Cradle to Grave

by Rachel Amphlett

  A silence descended as Kay finished speaking, and she tossed her notebook onto the table. ‘She doesn’t recall seeing anyone else near the boat as they left, but says she did hear a loud bang. She said Greg stopped walking for a moment and turned back to the boat, but then changed his mind. He picked her up, and started running in the opposite direction.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ said Barnes.

  ‘How was she by the time Bethany finished?’ said Carys.

  ‘Bored.’ Kay managed a smile. ‘And you’ll be glad to know that Bethany managed to coax out of her that Greg didn’t touch her inappropriately, which supports the examination by the paramedic yesterday, so that’s something.’

  A collective sigh of relief flitted through the room.

  ‘She got a bit upset when Annette came to take her back to Ken’s,’ said Kay, ‘Annette said that Alice has been demanding to go home, because she wants to be where her daddy was happy.’

  ‘They’ve told her, then?’ said Sharp.

  ‘Yes, last night. Annette said she felt it was for the best.’ Kay blinked, and exhaled. ‘Right, let’s hear from everyone else. Carys and Gavin – what have you got to report?’

  Gavin gestured to his colleague to take the floor, and Carys moved to the front of the room so she could be heard.

  ‘We went to the office first to speak with Melissa Lampton, except she got made redundant yesterday.’

  The detective constable let the ripple of questions die down before speaking again. ‘We went to speak to her at home, and although she was reluctant at first to talk to us, she did confirm what we’d been told at the office – that the remaining sales manager, John Lavender, had informed her when she arrived yesterday morning that, with Robert deceased, her role was no longer tenable. We thought that might be all we’d get from her, but as we were leaving, Melissa said that she made a mistake in handing over the wrong itinerary to us earlier this week.’

  ‘What?’ Kay spun around from the whiteboard where she’d been making notes.

  ‘That’s what she said, guv – she said the itinerary we got wasn’t Robert’s original one, and that she was going to send us the one that had his original route included – the one with the two vineyards he was meant to be visiting. We got the revised one, the one she had to change at the last minute because Robert phoned her Sunday night to cancel his plans for the last two days.’

  ‘What did Ken Archerton say when you spoke with him?’

  ‘He said Lavender spoke with Melissa the previous day on his behalf, and stated that Robert’s murder has had an adverse effect on their cash flow forecast, but didn’t elaborate further. We showed him a map showing the two locations Robert visited, and he confirmed he has no business interests there, and had no idea why he would visit those towns. He also says he’s not aware of any issues between Robert and their clients.’

  ‘Okay, thanks, you two.’ Kay bit into the second slice of pizza, ran her eyes over the notes on the board while she chewed, and wondered if her team would get the breakthrough they so desperately needed.

  Forty-Five

  Kay paused at the bottom of the stairs and checked her messages while she waited for Sharp to join her.

  She’d been intrigued at Carys’s report that they’d been given a different itinerary according to Melissa Lampton.

  ‘Ready?’ said Sharp as he descended the last few treads. ‘You looked lost in thought.’

  Kay lowered her phone. ‘I was thinking about Melissa’s statement. What if we weren’t meant to know about the changes to his plans or the fact that he visited someone in those two towns?’

  ‘We would’ve found out via his GPS anyway.’

  ‘No, we wouldn’t, because we only sought the GPS information from the hire company after getting the itinerary to try to work out where he’d been. That’s how we found out he deviated from the wine regions.’

  Sharp rubbed his chin. ‘Good point.’

  ‘Look, I’ll get Carys and Gavin to look into it in the morning. There won’t be anyone around at the car hire company’s head office over there at the moment – they’re an hour ahead of us. We only received the high-level GPS information anyway that told us the suburb where Robert went. They must have the exact coordinates. We can then get someone over there to take a look for us, can’t we?’

  ‘Even with local support, that could take a couple of days to get the paperwork signed off,’ said Sharp. ‘And there’s no way the Chief Super is going to let us have additional funding to fly someone out there.’

