A Normal November: The Freeman Files Series: Book 15

by Ted Tayler

  “Half an hour,” said Suzie.

  “I need to shower and change after spending the day in Swindon. We’ve got several characters we can eliminate from our enquiries, but no matter what we’ve done so far, we can’t find a motive for the murder.”

  “You thought it was personal,” said Suzie.

  “I know it was,” said Gus. “Everything I’ve ever learned as a copper screams to me that someone wanted Richard Chaloner to suffer. They tried to hide the truth by making it appear to be a robbery, but it didn’t fool me.”

  “Have your shower,” said Suzie. “We’ll eat dinner, and then you can take me through the case step-by-step.”

  “Another quiet night in? The neighbours will talk.”

  “They’ll have plenty to gossip over next week,” said Suzie.

  Thursday, 6th September 2018

  “I’ll see you at around half-past seven,” said Suzie as she stood by her Golf at eight-fifteen.

  “Okay,” said Gus. “I don’t expect to be home late this evening. We’ll eat at the Fox and Hounds tonight for a change. I’ll give them a ring later.”

  “No visit to the allotments tonight.”

  “September evenings can get chilly, I hear,” said Gus. “The weekend is almost upon us.”

  “Good luck today,” said Suzie. “Why did you ask Luke to bring Blessing this morning?”

  “I need Blessing to ride shotgun when I interview Eddie Dolman,” said Gus. “That keeps the Chief Constable off my case. Luke can handle Jeff Hughes alone. Luke’s feeling left out of things at present, which isn’t my intention. I’m desperate to keep him with the team. There aren’t many opportunities to give someone added responsibility without putting another person’s nose out of joint.”

  “I’m sure you’ll keep him sweet,” said Suzie. “See you tonight.”

  Gus followed the VW Golf as far as the junction and flashed his lights as Suzie turned left towards Devizes. He turned right and took the quieter scenic route to Upavon and followed the A346 through Marlborough to Gablecross. He congratulated himself on his timing when he pulled up beside Luke’s car in the car park at two minutes to nine.

  Luke and Blessing were still negotiating Reception when Gus joined them. The duty sergeant rescued the three of them from an over-zealous youngster who looked as if he was in the building for work experience. The sergeant insisted he was nineteen, but Gus had his doubts.

  “We’ve had to limit you to Interview Room Three this morning,” said the sergeant. “Tom Spencer needs more space.”

  “Tom found the tractor thieves,” said Luke. “He said he would.”

  “He certainly did,” said the sergeant. “We’ve got five men in the cells waiting for an interview, and a convoy of stolen vehicles are getting returned to their owners as we speak.”

  “Let’s hope we can add to the feel-good vibe around the station,” said Gus.

  Gus, Luke, and Blessing settled themselves in the interview room. Luke and Blessing got things ready for half-past nine.

  “Do we see Dolman and Hughes together, guv?” asked Blessing. “I’m surplus to requirements, aren’t I?”

  “No, we’ll see them separately, Blessing,” said Gus. “Hughes will have to wait in Reception until we’ve finished with his former housemate. You and I will handle Dolman. Luke can see Hughes alone. Luke can observe from behind the one-way glass for the first session, and then we’ll swap places.”

  Gus took his team through the pattern of questions he hoped to follow.

  “We can’t be too regimented in our approach,” he reminded them. “If you spot a potential opening, pursue it as vigorously as you can. Something has to give, sooner or later.”

  At nine-thirty, on the dot, the duty sergeant returned to the interview room with Eddie Dolman. The painter and decorator had discarded his overalls and wore casual clothes—a maroon sweater over a magnolia shirt and faded blue jeans. Gus corrected himself. The shirt was cream coloured.

  “Take a seat, Mr Dolman,” said Gus. “Freeman’s the name, a consultant with Wiltshire Police. Detective Constable Umeh is also present. Did you decide against bringing legal representation with you this morning?”

  “Nobody mentioned I needed a solicitor,” said Eddie.

  Gus wanted him on the back foot from the outset. He was convinced Eddie Dolman held one of the missing pieces to this case.

