DEAD BAD a gripping crime mystery full of twists

by Helen H. Durrant

  Calladine and Rocco made their way back to the incident room. “Isn’t there any intelligence on the streets about who this new Mr Big is?” Calladine asked.

  Rocco shook his head. “No. It’s all news to us. Whoever he is, he’s moved in and taken over, all under the radar.”

  “There has to be something, perhaps a whisper we’ve missed. Do we have anyone who could find out?”

  “I know a bloke in the Wheatsheaf who fancies himself as an informant. I’ve been softening him up for a month or two, buying him the odd pint, passing the time of day. Reckons he keeps his ear to the ground. I could have a word. Mind you, he’s not come up with anything useful yet.”

  “Do that, Rocco. We need to wrap this up. The drugs are one thing, but we’ve still got two murders to deal with.”

  “I need a word about that, sir,” Rocco said.

  As soon as they entered the incident room, Alice called out to them. “Something odd. Keith Wrigley is downstairs. You know, the ex-prisoner who was pally with Norbury. He’s come in of his own volition and has asked to speak to someone who worked the Norbury case.”

  “Ford can’t do it, he’s at Oldston, so that’ll be me then.” Calladine sighed.

  “Before you go and see him,” Rocco said, “I need to tell you something. That phone data I’ve been studying. Both Ingrid Plesec and Eve Buckley have the same number on their mobiles. It’s a pay-as-you-go, untraceable. It was used to ring Ingrid once, the night her sister said she went out to the cleaning job and never came back. But it’s been used to ring Eve Buckley several times over the past couple of weeks. There’s a number of texts too.”

  About to go out, Calladine stopped. That didn’t make any sense. “Are you sure, Rocco? This could be crucial.”

  “Yep. See for yourself.” Rocco handed him the printout.

  Calladine crosschecked the two numbers. Rocco was right, they matched. “That means the killings and the drugs are linked somehow.” He looked around at the team. “I have no idea what this means. Put those thinking caps on, folks. See if you can work out what we’re looking at. Meanwhile, I’ll go and have a word with the joker downstairs. We’ll discuss this when I get back. Rocco, have that word with your mate in the pub.”

  * * *

  Calladine entered the small interview room. The central heating was on full blast, and Wrigley stank to high heaven. He’d evidently not been near water in weeks.

  “Where have you been, Keith? You’ve caused a lot of bother, you know. Police the length and breadth of the North West have been searching for you. Why abscond?”

  Wrigley smiled. “I promised George, you see. He died not long after I got out. When I read about it, it made me think. I had to do what he asked.”

  “What did you promise him?” Calladine asked.

  “He told me he didn’t kill that woman. Someone set him up.”

  Why would Wrigley lie? “Did he tell you who?”

  Wrigley shook his head. “He wouldn’t say. He was too frightened. He said that if he told me, my life would be at risk too. The real killer’s powerful, and would have got to us both. George didn’t feel safe even in prison.”

  “I appreciate your trying to help, Keith, but without a name there isn’t much I can do. Did he tell you anything at all?”

  “Whoever set him up fixed the evidence so as not to incriminate himself.”

  Calladine shook his head. “That isn’t likely. Access to evidence collected in a murder case is restricted, and everything is logged and checked.”

  “This man removed a contact lens that was found on one of the bodies. George said it must have had the real killer’s DNA on it.”

  Chapter 32

  It was not yet five in the afternoon, but Rocco’s informant was already propping up the bar at the Wheatsheaf. Rocco bought a pint and stood next to him. Alf Crawford was a waster who divided his time between the pub and the betting shop. But he heard a lot of stuff, spoke to people.

  Alf proffered his money to the barman for his next pint.

  Rocco smiled at him. “Let me get this. Busy day?”

  “No, lad. Been catching up on me sleep. You?” Alf said.

  “No time to sleep, Alf. We’ve got a heavy case on the go. He mouthed the word ‘drugs.’

  “That’ll be t’Hobfield. I heard. Stupid kids, doing what that bastard tells ’em to.”

  “What bastard, Alf?”