  ‘We can at least get it moving,’ said Kay. ‘It might be that we don’t need the information if Greg starts talking, but I’d like to rule it out. If anything, it’ll help to corroborate the data we’ve got.’

  ‘Okay, then I’ll sign the paperwork. Have Carys or Gavin get it to me by ten o’clock tomorrow though – I’m in meetings at Headquarters from half ten.’

  ‘Thanks. Shall we go and see what Greg has to say for himself?’

  When she opened the door into interview room two, the first thing she noticed was that all the soft furnishings and toys provided for Alice’s interview were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the room was back to its sparse decor, with a table and four chairs the only furniture.

  Greg Victor’s solicitor nodded to them as they took their seats, and Kay reached out to start the recording before reading out the formal caution and noting that their conversation was a continuation of the previous interview.

  ‘Have you spoken to Alice?’ said Greg. ‘Is she okay?’

  ‘What can you tell us about John Lavender?’ said Kay.

  ‘I don’t know him.’

  ‘Are you sure? Because it seems he’s very much involved in Ken’s business. Holds a similar role to your brother’s.’

  ‘Robert might have mentioned him once or twice.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Over the summer.’

  ‘What did he say about him?’

  Greg patted his hand on the table, and then stopped. ‘He said he was new, that Ken brought him in a few months ago once his health started failing.’

  ‘Was he upset that Lavender took a greater role in the business?’

  ‘A bit. I think he thought that when it came to succession planning he’d be the obvious choice, but Ken seemed to be taking the business in a different direction.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘He didn’t tell me. He clammed up then, because Annette came into the room.’

  ‘Did Robert mention John Lavender while you were talking on the boat last Friday night?’

  ‘No. He started to say something, but that’s when he told me he’d seen someone back by the bridge. And then he told me to take Alice and get away from the boat.’

  Sharp signalled to Kay to end the interview, and then moved into the corridor and closed the door.

  ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I think we’re getting closer, guv. We’re not there yet, but I think we need to speak to this John Lavender under caution before we go any further with Greg.’

  ‘Didn’t Carys and Piper ask Archerton about him?’

  ‘They weren’t aware of the context in relation to what we’ve learned from Greg since.’

  ‘Head back there – find out how Archerton knows Lavender, how he recruited him and what his background is. We might as well know who we’re dealing with so we can form a strategic approach to the interview.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll take Barnes over there first thing.’

  Forty-Six

  The next morning, Kay turned the page of an internal report as Barnes changed down a gear, slowing the car.

  ‘Ay-up. Who’s this?’ he murmured.

  She lifted her head and looked through the windscreen as a sleek black four-door car pulled out from Ken Archerton’s driveway and accelerated away in the opposite direction.

  ‘Did you get the licence plate?’ she said, pen held ready.

  Barnes recited it from memory, then braked and turned into Ar
cherton’s property. ‘Did you recognise it?’

  ‘No, not someone I’ve seen before. God, I hope it wasn’t another reporter.’

  She saw her colleague’s jaw clench as he braked to a standstill in front of the house.

  ‘At least he’ll have them on camera if it was,’ he said, jerking his chin at the shining lens pointed at them from under the porch roof.

  ‘All right, let’s go and have a word with him.’

  Before Kay could head off down the side of the house, the front door was wrenched open, and Patricia Wells stared out from behind it, her face pale as she clutched the oak surface.

  ‘Has he gone?’ Her voice shook, and she stepped backwards as Kay approached.

  ‘Do you mean the owner of the vehicle we just saw leaving here?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I believe so, Mrs Wells – we saw it heading off down the road towards Hurst Green. Who was it?’

  ‘Hold on.’ She disappeared behind the door for a moment, and Kay heard the mechanical whirr as the wrought-iron gates across the driveway began to move. Patricia smoothed down her shirt as she returned, and stood to one side to let them in. ‘Sorry about this.’

  ‘Who was it?’ said Barnes. ‘A reporter?’

