by L M Krier
‘Humberside? Heavens no. I’ll travel a lot for a church organs but for students it was only local to Preston. There’s very little money in private teaching like that, certainly not if you have to factor in high mileage. Very occasionally I’d travel as far as northern Greater Manchester or, at a push, into wildest West Yorkshire, but never any further than that.’
‘Right, progress reports from everyone, please, and let’s see where we’re going next. I’m finished in court, for the time being at least, unless I get recalled, so I’m back overseeing.
‘Jo, I now have contact details for the person who made a mobile phone call to Clive Edwards’ phone from the location where Trev ended up in Scotland shortly before I received the picture of him from a different phone. Tony Barlow. The name’s familiar, I think we know him. He needs picking up and interviewing, at length, to see if he can finger Edwards. Get a detailed description and get him to do a likeness. Goodness knows why he used a traceable phone for that call but there’s a good chance he wasn’t thinking straight. That’s because there’s a strong possibility that he has a broken nose. He clearly didn’t realise that Trev is a karate black belt who was not too happy about being shut in a car boot. I doubt he’d have taken the job if he’d known. Anyway, round him up and see what he says. We want the name of his accomplice and we want Edwards.’
‘Bloody hell, boss, that’s going to be a political hot potato. You surely can’t arrest Edwards in the middle of his daughter’s trial? What if the press get hold of that?’
‘That’s what’s worrying me, which is why I’ve arranged an early meeting with the Super and the Big Boss in the morning. It’s a decision they need to take, not me, but if this bloke you’re going after delivers him on a plate, we can’t ignore it. But bear in mind I had a rough day in court today and the jury have already been fed the idea that I was on some sort of personal vendetta against Edwards.’
Ted paused for a swallow of his green tea. Trev was always telling him he drank too much of it and it would do dire things to him, but right now he felt he needed it and had earned it.
‘Right, our first FGM. Megan and Jezza will be interviewing those victims who have already, as well as those who can be persuaded to come forward. We may need interpreters for some?’
He looked to Megan for confirmation and she nodded. ‘The one I spoke to came with someone who spoke good English, boss, but I’m not sure that will always be the case. I think now that one has plucked up courage to talk, others might well do the same. And some of them are going to be quite young girls, from the information we have so far.’
‘Good, well if we need interpreters, we’ll get them. There’s a lot of useful information on the West Midlands’ force’s website. Have a look on there everyone, so we know what we’re doing. I imagine if there are any men involved who need to be spoken to that it might be better, from a cultural point of view, if they’re interviewed by male officers. Virgil, you work with Jo on that, please.’
‘Is it because I is black?’ Virgil asked, putting on a heavy accent and with a touch of irony in his voice. ‘Seriously, boss, you do know I was born in Salford, don’t you? I don’t know anything about the culture that does this shit.’
‘Right, listen up, everyone. I’ve not had a good day in court. In fact, I’ve had a pretty crap day. As a result, if I say anything which gives offence, I apologise, but it’s not meant to. I thought you all knew me better than that.’
‘I was just messing, boss. Sorry.’ Virgil sounded contrite.
‘Now The Preacher. What have we got and where are we going?’
Rob recounted his conversation with Peter Spencer, the former vicar’s son and one-time organist at the church.
‘I’ve been trying to track down this Stanley Harrison. So far I’ve found his publisher’s details. I have a feeling it may be one of those vanity imprints, where you pay to get your book published. Anyway I’ve not been able to get hold of them yet so I’ll keep trying all means I can think of.
‘I did ask Spencer if he ever taught Robbie Phillips, as he teaches piano and organ and we know Robbie was musical. He said not, that he doesn’t cover that area.’
‘Let’s check it out, though. Someone phone Robbie’s parents in the morning, tactfully, please, and ask what instruments he played and who his teacher was. And this Harrison would fit in with your theory, Steve, about the Christian and pre-Christian connection so he’s definitely someone we need to find and have a long talk to. Have a dig about as you’ve already been looking at that angle. It’s possible you may even have come across some of his stuff online before we knew he might be of interest to us.’