  “Newt and his cronies. You’ve taken him in, word ’as it.”

  Rocco hoped Alf would say something more useful. “In my opinion, that lad’s not smart enough to run an operation like that. What d’you think? He doesn’t look the part either. Scruffy bugger, isn’t he?”

  Alf nodded. “S’pose you’re right. After all he got caught, and that’s not clever.”

  “Mark my words, there’ll be a man with a brain and money at the back of him. Pushing buttons and organising everything from behind a desk.” Rocco looked at Alf expectantly. “Any ideas, Alf? Who d’you reckon that might be?”

  “I’ve seen him getting into Miles Erskine’s car a couple of times. I did wonder. I just reckoned Erskine was buying dope off him like everyone else. But I was surprised. A man like that, at the top of his game.”

  That was a name Rocco hadn’t expected to hear. Miles Erskine was a local businessman, who owned a construction firm. In the Leesdon area, whoever wasn’t employed by Buckley’s Pharmaceuticals probably worked at Erskine’s.

  “What made you think it was Erskine?” Rocco asked.

  “Looked like his car. Brand new merc. Tinted windows, the lot.”

  “Can’t be him,” Rocco said. “He’s worth a mint. Why would he bother? He can’t need the money.”

  Alf shrugged. “I don’t know. But construction has taken a dip. They’ve been laying folk off. Erskine didn’t get that mill refurbishment he was counting on. A neighbour of mine has worked at Erskine’s for twenty years or more. Got sacked last week.”

  “Didn’t realise. I’ll keep it in mind. Have another one, Alf.”

  * * *

  An hour later, Calladine met the team for a briefing. “Keith Wrigley told me that Norbury is innocent, and that the real killer tampered with evidence. Apparently, a contact lens found on one of the bodies was removed.”

  Ruth shook her head. “That can’t happen. He’s talking rubbish.”

  “That would depend on who removed it,” Calladine said. “Back in the days before the Duggan, evidence used to be stored at the nick investigating the case. We had an evidence store here at Leesdon. It’s now part of the archive. This contact lens would have been stored at Oldston. It is possible that it could have been taken.”

  “That would mean a policeman or a SOCO,” Ruth said.

  “There are admin staff too,” Calladine added.

  “I’ve been looking through the case files, and I didn’t see anything,” Alice said. “There was definitely no contact lens.”

  Ruth nodded. “We’ve all looked.”

  “Nevertheless, we’ll have to follow it up. I’ll have a word with Ford. He might recall something. Doc Hoyle was the pathologist at the time. He might be able to help too.” He looked at Rocco. “Speak to your friend?”

  “Yes. He mentioned Miles Erskine. Newton has been seen getting into his car a couple of times. A big posh job, a merc. Might be nothing, but you never know.”

  Calladine hadn’t expected this name to come up. “Erskine? If he really is a bona fide businessman, why mix with the likes of Newton?”

  “That’s what I thought. Alf reckons he could have been buying drugs, but I don’t think that was it. A man like him is unlikely to be buying them on the Hobfield.”

  “We’ll speak to Newton again shortly.”

  Calladine looked around the room. Now for the hard bit. He’d told Ruth, and now it was time to come clean to the others about Eve’s part in all this. “The drugs were produced in a building belonging to Eve Buckley’s factory. It’s the old, dilapidated one further up the hil
l. Buckley’s don’t use it anymore. They kidnapped me and threatened Eve that my continued safety depended on her silence. It worked. She did exactly what they told her. That included putting the money into my bank account.”

  They all gasped.

  “But she’s your mother!” Joyce exclaimed.

  Calladine shrugged. “She had no choice. What was she supposed to do? If she told you lot, there was every chance I’d never be seen again.”

  “Her brother’s a former superintendent,” Rocco said. “Couldn’t she have got him on board?”

  “Eve was terrified. She has other family apart from me.”

  But Calladine could see they weren’t convinced. “This is where the case gets complicated,” he said. “Eve was always contacted by phone, and she never met anyone in person. Rocco has discovered that all the calls she got were from the same pay-as-you-go as the one used to call Ingrid Plesec on the night she was killed.”

