The George Elms Trilogy Box Set

by Charlie Gallagher

  Mary burst into tears. She was so unpredictable these days, even she didn’t see it coming. Relief maybe. The tension finding the quickest route out of her body. Her body shook suddenly, it was laughter now! She couldn’t stop it. It took her over. She laughed hard, she couldn’t suppress it. Mary gathered herself together. ‘You must think I’m crazy,’ she said eventually.

  ‘Not at all.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Stop saying that. I’m sorry. Now, that’s the last time either of us have to say it. Agreed?’

  ‘Okay then.’ She pushed the door open wider. The inspector stood up. Mary stepped away and into the kitchen. She was aware of him following her into the house. She heard him pull the door shut. ‘You’ll be needing a tea, then. To go with those Jammie Dodgers.’

  ‘Oh. Well, if you’re offering!’

  ‘You’re a cheeky one, I’ll give you that.’

  ‘I get called a lot of things in my own force, Mrs Pope. Cheeky is not the most common.’

  ‘Mary — please, it’s Mary.’ She clicked the kettle on. Then she turned to face the inspector and leant back against the kitchen bench. She made sure her feet were firm on the ground, that she had a good base. ‘Is this it then? Did you find her? Is that why you’re here? Did you find Chloe?’ Mary covered her mouth with her hand. She bit hard on her bottom lip.

  ‘Oh no! I’m so sorry, Mary, that’s not why I’m here.’

  She took a moment to compose herself. She turned away and pulled two cups out. ‘It’s okay. It’s just the first thing I think of. You know, every time I see a police officer. Every time the phone rings, or the door knocks. One day it will happen.’

  ‘I think you’re right,’ he said.

  ‘I know what you want to speak about. You said that your force has some involvement with that animal. He’s rotting in a prison cell, I was assured of that, Inspector . . .’

  ‘George.’

  ‘George, sorry. I was assured of that. I was told he was living out his days in solitary. What involvement could you have?’

  ‘Firstly, I should say you’re right, Mary. He’s locked up, he’s in a cell and I would guess that most of that is in complete isolation. That’s the way that animals like him are treated. It is not a nice environment from what I’ve seen. I haven’t had much to do with him at any point, but my bosses have asked me to assist the prison service. It seems we have a mutual problem. There are concerns that he can still have limited access to other prisoners at certain times and through correspondence. We want to make sure that he can’t have any influence on them.’

  ‘Influence?’

  ‘Yes. Animals like our subject, they get off on power. It is a big part of why they offend. It might be the main reason. When they are locked up, they still crave that power over others. One way they can still scratch that particular itch is to manipulate and influence people around them. I have been sent up here to get a good understanding of him. That way we are better prepared to stamp out any influence he might have. I was given a list of people to speak to up here — police officers mainly. I do have to be honest, Mary, you were not on the list. But how can you get an understanding of someone, of the impact they had, without speaking to the people affected the most?’

  ‘I suppose you have a point. But I don’t know what I can say about how you deal with him in prison. I mean, it’s obvious to me, lock him up and throw away the key. Why should he ever have human contact again? I can never have contact with my Chloe. He did that.’

  ‘I know that. And I agree, that’s the easiest way, but there are human rights issues—’

  ‘Oh to fuck with all that!’ Mary’s hand jerked to cover her mouth. ‘Sorry, I’m so sorry . . .’

  The inspector smiled broadly and he waved his hand. ‘Don’t even think about it. I was going to say I don’t care about human rights — at least not in this instance. My opinion of someone like this is that they should lose all human rights the second they begin acting like an animal. But I am very conscious of his solicitors. They use that legislation on a daily basis to launch appeals and to generally try and make their clients’ lives more comfortable. I don’t want him to have a single comfort he isn’t entitled to. Not a thing. To be sure of that I have to play my part.’

  ‘Okay. I think I see. I don’t think I could do your job.’

