by Dawn Brookes
Fiona leaned down to stroke Lady’s head. She calmed as if understanding.
‘Carlos Jacobi, you mean? I’ve met him a couple of times. He was at the church service on Sunday evening. Nice fellow. He’s investigating the death of Harold Sissons, isn’t he? No, he’s not been here. Why would he?’
‘He was speaking to everyone who was at the community centre on the day Mr Sissons disappeared. He told me you were on his list, that’s all.’ Fiona watched for a reaction, but the colonel didn’t blink.
‘No. He hasn’t been here. Now I’d thank you to take that wretched dog off my property before it gets hurt.’
‘I don’t suppose you have a piece of rope?’ Fiona gave her best smile.
The colonel hesitated, before saying, ‘Hang on a minute.’ He returned with a piece of rope. Fiona tied it around Lady’s collar. The dog was growling and reluctant to leave, but Fiona pulled her away.
‘Thank you for your time, Colonel Webb. And your understanding. Come on, Lady.’
We’ll be back later with a warrant, but she kept that thought to herself.
Fiona started the walk back up the path to the road and felt the rope slip from her hand as Lady pulled away. She gave chase again and caught sight of the rear end of the dog as Lady leapt over the lower half of the stable door into the house. Fiona leaned over undoing the bolt and followed cautiously.
There was no sign of Webb. Fiona walked across the kitchen, treading quietly. Lady was no longer barking, but she could hear her snuffling.
Fiona found Lady sniffing the bottom of a door that looked like it led to a cellar. She held her fingers to her lips.
‘Shush.’
She looked around, but Webb was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he’s gone to lock the gun away. Fiona opened the cellar door and Lady hurtled down the steps. She felt the wall and found a light switch. Seconds later, she felt the rifle pressing between her shoulder blades.
‘Down you go, Sergeant Cook,’ Webb commanded.
Carlos grimaced in pain as he tried to open his eyes. Every move of his head brought a thumping into his temples. It reminded him of his one and only experience of captivity in Greece when he’d been rescued by a friend. He felt a cold stone floor beneath him and shifted uncomfortably.
When he finally opened his eyes, he couldn’t see a thing. The room was pitch-black. From the musty smell, he gathered he was in an outbuilding or cellar. His hands were tied behind his back. He tried to sit up, but discovered his feet were also tied. The pounding in his head caused him to moan out loud. What had happened?
Webb! It’s been Webb all along.
He called out, ‘Hello! Is anyone there? Hey?’ At least he wasn’t gagged, which meant either he was out of the way somewhere no-one could hear or the room was soundproof. Neither scenario boded well.
Why the heck didn’t I listen to Lady? She tried to warn me. That dog has a sixth sense, Barry had told him. He’d laughed at the time, but he should have brought her with him.
No. Webb would have killed her.
‘Think,’ he told himself. His eyes became accustomed to the dark and he could make out shapes. Nothing else.
He felt the phone buzzing in his cargo pants pocket. Struggling to move, he forced himself on to his back, lifting his legs in the air. The phone dropped out, but landed face down. Shuffling into a sitting position, he flipped the phone over between his feet. Fiona’s name was on the screen. He couldn’t hit the answer button and sat helplessly as he watched it go to voicemail; he’d been meaning to set voice activation on the phone for ages, but hadn’t got around to it.
If I get out of this mess, that’s the first thing I’m going to do.
He fought the urge to pass out as he lay in the darkness, the minutes ticking by. Carlos eventually heard movement coming from somewhere above him. A door opened and light burst through, revealing a set of stone steps. Lady came bounding down and hurled herself towards him, licking him all over.
‘Good girl. You found me. Is Fiona with you?’
A light came on. ‘Oh yes, she’s here,’ came the curt reply.
Carlos’s heart sank as he saw Fiona heading down the steps with a rifle pointed at her back. Lady growled.
‘Tell that dog to stay put or I’ll put a bullet through it right now. These rifles can create an awful mess.’
‘Lady, sit!’ Carlos commanded. She obeyed, but continued to give a low growl. Fiona looked at Carlos apologetically before speaking.
