Shut Up and Drive: DI Ted Darling Book 4

by L M Krier

  'Thanks, Philip, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this for me. I'm sorry to have troubled you with it and, well, you know, I'm sorry.' He broke off awkwardly.

  'Water under the bridge, Ted,' Philip replied, although there was the same sadness in his voice. 'I wish it wasn't so, but I accept that it is. You just enjoy your life with young Tony.'

  'Trevor,' Ted sighed quietly, as the other man rang off.

  Ted was in need of some cheering up after the call, so he headed down to find out if Kevin Turner was free to have his ear bent for a few minutes, under the guise of discussing the current joint enquiry.

  'Anything your end, Kev?' Ted asked him as he took a seat.

  'Sweet Fanny Adams,' he replied. 'We're still looking at every Sprinter van we see but nothing so far.'

  'I want to try talking to the victims again, just to see if they've thought of any more details. I wondered if I could borrow Susan Heap to go with me? I've found her very good in tricky circumstances before. I asked Jezza but she doesn't think it's her sort of thing and I don't like pushing people into something they're not comfortable with.'

  'I would have thought Jezza would frighten people, in the wrong mood,' Kevin laughed. 'She's certainly a feisty one. How's she settling into the team now?'

  'She's fine. She gives as good as she gets. It's me that's on the short fuse at the moment,' he admitted, and proceeded to tell Kevin what had been going on. He watched his eyebrows climb steadily higher up his forehead at what he heard.

  'Anger management issues? You, Ted? I would have thought the Dalai Lama would have needed that sort of help before you did. What's behind it all?'

  Ted shook his head and sighed. 'I wish I knew. I think I'm losing it. Whatever it is.'

  'Mid-life crisis?' Kevin asked. 'We've all been there. I'd offer to show you my tattoo, except it's somewhere a bit personal. The wife was furious. To make it even worse, I couldn't even remember getting it done, which shows you how drunk I must have been at the time! Pity you don't drink, you might find it would help.'

  'I'll just have to get in a few more hours kicking people,' Ted smiled, referring to his martial arts. 'That usually helps. My car's off the road at the moment, too. I'm hoping to pick it up tonight.'

  'Time you parted with that old relic, Ted, and got yourself something that doesn't need someone walking in front of it with a red flag. You'd be surprised at the development in cars these days. Some of them even have more than three gears,' Kevin mocked.

  'You can scoff, but the seats are comfortable,' Ted retorted.

  'Let me know if you need a lift anywhere in the meantime,' Kevin said more seriously. 'I can always try to find a car to pick you up, if necessary. At least, until the next round of cuts mean I'm reduced to sending officers out in response on bicycles.'

  The news of Ted's car was far worse than he had feared, and he had to take the bus home. When he got back and walked into the kitchen, Trev was preparing their meal.

  'I didn't hear the car. Was it not ready?' he asked.

  Ted slumped wearily down into a chair at the table, immediately assailed by cats vying for his attention and affection.

  'They did manage to get it to start, eventually, but it then failed everything it needed to pass for the MOT test so spectacularly I think their pen ran out filling it all in,' he said glumly. 'When I asked them what it would cost to get it up to standard to pass, they just laughed at me.'

  Trev gave him a sympathetic hug. 'So what are you going to do now?'

  'I'm having to buy a replacement. I asked them what they had that was cheap and comfortable. They've got a little Renault for two grand, at one of their other branches. They're going to get it brought over and service it for me. I can pick it up tomorrow evening.'

  'Another Renault? What model?' Trev asked, dishing up the meal.

  'A black one. Runs on diesel,' Ted grinned. He was about as interested in cars as he was in fashion.

  Ted managed about three mouthfuls of his supper before his mobile phone rang. It was Bill, from the station.

  'Sorry, Ted, but your man has finally done it, by the looks of things. Just getting reports of a fatality at a supermarket car park, a young woman in a car.'

  'Shit,' Ted said, swallowing his mouthful and putting down his knife and fork. 'I've got no transport at the moment, so I'll call Mike Hallam in. He lives nearest to me and he can pick me up on the way. We'll go straight there.'

