Ray pondered on the past few days. They had between them, done dozens of interviews which had yielded absolutely nothing. He was beginning to think the murderer was someone who hated Christmas but then thought better of it. Perhaps it was someone who hated the store. An ex-employee with a grudge or an employee who’d perhaps been turned down for an appointment. He rose from his seat and decided to leave the interviews to the rest of his team. He went to tell Ted he was going back to the station and then left the offices. He wandered through the store, looking at the different departments. The staff were all looking at him as he went, clearly wondering what he was looking for. He went down to where goods came into the store but it was deserted. Evidently, nothing came in on a Saturday afternoon. He might as well go back to the station but then he remembered, he’d come in Ted’s car. He strode back upstairs to look for Ted but it seemed he’d also left. The changing room was also empty with the blue and white tape looped across the entrance. He went inside and looked at the floor. There was a patch of blood staining it. He shook his head silently. What an awful business.
He left the room again and pulled out his phone to ask for someone to come and collect him from the store.
Chapter Five
Miss Pringle was still in her office. She usually had a half day at the very least on a Saturday but she was sitting staring into space, trying to work out what she should do next. She felt concerned that the Grotto would be closed for a few days and that there was nobody to play Santa. She had phoned one of the owners of the store for their advice.
‘I’ll call one or two of the Board to come in tomorrow to discuss what we do next. I’d appreciate it if you could be there too.’
‘Of course I will, sir. What time?’
‘Make it ten o’clock, no ten-thirty.’
‘And who would you like me to call?’
‘I’ll call them. Don’t worry. And thanks for helping out with the police. Any clues about who’s done it?’ Miss Pringle gave a gulp and told him nothing had been said to her. ‘Not to worry then. Have a nice evening.’
He put the phone down and the Head of HR gave a sigh. They all took it for granted that she was free enough to be there for every little thing. That she didn’t have a life of her own or anything better to do on a Sunday. She had been looking forward to a peaceful day with her beautiful cat, who now seemed a bit better. But she knew, he would begin to resent her if she was never there with him. She cursed the phone and all the people who called her on it. She was almost forty-five years old and beginning to feel that life was passing her by. She was merely another spinster with a cat as her main companion. She had a degree from a decent university and had worked here in this store for the past ten years. Surely, she deserved something more out of life? Human Resources, where was the human part of it?
Miss Pringle, Jennifer Pringle, was ready to move on in her life. She sat at her computer and typed in ‘Dating’. She might even have a chance to meet someone this very evening. Masses of sites came up on her machine. Feeling very brave, she clicked on one. Male on Female: Female on Male: Male on Male: Female on Female: Trans-gender ... At this point she pressed the little cross in the top right corner. Goodness me, she thought. I never knew there were so many choices. She tried another. This one looked more promising.
Are you feeling lonely? Feeling as though life is passing you by? Who not try our company? Click here for options.
She whispered yes, yes and yes in answer to the questions. Excitedly, she clicked and opened the site. She was met with a range of very good looking men and women, their picture ranged in rows.
Anyone take your fancy? asked the next question.
‘Oh yes, indeed there are several who I could make friends with.’ Tentatively, she clicked on one she found particularly good looking.
‘We’re sorry, George is not available right now. Try someone else.’
She clicked another and got the same answer. She swore and left the site. She was already feeling soured towards these dating sites. She was about to try another site, the last one, she promised herself, when she became aware of someone entering the room. Quickly, she cleared her screen and scrubbed looking at the sites and went back into Head of HR mode.
‘How can I help?’ she asked the young man who had come into her room.
‘I just wondered if it’s all right if I take Monday off? My grandma has died and it’s her funeral.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that. Square it with your head of department but otherwise, yes of course.’
‘Thanks Miss.’ He turned and left the room.
‘Goodness me, what do I think I’m doing? I must be mad. Looking at this drivel won’t get me anywhere. I need to check on the Board Room, not mess about with dating sites.’ She was speaking out loud as she got up to go and do her duty. She’d go home and see her beautiful cat.
*
Ray pondered on the day. Another murder, lots of possible suspects but nothing concrete to go on. He’d sent Ted home and the other officers were by now off duty and a new batch had come in for the night shift. Saturday evening and here he was still sitting in his office. He looked through the notes again but they offered no real clues. He had no obvious person to investigate, no-one who raised his suspicions. It was depressing in the extreme. An hour later, he was still sitting there with his heap of papers and a cup of stone cold coffee. He glanced at his watch. It was almost eight o’clock. He packed up and decided to go home. As he drove, he thought about some of the people he’d come into contact with in the past few days. He wondered what Kevin Riley was up to. It must have been a very strange relationship for an almost middle class girl to be going out with him. But it seemed he was in the clear from murder after the questioning about his other activities. He may not have had the stolen phones on him but his mates certainly had. They’d all admitted to the thefts so Kevin was apparently off the hook. Besides, he had no contact with Jimmy North so it was unlikely he had anything to do with this latest murder.
