Looking For A Reason (#4 - D.I. Paolo Storey Crime Series)

by Frances di Plino

  He greeted Arbnor and walked with him down to his room without explaining why he needed to speak to him. Better to ask the questions when Dave was there to record the answers. Paolo smiled to think how much he relied on Dave these days. They’d come a long, long way since their rocky start together.

  When they were ensconced in the tiny room, Arbnor apologised for how cramped it was.

  “I only have two chairs, as you can see. I can go and fetch another from…” He stopped, clearly not wanting to mention the fact that his room was next door to Derrick’s and that had been where he intended to go for the third chair.

  “It’s okay,” Dave said. “I’m happy to stand. No need to worry about me.”

  “Tell me, Arbnor,” Paolo said, resting the ankle of his right leg on his left knee, “was there anyone around last night you felt shouldn’t have been here? Anyone out of the ordinary?”

  Arbnor shook his head, more vehemently than Paolo felt the question warranted.

  “No, no, I didn’t see anyone or hear anyone. I was doing my rounds and didn’t even know Derrick was still here.”

  “But don’t you normally lock the pool? Surely you must have looked inside to make sure there was no one there?”

  Again, there was that over emphasised shake of the head.

  “Not me. I have the keys to all the rooms on the ground floor, but not the ones for the pool and lockers. Mr Walden insisted on keeping those for safety reasons. He said it was his responsibility to make sure no one drowned. He always did his own last minute check of the locker rooms and the pool area before leaving.”

  “So, when you left, was the pool locked up or not?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t try the door. I heard nothing and I saw nothing. I didn’t go into Mr Walden’s office.”

  “Arbnor, I never mentioned you going into his office. Why did you say that?”

  “Say what?”

  Paolo sighed. Life was too short for this. “Say you hadn’t gone into his office?”

  “Because I didn’t.”

  Paolo gave up. By the way Arbnor was protesting, Paolo was certain he was hiding something, but whether it was to do with Derrick Walden’s death or not, only time would tell.

  When he and Dave went outside there was the inevitable bank of reporters and photographers vying for attention and quotes. Paolo looked across to the other side of the road where Clementine Towers was, once again, holding forth for the cameras. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but guessed from her facial expression and arm gestures that she was worked up about something – no doubt saying the ungodly heathens at the youth centre had brought this new disaster on themselves. He made a mental note to avoid watching the news later. He really couldn’t bear to listen to another of her tirades.

  ***

  Paolo had never been more pleased to see the end of a working day. He let himself into his flat and kicked off his shoes. Shrugging off his jacket, he threw it across an armchair and flopped down onto the sofa. As he sprawled out, his gaze fell on the half empty brandy bottle. A shudder ran through him at the memory of his hangover. God, he’d never felt so ill in his entire life. How on earth did people go out binge drinking knowing they’d be facing that sort of feeling the next morning? He’d hit the booze hard last night, but had no intention of chasing oblivion again. The consequences just wouldn’t be worth it.

  Somehow, he’d have to learn to live with his memory of Jessica’s face when he’d told her he wasn’t going to Canada. She’d tried again and again to make him change his mind, even finally pushing for a long-distance relationship.

  Maybe she’d thought, with time, he would come over for a visit and end up staying for life. Paolo knew that wasn’t going to happen, so had done what he felt was the right thing, even though it left him feeling like a monster. Jessica had left his flat in tears, refusing to stay the night. He’d called a taxi for her and seen her into it before coming back in and drinking himself to sleep.

  He’d done the right thing. He knew that. Long distances relationships never worked out. Why prolong the agony? A clean break was better for both of them. He’d said all that last night and meant every word of it, so why did he feel as if he’d made the biggest mistake of his life in letting Jessica go?

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Nemesis in Action Blog

  The police seem to have been everywhere for the last week, but I don’t think I have anything to worry about. I’m sure no one saw me with Derrick Walden that night. Murder has never been my intention. Never! Not even for those who deserve to die, but once I heard him talking, planning to visit the station the next morning, I couldn’t take any chances. From what I overheard, I think he knew too much. I don’t know what he’d found out, but it could have been my undoing. I had to act. I had to.

  I don’t think he even knew what happened. I didn’t want him to suffer and I don’t think he did. I tried to make it a gentle passing for him. It was easy enough to slip some Rohypnol into his water bottle while he was on the phone. I thought he’d fall asleep and would have an accident while driving home, but he didn’t leave when I expected him to.

  When I found him collapsed at the side of the pool, it left me with no other choice but to heave him into the water. I watched him sink to the bottom, ready to put on an act if anyone came in. If I’d had to, I’d have dived in and held him under while pretending to try to save his life, but luckily no one was about. I had nothing against Derrick personally, but I couldn’t afford to let him live.

  Is it really murder when you’re forced to act?

  ***

  Paolo put down the phone and punched the air. An entire bloody week it had taken, but he’d finally got the warrant he needed to gather in the computers from Triple B. He grabbed his jacket and rushed into the main office.

  “CC, Dave, I want you two with me. We’ve got permission to get inside that bloody club at last. I’ve arranged for uniform to meet us at Triple B.”

