“All the more reason for us to meet.”
* * *
Harry looked up from his desk at Jess. “You’re very quiet this morning. Not like you at all.”
“Headache,” she muttered.
“What’re you working on?”
“Why Thea got so many calls from Dean but when we asked her, pretended not to know him that well.”
Harry shrugged. “Teenagers. I wouldn’t even try.”
“They worked for the same hotel chain, the one involved in the drugs trade. I want to know more about that, Harry. She’s hiding something, you could tell from her attitude, the way she spoke to us about him. She knows something and doesn’t want to say. Have you considered that Dean could have found out something while he was working at the Commodore and that’s why he was killed? He worked in the office, he was tech savvy, and we know he was nosey as hell.”
She could be right. “Okay, find out if Thea is working at the Metropole this morning and we’ll pay her a visit. You and the headache up for that?”
“I’ll be fine. How’s Col doing with his search for Roebuck?”
“Dead end. Right now he and a couple of uniforms are knocking on doors around the Baxendale asking if anyone knows him. A neighbour of the woman with the same name — the one who moved away — said the family used to live in the house where Roebuck lives now.”
Harry got up from his desk and took his jacket from the back of the chair. “Let’s hope no one takes on our Col. He oozes ‘copper’ and that doesn’t do on the Baxendale.”
“He’ll be careful, Col takes no risks and the uniforms will have his back.” Jess made the call and was told that Thea was working a shift in the office.
“Thought she might be,” Harry said. “It’s half term, you see. Right then, the Metropole it is.”
“How d’you know it’s half term? You haven’t got kids,” Jess asked.
“As well as lecturing, Hugh has a part-share in a dental practice. This week will be busy with kids and check-ups, so he’s working there at the moment,” Harry said.
“I’ll have to meet this Hugh.”
“Come for a drink with us one night,” Harry said. “You’ll like him, he’s a good laugh. Mind you, he looks a bit of mess this morning. A couple of youths tried to mug him when he arrived home last night. He copped a face full of bruises and a cut lip. Luckily, Col was on hand to help out or he might have been badly done over.”
“Any idea who they were?” she asked.
“Hugh didn’t get much of a look, it all happened too fast.”
“CCTV?” she asked. “An apartment block like that must have a good system.”
“Depends on what Hugh wants to do, it’s his call. They did get away with his briefcase. ”
“He got beat up, too. Doesn’t he want them hauled in and charged?”
“We spoke this morning and he’s not keen. Hugh likes the quiet life, and as I said, it’s up to him.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
When they arrived at the Metropole, the manageress was behind the reception desk and she didn’t look pleased to see them. “Back again? What is it now? You do know that Ms Midani is no longer with us?”
“Thea Connor — is she working today?” Jess asked, getting straight to the point.
“She’s in the office updating the customer database.”
“Can we go through?” Harry asked. “We’d like a quiet word.”
The manageress nodded resignedly.
Thea wasn’t alone. There were three others in the main office, all busy at the computers. Thea was by the window, her young face lit up by the screen. The moment she spotted the detectives, she shut her computer down.
“What’s up, Thea? Something you shouldn’t be looking at?” Harry said.
“Private stuff for work,” she said. “We’re not allowed to share customer information for data protection reasons. Being police, you’ll know all about that.”
She was right, but Harry didn’t appreciate the smart-arsed attitude, not in someone so young. Jess had been right. “You’d do well not to forget that we’re police, Thea. If I consider it necessary, I’ll look at all the records I like.”
“Point taken. It’s just that the boss gets in a right strop if private stuff about the customers comes out.”
“Did Dean ever work here?” Harry asked.
“Sometimes, if we were short staffed. Dean was versatile, he worked at all the Calvert hotels in the area. Why are you so interested anyway?”
“Him being murdered could have something to do with it,” Jess said sarcastically. “Despite what you say, Thea, Dean was chasing a killer, it was no fantasy. We think he discovered something a while ago, then followed it up with his own research. Do you know anything about that?”
The girl shrugged. “You know what I think about his theories — rubbish, the lot of them. Dean went to work, did the hours and went off home. There’s no mystery. Why ask me anyway?”
“The pair of you were friends, close even.”
“You’ve got that wrong. I told you, we worked together occasionally, met up sometimes, that’s all,” she said.
“He rang you every day, Thea, sometimes more than once,” Jess told her. “If you weren’t close, why was that?”
Thea Connor sighed and turned towards the window. “Get off my back, will you? I don’t know anything about Dean or why he was killed.” Another shrug. “He was unlucky I guess. He should have let it go.”
“Let what go?” Harry asked. “Come on, what aren’t you telling us?”
“I can’t tell you anything because I don’t know.” Her voice rose. “Dean rang me a lot, he was like that. I dunno, perhaps he fancied me or something.”
Apart from Dean’s mobile call log, they had nothing to prove her wrong. Dean rarely went out, so the two of them hadn’t been seen together.
“You attend Ryebridge Academy, is that right? What year are you in?” Jess asked.
“Final year of A levels. I leave in the summer.”
“You’re eighteen?” Harry asked and Thea nodded. “If you’re lying, it won’t go well for you. You’re an adult, old enough to know where obstructing a police investigation can get you.”