‘Colonel, you won’t get away with this. My DCI knows exactly where I am. If I don’t call in, you’ll find yourself surrounded.’
‘You don’t fool me, Sergeant. I saw the state you were in, chasing the mutt. No-one knows where you are. Why didn’t you leave when you had the chance?’
Carlos wondered the same thing. She should have called for reinforcements. Now they were all going to be killed.
‘What happened?’ he asked.
‘Lady wouldn’t leave, slipped the rope. Before I knew it, she’d hurdled the door and was in the house.’
‘So what happens now, Martin? You kill us. Then what? Where does it end?’
‘You’re trespassers. I’m an old man living alone. I have to defend myself.’
Carlos spotted Fiona giving him a three-two-one signal with her fingers. He waited. As soon as she got down to one, she back kicked the colonel in the shins and Carlos gave the command.
‘Disarm, Lady.’
The dog leapt at the colonel who’d stumbled following the kick and grabbed his rifle arm, causing him to cry out in pain. The rifle went off and a bullet skimmed past Carlos’s arm, but Fiona had the colonel in an arm grip and swiftly applied handcuffs. Lady’s growl warned the colonel not to move again. Fiona kicked the rifle away and headed towards Carlos.
‘Nice one,’ he said.
‘You too,’ she replied as she untied the rope from his hands and feet. ‘By the way, you look a mess.’ She grinned. He felt the side of his face where congealed blood had formed a lump over a large gash.
‘I’ve got a thumping headache. The colonel’s spade hit me with some force.’
Forty minutes later, Carlos was sitting on a wall in the bright winter sunshine, asking for sunglasses and thankful to be alive. The paramedics who’d responded to Fiona’s call for assistance had insisted he go to hospital for a concussion test. After arguing for a while, he’d finally agreed to go in.
Just as he was getting into the ambulance, Masters arrived. Ignoring Carlos, he joined Fiona who was briefing the uniformed officers before they took Martin Webb away. Carlos’s thoughts turned to Meg. If there was any love left between the two of them, she had been failed by the male species again.
Poor woman.
27
Carlos was examined by a consultant in the accident and emergency department. The doctor wanted to keep him in overnight, but he refused. They’d compromised at a CT scan. Now he sat waiting for the results.
Dr Singh reappeared just as Carlos was running out of patience. The smile on the doctor’s face made him feel better.
‘You can go home, Mr Jacobi. Please call immediately if you start to feel drowsy, and I insist you are not alone for the next twenty-four hours.’
‘Don’t worry about him, Doc; I’ll stick to him like glue.’ Fiona had not long turned up after Carlos had called her to give him a lift home. ‘Either he stays with me or I stay with him. I won’t let him out of my sight.’
The doctor nodded. ‘Any problems, he’s to come straight back by ambulance.’ He shook Carlos’s hand and moved on to the next patient.
‘You don’t have to…’
‘Oh yes I do. I’ve spoken to Sophie, who was going to cancel her night out, but I said you were fine, just a slight bump, so unless you want me to call her and tell her otherwise…?’
‘Okay. You win.’
‘Besides, I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell Rachel you died of a brain haemorrhage because you were too stubborn to stay in hospital.’
He laughed. ‘I’ve got the message, Fiona. Anyway, I’m too tired to argue. Wouldn’t it be better going to yours in case Masters turns up in the village?’
‘I was looking forward to a warm bed. We’ve got work to do, anyway, so that should keep you awake for a while.’
‘What work?’
‘Colonel Webb is not co-operating. He says we trespassed on his property and he thought we were burglars and hit out, not knowing who we were.’
‘That’s ridiculous. He must know his story won’t stand the test.’
‘I’m sure he does. In the meantime, he’s determined to make a fool of us and give us the runaround for as long as he can. I’ve given my statement. I need to take one from you.’
‘Shouldn’t someone else be taking it from me?’
‘Masters says he’ll sign it. He doesn’t want to talk to you, and I’m happy to go along with him on this occasion, because I know exactly what happened. We were almost shot. Come on, I’ve got Lady in my car.’
Lady ran in circles around Carlos’s legs when Fiona opened the car door. He bent down and hugged her close.
‘Thanks, girl. You saved my life.’
