Sam leafed through the paperwork. He found what he wanted immediately.
Contact details.
Roger's address and phone number.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside, drawing level with the front of Lintons. Sam closed the drawer and crouched down behind the cabinet, still clutching the file. He peered around the cabinet and saw a middle-aged couple studying the posters in the windows, leisurely debating the merits of the properties on display. Their chocolate Labrador sniffed the front step of the estate agents with mild curiosity.
Sam sighed, reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and notepad. In the murky light, he scribbled down Roger's contact details. Now all he had to do was return the file.
Suddenly, the dog started whining.
'Hey, girl,' Sam heard the man say soothingly. 'What's up with you?'
Sam risked another peek around the cabinet. The dog had its nose pressed up against the glass door, eyes fixated on the filing cabinet. It saw Sam and began growling.
Sam ducked back into the shadows.
'Settle down, girl,' laughed the man. 'There's nobody in there.'
Too late. The dog was pawing at the door, barking now.
'David, let's get her away. Something in there has set her off.'
Sam heard the dog being dragged away by its owners, still barking in protest. He rested his head against the cold steel cabinet. The couple had moved away but Sam could still hear them.
'Do you think there's somebody in there?'
The woman's voice, barely audible over the whining of the dog.
'I didn't see anybody,' replied the man. 'Then again, Lady doesn't usually act like that for no reason.'
Sam let out a sigh. He had a sneaky suspicion this couple were the kind of good citizens who might feel it their duty to alert someone so the place could be checked out. In which case, it wasn't wise to stay a moment longer. He pulled open the cabinet drawer and restored the file back to its original place. Then he got to his feet and made his way through the rear of the shop, quietly closing the back door so it locked again.
In the yard, he levered himself up onto the top of the wall. The coast was clear. He dropped down the other side, dusted himself down and started walking.
To his alarm, a police car suddenly appeared, pulling up outside Lintons just as Sam rounded the corner. Two uniformed officers got out and approached the estate agents. The man and woman were still hanging around. Sam saw the couple glance warily at each other, then the man passed the dog lead to his partner and walked towards the policemen.
'Excuse me, officers...'
Sam crossed the road, fighting the urge to make a run for it. He needed to hold his nerve. The Capri was only yards away. He glanced behind him. The three men outside Lintons were deep in discussion, the woman listening in on their conversation. None of them looked his way.
Sam climbed into the Capri and accelerated away slowly. There was only one way out, and that meant stopping at the junction opposite Lintons. The small group were still huddled outside the estate agents, the woman having joined the three men in their debate. As Sam crawled to a halt at the junction, they all turned in unison and stared his way. To his discomfort, he had to wait for a vehicle to pass. A luxury Jaguar, long and sleek, electric blue with heavily tinted windows, in no rush as it rolled by the front of Sam's Capri.
A long blue car.
Blacked out windows.
Sam set off after the Jaguar. He wanted to find out if it was the same vehicle that Roger Carpenter's neighbours had seen driving up and down Cherry Lane in the days before Hope Findlay went missing. He watched it go through a set of traffic lights a split second before they turned red.
Dismayed, he brought the Capri to a halt.
There was nothing approaching from the other direction. With no cameras in the vicinity, it would have been relatively safe to jump the lights and set off after the Jag. However, a glance in his mirror put paid to that. One of the policemen outside Lintons was facing his way, talking into his phone. He didn't look particularly interested in Sam's car, but that would change if he saw it running a red light.
Sam tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting impatiently. In his mirror, the second policeman appeared from around the back of Lintons. Sam watched him give his colleague a subtle shake of the head. His partner shrugged and ended his phone call. The officers had a short conversation, then turned to the couple with the dog. A brief discussion, and the man and woman departed.
The police hadn't found anything. Nothing to warrant calling the owners out.
The lights finally turned green and Sam drove off, accepting the Jaguar would be long gone now. He couldn't even put his foot down to try and catch it. The police car had tagged onto his rear, following in his wake for now.
Sam consoled himself with the knowledge he had what he wanted out of this trip.
And he wasn't going to waste any time using it.
Chapter 17
Sam sat on his bonnet and stared idly into the distance. He was parked on top of a hill overlooking the road where Roger Carpenter currently resided according to Lintons estate agents. It was more of a highway than a road, a wide, straight stretch of tarmac that rolled out as far as Sam could see. Huge, detached houses were dotted at generous intervals on either side, each property surrounded by bountiful gardens to the front and rear. Beyond the houses lay acres of fields, the lush grass glistening with a light coat of frost.
Sam deemed that Roger Carpenter must be doing very well in life.
He got back in his car and let the vehicle roll down the slope, scanning the roadside for Roger's property. He spotted it just as the road levelled out. Sam spied a petrol station a couple of hundred yards farther on, an old-fashioned set-up, with a single rusty pump on the forecourt, and a tired looking garage at the rear. Sam wasn't sure if the place was just closed for the day or shut down permanently. Either way, it was an ugly blot on an idyllic landscape.
However, everything had its use.
Sam parked in front of the garage and began the short walk to Roger's house. He hadn't taken more than a dozen steps when a car drove past and pulled up outside Roger's property. Two men in suits got out and walked up the drive without giving Sam a backwards glance.
