Prime Justice

by M A Comley

  “Now, sir?”

  “Unless you’re up to your neck in work.”

  “Nothing that can’t be put on hold for a moment or two. I’m on my way.”

  When Lorne hung up, she reached for her handbag, withdrew her comb, dragged it through her shoulder-length brunette hair, and cried out when she hit a knot. She threw the comb back in her bag and left the room. “I’ve been summoned. Won’t be long, hopefully.”

  She walked the length of the corridor, the butterflies taking flight in her stomach during the course of her short journey. She smiled at Roberts’s new PA, Trisha, and asked, “Can I head straight in?”

  She smiled. “He’s expecting you.”

  “Sounds ominous. Thanks.” Lorne knocked on the door and entered when she heard Roberts’s voice instructing her to join him. When she opened the door, she found that DCI Roberts wasn’t alone. She sighed inwardly and smiled. “Hello, sir. You wanted to see me?” Her tone was light and friendly.

  “Yes, Inspector Warner. This is Superintendent Barton from IPCC.”

  The man looked up at her and nodded briefly, his eyes dark and full of suspicion.

  Lorne extended her hand to the super, but he didn’t accept it. Dropping her hand down by her side, Lorne returned her attention to the chief. “What’s this about, sir? I’m knee-deep in an important investigation.” For the superintendent’s benefit, she added, “A murder investigation.”

  “I’m aware of that, Inspector. The super here would like a word with you about a complaint that has been raised by a prisoner.”

  “Not exactly true, Chief. The complaint has been raised by a lady on remand, who hasn’t been sentenced as yet.”

  “No, but the evidence is stacked against her and her evil family of murdering fraudsters, Superintendent,” Lorne stated abruptly, still keeping her smile firmly in place.

  “That’s for the judge and jury to decide, Inspector. I’m here to follow up a complaint Mrs. Knight has regarding the arrest you made. Do you have time for this interview to take place now?”

  Lorne sighed. “As I’ve already informed you, I’m in the midst of an important case in which some prime evidence has just come to light, evidence that my team and I are keen to get started on. Can this possibly wait?”

  “From what I hear, you’re always busy, Inspector. I’d like to get the interview over with as soon as possible, if it’s all the same to you.”

  Lorne bit down hard on her tongue and looked at the chief for his support. But when Sean looked down at the desk, avoiding eye contact, disappointment hit her like a sucker punch to the stomach. “Very well, I can spare you ten minutes.”

  The super raised his eyebrows. “It will take as long as it takes, Inspector, to obtain the detailed account of what happened that day. We do not put time constraints on such things.”

  Lorne shrugged. “Okay. My office?”

  “No, I’ve taken the liberty of booking the interview room downstairs.”

  Fucking great! So I’m going to be treated like a common criminal. “I see. I hope I’m allowed to have a cup of coffee during the interview, at least?” she asked, trying to ease the tension in the room.

  “I have no objection to that. Shall we go?” The super rose from his chair and headed for the door.

  Lorne’s eyes widened. She was angry at Sean’s lack of support, but he had the decency to look ashamed when he looked up at her.

  “Inspector, you’re the one who was concerned about how long this interview would take. The sooner we begin, the better,” the super said harshly from the doorway.

  Lorne followed him downstairs to the interview room. At one point, she had to jog to keep up with his long strides. When they entered the room, a woman was already seated at the table.

  “This is my colleague, Sergeant Brenda Cartwright. She’ll be taking notes and asking any relevant questions I omit to ask. Take a seat, and we’ll begin.”

  Lorne smiled at the woman, who glared at her before she opened her notebook. Jesus, whose side are you guys meant to be on?

  The interview began once Brenda Cartwright started the recorder. “Inspector Warner, there has been an official complaint made against you by Claire Knight. Her complaint is that on Wednesday, seventeenth December, 2015, during her arrest at a property belonging to a Mrs. Stainforth in Norfolk, you struck Mrs. Knight around the face. Do you recall the incident? If so, what do you have to say about the allegation?”