  Dave stood up. “Full search warrant, sir? I thought you’d been told there was no chance of that.”

  Paolo shook his head. “No, but we’ve got the go ahead to bring in all the computers. To get those, we need to have a look in all the rooms. After all, who knows what might get left behind if we don’t check every single room in the place,” he said, winking.

  CC laughed. “Good point, sir. They’ll have to allow us full access, even if we can’t take anything other than the computers with us, we’ll get the chance to peer in all their dark corners. Pity Andrea went to the hospital to check on the coma patient this morning. It would have been good for her to get some experience on this type of search.”

  Paolo stopped midway to the door and waited for CC and Dave to catch him up.

  “Has she called in yet?”

  CC nodded. “Yes, she’s just finished talking to the nursing staff and the constable on watch outside the patient’s room. No change. The man hasn’t shown any signs of coming out of the coma. As you requested, Andrea has been scouring missing persons, but there’s been no one so far that matches the victim. He’s been in a coma for weeks now. You’d think there must be someone out there concerned because a family member has dropped out of sight.”

  Paolo led the way to the stairs. “I agree, but have you thought that maybe someone might be glad to see the back of him? We’re seeing him as a victim, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a nice man. He could be a wife beater for all we know and the woman he’s left in peace by being in the hospital is celebrating, not wondering where he might be so that she can get him back.”

  CC laughed. “That’s a bit of a stretch, sir, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

  “I agree. I was just using that as an example of why some people don’t get reported missing. There are times when the family members, work colleagues, whoever, are just glad the bastard has disappeared.”

  By this time, they’d reached the car park. Dave went through the ritual of patting his pockets, looking for the keys Paolo kne
w would be in the last place he looked. When Dave finally located them, he looked up in triumph and pressed the button to release the central locking device.

  “If my future mother-in-law disappeared,” he said, “I’d make sure there was no search party sent out looking for her until after the wedding.”

  “That bad?” CC asked, before climbing into the back of the car.

  Dave grinned. “Worse. I’m too traumatised to discuss it.”

  As Dave manoeuvred the car into the car park outside the club, Paolo was pleased to see three uniform vehicles already waiting for them. I bet Chaz is not a happy bunny peering through his spyhole, Paolo thought. I wonder if he’s already moving the members upstairs, out of our sight, to what he sees as a place of safety. Not that there could be many inside as there were very few cars in the parking area.

  One of the cars missing was George Baron’s silver Mercedes. Paolo hoped that didn’t mean the man himself wasn’t there either. He’d wanted to watch George’s face while they ran the search. People gave more away by their involuntary expressions than they realised – and the most telling of all was when there was no expression to see. Paolo loved it when that happened because anyone who made such an effort to control their features showed there was something to hide.

  With Dave on one side and CC on the other, backed up by a phalanx of uniformed officers, Paolo approached the steps. The door opened before he’d had chance to knock.

  “This is a bit heavy handed, isn’t it?” Chaz said, peering over Paolo’s shoulder.

  “Not at all, Chaz. Is George around?” Paolo said, flourishing a piece of paper under the man’s nose. “This is a warrant to remove all the computers from the premises.”

  Chaz scanned it. “George isn’t here. You’ll have to come back,” he said, attempting to close the door.

  Paolo put out his hand to stop him. “Oh no, you don’t. We don’t need George’s permission to come in, or yours either. Stand back, please, and let my men enter.”

  Chaz’s expression was one of resignation, rather than the disquiet Paolo had expected.

  “Feel free,” Chaz said, stepping back to let the uniformed officers pass by. “Make yourselves at home, but if you come across any of our members, please leave them in peace. They pay a great deal of money to have the run of this place and I don’t think they’d appreciate you bunch of clodhoppers disturbing them.”

  Paolo let everyone else enter, but stayed by the door next to Chaz.

  “So, where is George?”

  Whatever he’d been expecting Chaz to answer, the words that came out weren’t even close.

  “Fucked if I know. He left here the night before last and I haven’t seen him since.”

  “He hasn’t rung in?”

  Chaz shook his head, for the first time looking uneasy. “Hasn’t called me and isn’t answering his house phone or mobile. I’ve been round to his place. His car’s parked outside, but he’s not home. The bird what looks after his house said the car was there when she got to work yesterday morning, but his bed hadn’t been slept in. She seemed to think he hadn’t been inside the place since she’d been there the day before.”

  “What made her think that?”

  Chaz shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly torn between not wanting to discuss his boss with the police, but at the same time worried that something had happened George Baron. Paolo could see the indecision written on his face as his expression underwent several changes. Eventually, he nodded as if he’d reached a decision.

  “She said George had a routine. First thing he’d do when he got home was take a bath. Whether he was staying in or going out, he headed straight to the bathroom every night. She reckoned that none of the towels had been used. Normally there was stuff out of place, soap, shampoo, that sort of thing, but everything was where she’d put it the day before.”

  “Where do you think he went?”

  Chaz shrugged. “I dunno, but, as I said, his car’s outside the house. He wouldn’t have gone for a walk, that’s for fucking sure. Couldn’t bear walking, George couldn’t.”