  'There's more, too, I'm afraid,' Bill told him. 'Early reports say a witness has also been badly injured, but I don't have any more details for you at the moment.'

  'Double shit. Give me the address and I'll get there as soon as. Is everyone else on the way that needs to be?'

  'Got to go?' Trev asked, picking up Ted's plate and putting it in the oven to keep warm, as Ted got the details he needed.

  'Sorry,' Ted said. 'Looks like our attacker has finally killed someone. I've no idea what time I'll be back. My supper might be frazzled by then.'

  'D'you want me to make you a sandwich or something, to take with you?'

  Ted gave a wry smile. 'The only good thing to come out of this shout is that, being at a twenty-four hour supermarket, I can always grab a sandwich if I get hungry. Don't wait up.'

  With a parting kiss, he was already on his way out of the front door, on the phone to Mike Hallam, telling him he'd start out on foot and asking to be picked up on the way.

  As he set off at a brisk walk, he next phoned Rob O'Connell then Virgil Tibbs and asked them both to get there as soon as they could. He hadn't gone far before Mike's car purred up alongside him. Ted opened the door and got in beside his sergeant.

  'I don't have many details yet, just a fatality on the car park, and a witness injured. We'll know more when we get down there. Thanks for picking me up, Mike. My car is also a fatality. I'm hopefully getting another tomorrow.'

  'Well, that's good boss. What are you getting?'

  'It's black and it runs on diesel,' Ted told him. 'I'm about as knowledgeable on cars as I am on computers. As long as it starts, it will be an improvement on the old one.'

  There was a police car with flashing blue lights at the main entrance to the supermarket car park, one officer diverting traffic away, another rolling out the blue and white tape to cordon it off. Ted had his warrant card in his hand as he opened the window, although everyone in the station knew him by sight and he knew most of them by name.

  'Evening. Any update?' Ted asked.

  'Evening, sir. All I know at the moment is one fatality, one injured, possibly seriously. Fire crew and ambulance are still on the scene dealing with that one.'

  As they drove on, Ted felt in his coat pocket for the familiar comfort of his Fisherman's Friend lozenges. They usually got him through dealing with fatalities and the post-mortem examinations which followed them. He slid one out and put it into his mouth as a precaution. He didn't bother offering one to Mike, knowing he didn't share his taste for the menthol sweets.

  'Over there,' Ted said, rather redundantly, as Mike drove over to where they could see a fire appliance, an ambulance and another police car. They could see, too, that the scientific team had arrived and were setting up.

  Ted and Mike got out and went first to the car. There was a young woman, still in the driving seat, but clearly dead. The car seemed to have pulled out of its parking place straight into a line of trolleys being wheeled back towards their shelter.

  Ted made himself known to the senior fire officer on duty, whose men were working to free someone who appeared to be trapped between the car, the trolleys and the parked cars in the opposite row.

  'Person trapped works here. He was collecting trolleys. Eye witnesses are saying he seemed to have realised somehow that the woman in the car was in some sort of danger and was trying to manoeuvre the trolleys to stop her from driving away, for whatever reason. There was a man in the passenger seat but he jumped out and ran off. A doctor came with the ambulance crew. She said the woman driver was dead. Th
at's as much as I can tell you for now.'

  The doctor had clearly heard herself referred to and came over, introducing herself and shaking Ted's outstretched hand.

  'I'm afraid the driver was already dead when we got here. From the look of it, not as a result of the collision. From the quantity of blood, and its location, I'm imagining she was stabbed or possibly shot. I suppose that as she died, the car shot forward when her foot came off the clutch. Once I'd verified that she was dead, I turned my attention to the store employee who is seriously injured, but we've hopefully stabilised him. The fire crew are just working to free him.'

  A staid, large estate car was just arriving and parking close by. The senior pathologist got out and headed over to them. Professor Elizabeth 'Bizzie' Nelson had not been long in the post but she and Ted had already become friends. In public, they were always professionally formal.

