“Julian reckons she’ll have a scrape on the palm of her right hand. The wrench was rusty, rough to the touch. She must have gripped it so tight that it grazed her hand.”
“She was fussing with her hand yesterday,” Ruth recalled. “I bet she didn’t want us to see.”
“Do we check that?” Alice asked.
“Yes. We’ll interview her again shortly.” He paused, looking round at his team. “We’ve got her on Billy’s murder, but that’s it. We have no evidence that Annie was responsible for the deaths of Sean Barber or Frankie Halliwell, or that she smuggled and distributed the drugs.”
“So how do we get that evidence?” Ruth asked.
“We need Tyler Dodd. Alert the local forces, I want him found.”
* * *
Annie Alder had a solicitor at her side for the next interview.
“We have some new evidence, Annie,” Calladine began. He laid out a couple of the photos Bill Geddes had given him. “Tell me what you see.”
“A woman getting out of a car.”
“That’s you, Annie,” he pointed. “We can all see your face quite clearly. What is it you have in your right hand?”
She was fiddling with the sleeve of her jumper again.
“Hurt yourself, Annie?” Ruth asked. “Let me see, it might need attention.”
“Leave me alone!” Annie spat. “I’ve done nothing wrong!”
“You’ve grazed your hand, haven’t you? That wrench you hit Billy with was old and rusty. You gripped it tight and it cut your palm.”
Her expression was thunderous. “Rubbish! You’re off your head.”
“The wrench has Billy’s blood on it.” Calladine paused, letting this sink in. “Yours too.”
Annie looked at the two detectives with wild eyes.
“We have all the evidence we need to charge you with murder,” Calladine told her.
She nodded at the photos. “Who took those?”
“Never mind that now, just tell us what happened.”
Think you’re clever, don’t you? But you’re not. You’re stupid, the lot of you. Me and Billy have run rings around you lot for weeks and you didn’t have a clue.”
Calladine decided to take advantage. “Tell us, Annie, put us straight. You’re right, we had no idea. All this time, we’ve been after someone else.”
“You’ve been chasing shadows, I had you all fooled,” she said proudly. “I organised the drugs coming in. I found the contacts, had Billy fix the lorries fixed so nothing could be found.”
“Where did you get the idea?”
“Pennington.” She smirked. “Not that he helped me. He’s really an ex-con from Glasgow, did you know that?”
“We know all about Pennington,” Calladine said. “But it’s you we’re interested in.”
“I tried to frame him by getting both Barber and Laycock to phone him. I knew you’d check his phone records. Given his past, you had to suspect him. If you’d dug further, you’d have found out that I used the same method he did. Billy found out about his antics from years ago and I decided to have a go myself. Doctoring the flatbeds was something Pennington did back in his Glasgow days.”
“Why fake Sophie’s disappearance and make the ransom demand?”
“I faked the kidnap to get my share of the money from Rick. I wanted a divorce and I wanted him ruined. I reckoned that a million out of the assets would set him back so far that the firm would never recover. I helped to make that factory a success, I deserved every penny of that money.” She leaned forward. “If you hadn’t interfered, he’d have paid up. I suppose you’ll tell him. Well, I’m glad. I want him to know it was me. To know that I'm cleverer than he ever was. He’ll hate that.”
“Weren’t you making enough money from selling drugs?”
“It’s a lucrative scam but it won’t last. Sooner or later the big boys will move in and take over.”
“And Billy, what did he do to deserve his fate?”
“Billy got scared. He knew Rick suspected we were having an affair.”
“And were you? Having an affair?” Calladine asked.
“God no! Billy was a means to an end. He did as he was told.”
“What about Isaac Chesworth? What hold do you have over him?” Calladine asked.
“He’s a womaniser,” she smirked. “He likes them young too. In fact, the younger the better. He came on to Frankie the night of her birthday party at the Country Club. She was no angel and led him on.” She gave a shrug. “She wheedled a lot of information out of him about other girls he’d been with. We set him up with an underage friend of Frankie’s and the rest was a doddle. I have photos of them together if you want to see. Doing as I told him was preferable to losing his job and his pension.”
The woman was ruthless. She’d do anything to get what she wanted.
“You acted the part of the frantic mother well,” Ruth said. “You took us all in.”
“While you were feeling sorry for me and searching for Sophie, you weren’t seeing what was really going on. Cheap drugs and plenty of it. The punters are happy and we made a fortune.”
“Did you kill Frankie?” Short and to the point. Annie stared at Calladine.
A look of indignation crossed her face. “Of course not, she was my sister. Billy did that. He stabbed her. Didn’t you find the knife?” she asked slyly.
“Yes, where it was left for us, wrapped in a plastic bag with Pennington’s prints on it and taped to the underside of a car he’d used.”
