Dead Jealous

by Helen H. Durrant

  “Only what we’d been thinking. Who had she upset? Her family? Her boyfriend, Ricky?”

  “Her only family is her mother, and I doubt she killed her. But Ricky? What do you think?”

  “I don’t know what I think anymore. I plan to have a talk with the Chadwicks this morning. Once I’ve got that done and dusted I’ll speak to Roly, that homeless bloke. We could tackle Ricky together perhaps. After lunch?”

  Calladine nodded. “Do we know who owned Beardsell Terrace yet?”

  “Nigel left a note on your desk. Apparently he won’t be in today. He’s off for a visit to his new station.”

  Calladine went to his office. Nigel had left him a list of everyone who had rented the property during the last twenty years. No one stood out. There were no familiar names, no one linked to the case. The owner for the five years after Jessica disappeared was a man called Bob Seward, a property developer from Halifax. He’d had the house done up, then rented it out. Calladine would get Rocco to ring him.

  That house had to be significant in some way. Otherwise why put her there, and take so much trouble over it?

  He couldn’t get over the fact that Josie and Hopwood had been friends. It didn’t sit right. Hopwood might have gotten worse over the years but even in his younger days, he’d not been someone you’d want as a friend. He would have to speak to Josie. Tracy could like it or lump it. In the meantime he’d see if forensics could help. He rang Roxy Atkins.

  “Do you have any DNA results on the items from Beardsell Terrace?” he asked her.

  “We’re dealing with bone, Tom, bone that has been burned, so it’s way too soon, if ever. What are you thinking?”

  “I want it compared with Sean Hopwood’s DNA.”

  “Interesting idea. Is this a hunch, or do you have something?” she asked.

  “A hunch that’s niggling me. Never mind. I’ll think of something else.”

  Her next words came as a surprise. “No need. We still have the child’s DNA on the database from seventeen years ago. That is what you’re thinking, isn’t it? Checking Jessica’s with Hopwood’s?”

  “Will you do that for me? I don’t know how it will help, but it’s worth a shot.”

  Calladine returned to the incident room. Ruth had left and taken Rocco with her. Nigel had done his disappearing act.

  “Joyce, would you get onto the Land Registry again? This list Nigel did earlier is all very well but it tells us nothing. There has to be a reason why the ashes were put in that particular house.”

  * * *

  “She’s changed a lot, your Alice,” Ruth said.

  “Nothing to do with me, Ruth. When we met again on that course, I didn’t recognise her straight off. She knew me though.” Rocco grinned. “She’s been through a lot. Helped on some tough cases during her time at Sheffield. Alice should be okay. She’s not afraid of getting stuck in.”

  “You don’t have to convince me. I liked her then, and I like her now. She’s bright. It’s just what the team needs, fresh blood.”

  “That was supposed to be Nigel,” he replied.

  Ruth shrugged. “Hasn’t worked, has it? Not worth wasting time trying to analyse why, it was just one of those things.”

  Rocco looked at her. “You don’t really suspect Frank Chadwick, do you? I read the notes in the file. He’s seventy-five. Would he even be capable of taking on a man like Hopwood?”

  Ruth bit her bottom lip. She really wanted to believe that Frank was innocent, but there was a nagging doubt at the back of her mind. “I don’t know. But given what Dolly told me, we have to speak to him. Annie’s injury gives him a motive.”

  “Surely there has to be someone else. This whole estate hated Hopwood.”

  “It looks like it was done on the spur of the moment, Rocco. If it was premeditated, then I’d agree with you. Just think. Hopwood knocks at the door. It’s early, Frank and Annie are getting breakfast. Hopwood is his usual obnoxious self, says or does something that gets to Frank and he loses it. Fired up and angry, I think Frank would be capable.”

  They left the car outside the community centre, where there were plenty of people around. The Heron House lift was actually working. Things were looking up. That lasted until they arrived at Frank Chadwick’s flat. Two paramedics were carrying him out.

  Ruth ran forward and put her arm around Annie. “What’s happened?”