‘Where are we up to with links between the schools or the three victims? Anything on that, yet? What about this NCS line of enquiry. Any links with where they all went for their residential bit of it?’
‘Still digging, boss, but something did occur to me today which we’ve also started to look at as a possible link, and another musical one,’ Mike Hallam put it. ‘The school prom. My daughter is way too young yet but she’s already started designing the dress she wants to wear for it.’
‘School prom?’ Ted queried. ‘Isn’t that more an American thing?’
‘Meanwhile on twenty-first century Planet Earth,’ Jezza said, half under her breath. As she felt the boss’s stern look turn her way, she continued, ‘Oh, come on, boss, I was just pointing out that, with respect, you don’t know an awful lot about teen culture.’
For a brief moment, Jezza wasn’t sure if this time she had pushed it too far, especially as she knew how much the boss disliked the phrase ‘with respect’. She’d perhaps taken too big a risk, after the day he’d had. Then she saw his face soften and his lips twitch into a smile.
‘Absolutely right, DC Vine, guilty as charged. The only thing I know about teens is through Trev’s younger sister Siobhan and she moves in the horsey set so it seems to be hunt balls and the like. So tell me about these proms. What is the musical connection? Do they have groups who play? Ones who might have been at all three schools?’
‘These days it’s often groups of pupils from the school itself, boss,’ Jo told him. ‘That’s getting to be quite a popular idea. But we can easily find out who played at each school, and if our three lads attended a prom at their school.’
‘I don’t suppose there’s much call for church organ music at something like that. But just check if this Peter Spencer plays any other instrument that might be of interest. And what kind of piano does he play? And I don’t mean an upright or a grand. I mean might he play the sort of music that would be in demand for a school prom? Seems unlikely, but perhaps he plays keyboard or synthesizer or something.
‘Anything else?’
‘Boss, I took a message from Doug in forensics,’ Sal told him. ‘The tyre tracks up at Ludworth Moor didn’t give them much at all, they were too indistinct. All he would say was they’re a size which could fit anything like a Ford Fiesta, including several models of Fiat. So that doesn’t narrow it down for us all that much, especially as Fiesta is the most popular model on the road. He said if we could find a suspect vehicle, they might be able to give us a match that was on the probable side of possible, but that would be best-case scenario. Oh, and he said to ask you “what about the kitten,” if that means anything to you.’
Ted decided to pretend to ignore that particular message. He knew that the moment he mentioned a kitten to Trev, he’d want to take it on. They’d had seven cats before and managed. He’d promised Doug that he would think about it and he would. But that might be all he did.
‘I’m going to work on a bit this evening, see if I can catch up with what I’ve missed being away. Perhaps some of you can do the same? Can you sort it out between you, or maybe Jo, you can make executive decisions? We need to crack on with this case. We’ve still not a lot to show for it.
‘If someone fancies going out for something to keep us going, a bit of pizza or something, let me know and I’ll put something in th
e kitty.’
‘You’re late back. Have you eaten?’ Trev asked as Ted flopped next to him on the sofa when he finally got home.
‘I had some pizza. Allegedly. If I hadn’t been looking at it when I ate it, it could just as easily have been the cardboard box it came in. How’s the head?’
‘I still have an impressive lump.’ Trev bent his head forward. Ted ran a gentle hand carefully over the glossy back curls. It was true, there was still a bump the size of a small egg.
‘We might just have the person who did it in our sights.’
‘Who was it, and how did they find me?’
Ted hesitated, not sure whether or not to tell him the full story. He tried always to be open and honest but he didn’t like discussing case-work outside the station and in a sense, this was work.
