by Anita Waller
‘Okay, we’ll wait,’ Peter said, ‘but if anyone else is injured or killed, I’m straight on the phone to this DI, whether we made a promise or not.’
‘Speaking of being injured, how are you?’ Michael finally got around to the enforced part of the conversation.
‘I’m fine. On enough painkillers to floor a baby kangaroo, but getting there. Speak to you soon, stay safe, Michael.’
‘You too, pal,’ Michael said, and disconnected.
Shit, Peter thought, as he cleared the call, I didn’t mention this bloody vicar woman’s surname.
Kat walked quickly through the hospital, aware that there had been a change in Peter Swift’s attitude. She didn’t know why, and she hadn’t wanted him alerting the policeman outside the door, so she thanked God for the bit of information that she’d managed to glean from him and left. The pale green painted corridors seemed to stretch forever, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the automatic doors of the Huntsman building. She took out her phone and rang Mouse.
‘Mouse, can you hear me?’
‘Roger.’
‘Who’s Roger? Anyway, I’ve just spoken to Peter Swift. He was blinded by a laser beam, which could very easily be what caused Oliver Merchant’s death. Luckily Peter has survived.’
‘Roger.’
‘Mouse, for Heaven’s sake, I’m not on a two-way radio.’
‘You coming home?’ Kat heard the laughter in Mouse’s voice.
‘Roger.’
She grinned as she climbed into her car, hoping that Mouse had managed to track down Caroline Boldock who seemed to have vanished.
Much to Kat’s surprise, Mouse had managed to track down Caroline, in a not very useful sort of way.
It seemed that Caroline wasn’t allowed to answer her phone, so she had slipped it into her pocket, gone to the toilet and texted Mouse.
Mouse handed her phone to Kat, and Kat clicked on the message.
Hi Beth. Sorry can’t speak. In a police safe house. Three people dead and they scared it will happen to me. Will contact when they let me out.
Kat laughed. ‘Short and sweet. She doesn’t sound too bothered, does she?’
‘I don’t know her all that well, but she is a little bit scatter-brained. Clever though. I would have thought she would have recognised it’s a serious situation. Depends how much the police have told her, I suppose. And Peter Swift? How did you get on with him?’
‘Fine, until I asked him if he’d upset anybody in his past. Then he shut down, so I got out as fast as I could. I left my card with him, and came back here. Where’s Nan?’
‘Working upstairs. Leon called in to collect his suit, said he’s off to London, might be home, might not, and he’ll ring you later. He asked where you were, so I said you’d some church business to see to.’
‘Maybe an early night then. I don’t feel too well, got a sore throat and that’s not good when I’ve a sermon to deliver tomorrow. I’m going to nip down to the village to Neil, get him to tell me what I need. Do you want anything bringing back?’
Mouse shook her head. ‘No, I’m fine thanks. Drive carefully.’
Kat picked up the car keys she’d only just put on the table, grumbling to herself that she should have called in to the village on the way back, instead of having to go out again. She met Doris at the bottom of the stairs and gave her a kiss.
‘You okay? I’m nipping down to the pharmacy if you need anything.’
‘No, nothing I can think of. Can we all have a talk when you get back?’ She waved a file at Kat. ‘I’ve got loads of information we need to go through if you’re both serious about this.’
Kat laughed. ‘Oh, we’re serious about it. Can’t promise to talk, got a rotten sore throat, but just give me half an hour to go get something for it, and I’ll be with you.’
‘Open your mouth.’ Neil pressed Kat’s tongue down with the depressor. ‘Ouch, that looks sore. How long have you been like this?’
‘About three days. It’s not getting any better though, and I’m giving the sermon tomorrow.’
