The Freeman Files Series Box Set

by Ted Tayler

  “Charles died in 2004,” said Maggie.

  “I suspect there’s more,” said Gus.

  “When he divorced his wife, she married again almost at once Elizabeth was forty. She and Charles had never had children. Within months she gave birth to a son. Charles was never sure whether he was the father, or if Elizabeth had been having an affair. We didn’t sleep together until after his divorce. Charles thought it rich for Elizabeth to be committing adultery throughout while he had only been guilty of loving his secretary for five years and not acting on it.”

  “I’m sure we’ll get to the relevant part soon,” said Gus.

  “Elizabeth’s second husband’s name was…”

  “Hewson,” said Gus.

  “Oh, I thought that would come as a surprise. How did you know?”

  “Ian Hewson was Laura’s boyfriend. He played football with the Bristol City Academy Under-23’s. After he and Laura split, he transferred to a Midlands club. We have been trying to locate him for ages until today.”

  “Ian came here,” said Maggie, “he was angry. He had proof Charles was his father. He blamed me for the divorce. I robbed him of the inheritance that should have passed to his mother.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “Early in 2011,”

  “How did he gain access to the estate?”

  “The builders were here, seeing to the last of the teething problems.”

  “If I showed you a photograph, would you be able to say whether it was one of those builders?”

  “Perhaps, they were only here for three days.”

  Gus searched for the image caught by their CCTV of Ryan Black.

  “Do you remember this man?”

  “No, he wasn’t here then. He worked for the firm that built the estate.”

  “A different firm did the repairs, then?”

  “No, the same firm, but most of their workers were on another site. The foreman phoned for someone to drive up from Bristol for three days of work.”

  Gus described Gary Mallinder to her.

  “That’s him, lots of muscles and tattoos. Didn’t like the look of him one bit.”

  “I reckon we’ve got everything we need from you, at last, Mrs Monk.”

  “I hope so. My neighbour came around yesterday. She’s got her place up for sale. She was worried that seeing the police here so often deterred people.”

  “You weren’t shocked to learn about Hewson, guv,” said Alex, when they returned to the car.

  “I hadn’t got a clue, Alex. I kept wondering why people thought we hadn’t asked something they expected. Ryan Black believed Gary only wanted to surprise his sister. He didn’t think he meant her any harm. When the police discounted her close family from being involved in her murder, that reinforced Black’s belief that it was someone else. So, he didn’t come forward.”

  “When Maggie Monk seemed to have something to add and revealed the details of her late husband’s extended family, it fell into place.”

  “Something like that. Let me ask you this. Is Hewson our killer?”

  “Hewson denied knowing what Laura did for a living. He denied ever visiting Swindon for a night out at first, but he caved in after you kept the pressure on him. He admits to being in town with Gary in 2010, and he was in the room with Laura minutes before she died. Do we have enough for a search warrant?”

  “What could we hope to find,” asked Gus. “A murder weapon after seven years? I don’t think so.”

  “So, we have to add Maggie Monk’s information to what we have and tackle Hewson again? It has to be him.”

  Once they reached the CRT office, Gus trawled through the Freeman Files. He was searching for that impression he had formed of the building in Broadgreen. There it was. The nail bar and barber’s shop looked bright and shiny, but the building itself was crumbling. Gus read Neil’s latest updates; he was almost there.

  “I want to apply pressure on this Ahmet Tekin. He must have withheld information. Tekin was on the premises that evening. Gosling heard him singing and whistling at eight o’clock. Maggie Monk said everywhere was dead quiet when she arrived and walked indoors at twenty to ten. When did he start his work? When did he leave?”

  “Shall we drive to Swindon to talk to him this afternoon, guv?” asked Alex.