  “That it’s an outright lie.”

  “If that’s the case, then please, feel free to fill us in on your version of the events that day.”

  “As I recall, the arrest was a somewhat frenetic one. Tempers were frayed, as you can imagine. There’s a possibility that someone might have been accidently collided with during that time, but I can definitely tell you that Claire Knight was not struck around the face, as she has suggested.”

  “I see. How many of your team would have witnessed the arrest?”

  “None.”

  He frowned. “I’m sorry? So are you telling me that you tackled this woman and her family alone?”

  “No, I’m not saying that at all. If you’d bothered to do your research into the matter instead of taking the word of a criminal, you would have discovered that I arrested the family along with another inspector and a team of armed response officers. This arrest did not take place on my patch. It was in Norfolk—you have the address there. It was a joint collaboration between DI Sally Parker and myself, which was approved by both our chief inspectors. So none of my current team members were present. Need I say more?”

  “Yes. Let’s start at the beginning. Claire Knight is also alleging that there was some kind of police entrapment to her arrest.”

  “Police entrapment? For the tape, that’s utterly false. We had intel that the family were about to visit Mrs. Stainforth with the intention of defrauding her of all her possessions. Mrs. Stainforth pleaded with us to help her. She had arranged for the Knight family to visit her home. DI Parker and I came up with a plan, after investigating the murders and heinous crimes this family had committed over the years, to stand in for Mrs. Stainforth. We hid in plain sight in the lounge of the house. The maid showed the family into the room, where we were waiting for them, sitting in a couple of chairs. We didn’t even jump out and surprise them. As soon as they rumbled who we were, one of the daughters, Teagan, grabbed the maid and held her hostage.”

  “I see. Please continue, Inspector,” Superintendent Barton said, his expression appearing to mellow slightly.

  “Well, I pleaded with the woman to let the maid go, but Teagan pulled a knife and held it to the maid’s throat. I had recently been through my Taser training, and I withdrew my weapon and threatened to use it if the maid wasn’t released. When Teagan refused, DI Parker and I started to cause friction between the family members.”

  “In what way?”

  “We had reason to believe that Teagan and one of her sisters had deliberately set out to trap the other sister’s husband. They killed him while all three of them were on his boat out at sea—this is the incident that led to us being involved with this family. We let things slip, and Lucy, whose husband had been murdered, started to demand answers. The family members began blaming each other, and during the distraction, the maid managed to escape Teagan’s grasp. Once the opportunity arose, I used my Taser to bring down Teagan. The ART unit arrived within moments and arrested all the family members.”

  “I see. It’s all making sense now, please continue,” the super said, his tone much friendlier than when they had first met, hours before.

  Lorne exhaled a large breath and trawled through her mind to recapture the events of that day. “Okay, well, I approached Claire Knight. Seconds later, she spat in my face.”

  The super seemed surprised by the revelation but said nothing.

  Lorne continued, “I bet she neglected to inform you of that snippet of information, didn’t she? Let me think what her exact words to me were, just a second. Ah
yes, ‘No one dares to speak out against me’. By this time, I’d heard enough. One of the ART officers was about to slap the cuffs on her, but I stopped him, said that I wanted the pleasure of doing that particular task. He spun the woman around, and I attached the cuffs. I might in my haste, have accidently hit her bony wrists in the process. Again, she told me with a venomous tone, ‘I’ll get you for that, Warner’. I can only imagine what she meant by that.”

  The super nodded. “Raising a complaint?”

  “Precisely. We know from looking into her background that she has escaped several criminal charges she should have been sent down for over the years.”

  “How do you think that has been allowed to happen, Inspector?”

  “Because money talks, sir. She’s defrauded that many people that she’s been able to appoint the best solicitors around to represent her. Some straight ones, but also some very dodgy ones who only represent the criminal community, sir.” Lorne clicked her fingers together as she remembered an important fact about the arrest. “I might also add that once the handcuffs were in place and after she issued her threat, I turned her around and gave her a gentle shove in the back as the ART officer escorted her from the room, but I definitely didn’t slap her around the face. I bet she thought long and hard about a probable complaint to aim at me. I don’t regret anything, sir, but I am refuting that I slapped her. That’s not to say I wasn’t tempted once or twice on the occasions I had the misfortune of being in the same room as her. Evil emanates from her every pore.”