  “Our colleague, Detective Sergeant Sherman, told you why we wanted to speak with you this morning. We’re taking a fresh look at the murder of your friend, Richard Chaloner, two years ago.”

  “We had been friends since we were kids, but that changed over the last few years.”

  “Remind us how you met,” asked Gus.

  “In the playground when we were five,” said Eddie.

  “At school in Pinehurst,”

  “That’s right. We were always in the same class until we went to secondary school. Richard was brighter than Jeff and me.”

  “Jeff Hughes?”

  “Jeff drove me here this morning. He called last night and asked if I needed a lift. The first time we’d spoken for several years.”

  “You went around together outside of school too, didn’t you? We understand you attended the same youth club.”

  “That’s right,” said Eddie. “We stuck together despite everything.”

  “Who suggested sharing the same house?” asked Gus.

  “Richard, I think. It’s a long time ago now. We got on, and it worked out cheaper between the three of us.”

  “So, from the age of eighteen to twenty-eight, you shared a home with Richard Chaloner and Jeff Hughes?”

  “We had some great times,” said Eddie. “Three young lads, footloose and fancy-free. We were working daytime jobs, earning decent money, and enjoying life evenings and weekends.”

  “Did you meet many girls?” asked Blessing.

  “Of course we did, but that wasn’t important in the first few years. We made friends with people from other parts of Swindon. Most were lads, but some were girls. The three of us had a girlfriend from time to time, nothing serious.”

  “Then you met Louise,” said Gus.

  “Jeff Hughes saw Louise first and went out with her for a month. I stole Louise from him. We got married later that same year. Jeff and Richard didn’t speak to me for a while after that. Richard thought I’d let the side down. He and Jeff had belonged to the Round Table branch ever since they were old enough, but that fun and friendship stuff made me suspicious. Jeff told me on the way here that because the upper age limit was forty-five, he had to leave a year ago..”

  “We understand you kept in touch with Richard and Jeff at CAMRA and the Folk Club. Did that stop when you married Louise?”

  “I couldn’t afford to go as often as before,” said Eddie. “We’ve got two kids, a boy and a girl. It wasn’t always practical to get to Highworth or Wroughton for a night out.”

  “So, it strained relations between the three of you after you got married,” said Gus.

  “For a while. Richard was mad at me because I left at short notice, and they found it tough holding onto the house.”

  “They could have advertised for someone to share the load,” said Gus.

  “You don’t understand. That wasn’t possible, under the circumstances. Anyway, as it happened, we needn’t have got married in a rush. It was a false alarm. A couple of years later, Louise was pregnant for real, and Jeff and I started talking again. I did some work at his parent’s house in Pinehurst. As I was finishing for the day, he turned up and asked if I fancied going for a drink one night. That set things right between us.”

  “Did you ever heal the rift with Richard?” asked Blessing.

  “We did, and we didn’t,” said Eddie. “It was never the same as when we were teenagers—all for one, and one for all. We were civil to one another when we met. Let’s put it that way.”

  “It’s taken a long time to identify you as the man seen on the forecourt of Richard’s garage o
n the morning of the day he died. Although you and Richard weren’t the bosom buddies you had been as kids, it must have shocked you to learn of his death. Why didn’t you come forward at the time?”

  “I didn’t want to get involved,” said Eddie.

  “Why, I wonder?” said Gus.

  “I didn’t kill Richard,” said Eddie. “We argued that morning because he was bloody-minded as usual. I wanted a quick check of my electrical fault. But, he had to stick to his principles and look after his loyal customers first. After all the years, Jeff and I stayed loyal to him. I knew the police would latch onto the argument and then add that to us falling out over Louise and the money. I would have been their prime suspect if the police didn’t have anyone else in the frame. So I kept my mouth shut, and when nobody from Gablecross went near Jeff Hughes, I realised he’d adopted the same approach.”

  “Did you get an invitation to Richard and Eve’s wedding?” asked Blessing.

  “No, the first I knew of it was when the wedding photos appeared in the Advertiser.”

  “Did it surprise you to see Richard get married?”

