DEAD & BURIED a gripping crime thriller full of twists

by Helen H. Durrant

  “You’re doing very well,” Imogen said. “Do you know what they did with Carol?”

  “A van came to the cottage. Vinny put her in and they left.”

  “Did you see who was driving?”

  She shook her head.

  “Your mother? Did they take her away too?”

  “No. She simply disappeared. I’ve never seen her from that day to this. When it went quiet I crept back into the kitchen. Emily was cleaning up. That was when I took the satchel and the gun.”

  “You took the gun? What did you do with it?” Calladine asked.

  “I was going to put it with the satchel in the hiding place but Emily took the gun off me.”

  “Do you know what she did with it?”

  “No. She said it was dangerous. I presumed she gave it back to Vinny.”

  Tanya was crying. Imogen handed her a tissue from a box on the windowsill. “Would you like a break?”

  Tanya nodded.

  “Okay, I’ll get you some tea.”

  Chapter 20

  They were back in the incident room.

  “Do you believe her?” Eliza King asked.

  “Yes,” Imogen replied. “It ties in with what we know and suspect.

  “The bit about the gun?”

  “Emily could have taken it. In fact she could have hung on to it all these years,” Calladine told them. “I’ll lay odds it’s the same gun that was used to kill Emily and shoot Davey. Julian has matched the marks on the bullets to a gun used back in the sixties and allegedly owned by Costello. Has the one found on Archer been sent to the Duggan?”

  Imogen nodded.

  “What do we do with Archer if it turns out it is the same gun?”

  “The fact that Archer had a gun at all puts him in the frame. The problem we’ve got is that it’s been used in a game of pass the parcel for the last few days.”

  Imogen nodded. “If Emily had the gun, she must have given it to someone. Did that someone shoot her with it?”

  “We could spend all day speculating on this.” Calladine went to the incident board and wrote down the names, one below the other. Trent, Mallon, Archer and finally, Costello. “Want to add anyone else?” he asked the team. “We don’t know who had the gun before Emily and Davey were shot. We know someone gave it to Archer. He told us it was after the shootings. The question is — how did Archer’s man get hold of it? A man Archer says recruited him to work for Costello. We’ll give Tanya a little longer and then we’ll ask her about Gavin Trent.”

  “What about him?” asked Eliza King.

  “How she knows him and what they’ve been up to for a start.”

  “You think they’ve been working together?”

  “Yes. Trent is our mystery man. The man who’s lost half a finger. We need to find him.”

  * * *

  Costello was sitting in the bar of the Pennine Inn.

  “How long ago since this Trent guy was last seen?”

  “Within the last hour, Mr Costello,” the barman told him. “He has been here all week. Spent a lot of time with an American woman. They went out together, ate together. They were close.”

  “Do you know her name?”

  “Tanya Mallon.”

  Costello’s eyes narrowed. He’d heard that name before. That was the woman the detective had asked about.

  Costello’s driver joined him. “The manager is organising the rooms, sir.”

  “You did make it clear that I don’t know how long we’ll be here?”

  “Yes, sir. He’s fine about it.”

  “Go see to the baggage.”

  “It doesn’t look too bad a place,” Malcolm Hall said. “Good range of food on the menu, adequate bar and the rooms are a fair size.”

  “See what you can find out about the Mallon woman. Nice it might be, but I don’t want to spend an hour longer here than I need to. Give me a whisky,” he barked at the barman. “What do I call you?”

  “Robin, sir.”

  No matter where he went, Costello always drew attention. He was a big man and walked with a swagger. He looked exactly like what he was — a villain. The temperature in a room went cold as soon as he entered.

  He’d only been at the bar a few minutes but silence had already descended. There were half a dozen people seated around the room. All of them eyed him with suspicion.

  He slapped down a twenty. “Keep the change, Robin.”

  “I believe Mrs Mallon has been arrested, sir,” the barman told him. “A couple of hours ago. A detective from the local station has been on her tail all week.”

