Time to Go

by Time to Go (retail) (epub)

  ‘Interesting,’ Penrith said. ‘We’ll have to tread carefully, but it’s worth following up. I’ll have a word with Achebe.’

  ‘What about one of these government departments you said are so eager to hire Lucy Mulligan? Could they have hidden her away somewhere if they’re keeping tabs on her?’

  Penrith pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose. ‘Doubtful. She’s nothing to them at the moment – she couldn’t give up information or passwords because she doesn’t know anything.’ He glanced at the contents of the handkerchief and pushed it back into his pocket. ‘However keen they might be to employ her in the future, for now she’s on her own.’

  ‘Was there a computer or laptop in her room?’

  ‘A desktop computer, yes. Someone had done a good job of smashing it to pieces, though. It’s being examined, but they’re not hopeful.’

  ‘There wasn’t a laptop? That seems strange for someone like her.’ Caelan realised she should have thought of this before, asked Tom Haslam about it. She found it difficult to believe Lucy would only have one computer, and if she did have another and it was missing, questions would need to be asked about where it was.

  Penrith seemed unconcerned. ‘Well we didn’t find one in her bedroom. We’re trying to access the machines she used at the university too.’

  ‘Did you speak to Brady?’

  A quick nod. ‘She’s waiting outside.’

  Caelan stared at him. ‘I thought she was SIO? What’s she doing here?’

  ‘Maybe she missed you. It’s been a while.’ Penrith checked his watch. ‘We’ll talk later.’

  She was halfway through the door when he called her back.

  ‘Remember – I’m still your boss, contractor or not.’

  She smiled. ‘When do I send in my first invoice?’

  Penrith’s face was stony. ‘When we make an arrest.’

  * * *

  Caelan trotted across the car park, heading for a small silver car she believed belonged to Brady, but as she drew level with a shiny black estate, the driver’s window was wound down and Brady’s face appeared. Caelan stopped.

  ‘You’ve changed your car,’ she said.

  Brady pointed at her. ‘Spot the detective. Get in.’

  Caelan did as she was told. Brady glanced at her as she fastened her seat belt. ‘Not supposed to say that, am I?’ she said. ‘Bit of a giveaway when you’re undercover.’

  ‘You think so? No one’s around.’

  Brady fiddled with the sat nav, started the engine. ‘Know that for sure, do you? Where’s your boyfriend?’

  Leaning back, Caelan closed her eyes. She needed to sleep. ‘I assume you mean Ewan?’

  ‘Well, I know where Mulligan is. Two of my officers are escorting him home.’ Caelan heard her tut. ‘Waste of time and resources, but who am I to complain?’

  ‘You’re trying to find out who killed Nathan Nash. Your team brought Mulligan in for questioning, so it makes sense you’d also take him home.’

  ‘Does it?’

  Caelan forced her eyes open, studying Brady’s profile. ‘Why are you so pissed off?’

  ‘What am I doing here, Caelan? You think I don’t have a thousand things to get on with? Why is it I have to jump when your boss calls?’

  ‘Because he’s a commander and you’re—’

  ‘In charge of a murder investigation.’ Brady shoved the indicator on with more force than was necessary. ‘I need you to stay out of my way. It’s going to be difficult enough tiptoeing around half the criminals in west London without a couple of pretend villains under my feet.’

  ‘I’ve already met some of the people Nathan Nash knew. You can use me.’

  ‘Can I?’ Brady clicked her tongue. ‘What if I don’t want to?’

  ‘Then don’t.’ Caelan rubbed her eyes, a headache beginning to build in her temples. ‘But Ewan and I found the body.’

  ‘And Mulligan was with you. I’ve been hearing about him.’ Brady braked as traffic lights changed in front of them. ‘Penrith says you’re not convinced the operation around him is worthwhile, that you’d rather focus on finding his sister.’

  ‘She’s missing and innocent, he should be in prison. Who would you prioritise?’

  ‘Not my decision, or my problem,’ Brady said. She waited for a moment. ‘Reuben Nash tells me you can give him an alibi. That true?’

  ‘No. I couldn’t swear he was in his office when he seemed to be. It’s in my statement.’