  “He wasn’t gay. Richard just wasn’t worried whether or not he met the right girl in the old days. If it happened, it happened.”

  “Jeff Hughes was the same, I imagine?” asked Gus.

  Eddie laughed.

  “Louise said Jeff didn’t see her as an equal. That was why she threw her lot in with me. Look at him now, shacked up with a mail-order bride, twenty years his junior. On the way here this morning, Jeff admitted he was already regretting it.”

  “What do you know about Tara Laing?” asked Gus.

  “What does she have to do with Richard’s murder?” asked Eddie.

  “Ever since we started looking at this case, I’ve struggled to find anyone with a motive to kill Richard.”

  “I can’t imagine Richard ever knew her to speak to,” said Eddie. “Jeff Hughes wouldn’t have either. We saw her in Swindon when we were in our early twenties, but Tara was way too young to mix with us.”

  “Did you ever see her with a boyfriend?” asked Gus.

  “It didn’t register if we did,” said Eddie. “As I said, the places we went to were popular with older people. We rarely went anywhere to mix with people younger than ourselves after we left the youth club.”

  “Do you recall when Tara Laing and Stan Jones were due to get married?” asked Gus.

  “That was big news for a few days when it happened,” said Eddie. “Getting cold feet and leaving the groom standing like a lemon. Well, it doesn’t happen every day, does it?”

  “Fifteen years ago now,” said Gus.

  “Not quite,” said Eddie. “It was the end of the first week in November.”

  “How can you be so definite?” asked Blessing.

  “The couple had booked the wedding for Saturday afternoon. Louise went into labour at three o’clock. Our son, Tyson, was born at seven on Sunday morning. The nurses were discussing what happened at the registry office throughout the night.”

  Gus had to admit Eddie Dolman didn’t have a motive to kill Richard Chaloner. He was desperate to find the connection they were missing, but it still eluded him. When Luke had spoken to Jeff Hughes, Gus wanted to go through both men’s replies, searching for discrepancies, anything that hinted they were hiding something. Was the picture becoming sharper, or was the fog descending altogether?

  CHAPTER 11

  “What happens now?” asked Eddie.

  “I’ll call the desk sergeant,” said Gus. “He’ll escort Jeff Hughes here, and you can wait in Reception. We may need to speak with you again.”

  Two minutes later, Luke entered the room with the desk sergeant and Jeff Hughes.

  Eddie Dolman glanced at his friend, nodded, and followed the sergeant from the room.

  “Eddie will wait for you in Reception,” explained Gus. “DS Sherman will be in charge of this interview. My colleague and I will leave you now.

  Gus and Blessing went into the corridor and found their way to the viewing room.

  While Luke went through the usual preamble, Blessing asked Gus:

  “What did you make of Eddie Dolman, guv?”

  “Eddie told us something, but I can’t work what it meant.”

  Blessing sat in a chair and watched Luke get to work.

  “Why did you give Eddie a lift here this morning?” asked Luke.

  “How did you hear that?” asked Jeff.

  “I’m a detective,” said Luke. “You two go way back, don’t you?”

  “Ever since we were kids at school. It’s not a crime.”

  “Two’s company,” said Luke.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Was there something that kept the three of you together through your teens and into your twenties?”

  “We were mates,” said Jeff.

  “You never fell out?” asked Luke.

  “We were okay until Louise came on the scene.”

  “Richard was a gregarious individual, according to everyone the police spoke to two years ago. Richard had girlfriends, but nobody serious. Did he fancy Louise?”

  “Richard was looking for the right girl. I never asked whether he thought Louise was the one. I went with Louise for a while, but things didn’t work out, and the next thing I know, Eddie’s with her. Louise and Eddie got married, and suddenly we were one short when the mortgage payment became due. Richard wasn’t happy.”

  “Eddie made a life without you,” said Luke. “Two children, his painting and decorating business. You saw less of him at the Folk Club and the CAMRA meetings.”

