Trainer lived in a one bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of an apartment block in Barking, unlike his boss he didn’t fancy living in the area he worked. Plus it was all he could afford after two failed marriages and all the alimony he was paying to his two ex wife’s. It was a bit of a dive, paint peeling off in the corner of some of the rooms where damp was coming in, but it was home and it had everything he needed to eat, clean and sleep. After a quick shower Trainer dressed, ate breakfast and made his way down the stairs to his car. He wanted to get to the station, check his notes from the day before and get to the golf club for nine AM.
* * *
Trainer walked into the detectives office, you wouldn’t think it was Saturday, the place was full. Everyone busying around doing jobs that he had assigned them the day before.
“DS Trainer.”
Trainer turned in the direction of the person shouting his name to see one of the local constables walking towards him.
“Yes, Constable.”
“It may be nothing, but I heard about Fenner’s alibi and we had a report of some suspicious activity from the garden centre in High Road yesterday between ten AM and one-thirty PM.”
“What sort of activity?”
“A member of staff who was working outside all day yesterday reported a car parking up at eleven AM in the corner of the car park.”
“And how is that suspicious?”
“Well sir, the female occupant just walked out of the car park and down the high street.”
Trainer was becoming annoyed and frustrated. If this story was going somewhere it had better get there fast.
“Maybe you could give me the short version and not the war and peace one.”
The Constable went red and looked embarrassed, he was trying to be thorough.
“Sorry sir, short version is. Car parks up at eleven AM. Female leaves the car and walks right up the High Street. She returns later from the same direction gets in the car, waits and leaves a little later. She never enters the garden centre.”
“Okay not exactly terrorist attack suspicious but we need to be thorough, you know what Blake is like.”
“What do you want me to do sir?”
“Go check it out, see if you can get a description of the female and also any CCTV footage they may have.”
Trainer didn’t like to admit it but there might actually but a shred of truth to Fenner’s alibi.
Fourteen
Trainer had never understood the game of golf. Using a big stick to hit a small ball to a small hole in the middle of some grass. Nope... couldn’t understand the attraction. He also didn’t like the type of people who played golf, especially at this particular golf club. Chigwell Golf Club was in the middle of one of the most affluent areas of Essex, just on the outskirts of London. Chigwell had been made famous by a TV comedy show about two couples who lived in Chigwell, with the wifes completely oblivious to the fact their husbands were bank robbers. The trouble is it wasn’t too far from the truth. He turned right into the entrance to the club and found a parking space, his Ford Mondeo didn’t really fit in surrounded by the Porches, Aston Martins and Bentleys. He walked to the reception and was greeted by a pretty young lady.
“Good morning sir, how can I help you?”
Trainer took his warrant card from his jacket and showed it to the young lady.
“Detective Sergeant Frank Trainer. Can I speak to whoever is in charge please?”
“Of course sir, let me get the club manager.”
Trainer turned from the desk and looked around the reception area. There were pictures of celebrities and professional golfers hung around the simply decorated reception area.
“Hello. My name is Duncan Wright the club manager. How can I help you?”
Trainer flashed his badge again.
“Is there somewhere we can speak?”
“Of course, we can go to my office.”
They walked in to the main clubhouse, this was very different to the reception area. Now he could see the opulence and money being put on show. They reached the other side of the clubhouse and entered Duncan’s office. Duncan pointed to a chair in front of a simple wooden desk.
“Take a seat. Would you like anything to drink?”
“No thank you.”
“So how can I help?”
“Is Martin Fenner a member here?”
“Yes he is. May I ask why you are asking about him?”
“He was arrested yesterday for the murder of a woman and the attempted murder of his wife.”
Duncan didn’t say a word but the look on his face told Trainer everything. It was a look of inevitability, not one of surprise. The fact Fenner had been accused of murder wasn’t out of the realms of possibility. Trainer broke the silence.
“I need to know if he was here yesterday and if he was is there any way of telling me what time he left.”
“Oh he was definitely here yesterday morning and I can give you the time he left to the minute.”
“You sound very sure Mr Wright.”
“I am. There was a bit of an incident in the clubhouse between Mr Fenner and another club member which carried on into the car park.”
“That all sounds good but how can you be so sure about the time.”
“We had just calmed everyone down in the car park when my phone alarm sounded as I had a meeting at one PM.”
“And what time did your alarm go off.”
“Five minutes before the meeting so twelve fifty-five.”
“So you were all in the car park at twelve fifty-five.”
“Yes.”
Trainer thought for a moment, trying to line all of the time-line up in his mind.
“So Mr Wright. You and Mr Fenner were out in the car park at twelve fifty five.”
“Yes.”
“Did Mr Fenner leave straight away?”
“No he didn’t.”