“Frankie became a pain. Always whining about Billy and him being with me. She was going to tell Rick about us.” She paused. “She would have, too. Not that me and Billy were serious or anything. Billy was terrified of Rick. I didn’t want Frankie to die, but Billy wouldn’t listen to reason.”
“How did he kill her?” Calladine asked.
“With the knife, both her and that kid who outed me. Clever little bugger, he was.”
“Which kid?” Calladine asked.
“Sean Barber. He got greedy. Asked me for money to keep quiet. Billy got scared, so he sorted it. I thought those hooligans who beat him up would get the blame. Pity.”
“We only have your word for that, Annie. Billy can no longer speak for himself.”
She smirked at Calladine. “I’m not stupid, Inspector. I kept the clothes he was wearing both times. Check them, you’ll find Frankie’s blood on one set and Barber’s on the other.”
“How did you contact the others who worked for you?” Ruth asked.
She smiled. “I texted them. Well I couldn’t let them hear my voice, could I? They might have guessed.”
“So, you are Street.” Calladine nodded. “That clears that one up.”
* * *
Both Calladine and Ruth were exhausted. Annie had confessed, they had their answers, so it was over. What questions were left could wait for tomorrow.
Back in the incident room Rocco, Alice, and even Thorpe clapped as they entered.
“Well done, both,” Alice smiled. “You got her.”
“Tyler Dodd has been picked up by the Stockport police. He was on the motorway when they stopped him for speeding, the idiot!” Rocco said
That rounded the case off nicely, now they had them all. Calladine should have felt elated, planning a few pints in the Wheatsheaf, but the case had drained him.
“I’m whacked,” Calladine told the team. “Despite only being lunchtime, I’ll think I’ll call it a day. See you all in the morning.”
Epilogue
Day 11
“Birch is leaving?” Ruth looked shocked. “I didn’t see that coming.”
It was just the pair of them in the incident room the following morning, so Calladine saw no harm in telling her. “She told me a few days ago,” he admitted. “And she wants me to go for DCI.”
“Acting?”
“Initially, but I will apply to make it permanent. She reckons I have a good chance.”
Ruth looked doubtful.
�
��Come on, out with it.”
“I don’t know what I think about that bit of news,” she huffed. “You’ll change. You won’t be the same. The dynamic of the team will shift.”
“I doubt that, Ruth. I’m too long in the tooth to make big changes with the job. I have a decision to make. It’s either jump in at the deep end and go for it, or . . .”
Ruth looked at him, hands on hips. Dare he tell her?
“Or what?” she demanded.
“Retirement.”
The word hung in the air as the pair stared at each other. Calladine could only guess at what she was thinking.
“Promotion it is then,” Ruth finally said. “All other alternatives are off the menu. But if power goes to your head, Calladine, you’ll get the sharp end of my tongue.”
That was him told. But the retirement option couldn’t be forgotten easily. He’d thought about it a lot recently.
“What are we doing about Annie?” Ruth changed the subject.
“She will make a statement and then we’ll pass the case on to the CPS.”
“She surprised me, you know. Annie fooled us all.”
“Are you alright to hold the fort?” He checked the time. “I promised to pop round for a coffee with Zoe and the others. Talk baby stuff. I should make an effort, Amy’s come a long way.”
“Go on then, get off,” she urged. “And don’t let Amy browbeat you into anything.”
* * *
Ruth knew him only too well. Calladine was nervous about seeing Amy again. It’d been her who’d broke it off when she’d moved to Cornwall. Calladine had been disappointed. He liked the woman and had hoped they would have a future together.
“You sorted the case I hear,” Zoe said, kissing his cheek. “Takes off some of the stress.”.
“Certainly does. It’s damned hard when you work for days on end and get nowhere.”
She took his hand and led him through. “We’re in the back. Amy’s talked about little else but seeing you again.”
Should he be flattered? He had butterflies in his stomach. It was a long time since that had happened with any woman, even Layla. He spotted Amy at once. She looked much as he remembered her, with long, flowing hair, and gypsy-style skirt. She was wearing a matching top with several sets of beads around her neck. She walked towards him, a smile on her face.
“Amy, you’re looking good,” he said.
“Tom.” She gave him a beaming smile, her arms outstretched. “You not being in my life is what’s wrong with Cornwall,” she admitted. “I’ve missed you so much.”
She took him in her arms and kissed his cheek. “Are you well? You look a little tired.”
“I’m fine,” he said.
“I hear you’ve been working hard, not much time for a break.”
He shrugged. “The nature of the job, I’m afraid.”
She was staring at him, her eyes half closed. He knew that look. Amy considered herself a psychic. She reckoned she was able to see into the future, sense things. Not that Calladine ever took that aspect of her world too seriously. But others did. When she’d owned the new age shop in Leesdon, she was never without customers.