  “He’ll be upstairs in his refurbished shop for a few hours yet. Tell you what. Call Theo Hickerton. Find out if he and Jake Latimer are available. I want to see their faces when we expose such a blatant error. How could they not even ask him if he visited the premises between closing time on Saturday and Monday morning? They must have had people working at the parlour when Tekin arrived to open his shop. He was annoyed at being unable to serve his customers. Did he show any signs of being upset to learn of the death of a young woman who worked on his doorstep? A woman he had asked out.”

  “They didn’t know Tekin fancied Laura and asked her to go out with him, guv,” said Alex.

  “Tekin bought her flowers after she’d rejected him. Laura continued to be friendly towards him. She wasn’t angry with him,” said Neil.

  “Tell DI Hickerton to meet us in Broadgreen,” said Gus, “if they don’t know which questions to ask, we’ll give them a list.”

  “Who do you want with you this afternoon, guv?” asked Neil.

  “You get on well with Latimer. Perhaps it would be better if you came. No offence, Alex.”

  “That’s okay, guv. The stairs would be an issue.”

  Neil drove to Swindon. As they approached the street where Laura’s murder had occurred seven years ago, Neil remembered his red-light tour with Jake.

  “Jake told me the history surrounding the red-light district when we did the tour, guv. Manchester Road, where we are now was the centre for years. For a while, the street girls had disappeared. Jake said it was on the increase again. There are at least two mosques in the area. Add in the massage parlours, and Tekin had plenty to complain about if he was a devout Muslim.”

  Hickerton and Latimer sat in his Kuga on the opposite side of the road from Tekin’s business. Neil parked behind them.

  “Nothing like being discreet, is there?” said Gus, “I wonder how long they’ve been here?”

  Gus and Neil walked forward. Gus tapped on the passenger window.

  “Everybody ready?” he asked.

  “Hop in the back for a minute,” said Theo. “Explain to me again why you’ve dragged us out here.”

  Gus made Neil walk around to the driver’s side door. Gus clambered into the back seat; the lack of legroom annoyed him.

  “It’s quite straightforward,” he said, “seven years ago, you two screwed up. Nobody asked Ahmet Tekin what he was doing on the night of Laura Mallinder’s murder.”

  “Who?” asked Theo.

  “The Turkish barber, guv,” said Jake.

  “Well, he closes at half-past five on a Saturday. He never came back until Monday morning to open at nine.”

  “Tekin was in the shop, working. A regular customer heard him singing and whistling when they left at eight. It might help our enquiries if you ask him why he was there. When did he arrive? When did he leave? Did he overhear the argument between Laura and her former boyfriend?”

  “Anything else? Do you want to know if he can fit you in for a trim before he shuts?”

  “No, but you could ask him if he had a key for the massage parlour.”

  Neil glanced at his boss. What was he driving at this time?

  “Where will you be while we're interviewing this guy?” asked Jake.

  “We’ll let you two get things started. You understand algorithms, don’t you? If you get answers that allow us to continue interrogating Ian Hewson until he admits he killed Laura, then we can crack on with that.”

  “What if we don’t get the right answers?” asked Theo.

  “We’ll ask him different questions. Neil and I will wait at the bottom of the stairs to keep the nail technicians occupied.”

  The four men crossed the
street. DI Hickerton and DS Latimer announced their arrival, waving warrant cards and asking for the owner. There were four young female technicians, three of whom dealt with customers. An older lady, clad in a lilac blouse and a black pencil skirt, the same uniform as her assistants, checked their ID and pointed upstairs.

  Gus and Neil stayed in the nail bar.

  “Please,” said the manageress, “we don’t want any trouble.”

  “The detectives are here to speak with Mr Tekin. It won’t take long. Are you related to Mr Tekin?”

  The lady shook her head.

  “He’s not married; I take it?” asked Gus.

  Another shake of the head.

  Neil heard raised voices.

  Three men came downstairs; they weren’t happy. Hickerton must have told them to leave.

  The first two had been waiting their turn. A sign on the door said appointments weren’t always necessary. The third man’s hair looked lop-sided. He must have been in the chair.

