Dave Slater Mystery Novels Box Set Three

by P. F. Ford

  'How can anyone prove it is stolen? You'd be surprised how many phones get lost every day. People bring them to me, I clean them up and then sell them as second-hand goods.'

  'Handling stolen goods is a criminal offence, you know,' said Norman.

  'But I don't know they're stolen.'

  'Oh, I think you do, and I'm pretty sure a jury would think the same.'

  'A jury?' Davey stared at Norman. 'What are you saying?'

  'I think what he's saying is we could report you for handling stolen mobile phones,' said Darling. 'But perhaps it doesn't have to come to that.'

  'What does that mean?' asked Davey desperately.

  'Look, we didn't come here to frighten you.'

  'But that's exactly what you are doing!'

  'Yes, I'm sorry about that.'

  'Are you going to arrest me?'

  'We're not here to arrest anyone,' said Darling. 'We're just trying to find that mobile phone. Do you still have it?'

  'And you promise you won't arrest me?'

  'Promise.'

  Davey reached under the counter and produced a mobile phone, which he placed down in front of them. 'I had to take it out of the case to fix the screen. And I had to switch it on to make sure it worked.'

  'And does it work?' asked Norman.

  'As far as I can tell, but I only tested to make sure it booted up okay. If you traced it, that means it must be sending out a signal.'

  'I just wanna look and see if there's anything that might help us find her,' said Norman.

  'Trust me, there's nothing on there,' said Davey. 'I wiped everything off and reset it to the original factory settings. It's the first thing I do with every second-hand phone I get.'

  'But it was only on for a minute!' Norman said. 'That wouldn't have been long enough to do a reset.'

  Davey gave Norman a lopsided grin. 'There are ways of blocking that signal, you know.'

  'Please tell me you're kidding.' The disappointment was clear in Norman's voice.

  'No. I'm serious. It wouldn't be right to sell a phone with someone else's info on there, would it?'

  'Crap! What about the SIM card? Have you still got that?'

  'Sorry. I destroy them. It's because of data protection and all that stuff.'

  Norman raised an eyebrow. 'Forgive me for being cynical, but I find it rather ironic that a guy who handles stolen phones would claim to be worried about data protection.'

  'I'm just trying to do the right thing,' said Davey indignantly.

  'You'd be doing the right thing if you stopped handling stolen phones,' Norman replied, bitterly. He turned away from Davey and walked over to the shop window where he stopped and stared miserably out at the world.

  Darling looked at the phone and then at Davey. 'D'you mind if I take look?'

  'Be my guest,' he said, 'but I'm telling you the truth. There's nothing on it.'

  Darling turned on the phone and had a quick look through it. Davey was right; it had been reset. She handed the phone back to him. 'Okay, so there's nothing on the phone, but what about the guy who brought it in? Do you know where he found it?'

  'No, he didn't say.'

  'Do you know where we can find him?'

  Davey shrugged. 'He's just some homeless guy. I used to have a market stall, that's where I first met him, but now I've got the shop, he comes here. He's brought me a few phones over the past few months.'

  'Does he have a name?'

  'Spiderman, or something like that.'

  Norman swung round. 'Does he have wild frizzy hair? Wears a woolly hat to keep it under control?'

  'That's him,' said Davey. 'Do you know him?'

  'Oh yes, we've met. Is he coming back here to get paid?'

  'Yeah, he said he'd be coming today.'

  Norman glanced at his watch. 'Do you know what time?'

  'He didn't say.'

  'In that case, we'll just have to wait for him.'

  Davey looked mildly panicked. 'Not here, you can't wait here!'

  'No, we're not gonna wait here, but I'll tell you something else – if you see him before us, you're not going to tell him we've been in here asking about that phone.'

  Davey licked his lips, his eyes darting to Darling, and back to Norman.

  'Of course, if you want me to go and speak to the local police . . .'

  'No, please, you don't want to do that!' Davey cried.

  'Part of me really does want to, actually,' said Norman.