  Costello tossed the liquid down his throat. “Does Trent know?”

  “I shouldn’t think so. It’s at least three hours since I last saw him. He was headed towards the golf course.”

  “Thanks.” He slammed the glass down on the bar. “Stick a big one in there.” He peeled off another twenty from a roll. “The hotel’s course, is it?”

  The barman nodded.

  “Go find him,” Costello told Malcolm Hall. “Tell him I want a word. I’ll be sat over there. And sort out a brief for the Mallon woman. You know the drill.” Costello took his drink and went to sit down.

  He needed to sort this thing with Trent but he wasn’t in the mood. Talking about Carol had touched a nerve. Even after all this time the memory was still raw. He thought he’d dealt with it, sorted all the emotional stuff years ago. But obviously he hadn’t or he wouldn’t be feeling so bad now. Emily had done a good job. The flowers, keeping quiet, getting on with her life as normal. So what had gone wrong? He couldn’t work out who would know enough about what happened that night to put Emily in the frame. But someone did.

  It had been Emily, Ken Blackwell — who’d driven the van, and himself. There was no one else. Emily was dead but what about Ken? Costello was sure he knew nothing. Ken had no idea who had been put in the back of that van and he’d never asked. But had he found out? Costello took his mobile from the inside pocket of his jacket and tapped in a number. “Job for you,” he said. “Ken Blackwell, Strangeways.” He ended the call.

  He leaned back in the chair and ran through the events of that night in his mind. It hurt to remember. His head was full of Carol’s screams and that woman’s lack of interest. He’d taken her back into that kitchen and laid her on that table. The woman hadn’t touched her. It was already too late. He’d tried to force her to help. He’d threatened her with the gun. Emily had tried to stop him. Next thing the woman dropped like a stone. They never did work out who’d actually pulled the trigger.

  Suddenly his blue eyes lit up — the kid! There had been a kid in the kitchen that night, a girl. The woman had sent her away but she could have witnessed it all. Was she Tanya Mallon?

  “He isn’t there. The golf pro here says he hasn’t seen him. In fact he’s never even heard of him.” Hall sat down beside Costello. “Just had a phone call. Trent’s been a busy boy. He recruited three of them. Two are dead — knifed, but the third is in custody.”

  “That bloody copper again!”

  “Trent recruited them in your name. You are apparently taking over the Hobfield now that Fallon’s dead.”

  Costello bellowed with laughter. “No one in their right mind would believe that.”

  “Perhaps — but it has caused ripples. A prominent Manchester villain dived in without waiting to find out if the rumour was true or not. The prospect of having you back made him very unhappy indeed.”

  “Stupid fool. All he had to do was ask me.”

  “Well, he didn’t, did he? What he did instead was take a pop at one of our people as a warning.”

  “Some bloody nerve!”

  “Nerve or not, Vinny, Carl Grogan is dead. Shot on his own front doorstep a week ago.”

  “This needs sorting. Quash the gossip before this gets out of hand. See to it. Meet with people, set them straight. I do not want a turf war on my hands.”

  “Leave it with me, Vinny. What about the other problem?”

  “Th
at isn’t so simple. I’ve no idea what Tanya Mallon knows. She’ll have to be dealt with.”

  “She may have already spoken to that detective.”

  “So what? There won’t be a case if she can’t go to court.”

  * * *

  “Tell us about Gavin Trent,” Calladine began.

  “I don’t know anyone with that name,” Tanya Mallon replied.

  “You’re lying.”

  “I’ve had enough.” She brushed back the hair from her face. “You drag me in here and expect answers, when I have none.”

  “Trent could be our killer.”

  Her eyes met Calladine’s.

  “He had a gun. We have it now and it’s being processed,” he said.

  Now she looked frightened.

  “He was staying at the hotel,” she said finally. “We had dinner one night. He was pleasant. There was nothing in it.”

  “I don’t think you met by chance. You both came here for a reason. Want to tell us about it?”

  “No. There’s nothing to tell. He was just a visitor, on his own like me. We ate dinner together a couple of times.”

