Murder Undeniable : a gripping murder mystery

by Anita Waller

  Tessa nodded, and left his office. He wiped the sweat from his face, and picked up the phone.

  Kat, Mouse and Doris ordered afternoon tea for three, and then stared in wonderment at the assortment of food that appeared before them.

  ‘We’ll not need to cook tonight,’ Doris said with a laugh. ‘There’s enough here to feed a small army.’

  ‘Tuck in,’ Mouse said. ‘My treat, no argument. I’ve had good news in that I need to go inspect the house as soon as possible; they’ve finished three days earlier than they thought. Once I sign it off, I can get it on the market.’

  They munched their way through the sandwiches without speaking much; it’s hard to speak with a mouthful of chicken and grape sandwich, followed by cheese and egg, followed by Yorkshire ham. They slowed down a little with the jellies and strawberries, and really struggled with the scones and the truly exceptional cakes.

  ‘If we don’t fall asleep when we get home,’ Kat said, ‘I want to look at the Craig Adams file again. I’m convinced there’s an answer somewhere in there for us, and now that I’ve got Leon’s blessing, although a little half-hearted, it seems as though a weight has lifted and I can take on the world. I knew he wouldn’t be ecstatic, but he actually took it quite well.’

  They didn’t fall asleep; Mouse and Doris went on their computers, and Kat utilised Doris’s bed to spread out all the paperwork from the file on Craig Adams. Kat looked through the initial reports in the newspapers, when identification hadn’t been completed, to the heartbreaking photograph of Sally outside her front door, tears on her cheeks, to newspaper reports showing the funeral of the young Derbyshire lad. There was a queue of mourners, and Kat stood to go to her own room to fetch a magnifying glass.

  Settling back down, Kat studied every face in the long line, and gasped as she recognised two of them.

  Mouse looked up. ‘You okay?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Just come here a minute.’ She handed the magnifier to Mouse and pointed at the picture.

  Mouse leaned forward. ‘Shit.’

  ‘Don’t use that word, Mouse,’ Doris said.

  ‘Come here, Nan,’ Mouse said. ‘Look at this.’

  Again the magnifier was employed, although Doris made no sound. She simply looked up at the other two, and said, ‘It’s Leon. A much younger Leon, but I imagine there weren’t many black people around here back then. Did you recognise anybody else in the line, Kat?’

  ‘Leon, and the man who runs his Sheffield operation, the distribution centre. Brian King. I don’t think I would have recognised him from this picture, but because he’s stood at Leon’s side, I know it’s him. What does this mean?’

  ‘I’m not sure. If he knew Craig Adams, and he clearly did or he wouldn’t be at his funeral, maybe he has information he doesn’t realise he has. You have to pick your moment, but you have to ask him.’

  ‘I know. I suppose I just don’t like this suddenly being close to home.’

  Kat sat in silence for a couple of minutes, then took out her phone. She scrolled through until she found the number that had only been in there for a few days, and rang Sally Adams.

  Sally answered almost immediately. ‘Hi, Kat.’

  ‘Sally, just bear with me on this, and I’m sorry if this is upsetting you all over again.’

  ‘It isn’t. I’ve heard nothing further from the police, so I’m not daring to believe they’ll solve this. You might though.’

  ‘Why?’ Kat could feel Mouse’s and Doris’s eyes on her.

  ‘Because of who you are.’

  ‘But I’m only a deacon.’

  ‘I didn’t mean that. It’s who you’re married to.’

  ‘Leon? That’s strange, because that’s what I was ringing about. Was Craig friends with Leon and Brian King? I’ve seen the photograph in the newspaper of the funeral, and the long line of people who attended. Leon and Brian were there.’

  ‘Of course they were there. I’ve got to go.’ And she disconnected.

  Kat stared at her phone, bewilderment on her face.

  ‘You okay?’ Mouse asked.

  ‘Not sure. What am I missing here?’

  She recapped her conversation with Sally to Doris and Mouse, feeling more troubled once she’d repeated it.

  ‘Where did you meet Leon, Kat?’ Doris was gentle in her questioning.