  'But I'll make sure he doesn't,' Darling reassured Davey, 'as long as you don't tell Spiderhair we were here, and you stop handling stolen phones.'

  'Yeah, but--'

  'You seem to be quite a switched-on young guy,' said Darling, 'but you don't seem to be able to see what you're doing is wrong. You could make a go of this little business if you really want to. Why spoil it for yourself?'

  Now Davey looked guilty.

  'You know I'm right,' Darling said finally, then she turned to Norman and headed for the door. 'Come on, Norm, I think we're done here.'

  As they walked away from Davey's shop, Norman muttered, 'I'm going to be seriously pissed off if that Spiderhair kid stole that phone. I told you I wasn't convinced about him.'

  Darling patted his arm as they walked. 'Let's not jump to conclusions. He might have found the phone.'

  'Yeah, right,' said Norman, 'and I bet he's "found" all the other phones he's brought this guy too.'

  'I've never known you to be quite this cynical.'

  'Let's just look at what we have here,' said Norman. 'A young woman in her prime dies in pretty weird circumstances, leaving a lot of unanswered questions, and no one seems to give a rat's arse about it. I think that gives me pretty good reason to be cynical.'

  'It's because you knew her, isn't it?' asked Darling.

  'Yeah, I guess you're right,' he admitted 'This is personal, and now I wanna know what happened more than ever.'

  Chapter 12

  There were two ways to get to Davey's shop, but whichever way Spiderhair chose, he would have to go through the main square of the shopping centre. It was a huge open atrium where weary customers could sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. Norman and Darling had positioned themselves at a table where they could watch both ways. They had been there nearly two hours before Darling finally spotted him.

  'Here he comes,' she said. 'Looking like he hasn't got a care in the world.'

  'Has he seen us?' asked Norman, not daring to swing round and give them away.

  'No. He has no idea we're here. Do you want to stop him now or wait until he comes out?'

  'I'm not sure I can trust Davey to keep his mouth shut,' said Norman. 'I think it might be better to stop him before he gets there.'

  Darling looked around. 'It's a bit public.'

  'Yeah, I know, but he thinks you're cool, right? How about if you were to go across, bump into him, and invite him over for a coffee?'

  'What do you mean "he thinks I'm cool"?'

  'Yeah, I probably shoulda said he thinks you're "fit". That's what kids say these days, isn't it?'

  Darling was blushing. 'He does not!'

  Norman laughed. 'Sure he does. I might be getting on a bit, but I'm still a guy, and I can tell exactly what he thinks about you. It was there, all over his face, last night.'

  'That's complete crap, Norm.'

  'Look, we can argue about it later. If you don't get a move on, we'll miss him.'

  'You're talking bollocks,' Darling said as she got to her feet and started walking.

  Norman turned to watch as she headed towards Spiderhair, waving to catch his attention. He was right, of course; as soon as the boy saw her, he changed direction and headed straight for her. Like putty in her hands, he followed her over to join Norman.

  'Have you got time for coffee?' Norman asked.

  'Too right, man,' said Spiderhair. 'I've got as long as you want. It's not as if I have to be anywhere else, is it?'

  He sat down in the chair next to Darling while Norman caught
the attention of a waitress and ordered three more coffees. They spent the next five minutes on idle chat, asking Spiderhair how he passed his time, where he ate, etc., but once the boy was settled and comfortable, Norman cut to the chase.

  'Someone told me some of you guys make money by stealing phones and selling them on.'

  Spiderhair looked surprised. 'Not me, mate.'

  'I have a friend who has a shop,' said Norman. 'He tells me you bring him mobile phones.'

  'Yeah? Well, first of all he shouldn't have told you anything without asking me, and second, he shoulda told you I only bring them to him when I find them. I don't nick stuff, right?'

  'Just the other day you took him a phone,' said Darling. 'It was silver, in a pink leather case with a daisy embroidered on the front.'

  'That's right, but I found it! I didn't nick it.'

  'Are you sure about that?' asked Norman.

