Shut Up and Drive: DI Ted Darling Book 4

by L M Krier

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  About the author

  Contact details

  Acknowledgements

  Shut Up and Drive

  DI Ted Darling Book IV

  L M Krier

  First Kindle Edition

  Copyright © 2016 LMK Tither

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design DMR Creative

  The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Fisherman's Friend is a registered trade mark of the Lofthouse of Fleetwood Ltd Company of Lancashire

  Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics

  written by Freddie Mercury

  Published by Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

  Shewee is a registered trade mark of Dales Distribution Ltd

  To Domi

  Ted's No 1 fan in France

  Chapter One

  An early Monday morning summons to the Ice Queen's office was always low on the wish-list of both DI Ted Darling and his opposite number in uniform, Inspector Kevin Turner.

  The formidable Superintendent Debra Caldwell, who was also Assistant Divisional Commander, brought out the inner schoolboy in both men. For moral support, they made a point of meeting up in Kevin's office first. It was a chance to spruce up their appearances before facing their boss, with her impeccable turnout and stiff, formal manner.

  'It's about the latest case, I imagine?' Kevin speculated, as he adjusted his uniform and smoothed down his hair.

  Ted would have laughed at his preening, except that he was too busy checking to make sure his own top button was fastened and his tie was up high enough to cover it. He only just stopped himself from rubbing the toes of his shoes on the backs of his trouser legs.

  'She'll be wanting a progress report, I suppose. I haven't made any progress to report on, so I'm hoping you have and I can hide behind you,' he replied.

  Their humour was a way of dealing with the harder aspects of their job. They were working together on a serious case which had somewhat stalled and neither of them had anything new to report, despite all their joint efforts.

  'Come in, gentlemen, and please take a seat,' the Ice Queen told them, after Kevin had pushed Ted to go in first. He always reckoned that Ted's four black belts in martial arts would give them some degree of protection from her wrath.

  At least there was the smell of the freshly-brewed excellent coffee she favoured. She placed bone china mugs and the steaming glass pot in front of them, inviting them to help themselves. She knew Ted's sweet tooth by now so there was already milk and sugar left at their disposal.

  'So,' she began. 'Three serious sexual assaults, combined with three car hijacks, and not a single lead to show for it so far. Does that about sum up the situation? As you can imagine, I am coming under a lot of pressure from high up to make some sort of progress with this case. So what can you offer me?'

  Ted took a quick gulp of his coffee before replying.

  'Ma'am, we have fingerprints and DNA for the attacker, and it's the same person in all three cases. There's just no match on record anywhere so far. Anywhere in the UK, that is. We're going to have to start looking further afield. Unless, of course, he's not a previous offender, in which case we really are looking at needles in haystacks.'

  'It's the same from the car theft point of view, ma'am,' Kevin Turner told her. 'We're not finding any matches there either. And it's an unusual case, the combination of taking a vehicle and sexually assaulting the driver.'

  'Right, so you've both told me what you haven't achieved. Now what I need is some positive action to offer up,' she told them briskly. 'I want to arrange a press conference, to ask for the public's help, and I want you both to attend.'

  She saw Ted's grimace and said firmly, 'Yes, even you, Inspector Darling. I know you don't enjoy such occasions, but it's vital that we show the public a united front. They need to have confidence that we are doing our utmost to arrest this attacker.

  'These are serious crimes, especially happening on busy supermarket car parks. Young women being kidnapped at knife point, then raped and left while the attacker goes off joy-riding in their cars. It's the stuff of nightmares. We don't want to spread panic, but we do need to appeal for help.

  'So far we've escaped much of a savaging in the press for our lack of success. I can only assume your efforts at building bridges with the local reporter are paying dividends, Inspector Darling.'

  Ted wisely said nothing. Although his boss had told him to make more of an effort, he still avoided the local news-hound, universally known as Pocket Billiards because of his undesirable habit, like the plague.

  'I'd also like to use the opportunity to give some sensible and practical advice in the hopes of preventing any further such terrible attacks,' the Ice Queen continued.

  'It will be a tricky line to tread, between giving a warning and causing alarm,' Ted said musingly.

  'You are quite right, of course, Inspector, but I am aware of that risk,' she replied dryly. 'Now, we need to see what can be done by us to reduce the potential for further attacks. We all know that these offences seem to be escalating in violence. We need to find this person, before they go on to kill, which is a strong possibility.

  'Inspector Turner, can you get your officers to drive round the car parks of the big supermarkets whenever possible, to show a visible presence?'

  'With respect, ma'am,' Kevin replied, ignoring her expression when he used a phrase he knew she particularly disliked, 'with the latest round of cuts, I don't have enough officers to handle crimes which have already been committed, let alone putting the few I do have out there to try to prevent future ones.'