‘You need an antibiotic. And it’ll be at least two days before you can see a doctor.’ He looked at her, a troubled expression on his face. ‘I’m going to give you a course of antibiotics. Throat sweets aren’t going to have any healing effect on it, although they might soothe it a little to get you through your church service tomorrow. The first dose needs to be a double one, to kick-start the course, then it’s two tablets every six hours. Drink plenty of fluids, and I don’t mean wine, Katerina Rowe,’ he said smiling. ‘You’ll soon start to feel better. Wait here.’
He disappeared into the back of the shop and returned with a bag with the medication, along with some throat sweets. ‘Don’t go mad with the throat sweets, they’re strong but they’re good.’
She thanked him and left the shop. She paused with her key in her hand, ready to unlock the car, and stared across the road at the empty shop that had been vacant for months, ever since the craft shop had closed its doors for the last time. The sign outside said it was for sale or to let, shop and flat. Enquiries were to be directed to an estate agent, and she took out her phone and photographed the hoarding.
Driving away, Kat didn’t notice Neil pick up his phone.
‘Morning, boss. I’ve just had Kat in, and I’ve given her some antibiotics. She’s a hell of a sore throat.’
There was a pause.
‘No, she was alone.’
Neil put down the receiver and stared out of the window. He hated spying on Kat, she always seemed such a lovely person, and yet Leon insisted on knowing her every move. The hold that Leon had on him meant that he had to comply, but it didn’t sit easy with him. He glanced at his watch. Five minutes to go and he could head off home until Monday morning.
Unless the boss needed him, of course.
Kat swallowed the four tablets, grimacing as she did so. They felt like horse tablets going down her throat, it was so sore. She also took a couple of paracetamol, hoping they might deaden the pain a little.
Doris and Mouse had papers spread all over the table, and Doris had produced a complicated spreadsheet that had Kat’s eyes wide open.
‘Wow,’ she said, ‘couldn’t you sleep?’
Doris laughed. ‘It’s easy peasy when you know how. And you will know how. I was going to book you on a course for IT, but then I changed my mind. You’re going to need a certain amount of knowledge, Kat, and all it will take is for you not to be scared of it. So what I’ve decided is that I am going to write a course, and I’ll work with you. However, it will be at set times, and you will be there, no excuses, until you’ve passed and received my certificate. Understood?’
If Kat’s throat hadn’t been so sore, she would have gulped. ‘Yes,’ she acknowledged.
‘It will only be basic IT, nothing too complicated, and we’ll have lessons twice a week, two hours each time, then it’s not overfacing you. And you can work through the booklet under your own steam, but I will be there with you to answer any questions. You won’t become a hacker, I promise, but you’ll be able to do more than type your sermons.’
‘Be afraid, be very afraid,’ Mouse whispered, and Kat saw the grin on her friend’s face.
‘I am,’ she responded.
‘Okay,’ Doris continued. ‘That’s out of the way. There are courses you will both need to take. The Institute of Professional Investigators runs an IPI Level 3 Professional Investigators Course, so you’re both booked on to it. It’s an online course, extremely comprehensive, and will give you everything you need to begin your new careers. Kat, it’s time to tell Leon.’
Kat nodded. ‘I know. He’ll be a little surprised to say the least. But we haven’t sorted any finances out yet, surely there’s a cost to these courses?’
‘There’s no cost to your IT course, silly girl, and I’ve paid for the other one. When the business is making money, you can pay me back.’
‘Nan, how much have you paid out?’ Mouse raised h
er eyebrows.
‘I’ll send you my bill.’
Mouse smiled and blew her a kiss.
‘We may have to sort some finances out sooner than we think,’ Kat said, and opened the photographs on her phone. She passed it first to Mouse.
‘It’s a shop in the village, been empty for months so I don’t know how good it is inside. You can’t tell, because the windows have been whitewashed. However, as you can see from the noticeboard, it has a flat upstairs. Would it be worth a look?’
Mouse looked, passed the phone to Doris, and grinned.
‘It’ll be bloody perfect, Katerina Rowe. And if it’s scruffy inside, we’ll send Nan in with a bucket and mop. She’ll soon put it to rights. First thing Monday morning, I’ll give this estate agent a ring, arrange for a viewing, and we can take it from there. I don’t imagine it’ll be spectacular inside, but we can sort it.’
