Lost Hours

by Alex Walters

  ‘I’m used to being on my own,’ Wentworth said. ‘Though admittedly not quite in these circumstances. I’m not easily spooked.’

  Clearly not, Annie thought. ‘If you’re sure. The CSIs will be working into the night, so they’ll be there with a couple of police officers.’

  ‘Dedication,’ Wentworth said.

  ‘Striking while the crime scene’s still hot, mainly. I don’t know how long it’ll take them. It’s pretty certain that the crime occurred elsewhere, so there won’t be a lot to capture here, but they’re very methodical. I hope it won’t disturb you.’

  ‘I won’t know they’re there. Literally,’ Wentworth said. ‘Once you’re in the house, you can’t hear anything. I only heard the car earlier because I happened to be in the garden.’

  ‘That’s fine. Thanks for your time again tonight.’

  ‘I’m only sorry I couldn’t help you more. I’m as baffled by this as you are.’

  She seemed more her usual self now than she had earlier in the interview. The initial hesitation had been replaced by a slicker confidence. But, as always in her dealings with Michelle Wentworth, Annie was left with the feeling that there was something held back. In this case, something about Keith Chalmers.

  There was no point in pushing it for the moment. If it came to it and they really thought Wentworth was hampering the investigation, they could always haul her in for a more formal interview. ‘We’ll keep you posted, anyway.’

  ‘Through your delightful colleague here. She really does seem to want to be very friendly.’

  ‘That’s partly her job,’ Annie said. ‘We want her to be a trusted point of contact for you.’

  ‘Of course you do,’ Wentworth said. ‘Though I’m afraid she’s wasting her time.’

  ‘Wasting her time?’

  ‘If she thinks I’ve anything more to tell you. Whatever you may think, I’ve really nothing more to say than I have already.’

  It was as if Wentworth had read Annie’s own mind, as well as seeing through what Zoe had been trying to do. ‘Well, if anything does occur to you, please just let us know.’

  ‘Of course.’ Wentworth had risen from her seat, an unignorable indication that their time with her was over. ‘I wouldn’t hold any detail back, however trivial, if I felt it was pertinent to the inquiry.’

  Annie gazed at her for a moment, wondering what was really going on inside Michelle Wentworth’s head. Her son dead, the body of a trade unionist dumped at her gates, and here she was, still playing some unfathomable game.

  ‘I hope that’s true,’ Annie said. ‘And I hope you’re in a position to make that judgement. Because if we’re going to catch your son’s killer, Mrs Wentworth, we’ll need all the help and support we can get.’

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ‘You’d better head home and grab some sleep,’ Annie said to Zoe as they walked back down the driveway towards the gates. ‘There’s not much more we can do here tonight. Not till Danny’s done his work.’ It was still only around eleven, but it felt later.

  ‘I suppose, though I don’t know how much I’ll sleep.’

  ‘You sure you’re okay, Zoe?’

  Zoe hesitated briefly. ‘Like I say, it’s just the heat. I like warm weather as much as anyone, but I’m beginning to wish this would break.’

  Annie knew what Zoe meant. Out here, this late in the evening, the temperature was bearable enough, but several times recently Annie had woken in the night, conscious of the airlessness of her bedroom. It was made worse by the fact that, after what had happened earlier in the year, Sheena was still reluctant to leave windows open overnight. ‘Try to get some rest, though. There’s a long way to go on this one.’

  ‘It’s not making any sense,’ Zoe said. ‘I can see how the son’s death might have been intended as some sort of warning or threat, but I don’t see where Chalmers’ death fits into that.’

  ‘Me neither,’ Annie said. ‘We need to find out more about Comrade Chalmers. Sheena actually saw him this evening, would you believe?’

  ‘There’s a coincidence.’

  ‘Maybe. Sheena thought he wanted to pass on some intelligence about Wentworth’s business dealings. Using her as a conduit to pass it on to me. Presumably thought I’d take it more seriously if it had Sheena’s seal of approval.’

  ‘And did it? Have her seal of approval, I mean.’

