by S G Read
‘No sir, it appears they had no hand in the murder of Leslie Felltham.’ Clayton answered.
‘So that remains open, a pity, still I am sure you will solve it sooner than later.’ The chief inspector replied and walked away as though it a sure bet.
‘Sounds like a reason to go home early then.’ Clayton replied, he had an ulterior motive. ‘Which means you get to spend some quality time your cat.’
‘She won’t mind, come to think about it, I won’t mind either.’
Rebecca drove Clayton home.
Clayton cooked food but not a lavish meal this time, just a quick fry up. After an hour he walked out to the waiting Taxi and it took him to the flats where he assumed the same group would be hanging out. He turned the corner after paying off the taxi and the boy’s lookout saw him.
‘The inspector is coming.’ He warned but no longer as an urgent warning, more just to let Rufus know.
Rufus walked towards Clayton with the others following in a little mob.
‘Hello Inspector Moore, I assumed you were coming to see us, so I saved you a bit of a walk.’ Rufus explained, quite a different meeting to the first time the inspector had tried to talk to them.
‘It was you indeed, Rufus. How is Mrs. Finnegan’s garden coming on?’ Clayton asked.
‘She has had it completely changed, so much so that she insists on paying us for the extra work but we don’t mind, it is nice to have something to do.’ Rufus answered.
‘Well I want your help and if you are prepared to come for a walk with me, I will show you what I have in mind.’ Clayton asked.
‘Lead the way Inspector Moore, did you find out who killed Les?’
‘No not yet.’ Clayton answered.
He started walking, he had looked at ordinance survey maps and knew how to get to where he was going, and the shortest way.
They followed Clayton they trusted him, the first policeman who had earned such an accolade. They walked on and followed where Clayton went. He walked to a wire fence and pushed past the bush which grew next to it. He then followed the fence until they were in the woodland beyond. No one asked where they were going but followed without complaint until they were standing in front of the old scout hut.
‘I told the owner that I would find a caretaker for this old scout hut.’ Clayton explained. ‘And when I said it I was thinking of you lot. I thought it would be far better for you lot to be in here, rather than hanging out by those flats getting into trouble.’
‘You mean we can have it as a gang hut?’ James asked.
‘I would prefer calling it a meeting hall rather than a gang hut but there is a cost, if I need a hand in some way I expect you to offer your services, all of you.’ Clayton answered.
One looked to the other and the consensus of opinion was that it sounded alright.
‘It seems you have some caretakers Inspector Moore.’ Rufus answered.
‘In that case I will give you these.’
Clayton produced a bunch of keys.
‘We had to break in so we replaced the padlocks for security.’ He explained. I am afraid there is no power, the electricity was cut off some time ago although the last resident had found a way of still using it. I would rather not have to arrest you lot again for stealing electricity!’
‘We don’t use any when we meet by the flats.’ Rufus answered.
‘No you don’t but then there are lights where you hang out, aren’t there?’ Clayton pointed out.
‘We’ll get by Inspector Moore.’ Rufus declared.
‘Good, I hoped as much. Now I will leave you to get acquainted with your new headquarters.’ Clayton replied and turned to go but turned back. Oh and now that Leslie Felltham is not around to do his garden I hope you will step in and offer to keep it looking nice?’
‘We will inspector.’ Rufus answered. ‘We are getting good with gardens.’
Clayton walked out.
‘Is your taxi waiting Inspector Moore?’ Rufus asked as Clayton walked away.
‘No, I will have to hail one.’ Clayton answered.
‘I’ll give you a lift home if you like, while the others clean out their new headquarters.’ Rufus offered.
‘You have a car?’ Clayton asked in surprise and then realised how silly the question was, he could hardly give him a lift home if he did not have a car.
‘It is Mrs. Finnegan’s second car. She bought a new one and instead of part exchanging her old one she kept it and insured it so that I could take the gang to her garden, not all at once of course.’ Rufus answered. He was, quite happy to explain how he had access to a car.
He drove Clayton home and Clayton waved as he drove away. A good job well done, he thought and went to walk inside but saw Rebecca driving up. He waited for her to stop and get out.
‘I hope this is a friendly visit?’ He said hopefully.
‘I am afraid not, there is a body in the water tank in a block of flats, Raleigh Towers in Spectre Street and we are invited to attend.’ She answered. ‘Was that Rufus driving you home?’
‘It was.’ Clayton answered but did not offer any explanation.
He looked at his watch.
‘A normal man would be on overtime.’ He complained and walked with her to her car.
‘Did the boys like their new HQ?’ She asked as she drove.
‘They seemed to.’ Clayton answered, giving her a sideways glance. ‘Who found the body?’
‘A plumber, sir.’
‘I bet he was on overtime!’ Clayton complained.
‘Apparently the hot water was only flowing in some flats and the body was causing a partial blockage. When he saw it, he called the police. We have to go and make sure it is done right as it is a suspicious death. You are the designated SOCO, sir.’
‘So much for having a break between cases, do we know who it is yet?’
‘Not yet, sir.’
Rebecca stopped the car outside the block of flats the body was found in, looked at the height of the block and groaned.