‘You know that Morgane Edwards’ father hired someone to try to scare me off? Before the trial? I think he thought that when that didn’t work, he’d turn his attention to you. I think the plan was to hold you captive all the time the court case was on, in the hopes of making me appear flaky, not able to run a proper enquiry.’
‘But how did he know about me? Oh, god, it was me posing in that photo with you, at the awards ceremony. That was it, wasn’t it? Me being vain and wanting to be in the photos? But how did he track me down? How did he know where to send his thugs to find me?’
‘The newspaper article about the English classes. Having seen the photo of us together, with your name in it, he’d only have had to search a bit and he would have found that article with details of where the centre is and that you teach English there.
‘Just promise me you’ll be very careful because for various reasons, we may not be able to arrest him immediately. So that means he might possibly still send someone after you. Don’t take any risks. Always let me know where you are and what time you’ll be back. And stay in contact.’
Trev gave him a hug. ‘I love it that you care. How was your day, anyway?’
Ted picked up the nearest cat to put on his lap and stroke. Little Barcelona purred her delight at being singled out for special attention.
‘You know some of those courtroom dramas you love to watch? Where some intelligent and ruthless barrister is tearing a witness apart in the box? Well, I was on the receiving end of some of that today.’
He gently ran a hand the length of Barcelona’s back and she yawned and stretched to show her pleasure.
‘Doug’s got a kitten he wants to get rid of,’ he said, then wished he hadn’t when he saw Trev’s face light up.
‘A kitten? Can we? That would be fantastic. Back up to seven. I’m sure it’s a much luckier number than six.’
Chapter Eighteen
‘Bloody hell, Ted, this is going to be a right nightmare to sort out,’ Jim Baker grumbled, slurping coffee. ‘We’re going to be damned if we do, damned if we don’t. Can you imagine the field day the papers will have if we charge the defendant’s father in the middle of the trial?’
‘Imagine what will happen if we don’t and it comes out later that we had the evidence to do so,’ Ted said reasonably.
‘But do we have the evidence?’ Superintendent Caldwell asked. ‘We will clearly have to meet the burden of proof more highly on this one than we usually do. Because as Jim says, there are going to be ramifications if we don’t. So what do we have?’
‘Jo’s going over to find this Tony Barlow this morning, armed with warrants for him, his phone, his property and his vehicle. He’s the registered owner of the mobile that made the call to Edwards. With any luck, he’ll talk, hoping to do a deal. There may well still be traces of Trev in the boot of his car, and if there are, we’ve got the beginnings of a solid case.’
‘We need more than the beginnings, though. We need a solid middle and a rock-solid end or we’re going to looking like a bunch of incompetent pillocks. Sorry, Debs.’
‘Jim and I will be at Central Park again first thing on Monday morning talking budgets. So what can we tell them about the ongoing enquiry, the three young men? We’re going to start coming under increased pressure to scale the operation down considerably if we don’t make some tangible progress soon. Especially if we don’t have a realistic chance of doing so. And I’m sure we’re all agreed that we must resist that happening. Weekend approaching or not, Chief Inspector, I’m afraid we’re going to need you to furnish us with detailed costings to date, and projections for going forward.’
Ted was tempted to retort that he’d be more use working on the case than balancing the books but he knew it was a waste of time. His role was increasingly a management one. He’d oversee the case and its direction but the paperwork left him little time for much more.
‘We’re trying to find out more about another key-holder for the church where the phone was left inside. He’s of particular interest as he’s apparently an expert on Christian and pre-Christian holy places, which fits in with Steve’s observations.
‘And speaking of the budget, something I wanted to ask about was bringing in a forensic psychologist. The one we used on the Edwards case, as he’s a specialist with young people. Virgil made a suggestion of letting the two surviving lads meet. Darren and Tim, if Lincolnshire can ever find him. I’m worried about the implications so I’d like expert advice. I’d also like to ask if he would talk to either or both of them, to see what that tells us.’