Ray parked outside his flat. It was a modern place towards the edge of the town, where he had lived for the past few years. He was on the ground floor and overlooked a reasonable garden. He poured himself a large scotch and sat down to listen to some decent music. Fairly soon, he fell asleep and woke around midnight. He decided it was a bit too late to eat anything and so went to bed. He woke sometime around four and felt so hungry he decided it was ridiculous and got up to get something to eat. His fridge was fairly empty but he made some cheese on toast and sat thinking some more as he chewed it. How sad was he, sitting alone eating cheese on toast at four in the morning?
With the murder of Jimmy North today, no yesterday, it seemed unlikely to be either of the ex-elf’s two flatmates. Unless of course, it was a blind action to defer their guilt. He thought about the half dozen or so customers who were in the store but none of them had any motive at all. In fact he could see no real motive for anyone to kill either of the victims. It must be someone with a distinct hatred of Christmas, he was now thinking. One of his first jobs today must be to re-visit Jimmy’s home. There might be some clue there, hidden away. Some details about a person who might do this.
He glanced at his watch again. It was almost five o’clock. Was it worth going back to bed now or should he stay up? Ray hated being indecisive but this case was getting to him. It was only day two of the second murder so he really shouldn’t be worried. Heavens, the poor old boy hadn’t been dead for twenty-four hours yet. He hadn’t even seen the pathology report yet, but he doubted that would be much help. The old man had obviously been stabbed. All the same, it would make interesting reading for him later.
He decided to go back to bed and try to get some much needed rest.
At eight o’clock, his mobile rang. What now? He thought.
‘Yes? Ray Jones speaking.’
‘Ray. It’s Rob Bryce. I’ve just completed my report on Santa and thought you’d like to know about it.’
‘I’ll be in later on. Is ther
e something special you wanted me to know?’
‘He was stabbed three times. The third time, I reckon he was actually already dead. It was someone quite vicious, I reckon. He certainly didn’t intend the poor chap to get up again.’
‘Heavens. Okay, send me the report through. I’ll be in soon.’
‘Will do. Bye.’
By nine o’clock, Ray was sitting at his desk, reading through Rob’s detailed report. He’d called the rest of team in at nine-thirty for a briefing. Several of them had complained at being called in on a Sunday.
‘Unfortunately, murders happen every day of the week. Because this is a Sunday makes no difference whatsoever.’
He listened as various officers made their reports. The house to house enquiries near Caburn Road had yielded nothing, pretty much as expected. Jimmy had been a popular chap and most people were horrified to learn of his death. It seemed he had a son and daughter, both of whom were married and lived away. They had been notified and were both travelling down to identify the body.
‘I’ll need to interview them when they arrive,’ Ray told the assembly. ‘I gather nobody is under suspicion from the store?’
‘Not really. Not saying it wasn’t someone from inside there but nobody looks suspicious at the moment.’
‘There is one other thing. The elf’s boyfriend. I seems he wasn’t with the others when they were nicking phones. He’d only said he was to get out of being accused of murder.’
‘That’s interesting. We’ll go and see him again later. Ted, you’re with me. All right everyone. Thanks for coming in. Keep eyes and ears open and let me know any news. Who’s going to be at store today?’
‘Me and Tom,’ said the officer.
‘Fine. Let me know if you see anything that might be of help. Right. We’ll go to Caburn Road and then to Riley Towers. I want to look around Jimmy’s home. See what sort of clues he may have left. I take it there’s someone there with keys?’
‘Think it’s warden supervised place. She’ll have some keys,’ said Ted.
Ray felt marginally better with some sort of plan. He needed to be out and about and not sitting staring at pieces of paper.
‘We’ll go in my car,’ he said. ‘At least I’ll then feel safer if I’m driving.’
‘How do you mean?’ asked Ted, somewhat put out by his insinuations.
‘No offence. I like to be in charge. You know that. Right then, Caburn Road it is.’
It was quiet there, on a Sunday morning. A few cars were parked along the road but most of the residents didn’t own cars and only a few of them had visitors as it was Sunday. The two policemen got out of their car and looked around for some sign of a Warden’s home.
‘I suggest we knock at the next door place. The owner will know where she lives, surely.’
‘Okay. You go and knock then. I want to have a look round the back.’
Ted went to knock at number four and a woman answered. Ray saw them engaged in conversation and smiled to himself. He’d be lucky to get away within half an hour. These poor old biddies were usually desperate for someone to speak to and Ted was a good lad, always willing to take time. He went round to the back of Jimmy’s house. There was the usual dustbin and a patch of lawn, neatly mowed for the winter. It was all rather bleak and quite boring. He went back to the front and saw Ted further down speaking to a much younger woman. The Warden, he assumed. As he was standing waiting, it began to snow, gently at first but it was beginning to stick. He started walking towards Ted and the Warden but he took the keys and came back to Number three.
‘Nice woman, the Warden. Wanted to know all about how he’d died and so on.’
‘Hope you didn’t tell her too much.’
‘Course not. What do you take me for? I told her he seemed to have been murdered and we were looking into the case. She’s asked if I’ll take the keys back when we’ve finished. I assume you don’t want the place sealed or anything?’
‘Depends if we find anything when we’re inside.’