‘I hope the lift is working!’ She exclaimed.
She was lucky. There was a police constable by the door of the lift, overseeing the comings and goings and questioning anyone who arrived or left. He opened the lift door for them as they approached.
‘Good evening Inspector Moore.’ He said as they both approached.
‘Good evening.’ Clayton answered, looking at his watch as he did so. ‘Well it was a good evening until the sergeant turned up on my doorstep.’ He added and walked into the lift.
Constable Podmore nodded to the Rebecca and she smiled back, as she walked into the lift behind Clayton. He closed the lift door behind them and the inner door closed automatically. Rebecca selected the top most floor and expected to have to walk up another floor when they arrived. When they reached the top floor the outer doors were opened by another constable.
‘Good evening Inspector Moore.’ He greeted cheerily. ‘And you Sergeant Stone.’
‘Thank you Giddings and the same to you.’ Clayton answered. ‘Where now?’
‘Up those stairs, sir.’ Giddings answered and pointed to the door which led to the stairs.
Clayton walked on.
‘Good evening, Jason, you sound happy.’ Rebecca said as she walked past.
‘The mother in law is on a visit, this is just slightly better that being at home.’ He answered as she disappeared through the door after Clayton.
Behind the door was another flight of stairs which turned at the top and led to another flight of stairs going back in the opposite direction of the stairs they had just walked up. At the top of those there was another door and another constable.
‘Good evening Inspector Moore.’ The constable greeted, less cheerily than Giddings.
‘Good evening Passmore, at least it isn’t raining.’ Clayton answered.
Passmore repeated the greeting to Rebecca and she nodded and added a short.
‘Good evening, Constable Passmore.’
She then
followed Clayton out onto the roof. The lighting out there was very bright as floodlights had been rigged up to enable the forensic team and Chastity to see what they were doing and they had to shield their eyes as they stepped out. They made their way to where Chastity was hanging over the water tank on an arrangement of planks.
‘What do we have, Chastity?’ Clayton asked when they reached her.
‘We have an unknown male Caucasian, dead in the water. Been dead for some time but I won’t know how long he has been dead until I get him out.’ Chastity answered. ‘Oh and don’t step in that pile of sick there, the plumber puked after finding the body.’
The two moved away from the pile she was pointing at to make sure they did not tread in it that would not make either of them any happier. They stood and watched while Bill’s team worked round the perimeter, collecting samples to be checked over in his laboratory later. They would work on the tank after the body was removed. He had already taken a sample from the tank before Chastity had arrived but he would take more, later.
They watched with interest as they prepared to remove the body, moving away to make sure they did not interfere with the removal. He was lifted out by two burly constables and two more were there to lower him onto the gurney. He was zipped into a bag and strapped in place so that he could be carried down the stairs, they did not want him to fall off on the way down. Chastity followed him down and Bill’s team started on the tank.
‘Well we can’t do much more up here sergeant, so we might as well start the boys on flat to flat enquiries, while their memories as fresh. I don’t expect many of them are asleep with all that has been going on.’ Clayton announced.
They went down to the next floor and waited for the constables to gather round them.
‘I want flat to flat inquiries, starting with the top floor and working your way down to the bottom. I want to know who they saw coming and going during yesterday. As we don’t have a time of death, I want to know about all the movements in and out of the flats for the entire day. The reports should be on my desk ASAP. Any you don’t rouse, you will call on tomorrow and take statements from.’ Clayton ordered.
Rebecca drove Clayton home and then went home herself. Despite the lateness of the hour, they would both be expected to be in the office at the normal time.
Clayton took time to drink a cup of tea before he went to bed. He sat downstairs mulling over what he knew up to now, which was not much. Later he mulled it over in bed but with so little information to go on, it was a waste of time. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep but the case would not go away.
In the morning he was tired but he was still ready when Rebecca arrived.
‘Good morning, sir.’ Rebecca greeted with no sign of tiredness.
‘Good morning, Rebecca, let us go and get to grips with this case.’ Clayton replied. ‘So far all we have is a dead body.’
She drove to the station and they were soon sitting in their office.
‘We have a name, sir.’ Rebecca announced. ‘The flat to flat enquiries turned up a missing resident and he proved to be our squatter. His name was Billy Bryant of flat 64.’
‘What was he doing it the water tank?’ Clayton asked.
‘By all accounts he was a pigeon fancier which would tell us why he was on the roof, he must have some pigeons up there but why he was in the water tank, I don’t know, sir.’
‘Let us go and have a look at the murder scene in daylight then and see if there is anything we can glean from his hobby.’ Clayton replied.
They drove to the flats and were soon on the roof.
‘It looks different in daylight, sir.’ Rebecca exclaimed.
‘And it is quite warm up here. They must be his pigeons.’ Clayton declared pointing to what looked like a pigeon coop.
‘Sounds like it, sir.’ Rebecca answered, reflecting on the noise emanating from inside.
They walked over to it. The first thing Clayton noticed was a wooden box by the coop. It had soil in it and three wooden crosses in it to denote small graves.
‘Normal people eat pigeons, not bury them, sir.’ Rebecca declared.
