The DI Tremayne Thriller Box Set

by Phillip Strang

  Clare could tell that the woman had told the truth. She looked at Tremayne.

  ‘Mrs Winters, we will conclude this interview. You will be remanded in custody pending a trial,’ Tremayne said.

  Outside in the hallway, Dean Winters approached the two police officers. ‘My wife?’

  ‘She is in custody,’ Clare said.

  ‘Can I see her?’

  ‘It will be arranged.’

  Stepping out of the building while Tremayne lit a cigarette, Clare asked him for his evaluation. ‘They did not kill Alan Winters,’ he said.

  ‘No evidence?’

  ‘The woman is penitent. She told the truth.’

  ‘The family?’

  ‘Who else? The Winters family’s problems are not over yet. Two of them are guilty, and the man’s death has given them sufficient motive.’

  ‘Who’s the most likely?’

  ‘Mavis.’

  Chapter 26

  Tremayne knew of one way to bring the investigation to a conclusion. He’d used it before; it was brutal and people’s emotions would be laid raw. Before he arranged it, he needed to talk to Mavis. He knew she was the prime suspect now, in that she had received the lion’s share of the money, and if she were guilty, she would have had an accomplice.

  Tremayne phoned Jim Hughes, the CSE. ‘Two people at Stonehenge?’ he asked.

  ‘Two to carry the body to the Altar Stone, one to inflict the fatal wound,’ Hughes’s reply.

  ‘Any possibility of cult behaviour, ritual?’

  ‘You’ve read my report.’

  ‘I’m just running ideas past you. I need to raise the heat to wrap up this case.’

  ‘Alan Winters’ death has a sense of the macabre, nothing more.’

  ‘Someone with a dark humour?’

  ‘Maybe. The man was the golden goose, hardly a reason to kill him though.’

  ‘Unless others gained from his death.’

  ‘Did some?’

  ‘They did, but they could not have been sure beforehand.’

  ‘The two million for each of his brothers could have been known.’

  Tremayne ended the phone call, sat back in his chair. It was early in the afternoon. Clare was busy typing up a report.

  ‘Tremayne, is that all you’ve got to do?’ Moulton said as he walked in the door.

  ‘What do you think I’m doing?’

  ‘Sleeping by the look of it.’

  ‘I’m thinking through the case, trying to get an angle on who would gain from the man’s death, and why.’

  ‘I’ll grant that you and your sergeant handled the kidnapping of Rachel Winters well enough, but this murder enquiry has dragged on too long. I need it wrapped up within five days.’

  ‘Why the deadline?’

  ‘The usual.’

  ‘I’ll fight you on that.’

  ‘That’s why I’m letting you know. I don’t want a battle on my hands. If you wrap this up, I’ll make sure you’re not on the list.’

  ‘Magnanimous of you, sir.’

  ‘Not magnanimous, just being a realist. I’ve got a big enough fight arguing to secure enough money to make Bemerton Road viable. I just don’t want you giving me aggravation as well.’

  ‘It won’t be the same, you not dropping in every five minutes with your latest retirement offer’ Tremayne said.

  ‘That’s as maybe. Five days and then someone needs to be charged with the murder of Alan Winters.’

  ‘We’ll do our best,’ Tremayne said as Moulton left.

  Clare came into Tremayne’s office. ‘Friendly?’ she said.

  ‘We’ve got five days.’

  ‘Mavis?’

  ‘She’s the only one who knew what would happen on her husband’s death.’

  ‘But you don’t believe it was her?’

  ‘I don’t want to.’

  ‘You can’t let personal feelings interfere with this.’

  ‘I’ll do my duty, the same as you. You’re friendly with the woman as well.’

  ‘I admire her. She’s a thoroughly decent human being. You could have done worse than her, guv.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Tremayne said.

  ***

  Tremayne and Clare found Mavis at the house in Quidhampton. She was fussing over Rachel. Both of the women gave Clare a hug first and then Tremayne. He was a little embarrassed by the show of affection.

  ‘How are you, Rachel?’ Clare asked.

  ‘I’m fine, thanks to you.’

  ‘Any long-lasting effects?’