  Ruth stared at him. “The two cases are linked? The killings? The drugs? But how can that be? The crimes are so different. Apart from the phone number, there’s no other link, right? Are you sure about this?”

  “Yes. I’m hoping that the ‘hows’ and the ‘whys’ become clearer as we get more evidence. Rocco and I will have another word with Danny Newton. After him, we’ll speak to Flake again. Ruth, speak to Alenka. Ask her about Erskine. Has she ever seen him and Newton together? Or even heard the name? Alice, look again at the evidence log for the Norbury killings. Given what we’ve been told, you might spot something new.”

  Calladine added the new information to the incident board. “I suppose I’ll have to speak to Birch, and bring her up to speed. She isn’t going to believe it.”

  “I’m still wondering, why you?” Ruth said. “The kidnapping, I mean.”

  He shrugged. “Because of my connection with Eve.”

  “Like you pointed out, Eve has other family. And if you don’t mind me saying, she’s more emotionally attached to them. Her grandson, for example. You have to consider that you were taken because of the Norbury case. You worked it. These recent killings would have been familiar to you. You’d have remembered. With you out of the way, that doesn’t happen.”

  “But it did.”

  “Only because of Alice and her obsession with the archive and your old cases.”

  Ruth was right. “Are you suggesting there’s another link, not Eve?” he asked.

  “Yes, I am,” she said. “Think about it. The killings and the drugs.”

  “So, who are we looking for?”

  She frowned. “That’s the biggy. I’ll have to think about that one.”

  “Are you free tomorrow night?”

  Ruth looked a little surprised. “Don’t know, why?”

  “Eve is hosting a do at the Leesworth Hall Hotel. She’s invited me and Layla, but I think it might be a better idea to take you along.”

  “I’m flattered! But why?”

  Calladine smiled. “Because chances are, Miles Erskine will be there. Do no harm to get to know him better. He’s a complete unknown to us.”

  “Okay, it’s a date. Formal, is it?”

  “Afraid so.”

  “Won’t Layla mind?” Ruth asked.

  “She’ll be working anyway. Grabs all the overtime she can, that one.”

  Chapter 33

  By the time Ruth got to the Hobfield, it was beginning to get dark. After all the excitement earlier, there were few people about. She went into Heron House and climbed the stairs up to the first floor.

  She knocked at the door to Alenka’s flat. “Who is it?” Alenka called out, her voice shaky. Not surprising, after what had happened earlier.

  “It’s Ruth. Can we talk?”

  Alenka opened the door, cradling Lara in her arms.

  “I’m afraid to put her down after Newt and what he did. If you hadn’t come, if your inspector hadn’t talked Newt down, things could have turned out very differently.”

  “Newt’s in custody. He won’t be bothering anyone for a while. Do you mind answering some questions?” Ruth asked.

  They went in and sat down.

  “Was it him who killed Ingrid?”

  “We don’t think so,” Ruth replied

  “I can’t believe that she is really gone. That I’ll never see her again. I know she had her faults but she was my sister and I miss her.”

  The young woman was tearful. “Tell me about Danny Newton. We need him to help us if we are to find Ingrid’s killer. The more we know about him, the better.”

  “He made me work for him,” Alenka said. “If I refused, he threatened to hurt Lara. Plus, he knew about Ingrid and what I’d done.”

  “Do you know who Newt worked for? Did he ever mention any names? Did he ever have anyone with him who didn’t live on the estate?”

  “Newt was always very careful. He never mentioned names. He called the man who ran the operation the ‘big boss.’ I got the impression it was a secret, and if he said anything, he’d be in trouble.”

  “Did you ever see this man?” Ruth asked.

  “Not the man. But he had a big car with tinted windows. He had a driver too. The car was black, a Mercedes, this year’s model.”

  “You didn’t catch sight of the registration number, I suppose?” Ruth wasn’t hopeful.

  “I took a photo with my mobile. I was curious about this ‘big boss’ Newt worked for.” Alenka scrolled through the images on her phone. “Here. This is it.”

  Right enough, a black merc. Unfortunately Alenka hadn’t captured the whole plate but it began with the letters ‘MTE.’

