King continued: “What time did you actually arrive at the second property and what time did you leave?”
“It took me about forty minutes to get to the Princetown property and I spent just over an hour there before driving to the Widecombe property. So, I would have arrived at Paddock Wood House at about twoish.”
The sergeant’s growing confidence at interviewing was very evident when she asked the next question. “Assuming the journey back to here took you about forty minutes that would mean you spent about two hours and twenty minutes at Paddock Wood House. Why so long compared to the other property as they look comparable in size and you said you already had the property details from an earlier sale?”
“After I’d checked the rooms were the same as before, I took some new photographs. Because the house was unoccupied, but furnished, I sat in an armchair and caught up with my emails.”
“Surely it would have been better if you’d have come back here to do them and be available for customers in the shop?”
“You’re right of course, but when I’m here I get involved with other things and never seem to get time to do them. Obviously, dealing with customers face-to-face is important, but so are the emails too. Some are very time sensitive when sales are nearing completion.”
“After you left that property did you meet anyone else before you got back to Ivybridge?” Lacey shook his head and the inspector provided the follow-on question: “The second property is not far from Haytor; did you drive by it by any chance?” The estate agent knew what he was getting at, but didn’t react.
“Actually, no I didn’t as Paddock Wood House is to the west of Haytor when travelling from Princetown, so I was quite a few miles away.”
“Time enough to drive there and get back here at the time you said you got back.” This was a statement rather than a question and the estate agent took it as such and remained silent.
After a few other routine questions, DI King told Jack Lacey that he might be interviewed again. The detectives were not entirely happy with what they had been told as it appeared that over an hour of his time could not be accounted for. On the other hand, they thought he seemed to be a truthful person and there was no apparent motive to do Mary harm. Nevertheless, they knew that they would be failing in their duty if proper account was not taken of the missing hour.
*
Detective Constable Sam Dyson was sat at her desk in Plymouth’s central police station, feverishly working on all the information and statements that had been gathered following the thefts from farms. It was proving devilishly difficult to track the stolen items or even to get a lead she could follow-up. She had gone over and over the details of the thefts and although she felt there had to be a link between them, try as she might, she just couldn’t find it. She looked in detail at the types of vehicles that were stolen, the times they were taken and the location of the farms. No pattern emerged so she decided to delve into the history of the vehicles. She had the records from the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency to examine and although she knew it was important, it was a rather tedious task: after about an hour she made a breakthrough.
Using a combination of data from the police computer and DVLA, it emerged that a stolen Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover had fairly recently been sold by Cameron & Wise. The detective knew that this was a rather tenuous link and could purely be a coincidence, but she decided it was definitely a lead worth pursuing. None of the other stolen vehicles were sold there.
She visited the car sales the day after her detective colleagues had been there on the missing person enquiry. She asked to speak to the general manager and explained to Mr Preston what her investigation had revealed about the two vehicles. From his records he confirmed that they had been sold by his company within a month of each other. He also confirmed the owners’ addresses, which accorded with the farms from where they had been taken.
DC Dyson remembered reading the interview statements of the dispossessed owners of these two cars and the questionable link started to grow in significance. She recalled both had been stolen without a sound being made. Both farmers had confirmed they had not been as foolish as some of their compatriots by leaving keys in the ignition. The detective constable could barely control her excitement as she pursued this lead.
“If you take a car in to sell and it only has one set of keys, what happens, as the new owner will surely want two sets?”
Preston replied, “If we only have one set, or one set is badly damaged, we order a new key from the car’s manufacturer. This is not cheap as it costs us over a hundred pounds to get a replacement, but, as you say, new owners expect two sets. If you were a private owner and required a new key, it would cost you twice as much as we pay. There would also be identity checks made to ensure you were who you said you were and that the vehicle was registered in your name. As a motor dealer we are not subject to the same scrutiny.”
“Presumably, you would keep a record of any duplicate keys that were ordered?”
“Oh yes, we would, but looking at the computer records for both the vehicles you’re interested in, no duplicate sets appear to have been ordered.”
The detective was slightly crestfallen as her new lead appeared to have come to an abrupt end. She thanked the manager and trudged forlornly out of the car showroom.
On her way back to the station, she still thought that the thefts were too much of a coincidence and was determined to pursue this lead down one last avenue. Back at her desk she rang Mr Preston and asked him for the manufacturer’s contact number of the stolen vehicles. She rang the number and was eventually put through to the person she needed to speak with. Because of the sensitivity of the data she required, she was asked to leave her number and the manufacturer would return her call. Dyson had no problem with that and privately commended the person as she knew that this was a good method for ensuring it wasn’t a scam from a rogue source. After ten minutes, and to her absolute amazement and delight, she was told that replacement keys had been supplied for both vehicles and they had been ordered by Cameron & Wise. This information had provided the first positive development in the investigation and she could hardly wait to share it with her inspector.