  ‘Am I mentally scarred, is that what you are asking?’

  ‘At least you can talk about it. And you’re a strong-minded individual. Dean, unfortunately, is not,’ Clare said.

  ‘He’s determined to make sure she has the best legal team on her side.’

  ‘How do you feel about it?’

  ‘I’m down nearly two million pounds as a result of her, what do you think?’

  ‘I think you’ll support Dean with whatever he wants.’

  ‘You’re right, I suppose.’

  ‘Our visit is not social,’ Tremayne said. He had taken a seat in the kitchen, the cook busy at the other end preparing the evening meal.

  ‘You’ll stay?’ Mavis asked.

  ‘You may not want us to,’ Clare said.

  ‘You’d better explain.’

  Tremayne stood up, took the mug of coffee that the cook thrust into his hand. ‘Archie Garrett and Barbara Winters did not murder Alan,’ he said.

  ‘Then who did?’ Rachel asked.

  ‘Someone in this family.’

  ‘One of us?’ Mavis said.

  ‘There is no proof against Garrett and Dean’s wife. Archie Garrett’s alibi holds up, and Barbara could not have committed the murder on her own.’

  ‘But she could have with Dean?’

  ‘It’s a possibility. Mavis, you’ve given two million pounds to each of the brothers?’

  ‘That’s been done, but you’ve known that for some time.’

  ‘Did Alan’s brothers know that you would do that if you had financial control.’

  ‘Gerry did.’

  ‘You had discussed the possibility with him?’

  ‘Not in detail, but we spent a lot of time together. If I went anywhere, he’d invariably drive.’

  ‘And you used to speak with him.’

  ‘Just chatting mainly.’

  ‘But he was concerned about the money that was being wasted?’

  ‘He enjoyed spending the money, and he had no problems getting drunk with Alan, taking on his women.’

  ‘Polly Bennett and Liz Maybury?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Where is Bertie?’

  ‘You don’t suspect him? Mavis said. Clare could see the concern on the woman’s face.

  ‘Not entirely, but I need everyone here. We need to wrap this up.’

  ‘It will destroy Mum,’ Rachel said.

  ‘It is not the victim who suffers in a murder, it is those who are left, and I must do my duty,’ Tremayne said.

  ‘That’s why we liked you all those years ago,’ Mavis said.

  ‘You may not like me after tonight.’

  ‘We will.’

  ‘I want Polly and Liz here as well.’

  ‘If it is required.’

  ‘It is. And Bertie, what’s his condition?’

  ‘Asleep.’

  ‘Drugs?’

  ‘He’ll be fine. When do you want everyone here?’

  ‘One hour. That’s Cyril, Gerry, and Dean as well.’

  ‘They may not all come,’ Rachel said. ‘They may be busy.’

  ‘They’ll be here. I’ve already pre-warned Bemerton Road. Either we meet here or at the police station. We know where everyone is and they will all be picked up in a police car and brought here. Yarwood, make the phone call.’

  ***

  It was closer to ninety minutes before everyone was in the house. Polly Bennet and Liz Maybury sat in one corner; Mavis had acknowledg
ed their presence, a courtesy hello. On the other side of the main living room were Cyril, better dressed than usual, Gerry, surprised to see the two women in the house, and Dean, quiet, his head down.

  Rachel, dressed for the occasion, instead of the dressing gown she had been wearing earlier, sat next to Clare. Mavis stood in one corner.

  ‘Thanks for coming,’ Tremayne said. ‘Let me give you all a rundown of the investigation so far.’

  ‘We know what happened,’ Bertie said. Clare could see that he had been drinking.

  ‘I need to remind everyone that this is a police investigation into the murder of Alan Winters. If I repeat myself, stating what is already known, then I will. Is that understood?’ Tremayne said, directing his gaze at Bertie.

  ‘I suppose so, but I’ve got to go out in thirty minutes.’

  ‘No one is leaving this house until I’ve concluded. It’s either here or down Bemerton Road Police Station.’

  ‘We understand,’ Mavis said.

  ‘Very well. We know that Archie Garrett was not involved in Alan’s murder. Not because he would not be capable, but his alibi is watertight. During the hours when the murder was committed, he was at thirty-five thousand feet.’