  ‘In Victoria Smith’s statement, you mean.’ Brady released the handbrake as the lights changed again. ‘Don’t make my life easy, do you?’

  ‘Have you found anyone with a motive for killing Nathan?’

  ‘I’m told Stefan Harris had an axe to grind. Not had the pleasure of meeting him myself.’

  ‘He’s the obvious suspect,’ Caelan said.

  ‘But the wrong one?’

  ‘I don’t know. Has Reuben Nash been allowed to go home?’

  ‘By now, yes. He’s the victim’s closest relative. We have to respect that, even if…’ Brady shrugged.

  ‘Even if he’s also a suspect.’ Caelan waited a beat. ‘I’ll go and talk to him today.’ Brady started to interrupt, but she held up a hand. ‘Come on, Adele. Reuben Nash thinks he and I, or he and Victoria Smith, could work together. He knows Victoria’s desperate to make some money. That’s my way in.’

  ‘His brother was murdered last night. You really think he’ll be in the mood to talk business?’

  Caelan remembered the way Reuben had spoken to his brother, as though Nathan was an irritating child. ‘I’m sure he will. He’ll want revenge, if nothing else.’

  ‘Revenge?’ Brady groaned. ‘Just what this investigation needs.’

  ‘Are you still searching the club?’

  ‘Reuben’s? Go to all the nice places, don’t you?’

  ‘I’ve been in worse,’ Caelan said truthfully. ‘Worked in worse, too. Is there any way Reuben Nash could have left his office, other than down the main stairs? No back rooms or staff-only stairs? Because if not, I don’t see how he could have killed Nathan.’

  ‘Nothing obvious so far, but we’ll be poking around for a while yet.’

  ‘What about CCTV?’ Caelan’s hopes weren’t high, but it never hurt to ask.

  ‘Well, there are plenty of cameras both inside and outside the building. Problem is, none of them actually work.’

  Caelan had spotted a few but hadn’t noticed anything unusual about them. ‘You mean they’re dummies?’

  ‘No, they’re real enough, they’re just not switched on,’ Brady said. ‘It’s almost as though things were going on there that Reuben Nash didn’t want caught on camera. Strange, that.’

  ‘What about Nathan’s phone? Anyone ask him to meet them outside, anyone threaten him?’

  Brady glanced at her. ‘You realise I’m not supposed to be giving you information, don’t you?’

  ‘Well, you don’t want me to try to provide any by questioning people, so what else are we going to talk about?’

  ‘Okay, let’s compromise.’ Brady sounded as though it was the last thing she wanted to do. ‘You have to keep talking to Reuben Nash, Stefan Harris and whoever else for your work for Penrith anyway. If you happen to hear any whispers about the murder, I don’t suppose it’ll do any harm if you pass them on to me.’

  Caelan looked at her, but Brady’s eyes were fixed on the road. It wasn’t the definite agreement she had been hoping for – Brady clearly wanted to protect herself too. She could say she had never officially agreed to Caelan’s involvement if she felt she needed to. ‘Have you spoken to Harris yet?’ she asked.

  ‘He’s given a brief statement, but we’ll be talking to him again.’

  ‘What does he say happened at the club?’

  ‘You mean when Nathan Nash had him at knifepoint? He never mentioned it.’

  ‘Because it would give him a motive for killing Nathan. No surprise there,’ Caelan said.


  ‘None. There was some impressive bruising to his jaw and a plaster on his throat, but no marks on his hands to suggest he’d punched anyone.’

  ‘And that’s relevant?’

  Another sharp glance from Brady. ‘Don’t play games, Caelan. You know as well as I do what killed Nathan Nash – a bloody great bang on the head. You’d have guessed as soon as you saw the body: no knife or gunshot wound, no sign of strangulation. He fell back on the pavement, and smack. Maybe someone pushed or punched him – we think his jaw was broken, but it’s not been confirmed yet. We know Nathan attacked Stefan Harris, but from what we’ve heard, Harris didn’t retaliate.’

  ‘He didn’t, at least not then. He didn’t have a chance.’

  Brady tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Didn’t you say Nathan said something about him and his brother helping Harris get started?’

  ‘Yeah, something like “you’d be nothing without us”.’

  ‘Interesting. We know Harris is a dealer. I wonder what else he gets up to.’