  'Course I'm sure. I'll show you where I found it if you don't believe me. What's so important about it, anyway?'

  'Remember we were talking about Ginger last night? The phone you found is hers.'

  Spiderhair's eyes widened, and he looked from Norman to Darling and back. 'You're kidding me! How weird is that? But it was broken. I had no idea whose it was. I wasn't even sure it could be fixed. Shit! If I'd known it was Ginger's, I would have kept it until I saw her again.'

  Darling looked at Norman and nodded towards Spiderhair, her meaning crystal clear. 'Yeah, about that,' said Norman, carefully, 'I probably should have told you yesterday.'

  'What? What should you have told me?'

  'I'm sorry, but Ginger's dead.'

  The boy looked stunned. Darling put a consoling hand on his arm, and for a moment it seemed Spiderhair would manage to keep the tears at bay, but then, very slowly, his face began to crumple, and a single tear eased its way down his cheek. Then, as Darling reached across and pulled him to her, the dam burst and the tears began to flow in earnest.

  While Spiderhair continued to sob inconsolably, Norman wondered what to make of this situation. If there had been any doubt in his mind about how this kid had really thought about Jenny, or Ginger, as he knew her, it was now painfully obvious he was very fond of her. It was hard to believe he would have stolen her phone.

  Norman sighed and looked up at the atrium roof, as though hoping to find inspiration. He wondered if maybe they had arrived on the scene just a little too late. It seemed someone had gone to great lengths to make sure there was no evidence for them to find, and he was beginning to feel as though they were up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

  Or were they? If Spiderhair was telling the truth about Jenny's phone, maybe they could learn something from where he had found it.

  Darling was talking quietly to the boy, who now seemed to have recovered some of his composure. 'He wants to know what happened to her,' she told Norman.

  'Yeah, don't we all,' said Norman.

  'Can I tell him?'

  'I suppose it can't do any harm.'

  Darling told the boy the official police version of events. As she spoke, Spiderhair looked more and more confused. When she had finished, he turned to Norman. 'That's not right,' he said indignantly. 'They've got that all wrong. Ginger was no junkie! She never touched drugs. She was always telling me how I should make sure I never got involved. She said there was no escape once you started.'

  'That's more or less what we thought,' said Norman, wondering how much he should tell the kid.

  'Is that why you were asking all those questions about where she was?'

  'Can you keep this conversation to yourself?'

  'You have to learn how to keep a secret the way I live,' said Spiderhair. 'You tell people too much and the next thing you know, everybody knows and they all want a piece of it.'

  Norman considered for a moment and then came to a decision. 'The person we're working for doesn't believe Ginger's death was an accident, and we're trying to find out what really happened.'

  'If it wasn't an accident, are you saying she was murdered?'

  'That's what we're trying to figure out.'

  'So who are you working for?'

  'It's a long story,' said Norman.

  'Are you the police?'

  'Not exactly,' said Darling. 'We're detectives, but we're not part of the police.'

  'Can I help?' Spiderhair asked eagerly.

  'I dunno,' said Norman doubtfully. 'We don't know what we're dealing with, or who we're dealing with. We wouldn't want to put you at risk.'

  'But I know my way around this town, and I notice things. I could work undercover for you.'

  Norman smiled. The kid meant well, but he was way too naive. 'I'm not sure we need someone undercover, but I'll bear you in mind if we do. There is something you can do, though.'

  'Yeah? What's that?'

  'Can you show us where you found her phone?'

  'Of course I can, if you think it'll help.'

  * * *

  'Just there, by that lamppost,' said Spiderhair, pointing over Darling's shoulder from the back seat of her car.

  Norman looked around as Darling brought the car to a halt. He'd been expecting to be taken to another squat like the one in which Jenny's body had been found, but this was just a normal street in a normal, middle-class, suburban area, nothing like he had been expecting.

  'Is this it?' he asked in surprise. 'Which house?'

  'I wasn't in a house,' said Spiderhair, indignantly. 'I told you, I'm not a thief. I found the phone just lying in the grass behind that lamppost.'