  ‘Barbara?’ Dean said.

  ‘Not on her own, which would mean that you were involved. Were you?’

  ‘I’d not kill my own brother.’

  ‘But one of his brothers did.’

  Cyril stood up. ‘Not me, not my own brother.’ Gerry felt the need to press his innocence as well.

  ‘Don’t look at me,’ Bertie said.

  Tremayne ignored the previous comment. ‘The motive is money; the significance of Stonehenge is unclear.’

  ‘Get to the point,’ Gerry Winters said. He was trying to avoid looking at Polly and Liz, not successfully.

  ‘Alan, for all his generosity, did not know how to handle the sixty-eight million pounds that he had won. It’s not unusual for people with no experience of vast amounts of money to lose it within a short period of time. If Alan had continued the way he was, the money would have all gone in five to ten years. At that time, the Winters family would be back living in a council house and scratching by on a meagre wage. Some of you would be concerned about that; others would not.’

  ‘We’d all be upset if there was no money,’ Cyril said.

  ‘The issue is not whether you would be concerned in five to ten years. The issue is whether you understood the situation and were willing to do something about it before that time.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Mavis is clearly more financially competent than Alan. With her, the family fortune is safe. All of you would recognise that fact. Since she has gained control of the money, she has given each of the brothers two million pounds, something that Alan had not. The most he had given was one hundred thousand each, on Mavis’s urging. As far as Alan was concerned, he’d won the money fair and square; it was up to him who he gave it to.’

  ‘Why are we here?’ Polly Bennett asked.

  ‘I’m coming to that,’ Tremayne said. ‘Mavis had told Gerry that she would give a substantial amount of money to each of the brothers. He probably told Cyril, possibly Stan. Stan, as we know, is in prison so he could not have been involved in the murder, as is the case with Fred. Cyril is too laid back, similar to Alan. He’d wait until the money ran out before complaining, and he was quite happy to live in his council house as long as he had sufficient money to live on. Dean was in Southampton under Barbara’s control. Which means there are two possibilities. It was either Dean and Barbara who killed Alan, or else it was Gerry and one other.’

  Dean was quick to protest his innocence; Gerry was not.

  ‘Which of you two killed Alan Winters?’ Tremayne asked.

  ‘I didn’t,’ Dean said. ‘Barbara may have had her faults, but murder was not one of them.’

  ‘Yet she allowed her brother to beat you, almost killed you, and then there is what happened to Rachel.’

  ‘The woman was kind,’ Rachel said.

  ‘Maybe she was, but she does what her brother tells her. Maybe Dean knew about the possibility of the two million, told his wife, who then told her brother. Archie could have been the driving force up at Stonehenge, Dean doing what he was told, but there’s another complication.’

  ‘And what is it?’ Mavis asked.

  ‘The reason Polly and Liz are here,’ Tremayne said.

  ‘What have we got to do with this?’ Liz Maybury said.

  ‘You were screwing him, you and Polly,’ Mavis said. Up till then, she had been polite to the women. Tremayne was pleased. Everyone was starting to get a little tense.

  Tremayne continued. ‘On the night of the murder, Alan was with Polly and Liz. Outside, according to the two women, was the Bentley. Who was in that car? It would normally be Gerry.’

  ‘Not that night. Alan was driving the car.’

  ‘That’s the first time that anyone’s admitted to that, and why didn’t Alan tell the women that he was driving? And how did the three get to their place?’

  ‘I drove them, and then I left the car and took a taxi home.’

  ‘And now you are sleeping with Polly and Liz?’

  ‘You know that, and so what?’

  ‘The two women had not been responsive to you when you had no money, but once Alan was dead, you were in their bed. Is that correct?’

  ‘Not for some time.’

  ‘Not until you told them about the two million. And even before you had the money, they were sleeping with you. Let me evaluate Polly and Liz.’

  Clare looked over at the two women. ‘DI Tremayne will not be diplomatic. Please say nothing,’ she said.