  ‘Maybe I could find out.’

  Brady ignored her. ‘Whoever smacked Nathan didn’t hang around. He might have survived if they’d called an ambulance and got him into surgery.’

  ‘They might not have realised how seriously he was injured.’ Caelan looked at Brady. ‘I’ll be interested to hear whether Nathan had taken anything. The way he was behaving, I wouldn’t be surprised.’

  ‘Maybe he was drunk?’

  ‘He didn’t seem to be. I didn’t smell alcohol on his breath, and he stood pretty close when he caught me trying the door of their office.’

  ‘Subtle,’ Brady said. ‘That wasn’t in your statement.’

  ‘Victoria Smith wouldn’t have mentioned it, so neither did I. It meant she had a reason to be pissed off with Nathan too. Didn’t Reuben Nash tell you about it? He came to rescue me, to put Nathan in his place.’

  ‘What a gentleman. No, it wasn’t in his statement either. Maybe he’s taken a shine to you.’

  ‘I hope so. I could use it to get closer to him.’

  Brady laughed. ‘Lucky you.’

  Caelan said, ‘You think Reuben did it, don’t you?’

  ‘At the moment, I don’t think anything.’ Brady moved from one lane of traffic to the next. ‘I’m guessing we won’t have many people who were enjoying themselves at the club last night volunteering to give statements. It seems that kind of place.’

  ‘There might have been some upstanding citizens.’

  ‘I won’t hold my breath. We’ve put an appeal out, but I doubt there’ll be many takers.’

  They were nearing Mulligan’s house in Greenford and Caelan knew she didn’t have long. ‘Adele, listen. People are going to be talking about Nathan Nash’s death anyway. What harm can it do if I ask some questions? I’m not going to get in your way.’

  Brady was silent, then said, ‘Okay, but it goes through Penrith. I don’t want you coming directly to me with anything. Don’t contact Tim, Jen Somerville or anyone else.’

  ‘Why would I? It’s not as though I’m new to this.’

  Brady didn’t reply, slowing the car, and Caelan knew she was still reluctant to agree absolutely. ‘You can walk from here, can’t you?’ she said, glancing at the sat nav before pulling in to the kerb. ‘It should only be five minutes away. I don’t want to get too close to the house. Don’t want the two officers from my team recognising me – they might wonder why I’m giving Reuben Nash’s new girlfriend a lift.’

  Caelan froze, one foot on the pavement, the rest of her still inside the car. ‘What?’

  ‘That’s what Nash is telling people anyway.’ Brady gave her a big grin and a wave. ‘Hope you’re very happy together.’

  As she sped away, Caelan began to walk, hands in her jacket pockets. Brady hadn’t told her much, but what she had said was interesting. It was no surprise the security cameras in and around the club weren’t working. Reuben Nash would have wanted them as a deterrent, possibly to satisfy the terms of his insurance policy, but no doubt they hadn’t been switched on since the day they were installed.

  Brady’s team had already spoken to Stefan Harris, albeit briefly. Caelan decided she would pay him a visit too. She didn’t have his money, but perhaps a compromise could be reached. Fifteen grand was a lot to pay off in favours, but since it seemed unlikely Penrith was going to authorise a payment to clear Mulligan’s debt, she would have to work out a solution on her own.

  She was hungry, tired, her head aching. She would need to rest before heading out again. Turning onto Mulligan’s street, she saw Ewan get out of a taxi outside the house. He spotted her, lifted a hand.

  ‘Quite a night,’ he said as she reached him.

  Caelan smiled. ‘Never been questioned by the police before?’

  ‘No. I was shitting it the whole time, knowing I had to answer… well, as someone else.’

  She took his arm, steered him towards the house. ‘You must have done okay. They seem to have believed you.’

  The front door was ajar. Caelan stopped, frowning.

  ‘Wait,’ she said.

  ‘What do we do?’ Ewan whispered.

  ‘Take it slowly.’

  ‘Is Mulligan here?’

  ‘He should be by now. Two police officers were bringing him home.’

  Ewan gestured towards the house. ‘Should we…?’

  She nodded, moved forwards. The door hadn’t been forced or the lock tampered with, as far as she could see. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and pushed the door wider, just enough to see inside.

