Blood Line

by Lynda La Plante

  ‘No idea. When can I move back into the flat?’ She was beginning to sound very impatient.

  ‘I’ll ask the forensic team if they have finished.’

  ‘It’s a real inconvenience, this. I’ve got to stay at Donna’s and all my clothes and stuff are still in the flat. Am I allowed to go and get a few more things to wear? I only took a small overnight bag with me to stay at Donna’s.’

  ‘Yes, I’ll see they allow you to do that. There is something else, Tina, but first I have to ask you this. Did you, after Alan went missing, ever entertain anyone else?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘We found items in the bed.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We believe the bedding we took from your flat had been changed due to the fact there was no blood on it.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘It’s probable that the bedlinen was changed after the violence that took place, and I am asking you if you brought anyone to the bedroom and had sex with them.’

  ‘You must be fucking joking! Of course I didn’t have someone in bed with me.’

  ‘We found a hair and semen stains, Tina. The hair could be yours, or someone else’s.’

  Tina was adamant that she had slept alone, that she had never brought anyone back to the flat. Suddenly she pulled some hairs from her head.

  ‘Here, take it, take it and test it! Christ, I feel sick – it makes me feel sick.’

  If Tina was guilty of murder she was an exceptional actress, yet Anna was sure she had to know a lot more than she was admitting.

  ‘When we found Alan’s surfboards and wetsuit . . .’

  Tina got up and helped herself to another coffee.

  ‘We found other items that I need to discuss with you. Did you ever consider that Alan was homosexual?’

  Tina turned, surprised. ‘What? WHAT?’

  ‘The items were of a very explicit sexual nature. There were DVDs all containing gay sex, and various magazines which had . . . contact ads – you know, and—’

  ‘You are trying to say you think Alan was gay?’

  ‘As I said, we have found pornographic literature and DVDs. We have also heard from a couple of witnesses that Alan mixed with a number of homosexual men whilst in Cornwall.’

  Tina blinked and shook her head.

  ‘You’ve got it wrong. There is no way! I would know, believe you me. Being in hairdressing, I’m surrounded by gays and especially at the competitions. Alan was not like one of them, so whoever you are talking to are off their heads.’

  ‘So you and Alan had a heterosexual relationship?’

  ‘You mean did we have sex?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Listen, I’ve been around – I’m not making myself out to be a slapper, but I’ve had a few guys in my time – and I am telling you, Alan was straight. We had a good sex-life, even more so when I had got my hands on him. He was very shy and reserved to start with, but like I said I’ve had my experiences and there was no way I’d stand for a platonic relationship, no way at all.’

  ‘But you mentioned that you thought he might have another woman. Why was that?’

  Tina shrugged and fell silent. Anna persisted.

  ‘You said that he might have gone missing and left you for another woman. Why did you think that?’

  ‘Well, it had gone off a bit. I always had to instigate it and he hadn’t been that affectionate with me for a few months, so what else was I to think? We were planning on getting married so we were having sex on a regular basis. It was just he wasn’t . . . nice to me.’

  ‘Nice?’

  ‘Yeah. He was a bit short and abrupt, like he had something on his mind. I even asked him outright once if there was someone else and he swore to me there wasn’t, said he was just tired as he was working hard at the garage.’

  ‘Did you suspect when he said he was working late that he was seeing someone else?’

  ‘Yeah, yeah I did, because like I said he was a bit off with me, and from being very close it worried me.’

  ‘Do you think Alan could have been leading a double life?’

  ‘With someone else?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘No, because we were always together. It was just sort of recent and I even wondered if me planning all the wedding invites was getting to him, but he encouraged me and said I should start looking for a wedding gown.’

  ‘Did you ever overhear any unusual phone calls?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did you ever see him with anyone else?’

  ‘No. I used to check his mobile – I’m not stupid, I wanted to see if there were any text messages – but he hardly ever used it, and then it was mostly to call me. You’ve got his phone – you took it, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yes. Could he have had another one?’