  ‘At a church barbeque. He came with a friend, we were together all evening and the friend went home in a taxi. We sat in Leon’s car for hours, just talking. I’d never met anybody like him. I think I was in love when I finally went home. We’ve never been apart since.’

  ‘And did you know how he made his money? He’s obviously very well off.’

  ‘Yes, he has numerous shops scattered around Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, that sort of area, all pharmacies. He runs the shops, or so I understand, attends assorted meetings with drug companies, and Brian King, who has been a lifelong friend, is his Distribution Manager at their place down Sheffield’s East End. I’ve never been involved with his business. Maybe if I hadn’t been so committed to my church life, I might have taken more of an interest, but we work well the way it is.’

  Doris looked down at her hands. ‘Stop me if this gets too much, Kat. There is a reason Sally Adams put that phone down on you. I think Craig Adams did tell his mother who the two thousand pounds was for, and I think it was either Leon or this Brian King.’

  Kat couldn’t speak.

  ‘Then why didn’t she say anything before?’ Mouse asked, belligerence evident in her tone. ‘Why didn’t she tell the police when Craig’s body was found?’

  ‘Fear,’ Doris said. ‘I imagine she was all too aware of what they were capable of. Her son was dead. It’s my guess that instead of paying the two thousand to Leon, he bought more drugs. Drug dealers don’t do second chances, and this was probably Craig’s second chance because he was a friend of theirs. They’d all been at school together. I don’t know how we prove this, or even if Kat wants to prove it, but I’m pretty sure this is the right scenario.’

  Kat felt breathless. She couldn’t take in what she was hearing, yet somewhere in the back of her mind was the feeling that Doris was right. Leon a murderer? Did he still deal in drugs? She knew without any shadow of a doubt that he hadn’t been involved in Mouse’s attack and Anthony’s death, so why would anybody think he was guilty of Craig’s murder?

  Tears filled her eyes, and she turned to the two women. ‘He couldn’t have been involved with Anthony’s death. He was with me at the restaurant, then with me all night after we’d got back from the restaurant.’

  ‘When people are murdered and it’s pre-planned,’ Mouse said gently, ‘they can easily have paid someone to do it. They’re just as guilty as whoever pulls the trigger or uses the knife. We need to know if Leon still supplies drugs, and we need to get into Rowe Pharmaceuticals’ accounts, although I doubt they’ll show anything. If he is dealing, there’ll be a second set of books that aren’t on any computer. They’ll be handwritten. Kat, are you okay?’

  ‘Of course I’m not bloody okay. The Leon I know isn’t capable of this.’

  ‘Then we need to prove he isn’t. If he’s as innocent as you believe, we’ll find a way of proving it. Tell us about Brian King.’ Mouse, like her nan, was treating Kat very gently, all too aware of the distress inside her.

  ‘Brian is a lovely man. He has ginger hair, and the temperament that goes with it. He’s completely loyal to Leon. They grew up together, right through infant school and on to the end of school days. Now Brian is Leon’s most senior employee. He knows as much about the business as Leon – in fact probably more.’

  ‘Can we visit the distribution centre? Preferably when Leon isn’t there.’

  ‘I suppose so. I can say I’m showing you around. Doris, you stay home please. There are lots of metal steps, and I don’t want you falling; I know your leg isn’t right yet. According to marital laws, I suppose half the business is mine, so Brian can hardly object to me looking at my half of
it. We won’t tell him we’re going, we’ll just turn up.’

  ‘You’ll be careful?’

  Kat smiled. ‘We will, Nan, I promise. I also want to see Sally again. That was so strange, the way she cut the call short. There’s something she’s not told us – or the police.’

  ‘You’re keeping an open mind on Leon?’ Mouse was clearly worrying about her friend.

  ‘Kind of. I can’t believe he would kill anybody. And I’m a hundred per cent sure he’s not involved with drugs, it’s a respectable business operation he runs. I’m certain I would have sensed something.’

  Mouse nodded. ‘Maybe. Shall we go see Sally after we’ve been into Sheffield tomorrow? I can call and inspect the house, sign it off if it’s done, then we can go and see this Brian King. On the way home we’ll have a few minutes with Sally. Sound like a plan?’

