Dave Slater Mystery Novels Box Set Three

by P. F. Ford

  Norman smiled ruefully. 'I wish I knew,' he said.

  The man looked puzzled. 'Are you the police? You're a bit late if you are. It's well over two weeks since I reported that accident.'

  Norman and Darling exchanged a glance. He could see she obviously had no idea what the man was talking about either, but he had a hunch they should just play along.

  'Oh, so you must be Mr, er--'

  'Hancock. James Hancock.'

  'That's right, Mr Hancock,' said Norman. 'Can you just run it by me again?'

  'I told them at the time--'

  'I understand,' said Norman patiently, 'but trust me, you might just recall something you didn't mention before. Please?'

  For a moment, Norman thought Hancock was going to refuse, but then Darling bent down and started fussing the dog and, like magic, that immediately seemed to change his mood.

  'I always walk my dog down to the newsagents first thing every morning, and most mornings we see this woman jogging. I think she must come out of town along Derby Road, then she comes down the connecting alleyway there, turns left, and heads back into town.'

  'Can you describe her?'

  'I usually just see the back of her from a distance, but I think she was about fortyish, slim, five feet four, dark hair. She always had a jogging outfit on and a hat. I never really saw her close up, only once or twice, but she always used to wave if she saw us as she came out of the alleyway.'

  Norman produced a photo of Jenny. 'Is this her?'

  The man studied it. 'Like I said, I never really saw her up close, so I couldn't be certain, but yes, I think that's her.'

  'Can you recall what happened that day?' Norman asked.

  'It was a Monday morning. It was unusual because there was a car stopped at the side of the road, back there a bit.' He pointed down the road. 'Me and the dog were about where you first saw us today, but I saw quite clearly what happened. Normally she jogs, you know, not too fast, but this particular morning, she came out of that alleyway like a bat out of hell, so fast she took the corner wide and ran out into the road.

  'Then the car accelerated forward and hit her. I swear it was on purpose. It was as if he knew she was just about to come out of that alleyway, and he was waiting to run her down.'

  'I don't suppose you got the registration number?' asked Norman.

  'I'm sorry, no. I can tell you it was silver, a big four-wheel drive thing. But it all happened so fast, and to be honest, I was more concerned with what had happened to the woman.'

  'Then what happened?'

  'The car hit her so hard she went flying and ended up back on the pavement, right here by the lamppost, where we are now. Then another man came running from the alleyway, jumped into the car, and it sped off.'

  'Could you describe the man?' Norman asked eagerly.

  'I can tell you he was tall and slim, but that's about it. He didn't hang around long enough for a good look, and I was still quite a way off. I can tell you there was no attempt to see if she was alright. It was no accident.'

  'What about the woman?' asked Darling.

  'I rushed down here to help her,' he said. 'I covered her with my coat and told her to lie still while I went into my house to get some help. I live just there.' He pointed to a house across the road. 'I called for an ambulance and the police, and then I came back here, but she was gone by then.'

  'Gone?'

  'Yes, gone. I looked up and down the road here, then I ran up the alleyway into Derby Road in case she had got there somehow, but there was no sign of her.'

  'How long were you in your house?' Darling asked.

  'I was trying to be quick,' Hancock said, 'but I suppose it must have been three or four minutes.'

  'Did you hear anything while you were in there? The car didn't come back for her?'

  'I didn't hear anything, but then I would have been at the back of my house, so I wouldn't have heard a car coming back.'

  'What did you do then?'

  'I waited until the police and ambulance arrived and I had to explain that she had gone. They weren't too impressed that I'd called them out for nothing, I can tell you! It was quite embarrassing. I couldn't even prove I was telling the truth.'

  'Well, thank you, Mr Hancock, you've been very helpful,' said Norman.

  'Do you know if she's alright?' Hancock asked. 'Only we haven't set eyes on her since the accident.'

  'She sustained a broken leg in the accident,' explained Norman. He didn't see the need to explain any further. 'So she's not going to be jogging any time soon.'