  'Good evening, Inspector, what do you have for me?'

  Ted took her to the car and showed her, leaving her to make her initial findings on the victim. Rob O'Connell and Virgil Tibbs arrived just as the fire crew freed the injured person from behind the trolleys, and the paramedics were transferring him to the ambulance.

  Virgil glanced at the casualty as he went past and said, 'That's Nat, our witness from the Sorrento case. I hope he's going to pull through, he looks bad.'

  Chapter Ten

  Ted took control of the crime scene, put his team members on to gathering valuable witness names, then called the Ice Queen on her mobile to update her.

  'I'll see what extra officers I can summon up for you. I'm presuming dog teams would be helpful, if your man has not long left the scene?'

  'I'll take anything you can get us, ma'am. I also need Traffic to be on the look-out for white Sprinter vans in and around the area, just in case that is our man and he's trying to leave the location.'

  'Leave that to me. I think I can call in some favours from Traffic,' she said dryly. She was married to a Traffic inspector. 'How is the injured witness?'

  'No further details at the moment. He's being transferred to hospital. He didn't look good, from what I saw of him, but I don't know anything concrete. Professor Nelson is here, she'll let me know her preliminary findings shortly. At first glance it does look like death was due to a knife injury. The woman driver had already been dead too long for any resuscitation attempt by the time the ambulance got here.'

  Ted went in search of the supermarket duty manager who was hovering about, looking green at the gills. Whatever his training had prepared him for, a murder in his car park was not part of it.

  Ted approached him with his warrant card in his hand.

  'I'm Detective Inspector Darling, I'm taking charge of this enquiry, Mr …?'

  'Er, Dixon, Dave Dixon,' the man wiped a clammy hand on his trousers before offering it to be shaken. 'I'm trying to get hold of someone from head office. I'm not sure what I'm meant to do. Should I close the store?'

  'The main thing at the moment is to prevent panic, Mr Dixon. We can't let any more vehicles into the car park just at the moment, until we've secured the crime scene. We'll also be checking each car that's leaving, as we have a possible armed suspect to find. Other than that, you should try just to let people finish off their shopping and go home quietly.'

  'Armed?' the man asked in alarm. 'You mean someone with a gun?' He was looking wildly about him, as if he expected to be a target at any moment.

  'We don't think that firearms are involved, so please try not to panic. Can you begin by giving me details of the employee who has been injured?'

  'That's a terrible business. Is he going to be all right?'

  'I don't have any further details at the moment, Mr Dixon. Can you give me his name, please?'

  'It's Nat, Nathan. I can't remember his surname. I'm sorry. This has really shaken me up a bit. I've never encountered anything like this before.'

  'Why don't you go and check your files, then you can give me all the information? We're going to need it. And, Mr Dixon? It's cold out here and the officers will have to be outside for some time, talking to witnesses. Perhaps a member of your staff might be able to bring them some coffee? Maybe a few biscuits? That would be very welcome.'

  It was as much to give the man something to keep him busy as anything else. Ted could see he was in danger of losing it. He would be much better kept occupied.

  'Yes, yes, of course. I'm sorry, I should have thought of that. I'll get on to it straight away.'

  It was not long before a police dog van arrived. The Ice Queen had been true to her word. Ted was always a little wary around big dogs. Not being all that tall himself, the German and Belgian Shepherds the police mostly used looked huge to him and always seemed to sense his nervousness. He knew they were highly trained and perfectly safe, but the one that leapt out of the van now and came up to sniff at him seemed enormous.

  'Evening, guv, what have you got for us?' the handler asked him.

  'I don't know if you can help us. We've nothing belonging to the suspect, but he was briefly sitting in the passenger seat of the car and he legged it when the crash happened.'

  'Don't worry, if there's any trace at all, Diesel will find it. He's the best. Aren't you, boy? Now come on, leave this nice inspector alone and let's get to work.'