  “Text it to me, please. Thank you. You did well.” Ruth cast her eye around the room. The girl didn’t have much. “I’m afraid we’ll have to take a statement about what happened earlier. One of my colleagues will come round. Just tell him the truth. It will go better for you in the end.”

  Alenka turned wide, frightened eyes on Ruth. “I won’t. I’ve broken the law. I’ll be punished, and they’ll take Lara away from me.”

  “It’s your first offence. You were coerced. You are Lara’s auntie and she’s settled and happy with you. I’m sure the courts will be fair.”

  Ruth left Alenka sitting with Lara, aware that there was every possibility she’d be charged with drug dealing. No need to rub her nose in it tonight, though. She’d had a bad day.

  * * *

  “Right, Danny. Time to get serious.” Calladine said. He and Rocco sat facing Danny ‘Newt’ Newton.

  “Not in the mood, copper. It’s getting late. I’ve got stuff to do.”

  “Unless you speak to me, Danny, you’ll be with us even longer. What’s the rush anyway? Mr Erskine expecting you, is he?”

  That did it. Newt’s face turned white. His eyes darted from one of them to the other. “Who’ve you been talking to?”

  “Just people. You see, Danny, your meetings with Erskine weren’t as private as you both thought. Leesdon’s a small place, and there are eyes and ears everywhere.”

  “It’s got nowt do with him. I don’t know what you’re on about.”

  “Let me get this straight. You’re prepared to take the rap for the drugs, kidnap, the attempted murder of a colleague of mine and the recent murders of two young women.” Calladine counted them off on his fingers.

  Newt’s mouth dropped open. “I haven’t killed anyone! You can’t pin owt like that on me. I might’ve sold a few pills around the estate, but that’s it.”

  “That’s not good enough. You see, the crimes are linked. You knew about my kidnap, but more importantly, you knew one of the murder victims. Come on, Danny, it’s time to talk to us.”

  Newt started to bluster, his previous bravado all gone. “I can’t. That is . . . I need to think. Have you spoken to Flake? Yeah, go and talk to him! Let him take some of the heat off me.”

  “You still don’t want to talk about Erskine?”

  Newt sat back. “Don’t know the man.”

  * * *

  “The n
ame Erskine rattled him alright,” Rocco said. “Alf was on the nose there.” They were on their way back to the incident room.

  Calladine shook his head. “We haven’t got enough though, have we? We can’t even approach the man. He’s a pillar of the community. One way or another, we need to get more.”

  “So what now?”

  Calladine looked up at the office clock. “We’ll call it a day, Rocco. It’s late — again. We’ll pick it up in the morning.”

  Alice was still at her desk, head down, engrossed in a pile of documents.

  “Found anything?” Calladine called to her.

  “Not yet, sir.”

  “Leave it now. We’ve done enough for today.”

  She nodded, and smiled at Rocco. “Fancy going for a drink?”

  Calladine gave him a nudge in the back. “Well, don’t keep the young lady waiting.”

  Calladine gathered his stuff together. He was on foot again. A brisk ten minute walk through the side streets, and he’d be home.

  He was turning into his own street when he heard the footsteps behind him. Oh no, he thought, not again.

  He was about to react when the man behind him spoke.

  “Don’t turn round. Listen carefully. You will drop the charge against Newton. He will be released. Do this, and your family and that cute little kiddie will stay safe. Refuse, and you can start saying your goodbyes.”

  Calladine had heard enough. He’d been caught like this once before, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again. He spun around, just in time to see a tall, thin figure legging it back down the street. The man was youngish, he guessed, and dressed in dark clothing. Moments later, he’d turned the corner and was gone. Calladine tried to place the voice. Gruff. Northern accent, and he’d cleared his throat a couple of times. A smoker, perhaps?

  He took out his mobile and rang the station. Birch had long since gone home, so he left a message on her answerphone. He also alerted the desk sergeant. He wanted the watch on Harry Ireson beefed up.

  Chapter 34

  Day 7

  After a sleepless night, Calladine went into the station early the next morning.