Kate held her hands out deflecting the barrage of questions that she knew she was facing by revealing Dan’s secret. ‘He’s always known. She’s made contact with him again recently and she’s been threatening to tell me, and anybody else who’ll listen, exactly who she is. Dan didn’t want the embarrassment but he didn’t know what to do. She’s totally messed up his head and she’s been telling him all sorts about who his dad might be. Including one allegation that’s proven to be false.’
‘Not being funny,’ O’Connor said, his sardonic smirk contrasting with his words. ‘But how do we know that Hollis didn’t do away with her? If she was blackmailing him.’
Kate glared at the DS and Cooper turned round and did the same. ‘This is Dan we’re talking about,’ she said, her face reddening with fury. ‘He’s one of us. How could you even think that?’
O’Connor wasn’t going to budge. ‘I can think that because I’m a copper and it’s my job. Just like it’s yours, Cooper. He had a motive. It needs to be considered regardless of who he is.’
Cooper turned back to Kate. ‘Is that why he’s not here? Is he a suspect?’
‘He’s on leave until the investigation into Suzanne’s death is completed,’ Kate said. ‘Raymond and I interviewed him this morning and he’s given a preliminary statement.’ This wasn’t quite true but Hollis had denied murdering his mother and there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.
‘Does he know about his dad? His adoptive dad, I mean, and the footage?’ Barratt wanted to know.
Kate shook her head. ‘I couldn’t tell him. It would have gone against protocol.’
Cooper looked mutinous. ‘But he needs to know. If he was a mess before then Christ knows what this’ll do to him. You have to tell him.’
‘And I will,’ Kate said. ‘As soon as the arrest is made I’ll ring Dan myself.’ She’d already promised herself that Hollis would hear the news of his father’s arrest from her. There wasn’t much she could do for him at the moment but her sense of loyalty and decency wouldn’t let him hear it from anybody else.
‘I know this has been a shock but we can’t let ourselves get distracted. We’ve got a suspect for Suzanne Doherty and we need to get on with the other two murders.’ She glanced at the photographs of Melissa and Chloe stuck to the whiteboard at the front of the room. ‘We know it’s Matthias. Sarah Armstrong corroborates our suspicions but we haven’t got enough to arrest him. Sam, you were scouring the PND, what have you got?’
‘Two possibles,’ Cooper said, all business again after her outburst. ‘Both from Staffordshire Police.’
‘How possible?’
‘One’s an attempted strangulation with some kicking to the abdomen. The woman claims that she didn’t know her attacker but that he threatened her with something that looked like a scalpel. The other is a rape and strangulation – no evidence of semen or lubricant. The assumption was that an object was used but the victim contests this.’
Nothing exactly like either Sarah, Melissa or Chloe but Kate could see the similarities in both cases. She knew that she’d never have managed to dig them up on her own but Cooper’s knack with data might have paid off yet again.
‘We need to speak to both women and see if the picture of Matthias jogs either of their memories.’
She waited for somebody to volunteer but the lack of enthusiasm was obvious.
‘Something wrong?’
Barratt shook his head, O’Connor looked away and Cooper blushed. They’d obviously got more to say. ‘We’ve been talking about Sarah Armstrong,’ Barratt admitted. ‘She knew her attacker and won’t testify against him. If either of these women can identify Matthias there’s still no guarantee that either of them will be prepared to make a statement. He’s obviously got a way of manipulating and terrifying his victims. We need something more concrete.’
Kate struggled against a sudden flare of irritation. ‘Do you think I don’t know that? Any one of these cases might give us cause to apply for a warrant to Matthias’s house. If we can get access we might turn up some forensic evidence to tie him to Melissa or Chloe’s murders. There might be something on his PC, his phone, who knows?’
Even as she spoke, Kate could hear how desperate she sounded. They were right. Even with fingerprints from the umbrella from Madrigal’s and DNA from Chloe’s body their chances of a successful prosecution were 50/50 at best. Sarah Armstrong’s testimony would only ensure that he was charged with her attack and, after such a long time, and bearing in mind Sarah’s reluctance to talk, even if she did speak out, a good lawyer might accuse her of some sort of malicious intent. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘You’ve obviously been cooking something up between you. Care to share it with me?’