  'I am well aware of the issues regarding staffing levels, Inspector.' Her tone was now frosty. 'I assure you that I raise the matter whenever I get the opportunity. All I'm saying is that the public need to feel protected from a crime such as this. Whenever you have a car near to a supermarket, surely a five-minute drive around the car park is neither here nor there in the greater scheme of things and can only be helpful?'

&
nbsp; Kevin Turner maintained a mutinous silence. The Ice Queen turned to Ted.

  'Clearly, your officers will not present the same high-profile reassurance, in plain clothes and unmarked cars, but ask them please to do the same, just to see if they notice anything. It does at least give me something to tell the powers that be, to show them that we are making a serious pre-emptive effort.

  'In the meantime, I will arrange the press conference for tomorrow. I would like you both to let me have your thoughts in writing by the end of today on what content should be included. That will be all, gentlemen.'

  Both men drained their coffee before leaving her office, then headed back once more to Kevin's, to discuss what she had said.

  'It's all for bloody show, Ted,' Kevin grumbled. 'It's all fur coat and no knickers. I don't have enough officers to go round as it is. If they're spending time driving round the car parks, the public are just going to think they're skiving or doing their Christmas shopping in work time. Plus if the local scrotes get wind of the fact that it's how we're spending our time, instead of chasing them, they'll have a field day. Crime rates will rocket and that will be our bloody fault, as usual.'

  Ted nodded. 'I know, Kev, but we really don't have anything much else to suggest at the moment. Whoever this attacker is, we need to stop him, and soon. Like the Ice Queen said, he's been getting handier with that knife each time, and I don't like that.

  'There's another thing that worries me. He's picking cars with a bit of something about them to go joy-riding in. With young Jezza driving that limited edition Golf of hers, I hope she's not going to be a target for him.'

  'Don't worry, I'll sort her out a spray to keep in the car, just in case the bastard does go after her. Though knowing your Jezza, she'll think her kickboxing will be enough defence.'

  Kevin had heard about Ted's first encounter with his new Detective Constable, Jessica 'Jezza' Vine. It had been on an occasion when she had been drunk enough to try out her kickboxing skills on a stranger in the street, not knowing that the stranger was actually her future boss, a martial arts expert.

  Ted snorted in disdain. 'Kickboxing will be no use to her at all in the confines of a car. I'm just off to brief the team now, so I'll tell her to come and see you. I'll also warn her off from any ideas of heroics or going looking for trouble.

  'Let me know when you've got your notes ready for the Ice Queen. Perhaps we can go over them together before we submit them? You know, copy each other's homework, so we don't get kept in after school,' he added with a grin, as he headed for the door.

  Ted's team were all in on time, as usual, sitting expectantly at their desks, when he went upstairs to start the morning briefing. He told them of the Superintendent's plans to hold a press conference and asked for their input, before firing off a few suggestions. He stood in front of the white board

  which already had on it the names and details of the three victims of the attacks – Kathy Finn, Helen Lawrence, Jayne Wright.

  'How is our attacker getting to the supermarkets? Does he use public transport or take his own car? If so, how does he get back there, once he's done his joy-riding and dumped the stolen vehicle?'

  'Sir, I could check bus timetables against the times of the attacks,' their young Temporary Detective Constable, Steve Ellis, suggested. 'If I look at buses for, say, an hour before each attack, I might be able to get some idea of where he comes from, if he is using buses.'

  'Good idea, Steve, it's worth a shot, at least,' Ted told him encouragingly. He turned to his Detective Sergeant, Mike Hallam. 'We need to keep trying to find similar crimes in other parts of the country, in case our man is only an occasional visitor to Stockport. Get someone onto that, please.

  'Inspector Turner is going to try to get some of his officers to swing by the supermarkets whenever they have five minutes, but you all know that resources are tight and it won't amount to much. Likewise, when any of you are doing your shopping, please keep your eyes and ears peeled for anything, anything at all, that looks suspicious.'

  DC Dennis 'Virgil' Tibbs spoke up. 'I'll find out if that former homeless witness from the Sorrento case still works at the supermarket. He may have seen something, possibly without realising it. And I'm in and out of supermarkets at all hours of the day and night, now the wife has started the food cravings.'

  Ted turned to DC Vine. 'Jezza, I don't know what your shopping habits are, but I'd strongly suggest you consider when and where you shop, for your own safety, at least for the time being. I don't have to spell out for you that your car is just the sort of thing that seems to take the fancy of our attacker. Don't put yourself at risk, please.'