  “People move on, don’t they? So we muddled along, just the two of us, making our way in business—Richard with his garage, me with my window cleaning firm. Then, one night, I was with Richard in town, and while I was getting the drinks, I noticed him chatting with a woman. It wasn’t unusual. He could chat to anybody, but I’d never seen Richard so animated or engaged. When I gave him his drink, he told me he’d found the girl he would marry. It was as simple as that. Richard asked me to be his best man within weeks. Eve would have been the making of him. They were made for each other.”

  “Why didn’t you come forward when Richard died?”

  “Don’t know what you mean. I visited Eve as soon as she returned from Greece. I told her how sorry I was for her loss. She said I must miss him too, which I did. When the police finally released the body, I helped Eve with the funeral arrangements.”

  “The police never contacted you?” asked Luke.

  “They had no cause to,” said Jeff.

  “Did you know Eddie argued with Richard that morning?”

  “Of course I didn’t, not at the time. I do now because Eddie mentioned it in the car as we drove here.”

  “Where were you on the day Stan Jones and Tara Laing were due to get married?”

  “Heaven only knows,” said Jeff.

  “Did you know Tara Laing?”

  Jeff shook his head.

  “For the tape, Mr Hughes,” said Luke.

  “She was a child the last time I saw her. We were much older than Tara. I didn’t know her.”

  “What about Stan Jones? The young man Tara couldn’t bring herself to marry. Had you met him?”

  “He was the same age as Tara. Why should we know him?”

  “Did you spot that, Blessing?” asked Gus as they watched from the other room.

  “Twice, guv,” said Blessing.

  “Time for us to join in the fun. Three against one isn’t fair odds, is it? Never mind.”

  Gus didn’t knock. He and Blessing entered Interview Room Three.

  “Gus Freeman and DC Blessing Umeh have entered the room,” said Luke.

  “Eddie Dolman gave us the first hint of the truth earlier, Mr Hughes. We know what happened. There’s no point denying it any longer. Eddie said the three of you stuck together despite everything. It was necessary to stay close, wasn’t it? Two’s company, and three’s a crowd. I asked Edd
ie why you and Richard didn’t advertise for another housemate when he got married. It wasn’t possible, under the circumstances, was his response to that. Then when he visited the garage on the day Richard died to ask for a favour, Richard refused. What did Eddie say about that? He said that after the years Eddie had stayed loyal to Richard, he couldn’t do that one small thing for him. DS Sherman watched that interview and picked up the clues. When he asked where you were on the day Stan Jones and Tara Laing were due to get married, you almost jumped out of your chair. You hid it well and recovered, but when asked if you had met Stan Jones, there it was again.”

  “Stan Jones is our missing link,” said Luke. “Stan Jones junior, the lad who picked up a discarded firework thinking it had didn't ignite.”

  “Two’s company, three’s a gang, perhaps,” said Gus. “Who was the ringleader?”

  “Richard,” said Jeff Hughes, his shoulders slumped.

  “That flies in the face of everything we’ve heard,” said Gus.

  “Richard tried to make recompense for that night for the rest of his life. He sponsored various events for children's charities, the air ambulance, you name it. We went out on November the fifth that year, not intent on making trouble, but we were just stupid. We cycled around the streets, throwing lit fireworks at front doors, dropping them in litter bins. When we cycled along Ponting Street, one banger didn’t ignite, and a young boy was waiting in the doorway, watching the rockets in the sky. His parents were indoors. As we raced away to the next street, the lad must have bent to pick up the firework. I heard the bang and his screams. We cycled faster. Nobody linked the incident with us, and as long as we stuck together and never mentioned it again, Richard thought we were safe.”

  “Bicycles,” said Blessing. “Was that how you got around in those days?”

  “I couldn’t afford a car, and nor could the others,” said Jeff. “I hadn’t long left school. It was November the fifth, 1989. Stan must have been seven, maybe eight years old. There were reports in the paper about the accident. Then, after two weeks, the dust settled, and the world moved on.”

  “Not for Stan Jones,” said Gus.

  “An accident such as Stan’s wasn’t a rare occurrence years ago,” said Jeff. “The campaign for tighter controls over the sale of fireworks gained ground with each November casualty, but the momentum faded in the New Year. It was the anniversary of that night that forever brought the horror of what we’d caused home to us three.”