“He asked me about my one PM appointment.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he had arranged it. We are having some building work done, a new extension to the clubhouse and Mr Fenner arranged for a colleague of his to come and give a quote.”
“Do you know what time he left?”
“Yes. My watch said two minutes past one as he left the car park.”
“And how can you be so precise Mr Wright?”
“Because as he left the car park I looked at my watch because my appointment hadn’t turned up and I hold a lot of significance in time keeping. If people can’t be on time for an appointment how will they fare when it comes to the actual job.”
“Well thank you for your time Mr Wright. You have been very helpful.”
They both got up and left the office and Duncan walked Trainer back to reception. They shook hands and Trainer walked out into the car park. Trainer walked back to his car, his mind racing. If Fenner didn’t leave the car park until tow minutes past one then how the hell did he manage to be in his house and shoot the victims when the sound of a gunshot was reported at one PM. Yes there could be time discrepancies but this was starting to sound more like a fit up of Martin Fenner.
Fifteen
Trainer had spent the drive back from the golf club to the Police Station trying to fit all of the timings into his head. He had left the golf club and driven to Fenner’s house. He had timed it and the drive was a very short one, it only took five minutes from starting his car engine to pulling up onto Fenner’s driveway. But even that didn’t account for the gunshot being reported at one PM, with Fenner being seen at that exact time in the golf club car park. Even accounting for differences in watches, it just didn’t add up. He needed to write it all down so he could visualise the times.
He walked into a hive of activity, all of the officers in the team were on a mission. As far as they were concerned they were working towards convicting a man they had been after for years and what had happened yesterday seemed to hand him to them on a plate. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that may no
t be the case. He grabbed hold of a portable whiteboard and wheeled it into a side office and shut the door behind him. The office was small with a table in the middle and had no windows. The door had no window either so no one could see what he was about to write down.
He started at the top of the board and started to write down the time line of first the call logging the gunshot and then the ARV team arrival at the house.
1:00pm - Gunshot reported
1:10pm - ARV team at house
He didn’t need any more than that for the time line, it was pretty straightforward. The more difficult time line was Fenner’s movements. He started to write them on the right hand side of the board in line with the timing already on the board.
12:55am - Fenner in car park with Duncan Wright
1:00pm - Fenner asks Duncan Wright about appointment
1:02pm - Fenner leaves car park
1:07pm - Fenner home?
Trainer took a step back and looked at the timings, they didn’t look good for their case against Fenner. Looking at the board showed that he was somewhere else at one PM when the gunshot was reported. He then didn’t get back to the house until seven minutes past one if he went straight home. And then the ARV team walked in at ten minutes past one. He didn’t like it but it looked like Fenner had an air tight alibi and this was an attempt to set Fenner up.
* * *
Trainer was still stood looking at the board as there was a knock on the office door. He opened the door ajar, he didn’t want anyone to see the board, not yet.
“Sir, I have been to the garden centre as you asked and spoken to the manager about any CCTV footage.”
“And is there any?”
“Yes sir.”
“Well,” Trainer was becoming annoyed. “Have you looked at it, is it of any use to us?”
The constable paused. Trainer could sense he didn’t want to tell him what he had seen.
“Right, do you have a copy of the footage?” Trainer asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Okay, lets go take a look.”
The constable sounded nervous as he pointed to the office that Trainer was in.
“It might be better if you view it in here sir, alone.”
“Okay, give me the copy.”
The constable handed over a DVD that he had taken from the garden centre and walked off. Trainer followed him out of the office and closed the door. He looked around the office and found the portable DVD and TV unit. He wheeled it into the office and closed the door. He powered it all up and pushed the DVD into the player. A view of the garden centre car park came up. The time on the DVD read 10:45. There was only a few cars in the car park, one of them parked all on its own in a corner. He could make out a figure in the car but the resolution of the video was terrible so he couldn’t make out the face. She sat in the car for a while finally opening the door and exiting the car. He couldn’t believe how bad the CCTV was. The person picked a rucksack from the car shut the doors and walked away in the opposite direction to the garden centre towards the High Street. He fast forwarded the video and watched as the same figure reappeared as the time on the video read 13:10, got in the car and drove off. The quality of the video wasn’t good enough quality to see the face of the figure and the clothing gave no clue to the sex of the figure. Something in his brain was telling him there was something he recognised but he couldn’t think what it was.
Sixteen
Alexa was dressed and ready to leave the hotel room. Letitia was still dressing, luckily she had boooked a late check out of the room so she had plenty of time. Alexa checked herself in the full length mirror, she had planned to go straight from here to the hospital to check on Felicia Fenner but there was no way she could go dressed in this outfit. She suddenly felt apprehensive, it was now one PM and she needed to check to see if there was any sign of Felicia waking up. She turned to the bed and picked up her handbag.