  ‘You have to be able to see the bigger picture sometimes is all.’

  ‘And not have a potty mouth. I never normally swear.’ She still felt genuinely rattled by her own profanity.

  ‘And I swear all the time. Far too much. Just because I see the bigger picture doesn’t mean I have to fucking like it!’

  Mary chuckled and pushed a cup of tea towards the inspector. She brought her own to her lips. She looked at George Elms over the top. He had day-old stubble and his shirt was a little wrinkled. He was handsome, though, and had a warm face and a calming manner. Mary felt like she could talk to him, like she could trust him. She knew she could be too quick to do that.

  ‘What do you need to know, then?’ She said.

  ‘I don’t know really. I didn’t really come here with an agenda. I wanted to talk to you about how this has affected you, if you knew anything about the man who did it. Before, I mean. And if he was known in the village. Anything that might help me understand him better.’

  ‘Well, I knew of his family. I think everyone did. Generally they’ve always kept themselves to themselves but they couldn’t not be known. They lived in a big estate. You’re always going to be interested in the gentry living in your village. My ex, he used to go to the shoot up there occasionally and I think Malcolm Roberts was often there too.’

  ‘Malcolm?’

  ‘He was the father. He was quite well liked. I mean, no one really knew him but a couple of times he helped out with a few community bits and pieces. He stepped in to finance a swimming bath that was facing closure. There were a few other things — he used to let the locals run a village fete and some fayres on his land. That sort of thing.’

  ‘And the son. Did he carry on those traditions?’

  ‘I don’t believe so. Malcolm died a few years ago and the arrangements that were in place for the fete kept going. I don’t know who sorted that, if they had to get permission or if it just carried on because it always had. Then, when the girls started going missing we asked for permission to search their land, you know. We were told it was no problem, the guy who managed the estate even joined the search party. I mean, we had no idea . . .’

  ‘Why would you? He’s an intelligent man. He didn’t want to arouse any suspicion.’

  ‘He was different, though. I knew that much.’

  ‘Different how?’

  ‘Different. They were a very traditional family. All privately educated, all went on to get good degrees at good universities. But the youngest son, he dropped out of school early, I think. He had a reputation for being rebellious. He spent a lot of time away from the village — in London, I heard. I hadn’t seen him for a long time then, when I did see him again, he had tattoos and a shaved head. He looked anything other than gentry.’

  ‘Do you know why there was such a change in him?’

  ‘I don’t know if there was. I think that he just got to the point where he couldn’t live their way anymore. He obviously had something in him that was being suppressed up there. I saw him for the first time in a while around the same time as Chloe . . . well, around when she went missing. Of course no one made that link at the time. It wasn’t until that brave girl fought him off and got away . . .’ Mary inhaled a breath. She was holding up well, she couldn’t talk like this normally. Certainly she couldn’t talk about Chloe like this.

  ‘She described his tattoos, right?’

  ‘She did. She’s some pro-biker, mountain bikes I think. She wasn’t from around here but she managed to get a good look at a tattoo on the top of his head. Angel’s wings. Of all the things . . . It went from there.’

  ‘Did you get any reaction
from the family? Have you ever had any correspondence with them?’

  ‘Not really. It was dead quiet after the arrest. I was on to the police every day. I know they were doing their job and they couldn’t make him talk about my Chloe . . . I know they wanted to. I got on well with Sergeant Coleman, but even he had to tell me to stop the calls at one point. I think I upset him. I know he was trying his best. He was just as frustrated as I was.’

  ‘I’ve met DS Coleman . . . Dennis. Only briefly, mind. This case has really affected him, Mary. I think he would have done everything he could.’

  ‘You spoke with him? I got told he had left the police. He used to live in the village. I know he moved away when all of this was going on. I heard his wife left him. I used to see her at church sometimes but she stopped going. I guess he was under a lot of pressure. They both were.’

  ‘He told me he wasn’t working for the police anymore.’

  ‘He’s okay though?’