Sam planted his hands in his pockets and slowed down, watching as the door to Roger's house opened. He couldn't make out who had greeted the men, but he could see the visitors holding up badges.
Police.
Sam supposed it was only a matter of time before they notified Roger Carpenter of his nephew's death. Sam had timed his visit just right. However, watching the plain-clothes officers step inside Roger's house, he decided witnessing their appearance wasn't enough. He needed to hear what was being said.
Sam waited for the front door to shut then scurried around the side of the house. His luck was in. Roger Carpenter clearly enjoyed fresh air as every window in the house was open, despite the crisp wind gently caressing the building. Sam found himself on the back corner of the property, close to the kitchen window. He leant back against the wall and listened to the rattle of crockery.
'A drink, gentlemen?'
Someone coughed politely.
'Er, Mr Carpenter, if you don't mind me saying, you don't seem too upset by the news of Danny's death.'
Silence. Sam imagined it was an awkward one. The next voice he heard was deep and brusque. It took Sam back to the footage outside the cottage taken in the days following Rose Carpenter's death.
'Danny left here without a thought for anyone,' retorted Roger Carpenter defensively. 'Not a single word to say where he was going. Nothing to let me know what he was doing. Why should I care what happened to him?'
Sam raised his eyebrows, taken back by the brutality of Roger's words. The distaste in his voice. Clearly, the reaction had thrown the policemen as well. A short pause ensued. However, the officers had come with a prepared agenda.
'Well, that's not strictly true, is it, Mr Carpenter? We h
ave reason to believe Danny paid you a visit some months ago.'
The statement appeared to catch Roger off-guard.
'How-how do you know that?'
'We're asking the questions here, Mr Carpenter.'
Sam smiled. He had relayed everything to DI Robins, including his theory Danny had returned to Morehampton not long before his death. If these officers had that information, then it meant Robins had passed everything on. The investigation into Danny's death and Hope's disappearance was now firmly in the hands of powers higher than Newgate police force.
Sam had another thought. The police must have verified his idea Danny had travelled back to his home village. Perhaps they had found CCTV footage or talked to Roger's old next door neighbour. It mattered little. They were on the right track, and Roger Carpenter was sounding rattled.
'Look, he didn't tell me anything. He stayed a couple of days...we argued...he disappeared again.'
'What did you argue about?'
Roger let out a resigned sigh.
'Look, me and Danny never got on. I've never made any secret of the fact I found it difficult taking him and his sister on when their parents died. I never wanted children, and me and my wife were happy with that. When Danny's sister, Hope, disappeared, he blamed it on me. He reckoned she must have run away because she was so unhappy being under the same roof as me. In turn, I suppose I held it against both of them when my wife died. It all got very messy.'
Sam was surprised at Roger Carpenter's honesty. He didn't sound like a man with something to hide.
'So, why did Danny come back if you two couldn't stand each other?'
Sam held his breath. A mobile phone rang before Roger could answer.
'Excuse me a moment,' mumbled Roger.
Sam noticed a vehicle cruise past the house. The same blue Jaguar he had seen earlier outside Lintons. Sam had a nagging sensation someone was watching him from behind the vehicle's darkened windows.
'Somebody's what?'
The strangled cry down the phone told Sam he was in trouble. The Jaguar picked up speed and disappeared into the distance. Sam decided it was time he did the same. He skirted back around the house and started down the drive, knowing the damage was done. Someone in that car was trying to get him into strife with the law. Physical intimidation had failed, now a more subtle method was being used.
Sam heard raised voices from within the house. He guessed Roger had relayed the message to the policemen that someone was snooping outside his home. Sam broke into a run. He was off the drive and heading towards his car in a flash. Only yards from the petrol station, he heard a cry.
'Stop! Police!'
Sam didn't look back. He reached his car just as doors slammed and an engine started up back down the road. Sam sent the Capri careering out onto the road with tyres screeching. In his mirror, he saw the unmarked police car being launched with similar abandon.
Sam needed to keep distance between the two vehicles, if only to avoid getting his number plate recognised. As he upped through the gears, an unpleasant notion popped into his head. The police had turned up far too quickly outside Lintons estate agents. No way could the couple with the dog have made the call in time. That meant the Jaguar was also responsible for that little trick. Sam begrudgingly gave credit to whoever was in the car. They had turned the tables on him big time.
Brains as well as brawn.
Sam hurtled up a steep hill, glancing in his mirror again, aware he could put a stop to this chase immediately. Bring the car to a halt, confess to the police his reason for lurking outside Roger's house, and take whatever punishment came his way.
However, that would make it difficult to track down those who had attacked him.
Sam floored the accelerator.
***
'No!'
Sam's strangled cry as he flew over the hill was a reaction to the scene before him. An articulated lorry was rumbling along up ahead. On the opposite side of the road, a lengthy line of traffic crawled his way, held up by a tractor. The distance between the procession of vehicles and the lorry was quickly reducing. Sam knew as soon as they passed each other, he would be stuck behind the lorry, unable to overtake, helpless as the police caught up with him.