“I need to leave now Letitia.”
“That’s Okay, Alexa, I hope to see you again. Can I have your number maybe?” Letitia asked.
Alexa paused, it had been a long time since she had made love and more importantly it was even longer since she had seen any of her one night stands for a second time. Letitia sensed her unease.
“If this was just a one off that’s fine, I just thought we made a little bit of a connection and I would like to see how far we could take it. No expectations though.”
Alexa looked at Letitia, she was beautiful and the night had been amazing. It was about time she started to enjoy herself. She only had one issue to deal with and then her mission would be complete and she could get back to having a normal life.
“Okay then, yes lets see how far we get. I really enjoyed your company.”
Alexa grabbed a pen and paper from the desk in the room and wrote her number down. She passed it to Letitia and then had one last lingering kiss.
“Call me,” Alexa remarked as she left the hotel room.
* * *
Alexa caught the ferry across the Thames and walked to Canary Wharf underground station. There were a lot more people about than there was yesterday evening, but it was a sunny Saturday afternoon in London. She descended the escalator to the underground platform and caught the train. It was full and hot. The smell of sweaty people hit her as the door to the train opened and now she was standing in the middle of it. She had to change trains for her journey but she arrived back at Fairlop Station where she had left her car the night before. She had spent the journey thinking of all the scenarios that could happen, it was a mess of her own making and she needed to fix it. It was only Felicia that could identify her as the person in the house and the person that shot her and Caterina. She may have been drugged but that only inhibited her movement, her mind was still very active. Alexa couldn’t trust that the drugs would wipe her memory, she had only taken a small dose.
How long did she leave it
Should she finish the job now
All of this had been going through her mind and she just needed to get to the hospital. She couldn’t exactly turn up in the dress she was wearing though, she needed to get home, change into her work suit and get to the hospital as quick as she could.
Seventeen
Alexa pulled into the hospital car park and made her way to the hospital reception. The doctor from the day before had told her that Felicia would be taken to the Intensive Care Unit in the hospital. She just needed to find the signs and make her way there. Alexa didn’t like hospitals it reminded her too much of all the time she spent in them when she was younger. She had once had a sister who had been diagnosed with cancer when she was thirteen. Alexa and Sarah had been twins so she had spent as much time with her as possible and had gone with her on every hospital trip. She didn’t enjoy the visits but she wanted to be there for her sister. She finally found the directions to the unit and started on the tortuous journey through the hospital. She arrived at the door to the unit to find a constable guarding it.
“Any visitors for Mrs Fenner?” she asked.
“No Ma’am. The only people who have been in to see her have been the doctors.”
“Okay, go get a drink and something to eat. I will be in there for about half an hour getting an update on her condition.”
The constable left to find the canteen as Alexa pressed the buzzer to be let into the unit.
“Hello, can I help you?” came the voice from the speaker on the wall.
“Detective Inspector Alexa Blake to see Mrs Fenner.”
The door buzzed, Alexa pulled it open and walked through. She made sure the door closed behind her and headed towards the nurses station.
“Hello, I am DI Alexa Blake. I’m here to get an update on Mrs Fenner.”
“Yes of course. She had a comfortable night. Would you like to speak to her doctor?”
“Yes that would be good. I need to know when we might be able to talk to her.”
Alexa didn’t really want to talk to her, but she needed to keep the prete
nce that Felicia was a witness to the crime and that she could help the police with their enquiries. What she actually wanted was for her to die quietly.
“I don’t think she will be up to talking this afternoon. But maybe tomorrow for a short while. But the doctor will be able to tell you more.”
Alexa was taken aback by the nurses response.
“I’m sorry I thought she would be unable to talk for a while given her injuries.”
“Oh no she is doing really well. She regained consciousness this morning, quite amazing really. She seems a fighter.”
“Any issues with brain damage, she lost a lot of blood at the scene?” Alexa asked, hoping for an answer that would help her.
“I don’t think so. She seemed fine this morning.”
Not the answer Alexa wanted.
“She was a bit disorientated which is to be expected given all the pain medication she is on, but doesn’t appear to be any lasting problems,” continued the nurse.
“That’s good then,” Alexa hoped the nurse couldn’t sense the disappointment in her voice.
“She is sedated at the moment but the doctor plans to reduce that in the morning.”
Alexa turned and started to walk away from the nurses station.
“Would you like to speak to the doctor?” shouted the nurse after her.
Alexa turned back towards the nurses station. “No thank you, maybe tomorrow.” She walked back out the unit door and into the corridor. The one person who could identity her. The one person who could end her life and put her in prison alongside people she had put there. How had she been so stupid. How had she not made sure she was dead.
Recompense Page 4