  “It’s his chest, love. It’s being playing him up for days. But he were taken really badly this morning. They’re taking him to the infirmary.” Annie began to sob.

  “Frank has COPD,” Ruth told Rocco.

  “Comes from working in th’ cotton mill when he were younger,” Annie added.

  The paramedics had an oxygen mask clamped to Frank’s face. There was no chance of talking to him for the time being.

  * * *

  Ruth turned to Rocco. “Let’s go and find Roly.”

  “What? That down and out?”

  “That down and out is a mine of information. And he lives the way he does by choice. He describes himself as a free spirit.” Ruth smiled. “He’ll be in the community centre. It’s cheap breakfast day.”

  Roly was at a table by the door with an empty plate and a full mug of tea in front of him.

  “Go and get us a couple of coffees,” Ruth told Rocco.

  Roly nodded to an empty chair. “Sit down, lass.”

  “How long have you been back?” Ruth asked him.

  “A couple of weeks. Not hanging around though. Two folk have got themselves killed on here lately. It’s not safe.”

  “We’re on it, Roly. You are in no danger.”

  Roly poured enough sugar into his tea to fill the mug. “No, you’re not! You’re looking in t’ wrong place.”

  “What d’you mean?”

  “Take that lass they found in Marshal’s car. Leading them lads a right dance she was. She were arguing with them that night. I heard them going at it by the Pheasant.”

  Ruth leaned forward. “On the Friday night, Roly?”

  “Yes. Like I said, going at it real bad they were. She came off best though. First she had a go at Logan’s lad, then she met up with t’other one. Don’t know what she said, but he were fuming. Chased after her, he did.

  “Who chased her, Roly?”

  “That Hopwood’s brother, Ricky. They disappeared round the back of the pub. Screaming and shouting at him, she was.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “That other lad, the one who works in the pub, he took Ricky back there. Ricky looked to be in a bad way. He weren’t happy, that’s for sure.”

  “Did Kyle argue with Flora?”

  Roly shrugged. “I don’t know. There were a lot of noise.”

  “You’re sure it was young Hopwood she was having a go at?”

  He nodded.

  “What were they arguing about? Did you hear?”

  “She had money, I know that. The lass kept flashing it about. But I never saw her part with any.”

  Chapter 28

  Calladine was poring over the Jessica Wilkins file when Ruth burst into his office.

  “A witness reckons that Flora was near the Pheasant on that Friday night. She was arguing with Ricky Hopwood — at least, until Kyle Logan interfered.”

  “What witness? We’ve spoken to every single person on that damned estate.”

  “Roly, the homeless bloke I told you about.”

  “You believe him?” Calladine asked.

  “He has no reason to lie. He’s told me stuff before, and it’s always been spot on.”

  Calladine pushed the Wilkins file to one side. Ricky Hopwood? That didn’t make much sense. He had been seeing Flora. Even though he didn’t want to go to the festival with her, they hadn’t fallen out. Calladine was struggling to find a reason for it. But it did mean that Ricky’s alibi was shot. So why lie?

  But Kyle Logan was another matter. He had wanted to torch Marshal’s car. Did he know that Flora’s body was in the boot?

&nb
sp; “So Wallace was lying. Ricky Hopwood was in or around the pub that night. We’ll have to have another word with them both.” What reason would Wallace have for watching Ricky’s back? Calladine wondered. “Okay, we’ll bring Kyle in first. When we’ve questioned him, we’ll decide what to do about Ricky.”

  “What about Bernie?” asked Ruth.

  “We’ll bring them both in. I’ll send uniform to fetch them.”

  “I still haven’t spoken to the Chadwicks,” Ruth told him. “Frank was being taken to hospital when we turned up. His chest is bad again.”

  “Rocco has interviews sorted with the others. The nurse, John Barnett, went straight to work from the cricket club in a taxi. The other two are coming in later. That leaves us with Bernie Logan. He has no alibi either,” Calladine told her.

  He went out to the incident room and handed Rocco an address and phone number. “It’s a restaurant in Manchester. Ricky Hopwood reckons he was there all last Friday night. I don’t think he was, but check it out anyway, will you?”