  ‘Well, she confirmed that in her experience anything coming from Chalmers was generally pretty reliable. If it is accurate, it sounds as if Wentworth’s looking to expand her business massively. That might mean she’s treading on some new toes. He also hinted that there might be funny money involved.’

  ‘What sort of funny money?’

  ‘That’s as far as he got. All very enigmatic, but that was often Chalmers’ way, according to Sheena. I assume he thought he’d get the chance to tell us more if we took the bait.’

  ‘Interesting that he didn’t, then,’ Zoe said.

  ‘That was my thinking. Sheena reckoned he was in a hurry tonight. Had to be somewhere else, but didn’t say where. Like I say, enigmatic.’

  They had reached the gates. Danny Eccles had erected a protective tent over the body, and was inside, fully suited, working on the body. Vance and Garstang were standing by their car, looking deeply bored.

  ‘Evening, lads,’ Annie said. ‘Bet no one ever told you police work could be this exciting?’

  ‘They missed this bit in the recruitment ads,’ Garstang said. He gestured towards the house. ‘She okay?’

  ‘Mrs Wentworth? Yes, she’s fine. Remarkably unfazed, you might say. I’ve told her you’ll be here for a little while till Danny finishes his work. How’s it going, Danny?’ she called.

  After a moment, Eccles’ head peered out of the tent. He pulled away his mask to speak to them. ‘Won’t be too long. There’s only a limited amount I can do here, given that the killing must have occurred elsewhere. He’s not been dead long. Couple of hours, maybe. Cause of death most likely a major trauma to the head. Basically beaten several times with some heavy blunt object.’

  ‘Like Justin Wentworth.’

  ‘Pretty much. Almost as if someone was making a point, you might think.’

  ‘You might. Anything else of interest?’

  ‘Nothing obvious. Pathologist might find something more, particularly if there are any traces of the murder weapon in the head wound, but I can’t see anything. I’ve bagged up the contents of his pockets, but there isn’t much. Wallet. Bank card holder with various documents in it. Set of car and house keys. A few pennies in change. That’s about it.’

  ‘No mobile phone?’

  ‘No, which I guess is interesting.’

  ‘Potentially,’ Annie said. ‘Can’t imagine he wouldn’t have had one in a job like his. And I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have carried it about with him as a matter of habit. Union official’s the kind of role where you need to be available. So either he lost it when he was being attacked, or it was removed deliberately. Which makes me wonder why.’

  ‘Because it provided some link with the killer?’ Zoe offered.

  ‘Presumably. Although if it was a call or text we may be able to trace that through the mobile provider, assuming he was using his union phone.’

  ‘He may not have been,’ Zoe pointed out, ‘if he was involved in something clandestine.’

  ‘Indeed. Or maybe it was something else he had stored on his phone. An address or note, say.’

  Eccles nodded. ‘I’ll leave you to your investigatory speculations and get finished up in here. I’ve called out an ambulance to get the body taken in, though God knows how long they’re likely to be.’

  ‘I’ll give you your due, Danny. You certainly know how to live.’

  * * *

  Annie arrived back home to find that Sheena was up, sitting in the kitchen in her dressing gown, sipping a mug of hot chocolate. ‘Couldn’t get back to sleep,’ she explained. ‘Partly the heat. Partly just thinking about poor Keith Ch
almers.’

  Annie filled the kettle to make herself a mug of tea. It was obvious they weren’t going to get back to bed for a while now. She was conscious her own mind was buzzing, running and rerunning over the facts of the case. ‘Tell me about him.’

  ‘I can’t claim to have known him well. Mind you, I’m not sure anyone really did.’

  ‘Was he married?’

  ‘Divorced as far as I know. Lived on his own over in Eastwood somewhere, I think. He’s mentioned a grown-up son, but I don’t know any details. He always struck me as a private type. My assumption was always was that there wasn’t much else going on his life so he’d thrown himself into the job.’

  ‘Was he the political type? Outside his union role, I mean.’