  ‘A plan indeed. Let me check the calendar in the kitchen first though, see if Leon’s put anything on it. If he has fixed meetings, he puts them on that so I know what he’s doing, it’s only the unexpected meetings that aren’t on there.’

  Kat headed downstairs and checked Leon’s itinerary; she saw he was heading to Derby first, then Chesterfield, so it was probably an early start. He came through the front door as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

  He leaned forward to kiss her. ‘Last night was superb,’ he whispered. ‘I’m available for a repeat tonight, if it’s on offer.’

  ‘You’re insatiable, Leon Rowe,’ she whispered back. ‘It might be though.’

  She tried to smile, but the discussion of earlier with Mouse and Doris was lodged very securely in her mind.

  He kissed her again, and they headed upstairs. ‘I’m having a shower. We eating out or in?’

  ‘Don’t think any of your ladies are eating at all. We had afternoon tea at the tea shop, we might never eat again. Can we decide in a bit? It may just be you I’m feeding.’

  He paused on the landing. ‘Have you made a decision about the shop?’

  ‘Yes, we’re having it. I’m contacting your shopfitters tomorrow, to set the ball rolling. It will only be a bit of a chat, we’re some time away from getting them to do any work, but I need to give them a head’s up.’

  ‘You need money?’

  ‘No thanks, we’re okay.’ The thought came unbidden. I don’t know where your money has come from any more.

  He nodded. ‘If you need any sort of help, just ask. I’m not here tomorrow, by the way, but back tomorrow night.’

  ‘I know. I just checked.’

  He disappeared into their bedroom, and Kat continued along the landing to Doris’s room.

  ‘Leon’s home,’ Kat announced.

  ‘You’re okay?’ Mouse asked.

  Kat shook her head. ‘No, I don’t know what to believe any more, or if I can still trust him. I just feel sick thinking about it, but it’s not something I can ignore. I have to know, don’t I?’

  Chapter 31

  The road where Mouse’s Mini had exploded had been repaired, marking with fresh black tarmac the site where the two boys had died; an eternal memorial that had driven their parents into leaving the area. Mouse could see the repair from the bedroom window, and she felt sick.

  Kat moved to stand by her, and put her arm around Mouse’s waist. ‘I’m here for you.’ Mouse nodded.

  They drove to the distribution centre, Kat wondering if she was doing the right thing. She could explain the impromptu visit to Leon by saying she had been telling Mouse about the spread of the business, and decided to take her to see what she had talked about. But how would they explain it to Brian King?

  Kat parked the car outside the fenced compound, aware that lorries were in and out all day long, and set the handbrake. Mouse climbed out of the car and waited for Kat to join her on the pavement.

  Kat nodded towards a lone figure standing near the gate. ‘It’s almost as if he’s expecting us,’ she said. ‘That’s Brian King.’

  Brian’s back was to them, so he would be unaware of their presence. His head was angled slightly to the left, watching the progress of an articulated vehicle as it traversed the crowded yard.

  Mouse stared, her face losing all colour. ‘Kat, can we go?’

  Kat glanced at her friend and, without speaking, pressed her key fob. They climbed back into the car, and Kat started the engine. She reversed into a small side road, and drove back the way they had taken to get there.

  Kat pulled up by the side of the road and switched off the engine. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Mouse was trembling. ‘He’s the taxi driver. And what’s more I escorted him to a do, some time ago now. That’s why he seemed so familiar in the taxi. My brain just wouldn’t accept that the man I’d escorted that night, who appeared to be wealthy, charming and quiet, could be a taxi driver. And it’s obvious why he wants me dead. He knows I’ll join the dots eventually.’

  Kat grasped Mouse’s hand. ‘What do we do now? This is my husband’s business, he’s heavily involved with Brian… Shall we go home? We need to tell Doris and we need to listen to her advice.’

  ‘Or do we go straight to DI Marsden?’ Mouse said. She leaned forward and cried. Kat pulled her towards her and held her close.

  The tears slowed and Mouse tried to apologise.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Kat said. ‘You’ve had a shock, on top of seeing where the two lads died. But we have to talk to somebody. I simply don’t know what to think about Leon. Do you still feel up to seeing Sally on the way home?’

