BURNING GREED
A gripping murder mystery, full of suspense
Diane M. Dickson
Published by
THE BOOK FOLKS
London, 2018
© Diane M. Dickson
Polite note to the reader
This book is written in British English except where fidelity to other languages or accents is appropriate.
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We hope you enjoy the book.
BURNING GREED is the second novel by Diane Dickson to feature detective Tanya Miller and her Oxford-based criminal investigation team.
It can be enjoyed as a standalone, but readers should also check out the first novel, BROKEN ANGEL, available FREE with Kindle Unlimited and in paperback.
An eerie corpse dressed as a bride, a killer playing a macabre game, and a woman detective prepared to follow her instincts. Enter DI Tanya Miller, the missing persons specialist brought in to investigate the disappearance of a woman from a motorway services. Someone is playing a sick game, and she’s determined to catch him, no matter what it takes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DTGFS1H/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DTGFS1H/
Other novels by Diane Dickson published by The Book Folks:
LEAVING GEORGE
WHO FOLLOWS
LAYERS OF LIES
PICTURES OF YOU
YOU’RE DEAD
THE GRAVE
DEPTHS OF DECEPTION
SINGLE TO EDINBURGH
TWIST OF TRUTH
TANGLED TRUTH
BONE BABY
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
List of characters
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Prologue
When the match hit the petrol, there was a sudden and shocking flare of heat. Soaked fabric caught fire immediately, flames licking and running over the creases and edges. A choking pall of stinking fumes billowed upwards and he pulled his sweatshirt over his chin, covering his mouth and nose. He wanted to flee but had to wait and make sure that the fire had taken a proper hold.
He backed away as far as possible, groping behind himself with an outstretched arm. The door handle felt warm under his palm and by now the conflagration was roaring. Smoke stung his eyes and they ran with tears. Still he waited, until the heap on the floor at the bottom of the stairs began to move. He gasped, drawing in a lungful of fire blighted air; he doubled over coughing and choking, desperate for a clean breath, but he had seen it move.
He would have to go back, walk through flames, back towards the roiling smoke. And then he acknowledged the truth. She hadn’t moved, the body had. Heat had made the muscles flex, caused the limbs to reach and stretch. As the knowledge hit home he retched and bent, vomiting violently, clawing at his throat as it scorched. Finally, the other smell reached him, the roasting meat smell, and he was done. With a sound that was part scream, part moan he turned and dragged open the door. With a final horrified glance at the hell he had created, he lurched through the entrance, which was untouched yet by the flames and fumes. He staggered out to the bliss of fresh air in the deserted passage. He moved further into the darkness, coughing and crying and retching, but he mustn’t vomit again, not out here, not where it could be found. He clamped a palm over his mouth, picked up the bag and, with his other hand against the wall for support, he struggled to the end of the back alley, around the corner and away.
Inside the warehouse the flames wreaked their havoc, running along the rivulets of petrol until they hit the tyres of the first car. Now the stink of burning rubber joined the stew of smells. Paint on the expensive bodywork began to bubble and peel. By the time the first vehicle exploded the alarm had already been raised and the scream of sirens split the evening. The body didn’t twist and bend anymore, the hiss of fluids had ceased and all that was left of a life was the charred shape at the bottom of the collapsed staircase.
Chapter 1
Tanya didn’t want to be where she was. Not because Iffley was not a good area, though it certainly wasn’t. However, the restaurant had been recommended and it was handy for them all. No, it wasn’t that. She stood outside, staring in through the window. Inside she could see Charlie Lambert and his wife had already arrived. Carol looked well, she was laughing at something one of them had said. This was a good sign, surely. She had been fighting post-natal depression ever since Joshua had arrived. Charlie had told Tanya that when the approval for his transfer had come through, the chance of a move away, nearer to her sister, and the thought of a new start seemed to have helped. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he’d said, “but it’s looking good.”
The couple were sitting at the long table in the corner with Kate Lewis and the youngest member of what had been her small team, Dan Price. Not for the first time Tanya felt a bit sorry for the young women who would lust in vain after the detective constable. Shy and awkward he was, in spite of his six feet in height and his good looks. She liked him. She had come to like all of them as they had worked together, even Paul Harris who could be a bit coarse, very un-PC. The only one she really had a problem with was Sue Rollinson. The detective constable’s loyalty to Charlie was verging on hero worship, possibly infatuation, and had been the cause of friction. Tanya shrugged, it didn’t matter now. The team was almost certainly going to be broken up and reassigned.