  “Then that’s enough for me, Inspector. One last thing before we call it a day here.”

  “What’s that, sir?”

  “I’d like you to recap what you’ve just told us, just to make sure there are no inconsistencies in your side of the events.”

  Lorne sighed heavily and puffed out her cheeks. She’d never been made to feel like a criminal before, but she pushed past that sensation and repeated her story once more. By the time the super had finished the interview, they had been sitting in the same position for over four hours solid, and Lorne’s backside had become numb.

  After the superintendent dismissed her, Lorne ran back up the stairs to her team. The second Lorne stepped into the room, Karen went over to the vending machine. Lorne smiled at her when Karen placed the cup of strong coffee in her hand.

  “Thanks. Boy, do I need this.” Lorne perched on a nearby desk and took a sip of the hot drink. “What a bloody grilling that was. Yes, I know they’re only carrying out their jobs, but Christ, why do they have to be so officious about it? I’m sure they won’t be contacting any of you guys. I told them that none of you were involved directly with the arrest of that confounded woman. I better ring Sally, though, give her the heads-up. I’ll be right back, so you can give me an update before we call it a day.”

  She entered her office, downed the rest of her coffee, and dialled Sally’s mobile number. Her dear friend answered on the second ring. “Whatcha, how’s it going, Sally? Has that hunky pathologist managed to split your legs apart yet?”

  “Goodness me, what sort of question is that, Lorne?”

  “An inquisitive one.” Lorne chuckled.

  “Okay, let’s get things right from the outset. We’re just friends, nothing more, got that?”

  “For now. I saw the sparkle in your eye when you spoke about him. There’s no sense in denying it. You fancy the pants off him.”

  “Is that really why you rang up, to enquire about my love life?”

  “No, just teasing you. I’ve spent the afternoon with IPCC. Have you heard from them at all?”

  “Crap, in connection with what? Oh wait, don’t tell me. That ghastly woman Claire Knight, right?”

  “Yep, she warned me not to cross her, didn’t she? Well, she’s complained that I slapped her on the day of her arrest.”

  “Well, that’s bullshit, for a start. What a desperate, pathetic bitch. IPCC didn’t believe her?”

  “They have to investigate a complaint. I told them they were wasting their time on this one. Didn’t prevent them interviewing me for four hours solid, though.”

  “Shit, are they going to show up on my doorstep soon?”

  “There’s every chance, hon. I had to tell them who was in the room at the time the alleged incident took place.”

  “Christ, I bet you felt like a bloody criminal.”

  “You could say that. It’s over with now, but I just wanted to warn you just in case.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. I’ll jot down some notes tonight to refresh my memory. How are Tony and Charlie?”

  “Tony’s fine, still working hard at building the PI business. As for Charlie, we don’t really see much of her now that she’s going out with Brandon. He seems a nice enough lad. They’ve both got an interest in dog agility, so at least they’re not out on the club circuit, doing drugs. That’s got to be a bonus.”

  “You are funny. Okay, I’ve got to dash. You just caught me on my way out to question a witness of an RTA, nothing as exciting as the Knight case.”

  Lorne laughed. “Poor you. I’m dealing with a frustrating murder of a posh lady who was well thought of in the community. You could always come and join me.”

  “Don’t tempt me. I fear I’d be out of my depth down in your neck of the woods, matey.”

  “Nah, you’re doing yourself an injustice there, girl. You’re a top-notch copper, and you’d be an asset to any force out there.”

  “Yeah, but I love this area, so a change isn’t really on the cards. Talk soon. Let me know how the complaint goes, and I’ll ring you if, or when, the IPCC get in touch with me. I’m going to be a nervous wreck until they decide to show up and interrogate me.”