  'Maybe I could draw him out of cover, if I start shopping more often?' she suggested. 'I can take care of myself …'

  Ted interrupted her. 'Kickboxing would be no use against a man with a knife inside a car. He's used the knife before, he'll do it again. Go and see Inspector Turner, he has something for you. And I repeat, don't put yourself at any risk. That is not a suggestion. Take it as a direct order, DC Vine.'

  Jezza was his newest team member. When she had first joined, she would certainly have argued with him. This time she simply nodded, though still looking defiant, and muttered, 'Yes, boss.'

  'This is a very unusual case. Our man doesn't fit the normally perceived image for the joy-riding part of it. We all know that anyone can be a rapist, but joy-riding sporty cars is usually a younger person's crime. All three victims say our man is in his forties, ordinary-looking. They say you would take him for an average family man, if you passed him in the street. So we need to keep an entirely open mind towards suspects.

  'We have his fingerprints, his DNA, but nothing on record. And he doesn't try to hide his appearance from his victims. What does that tell us about him?'

  'Maybe he wants to get caught, boss,' DC Rob O'Connell put in. 'Maybe he knows he's seriously sick and in need of help, so he's actually hoping he gets identified and brought in, before things get any worse.'

  'That's another possibility,' Ted conceded. 'No doubt after the press conference we'll get the usual run of phone calls, people shopping neighbours they've always thought looked strange. So let's just hope that someone out there recognises the behaviour, if not the e-fit of the attacker, and gives us a lead we can run with.

  'Right, you all know what you have to do, let's get on with it. Let's try and stop this attacker before it gets any worse than it already is. And don't forget to let me have your thoughts about what we need to raise at tomorrow's press conference.'

  Ted's hours were never regular or predictable. His long-term partner, Trevor, knew the score of living with a copper and never made a fuss. It was getting late by the time Ted and Kevin had presented their ideas to the Ice Queen at the end of the day and Ted had driven home to park his elderly Renault in the garage, where Trev's Triumph Bonneville motorbike was already safely locked away.

  Trev was in the sitting room, sharing the sofa with their six cats, when Ted walked in. There were inviting smells wafting from the kitchen. Ted suddenly realised he was starving hungry and couldn't remember if he had actually eaten anything at lunchtime. He leaned over the back of the sofa to plant a kiss on Trev's cheek and stroke the head of each cat in turn.

  'You look tired,' Trev said, pushing cats aside so he could stand up and give Ted a warm hug of welcome. 'Supper's ready when you are. Hard day?'

  'Hard day, hard case and no further forward than we were last week. Can we eat now? If I sit down on the sofa I'll probably just fall asleep, and my belly thinks my throat's cut.'

  'Have you not eaten today?' Trev asked, his face concerned, as they went into the kitchen where the table was laid ready.

  'I think I forgot,' Ted said ruefully, as he washed his hands at the kitchen sink, then sat down while Trev took their supper out of the oven and dished up. Ted fell on his meal like someone ravenous, but after not many mouthfuls he put down his knife and fork and pushed his plate aside.

  'This is really delicious,
thank you, but I think I'm so tired I've gone beyond the point of eating. Would you mind if I just went up to bed?'

  Trev stood up and started to clear the table. 'I'll just put the dishes in to soak, then I'll come and join you.'

  Ted shook his head. 'No, really, don't let me spoil your evening. I just want to go to sleep. Stay and enjoy your supper, watch a film or something. I need to get some sleep if I'm going to be functioning at all for the press conference.'

  He kissed Trev lightly on the cheek and headed for the stairs. Trev sat back down with a sigh. It was never easy, living with a copper in the middle of a difficult case.

  Chapter Two

  Unusually, Ted didn't even stir when Trev and the cats came up to bed later. He appeared to be out for the count, so Trev simply slid quietly under the duvet next to him and left him to sleep.

  Not at all unusually, neither Trev nor the cats opened so much as an eye between them when Ted got up early the next morning to shower and dress, ready for work. As he munched wholemeal toast and drank green tea, Ted scribbled a brief note for Trev, telling him he would be late home and not to wait to eat with him.

  He headed for the hall to pick up his car keys, then turned back and added a brief apology and a kiss to the note. He knew he was lucky that his relationship with Trev was strong enough to withstand the demands of his job when so many other coppers' marriages did not. He promised himself he would make it up to his partner as soon as he had made some headway with the current case.

  The day's press conference was scheduled for mid-morning so that it would hopefully catch both the lunchtime and early evening local news slots. The Ice Queen wanted Ted to say a few words, as the officer in charge of the case, so had called a briefing with him and Kevin Turner. She was keen to go over what they would each say and which questions Ted would answer or which he would pass on to her to deal with.