  'Oh dear. Well, I'm not surprised she broke a leg. It's a wonder she wasn't killed.'

  'She had a lucky escape,' Norman agreed.

  'I hope you catch the people who did it,' said Hancock. 'Do you think you will?'

  'We certainly intend to do our best, Mr Hancock,' said Norman determinedly.

  * * *

  'And so the plot thickens,' said Darling as she drove away.

  'It certainly does,' said Norman thoughtfully.

  'So what do you think? Was it a random event? An attempted robbery or something like that?'

  'I don't really think so, do you? From what Hancock said, it sounded like it was planned. And anyway, what are you gonna rob from a jogger?'

  'Do you think that car came back for Jenny while Mr Hancock was in his house?'

  'Well, how far can a person run on a broken leg?' Norman asked. 'And her foot was smashed up too. The car coming back for her is the only thing that makes sense.'

  'Are we talking about a kidnapping, then?' Darling asked.

  Norman thought for a moment. 'If she was chased from that alley and then run down, I'm more inclined to think maybe it was a murder attempt that went wrong. Perhaps it was never meant to be a kidnapping, but they had to come back for her because she knew who they were.'

  'You think it's the same tall guy from the pizza place?'

  'It's a bit of a coincidence if it isn't, but it's also a pretty vague description. There must be plenty of tall, skinny guys in a town this size.'

  Darling sighed. 'It's a pity we don't have a registration number for the car.'

  'Yeah, knowing it's a silver, four-wheel drive doesn't help much, does it?'

  'I know I'm not the boss here, Norm,' said Darling, 'but I don't think there's much doubt there's some sort of cover-up going on. I'm beginning to think we probably need some help, don't you?'

  'The only way we might get any help is from Bradshaw, and I thought you said you didn't trust him.'

  'Do you?'

  'I dunno now,' Norman admitted. 'But I'm not sure how much further we can go on our own. I'm sure Casey's in this up to his neck, and if he is, how do we know he's the only one? That makes it risky going to the local police for help, so I have a feeling Bradshaw is our only option, whether we like it or not.'

  Chapter 13

  Norman yawned as Darling pulled into a parking space at the motorway services. 'I'd forgotten how much I hate these clandestine early morning meetings,' he said as they walked into the main building and headed for the cafeteria.

  'Norm, you hate early mornings full stop,' said Darling. 'It wouldn't matter if we were meeting Father Christmas, you'd still be moaning about it.'

  'Yeah, well, I just don't see the need for anyone to get up at 6 a.m.'

  'You didn't get up at 6 a.m.,' Darling said. 'It was well after six when I knocked on your door, and you were still in bed!'

  'But I knew I had time to spare,' he argued.

  'How come we only just got here in time then?'

  'You were driving,' he said, indignantly. 'Perhaps if you had pressed a little harder with your right foot, we would have got here quicker.'

  'Yeah, whatever. I can drive fast when the need arises, as you well know, but if you want us to collect speeding tickets, you can do it when you're driving. Anyway, where's this Bradshaw guy?'

  Norman nodded towards the far corner of the room. 'He's over there in the corner, but he can wait a minute, I
need coffee.'

  'Good morning,' said Bradshaw, climbing to his feet when they reached his table. He shook Norman's hand, then turned to Darling. 'And you must be Miss Darling. I'm very pleased to meet you.'

  He shook her hand and pointed to a chair. When they were all settled at the table, he looked at Norman. 'I assume you didn't ask me here just to exchange pleasantries, so what can I do for you?'

  'How about we go back to the beginning and you tell us all the stuff you chose not to tell me before we started?'

  'I'm not sure I know what you mean,' said Bradshaw.

  'You know exactly what I mean. We're slowly uncovering something that stinks here, with at least one police officer covering things up, so don't try to fob us off with any bullshit or we're going to start thinking you're involved too!'

  Now Bradshaw looked irritated. 'I'm not sure I like what you're implying--'

  'And I'm not sure I like being given half a story,' Norman snapped.

  'I think you may be getting bit above your station here, Norm.'