  ‘Not particularly. He was a party member, obviously, but not a very active one in recent years. He always told me he’d been a bit of an activist in his youth, but now he just put his energies into the job.’

  ‘Not the sort to make enemies?’ The kettle had boiled and Annie poured boiling water over the teabag in her mug. She swished it about for a few seconds with a spoon, before dredging it out and dropping it in the compost caddy.

  ‘I wouldn’t have said so,’ Sheena said. ‘You’re bound to get up a few people’s noses in that kind of role. Sometimes more on your own side than the other.’

  ‘How’d you mean?’

  ‘Well, these days employers either don’t recognise trade unions in the first place or, if they do, they accept them as a fact of life. Just something they have to deal with. The better employers see them as a positive because they provide a structured route to consult with employees. But at worst they see them as a necessary evil. You must see that in the force.’

  ‘I suppose. The Federation’s a bit of a special case, but relations with the staff unions are generally fairly constructive.’

  ‘Exactly. As long as the union reps are reasonable, that’s usually the case. The national and regional reps, like Keith, are generally seen in an even better light because they’re often the ones who keep the less experienced local reps in line. That was generally how Keith was seen. The voice of moderation. It was why he’d involved himself in the Matlock thing. He knew there was a danger of it flaring up. So if he made enemies, they tended to be on his own side.’

  ‘Because they thought he was too moderate?’

  ‘That sort of thing. That he’d been too emollient. That he’d not pushed the cause as hard as he should have done. That he’d capitulated too easily to management. It goes with the territory, but it can be a pain in the backside when you know you’ve given it everything you can.’ She smiled. ‘The same goes for Labour MPs sometimes.’

  ‘I bet.’

  ‘Internal union politics can be a vicious world.’

  ‘Like internal Labour Party politics?’

  ‘I’m saying nothing. But I do wish some of our lot were as committed to attacking the other side as they are to attacking each other. All I’m saying is that I think Keith suffered a bit from that over the years.’

  ‘Enough for someone to want to murder him?’

  ‘Not even trade union politics usually goes that far. But there might have been one or two people who’d have been happy to stitch him up, let’s put it that way.’

  ‘You don’t have any names, I suppose?’

  ‘I’m not close enough to any of it. These are nothing more than impressions I’ve picked up over the years. Stuff I’ve heard on the grapevine. I’ve always made a point of not getting involved. Life’s too short. If you think it’s an avenue worth pursuing, I’d go and talk to the union. National office is in London, but they’ve a team based out of Derby who basically cover the East Midlands.’

  Annie sat down at the kitchen table and took a sip of her tea. ‘I’ll talk to Stuart in the morning about how we play this. I’m assuming he’ll want to treat this as part of the Wentworth inquiry, unless of course he decides it’s just coincidence that Chalmers’ body ended up at her house. Whether he’ll want me still to be leading it is another question.’

  ‘Complicates things, this, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Even more than before. Although I suppose it gives a new dimension to the whole conflict of interest question. But if you were the last person to see Chalmers alive before the killer, that potentially puts me in a difficult position.’

  ‘Surely nobody’s going to see me as a suspect.’

  ‘Not a very likely one, certainly. And Trev saw Chalmers leave the pub before you.’

  ‘But I don’t have an alibi between then and you getting home from work.’

  ‘And even then your only alibi would be me, the investigating officer. You see the problem?’

  ‘I suppose. It’s ridiculous, though, isn’t it?’

  ‘Well, obviously. But that’s not the point. The point is that the inquiry needs to be squeaky clean. We can’t afford any suggestion that it’s not being managed totally objectively. Anything that clouds that is a problem. On top of that, I don’t imagine you want to have your name blazoned across the media about this either.’

  ‘I see what you mean. They won’t care whether there’s anything in it, they’ll just see it as a good story.’

  ‘Exactly. The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to tell Stuart I want to step aside. It’s probably better if I initiate it rather than just leaving the decision to him.’

