by Lee Wood
Mrs Rex looks a frail old woman and every one of her eighty years. When she is told the news she seems to find it difficult to breathe. She asks DS Nason to find her inhaler in the bedroom.
The DS sees it sitting on top of the bedside cabinet on the far side of the bed. She goes to pick it up but, as she does, she sneezes and accidentally drops the puffer on the floor. As she goes to pick it up, her hand brushes the storage drawer on the side of the bed and the compartment clicks open to reveal a Yale safe.
Acting on a hunch, she reaches into her bag and finds the key ring taken from Dave on his arrest, which she and her colleague used to gain entry to his apartment. One of the keys has the word ‘Yale’ on one side. She closes the compartment, puts the keys back into her bag, picks up the puffer and takes it through to Mrs Rex.
The two detectives wait a few minutes to make sure the old lady recovers and then leave, telling her they will be in touch when they have further news.
Once downstairs, DS Nason phones the DCI and tells him what she has discovered.
DCI Quinn phones the Chief Constable to decide on the best magistrate to approach and obtain a search warrant.
The DCI instructs them both to sit in their car and keep an eye on the nursing home until they can obtain the warrant.
Two hours later, they receive a call informing them a warrant is on the way.
Five minutes later, a marked police car drives into the visitor car park of the nursing home and DS Nason walks over and collects an envelope containing the warrant. The DS tells the two Officers to drive round to the back of the nursing home and wait as they might be needed.
Together with DS Underwood, they return to the entrance and make their way back towards the stairs. As they walk past the elevator, the doors open and Mrs Rex steps out holding a white carrier bag. She doesn’t look as frail as she did before.
“Hello again, Mrs Rex. We were just on our way back up to see you. We have a search warrant here.”
At that same moment, they hear the buzzer on the front entrance of reception. As DS Nason moves forward towards Mrs Rex, DS Underwood looks across and recognises Eddie Wellman, one of Dave’s known associates, waiting to enter. When he sees the detectives, he turns round and walks away. DS Underwood radios to tell the two PCs sitting at the rear of the nursing home to drive round and intercept him, search his vehicle and take him to the police station for them to question later.
The two detectives get into the elevator with Mrs Rex and go back up to her apartment.
Once back inside, DS Nason hands the search warrant over to Mrs Rex and DS Underwood asks her to hand over the carrier bag.
“We’re now going to do an extensive search. You can help yourself by telling us where to look and save the whole place from being turned upside down.”
“You can go and fuck yourself, pig,” comes the reply.
“Not such a frail old lady anymore, are we, Mrs Rex?”
Chapter Fifty-Two
MRS REX
DS Underwood radios to ask for one of the PCs to come up after the search of Eddie Wellman’s vehicle and keep an eye on Mrs Rex.
“I’ll make a start in the bedroom,” says DS Nason as she walks through. She doesn’t want Mrs Rex to know that she noticed the safe under the bed when she collected the puffer. She has been told not to mention it as there is a chance it could be used by the defence in court and any evidence found could be thrown out on a technicality. So she starts off by searching the wardrobes, then the clothes drawers and finally starts to examine the bed and pretends to see the safe for the first time.
“Well, what have we here, Mrs Rex? I’ve just seen a safe in the side of your bed. Do you have a key for it?”
“No, I fucking don’t.”
“We have your son’s set of keys. Let’s see if any of those fit.”
When she noticed the safe earlier, the DS had not been surprised. A few months ago she stayed at a Premier Inn hotel and found the king-size Hypnos bed so comfortable she decided to buy one. When she visited a local bed shop to see if they sold them, the salesman showed her one as well as the optional extras available. For £350 he told her she could have a built-in safe in the bed base.
“A lot of people use it for their laptops and things like their passports.” He told her.
She ended up buying the bed but without the optional extra.
DS Rachel Nason opens the safe under Mrs Rex’s bed and discovers it is empty. Moving back into the lounge, she tells the DI.
He looks at Mrs Rex. “Can you tell me what I will find in this carrier bag, Mrs Rex?”
“I don’t know. Just some things I found and was about to throw out. It’s only rubbish.”
The DS takes out the contents and lays them on the coffee table. As he does so, DS Nason logs the contents one by one and takes photos using her iPhone.
“A black notebook.”
“A passport in the name of Andrew Reynolds, with what looks like a photo of Dave Rex.”
“A bundle of £5,000 in cash made up of £50 notes.”
“A receipt for four coffees marked ‘Milton Motel coffee lounge’.”
“A pay-as-you-go mobile phone.”
The DS phones his boss, DCI Quinn, and puts him on speaker phone as they make their way through the items. As they methodically work their way through the paperwork they discover a notebook.
Upon closer examination, they notice what appear to be Dave’s calculations for working out how to inject the cash from his illegal activities into his front companies. Closer inspection should hopefully confirm this is used as a method to boost profits and make it seems that his lifestyle is supported by legitimate enterprises, when actually the real income stems from his illegal activities. They are surprised to find details of his involvement supplying the services of Eastern European call girls as they were previously unaware of this.