  Calladine’s mobile rang. It was Julian from the Duggan.

  “Roxy tells me you were looking for DNA from the child to compare with that of Sean Hopwood,” he said.

  “Yes, Julian. Do you have anything?”

  “You were right to be curious. I ran the child’s DNA through the database again. Sean Hopwood was her father.”

  Calladine shoved a fist into the palm of his other hand. That was it! He’d known there was something. All he had to do now was find out why no one had said anything. Why keep it so secret? “Thanks, Julian. I don’t know where this little snippet will get us, but it could be significant.”

  “What are you up to?” Ruth appeared beside him.

  “That photo you gave me, the one of the Hopwoods and Josie. It had me curious about the relationship.”

  She looked at him. “What do you mean?”

  “Josie and her sister are the only people who know who Jessica’s father was. I got to thinking — and Julian has just confirmed my suspicions — Sean Hopwood was Jessica’s father.” He was pleased with himself.

  “Interesting, but where does that get us?”

  “I don’t know, but I have this hunch that it is significant. And why haven’t Josie or Tracy said anything about the affair?”

  Calladine was thinking. Only the team and the people at the Duggan knew that Jessica had been shot. Was it possible that it had gotten out somehow? Calladine knew what the Hobfield jungle drums were like. If the information had leaked, would that give Josie or Tracy a motive for killing Hopwood?

  “I’d like to know why they never told us at the time. As I recall, I don’t even remember Hopwood being particularly interested in Jessica’s disappearance.”

  “Perhaps he didn’t know he was the dad,” Ruth suggested.

  “I think he did. Hence the attempt at a family Christmas.”

  Calladine now felt sure that both Josie and Tracy were hiding something important. The more they dug, the more questions arose. Sooner or later, he was going to have to tackle Josie.

  * * *

  The Logans were brought in separately. Bernie had kicked off the minute the police knocked on the door. He was still shouting when they dragged him into the interview room.

  One of the uniformed officers passed Calladine in the corridor. “Got your brave head on?” he said. “You’ll need it. That’s one angry man.”

  Calladine and Rocco settled into their seats facing Logan. “Why the performance? All we want is a quiet chat,” said Calladine.

  “Every time something happens, you beat a path to my door. Well, I’m sick of it! Me and Kyle, we’ve done nowt.”

  “Not entirely true. You met with some others at the cricket club on Tuesday morning. What was that all about?”

  Logan’s candid reply came as a surprise. “Getting rid of Hopwood,” he said simply. “We were all bloody sick of him and his violence. Everyone there had suffered. We all wanted rid, not just me.”

  “Did one of you kill him?”

  “How the hell should I know? But it wasn’t me, if that’s what this is all about. I went home. Kyle was in bed. But make no mistake, copper. If the opportunity had presented itself, I would have been straight in there.”

  “Can anyone vouch for you?”

  “No.” Logan shifted on the chair. “Hang on, there is someone. I walked back to the flats with her from the community centre — you know, her that runs the café. She collared me and asked if I’d look at the sink. It keeps blocking up.”

  “How long did you stay?”

  “Half an hour, but then she gave me breakfast. I must have got home just after nine thirty.”

  Hopwood was dead by then.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t see the crowd gathering,” said Calladine.

  “Went in the back way with Angus the postman. He was telling me about the match on Saturday.”

  “In that case you do have alibis, Bernie. You could have saved yourself all this by telling us the first time around. Or were you protecting Kyle?”

  Logan grunted. “Kyle had no beef with Hopwood. Whenever Sean came calling, Kyle were always out. It were me that took the brunt of his temper.”

  Calladine looked at him. “Are you telling me the truth?”

  “I think so. But I’ve been forgetting things of late. That was a damn good beating Hopwood gave me the other night. I’ve had a sore head ever since.”

  “Go and see your doctor, that’s my advice. We’ll check out what you’ve told us. If it holds up, then you are in the clear.”

  “And Kyle?”

  “Kyle is here on a different matter.”