Cooper flashed Barratt a wary look which told Kate that whatever they had planned she wasn’t going to like it. Just as Barratt was about to speak Kate’s phone rang. An unknown number. She held up one finger to hush the DC and hit accept on the phone’s screen.
‘Fletcher.’
‘DI Neale, Derbyshire Police.’
It was the call that she’d been waiting for about Hollis’s father.
‘Have you got him?’ she asked. A pause on the other end of the line told her that the news wasn’t good.
‘Sorry. No. I went round to the house myself an hour ago. Hollis isn’t there and his wife’s missing as well. I’ve checked both their places of work and no sign of them. One of the neighbours told my DS that he thinks they might have gone away on holiday as he saw Hollis packing a suitcase into his car the day before yesterday. That’s it. I’m sorry.’
Kate hung up, mind racing. What the hell was going on?
Chapter 40
‘So, what’s your plan?’ Kate asked, trying to switch focus back to Cooper and Barratt. She’d think about Joseph Hollis when she’d finished with her team and, hopefully, found a way to move forward with Matthias.
‘We think that Melissa Buckley had an off-the-books appointment with him on the day she went missing,’ Barratt began. ‘Her car wasn’t far from his house and her body was left pretty close as well.’
‘Which suggests it might not have been him,’ O’Connor argued. ‘Who’d dump a body on their own doorstep?’
‘He might have been panicking. He might not have known about her car. There are any number of reasons,’ Barratt responded with a scowl. ‘He might just be that arrogant.’
Kate sensed his animosity towards the DS and made a mental note to have a chat with them both. It wasn’t the first time they’d butted heads and it certainly wasn’t conducive to a productive relationship.
‘Anyway,’ Barratt continued. ‘Matthias gave Sam a personal number and offered her an out-of-hours appointment. If we can get Sam into his house and monitor their conversation she might see something or get him to slip up.’
‘Or he might strangle and rape her before we can get to him,’ O’Connor added.
Barratt shook his head. ‘Not if we’re careful. If we give Sam a script, maybe run it past Kate’s psychologist friend first to check for potential triggers. And we’ll be listening. If he makes a move somebody can be there in seconds if there’s a surveillance team in position.’
Kate thought about it. They needed access to Matthias’s house. If somebody could get in even to form a general impression it might help. There were always ways to get access to other rooms – ask for a drink, use the bathroom – but it was seriously risky. And expensive.
‘I don’t think so,’ she said. Cooper’s face fell but Kate was sure there was some relief mixed in with the disappointment. ‘It’s too risky and I can’t see Raymond signing off on an expensive surveillance operation.’
‘Hang on,’ Barratt said. ‘If Sam knows exactly what to say and her every word is being monitored, where’s the harm? We could do it low budget; a van with a couple of undercover officers – dress them up in high-vis and set up a few cones around a manhole. I’ll sit in the van and listen. I just think it’s our best chance to engage with him. You said yo
urself that any evidence we’ve got could be explained away by a good defence lawyer. The only thing that might get us a warrant is if that woman in Northumberland changes her mind but I can’t see her doing that after four years. What have we got to lose?’
‘Cooper,’ Kate said. ‘That’s what we’ve got to lose.’
‘But if I’m willing to give it a go?’ Cooper said. ‘Surely it’s worth a try. Especially if I have a script.’
Kate tried not to imagine what could happen. What if Matthias realised that Sam had a concealed mic? What if he attacked her and they couldn’t get there quickly enough? Kate knew from first-hand experience what it felt like to be at the mercy of a violent attacker, the adrenaline fighting with the feelings of hopelessness, and she wouldn’t wish that on any of her colleagues. But Sam Cooper had experience. She’d been instrumental in helping apprehend one of the cleverest killers that Kate had ever encountered, and she’d probably saved Kate’s life on a dark canal bank earlier in the year.