  ‘I dunno. I doubt it. He was so careful about spending money because we were saving for a flat.’

  ‘You never saw him with another man, maybe?’

  ‘Back on that, are you? Listen to me: Alan was straight. He was a very gentle guy as well – you know, hated to get into a row or any confrontation. That was another reason I thought he might have run off – because he was having cold feet about the wedding.’

  ‘What if I was to tell you we also found that Alan had earned a considerable amount of money from the sale of his reconditioned cars?’ Anna said next.

  Tina’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘We have receipts for the sale of an AC Cobra, a Ferrari and some other very high-end vehicles.’

  ‘How much?’

  ‘It’s considerable, and it’s possible there could have been a lot more as we only have the details from the receipts we found.’

  ‘How much?’ Tina repeated.

  ‘Four hundred and odd thousand.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I know his father helped finance the purchase of the cars . . .’

  ‘Yeah yeah, and Alan paid him back with interest. How much did you say? FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND . . . no – no fucking way. I would have known how much he got. How far back are you going with these motors?’

  ‘Five or six years.’

  ‘Then that is crap. He saved his wages – we had a joint bank account – and I am telling you straight up that Alan never made that kind of money. If you want to know why I kept the accounts, it was so I always knew what he was spending.’

  ‘Did you know he used his bedroom at his family home as an office?’

  ‘He was living with me. He only stayed over there a few times because his mother was ill.’

  ‘Nevertheless, that is where we found out about the money and that he had a possible double life.’

  Tina hurled her coffee mug against the wall. It shattered and sprayed coffee over the floor and the sink unit.

  ‘I don’t know what you are trying to do to me – get me so riled up I’ll admit I killed him? If that’s your plan, it’s not gonna work. Now you get out of here.’

  Anna stood up and wiped a coffee spill from her shoulder.

  ‘I am just telling you the truth, Tina.’

  ‘I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE!’

  Tina pushed Anna and looked as if she would punch her. Her face was taut with rage and her fists were clenched.

  ‘I loved him. I think you are just a sick woman. If he was murdered, then you should be finding out who did it, not trying to get me upset. I never did it – now you just get out, go on, get out and leave me alone.’

  Anna bent to pick up her briefcase and acted swiftly as she saw Tina moving towards her before letting fly with a punch. Anna used her briefcase to take the blow and it almost knocked her off her feet. It was at this moment that Donna and Felicity hurried in to see what all the noise was about.

  ‘Get that bitch out. GET HER OUT OF HERE!’ Tina screamed.

  As Anna passed between the two women, Tina fell to her knees sobbing, with Donna trying to comfort her.

  ‘Have they found him?’ Felicity asked nervously.

>   ‘No. Excuse me.’ Anna left hurriedly. She had considered arresting Tina for assault, but thought better of it as she had caused the aggressive reaction.

  By the time Anna got into her car she had calmed down. The interaction with Tina had not given any further insight into Alan Rawlins’s double life. What it had done, however, was show just how vicious Tina could become, and also how strong she was. There was even a dent left in Anna’s briefcase to prove it.

  Anna drove straight to Liz’s lab over at Lambeth and deposited the buccal swab for her to test on the one hair discovered in the bed. She also left a note saying it was very urgent she get a response as soon as possible.

  Brian Stanley had a stiff neck from holding the phone beneath his chin as he made call after call to check out the circled adverts in the magazines. He had made twenty with no result, but eventually made contact with a Tony Ardigo who had run an advert asking for studious partners and healthy physical guys with interest in sport and exercise.

  Brian asked him if he would be prepared to assist their enquiry as they believed a man who had answered the advert was missing. Mr Ardigo admitted that he had met someone fitting the description of Alan Rawlins, but he was called something else. They had only met the once and it was not a satisfactory occasion. Mr Ardigo did, however, agree to come into the station.

  Brian replaced the receiver and looked over to Helen.