  James Mulligan lay face down on the hallway floor, blood pooling around his head.

  19

  ‘You need to stop stumbling over bodies,’ Penrith said as Caelan and Ewan sat down. ‘I’m getting tired of debriefing you about it. Here you are again, littering up my office, drinking my coffee.’

  ‘I’d rather not make a habit of it,’ Caelan said. Penrith was trying his best to appear blasé, but she could see he was rattled. He was twisting a pen in his fingers, his hands never still. ‘How is he?’

  ‘Critical but stable. You know how hospitals are, never a straight answer. They reckon whoever did it used a baseball bat. Enough to disable him, not quite enough to kill him.’ Penrith looked at her as he leant back in his chair. ‘Yet. It still might.’

  She winced. ‘Stefan Harris has to be a suspect.’

  ‘Because of the money Mulligan owes him? But you’d already said you’d pay. Why would he attack Mulligan now?’

  ‘To warn me to keep my promise?’

  ‘Doubtful,’ Penrith said. ‘Isn’t it more likely it’s linked to the attack on his house and the disappearance of his sister? He can’t inform on anyone from intensive care, can he? Anyway, they probably meant to kill him.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Caelan rubbed her eyes. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘Unless Mulligan’s been lying to us. He might know more than he’s ever let on. He was beaten up in Belmarsh, more than once. How do we know they weren’t warnings to keep his mouth closed too?’

  ‘But no one knew he was going to be released then, not even him,’ Caelan pointed out.

  ‘Wouldn’t matter. He’d be as likely to grass in prison as on the outside – probably more likely, once he’d had a taste of life inside,’ Penrith said.

  ‘If what you’re saying is right, it means someone knows he was in prison, not hospital. Meaning they could also guess that us suddenly appearing is a set-up.’

  Penrith was sceptical. ‘There’s no reason why they should.’

  ‘Come on, Ian. Mulligan was banged up for murder and a string of other offences, then suddenly he’s free?’

  ‘It happens.’

  ‘No one was supposed to know he’d been inside.’ Caelan remembered Mulligan’s mobile phone, the one he’d had in Belmarsh. He’d said there had been no threats, no contact while he was in prison, but he might have lied. The phone was being examined to see who he had contacted apart from
the call he’d tried to make to his sister the night he was released, but Caelan knew it would take time. Any texts and call logs had been deleted, and there were no contacts saved other than his sister’s name and number.

  ‘What if this ties into what I said before, about someone leaking information?’ she said.

  Penrith pressed his lips together. ‘Very few people knew about the deal with Mulligan. Three of us are sitting in this room now.’

  Caelan thought about it. Herself, Ewan, Penrith; Assistant Commissioner Beckett, Adele Brady, Tim Achebe and Jen Somerville.

  Somerville…

  Newly single, having to manage on her own wages? Maybe she’d been tempted. Caelan hated herself for the direction her thoughts were taking, but she had to consider it.

  Then again, she could be guilty of paranoia and listening to a man desperate to keep himself out of prison.

  ‘What if one of the other prisoners in Belmarsh recognised him?’ Ewan said.

  ‘And word got back to the people he was working for? It’s a possibility.’ Grateful for the suggestion, Caelan was thankful she hadn’t voiced her thoughts about Somerville. She looked at Penrith. ‘Worth following up?’

  He was already nodding. ‘I’ll mention it to Tim Achebe.’

  Caelan thought of something else. ‘Mulligan was supposed to have two of Brady’s team with him,’ she said. ‘Where were they when he was attacked?’

  Penrith scowled. ‘They dropped him off at the kerb, didn’t bother to wait to see if he did a runner or got inside the house safely. Their arses are being kicked as we speak.’

  ‘Someone must have been watching the house,’ said Ewan. ‘They probably followed him in as he unlocked the front door.’

  Penrith folded his hands across his belly. ‘It’s possible.’

  ‘Are Scenes of Crime at the house?’ Caelan blinked, exhaustion threatening to overtake her. Discovering Mulligan lying there had shaken her more than she wanted to admit.

  ‘Yes. After an ambulance turned up and carted Mulligan away, I didn’t see any point in being discreet,’ said Penrith.