‘I’ll buy a new bucket and mop,’ Doris said, and handed the phone back to Kat.
28
Leon sat in his car on the M25 and knew he wouldn’t be going home that night. He had managed to change the meeting time from two to four o’clock, but the stationary traffic made him think that even that was being optimistic, and he should have said five.
He never enjoyed being away from Kat, although since the arrival of Beth and Doris he felt a little easier knowing she wasn’t alone with only a cat for company. He dialled her phone and she answered quickly. Her voice was sultry, quirky.
‘Hi, babes. What’s wrong with your voice?’
‘Sore throat. I’ve been to see Neil, and he’s given me some antibiotics. I’ll be okay in a couple of days. My two nurses are looking after me.’
‘I thought the idea was that you were looking after them.’
‘Role reversal.’ She laughed.
‘You’re sure you’re okay? I’m not going to get back tonight, I’m stuck on this blessed M25, not moving. I’ve had to change the time of what I expected to be a short meeting, but now it’s not starting until five, so I’ll book in to the Hilton as usual. Ring me if you need me though, won’t you?’
She could hear the concern in his voice.
‘I’ll be fine, honestly. I’ll have an early night, with a hot toddy. I’m more concerned that I might not have a voice for tomorrow – I’m taking the service.’
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll not ring you again tonight, I don’t want to risk waking you. I’ll give you a call tomorrow morning before you go to church. I love you, Kat, so take care. And do what the nurses say.’
‘I will, I promise. Love you too, Leon. Speak tomorrow.’
She disconnected, and turned her attention back to the paperwork on the table.
‘So is that it? One course and we’ve cracked it?’
Doris smiled. ‘Not quite. There’s a foundation course to complete first, before you go on to the level 3 one, so there’s plenty to keep you occupied. I’ve applied for licences for both of you, but if I find I need one as well, I’ll apply for one at that point. I don’t want to intrude, but we have no idea how busy you’re going to be, and we don’t want to turn work away for the sake of not having enough operatives. I accept my limitations, before you two say anything about my age, but there’s nothing wrong with my brain, I drive, and when I haven’t got bits of shrapnel in me, I walk. And what’s even more important, I have a lifetime of knowledge. You two have the same, but your two lifetimes don’t even add up to my one. All I’m saying is don’t dismiss my value.’
Mouse and Kat looked at each other and burst out laughing.
‘As if we’d dare,’ Mouse said.
‘You’ve got the position, whatever it is,’ Kat said, ‘and write your own job description.’
Doris handed out paperwork, explaining what each piece was, and slowly it dawned on Kat and Mouse that it wasn’t simply a case of sitting in an office and waiting for someone to walk through the door asking them to follow an errant husband they suspected of playing away. There was a lot more to it than that.
They read through everything, then handed it all back to Doris to put in the file.
‘You can start the IT course in two weeks, Kat,’ Doris said, without looking up. She missed the fear that flashed across Kat’s face.
‘Oh, jolly good,’ Kat said faintly.
Doris looked over the top of her glasses. ‘Katerina Rowe, are you being sarcastic?’
‘No,’ she said, ‘it’s my voice that’s gone a bit wobbly.’
Tessa Marsden sat at her desk, once again viewing the CCTV from outside Steel, focusing on the taxi driver’s face, but could still tell nothing from it. She took it back to watch again, but this time she caught the action of the bouncer as he called for the taxi for the couple, Beth Walters by his side, Anthony Jackson to the other side of her.
She pulled the statements on to her screen, and found the man’s words where he had said very little, just that he had called one of their dedicated taxis from around the corner to take Mr Jackson and his partner to Eyam.
Dedicated taxis. She understood that the Sheffield nightclubs had taxis on standby, but why had this particular taxi, driven by a murderer, turned up at exactly the right moment to get Jackson and Walters?