They looked at the crosses, each one had initials on it, either two or three initials.
‘They must have long names and he just put the initials on the crosses when they died,’ Clayton surmised, ‘but why bury them in the first place?’
‘It must have made some sort of sense to him.’ Rebecca answered.
‘We will have to find another pigeon fancier and ask them what it all means.’ Clayton answered and started feeding the pigeons.
He knew no one had been allowed on the roof to do it, so they would be hungry. He did not know how much to feed them but then the owner would not be complaining about him overfeeding them.
‘Some of them are quite individual, for pigeons, sir.’ Rebecca noted.
‘Yes, some are quite striking as well. I wonder how fast they fly.’
‘I will look it up on a pigeon fancier’s blog if you like, sir.’
‘Yes, I think we need to go into this pigeon fancying lark a bit, just in case it is somehow linked, sergeant.’ Clayton answered. ‘We need to find a motive for the murder.’
‘Do we know it is murder yet, sir?’
‘What do you think he was doing in the water tank then, Rebecca?’ Clayton asked.
‘Having a drink, or getting water for his precious pigeons, maybe.’ Rebecca answered.
‘Somehow I don’t think the water in these tanks would be good enough for his pigeons.’ Clayton exclaimed. ‘And I certainly wouldn’t drink it.’
‘Nor would I, so you think it was either murder or a wired suicide, considering he could have just jumped off the roof.’
‘I am ruling out suicide, sergeant, on the grounds that it is so unlikely as to be laughable! We haven’t found out if the top was on the water tank or not.’
Rebecca studied her notes.
‘No, we have not been told either way yet, sir.’
‘Then I suggest we go and find out. If the plumber had to open the lid, it is definitely murder, unless the pigeon fancier closed the lid, just before he died.’ Clayton declared.
Rebecca laughed at the thought.
They left the roof and Rebecca drove them back to the office to read up on the case file, in hopes of shedding some light on it.
‘I have the plumber’s statement. The door to the tank room was unlocked but the lid was in place. When he moved the lid and shone his torch into the water he saw Mr. Bryant. He was sick then and called the police as soon as he stopped heaving.’ Rebecca reported.
‘So he was murdered.’ Clayton declared, although he had considered it a murder since his first visit to the roof. ‘All we have to do now, is to find out who murdered him and why!’
‘You make it sound easy, sir.’
‘When you come to think about it, all the residents could be a suspect, sergeant.’
‘Why, sir?’
‘Do you hang out washing, sergeant?’
‘I do, sir. Oh I see, he had pigeons so any bird droppings on washing would be put down to him!’
‘Oh yes, guilty until proven innocent. So we need to canvass the whole block again and find out their feelings about Billy Bryant. We should also do the next block of flats and gauge their feelings in the matter.’ Clayton exclaimed.
‘I’ll get it in motion, sir.’ She picked up the phone and made several phone calls. ‘They will start today.’ She announced when she put the receiver down.
‘That’s quick, I wonder what the CI will say.’
‘You never know, sir, he might be a pigeon fancier.’ Rebecca replied.
Clayton sat and read through statement after statement from the door to door enquiries. It took a long time because he read, digested and set them out in his mind in the order the flats were in the block.
‘So we have a sighting of one man who the person who was being questioned, did not know.’ Clayton announced when he had finished what he was doing.
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‘But surely, in flats that big, do they know everyone in there? There must be people in there some have never seen before, it could have just been someone they hadn’t seen before coming home.’ Rebecca suggested.
‘You might be right but it might also have been the murderer.’
‘Was he wet?’ Rebecca asked. ‘If he had just drowned the pigeon fancier in the water tank, he would have been wet.’
‘Not if he was going in.’ Clayton argued.
‘It sounds like we are going to have to go back and interview this person again, sir.’
‘I think you are right, sergeant, so let us go while it is still fresh in their mind.’
Clayton stood up as soon as he had said it. He was not one to sit on his laurels when he was working on a case.
‘Shall I make sure they are in first?’ Rebecca asked.
‘Must be a worthwhile move, sergeant.’
Rebecca phoned and spoke to the witness and then drove back to the flats. They took the lift up to the floor the witness lived on and rang the bell on the door. The woman who opened the door was an older woman and they both assumed she had lived there sometime.
‘Inspector Moore and Sergeant Stone, Mrs. Thompsett, you are expecting us.’ Clayton announced.
‘Yes, do come in.’ the woman answered.
She reminded Clayton of Agnes Felltham a little.
‘I wanted to talk to you some more about the man you saw in the flats.’ Clayton explained when they were inside.
‘What did you want to know about him?’ The woman asked.
‘You said in your statement that you did not know him, we were wondering if you knew all the people living in these flats.’ He continued.
‘I know most of them, but there are some newcomers who I am not on speaking terms with.’ She answered. ‘But I know a stranger when I see them and the man I saw had not been in these flats before as far as I know.’
‘Were his arms wet?’ Rebecca asked.
The woman looked at her as though she was mad for a couple of seconds and then, as she thought about the question, it dawned on her that it might be the killer.
‘No, his arms were quite dry when I saw him, but then he was coming in and not going out. I didn’t see him going out.’