  ‘Your decision, obviously,’ Sheena said. ‘And you’re probably right. I just resent being coerced into something through fear of what the media might do. Especially when it’s something as important as a murder inquiry.’

  ‘There are other people who can run it as well as I can,’ Annie said. ‘The last thing I want is some media circus that hinders us finding whoever killed Justin Wentworth and Keith Chalmers.’

  ‘Point taken.’ Sheena swallowed the last of her hot chocolate. ‘Ready for sleep?’

  ‘I guess so,’ Annie said. ‘I want to be in early tomorrow. Make sure I can get my retaliation in first, as it were. Before Stuart can get his act together.’

  ‘If you’re sure it’s the right thing to do.’

  ‘To be honest,’ Anne said. ‘I’ve not sure I’ve much of a choice.’

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Annie arrived at headquarters early but, not entirely to her surprise, Jennings was already there, sitting in his glass-panelled office, tapping busily at his computer. She dropped her bag by her desk and crossed to knock on his door. He beckoned her in.

  ‘You’re in bright and early,’ he said.

  ‘You seem to be brighter and earlier.’

  ‘Not sure about brighter. I’m struggling to sleep in this heat. Woke up about four and couldn’t get off again, so thought I might as well come in. How was last night?’

  ‘As you’d expect,’ she said. ‘You’ve heard it was Keith Chalmers?’

  ‘So I understand.’

  She hesitated a moment before proceeding, still unsure that she really wanted to excuse herself from the inquiry. ‘Look, Stuart, I’ve been thinking through what you were saying. I’ve decided you’re right. I shouldn’t be running this one. Especially now. You should give it to someone else.’

  ‘That was another reason I couldn’t sleep. Been trying to think it through. I mean, you’re right, but it’s not like I’m overwhelmed with resources here.’

  ‘There must be someone who could take it on.’

  ‘You’d think, wouldn’t you? But I seem to be running into a brick wall.’

  So he’d already been looking to replace her. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Jennings was always keen to stay one step ahead, especially when his own backside might be on the line. So why should she care? She’d already decided to ask him to take her off the case. That was why she was here. Why should she feel concerned to discover he’d already been planning to do so? Except, of course, that was never how it worked. She was already beginning to regret her words.

  ‘I could do a straight swap with s
omeone. Take on whatever they’re in the middle of.’

  ‘I’ve been through all that. You’d be amazed how many people are just at a critical stage with some case and they really can’t afford to be taken off it just now.’

  ‘Just tell them, then. Or get someone more senior to tell them, if that’s what it takes.’

  Jennings frowned at her. ‘I’m quite capable of fighting my own battles, you know.’

  She suppressed a sigh. ‘Yes, of course. I didn’t mean that. It’s just that I know some people won’t jump unless they’ve a Chief Super breathing down their neck.’

  ‘To be honest, the real problem is that they all see it as a poisoned chalice. They’ve seen Michelle Wentworth on the telly and they know what she’s capable of. No one wants to take on this one and fail.’

  ‘I didn’t know we had the choice.’

  ‘We don’t, officially. But people can dig their heels in when they want to.’

  ‘What if I dig my heels in?’

  ‘Someone needs to run the case.’

  ‘You take it on, then? You be CIO.’

  He was too slow to conceal his look of distaste entirely. ‘I’ve got enough on my plate as it is, Annie. I couldn’t do the job justice.’

  She paused, considering the options. ‘Delegate it downwards, then. Why not let Zoe take it? It would be good experience for her.’

  ‘You wouldn’t want to risk throwing Zoe to the wolves, would you? I mean, Zoe’s good but she doesn’t have the experience for this. Not yet. And if it went wrong…’

  ‘Okay. But I don’t see how I can carry on with the role. Apart from anything else, it looks as if Sheena might have been the last person to see Chalmers alive, other than the killer. I’m too close to it.’

  Jennings was clearly surprised by this new piece of information. ‘When did she see him?’

  ‘Yesterday evening. In our local pub. He wanted to talk to her about Michelle Wentworth, interestingly enough.’

  ‘What did he have to say?’