*
After the interview with Lacey, it was then approaching late afternoon. The sergeant had scheduled one more interview that day, which meant travelling ten miles west along the A38 to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. She had arranged to see Josh Ingram who was working in A&E until 8 o’clock that evening. As anticipated, the A&E department was clearly signposted. Although they were expected, they were told that the busy doctor could not see them for twenty minutes as he was in the middle of dealing with two people who had been injured in a road accident.
They left a message that they would be in the hospital cafeteria when he was available. DI King bought two teas and took them over to where his sergeant was sitting. She was using this downtime productively and was reading through her notes. The senior detective was sucking on a sherbet lemon and mulling over in his mind the information they had gathered so far. Although he was now clear on the events leading up to Mary’s disappearance, he was no closer to establishing what had actually happened to her.
From the adjoining table, he picked up a discarded Western Morning News paper and the headline screamed at him: it was to make for uncomfortable reading:
Farmers want action to fight rural crime
The South West National Farmers Union (NFU) is calling on forces to devote more resources to tackle the issue, after a survey revealed that almost 20% of its members who responded had difficulty reporting a crime and that, when they did, insufficient action was taken.
“Tell that to DC Dyson!” King muttered to himself. He read on:
It also revealed that the average cost to a farmer of each crime reported was nearly £3,000, with the total cost of crimes covered by the survey coming to just under £247,000. This included t
he cost of the time spent dealing with crime, replacing equipment and making good any damage. Criminal damage, arson and burglary were also commonly reported, along with incidents of gates being left open, livestock worrying and fly-grazing.
He glanced up from the newspaper. He was beginning to think that South Devon was the crime capital of England, but then shrugged as he knew these thefts were probably down to a handful of villains. Catch them and the crime statistics would fall back to being below the national average. Nevertheless, the statistics in the article irritated King and he felt uneasily responsible for not ending this on-going crime wave. If he couldn’t yet solve the theft crimes he thought to himself, he sure as hell wasn’t going to be able to stop illegal fly-grazing as people simply abandoned horses on public or private land to eat free grass.
“Who’d be a farmer?” the detective mused and turned back to the article.
Almost half the respondents said their experience of crime had prompted them to increase security measures, with many installing CCTV and making sure gates and vehicles were locked, even though this had a cost implication and meant carrying out tasks around the farm often took longer.
There was no doubt that the inspector had every sympathy with the plight of the farmers, but his priority now was to find Mary Cranson.
After half an hour Josh Ingram appeared and was very apologetic for keeping them waiting. He, too, just like Jack Lacey, asked for any news of Mary. Sadly, the detectives weren’t able to give him any and were finding it increasingly difficult to remain upbeat of her being found safe and well. However, they didn’t say as much to the doctor.
The interview followed a similar pattern to those already held with Mary’s other friends. Josh hadn’t detected anything untoward in her manner that evening in the rugby club. His view of the relationships amongst the friends was very similar to Tom Bowers’. He mentioned how he was giving support to his girlfriend, Alice, who was slowly coming to terms with the possibility she may never see her sister again. He said that her sorrow was gradually turning to anger at the horrendous thought that someone, and possibly someone she knew, had abducted her twin.
The interview was cut short after fifteen minutes when his pager sounded and, evidently, he was needed back in A&E. However, both the detectives were satisfied with the answers to their questions, particularly his whereabouts on Wednesday afternoon: he was dealing with several trauma victims. He did make one comment that was noted: without being mischievous, he felt that Dick quietly still fancied Mary.
*
The detectives had received the message that DC Dyson wanted to see them on their return to the main police station in Plymouth. It was now after 5 o’clock and the detective constable let her colleagues take off their coats and grab a coffee before she took them through what she had discovered. She started with her hunch and then her chat with the helpful Mr Preston, finishing her report with the information gathered from the main Land Rover manufacturer: this conflicted with what she had been told at Cameron & Wise. It was clear to all three detectives that someone there appeared to be in cahoots with the thieves. King congratulated Dyson and although it was now approaching 5.30, he wanted to pursue this new lead; as they left, he asked DS Harris to inform Mr Preston that they were on their way to see him. This wasn’t a problem for him as the car sales were open until 8 o’clock that night.
On arrival the inspector re-introduced himself to the general manager before explaining that this time he was on a different enquiry with DC Dyson.
“My detective constable spoke to you earlier about replacement keys for vehicles you have sold?”
He nodded in agreement with the statement.
“Could you check your records again please, sir, relating to the Land Rover Discovery and the Range Rover?” He asked them to follow him to his office and he sat in front of his computer. After a short while he was ready to give them the data.