‘I still think it’s risky,’ she said.
‘So we minimise the risk,’ Cooper responded. ‘I’m not stupid. I’m capable of recognising potential danger and getting myself out of the house if I need to.’
‘Unless he’s got his hands round your throat,’ O’Connor chipped in.
A tense silence blanketed the incident room. Every instinct Kate possessed told her that this was a bad idea, but they had nothing else. If Matthias wasn’t stopped he’d kill again, Kate had no doubt about that at all.
‘I’ll run it past the DCI,’ Kate said, eventually. ‘If he says yes then you can set up an appointment and we’ll work out the logistics. But safety is paramount, Sam. If we go ahead with this, we need to make sure that we look after you.’
Cooper and Barratt looked at each other again.
‘What?’ Kate snapped. ‘What am I missing?’
‘She’s already got an appointment for Saturday,’ Barratt admitted. ‘We thought we might as well set it up in case you gave us the go-ahead. Nothing to stop her cancelling, though.’
At least Cooper had the good grace to look embarrassed as Kate glared at her. ‘I think you’d better be prepared to make that cancellation,’ she said. ‘Steve, we need a bit of light relief. How are you doing with your interviews with our local working girls?’
‘Not great. Nobody remembers seeing Suzanne Doherty in the window we’ve been given for time of death. Maybe when the doc narrows it down I can jog some memories. To be honest a lot of the girls are a bit reluctant to talk. You remember I said that there seems to be a bit of a power struggle going on? One of them suggested that there’s a new face around, possibly a pimp, and whoever he is he’s angling for a bit of poaching. Two girls admitted that they’d been approached by another woman about better pay and safety but they weren’t interested. Too scared, probably.’
Kate was only half listening. O’Connor liked to show off his extensive knowledge of the seedier side of the area but, mostly, she found it quite dull. She wasn’t especially interested in the pissing contests of the local pimps unless it directly related to a case – and she couldn’t see a connection here. She was already planning her remaining tasks for the day. And number one was to speak to Dan Hollis about his father.
Hollis answered on the fifth ring and he sounded almost disappointed that it was Kate. She asked about his day but they’d never really done polite small talk and he was obviously suspicious.
‘Can we get on with whatever it is?’ he asked, half question, half demand.
Kate had tried to work out the best way to approach the issue of Hollis’s father and had decided that, out of respect for her friend and colleague, she needed to be direct. ‘Dan, have you heard from your dad?’
‘No. Why?’ His response sounded natural, genuine. And curious.
‘I’ve got some news and I wanted you to hear it from me.’ Kate outlined what Barratt and Cooper had found out from the CCTV footage and explained that Hollis senior had since disappeared. ‘We need to find him, Dan. He may have seen or heard something that’ll help us to find out who killed Suzanne.’
As Kate had expected, Dan saw straight through her clumsy explanation. ‘You need to question him, you mean. He might be the last person who saw her alive and he had a reason to want her dead. I don’t know where he is but, if I did, I honestly don’t know if I’d tell you. You don’t know him Kate. There’s no way he’s a murderer.’
Most people said that when faced with the crimes of their loved ones. ‘He couldn’t have done it.’ ‘She’s not like that.’ But eight times out of ten he or she was guilty and the family were left devastated. Kate hoped for Dan’s sake that his father was one of the two out of ten.
‘Dan, I know you need to believe in him but if there’s anything you can tell me that might help then you know it’s the right thing to do.’
Silence at the other end of the line.
‘Dan? You know you can’t help him by staying quiet. If you know of anywhere they might have gone…’
‘They?’
‘Your mum’s missing as well.’
‘So, how do you know they’ve not just gone away for a few days?’
‘Come on, Dan, look at the timing.’
He sighed heavily like a gale blowing through the phone’s earpiece. ‘I don’t know where they might be but I’ll have a think and let you know.’