  ‘He seemed okay, sure.’

  Mary took another swig of her tea. He was certainly easy to talk to but she was still considering how much she should share with him. ‘I did go up there. To the manor house. After he was arrested, I went up there and knocked on their door.’

  ‘At the family home?’ He asked.

  ‘Yes. I haven’t told anyone. Not the police anyway. I can’t get into trouble, can I?’

  ‘Not for knocking on someone’s door you can’t.’

  ‘She wouldn’t come and see me. His mother. I thought I could get to talk to her. I thought I might be able to appeal to her to speak to him. To ask him to tell her where . . . where I need to look.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘She wouldn’t even come to the door. She wouldn’t speak to me. I think maybe she thought I was angry at her. I wasn’t. I mean, I know I can’t blame her for what happened. One of her staff told me to leave. They said they would call the police.’

  ‘Did you try again?’

  ‘No. She died a couple of weeks later. I felt terrible when I heard. I thought maybe it was all the stress. I guess I added to that.’

  ‘You did what anyone would have done — her included, no doubt.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  The inspector suddenly seemed restless. ‘I’ve taken up enough of your time, Mary,’ he said. ‘Thank you for talking to me. I will leave a phone number in case you have any questions. I’m not involved in the investigation up here so I can’t help you with the search for Chloe. But I know what can happen . . . you get a visit out of the blue from a police officer asking questions and suddenly, a bit later on, you have more questions about why. Don’t hesitate if you need to ask.’

  ‘Thank you. My husband’s due home a bit later. He may call. He’s not always had a good relationship with the police. He’s very angry, Inspector, and he doesn’t handle it very well.’

  ‘I can understand. There’s nowhere for him to direct it. We don’t mind bearing the brunt of that to an extent. It will get easier with time.’

  ‘I’ve been told that enough times.’

  ‘I can imagine you have. It sounds like people trying to appease you, I know. But there’s truth in there. I’ll leave the Jammie Dodgers, so you can tell your husband that we’re not all bad!’

  ‘I will do.’

  The inspector walked across the hall and towards the door. She skipped ahead to get the door. She could see he was lingering on a cross she had on the wall.

  ‘Do you still go to church? I know you said you saw the sergeant’s wife there.’ He asked.

  ‘I lean on the church more so now than ever. I don’t get there as much, for one reason or another. But it’s become even more important in my life.’

  ‘Did Chloe go too?’

  ‘She did. From a very young age. They’ve always been very welcoming when it comes to children. It can be like a crèche at the back on a Sunday!’ Mary chuckled. Memories suddenly flashed through her mind of Chloe as a toddler, crashing around at the back, making the congregation smile quietly to themselves and to one another. The vicar would raise his voice to deliver his sermon, thanking Chloe for her part. They would all laugh. No one ever minded. Even then Chloe seemed to have the knack for making a whole room smile.

  ‘That’s good. It must be a comfort to you. Knowing that Chloe had her faith.’

  ‘She did. But I think it was being tested, Inspector. It’s one of the things that bothered me straight after . . . well, when she went missing. She had stopped going to church. She wouldn’t talk about why, either. She just got upset, like angry upset. I’d never really known her like that about anything before. Colin said it was just a teenage girl acting out about being forced to do something. I mean, we never actually forced her. I wanted us all to keep going — as a family. But I respected that she didn’t want to go anymore. I only hope she found her faith again . . . at the end. I just hope . . .’ Mary had held herself together well. She was losing it now. The tears fell thick and fast. They forced her to shut her eyes. She felt the inspector touch her on the shoulder. She opened up to him. He embraced her fully, she felt him wrap her up in his strong arms. She pushed her face into his chest. He smelt like fabric softener. His voice was gentle in her ear.

  ‘It’s okay, Mary. In those circumstances, under those stresses, we’d all find our faith. Even if we didn’t have any at all before. He would have been with her and she would have known it.’