‘Both our lives,’ said Fiona, causing Lady’s helicopter tail to bash against the side of the car.
‘In you go,’ he commanded and the dog jumped in the back, while Carlos managed to squeeze his tall frame into Fiona’s Mini after pushing the seat back as far as it would go. He put his hand to the dressing on his forehead and ripped it off.
Fiona’s jaw dropped open. ‘What the…’
‘It was irritating me. They’ve stitched the wound, it’ll be fine. If I’d been in Afghanistan, I’d have stitched it myself.’
‘You’re going to be a difficult patient, aren’t you?’
‘What makes you think that?’ He grinned. ‘I need to go home and pack a bag, and ring Sophie. Are you sure this is necessary?’
‘Do you want me to take you back in there?’ She nodded towards the hospital.
‘No. Let’s go.’ He shook his head in disbelief at Martin Webb’s arrogance. He’d liked the man, but not anymore.
After phoning Sophie and reassuring her he’d sustained a minor injury and the hospital had made a fuss over nothing, he told her to go ahead and enjoy her evening. Fiona drove in silence for most of the journey, lost in her own thoughts.
‘So it looks like Caroline’s innocent after all,’ said Carlos eventually.
‘Don’t gloat, Jacobi. It’s not becoming.’
‘Has Masters let her go?’
‘Nope, not yet. He’d already been granted an extension to hold her for questioning for 96 hours, so he’s in no rush. He’ll have to soon enough, though. The spade’s gone for DNA sampling; hopefully they’ll find traces of Harold Sissons’s skull as well as yours.’ She laughed.
‘That’s not even funny. What put you on to Webb in the first place? Weren’t you supposed to be interviewing Caroline?’
‘I was, but the boss wanted to leave her to stew. He told me to interview Meg Sissons again. Ironic, isn’t it? You owe your life to Terry Masters.’
‘Don’t push it, Fiona.’
‘When I got to Meg’s, she was out. Aiden Winslow told me you’d rushed off after going into Harold’s garage. I had a bad feeling about it all, especially with Lady howling like a pack of wolves. Was it to do with the bike?’
Carlos rubbed his head. ‘I’d forgotten about that. Yep, the bike was missing from the garage, and once I found out where Webb lived, I put the pieces together and figured he’d been the one in the garage the other day. He knows about the bike, so there must be a connection between him and the death of Matthew. It must be what the note alluded to. I bet we’ll find the bike at his house.’
‘Sorry to disappoint, but I searched the place right through with Masters after you left. Forensics did their bit, too. No bike anywhere.’
‘He’s dumped it somewhere, then. He would know this countryside well enough to do that.’
‘So what’s your theory?’
‘He must have been involved in Matthew’s death. Maybe a hit and run that neither he nor Sissons reported.’
‘But why? He and Sissons hated each other by all accounts, so why would they collude? Perhaps Webb buried the boy and Sissons was innocent all along.’
Carlos’s head ached. ‘I can’t see how. The stench of a rotting body would have permeated that room for weeks, if not months. Matthew’s body must have been kept elsewhere, and later moved. Where? For some reason, if the colonel was involved, they kept this secret between them. Harold kept that bike for a reason.’
‘Blackmail, you mean?’
‘Maybe. We might never know if you can’t get a confession out of Martin Webb. He’s not going to capitulate easily if his story so far is anything to go by.’
‘So I guess he had enough of being blackmailed and killed Harold Sissons, hoping to move in on Meg as soon as he could.’
‘That’s about the sum of it, as far as I can see,’ said Carlos. ‘All we need now is proof.’
It was dark by the time Fiona pulled into Sophie’s driveway. Meg’s lights were on, but the curtains were closed. As soon as Carlos slammed the car door, Aiden Winslow appeared behind him. Fiona got out, as did Lady, keen to stretch her legs.
‘I hear you’ve arrested someone on suspicion of Harold’s murder. Why hasn’t my wife been released?’
Fiona replied, ‘We have taken someone else in for questioning. I can’t say any more at the moment. Be patient, Mr Winslow. If your wife is innocent, she’ll be released.’
‘You’re our employee. You tell us what’s going on,’ Winslow snapped at Carlos.