  “We apologise for the inconvenience,” said Gus, “but this is part of a murder enquiry.”

  Neil expected them to hang around waiting for Tekin to become available, but they shot through the door and walked away.

  Theo Hickerton had started to question Ahmet Tekin.

  “What time did you arrive here the evening Laura Mallinder died?”

  “A quarter to eight.”

  “Why did you need to come?”

  “There was such a mess. I couldn’t start on Monday morning if I didn’t get it clean.”

  “What time did you leave?”

  “I was here for forty-five minutes.”

  “Hang on,” said Jake Latimer, “the Thai girl, Camille left then. Did you see her?”

  Tekin shook his head.

  “Did you see anyone else arriving as you left?”

  “I saw nothing. I heard nothing.”

  “Did you have a key for the massage parlour?”

  “Why ask that?”

  “It’s something we need to know,” said Hickerton, not knowing why it mattered. He was bored; this was a waste of time.

  “Come on,” he said, raising his voice, “did you have a key for the massage parlour, or not?”

  “Watch it, guv,” yelled Jake, “he’s got a knife.”

  Neil sprang up the stairs two at a time.

  Jake Latimer had rugby-tackled Tekin to the floor. Theo Hickerton sat on the floor, leaning against a barber’s chair. A metal object was sticking out of his chest.

  “Guv, call for an ambulance,” Neil shouted, “the DI’s been stabbed.”

  Gus pulled his phone from his trouser pocket and made the call.

  His instinct had proved right yet again. Tekin wasn’t happy being asked about the key.

  Gus walked up the stairs to join Neil.

  “Have you cautioned him, Jake?” he asked. The DS nodded.

  “Record this conversation on your phone. As my old teacher used to say. Read, mark and inwardly digest,”

  “Why did you have a key, Mr Tekin?” he asked.

  “The building is old; it has many faults. They were always using the washing machine, day after day. It was old. It leaked. The water gathered in the ceiling space, and the tiles gave way; my shop got flooded. Mrs Monk came to see me; she inspected the damage. When her back turned, I used a bar of soap to take an impression of the Yale key. I had a copy made. She didn’t do a thing to stop it from happening again.”

  “When did this take place?”

  “A year before my Gem died. I wanted to check the pipework was secure. I went in when there was nobody there.”

  “So, let’s recap,” said Gus, “Gem came to work here in 2006. You took over from a record shop owner around eighteen months later. Gem walked by your shop several times a week for over three years. She was stunning, a pleasant girl; you fancied her. You asked her out more than once, but she declined your offer. Does that sound right?”

  “Gem was beautiful. She was too good to be working there,”

  “When did you meet her brother?”

  Tekin strained against his handcuffs. He was becoming agitated.

  “Gary came here a year before her death, didn’t he? Gary saw his sister arrive to start work. He was with a mate, Ian Hewson; they had been to a football match. The stadium is a ten-minute walk away. Although your signs say you close at five-thirty, you don’t turn trade away. You switch the sign in the window to ‘closed’ and lock the door. Those men waiting take their turn, and you finish at six o’clock, even later. Am I right?”

  “Yes. So, what?”

  “You had ample time to listen to their conversation. Gary had just learned where his sister worked. Hewson watched a girl enter a massage parlour without a care in the world. A girl he wanted to marry. How did the things they said make you feel?”

  Neil heard a siren in the distance. Just as well that wound was high on Hickerton’s chest. Anywhere vital and he could have bled out before help arrived. The DI was ashen-faced, and it was safest not to move him. Jake knelt beside him, keeping him as comfortable as possible.

  Neil dashed downstairs to show in the paramedics. He found the nail bar empty. Both the staff and the customers had fled.

  Upstairs, Gus had asked Tekin again about the conversation between Hewson and Mallinder.

  “The one with tattoos was angry, but he kept it hidden. The other one wanted to do something to stop Laura from working there.”