  She backed away a little and sniffed. ‘Thanks, Inspector. I’m so sorry.’

  His warm smile was back. ‘What did we say about that word?’

  * * *

  George made it back to his car. He was still shaking his head. He hated being so in the dark, so unprepared. He tried Whittaker’s number again. Finally he picked up.

  ‘George!’

  ‘Where are you, Major?’ George was aware that he sounded gruff. It was intentional.

  ‘You know me and honesty, George — hand in glove. So, here goes. I’m in my office in Langthorne House. I had every intention of following you up, old boy, but things are moving down here. I’ve been in one meeting and out of the next. Now I need to go to London. You’ve caught me packing a change of pants as a matter of fact.’

  ‘An overnighter?’

  ‘God, I hope not!’

  ‘So why the change of clothes?’

  ‘Meeting the Home Secretary. We all know just how much she likes the police force, George. I can imagine it will be a very short, sharp meeting. And then the change of underpants will be required.’

  ‘About Roberts? You still think they are considering his move?’

  ‘Considering it? I think we have moved past that, George. Like I said, it’s all moving rather quickly. I need you to pick up what you can about the victims and their families. We need to establish what threat there is that they might turn up on a Langthorne cliff top with lit torches and pitch forks. If this does go pear-shaped I will need more than a change of underpants.’

  ‘How would it be your fault? Just tell them it’s a bad idea. That this piece of shit deserves to rot in a hole and we can’t police the threat. Job done.’

  ‘Except he’s offering them money and power. We both know that’s all these people care about.’

  ‘Then you need to be insistent.’

  ‘It’s like I said, George, his legal team are going to get him moved to a hospital, and soon. If he moves to this other place instead it saves the taxpayer coughing up for his medical care. Now he says he will divulge the location of the two missing women. That’s a big political score. Add to that the government getting a cutting-edge secure medical facility that will be left when he goes and he’s refusing all treatment — so he’s basically agreeing to die. They’re winning all round. They will be criticised, no doubt about that, but it’s not a difficult one to turn back round. They would be criticised for treating him on tax payers’ money as well and even more so if they had to pay an expensive legal battle after Roberts has gone.’

  ‘You soun
d like you’re starting to agree with it.’

  ‘I sound just like you should: accepting. We need to look at the positives, George. When the senior team and the Home Office make a decision we don’t get consulted, we just get told to make it happen. And trusted to make sure it doesn’t get leaked.’

  ‘You know that’s exactly the reason I never wanted to get promoted. Ignorance is bliss, Major.’

  ‘Very true, old boy. Can’t say I’m disappointed that my retirement is creeping closer. Soon I get to pretend that none of this happens, that the people in charge only care about the people they were put there by.’

  ‘I’ll get the files on the victims and I’ll head back. I’m only a few minutes from the police station. Your schedule has me in a meeting with Emma Rowe — she was the SIO for the job. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it, Major. Not if she’s anything like the other people I have spoken to up here.’

  ‘I spoke to her on the phone. She seems very nice, actually. Have they given you the cold shoulder up there, old boy? You really did need me — someone with a bit of charm!’

  ‘It’s not that so much. You should see it up here. It’s a little village with a little community and it has been all but destroyed. It’s like they’re locked in the grip of a shared nightmare. I just met some poor woman who is still waiting for her daughter to come home three years on. It’s been hard, Major, especially as I’ve been lying to them all about why I’m here.’

  ‘Finding those missing girls will go a long way to getting that village over this. We need to grit our teeth a little, George, take from this what we can. You can be involved in speaking to the families when it’s done if you want to.’

  ‘No, that’s okay. I think the team that ran the investigation should give them the news. Assuming there is any. I’m not convinced he’ll stick to his side of the bargain.’

  ‘I think the terms are the point of this meeting. It will be airtight.’

  ‘Sounds like it’s all in hand. I’ll go back to pretending it isn’t going on. I’ll be back later today.’