When he told her that he was applying for a relocation, away from Oxfordshire, Tanya had smiled and nodded and uttered encouraging words, but what she really wanted to say had been, “Don’t go, Charlie. You’re the nearest thing I’ve had to a mate in years.”
She’d had no choice but to bite back the words. He was ambitious, and she recognised the drive, the greed for success; she had it in spades herself. She was driven by the need to do well and if he believed, as he obviously did, that his progress
ion towards one of the top jobs in the police force meant that he had to move away, then that was his right, and his choice. She was going to miss him. He’d saved her life not all that long ago and before that, when they first met, when she was drafted in to take over his case, he’d been dignified and professional. He could have been difficult and obstructive. There weren’t many people like him that you came across and now he was going to be in Liverpool. Okay, it was only a bit more than a hundred miles away, but he would be part of another force, effectively out of her life.
She altered her focus a bit, saw her own reflection in the glass. She flicked her glance up and down. Her new dress had been expensive, but quality showed in the way it clung to her figure, and the new boots were gorgeous. She knew it was shallow, but new stuff cheered her up. She painted a smile on her face and pushed through into the restaurant, waving to the others as she came nearer to the table.
“No sign of Sue and Paul yet?” she asked.
Charlie had stood to kiss her cheek, a familiarity allowable now outside of work.
“No, they’re sharing a taxi and there’s some sort of hold up in town. A fire, I think,” he said.
“Oh right, I heard the sirens as I was driving in. Well, we might as well get a round in while we wait, eh?” As she spoke she waved to the waitress.
“I’ll get these,” Charlie said.
“No, it’s on me.” She let her smile cover them all. “This is probably the last time we’re together, so I reckon it’s my shout.”
He didn’t put up much of a fight and they all knew that, as senior investigation officer on their last job, it was pretty much expected of her.
They ordered drinks and chatted for a while; they didn’t talk about the last case. It was done, a reasonably successful outcome, although two dead victims would have a place in Tanya’s memory for a long time, probably always. Tonight though, Charlie was centre stage telling them about the new job as a detective inspector with the Merseyside force, his impressions of the city and the rented house they’d be using until things were settled.
Tanya glanced at her watch, it was almost half past eight and they had been waiting for an hour with still no sign of the other two. She pulled out her phone and dialled Paul’s number.
“Paul Harris.” The phone was answered quickly.
“Hello, any idea how long you’re going to be? We’re starving to death here.”
“Sorry, boss, it’s pretty bloody messy out here, to be honest. I don’t think it’s a huge fire from what I can see but there are plenty of appliances and the roads are shut all over. I had a quick word with one of the fire officers, a mate of mine, it’s a small warehouse that’s involved. The main worry apparently is it spreading to other buildings. Anyway, top and bottom of it is we’ll be about ten minutes now, according to Shamar, our driver.”
“I’ll get your drinks in ready, what are you having?”
She relayed the information to the rest of the group, bought another round of drinks and for a while they searched the internet on their phones to see what information there was about the cause of the delay.
There wasn’t much. Not yet.
Chapter 2
With a glass of wine half-drunk, Tanya felt herself relaxing. She began to enjoy the banter and chat. Charlie was going, and she hated that, but for now she pushed it aside.
It was almost midnight before they finished eating, the late start had delayed things anyway, and then they had gone the whole hog with starters, desserts and coffee. Tanya had her phone on vibrate and once or twice as it jiggled in her bag, she had glanced down at the screen to see her sister’s emoticon leering at her.
Fiona, up in Scotland with her perfect children and her perfect husband and her charity work. It wasn’t that they argued, it wasn’t really that she disliked her only living blood relative – they just had nothing in common. The slights and unfairness of a childhood where she had been forced into second place by her sibling’s brilliance still hurt, and they had quite simply drifted apart. Nowadays there were greetings cards and the odd weekend when it was a milestone birthday. It was enough. When the phone buzzed a third time she began to wrack her brains, trying to remember what she had forgotten. Nothing came to mind. She would call her tomorrow, apologise for whatever it was.
The fourth call was as they were winding up to leave. It was the despatcher, she pulled the handset out of her bag and mouthed a ‘sorry, work’ at the others as she stood and moved away from the table.
Tanya handed her credit card to the cashier and, still speaking into the phone, she turned to look back at the table. She wanted Charlie, but it was out of the question, Sod it, why not. She caught Sue’s eye and waved a hand to call her over.
The other woman arrived just as the cashier handed the card back. Tanya reached for it. He leaned close, spoke quietly, “I’m sorry, Madam, that card has been rejected.”