  ‘No – although I almost wish it was. He said he worked with Mr Archerton when he buzzed the security intercom, so I thought it would be okay.’

  ‘What happened?’ said Kay. ‘Do you want to take us through to the kitchen so you can sit down?’

  ‘I-I –– Yes, that’s probably a good idea. I’m sorry. I’m just a bit shaken up, that’s all.’

  Kay let the woman walk on ahead, and then raised an eyebrow at Barnes.

  Her colleague shrugged.

  ‘Come on.’ Kay entered the kitchen to find Patricia pouring a glass of water from a filter jug.

  ‘Do you want some?’ she said.

  ‘We’re fine, thank you, Mrs Wells.’

  ‘Please, call me Patricia. “Mrs Wells” makes me sound like my ex-mother-in-law.’ She managed a small smile, then leaned against the worktop and drained half the glass. ‘Oh, God. Look at me. What a state.’

  ‘Take your time,’ said Kay. ‘Is Mr Archerton here?’

  ‘No – he had a doctor’s appointment in town, so he left half an hour ago. I couldn’t take him because I have a lady I have to go and clean for at ten o’clock.’

  Barnes gestured to the cluster of chairs around the table. ‘Do you want to have a seat and tell us who that was?’

  ‘Okay.’ She sat, and took a sip of water. ‘I feel so silly about it now. I was probably just overreacting.’

  ‘You looked like you’d had a fright,’ said Kay.

  ‘He was so rude, that’s all.’

  ‘Who was he?’

  ‘I don’t know – I’ve never met him before. He said he works for Mr Archerton. That’s obviously why he came here. He was looking for him. When I told him he was out at an appointment, he said I should tell him that he had to stop avoiding their phone calls and get in touch.’

  Kay frowned. ‘Any idea who he meant?’

  ‘No – I haven’t got a clue. I’m not aware of any missed calls – Mr Archerton still has a landline here so that I can answer the phone in case he can’t get to it.’

  ‘I presume he has a mobile?’

  ‘Yes, but he carries that on him all the time.’

  ‘Could you describe the man who was here?’

  Patricia rocked back in her seat, and turned her gaze to the window. ‘Let’s see. Mid-forties, perhaps – dark complexion, as if he has Italian or Spanish heritage. Taller than me – about your height, detective. Perhaps a bit more. He was wearing a grey suit and a blue shirt. Brown eyes.’

  ‘Are the security cameras working, Patricia?’ Barnes rested his hands on the back of one of the chairs and leaned forward. ‘Perhaps we could take a look at the footage?’

  To Kay’s surprise, the woman smiled.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘They’re not real. Mrs Victor put those up as a way of warding off people. We’ve had some of the locals driving past here and slowing down to stare through the gates, so she thought she’d fit those above the doors in case they got any ideas about ringing the bell.’

  Kay craned her neck until she could see back along the hallway. ‘Where are Annette and Alice?’

  ‘Annette drove her father to his appointment, and she took Alice along with them. She said she was going to pop into town while he was seeing his doctor so she could buy Alice some new shoes for school.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘That girl is growing so fast, she didn’t want to risk getting them at the beginning of the summer, and I think she thought it might cheer her up – you know, a treat for being so good with the interview and everything.’

  Kay pushed back her chair, and handed one of her business cards to Patricia. ‘If you’re going to be okay, we’ll see ourselves out. Can you ask Mr Archerton to give us a call when he gets home? We have some details we need to clarify with him as part of our enquiries.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Patricia.

  As Barnes drove the car out onto the road, Kay checked her notes and found the licence plate she’d written down.

  ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking, guv?’ said Barnes.

  Kay put her phone to her ear, and waited for Debbie to answer. ‘If our hunch is right about that car, then we need to speak to John Lavender sooner rather than later.’

  Forty-Seven

  Barnes slowed the vehicle as Kay’s call was answered, and he shot her a smile as she put her phone on loudspeaker.

  ‘Debs, can you run this plate through the system for me?’ she said, and recited her notes. ‘I’ll hang on while you do that. Barnes is here with me.’