  The dog seemed to Ted to give him a scornful look. He half expected it to cock its leg and pee on his trousers. But it moved obediently away, started sniffing in the car then, with a small yelp of excitement, put its nose down and set off across the car park, the handler jogging in its wake.

  Ted turned and walked back to the car, where Professor Nelson was just finishing up.

  'So very sad, Edwin,' she said. She was the only person who called Ted by his full name, except for Trev, on occasion, in a joking way. She only did it out of earshot of other officers. 'She looks young, no more than mid-twenties, I would say. We've finished with her, so she can be taken away whenever you like now.

  'From what I've seen so far, it looks like a single stab wound from the left hand side, but of course, I'll know more when I do the post-mortem. I'm assuming you want something as soon as possible? If so, I could fit your lady in first thing in the morning? We're fairly quiet, and I could reshuffle my list?'

  'Thanks, Bizzie, that would help. We're no doubt going to have to call another press conference on this, another plea for the public's help. So the more information you can give me, the better. What time?'

  'You know me, I don't need much sleep so I'll be in early to start off. What about if you joined me somewhere around seven? Would that be all right for you?'

  She'd taken her gloves off, and she shook Ted's hand as she spoke.

  'I appreciate it, Bizzie, I'll see you then.' Ted was equally informal when there was no one close enough to hear.

  As she walked off back to her car, Ted realised he had no transport for the morning. He'd just have to get up a bit earlier and walk down, then take a bus from the hospital to the station. He hoped the garage would have his replacement car ready for the evening. He needed to be independently mobile.

  Two young women in the supermarket's uniform had appeared with trays of drinks and plates of biscuits. Their eyes were out on stalks as they moved round the car park handing them out to the police officers and to the Scene of Crime Officers who were still there. It was just as well screening had gone up swiftly round the car. Ted wouldn't have wanted them catching sight of the young woman's body which was still awaiting collection. The coffee was not bad and brought welcome warmth. It was decidedly cold and damp to be working outside.

  The dog handler arrived back before long and came over to find Ted, the dog once more sniffing round his legs. Ted hoped it was the inevitable smell of cats on his clothing which was capturing the big brute's interest, and that it wasn't eyeing up his leg for a snack.

  'I think your man either had an accomplice who picked him up, guv, or he jumped on a bus. Diesel lost interest down by the main road, and there was a bus stop th
ere.'

  'Which service? What number buses stop there?' Ted asked.

  'Didn't look, guv, not our remit,' the handler replied, off-handedly.

  'Well, can you get back there and check?' Ted asked impatiently. 'It would be valuable information for us.'

  The man shook his head firmly. 'No can do, guv. Diesel's got another shout. A missing kiddy on the other side of town and that takes priority. Sorry. Here's my card. Get one of your team to call me in the morning and I'll give them a detailed report of where we searched. But for now, your man's had it away on his toes, for sure. 'Night, guv,' he said, as he and the dog headed off back to the van.

  Ted resisted the impulse to kick the tyres of the nearest vehicle. It was alarming how angry he kept getting, with each frustration he encountered.

  It was getting late before Ted could stand most of the team down. They had initial witness statements from anyone who had seen anything, and contact details of others to follow up further the next day.

  A couple of Sprinter vans had been stopped and searched in the area, with no results. He'd asked for two officers from Uniform to stay at the scene. With the supermarket usually open twenty-four hours, he didn't want people turning up and disturbing a crime scene. The manager had finally heard from his head office and been told to close the store exceptionally until morning, with notices posted to explain that there had been an incident.

  There was no sign of Trev or the cats when Mike dropped a weary Ted off at his home. His supper was sitting on the table with a note: 'I rescued it from frazzling. Just whiz it in the micro if you want it hotting up,' followed by a row of kisses, which made him smile. He was too tired to eat, though. The events of the evening had rather taken away his appetite.

  He took a quick shower to thaw himself out. The cold and damp seemed to have got into his bones and he felt chilled through. Then he went into the bedroom, lifted the duvet, picked up Trev's arm, which was draped across his side, and slid in as quietly as he could, so as not to disturb him.