  Calladine left the room abruptly. Out in the corridor he rang the Duggan and spoke to Roxy Atkins. Tanya had been quick to talk once he’d mentioned the gun. He thought he knew why.

  “The gun we sent over. Would you check it for prints first? See if any of them match Tanya Mallon’s. I’d appreciate this doing quickly. We’re interviewing her now. A text will do if you get a match.”

  Calladine went back into the room.

  “I want to leave,” said Tanya.

  “Tell me all you know about Trent and we’ll think about it.”

  She became quiet. Calladine watched her. Something had her worried. Was it the gun? Was that the reason she’d been reluctant to give her prints? Had she handled the thing?

  “We spoke to Trent ourselves a couple of times. He was DCI King’s contact for all things Costello. I last contacted him when I wanted to speak to Costello about your car. It’s registered to his company. And suddenly you are on the phone wanting to talk to me about the photos you took.” He watched her eyes widen in fear. “Trent told you to ring us, didn’t he? Between the pair of you, you concocted the tale about being on a mission for Costello. But Costello has never heard of you.”

  She sniffed. “I had to say something. You didn’t seem interested in the truth. Coincidence, that’s all it was. I read about the shooting in the paper. I’d been on that estate. I knew you’d be looking for my car and I guessed you’d jump to conclusions.” She shrugged. “I am not lying to you, Inspector.”

  “So why the tale about Costello? Why bring him up at all?”

  Silence.

  “Because that car you were driving around in belongs to Costello. You knew we’d find that out quickly.”

  “I thought it was Trent’s car.”

  “Is Trent one of Costello’s people?”

  “I’ve no idea.”

  “I have a young man in custody who says he is. In fact he told us that Trent is in Leesdon to recruit new people for Costello.”

  “I know nothing about that.”

  “You have an old grudge to settle with Costello. You blame him for your mother’s death. But what is Trent’s beef? Want to tell me? Because I think the two of you got together and decided to get even.”

  “Rubbish!”

  His mobile bleeped. The text from Doctor Atkins confirmed what he suspected. There was a partial finger mark on the gun — Tanya Mallon’s.

  “We might yet charge you with murder, Mrs Mallon.”

  “I’ve done nothing.”

  “Your prints are on the gun that probably killed Emily Blackwell.”

  She started to cry. Imogen shot Calladine a look. She obviously thought he was being too hard on Tanya.

  “I don’t think Gavin Trent is his real name,” Tanya said, dabbing at her eyes. “But I didn’t care who he was. All these years I’ve suffered because of that night. The memory never leaves me. I see my mother fall dead to the floor and I hear that girl’s screams. I’d wanted to get even with Costello for years and Trent offered me the opportunity. He contacted me about a month ago. He said he had a proposition that I couldn’t refuse. He suggested we meet up. I wouldn’t have agreed, but then he said it was about getting even with Costello. But I never went along with any killings. I didn’t know about those boys.”

  “But you knew he’d killed Emily?”

  She nodded. “I was angry with him. He didn’t have to do that. She was dead when I found her. What I told you about that is true. Even after all these years I recognised her. I couldn’t believe what Trent had done.”

  “Didn’t you try to stop him at that point?”

  “I couldn’t. He wouldn’t listen. Trent said we’d bring him down. We’d make sure the police had enough on him to put him away. Once that happened, Trent planned to take over as much of Costello’s empire as he could get his hands on.”

  “We understand why you would hate Costello,” Imogen said. “But what did Trent have against him?”

  “I don’t know the whole story. Trent was cagey. But it has something to do with a robbery that all went wrong. It was planned by Costello and his people, but there was a leak. The police found out and set armed response on them. People were killed.”

  “Was Trent in on that robbery?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not sure. He’s very bitter about what happened.

  “Why did you involve Kayne Archer and his mates?” Eliza King asked. “Archer was told to contact me specifically and tell me a load of lies.”