  ‘I got a hit. Guy said he’ll come in and talk to us. We might have the other name our victim was using.’

  ‘Was it Daniel Matthews?’

  ‘Yeah. You got the same?’

  ‘Yes, twice, but they refused to come in. They each reported one meeting only that didn’t work out.’

  Brian crossed to the incident board.

  ‘Hang on, hang on . . . Daniel Matthews, Dan . . . we’ve got a Daniel Matthews up here who was interviewed by Travis. His name was in Alan Rawlins’s address book – an old schoolfriend.’

  Helen joined him. ‘Well, he was also gay – right?’ she said. ‘Maybe the magazines belonged to him?’

  ‘One way to find out. Let’s call him.’

  ‘Hold it,’ Paul said to them from his desk. ‘I’ve got a hit as well. Same scenario but the guy was not called Alan Rawlins – he said his name was Julian Vickers.’

  Paul came over and they all looked at the name of the other old friend of Alan’s who ran the deli.

  ‘What do you think he was doing, just throwing up the names of his pals, or are they all shirt-lifters?’

  Paul ignored Brian’s remark. Instead, he walked back to his desk, saying over his shoulder, ‘He was just using their names, Brian, and it looks like they were all one-night stands. If the magazines were in Rawlins’s house and all the adverts had been ringed by him, he was using them.’

  Helen sighed and returned to her desk. ‘We’ll have to check it out with them.’

  ‘I’m getting a stiff neck,’ Brian complained, but he too went back to his desk to start making the calls.

  Anna had arrived outside the Rawlinses’ house when Paul called her with the update on the personal ads. She listened, weighing up the information, and told him that she too felt that Alan Rawlins was just using his friends’ names. She would, however, be interested to sit in on the interview with Mr Ardigo to learn how Alan Rawlins behaved. She was certain that Alan used a different name as well when he was in Cornwall, and asked Paul to switch to trying to find out where he stayed. If Alan Rawlins was a keen and capable surfer he would probably have stayed in or around Newquay, as it was the home of British surfing.

  Anna also suggested they get back to the car-wash surfer Sal and ask him for some help regarding the possible locations. Better still would be if they asked him to come into the station. She also wanted Paul to contact Joe Smedley, the head mechanic at Metcalf Auto, to ask about holidays taken by Alan Rawlins. At least if they had dates when he might have been in Cornwall, it would narrow down their search.

  Anna had to wait a while before Edward Rawlins answered the door. He was wearing an old cardigan with a collarless shirt, creased cord trousers and carpet slippers.

  ‘Have you any news?’ he asked immediately.

  ‘No, but we need to talk.’

  He nodded and opened the door wider for her to follow him inside. Anna didn’t waste time with pleasantries; instead, she got straight to the point.

  ‘Mr Rawlins, I believe you went into Alan’s room before you gave me access to it. I also believe that you removed—’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘You did what, sir?’

  ‘I threw them out. They were disgusting.’

  ‘I know what you found and we didn’t need your permission to remove a black bin liner filled with gay pornography magazines, along with some very explicit homosexual DVDs.’

  ‘Yes, I admit it.’

  ‘Were you aware that your son was homosexual?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Was he?’

  ‘Apparently. Why otherwise have those revolting things locked in a drawer?’

  ‘What else did you find, Mr Rawlins?’

  ‘That was enough.’

  ‘What about bank statements, even cash?’

  ‘I didn’t find anything else.’

  Anna sighed and then approached the subject of the amount of money from the sale of the reconditioned cars.

  ‘Alan gave me back my initial loan with interest, nothing more. I had no idea of exactly how much he was making when he sold the vehicles.’

  ‘But you must be aware now. You must have looked through his financial papers?’

  ‘I didn’t have the time.’

  ‘So you are saying you were unaware of the amount Alan must have made?’

  ‘That was his business, his sideline, not mine. Whatever he did with the money was entirely up to him.’

  ‘But it is a considerable amount, isn’t it? And I have found no tax returns detailing this money that I think came from cash transactions.’