Next they discover a small file marked ‘Lotto’. Reading through the various notes, it shows Dave is taking court action against one of their former colleagues, Dave says James cheated him out of the winning ticket. They also find a note which seems to prove a gentleman by the name of Tim Knox was paid £2,000 to lie and say he was there when Dave purchased the winning Lotto ticket.
They find detailed plans of where James Sheldon lives, his car registration, and what appears to be a draft copy of a suicide note, with handwritten side notes changing a couple of words, and another piece of paper with what appears to be several attempts to copy a signature in the name of James Sheldon written on it.
They also find details of the porter at the Grand Hotel and a note of how much he has been paid to open the roof door and deactivate its alarm, together with the layout from the basement car park right up to the roof.
With other notes and diagrams, they have significant evidence to connect Dave with what can now be called a murder. There is information connecting him to a Russian drug ring and the details of a man who supplies him with cannabis. There is a mobile number with a note around it attached with a rubber band with the message ‘Phone to arrange next meeting.’
DS Underwood decides it is worth trying the number to discover who it belongs to. He is pretty sure it will be an unregistered phone, so therefore untraceable, but calling is worth a try. There’s only one number stored on the phone. He dials it and a Russian voice answers.
“Hello,” DS Underwood says, “Dave Rex is ill. He’s asked me to phone to arrange the next meeting.”
The man hangs up.
DS Underwood calls a colleague at police HQ. “Check out the following mobile number for me, please. Top priority.”
The search of Mrs Rex’s apartment continues until they are satisfied there is nothing else of interest.
“So, Mrs Rex. It looks like we underestimated you. We took you for a frail old lady but the truth is you’re still razor sharp. You had an idea we’d come back, didn’t you? So you called one of your son’s associates to come and collect all the incriminating evidence, but luckily we
managed to get a warrant in time. We saw him downstairs just as he was about to come in. I don’t think your son will be visiting you in the future. I think it’s more likely you’ll have to visit him. We’ll see ourselves out.”
They take away all the items found in the carrier bag as evidence.
At 8.20pm, DS Underwood walks to the cell where Dave is being held and the Officer who is accompanying him unlocks the door.
“Dave, we’ve been to your mum’s apartment and found the contents of your safe and, as you can imagine, we’ve found a great deal of evidence we weren’t aware of before. It seems you were even greedy enough to claim the four coffees purchased at each meeting at the Milton Motel as a business expense.” He didn’t tell Dave the times and dates had been supplied by Gerry Payne, owner of the motel, after he became suspicious.
“My team and I are calling it a day. We’re off down the pub now. Sorry you can’t join us. We’ll be interviewing you again tomorrow morning and I think you have a lot of questions to answer. I’ll call your solicitor and let him know.”
DS Underwood calls Dave’s solicitor, Mark Jackson, and leaves a message on his voicemail. He tells him about the search, gives some indication of the evidence they have found and informs the solicitor he will be interviewing his client at ten am sharp the following morning.
By eight thirty pm most of the detectives involved in the case are sitting in the ‘The Chequers’ having a well-deserved drink. It’s been a long but extremely rewarding day.
At nine pm Dave’s solicitor arrives at the police station. He needs to see his client. It is a matter of extreme urgency.
The front desk operative is only a civilian. He phones through to the desk sergeant and explains the situation. He agrees to bring Dave through to Interview Room number three and passes on instructions to the duty officer to bring Dave to see his solicitor.
The sergeant goes out to reception and opens the security door to allow the solicitor access and leads him along the corridor to the interview room.
After two minutes, the Duty officer appears with Dave.
“I need to speak with my client on a private matter.”
Both police officers leave the room. After a further two minutes there’s suddenly a loud noise and shouting as someone from inside bangs on the door.
“Officers, come quickly, I think my client is having a heart attack. Please hurry.”
The duty officer crouches down by the man on the floor and checks to see if there is a pulse or whether the man is still breathing.
He detects neither.
The Sergeant takes out his police phone, calls for an ambulance and then goes to assist his colleague who is attempting resuscitation. Eight minutes later the ambulance arrives and Dave is stretchered out of the rear entrance of the police station into the waiting ambulance. A police Officer accompanies Dave as the vehicle speeds off with its blue lights flashing. After a brief chat with the Officers the solicitor leaves via the front entrance and walks outside. He dials a number on his mobile.
“Yes.”
The solicitor speaks, his true accent more pronounced as he says one word. “Rotobo” (It’s done). He takes the SIM card from the phone, breaks it in half and throws it into a nearby rubbish bin.
At 9.24pm Dave is pronounced dead from a suspected heart attack.
The next morning Dave’s solicitor turns up at the agreed time of ten am. He is extremely surprised to learn of the death of his client. He certainly didn’t visit the police station at nine pm the previous evening as he was at the theatre with his wife.