  “I have no idea. Trent didn’t tell me everything. I didn’t imagine for one second that he’d kill anyone. I’ve been a fool. I told him all about that night when my mother was killed, but he told me nothing. He never explained what he’d do with the information. Now I see that he used it to get to Emily.”

  “Why?”

  “She took the gun off me that night. She must have kept it all these years. That gun was Costello’s. Trent must believe it is significant.”

  Only if that could be proved, and Calladine doubted that. Even if it had been used to kill Mary Slater they didn’t have a body. And with no body, no bullet. Even then they’d have their work cut out proving who shot her. Tanya had only been six and many years had passed. She was not a credible witness. So what was Trent’s game?

  Chapter 21

  Tanya Mallon was taken back to the cells. The day was fast disappearing. They needed to find Trent before he vanished for good.

  “Our plain clothes has been on from the Pennine Inn, sir,” Rocco told Calladine. “Trent is still there. Word has it that he’s been in a golf tournament all afternoon and it’s about to finish.”

  “You and me. Eliza? Want in on this?”

  “Absolutely. I want to give that creep a piece of my mind,” she said, following them to the car. “He’s given me the run-around for long enough. Though I can’t for the life of me understand why.”

  “Neither can I, but we’ll ask him.”

  “Trent talks Tanya into helping him frame Costello. That sorted, he sets about enrolling Archer to act as a go-between. Emily Blackwell is beaten and shot. Two of Archer’s mates get it. But I’m still no nearer understanding what Trent is up to,” she said.

  “I think Trent wants to lure Costello into the open. Render him vulnerable. You know what his security is like,” Calladine reminded her. “As a rule no one gets near. But this situation has thrown him. Whoever has orchestrated this has gone for a two-pronged attack. A turf war blackens Costello’s name. It ruins the years of work that have gone into making him appear legit. Then there’s whatever the informant is supposed to know. That could be anything. Given that Emily Blackwell has been murdered, Costello must wonder if it has to do with Carol and Clough Cottage.”

  “Are you saying that Trent wants Costello dead?”

  “Yes, I think he does.”

  “Does that mean Costello
is in danger?”

  “As ludicrous as that sounds — yes, I think he is.”

  “Where is Costello now?” Eliza King asked.

  “On his way back to wherever he came from, if he’s got any sense.”

  “So Trent has missed his opportunity?”

  Calladine shrugged. “I’m not sure. What do you think Costello will do when he learns we plan to open that grave?”

  “Even so, Trent is taking a chance. There is no guarantee that Costello would fall for the plan.”

  “Where Carol Rhodes is concerned, he doesn’t think straight.”

  “Do you think Costello does want the Hobfield?” asked Rocco.

  “No. Not for one second. But there’s something else that has muddied the waters. People have been killed, allegedly on Costello’s say so. If he didn’t give the order, he will come looking for whoever did.”

  “Two ways he might be tempted into the open.”

  “Yes, Eliza. Someone is making dead sure that Costello gets within his sights.”

  Rocco drove them up the narrow country lanes to the Pennine Inn. He pulled into the small car park.

  “You go have a word with the manager first, Rocco. Check on Trent’s whereabouts. In the meantime we’ll have a look around.” He nodded to Eliza.

  “Nice place,” she said, casting her eyes over the old stonework. “I’d stay here myself if I had the money.”

  Calladine chuckled. “Expenses?”

  “You’re joking. The budget is so tight we might as well not have one.”

  They had a quick look into the dining room. It was empty. Then the pair of them walked towards the bar.

  Rocco met them in the hallway. “He’s disappeared, sir. The barman told me we’re not the only ones looking for Trent.” He nodded towards a seat by the window. “The plain clothes said it’s all been very quiet. But he wouldn’t recognise him, would he?”

  “Costello! What’s he doing here?”

  “Probably the same as us, sir,” Rocco whispered.

  “I don’t see any of his people.”

  “I think they must be his.” Rocco nodded towards a couple of hefty-looking blokes standing by the entrance. “I passed them when I went to the manager’s office.”