“The time I’ve spent away from you has made me realise a great truth, Tom,” she whispered. “We should be together. I think you know that too.”
“Cornwall is some distance, and there’s my job . . .”
“Which you are thinking of ditching. It’s in your head, spinning round and round. I can feel it.” She ran a long finger down his face. “Take care of yourself, Tom. You will get that promotion, but be warned, it might not suit you. Change your mind and you know where I am.”
Calladine had no idea how she could possibly know about the promotion. So far, he’d only told Ruth. But Amy was a shrewd woman. When they were together, he’d made no secret of how demanding his job was. It was also reasonable to assume that eventually, even he would be offered promotion. “That is hush-hush for the time being,” he whispered back.
Amy gave him one of her enigmatic smiles. “I know something else you will find interesting. The baby is a girl. You are going to have a granddaughter!”
THE END
ALSO BY HELEN H. DURRANT
THE DCI GRECO BOOKS
Book 1: DARK MURDER
Book 2: DARK HOUSES
Book 3: DARK TRADE
Book 4: DARK ANGEL
THE CALLADINE & BAYLISS MYSTERY SERIES
Book 1: DEAD WRONG
Book 2: DEAD SILENT
Book 3: DEAD LIST
Book 4: DEAD LOST
Book 5: DEAD & BURIED
Book 6: DEAD NASTY
Book 7: DEAD JEALOUS
Book 8: DEAD BAD
Book 8: DEAD GUILTY
MATT BRINDLE
Book 1: HIS THIRD VICTIM
Book 2: THE OTHER VICTIM
RACHEL KING
NEXT VICTIM
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THE CALLADINE & BAYLISS MYSTERIES (book 3 features DI GRECO)
BOOK 1 DEAD WRONG:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/WRONG-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B010Y7641M/
http://www.amazon.com/WRONG-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B010Y7641M/
First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common . . .
Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to track down a killer before the whole area erupts in violence. Their boss thinks it’s all down to drug lord Ray Fallon, but Calladine’s instincts say something far nastier is happening on the Hobfield housing estate.
Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies and before the press publicize the gruesome crimes? Detectives Calladine and Bayliss are led on a trail which gets dangerously close to home. In a thrilling finale they race against time to rescue someone very close to Calladine’s heart.
BOOK 2: DEAD SILENT
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SILENT-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01185U8NE/
http://www.amazon.com/SILENT-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01185U8NE/
A body is found in a car crash, but the victim was already dead . . .
BOOK 3: DEAD LIST
This book is the first to feature D.I Greco
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B013J9BUAW
http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B013J9BUAW
An unlikely serial killer with a bucket list of victims . . .
BOOK 4: DEAD LOST
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018W6EANQ/
http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018W6EANQ/
An abandoned cotton mill holds horrific secrets
Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss face one of their toughest challenges yet. A group of homeless people have set up camp in the grounds of a disused cotton mill belonging to local businessman Damien Chase.
BOOK 5: DEAD & BURIED
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BURIED-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01HXXTWKA/
https://www.amazon.com/BURIED-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01HXXTWKA/
Annie Naden and her husband buy a remote country cottage at auction. It’s the home of their own that they always wanted, but as they begin renovations, Annie discovers a satchel in a dusty old hidden cupboard. Inside are the usual schoolbooks, now over 40 years old, and a girl’s diary. Among the record of day-to-day crushes and pop concerts, is a secret whose terrible consequences are still resonating to this day
THE DI GRECO MYSTERIES
DI GRECO BOOK 1: DARK MURDER
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B0163DVHC2/
http://www.amazon.com/MURDER-gripping-detective-thriller
-suspense-ebook/dp/B0163DVHC2/
A woman is found dead by a canal . . . why have her eyes have been viciously poked out?
Detective Stephen Greco has just started a new job at Oldston CID and now he faces a series of murders with seemingly no connection but the brutal disfigurement of the victims. Greco’s team is falling apart under the pressure and he doesn't know who he can trust. Then they discover a link to a local drug dealer, but maybe it’s not all that it seems.
Can Greco get control of his chaotic team and stop the murders?
DI GRECO BOOK 2: DARK HOUSES
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HOUSES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01CGR9KEQ
http://www.amazon.com/HOUSES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01CGR9KEQ
A young woman is found brutally murdered in an empty house
Detective Stephen Greco and his team must piece together her life as quickly as possible. Within twenty-four hours there is another killing using the same method. The detectives realise that the victims are random but the locations are not. The killer is more concerned with finding the right house – somewhere he won’t be disturbed.
Glossary of English Slang for US readers
A & E: accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: violent behaviour, aggression
A level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Allotment: a plot of land rented from the council, used to grow vegetables or flowers
Barm: bread roll
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Benefits: social security
Dead Guilty Page 20