“What? Are you sure?” She turned the piece of plastic in her hand as she spoke.
Sue was already fishing in her bag, a smug grin on her face, “It’s okay, boss, I’ve got this.”
“No, no that’s not what I wanted. It’s a mistake. Oh, look.” Tanya slid another card out of her wallet and handed it across the counter. “I haven’t got time to argue, use this one.”
While the payment was processed, Tanya leaned close to the other woman. “I need you to come with me. That was control. We have to go down to the fire site.”
“What now?” Sue asked.
“Yes, are you sober enough?”
“Yeah, of course. What’s happened?”
“There was a body in the building. Thing is though, the preliminaries indicate that an accelerant was used. It’s looking dodgy. We’re going down to have a look, speak to the fire officer and what have you. Can you go back, alert the others and tell them I’ll call them in the morning early if it looks like there’s a job on?”
“What about Charlie?”
“Well, what about him?” The payment had been accepted and Tanya was juggling with her coat, bag and wallet; she shook her head, frowning.
“Well, is he in?”
“I shouldn’t think so. After all, he’s not really one of us anymore, is he?” It hurt as she said it, much more than she had expected it to.
As Sue took the message back to the table, Tanya contacted the station to ask them to send a car. She could have called a taxi but a blue and white would get them there quicker. As she pushed the phone back into her bag a text alert chimed, Fiona again.
Chapter 3
The whole area was filthy. Pools of oily water lay on the ground, blue lights reflecting on wet, dark walls. The air was thick with fumes and soot. “Shit,” Tanya rubbed at black flecks on her sleeve, smearing them across the fabric. She glanced at her boots, the pale leather was darkened with water and they were splashed with mud and grime. She glanced at Sue, beside her. Her plain Doc Martens, black trousers and top weren’t showing any of the filth that must be there. She seemed unaware of the soot falling onto her head and shoulders. Tanya clamped her mouth shut, resisted the temptation to pull out a handkerchief and rub at her feet. The boots were ruined anyway, and she wasn’t giving the other woman any reason to sneer behind her back.
Sue for her part was pulling her long black hair away from her face and screwing it into a sleek bun with a little glittery scrunchy. Tanya peered through the darkness trying to find someone who looked as though they might be in charge. When they had shown their warrant cards to the uniformed constable positioned at the end of the alley, all he’d been able to tell them was that the bronze commander had gone inside the building with the medical examiner a while ago, but he wasn’t sure where they were now.
Tanya grabbed the arm of a passing firefighter, the woman turned and shrugged off the hand. “Press people, back beyond the tape.” In response Tanya lifted her ID nearer to the woman’s red-rimmed eyes.
“Sorry, police,” she said, “I need to speak to whoever is in charge right now.”
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“Oh right, my mistake.” The firefighter grinned, her teeth stark white against her smoke-blackened face. “You looked a bit dolled up to be official.”
“We came straight from the pub.” As she answered, Tanya’s irritation grew. She didn’t need to justify her appearance, but the comment had made her feel ridiculous. Sue had taken a couple of steps away, towards the smouldering building. “Anyway, any idea where I can speak to whoever is in charge?”
Jerking her thumb in the direction of a small huddle of people, the firefighter stomped away, shouting out to her colleagues to ‘hang on a minute’.
As they walked across the roadway, stepping over hoses and around piles of dark and smoking detritus, she spotted Simon Hewitt, the medical examiner. He turned and raised a hand in recognition. Tanya smiled back at him and nodded. He stepped aside, making room for the two women to join the small group. Simon introduced Tanya to the bronze commander.
“So, what can you tell me?” she asked.
“Not a lot at the moment. Your colleague here, Dr Hewitt, has been in and had a look; so he can tell you more about the victim than I, though even then, don’t expect much.” He glanced at the medical examiner who shook his head. “As far as the incident goes, the dogs have alerted that there was an accelerant used. It’s still very early days and we are just finishing off and damping down. It wasn’t a huge fire as these things go but there is extensive damage to the interior, and of course, sadly, there has been a fatality. More than that I can’t say right now.”
“Can we go inside, have a look?” Tanya asked.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t just yet. Paul, here,” he indicated the cameraman, “has got some video and some stills, there will be footage from the personal cameras as well, but really, it’s not safe yet. I don’t want civilians in there.”
“I wouldn’t class us as civilians, Officer Bartlett.”
He gave her a small smile, “Well, I’m sorry, Detective Inspector, but I would. It’s for your own safety.”
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