Chapter Fifty-Three
THE TRUTH
The Monday edition of the local Trentbridge Times newspaper is disappearing off newsagents’ shelves faster than anyone can remember in its entire 128-year history.
With the headline ‘Lotto Winner Cleared of Cheating’ and the sub-heading ‘Local Drug Dealer Dies in Police Custody’, it’s no wonder.
The article explains how police caught a local big-time drug dealer, the man accusing James Sheldon of stealing his winning Lotto ticket. According to police sources, when they examined papers belonging to the drug dealer they found evidence that the stories of the stolen Lotto ticket and that it was his idea for the Asbury Park project were false. The dealer is also suspected of being behind a recent murder that was staged to look like a suicide. However, the suspect has died of a suspected heart attack whilst in police custody.
It is also made public that inside Dave’s files the police found the press releases prepared by Alison Crook and interviewed her at the MJA Housing Foundation offices, much to the surprise of everyone involved. She admitted what she had done and after the police left, Susan Heffer told her to clear her desk and leave. Alison was dismissed from her very well-paid job with immediate effect for a serious breach of her employment contract.
Inside the newspaper, there is a much smaller article on Page Seven detailing that The Albion Hotel, which had been speculated to close to make way for luxury flats, is not only to remain open but is going to be refurbished and is expected to remain open throughout the period of renovation work. No jobs will be lost and it is anticipated that extra staff will be required in due course.
Peter Hogan, head of the local planning committee, reads the story and weeps. The £200,000 pay-off he has been expecting and has worked so hard for is not going to materialise. His plans to leave his wife and move in with his mistress, Monique, will have to be put on hold.
In fact, they will need to be put on hold for a lot longer than he realises. The police have found incriminating evidence against him in Dave’s files and are working with the CPS to bring charges. Where he is going he won’t be in the company of any women for quite a few years.
The other members of the planning committee are relieved to hear the news. This means that when they cast their vote they can accept the highest bid so the council will receive a much better deal and the Asbury Park project can go ahead and enhance the town of Trentbridge. Now the highest bidder has been exonerated, this will make them look good.
The police drug squad are working overtime. The information gleaned from Dave’s mum has given them a substantial amount of information regarding the local drug dealers.
They have names, addresses, mobile phone numbers and details of what they have bought and when. It seems Dave kept extremely detailed notes. With court orders they can gather evidence against all these dealers that will stand up in any court of law.
Of course, within days of them putting these dealers away others will take their place but that’s the name of the game. The convictions won’t harm their arrest targets at all. In fact, a few commendations might be in the offing after this.
Chapter Fifty-Four
ASBURY PARK
Being the only bid left on the table, the council planning committee members have voted in favour of selling the site of Asbury Park to MJA Housing Trust, the charity led by James Sheldon.
The deal is announced on the front page of the Thursday edition of the Trentbridge Times with a council spokesperson saying they are delighted and the thirty-five million pounds they will receive would be a much needed boost.
They also speak about the proposed bridge and road structure which will finally get the go ahead and unite Asbury Park with the town centre, and they talk about the hundreds of jobs this will create for the local economy. The council has already seen the plans and hopefully approval will be granted as quickly as possible.
Six weeks after the planning committee has agreed to sell Asbury Park, the sale is completed and work starts immediately to refurbish the houses street by street. Two firms of local builders are contracted to do the work. They have been chosen on their reputation rather than putting in the lowest bids.
The charity also agrees to use the council workforce to repair all the roads around the site. Most of them are in a good state of repair because they haven’t been used for many years.
Susan Heffer, in her capacity as a volunteer wit
h various housing charities for over twelve years, has compiled a list of sixty-one families who she considers will be good tenants. They are all invited to see the first set of refurbished houses and asked for their views on what they would like to see and how the properties should be decorated and presented.
Most of the families are currently living in private rented properties with rents as high as £620 a month for sub-standard homes, many of which are small flats with no gardens. The new houses on Asbury Park are being offered at a rent of £400 a month and each one has a generously sized garden.
One of the main priorities has been to ensure the transport links. Working with the council, the plans for the bridge and road structure have been approved, mainly due to the fact they had been part of the original plans in the late seventies and early eighties when the estate was originally built.
With last-minute delays from the council, it takes nearly seven months before the bridge and road structures are finally complete and Asbury Park is united with the town of Trentbridge.
Even the Minister of Transport comes up from London for the opening.
Of course, all the local officials came for the free food and drink and to get their photos in the newspaper.
Epilogue
To mark the occasion, I arranged for three of the streets to be renamed.
The new names are: Miriam Close, Jack Close and Abigail Close. The new bridge road is to be called Stevie’s Way.
Over the coming year, it is hoped that 200 families will be able to move into newly refurbished homes, each with its own garden. The remaining 680 families will be housed over the following two years.
Work on the school was finalised just two weeks ago, and the doctors’ surgery is nearly complete and should be open within four weeks. An adjoining pharmacy has now been added to the original plans.