‘I’m employed by your mother-in-law and your wife. I will give one or both of them a full report as soon as I have anything to say, but for now, I’ve got a splitting headache,’ Carlos snapped before softening. ‘Rest easy. I don’t think it will be long before your wife’s home.’ He gripped the other man’s shoulder.
‘Was it really Colonel Webb? Meg says he’s been so kind since Harold died.’
‘We can’t say anything more now, Mr Winslow,’ intervened Fiona. ‘Mr Jacobi needs to rest.’
‘Of course. Sorry. It’s just I don’t know what to do. It’s nearly Christmas. They won’t let me see Caroline. Your smug DCI tells me she’ll need a good lawyer.’
Both Carlos and Fiona straightened at this news. Carlos glanced at his friend.
‘We’ll be in touch as soon as we can,’ she said. ‘Give it until tomorrow. We won’t hold her any longer than that, I’m sure.’
Carlos wasn’t so certain. What was Masters up to now? Surely he couldn’t still believe Caroline was involved.
‘Aiden?’ he called after the man as he left.
‘Yes.’
‘I wouldn’t tell Meg about this for now.’
‘I haven’t and I won’t. It was the colonel’s neighbour who told me. I went to get some fresh air as the police were driving him away.’
‘Goodnight.’
Carlos opened up Sophie’s house and invited Fiona in. ‘Look, Masters isn’t going to turn up tonight. Why don’t we stay here? You said you need a warm place for the night. You can borrow one of Sophie’s nightdresses – you’re about the same size. I’ll text her, then she’ll be able to enjoy her night out for Gary’s sake.’
Fiona grinned. ‘You’ll get no argument from me. What’s for dinner?’
Carlos’s dreams were filled with flashbacks of Martin Webb standing over him with a spade interspersed with being under fire in Afghanistan. Masters laughed as he fell down next to his best friend, who was lying dead on a dusty road. Next, Webb fired a shot at Lady.
He woke in a pool of sweat, relieved it was just a dream. Memories of Afghanistan had haunted him continually since he’d crossed paths with Masters. He had gone two years without flashbacks; now he felt like he was back to square one. At least Lady was very much alive, sleeping at the foot of his bed.
‘It was
just a dream, man. Get it together,’ he told himself. What was real was the splitting headache he woke with. He reached for paracetamol and swallowed two whole.
He could hear Fiona downstairs, so he got up gingerly and went for a shower, hoping the paracetamol would kick in soon. He felt the lump on the back of his head when he tried to wash his hair. No wonder I’ve got a headache. The front of his forehead was swollen and bruised around the stitches from the hospital.
He walked cautiously downstairs, stimulated by the smell of fresh coffee and followed by an excited dog.
‘Hey. You’re up, then. I managed to work out how to use this thing. This coffee’s good.’ Fiona beamed. ‘You look dreadful.’
Carlos helped himself to coffee and opened the door to let Lady out into the garden.
‘Thanks,’ he said, joining her at the kitchen table. ‘Any news?’
‘Masters just phoned. He wants me to join him to question Caroline again, because we didn’t get around to it yesterday. We’re expecting results back on the spade this morning. As far as I know, Webb is still in denial. He’ll cough today, I’m sure.’
‘Yeah, I expect you’re right. What I don’t understand is why he covered for Harold if it was an accident. They weren’t friends, so why would he do that?’
‘Beats me. I can’t get my head around these criminal types, especially why anyone would cover up an accident. I still think it was deliberate.’
‘You mean by Harold or by Colonel Webb?’
‘I don’t know where Webb fits into it. Maybe he blackmailed Harold if he found out about it.’
‘So he could have taken the bike to cover up the cause of death.’
Fiona slurped back some coffee before answering. ‘Could have. Or someone else might have removed the bike. Caroline, for instance.’
Carlos huffed. ‘Why have you got it in for her?’
‘And why are you trying to protect her?’
‘Touché. I don’t believe Caroline had anything to do with the death of her brother. She was genuinely surprised when I showed her the bike. I concede she could have got rid of it to protect her mum from seeing it. For that matter, so could Martin or Aiden.’