“The Range Rover Evoque was on a 2016 plate and we sold it in January for just under £40,000. The Discovery was on a 2015 plate sold in December for £31,000. We have no record of replacement keys being ordered for either.”
King was ready to fire the ‘bullets’ his diligent detective had made.
“That’s strange, because according to the manufacturer, both vehicles had replacement keys ordered and delivered to your company.”
Preston was not flustered, but looked totally perplexed as he once again turned to his computer and feverishly punched several keys.
“I don’t understand how that can be as our records don’t reveal anything was ordered for those vehicles.”
King continued to question the manager.
“Who can order replacement keys?”
“If the sales people know a key is required, or the mechanics report that a new key is needed, sales staff will always do the ordering.”
“And how are they delivered?”
“They would come in the post as a tracked item and be handed to the person who made the order.”
“Is it possible that sloppy recording could be the reason that no record was entered for either replacement key?”
“No. We make a computer entry of every item we order, whether it’s a car part or a key. If someone orders a key, there should be a record made of when the order was despatched and when the new key was delivered.”
The detectives looked at each other and both were thinking the same thing. Someone in this place was either very bad at logging important information or they had ordered keys for criminal purposes.
“Who receives the post?”
“Well, the motor parts from Parts Direct go straight to the workshop. All other items will go to our receptionist, Stella Bovis.”
“I’ve met Miss Bovis already. I’d like to see her again please.”
“I’m afraid she will have left for the day.”
“No matter, it’s getting late. We’ll catch up with her in the next few days. In the meantime, I’d be grateful, Mr Preston, if you wouldn’t mention any of this to any of your employees until we’ve spoken with her. No doubt we will want to speak with you again.” He nodded his acknowledgement.
King and Dyson left the site and the inspector, after popping a sherbet lemon in to his mouth, had one last request and observation for the day.
“Stella Bovis was a little agitated when I last spoke to her with Sergeant Harris on the other case. Rather than come back here, arrange for her to come to the station for interview on Tuesday afternoon and we’ll see what she knows about replacement keys. Depending on what she says, I will want to get Mr Preston in for interview too, but after seeing Bovis. Something’s not right here, and at least one person is being economical with the truth.”
King didn’t normally use euphemisms, but his detective constable forgave him on this occasion.
SEVEN
The detectives would normally have weekends off unless there was a pressing investigation. The Cranson case was such an investigation. However, as it was supposed to be their day off, King allowed a later start than normal. They met at 10 a.m. by which time the sergeant had arranged to see Paul Betteridge, the rugby coach, at the Bovey Tracey Rugby Club. While they were in that area, she had also informed his daughter, who was working until noon at the local garden and leisure centre in Bovey, they would be calling in mid-morning to speak with her. Brian Cantwell was their last appointment for the day and they would call on him at a house he was working on in Ermington, which, conveniently, was on their way back to Ivybridge. Although they would continue to work on the case over the weekend, King knew that they needed some rest time to keep their energy at a reasonable level.
As the home match against Tavistock had been postponed and the club closed, out of respect for Mary’s disappearance, when they arrived the place was practically deserted. The only vehicle in the car park was a light blue van, which they assumed must belong to Betteridge, conf
irmed when they saw the name emblazoned on its side panel, Clear Panes. It transpired that he was cleaning the windows of the clubhouse without charge. After their well-rehearsed introduction, the inspector began the interview.
“Now, Mr Betteridge…”
“Please, call me Betters, everybody else does.”
King began again. “Now, Mr Betteridge, Mary Cranson has been missing for over sixty hours, and we are continuing to interview all her friends who knew she would be on the moor last Wednesday afternoon. Were you aware she planned to walk up Haytor?”
“I do recall something being said, but I was talking to someone else at the time, so wasn’t paying much attention.”
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Well, a yes I suppose.”
“How well do you know her?”
“Quite well, but I know her boyfriend better as he is the skipper of the team.”
“Any thoughts on what might have happened to her?”
“I initially thought she might have just got lost on the moor as the weather can rapidly change, but if that was the case she would’ve been found by now. I really hope she’s okay.”
“And where were you from 3.30 onwards last Wednesday?”
The sergeant thought she detected a slight change in his manner.
“Funnily enough I was out that way. Most of my window cleaning business includes houses in and around Bovey Tracey as it’s where I live, but I do travel in about a twenty mile radius for work.”
King waited for Betteridge to elucidate, but when nothing further was said he spoke.
“That didn’t really answer my question, Mr Betteridge.”
“Oh, I see, you want the details of the places. I had finished the two houses I do in Two Bridges and I then came back to Bovey to do another two houses.”
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