  'So fire me.'

  'Now, wait a minute--'

  Norman pounded his fist on the table, making all the cups rattle loudly. 'No, you wait a minute. You know a lot more about this case than you're letting on, and if you want us to go any further, you're going to have to tell us what it is. I think you knew all along that Jenny had been murdered, and I've got a nasty feeling you might even know who by.

  'We've just discovered someone tried to run her down on a public highway at around seven in the morning, when anyone could have been on their way to work and seen them. If we're dealing with people prepared to take risks like that, we wanna know what you know. That's the deal – either you fill in some of the blanks, or we're out of here, and you don't ever see us again!'

  Bradshaw looked around the room, his face pink, but no one seemed to be taking much notice of them.

  Darling was impressed by Norman's speech, but not really surprised. That was the thing about Norm; he tended to wear his heart on his sleeve, and if you pissed him off, he wasn't shy about telling you. She didn't know how Bradshaw might react, and she was intrigued to see what would happen next.

  Bradshaw slowly raised his cup to his lips, all the while studying Norman's face. He sipped his coffee and placed the cup back on its saucer. Then he smiled appreciatively. 'I see having a heart attack hasn't diminished your fervour. You always were passionate about the truth, weren't you? And you're right. I did hold some information back, but I can see now that was a mistake. I hope you'll accept my apology. I should have told you everything.'

  'Yeah, you should,' said Norman. 'But you can put that right here and now. It's not just for me. I asked Naomi to join me on this, but I didn't ask her to put her life at risk. Because you've kept stuff from me, you've made me mislead her. I'm not happy about that, and you should know it.'

  Bradshaw nodded to acknowledge the truth of Norman's words. 'Miss Darling, I hope you'll accept my apology.'

  'Sure I will, as long as you cut to the chase and fill us in on what we're missing,' she said.

  'Of course. Where shall I start?'

  'The beginning is usually a pretty good place,' Norman suggested.

  Bradshaw clasped his hands in front of him. 'Now, let me get this right. You and Slater first met Jenny when you were investigating--'

  'The Ruth Thornhill case,' finished Norman, impatiently. 'Yeah, yeah, we all know that bit. What we want to know is what's happened since then? Why she go off the rails? She never did tell us anything about that.'

  'Not long after Ruth Thornhill, she was given the task of defending two men who had been accused of dealing drugs. It was a job no one in her firm wanted, but there was a lot of money at stake, so the senior partners took the job and handed it to their junior partner. They knew they would lose, but they were happy to sacrifice Jenny Radstock's reputation in order to make a fast buck. They figured she could be discredited and discarded afterwards, and they would survive any fallout and go on to live happily ever after. But they underestimated their junior partner.'

  'She did her job, right?' Norman asked. 'She won the case?'

  'Got it thrown out on a technicality and had half the drug squad reprimanded for unauthorised surveillance, harassment, and God knows what else.'

  'And were these guys guilty?'

  'Oh yes,' said Bradshaw. 'They had quite an organisation. It was drug money that paid for their defence. Everyone knew that.'

  'So is it the police who've been making life difficult for Jenny?' asked Darling.

  'Well, she certainly wasn't going to be voted their person of the year, but there was bit more to it than that. During the trial she got involved with one of the dealers.'

  'Ah, jeez,' said Norman. 'I can see that wouldn't have been a good move.'

  'It doesn't look good when someone who's supposed to be a pillar of the law is consorting with the worst sort of criminal,' Bradshaw agreed. 'It didn't take long for her to suffer the consequences of that decision, and when her own partners turned their backs on her, she became unemployable overnight. She lost her job and all that went with it.'

  'That would have been one hell of a fall,' said Norman. 'But she was a smart cookie. Surely she could have got another job in some other field? Yet she was on the street when we found her.'

  'You're right, she could have tried to get a job, but she didn't,' said Bradshaw. 'Instead, she moved in with her drug dealer boyfriend and lived off his ill-gotten gains.'

  'You've known this all the time, haven't you?' asked Norman.