He sounded despondent, broken, and Kate wondered what, if anything, she would be able to do to help put him back together when this was over. She just hoped that they could find a way through and that he’d return to being the talented police officer that she knew.
Hollis hung up and Kate put her phone away. Time to talk to Raymond about Barratt and Cooper’s idea.
Chapter 41
Kate watched as a high-vis-clad detective sergeant placed a rectangle of cones around an open service hatch in the pavement. The day was fine and sunny – the bright yellow of his jacket almost painful to look at even through the tinted rear window of the van. The inside of the Transit was kitted out with electronic equipment and felt claustrophobic in the growing heat. The stuffiness wasn’t helped by the close proximity of Barratt and a techie called Irving. Kate had never met him before but Barratt claimed to know him from training college and they’d greeted each other like old friends as they’d piled into the back of the van like teenage festival goers eager for their first joint.
Irving had been keen to explain the key elements of the surveillance equipment as soon as Kate appeared, talking her through the switches and speakers like a parent showing off their favourite child. His tousled red hair and sandy beard added to the nutty professor persona and Kate found herself warming to him despite his over use of the word ‘cool’.
Cooper had been fitted with a microphone taped between her breasts and mostly hidden by her bra. It was wired to a tiny battery pack that fitted discretely in the waistband of her jeans. Kate had supervised the fitting much to the embarrassment of both herself and Sam and the hilarity of Barratt and O’Connor.
Raymond had lurked in the background, scowling and muttering. He wasn’t happy with the idea of sending Cooper off like prey but, like Kate, he was completely out of ideas. He’d agreed to a low-budget operation but he’d also insisted on checking each element himself to ensure the safety of his officers.
Kate had spent the previous evening with Sam and her partner, Abbie, briefing the former and reassuring the latter. They’d produced a script and Anna had obligingly checked it over, after promises of alcohol from Kate and a tentative plan to meet up before the end of the summer. It was fairly straightforward. Sam was to play the disgruntled wife, desperate for a child while her ‘husband’ didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm. They’d given her a bit more backstory and painted Barratt very much as the villain in Sam’s eyes.
With Abbie playing Matthias, Kate had directed Sam through the script, preparing her for questions and suggestions that a therapist might offer. She made sure that she steered Sam c
lear of anything that Anna had suggested might provoke Matthias, particularly any suggestion that Sam blamed her ‘husband’ for his inability to provide her with a child. Kate had looked up anejaculation on the internet, after various searches based on Sarah Armstrong’s explanation of Matthias’s condition. It fit exactly with Kailisa’s assessment of the rapes of Melissa and Chloe – the lack of semen or lubricant – if the killer couldn’t ejaculate there was no chance that his DNA would be found and no need for a condom.
Now, hunched in the back of a van that was increasingly feeling like an oven on low temperature, Kate worried that all their preparations might not have been enough. And, if that was the case and Matthias attacked Cooper, she prayed that the two men pretending to be inspecting the gas pipes were up to the task of protecting her.
‘She’s just approaching the house,’ Barratt whispered. The van’s side mirror had been fitted with a rear-facing camera and Kate watched as Sam strolled down the street, appearing to check the numbers on doors and gates as she passed. They’d spent a long time deciding what Cooper should wear and finally settled on skinny jeans and a pale green blouse which was slightly more feminine than her usual style. She couldn’t wear anything too revealing as she needed to hide the microphone with its wires and battery, so the blouse was perfect. The other problem was Sam’s hair. Her short, blonde pixie cut exposed her ears, which meant that she couldn’t wear an earpiece. She’d be able to communicate with Kate’s team but they wouldn’t be able to give her advice or instruction. To overcome this problem they’d devised a code. Kate would ring Sam’s mobile and cut off after two rings if there was any hint of danger in anything that Matthias said to her.
Sam stopped in front of Matthias’s wrought-iron front gate and checked the number against a piece of paper she’d taken out of her back pocket. Seemingly satisfied that she was in the right place, she pushed open the gate and approached the front door.
The Kate Fletcher Series Page 75