‘He’s not exactly low budget,’ the Ice Queen said. ‘But if it would advance the enquiry we can make a case for it, so it might be worth looking at.’
‘I also wonder if we should consider letting the press know that we believe the three cases to be linked.’
Both his senior officers looked at him in surprise. Ted usually avoided the press like the plague.
‘I think we need to do it as a warning. It’s just possible that The Preacher will strike again, take another young lad and do the same to him as he’s done to the others. We surely have a duty to prevent that happening by any means at our disposal?’
‘It’s going to be a very hard warning to issue though. “Don’t go off with anyone, even if you know them and stay away from churches”. It’s likely to cause some degree of fear and also it’s showing our hand with how little we actually know about what’s going on.’
Jim had a point, Ted knew. He just wasn’t sure what else to do.
‘Again, if the press find out we knew the cases were linked and didn’t issue a warning, we’re going to be hung out to dry for that as well.’
‘I’m inclined to agree on this one. I’ll speak to the Press Office to see what sort of a statement we should put out and whether it warrants a full press conference. If it does, you ought to show your face, Ted.’
He’d known she was going to say that. He didn’t like it but if it would help prevent a further crime, he was prepared to put up with it.
Before he went back upstairs after the meeting with his bosses, Ted stopped at the front desk to talk to Bill.
‘All being well, unless something unforeseen happens, I’ll see you in The Grapes later, Bill. Give me a quick bell when you finish your shift and I’ll get myself over there. If I don’t, it’s because something has come up that means I can’t. But I will try, honestly.’
‘Make my day, please, tell me we’re finally making some progress with The Preacher.’
‘Boss, Rob has gone off to talk to this Stanley Harrison, the religious expert. He managed to track him down in the end and we got lucky. Harrison is in Manchester today, doing one of his lectures, so Rob’s gone up to see him,’ Sal told him. ‘DS Hallam’s gone with Uniform to oversee the arrest of this Tony Barlow and the search of his property.
‘We got news of a double homicide while you were in the meeting so Jo’s gone to do the initial work on that. A man took a dim view of his girlfriend sleeping with his best friend so he went round to where they were in bed together, chucked a gallon of petrol over them and lit a match. He waited just long enough before he dialled 999, then he gave himself up to the
first attenders, so it should be straightforward to wrap up.’
It was good, logical deployment of team members, giving the homicide to the DI. Ted knew he had a solid and reliable deputy in Jo.
Jezza was still on the phone, just finishing up a call.
‘Boss, that was Lincolnshire. They’ve had a definite sighting of Tim Phillips so they’re hoping to follow it up. Who do you want to go over for that? Assuming he will talk to anyone and is in a fit enough state to do so.’
‘Maurice, how are things going with Darren? Any progress there? Could you leave him today and go over to see if Tim would talk to you?’
‘Darren seems to be starting to accept Amy, the FLO. But yesterday I thought I’d try asking him about church. If he ever went to one, anything like that. He pretty much flipped. It was clear the mention of church meant something to him but that it also scared him badly. We lost a bit of ground, took a few steps back in the progress we’d been making. I’d like to go back again today if I can, boss. Just to get him back on track.’
‘I could go to Lincoln, boss? I can certainly make myself look much closer to Tim’s age than Maurice possibly could, so maybe we could make a connection that way?’
‘He needs to be in no doubt that he’s talking to a police officer, though. We don’t want to deceive him in any way and risk him losing trust.’
‘Understood, boss. It’s worth a shot, though? And Lincoln are asking again what they should do with him when they bring him in?’
‘Which is the million dollar question. There must be some place of safety where he can be put? See what you can find out about that while you’re over there. And I’m putting out feelers about getting a psychologist involved on the case, if only to advise us on how we should be approaching Darren and Tim. Maurice, you’ve done a great job. Go up there again today but after that I’m probably going to have to pull you. I have books to balance this weekend and the budget is in danger of shrinking.