He refused to touch his brakes, allowing the Capri to scream down the hill. Another glance in his mirror surprised him. The police car looked to have backed off a touch. Perhaps they thought he wouldn't make it.
Maybe they were right.
Sam swung his car out onto the other side of the road.
Into the face of the oncoming traffic.
The tractor was a hundred yards away, heading straight at him. Sam began to overtake the lorry, judging he had only seconds to pass and get back into the lane before he smashed into the front of the tractor. There was nowhere else to go now. A thick hedge blocked any route off-road, and his only escape route was diminishing fast.
Sam drew level with the cab of the lorry. Its driver glanced down at him in disbelief. Shaking his head, he lowered his window.
'Put your foot down, you idiot!' he yelled, waving Sam on. A harsh squeal sounded as the lorry's brakes were applied. The driver was trying to buy him time.
Sam wasn't sure it would be enough.
The tractor loomed up large in front of him, its enormous wheels as high as Sam's car. The driver stared at the Capri in shock as the smaller vehicle rushed at him. Suddenly, the countryside was awash with the smell of burning rubber and blaring horns. The tractor driver was grappling with his controls, trying to bring his vehicle to a halt, causing everyone behind him to brake frantically.
It was too late. The gap between the tractor's roadside tyre and the front end of the lorry had almost disappeared.
Sam swung the steering wheel violently, missing the huge black tyre of the tractor by millimetres on one side, squeezing past the wing of the lorry by a fraction on the other. He zoomed off, sweeping past the long trail of stalling cars on the other side of the road. He wound down his window and listened hard. No sound of crunching metal pierced the air. No pile-up had occurred. Sam resumed his concentration. He wasn't out of the woods yet.
It wasn't just losing the police that was on his mind. He was heading inland, rather than back down the coast as he wanted. An all-out description of his car would be issued, and DI Robins would soon hear about it. Sam needed to get back to Newgate as quickly as possible.
He rounded a bend at speed and spotted a large house in the distance, set back off the road behind a dense wood. A gap in the trees indicated a driveway to the property. Sam kept his foot on the gas until he reached the entrance to the driveway, then slammed on the brakes and turned his wheel rapidly, guiding the Capri between the high trees and into darkness. He brought the car to a standstill and waited in the gloom.
Moments later, he heard a vehicle speed past, followed by the roar of a lorry thundering by.
A sudden tap on his window made him jump.
A tall, middle-aged lady in a large sheepskin coat stared down at him, arms folded, an inquisitive look on her face. Sam wound down his window.
'Can I help you?' the woman asked. 'Only you're on my property.'
'Er...yes,' said Sam, grinning sheepishly. 'I'm a bit lost.'
The woman gave him a studious look, gazed around the dense clump of trees, then turned back to him with a thin smile.
'Yes, I'd say you were. Where are you trying to get to?'
'Morehampton,' said Sam, deciding any mention of Newgate would leave clues to his presence here today. 'I'm in a bit of a rush. That's probably how I managed to get lost.'
The woman's smile widened.
'I know a short cut,' she said, a twinkle appearing in her eyes. 'It'll bring you out onto the coastal road in no time.'
Chapter 18
Sam returned to Newgate without further incident, listening avidly to the local news bulletins all the way. He heard no mention of a car chase. No appeal for witnesses to a fleeing vehicle. He didn't park outside his flat immediately
. Instead, he waited across the road, watching the row of shops patiently. He saw Moira move about inside the flower shop. With nothing in the vicinity striking him as unusual, he guided the Capri into a space outside his flat. Taking a deep breath, he climbed the stairs and entered his flat with caution. He wasn't going to get caught out twice.
All clear.
Sam dropped into an armchair and ran through the events of the morning. The unsavoury conclusion was he hadn't attracted unwelcome attention while up the coast in Morehampton or Witcham. Someone was tracking him from here in Newgate, and they were always one step ahead of him when he left town. The link was the blue Jaguar. It had been on the scene prior to Hope's disappearance, and it had tailed him today as he tracked down Roger Carpenter.
Sam rang Richie but the line was busy. He sent his friend a message, asking him to run a check on the Jaguar's registration number. It was a long shot at best.
The intercom to Sam's flat buzzed into life, causing him to tense up. He rose from his chair, wondering if it was time he moved out and found somewhere else to live. The flat had proved useful in the past. One entrance in meant he had always been able to vet any callers. However, recent events were forcing him to re-think.
It was Moira. Sam let her in, watching her shiver in a bright green bubble jacket and pink fingerless gloves.
'Moira, what can I do for you?'
His landlady gave him a curious look, rubbing her hands together vigorously.
'Blimey, Sam! It's freezing in here!'
Sam hadn't noticed the chill in the flat.
'I'll put the heating on,' he said.
Moira shook her head.
'No need, Sam. I'm not staying. I just wanted to ask if everything's okay between you and Alice. She seems to think she's done something to upset you.'
Sam thought about his premature departure from Alice's birthday party. He had also turned down her suggestion they meet up. He could see how it might look.
'Nothing of the sort,' he said, giving Moira a reassuring smile. 'I've just had a lot on.'
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