They went into the tiny hallway and from there into the lounge. It felt cold and uninviting. They began to search through the drawers and cupboards, looking for something, anything that would give them clues to the man’s life. He had a couple of Christmas cards on the sideboard and they looked to see who they were from. Nobody of any consequence, they believed.
‘Still, better bag them and we’ll take them as evidence of something,’ Ray instructed. He went into the kitchen and peered into the fridge. It was virtually empty, evidently waiting for him to stock up on his way home. Everything seemed very neat for an elderly man living on his own. The bedroom was equally tidy with a dirty linen bin and everything else folded and stored in a chest of drawers. ‘Nothing much here,’ Ray announced.
‘No, you’re right. He seems to have everything organised and was very neat and tidy.’
‘Do you reckon this is all his own furniture? Television?’
‘I think so. Can’t imagine it being owned by anyone else. Television might be rented I suppose.’
‘Have you found anything to suggest that? Rental book or anything?’
‘There’s a drawer in the sideboard. I started to look in there but maybe you’d like to have a look.’
Ray opened it and began to go through everything. He had a building society book with several thousand pounds in it. He gave a whistle.
‘Phew, that’s a surprise. I’m sure Miss Pringle said he was broke and relied on this job to keep him on the level. He’s got a bank account too, with over five hundred pounds in it.’
‘These old folks like to keep a bit put by them,’ said Ted. ‘I know my old Mum always used to reckon she was a bit short but when she passed on she had over ten thousand quid in her account. It was all a bit sad really as she skimped and saved and for what? To leave something behind her for me and my brother. It never made much difference and if we’d known, we’d much rather she’d spent it on herself.’
‘You’re right. It’s all a bit sad. I don’t think there’s much more to see here. I somehow doubt his children would have bumped him off to get his money. Come on then. We’ll go and see the delightful Kevin.’ They took the key back to the Warden and got her to promise not to let just anyone into Jimmy’s house. Then they left the premises.
The pair drove to what Ray had nicknamed Riley Towers. Mrs Riley came to the door, clutching the baby under one arm. Her daughter was hanging around behind her, looking even more scruffy than the previous time they’d visited. There was a dreadful smell coming out of the house and Ray felt sick at the thought of going inside.
‘Morning. Is Kevin in?’
‘Nah. He’s at his brother’s place. He usually goes there on a Saturday night.’
‘Do you have his address?’
‘Twenty-four Caduggan Avenue. He’s in the posher part of town. Doin’ all right for hisself is Malcolm. Better than we are at any road. Got two lovely kids as well.’
‘We’ll go there to see him. Thank you Mrs Riley.’ Ray smiled at the poor woman, greatly relieved that they didn’t have to go inside.
‘Blimey, what a stink in that place. Whatever was it do you think?’ asked Ted.
‘I expect one or both kids had relieved themselves, probably on the floor. I hope to goodness the baby she’s got inside her will be her last. Heavens, if she’s got a grown-up son with kids of his own, she must be near the end of her procreative life. It really is a pity someone couldn’t have sterilised her before the last three were born.’
‘Three?’
‘Remember what Kevin said? They’ve got a disabled brother tucked away upstairs somewhere.’
‘Good lord. It’s incredible what some women will go through.’
‘I’m not sure they’re all aware of the consequences actually. Their blokes come in from the pub wanting a bit of nooky and lo and behold, another pregnancy results.’
‘That’s always assuming she’s really got a bloke.’
‘Something to ask Kevin.
Do you know where we’re going?’
‘I think it’s a couple of streets along, on the left.’
‘In the posher part of town,’ remarked Ray.
‘Oh yes. Very posh here isn’t it?’
Ray’s phone rang.
‘Yes?’ he answered.
‘Jimmy North’s son and daughter are here. Do you want to see them?’
‘Can you get someone to interview them? Make a report and leave it on my desk please. I’m on my way to see someone else.’
‘Right you are sir.’ Ray switched off his call.
‘Everything happens at once doesn’t it?’
Chapter Six
Kevin Riley stretched as he woke up. For several minutes he wondered where he was, alone in a different bed. He realised he quite missed Julie what’s her name and decided it might be time to find another girl. He had his bed at his brother’s place and usually stayed there on a Saturday to give him a bit of a break from the rest of the family. He glanced at his watch. Ten-thirty. He went along to the bathroom and listened for the sounds of his brother’s family. The house was silent. He wandered downstairs and saw the note left on the kitchen table.
Make sure the door is locked when you leave. Out for the day. Malc.
Brilliant, he thought. He’d invite his mates over. He went into the hall and picked up the phone. He dialled a couple of numbers and organised two of his mates to come round.
‘Bring some girls wiv you. You sister for one and a couple of ‘er mates too.’
He rubbed his hands together in glee. He knew his brother kept a stash of beers in the cupboard under the stairs and hauled them out. The girls would always drink beer, he knew from history. Summat to eat, was his next thought. He looked in the cupboard and found crisps that his sister-in-law had bought for the kids’ lunches. He could always buy some more later on. He heard a cacophony of horns blowing and looked through the window. They were here.
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