  “You’ll be fine. Tell them the truth, and there’ll be nothing to fear.”

  Lorne hung up and covered her face with her hands. The day had taken so much out of her, all she wanted to do was go home and curl up on the couch with Tony. She walked towards the door and rang his mobile. “Are you at home?”

  “Nope. I shouldn’t be long. Everything all right?”

  “Nothing a snog and a cuddle won’t put right. Fancy a takeaway and a bottle of wine tonight?”

  “Sounds perfect. I’ll do the honours on the way home. I think Charlie mentioned she was going out with Brandon tonight, so we’ll have the place to ourselves.”

  “You’re an angel. See you in about half an hour.” She blew Tony a kiss and ended the call. The team were all sitting at their desks; most of them looked as exhausted as she felt. “A quick update, and then we’ll call it a day. What did you find out about this Jack Duggan?”

  AJ shook his head. “Nothing, it’s as though he’s dropped out of the universe. No death cert. Nothing with border control. I’ve even checked to see if he’s been locked up again. Nothing. The only thing I haven’t checked out is the mental hospitals such as Brampton. Not sure if that would be worth it or not.”

  “If all the other routes have come up blank, I’d definitely say it’s worth a shot, AJ. Look into it in the morning. Okay, again we’re stumped at frustration central for now. Let’s call it a day, get a goodnight’s sleep, and go over things again in the morning.”

  While driving home, Lorne took a slight diversion and intentionally drove past Nadine’s house. As dusk was descending, the house was lit up, but there were only the two vehicles on the drive: the same Mercs that had been present when she’d visited the house the previous week. If she hadn’t been so tired, she would have called at the house to see how Rebecca was coping. Patti had informed Lorne by e-mail that morning that Nadine’s body had been transferred to the funeral home. No, leave the woman to grieve alone. Maybe when I have more information, I’ll drop by.

  She continued on her journey, pausing for a moment or two at the scene of the crime. “I’m sorry to let you down, Nadine. We’re doing our best, I promise you.” Lorne glanced sideways and thought she saw a shadow lingering in the undergrowth. A shudder ran down the length of her spine, and s
he drove off, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’re tired and imagining things.”

  ~ ~ ~

  The man sucked in a breath when he saw the car halt at the side of the road. His heart was in his mouth when he’d thought the driver had seen him lurking by the tree. He was angry after almost giving himself away, but was glad that he’d dressed in black to revisit the site this evening; he hadn’t dreamt that he would encounter someone else at the scene. He wondered how many other killers revisited the places where they’d taken a life once the investigation team had left.

  Maybe he should have jumped out and dragged the driver out of the car. He was on the prowl for another victim, after all. His insatiable appetite to harm someone else was driving him crazy. He would need to bide his time, though. It was too soon… or was it? When such desires overwhelmed him, they were difficult to ignore. No one, except someone else who had taken a life, could understand the burning sensation that rippled through his every vein, or the enjoyment that filled his heart and the beautiful sensation of adrenaline rushing through every limb. His erection prompted the memory of killing his latest victim. Striking her repeatedly with the metal bar had relieved the tension running through his veins.

  It was imperative to feed such a desire sooner rather than later. Otherwise, he would be unbearable to live with.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  When Lorne arrived at the station the following morning, the desk sergeant, Mick Crawford, asked to have a quiet word with her on the stairs.

  “What is it, Mick?”

  “Ma’am, I thought you might be interested in a piece of information I overheard a few minutes ago.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “I know you’re dealing with the case of the murdered woman who lives near you. Well, my ears pricked up when I heard about a suspected abduction reported late last night.”

  “In the same vicinity?”

  “That’s right, ma’am. I took the liberty of writing down the information for you.” He handed her a sheet of paper.

  Smiling, Lorne waved the paper. “You’re a good officer, Mick. Thanks for this.” She ran up the stairs, saw she was the first one to arrive, bought a coffee at the vending machine, and took it into her office, where she looked over the information Mick had given her.