The girl simply rolled her eyes.
Harry had said his piece. The girl wasn’t going to tell them anything and they were wasting valuable time. But why? She knew what had happened to Dean and despite her protestations, his instinct told him that Thea Connor knew very well what Dean had been up to. He could only hope that she came to her senses before she suffered the same fate.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The police’s visit had rattled Thea. She needed to end her involvement with the assassin and get out. She’d been careless. She should’ve told Dean to delete her number ages ago, but he’d insisted on sharing what he discovered. Thea reckoned the killer had taken Dean’s mobile when he’d killed him, and that’s how he’d found her number. Made sense. It had said in the paper that the phone had never been found.
“I’m going home,” she told her boss shortly after the detectives had left. “I feel sick, think I ate a dodgy pie yesterday.”
The woman didn’t look impressed. “If you can’t make it tomorrow, let me know. We’ve got a wedding party in and I need all the bodies I can get.”
Thea gave her a nod and left. Her dad would be in his office, she’d go there and do her homework — anything was better than being on her own. She joined the shoppers on Ryebridge High Street and then slipped into her dad’s place. She’d no idea if the assassin had followed her or not. But at least she had company here and was safe for a while.
“Going to use the computer,” she told him. “Research for an assignment.”
“I’ve got a client coming in soon, so no playing loud music on YouTube, all right?” Thea nodded. “But feel free to answer the phone and take messages.”
“No Dianne today?” Dianne was her dad’s assistant.
“She’s taken some paperwo
rk to the court, she’ll be back later.”
Thea sat at a computer at the back of the office and tried to get on with her work. She was just starting to relax and get her thoughts in order when her mobile rang. It was him.
“When and where? You choose.”
Thea had already decided daytime would be safer. The shopping mall was the busiest place she could think of. There was a seating area outside the café, and there were always plenty of people around. He couldn’t hurt her there.
* * *
Colin had spent the morning knocking on doors in one of the blocks on the Baxendale. Not the most pleasant of jobs — mostly he got a mouthful of abuse as soon as he showed his badge. The uniforms had the right idea, they’d both held back out of sight. No one had offered anything helpful and he was thinking of giving up. Until he met Dora Bradshaw. She peered at his badge and asked him in.
“Bloody awful man, that Roebuck. Makes a helluva noise and never apologises. Thinks he has the right to roar and swear whenever the fancy takes him. He lives down there, in the flat under me.” She tapped the floor with her foot. “He’s a drunk too, down the pub every night he is. I’m not surprised he gets into arguments. The other night there was a right ruck. Banging, shouting . . . I had to knock on the floor and shout down. Things got quieter after that, and I haven’t seen him since.”
“Has he lived there long?” Colin asked. “I checked all the records and drew a blank. The tenant in that flat is down as being a woman called Enid Hope.”
“That’s his mother. She left Ryebridge three years ago. She married again when her old man died. Officially it’s still her flat — Roebuck pays her the rent, and she passes it on to the council. That way he gets to stay put.”
“Is that allowed?”
She laughed. “Who’s going to argue with Roebuck? Have you seen the size of him? He’s a huge brute of a man and handy with his fists. Anyway, turf him out and no one else is going to want the place. This estate has gone to the dogs. Council aren’t daft, they’re getting the rent and that’s what’s important to them.”
“And you’ve not seen or heard him since that night?”
“Not a peep, which suits me just fine.” She smiled. “The night he made all the noise, there was a lot of coming and going. His door sticks, you see, to close it you have to pull hard and it tends to bang. I reckon that damn door opened and closed at least three or four times between midnight and the small hours.”
Useful information. Colin thanked her and went down to the ground floor to check out the flat for himself. The banging Dora Bradshaw had described didn’t sound good. He knocked on the door and getting no answer, peered through the window. He couldn’t see much — the blinds were half closed — but he did spot an overturned coffee table. Perhaps there’d been a fight. Colin rang it in to the office. “I’m going inside,” he told the PC who answered. “I can’t raise Roebuck, and it’s possible he’s in trouble.”
Much to Colin’s surprise, the door wasn’t locked. He pushed it open and stepped inside. The door from the hallway to the sitting room was open, and he could clearly see a man lying in a pool of blood. Roebuck, had to be. A quick check confirmed he was dead. Colin had to get Melanie Clarke, her team and Harry down here quick.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Thea bought herself a takeaway coffee from the café and sat on one of the benches by the entrance. The shopping mall was busy, it was raining so people preferred to shop inside. Which suited Thea just fine.
Was she doing the right thing? The question had niggled at her since the killer made contact. Dean had taken this man on and paid the ultimate price. Could she do any better? Dean had maintained there was no danger, said he held all the cards, but he’d ended up dead. Thea sat there, watching the passers-by and pondering her predicament for a good fifteen minutes before a golden-haired cocker spaniel bounded up to her.
“Sorry, he’s only a pup and hasn’t got the hang of busy places yet, or that he shouldn’t talk to strangers.” The owner smiled. “Merlin, leave the young lady alone. She doesn’t want covering in your hair.”