  'I didn't mean to suggest you'd broken into a house. I just kinda thought you would have been inside a house to find the phone. Out in the open like this, we haven't got a chance of finding any clues.'

  'It was just lying there in the grass,' explained a crestfallen Spiderhair. 'I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear, but that's what happened.'

  Darling gave Norman a disappointed look. 'We could at least get out and have look,' she said. 'He didn't have to come out here to show us where he found it. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt, would it?'

  Norman's face reddened. 'I'm sorry, I'm not blaming anyone, it's just that I was hoping there might have been some evidence that might help us.'

  'We're here now, so let's take look.' Darling opened her door. As she stepped out of the car, she spoke to Spiderhair. 'Can you remember exactly when you found it?'

  'It would have been a Monday morning,' he said. 'I always come for a walk out this way on Monday mornings.'

  'Where do you walk to?' Norman asked.

  'Nowhere in particular. I just walk for the sake of walking. I have to get away from the others or they'd do my head in. It was Jasper who suggested it. He takes himself off most days, often for the whole day. He says it's one way to stop the people around you driving you mental. So I tried it for a week, and he was right, so now I go off for a walk most mornings. Mondays, I come out this way.'

  'And you found it where, exactly?' asked Darling.

  'Just there, in the grass at the back of that lamppost.' He pointed to the base of the post. 'I could see the screen was busted, so I figured someone must have dropped it, but there was no one around so I picked it up and put it in my pocket.'

  Norman looked along the road. About sixty yards away, a large black dog studiously sniffed the assorted canine aromas at the foot of another lamppost, his owner waiting patiently for him to complete his investigation. As Norman watched, the dog finished his inspection, cocked a leg to add a generous contribution of his own, and then man and dog ambled on towards them.

  Norman turned and looked the other way. There were a few houses along here, but they were all big, expensive-looking, and detached, with tall fences and hedges to protect their privacy and stop people looking in. That also prevented people in the houses from looking out onto the road. If there had been any sort of incident out here, the chances were none of the residents would have seen a thing.

  About twenty yards back from where they were,
a footpath led off to the right between the houses. Norman walked back to take a look. He saw the lane went back about twenty yards and then bent to the left. He walked up to the bend and from there, he could see the lane connected with another, similar road. He walked back to join the others.

  'Anything?' asked Darling.

  'Nothing useful, just a footpath that connects this road with the one running parallel,' he said.

  'D'you guys mind if I head off now?' asked Spiderhair. 'They do free tea and cakes at the church in town, and I said I'd meet a couple of the guys there.'

  'I can drive you back,' Darling offered.

  'No, that's alright. I'm still bit upset, to tell the truth. I think a walk might clear my head, you know?'

  'If you're sure?'

  'Thanks for the offer, but I'll be fine, honest.' He started to walk away.

  'You take care, now,' called Norman. 'We'll maybe catch up with you later.'

  The boy turned, nodded his head, waved his hand, and then disappeared up the alleyway. Norman turned his attention to the foot of the lamppost and the area immediately around it. 'I bet if there was any evidence anywhere around here, the local dogs would have peed all over it by now.'

  'Spiderhair could have done without you giving him such a hard time,' said Darling.

  Norman sighed. 'I think you kinda made that point already.'

  'D'you think I'm wrong?'

  'No, probably not,' he said. 'I suppose I'm just getting frustrated that we've obviously stumbled onto something much bigger than I expected, but we're getting nowhere fast.'

  'Do you think Bradshaw knows about all this?'

  'I'm sure he knows more than he's letting on, but I think I know him pretty well. I can't believe he'd be involved in her death or in covering it up.'

  'Forgive me if I reserve judgement on that,' said Darling.

  'That's fine,' said Norman. 'I told you from the start, I asked you here to be objective.'

  They studied the ground around the lamppost in silence for a few seconds until a voice interrupted their thoughts. 'Are you looking for something in particular?'

  They looked around together. The man and his black dog had finally reached them.