our own as a viable suspect. We’ll keep Palmer in the frame for as long as we can, maybe even drag his arse in for a formal interview. Same with Wilson. They are both viable suspects, after all. Unless anyone else in the team mentions it, I’ll steer away from the issue of Jodie’s regular clients. It won’t look good, but I’ll make it appear as though we’re coming up empty.’
‘This is going to be a tough one to pull off,’ Chandler said on a long exhalation of breath.
Bliss nodded and laughed mirthlessly. ‘As tough as they come, Penny. As tough as they come.’
‘So when we get back we’ll put our heads together and come up with our case notes, yes?’
‘Yes,’ Bliss said. ‘And then we go hunting for Clive Rhodes.’
‘And I’ll pay Mr Hendry another visit,’ said Dunne. He cleared his throat. ‘By the way boss, what are you going to do about these rumours involving you and this Rawlings woman?’
Dunne was sitting in the back of the car, and Bliss eyed him now through the rear-view mirror. ‘Absolutely nothing. Bobby, I don’t give a flying fuck what people think of me. They can laugh at me behind my back all they like, and if they want to get brave enough to do it to my face then I suppose we’ll see what happens.’
‘That’s probably the best way to go. Was she able to give you any more information this morning?’
‘Other than confirm that Jodie was seeing Joe Flynn? Not really. But she’ll stand her ground if we need her later on. She’s a tough one.’
‘Was she good? A good witness, I mean?’
Bliss shook his head, smiling. ‘Don’t even go there, Bobby.’
Dunne chuckled and spread his hands. ‘Hey, you can’t blame me for trying. There’s a decent betting pool on the go.’
‘Put a fiver in for me that nothing happened.’
‘Not good odds.’
‘Really?’
‘No. Most people reckon you haven’t got it in you to have nailed her.’
If he heard Chandler’s stifled laugh, Dunne made no mention of it. But Bliss himself laughed out loud.
As they approached the slip road that would take them to Thorpe Wood, Bliss’s mobile sprang to life, emitting two high-pitched tones. He thumbed the button to accept a text. When it came up on screen it carried no message, but instead there was a single photograph. Bliss heard himself let out an audible moan, and fear clutched instantly at his throat.
The image was of Bonnie and Clyde. Both dogs were lying on the dusty floor of what Bliss recognised as his own garage, the two Labs surrounded by a pool of what looked like deep red blood.
Chapter 29
When Bliss threw open the garage door and saw his Labs, a fierce pressure welled up inside his chest. It was so intense that for a moment it stalled his breath, and he felt a
n ache spread deep within his ribcage. Bonnie and Clyde lay exactly as he had seen them in the photograph, and the sour, cloying odour of blood hung thick in the air.
‘Oh, Jesus,’ Chandler said behind him, hand raised to her mouth.
What hadn’t been evident in the photo was just how much blood was smeared all over the two dogs.
Bliss put his head in his hands, and for a terrible moment thought he was going to see his lunch one more time. A horribly familiar sense of loss, of overwhelming grief, brushed against his heart. My babies, a voice inside his head cried out. My babies.
‘Jimmy, they’re alive,’ Dunne said, taking a couple of steps beyond Bliss to stand within a foot or so of the dogs. He pointed, finger sweeping between the two animals. ‘Look, you can see them breathing.’
What followed was a barely contained form of panic. The three detectives quickly checked the dogs over and found no obvious wounds. Bliss’s mind ran amok, unable to comprehend what was going on. He was too close, too emotionally involved. He felt incapable of cohesive thought, memories of discovering Hazel’s mutilated body rushing gleefully in.
‘Let’s get them to a vet,’ Chandler whispered softly in his ear. ‘You two carry the dogs, I’ll drive.’
The veterinary surgery Bliss used was in Stanground. Chandler drove fast, the parkway melting away beneath their wheels. Though both dogs were about the same size and weight, Clyde looked like a puppy in Dunne’s huge arms as they all burst through the door of the tiny side street vet’s. Though there were two other people waiting to be seen with their own pets in carry boxes, both they and the female vet behind the reception could clearly see this was an emergency situation.
Terrible recollections continued to flood the ravaged corridors of Bliss’s mind as he waited impatiently for news. The harsh imagery of stumbling around in blood was too painful to dwell on, yet still it stabbed at him. Pacing back and forth across the small waiting room floor, blood smeared all over his clothes and hands, Bliss voiced his confusion to his colleagues who stood anxiously by the counter.
Bad to the Bone Page 26