  Bradshaw looked sheepish.

  'You let Dave get involved with her, and all the time you knew what she'd been doing--'

  'She'd split from her boyfriend before she met Slater,' said Bradshaw. 'That's why she was on the street. After he threw her out, she had nowhere to go. I didn't know she'd end up in Tinton with Slater!'

  'But you said you were watching her, so you would have known where she was, and you could have told him,' Norman argued.

  'What good would it have done? Besides, she needed someone to look out for her. I thought it might do both of them good. Anyway, all your arguing won't make any difference now, will it? She's dead!'

  Part of Norman wanted to continue arguing with Bradshaw, but the realist in him knew there was no point. He wanted to see this job through, so he needed to cool down and ask some questions. 'Okay,' he said. 'So let's get some facts straight here. You say she left this drug dealer guy. Why did that happen? I would imagine she didn't want for anything with the sort of money a drug dealer tends to have.'

  'I've got to be honest,' Bradshaw admitted, 'we're not exactly sure of all the facts concerning her relationship and why it ended. Surveillance was difficult because of the fallout after the court case.'

  'So who are these guys?'

  'They're brothers by the name of Ben and Jerry Shapiro. She had a relationship with Jerry.'

  Darling was taking notes, but now she was suddenly fumbling for her pen as it nearly slipped from her fingers. 'Ben and Jerry?'

  'Are they their real names?' asked Norman hastily.

  'Yes,' said Bradshaw.

  'D'you know where they are now?'

  'Well, they were in London.'

  'What's that supposed to mean?'

  'It seems their operation is still active, but rumour has it there might be some sort of feud between the two of them. It's difficult to know for sure because of the surveillance situation, and they're not going to say, are they? They can't afford to let it be known they're at loggerheads. That would present a lot of their rivals with an opportunity to step in and take over.'

  'Someone will be willing to spill the beans,' said Norman.

  'That tends not to happen with these two. It appears anyone who has dared to speak against them in the past has disappeared very soon afterwards, never to be heard from again.'

  'They sound like real charmers,' said Darling. 'What on earth did Jenny see in one of them?'

  'Don't
be too harsh,' Bradshaw said. 'We've all got involved with people we probably shouldn't have at some time. The head rarely wins where the heart's concerned.'

  'I can't argue with that,' aid Norman with a rueful smile, 'and I suspect Dave would agree too if he was here.' Then he added,anxiously, 'You're not going to get him here, are you?'

  'No, definitely not,' said Bradshaw. 'I don't think he's ready for something as personal as this just yet.'

  'Yeah, well, just make sure you keep him away.'

  'Don't worry, I will.'

  'What do these guys look like?' Norman asked.

  'They're pretty unremarkable, really. Both six footers, both dark hair. I'll send you some photos later.'

  'Either of them drive a big, silver four-wheel drive?'

  'Not that I know of, but people like that change vehicles all the time. Why do you ask?'

  'Someone suggested a vehicle like that could have been the one that ran Jenny down.'

  'I can run some checks for you.'

  'Yeah, that might be useful,' Norman said.

  'Is that it now? Are we finished?' Bradshaw asked.

  'No, I don't think we are yet. You seem to be deliberately avoiding something, and I want to know why.'

  'I don't know what you mean.'

  'Sure you do. When you first came to see me and Dave, you told us you were having Jenny watched for her protection.'

  'Yes, that's right.'

  'You told us some real bad people were after her. So who are these real bad people? Or was that just bullshit to lure us in?'

  'My, my, you do have a low opinion of me, don't you?'

  'So who are they?' Norman persisted.

  'I think you might have got the wrong end of the stick. When I said we were watching her--'

  'You said it was for her own protection because some bad people were chasing her,' Norman said. 'I have a great memory for these things, so don't try to feed me bullshit. Just tell me who these people are. You owe that to Naomi here, as well as to me.'

  Norman was pretty sure he knew why Bradshaw had been watching Jenny back then, and he was quite enjoying watching him squirm. It was obvious the man was trapped between a rock and hard place.