  “What about his secretary? Have you asked Trudy Chappell if she knows anything?”

  An expression of alarm appeared so fleetingly on Chaz’s face that Paolo wasn’t even certain he’d seen it.

  “She’s off sick,” Chaz said. “Been off work for four days.”

  “But have you asked her? George might have told her something he’d forgotten to tell you.”

  “Not fucking likely. Besides, he gave her the push before she went off sick. He’s given her a decent final pay package, too, well over what he needed to pay, considering he gave her the elbow.”

  “Really? She seemed to be settled here. What happened?”

  Chaz looked away. “No idea. Nothing to do with me, but I’m telling you she won’t know nothing about where George is. If he didn’t tell me he wouldn’t have told her.”

  “Why don’t you come down to the station and put in a missing person’s report? He might have gone for a walk after all, had an accident and be lying in a hospital bed somewhere,” Paolo said, thinking of the mysterious patient at Bradchester Central.

  “Yeah, I might do that. Oi!” he shouted, catching sight of the officers climbing the marble staircase. “Where d’you think you’re going? There’s no fucking computers up there.” He turned back to Paolo. “You said that warrant was for computers. Tell them to come back down.”

  Paolo stepped past him. “But how will we know there are no computers upstairs unless we go up to look?” he said, smiling at the look of fury on Chaz’s face.

  “Go on then, but you won’t find any.”

  Paolo headed for the stairs, waving his hand at Chaz as he went. “Maybe not, but I’m dying to see what’s so special about those upstairs rooms.”

  The first ten bedrooms they entered were a disappointment. Beautifully furnished though they were, they didn’t ring any bells as far as Paolo was concerned. No computers, nothing to indicate anyone did anything in them, other than sleep.

  The eleventh looked to be even more innocuous, being considerably smaller than the others. One of the uniformed officers let out a shout from inside the fitted wardrobe which took up the entire wall on the left side of the room.

  “I think you need to see this, sir.”

  Paolo went over and peered inside. At the back of the wardrobe, hidden by a loose panel the officer had moved, was a concealed door.

  “I tapped on the walls and it sounded too hollow to be solid. Then I found this bit here didn’t quite meet with the wall in the corner, so dug my nails in. The panel came away quite easily.”

  “Good work. Let’s see where this leads.”

  Paolo turned the handle, but the door wouldn’t budge.

  “Nip downstairs and bring Chaz up, would you?” he said to the constable. “Don’t tell him what we’ve found. I want to see his face when you bring him in here.”

  Paolo stepped out of the wardrobe and closed the door in the hope that Chaz might not guess they had found the club’s secret. The only thing he had to do now was find out exactly what the secret might be.

  Chaz came into the bedroom looking wary, as well he might, thought Paolo.

  “This room is much smaller than the others, why is that?”

  He shrugged. “Because that’s all the space that was left after the other rooms were put in?” he suggested.

  Paolo looked over at Dave and CC in mock inquiry. “What do you think? Truth or lie?”

  Dave shook his head. CC looked away, as if to hide her smile.

  “No, I didn’t think so, either,” Paolo said. “If it wasn’t for the fitted wardrobe, this room would be the same size as the others.”

  “Well, there you go, then. What’re you asking me for if you’ve already worked it out? I need to be downstairs looking after the place, not up here answering daft questions.”

  “Yes, you’re right. But before you go back down, do me a favour and unlock the concealed
door in the wardrobe.”

  The colour left Chaz’s face, but Paolo was impressed with the man’s reaction. He managed to look innocent, with just the right hint of confusion, as if the existence of such a door was news to him.

  “I have no idea what you’re on about,” he said.

  “Fair enough,” Paolo said. “Constable, go downstairs with this gentleman and search his room. Bring up every key you can find. But before you go, pat him down to see if he has any keys concealed about his person. Better strip him off and put some rubber gloves on. You never know where you might need to search.”

  Chaz backed away. “You can’t do that. You’re here for computers. You think I’ve got a fucking computer up my jacksy?”

  Paolo shook his head. “No, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find a key tucked away up there. You’re an ex-con, Chaz. Everything about you screams that at me, which means you know how to hide the things you don’t want us to find. We have a warrant to take in all the computers. We’ve found a hidden door, which means we are within the remit of the warrant to search behind that door to make sure there are no computers concealed within.” He smiled. “Now, are you going to hand over the key, or do you want to undergo the indignity of a strip search knowing whether we find the key or not, we are going to find out what’s on the other side of the door?”

  Chaz seemed to be debating with himself. “Fuck you,” he spat. “Why don’t you knock the fucker down?”

  “If we have to, we will, but I’d be remiss in my duty if I didn’t have you searched first. I know a couple of officers who’ll enjoy giving you a thorough examination. Much more thorough than this young constable. Do you want to wait for them, or are you going to be sensible and hand over the key?”

  The look Chaz gave Paolo should have fried him on the spot, the amount of red hot venom it contained. Paolo stood his ground, smiling in a way he knew would infuriate Chaz even more.

  “Even if I had the key I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction.”

  Paolo waited and then nodded to the officer to start patting him down. Within seconds he handed Paolo a large bunch of keys.