Thea bent down and scratched the puppy’s neck. “He’s cute.”
“An attention-seeker more like,” the man said. “And he always makes for anyone he thinks has food.”
Thea smiled and held her coffee aloft. “No food, just a drink and you wouldn’t like coffee.”
The man sat down beside her, placed his overcoat over his knee and lifted the dog onto it. “He’ll settle in minute. I’ve walked him all over town this morning, he should be tired out by now.”
The interlude with the dog took her mind off the impending meeting, made things seem almost normal. He’d never dare approach her while she had company. But safe as she felt, that wouldn’t get her anywhere. Thea needed an end to this. She checked her mobile. No calls. “I’ll have to go.”
“Boyfriend?” the man asked. “Stood you up, has he? Attractive young woman like you. I wouldn’t stand for it.”
“Nothing like that, but it doesn’t matter now.” She picked up her bag and was about to get to her feet when she felt something hard press into her side.
“Not so fast, young lady. I have a blade poised and ready to strike. Time for you and I to have that talk. Convince me you can be trusted and I might let you live.”
It was him! Why hadn’t she realised? His easy manner, the dog, it all appeared so natural. He’d had her completely taken in. “Is the dog even yours?” she asked.
“A colleague’s.”
“There are more of you?”
He smiled. “Just me, and that’s more than enough. In fact, I could be your worst nightmare.”
“Look, I’m here,” she said. “There’s no need to threaten me. I’ve deliberately chosen a CCTV blind spot, and a place where no one will give us a second glance. I want to do a deal.”
“Go on then. Now’s your chance. Convince me to let you live.”
“As I said before, you’ll have my silence. I go to the police and life will get tricky for you.” Thea waited for a response but he remained impassive. “I doubt that would please your boss either. He’s a vengeful man. He’d turn on you.”
“Conjecture. Besides, that won’t happen.” He sat looking away from her, absent-mindedly stroking the dog.
“Do you want to take that risk though? He gets to know about me and Dean discovering you and it’ll change everything. I go to the police and he won’t risk keeping you on, or even keeping you alive.” Thea watched his expression change to one of annoyance. “Have you ever actually met him?”
“No, there’s never been a need to conduct our business face to face.”
“But he’s ruthless, right? He’ll have power and influence. A man like that makes a dangerous enemy.”
The killer said nothing.
“Look, there’s no need for me to speak to the police or anyone else. I promise to stay quiet about what I know, and in return you’ll give me ten grand.”
He burst out laughing and shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you, Thea? Right now I hold all the cards. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s me holding a blade against your body, not the other way around. You’re in no position to make any deal. Nothing you have said convinces me that you know anything that would interest the police. They dismissed Dean’s ramblings and it’ll be just the same with you.”
Thea swallowed, turned, and looked him in the face. She was way out of her comfort zone but she’d started this and had to see it through. “You’re not listening. I can do you real harm. Pass evidence onto the police, or even worse, tell your boss how careless you’ve been.” She was bluffing. She had no idea who his boss was, but he didn’t need to know that.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh I would, and I will. Get that knife away from me or I’ll shout out and draw a crowd. You don’t want that, do you?”
“Exactly what evidence do you have?” he asked sharply. She felt the pressure of the blade ease as it was w
ithdrawn. “Don’t you realise how dangerous it is to lie or to threaten me?”
“I know your username.” He turned to her with a look of surprise. “You and your boss aren’t the only ones who know about that selling website. There’s others have figured out what it’s used for. And I can describe you,” she said. “Kill me and arrangements have been made to send that proof to the police.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re a clever girl, Thea, I’ll give you that. Brave too, taking me on like this, knowing what I’m capable of. But what you say is hardly proof. We only go by our usernames, and nothing can be traced back to me or the boss. When you weigh it up, you’ve got a big fat nothing.” He continued stroking the dog. To the casual passer-by, they wouldn’t merit a second glance. A man and his dog, chatting to a young woman who’d taken an interest. “Dean tried blackmail, but then you know that. What you perhaps don’t know is that during his nosing around, he rattled one cage too many.”
That sparked Thea’s interest. “What d’you mean?”
“Dean himself became a target. The man I work for saw him as a threat — not to me, to himself and wanted him taking out. It’s only a matter of time before the same happens to you, Thea.”
“No, that won’t happen,” she protested. His revelation had thrown her. If she became one of his paid targets, there’d be no hope of bargaining with him. “Anyway, you’re wrong, the police have ways of finding out who’s used what websites. I tell them what I know, the police will find it interesting and it’ll help them find you.” She watched his face carefully.
“Okay,” he said after a while, “suppose I do agree to pay you, there’s no way you’re getting ten grand.”
“All right. Five then,” Thea said. “Agree and we can end this.”
“It had better be all right. It’s all you’re going to get.” Again, she felt the blade pressed into her side. “One shove, young lady, and you’re badly injured, but the second strike will be right into your heart.”
There was a pause. Thea’s heart was racing. He wasn’t joking. She could feel the tip of the blade, digging in. “How do we do this?”
THE FACELESS MAN an absolutely gripping crime mystery with a massive twist (Detectives Lennox & Wilde Thrillers Book 2) Page 12