  “A year later, that man returned, didn’t he? You saw him arrive in his flash car and go inside.”

  “I heard them arguing. There was so much noise. The washing machine was spinning like crazy. The ceiling tiles were loose. Water seeped through again. My Gem yelled at him. She enjoyed giving pleasure to the men she saw. She never wanted to settle down and raise a family. I was angry. I heard the door slam. The man left.”

  “You left your shop and let yourself into the parlour. What did Gem say when she realised it was you?”

  “She was crying. Her ex-boyfriend had trashed the room. There was glass everywhere. I put my arms around her, told her I loved her. I would look after her. Nobody would ever abuse her again.”

  The ambulance crew helped Theo Hickerton downstairs to the waiting ambulance.

  Jake stayed behind. Neil sat on the barber’s chair.

  “How did she respond?” asked Gus.

  “She laughed at me,” said Tekin.

  “Where did you get the knife? Did you take it with you?

  Tekin indicated with his head towards the staircase.

  “Are you saying that was the knife you used? The one in DI Hickerton’s chest?”

  Tekin nodded.

  “It’s not a knife. It’s half of a pair of scissors. I carry it with me always.”

  “Would you do the honours, Jake?” asked Gus, “in the absence of your boss?”

  Gus walked away as DS Latimer charged Ahmet Tekin with the murder of Laura Mallinder.

  “Bloody hell,” said Neil, “I was convinced Hewson did it.”

  “So was I for a while, Neil. I just had an inkling. Why was Ahmet in the shop out of hours? I remembered the poor state of the building, and then Hewson told us they had a haircut, went for a meal. They stood across the road from Tekin’s place. It made sense they came here. Both men were angry and upset; they talked. Barbers are famed for listening, Tekin stored away what he heard. The flooding that occurred last year was on the verge of being repeated. It just needed one more thing to produce the final straw. Then he saw Hewson go upstairs. Tekin thought he was the white knight riding to the fair damsel’s rescue. She laughed at him. Everything we know of Laura suggests that laugh held no malice. Yet Tekin lashed out with that makeshift weapon. The red mist descended. He struck her time and time again.”

  “What do we do now, guv?” asked Neil.

  “Get back to the office, Tidy up the Freeman Files for this case and then wait for what the future brings.”

  EPILOGUE

  Wednesday, 9th
May 2018

  Gus had spent the day at London Road HQ. His meetings with Geoff Mercer and the ACC were more pleasant than in the recent past. Geoff was over the moon. Kenneth Truelove had a new folder relating to the 2004 murder of a scientist. He had been shot at close range with a sawn-off shotgun. The ACC told Gus to put his feet up for the rest of the week. Monday morning would soon enough to get their new investigation started.

  Sandra Plunkett didn’t show her face. Vera Jennings and Kassie Trotter supplied tea and cakes as usual.

  Everything was fine, for now.

  Gus drove home to an empty bungalow. Time to catch up with those vegetables of his. He visited the allotment. He noticed someone working on Frank North’s old patch.

  “Good evening,” he said. The woman straightened up and faced him.

  “Hello, I’ve seen you somewhere before, haven’t I?” said Clemency Benham.

  “Yes, you were the celebrant at Frank’s funeral,”

  “I made a mess of that, didn’t I?” laughed Ms Benham.

  “They’ll get over it. Bert Penman not around this evening?”

  “He was here earlier, but I don’t think he wants to get too familiar. Bert said he'd see me when the time comes.”

  “He takes the same approach with the local doctor.”

  As Gus and his new neighbour passed the time of day, Ricky Gardiner sat in the Lamb. He placed his gin and tonic on a table near the bar and made a phone call.

  “Dominic? Ricky here; the bugger has done it again. Another case solved. Well, decide what you want to do next and give me a call.”

  You have just finished reading ‘Pressure Point.’

  The third book in the series featuring ‘The Freeman Files’.