  * * *

  Kyle wasn’t as mouthy as his father. In fact, he didn’t say a word.

  Calladine sat down opposite him and began immediately. “I want a blow by blow account of what happened the Friday night Flora was killed.”

  Kyle shrugged. “Told you. Don’t know owt. I was working.”

  “We know you were, but we have a witness who saw and heard you arguing with Flora outside the Pheasant.” Kyle inhaled. He stared up at the ceiling.

  “You won’t find the answer up there, lad. Tell us what happened.”

  Kyle sighed. “Flora was looking for Ricky. She said they’d arranged to meet. But I knew Ricky was sick of her. Whatever had been going on between them, he wanted out. Flora was in the pub shouting her head off. Wallace told me to get shut of her.”

  “What did you do?” asked Calladine.

  “I took her outside. I rang Ricky’s mobile but got no answer. In the end, Flora got fed up and wandered off. I went back to work.”

  “Did Ricky turn up?”

  “Yes, eventually. He came in the pub and I told him about Flora. He went outside to look for her. And before you ask, I don’t know what was going on between them. But I heard Flora mouthing off. I don’t know what she said to him, but Ricky was right cut up. He came back into the pub and had a drink. I told him she wasn’t worth the trouble.”

  “Did you see anyone else hanging about?”

  “I wasn’t looking. The pub was busy. There was a lot of folk milling around.”

  “Why so secretive then? What are you both trying to hide?”

  “It’s the whole Flora thing. We start telling you about the row and you lot will assume it was either me or Ricky that killed her.”

  “It was you who wanted to torch that car. Did you know what was in the boot?”

  “No! I was doing Marshal a favour, earning a bit of spare cash.”

  “Rubbish. You wouldn’t go to all that trouble just for a tenner. So come on, Kyle, what was really going on?”

  “I’ve said enough. You need to speak to Ricky. I had nothing to do with killing Flora.”

  “You didn’t want the others going near that car though, did you?”

  The silence almost hummed. Calladine watched Kyle Logan wrestle with himself. Would he speak? Was he protecting Ricky? If so, what for? Money. That had to be th
e answer.

  Chapter 29

  “We’ll keep Kyle for a while longer, but you can let Bernie go home. Suddenly he’s got alibis coming out of his ears.” Calladine rubbed his head. “Kyle is another matter. Both him and Ricky have a lot more to say.”

  Ruth looked at him. “Has he landed Ricky in it?”

  “Ricky did meet Flora on the night she was killed. Your friend Roly said as much, and Kyle confirmed it. We will have to bring him in.”

  “Are we sending uniform?”

  “No. We’ll pick him up ourselves. A casual little chat in the car on the way back here will do no harm. I’m curious to know what Ricky recalls from his early childhood.”

  “So if Bernie didn’t kill Sean Hopwood, who did?”

  Calladine shook his head. “I’ve got no idea. It could be anyone on that damned estate. They all hated the man.”

  “I’ll have a word with the Chadwicks later. How about the others who were at that meeting?”

  “Rocco says they are all sound. Alibis check out. So no joy.”

  Ruth stared accusingly at the incident board. “Are we getting anywhere with this? The more we know, the more there is to find out.”

  “We’ll get there.” Calladine spoke with a confidence that he didn’t feel. The job was getting harder — or he was getting slower, he wasn’t sure which.

  They set off for the Hopwood house. “How are you and Jake doing?” Calladine asked.

  “Well, we are talking now. Jake is right, it’s a great school, and this new job wouldn’t do his career any harm. It all boils down to whether or not I could stomach the move.”

  Ruth was driving, negotiating a busy roundabout.

  Her tone had been so matter of fact. “And could you?” Calladine thought his voice sounded funny. It certainly did to him. This wasn’t looking good.

  “What do you think I should do?” She was looking at the road ahead.

  “Please don’t ask me that, it’s not fair. I want you with me. This job needs us both.”

  She gave him a quick glance. “Don’t be so soft. You don’t need me.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I’d hate it if you moved away. I don’t want to work with anyone else.”