  ‘Thanks, Yarwood. Polly Bennett and Liz Maybury are ambitious women. They are not afraid of hard work, as can be seen by the furniture store that they convinced Alan to buy for them. He did not, however, give them a clear title. They knew this, and it’s possible he was tired of them. Both of the women are bisexual by their own admission. They are willing to use their bodies to get what they want, and Alan was the vessel through which they channelled their efforts. They are also intelligent and able to formulate the way forward. They could see that Alan was a hopeless cause, whereas Gerry was not, and if he had two million, then they would have had no trouble transferring their affections to him. Also, he was able to convince Mavis, or she had figured it out, that the furniture store remained a significant asset, and that it would be better to let the two women stay there until the business could be sold. After the altercation between Liz and Mavis, the relationship between Mavis and the two women has been tenuous but workable.’

  ‘It’s purely business,’ Mavis said.

  ‘Cyril, I’m discounting you from our enquiry,’ Tremayne said.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Don’t thank me. It’s only because you have no drive and no ambition. It’s hardly a ringing endorsement. Dean, you were not involved. Not because Archie would not have been capable, but he wasn’t there, and his violence comes from anger. It needed a clear head to take Alan up to Stonehenge, someone with the ability to think ahead. Stonehenge was a diversion in that it would shift the blame onto other individuals who had been wronged by Alan, who had failed to give them money when they had asked. It needed Polly and Liz to set it up.’

  ‘We did not kill him,’ Liz said. She was on her feet and ready to come forward at Tremayne. Clare interceded and put her back in her seat, roughly pushing on the woman’s shoulder.

  ‘Gerry Winters,’ Tremayne said, ‘you’ll be taken to Bemerton Road Police Station for further questioning, as will Polly Bennett and Liz Maybury. We will find a case against you and the two women for the murder of Alan Winters, your brother.’

  ‘It was Polly’s idea,’ Liz said.

  ‘You bitch,’ Polly said. ‘You thought it up, but it was me with Gerry at Stonehenge. And I’m not taking the blame for killing him, that was Gerry.’

  ‘Will you sign a statement to that effect.�
��

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You two bitches,’ Gerry said. ‘If only you had kept quiet. Couldn’t you see what Tremayne was trying to do? He had no proof.’

  ‘Gerry, why?’ Mavis asked.

  ‘You don’t get it, do you? I saw how he treated you; the money he wasted. Someone needed to do something, and you would not have killed him. It was up to me to save the family.’

  ‘At what cost?’

  Clare went and sat down next to Rachel, who was in tears. She put her arm around the young woman. Cyril sat still, stunned by the revelation; Dean looked down at the floor. Polly Bennett and Liz Maybury said nothing, both sitting apart.

  ‘Yarwood, ask the two uniforms to come in,’ Tremayne said.

  Gerry attempted to make a run for it; he had the keys to the Bentley. Outside, the driveway was blocked by a police car. A brief tussle, the handcuffs applied, and he was driven to Bemerton Road. Polly Bennett and Liz Maybury, handcuffed by the two uniforms who had come into the house, were led away.

  ‘I’m sorry about this, Mavis,’ Tremayne said.

  ‘It’s not your fault. It’s the damn money.’

  ‘Maybe Alan wasn’t so lucky after all.’

  ‘There was no luck there. It cursed our life, I know that now.’

  The End.

  Death at Coombe Farm

  Phillip Strang

  Chapter 1

  If it hadn’t been for the circumstances, Detective Inspector Keith Tremayne would have said the view was outstanding. Up high, overlooking the farmhouse in the valley below, the panoramic vista of Salisbury Plain stretching out beyond. The only problem was that near where he stood with his sergeant, Clare Yarwood, there was a body, and it wasn’t a pleasant sight.

  ‘What happened?’ Tremayne asked. He was a cantankerous man, he knew that, and he wasn’t in a good mood on account of the biting wind and the squelching mud underfoot.

  ‘I found him when I came up here to check on the livestock,’ the farmhand said.

  ‘At what time?’ Tremayne moved away from the body, attempting to find somewhere drier. The condition of the track up to the site was so bad that the vehicle sent to transport the dead man to the mortuary could not make it up. Even Tremayne and Clare had had to hang onto a tractor to get up the slope, and now the weather looked as if it were about to worsen.