  ‘Yes. Once we set up our business, we won’t be able to pick and choose what we do, who we see, so let’s start as we mean to go on. I’m going to have to tell Marsden, but maybe tomorrow. This gives you tonight to either talk to Leon, or ignore it and let the law deal with him.’

  They drove back to Bakewell in almost complete silence, although Kat kept reaching across to Mouse and squeezing her hand. She looked grey, distraught.

  ‘We’ll talk to Nan when we get in. She’ll calm both of us down.’ Kat blinked away her own tears as she spoke.

  Mouse nodded, not sure she wanted to say anything yet.

  They reached Sally’s house, and this time it was opened within seconds of them knocking on the door.

  ‘I was going to ring you later, Kat. Come in.’ She led them through to the kitchen. ‘Are you both okay?’

  She peered closely at both of them. ‘You’ve been crying. What’s wrong?’

  ‘We’re good,’ Kat said. ‘Just had a bit of a shock, that’s all. We’ll recover, especially if there’s a cuppa on the go.’

  Sally smiled. ‘Always, in this house.’

  ‘So what did you need to ring me about?’

  ‘Firstly to apologise for putting the phone down on you. I’m not normally rude, either on the phone or face-to-face, but I’d just had some news. I’ll talk about that when I’ve made this drink.’

  Nursing mugs of tea, they sat around the kitchen table and looked at each other. ‘Did you want to see me about anything in particular?’ Sally asked.

  ‘No, not really. It was more to try to jog your memory for anything else, something you may have forgotten, or even just a theory you had. The last thing we want to do is upset you. You lost your son, that’s enough for anybody to handle.’ Kat spoke soothingly, not wanting to alienate Sally any further.

  ‘I’ve got something to tell you. Just wait here a minute.’

  They heard her footsteps as she went upstairs, and then her voice, speaking softly to someone.

  A minute later, she was back downstairs, and pouring out a fourth mug of tea.

  ‘I’ve somebody upstairs I want you to meet. He’s agreed to see you, but he’s a scared man. Bear that in mind.’

  Kat and Mouse looked at each other, then nodded. This time the footsteps they heard were heavier, and a short stocky man with a tanned complexion walked into the kitchen. His hair was cut very short, and he had the deepest blue eyes Kat had ever seen. He looked to be about forty, although neither Kat nor Mou
se would have put money on it.

  ‘Kat, Beth, this is Mark James. Remember I told you Craig had two close friends. Don Truman is in prison, and Mark James disappeared just after Craig died.’

  Mark dropped his head. So far he hadn’t spoken a word.

  ‘Last week,’ Sally continued, ‘Mark’s mum passed away. Mark is only here until the funeral, then he’s going back to Spain where it appears he’s been all this time.’

  ‘Thursday,’ Mark said. ‘I daren’t stay any longer. I slept here last night, lying low. I don’t want anybody knowing I’m back. I’ll not be obvious at the funeral, I can’t be.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Mouse said,. ‘You’re saying you can’t be at your own mum’s funeral. Why not?’

  ‘I would be killed,’ he said simply. ‘I arrived yesterday and booked into a Premier Inn, nice and anonymous. I contacted Sally, not expecting her to still be living here, and she told me to take no chances. She said to come here, she had a spare room, so here I am.’

  ‘But you’ve been away fifteen years… surely whatever you did will be forgotten by now.’

  ‘What I did? I did nothing. I was Craig’s friend, that’s all. And Craig was with me and Don when they came for their money. Now Don’s serving a double life sentence, he’ll never get out, and I ran before they could kill me.’

  Mouse frowned. ‘Let’s take a step back, here. Are you saying Don shouldn’t be serving a life sentence?’

  ‘Definitely not. Whoever put those two lasses in that shed and set fire to it, using Don’s petrol can from his garage with his fingerprints on it, was an out and out bastard. I know Don didn’t do it. He was with me, getting drunk. By the next morning he was arrested and I was on a plane. I knew who had set him up, and I knew I was next. This is my first time back since and I can’t let anybody know I’m here. Sally vouched for you two. I hope she’s right.’

  Kat nodded. ‘Your story’s jumping about a bit though. Start at the beginning will you, Mark?’