  ‘Will do, guv.’

  He could hear the tapping of fingers on a keyboard as the police constable searched. ‘What do you think, guv? Five quid bet?’

  ‘I don’t fancy the odds,’ she said. ‘It’s going to be him, isn’t it? Has to be.’

  She fell silent as Debbie’s voice returned.

  ‘I’ve got a vehicle registered to a John Michael Lavender of twenty-six Hazelhurst Close in Staplehurst,’ she said.

  ‘Bingo.’ Barnes banged the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. ‘Got him.’

  ‘Thanks, Debs. We’re heading over there now.’

  ‘See you.’

  Kay ended the call and shifted in her seat until she was facing Barnes. ‘All right. What do you think is going on?’

  ‘Patricia could have been overreacting,’ he said. ‘I mean, she’d never met Lavender before.’

  ‘Maybe, but she seemed pretty shaken up, and after what Carys and Piper said about Lavender firing Melissa Lampton yesterday, he doesn’t come across as a people person, does he?’

  He wrinkled his nose. ‘I don’t know. Is Lavender trying to make a move on the business? Putting pressure on Ken to hand it over before his health deteriorates even more? Annette told you she wasn’t interested in it, didn’t she?’

  ‘More or less.’ Kay stared out the windscreen and bit her lip. ‘Do you think Greg Victor is telling the truth, then? Do you think Lavender was the one who shot Robert?’

  ‘Bit extreme, don’t you think?’ said Barnes. ‘Murdering your colleague in order to position yourself as the next in line to the throne?’

  ‘People have been doing it for centuries.’

  ‘Ooh, listen to you, the history buff.’

  She smiled. ‘Saw something on telly about it the other night.’

  ‘I knew it.’

  She laughed as he indicated right and followed the winding road into Staplehurst, and cast her eyes to the fields that flashed by the window, ripe for harvesting.

  Barnes slowed and indicated left before reaching the main road that cut through the centre of village, entering a maze of avenues and cul-de-sacs that clung to the fringes, caught between countryside and an increasing urban sprawl.

  Hazlehurst Close was a dead-e
nd street comprising twelve terraced houses that looked about thirty years old. Barnes spotted number twenty-six on the end of a row beside a shared driveway.

  ‘I can’t see his car, can you?’ he said.

  He slowed as Kay craned her neck to peer around a brick wall that had been erected in front of the houses.

  ‘Turn around at the end, and we’ll take another look,’ she said.

  He lowered his window as they passed a second time.

  Only three cars were parked outside, and none of them matched the black four-door vehicle they had seen leaving Kenneth Archerton’s house.

  ‘Okay, park over here and I’ll go and knock on the door,’ said Kay.

  Barnes pulled to the kerb and waited while she crossed the road to the three townhouses. She rang the doorbell for the end property, and then moved to the window and shielded her eyes against the reflection.

  After a moment, she turned away and walked back to the car.

  ‘Not there?’ said Barnes. He wound up his window as Kay climbed in.

  ‘Doesn’t look like it.’ She checked the time displayed on the dashboard. ‘He must have gone straight to the office.’

  ‘Onwards,’ said Barnes, and pulled away.

  It took him nearly an hour – a journey that involved a lot of cursing under his breath at the remaining tourists that still packed the Kentish roads – but when he pulled into the council-owned car park opposite Kenneth Archerton’s offices, he sat upright and pointed towards a row of vehicles at the far end.

  ‘He’s here, look.’

  ‘There’s a space next to his car,’ said Kay, and released her seat belt. ‘I’ll jump out and then you can block his driver’s door, just in case.’

  He grinned, and did as she suggested before they hurried across the street to the old merchant’s house.

  Following Kay through the front door, he hovered in the middle of the reception area while Kay spoke to Sharon Eastman, the woman’s eyes opening wide at the sight of the police entering the building once more.

  ‘Can I tell him what it’s about?’

  ‘Our ongoing enquiries in relation to the death of Robert Victor,’ said Kay.