  ‘I have nothing to say. Whether or not he spent the money or banked it, he never mentioned anything to me.’

  ‘We are now of the belief that Alan led a double life, possibly owning property in Cornwall. He might also have used a different name.’

  ‘I have no idea where he stayed. All I know is he went surfing there frequently during the summer. Whether or not he used his own name or someone else’s I’m unable to say.’

  ‘You have decided to put your wife Kathleen into a care home?’

  ‘Yes, that is correct.’

  ‘But when I previously talked to you, you were concerned about the expense. Has that now changed?’

  ‘Let us say I have. It is a decision that I have made.’

  ‘What about the finances?’

  ‘I have some savings, and I really don’t think this is any of your business.’

  ‘It is, if you found a substantial amount of cash hidden in your son’s room.’

  ‘I did not. I also own this house outright so that is how I will fund my wife’s nursing-home expenses.’

  He was very tense, sitting on the edge of a chair, his face pinched and angry. He suddenly stood up.

  ‘I don’t wish to talk to you any more. I have given you every assistance in tracing my son. I am still desperate to know if he is dead or alive.’

  ‘We are endeavouring to do everything possible to find out the truth, Mr Rawlins.’

  ‘The truth?’ he snapped and had to dig his hands into his pockets as they were shaking so much.

  ‘Let me tell you what the truth has so far done to me. I discover that my wife of thirty-five years lied to me, kept secrets from me about my son. The truth is, he is not my child. The boy I doted on and was so proud of has either been murdered or has been involved in some terrible crime. His secrets are as heartbreaking as my wife’s.’

  Anna stood up. She was almost the same height as he was. The dapper little man for whom she had felt such compassion appeared to be changing in front of h
er. His anger was such that he was having difficulty containing it and his voice was strangled in his throat.

  ‘I want it to be my time now. I hate her, and her son disgusts me – that’s what the truth has done to me, Detective Travis! I hope you never find him because I don’t want to ever see him again. And now I would like you to leave.’

  Anna nodded and went to the door. She hesitated.

  ‘You know, whatever your son’s sexual preference was or is, it’s not a crime, and perhaps he only wished to keep it secret from you because he didn’t want you to—’

  Edward Rawlins interrupted her. ‘Please don’t talk down to me, don’t interpret what I should or shouldn’t feel about what I have discovered. I loved him. He was the light of my life, but it was all lies.’ Tears trickled down his cheeks.

  ‘Maybe the lies were all to protect you, Mr Rawlins.’

  It was awful as he couldn’t stop himself from crying. Taking out a handkerchief he wiped his face, but the tears kept flowing. Anna walked out and he followed her, blowing his nose.

  ‘Is that you, Alan?’ came a shrill voice from upstairs.

  Mr Rawlins ignored his wife as he opened the front door.

  ‘She doted on him. I used to find it hard sometimes. When he was young it was as if he had taken over her life. She had so little time for me. It was always the two of them giggling and laughing together like two children, and it wasn’t until he became a teenager that he really ever turned to me. She used to get so jealous. If we went to a cricket match together she acted as if I was trying to take him away from her. I suppose in retrospect I should have known.’

  ‘Thank you for seeing me, Mr Rawlins.’

  ‘Secrets . . . secrets,’ he hissed as he closed the door behind her.

  Anna suspected that Mr Rawlins had found the cash, but it would be hard to prove. She was glad to be away from the pain-wracked angry little man as she headed back to the station. It had not been a successful morning.

  Chapter Ten

  No sooner had Anna taken off her coat in her office than she was called to say that Mr Anthony Ardigo was waiting in reception.

  ‘It’s the bloke that put in the advert,’ Paul reminded her. Anna told him to take Ardigo into an interview room and she’d be there in a moment. She didn’t waste time. Passing through the incident room she gave Brian a brief outline of the meetings with both Tina and Mr Rawlins. They had not been productive.