Who did that bouncer contact? Was he following instructions? She looked at the bouncer’s name – Billy Hart – and decided there was maybe something to be followed here.
‘Dave, Claire, go and bring Billy Hart in, will you?’
Dave Irwin looked up from his screen. ‘Sure, boss. Who?’
‘Exactly,’ she said, leaning on her office door jamb. ‘Somebody insignificant, who may actually know something significant he’s neglected to tell us. Bring him in, put him in that scruffy interview room and leave him. Then come and find me. He’s the bouncer who called the taxi with the murderer in it. Let’s see what we can shake out of him.’
Tessa and Hannah stood looking into the interview room watching Billy Hart squirm uncomfortably on the plywood chair. It seemed he had been in bed when Dave and Claire arrived, and he had been extremely vitriolic towards them, so Claire had handcuffed him, before putting him in the back of the car.
He was quiet now, handcuffs removed making it easier for him to chew his nails.
‘Let’s go and have a cup of tea, Hannah,’ Tessa said. ‘Then we’ll come and talk to Mr Hart, see if we can’t get him to remember how he got that particular taxi to arrive at the Steel entrance that night.’
Hannah smiled. ‘Okay, boss. Think he’ll want one?’
‘Probably. He’s not getting one though. I think he didn’t tell us everything he could have done, so no drinks until he does.’
They high fived, and walked to the canteen.
Half an hour later, they were preparing to go in the interview room. Hart looked even more uncomfortable.
They opened the door, and Hannah switched on the recording equipment. Marsden listed everyone present and the time, then they sat, facing the burly man.
‘Mr Hart, you were on duty at Steel the night of the murder of Anthony Jackson and the attempted murder of Bethan Walters. Is that correct?’
Hart nodded.
‘Speak for the benefit of the tape please, Mr Hart.’
‘Yes.’
‘Please take us through what happened from them coming out of the nightclub. Leave nothing out, Mr Hart.’
‘Do I need a solicitor?’
‘Do you? Have you done something wrong?’ Marsden stared at him, her eyes like flint.
‘No, nowt,’ he muttered.
‘Then answer our questions and you can go home.’
He grunted.
‘Let’s start with what time they left Steel.’
‘I think it was around midnight. It must have been just before because midnight I swapped for the inside job.’
‘Inside job?’
‘Yeah. We have one security in the foyer, just stands in a corner and observes, two outside checking bags, checking ID cards, stopping them if they’re already hig
h on either drugs or drinks, that sort of thing, and one security round the corner at the taxi rank making sure everything’s okay there. We swap positions at certain times, and it was my turn to stand in the foyer at midnight.’
‘Did you know Anthony Jackson?’
Hart hesitated. ‘Yeah.’
‘How?’
‘He’s been to the club before. He brought a load of his friends that night, but he left before any of the others did.’
‘So now we get to your part in this.’ Tessa gave a small smile. ‘Quite a large part as it turns out, considering that the driver of the taxi murdered Mr Jackson.’
‘I’ve given my statement once,’ he responded, anger showing in his face.
‘Mr Hart, would you rather we left this until tomorrow, give you time to think about what really happened?’ Marsden smiled again.
‘Yeah,’ Billy said, and stood up.
‘Very well. PC Irwin, will you take Mr Hart down to the cells please?’
Dave Irwin moved away from the wall that had been supporting his not inconsiderable frame, and headed towards Hart.
‘Whoa!’ Hart said, panic showing in his eyes. ‘I need to go home.’
‘Not till you’ve given an amended statement, Mr Hart. This time with truth in it.’
He sat down, and Dave Irwin retreated back to his original position.
‘We’re carrying on?’
Billy Hart nodded.
‘Okay. Who came out first?’
‘I’ve already told you this. Her, the bird. I didn’t know she was with Jackson until he joined her. I jumped to it then.’
‘Why? You scared of him?’
‘No. I’d been told…’