by L M Krier
'I've never known John not to have his insulin to hand. He was too organised. Good work, Steve. Yes, call it in. Jo's on his way over, he'll be there as soon as he can, and once I've finished in this meeting, I'll come too. But are you okay for now? Can you manage?'
'Yes, sir. It's not very nice, but I'll be okay. But sir, one thing that's worrying me, is how the heck are they going to get him out of here?'
It was the first thing that had gone through Ted's mind, too. It was going to need specialist equipment to remove the body of someone of John's size from the flat. He reassured Steve once more and turned back to the figures, although he was finding it hard to concentrate. He'd always liked John, appreciated the man's intelligence. He knew food was an addiction for him, but he was wondering where he would have got the money for a fancy hamper.
Although he tried to keep his attention on the paperwork, his concentration was broken. After about twenty minutes, the Ice Queen called a halt.
'Go, Ted,' she told him. 'Your mind's not on the figures. Leave me your notes and I'll finish off. I know you're worrying about DC Ellis, so go. Go and sort the crime scene. I'll make a convincing argument tomorrow so you get to keep your team up to its full new strength.'
She could be surprisingly sensitive at times. Ted threw her an appreciative smile and didn't need telling twice.
When he arrived at the flats, there was a fire appliance outside as well as an ambulance. It was clearly going to be a specialised operation. Steve and Jo were outside the front of the building, with two officers in uniform. Ted was surprised to see his DI was smoking, a small cigar. Jo came over to him as soon as he saw him, to fill him in on where they were up to.
'I didn't know you were a smoker.'
'Me, boss? As if,' Jo replied with a guilty grin, cupping his smoke in his hand to conceal it. 'I told Sofia I gave up when young George, our eldest, was born. I tell her what she wants to hear and what she needs to know. I find it's a good recipe for a happy marriage.'
Ted chuckled. 'If you keep telling me stuff like that, I'll start wondering whether I can trust you or whether you're just telling me what you think I want to hear. Right, tell me what we know so far.'
Jo had also had a look inside the flat and agreed with Steve. Something didn't look right.
'We can't get in there just now They're busy working out how they're going to bring him out. At the moment, they're thinking of taking the front window out and trying that way, so they've sent for a maintenance crew.'
'Poor John. What a way for him to end his days. He was an intelligent man, just brought down by grief. And it wasn't like him at all not to have his insulin to hand. He was always scrupulously tidy and methodical, almost obsessively so. I suppose it's too much to hope that the maintenance crew they send will include our prime suspect for the other deaths, in his day job?
'Steve, tell Jo what you've found out about our other case from the CCTV. I think you might be on to something there.'
They had to wait for quite some time until John's vast body was safely recovered and the flat made secure once more. The man would be transported to the morgue in a specially adapted ambulance, as the body was too big for any of the usual discreet undertakers' vans.
SOCO had been called to the scene, as it was now being treated as a suspicious death. Jo and Steve had already looked round, so Ted put on gloves and shoe covers and went inside to see what he could spot. He'd visited John a few times over the years, though only once at this new flat. He was still used to his ways. There was no immediate sign anywhere of his blood testing kit or his insulin, which Ted knew was always carefully laid out close to hand. John moved slowly, because of his bulk, and never took the risk of being unable to reach his life-saving medication, should he ever need it urgently.
Ted found the hamper Steve had mentioned in the living room, on the table next to where John used to sit. He doubted John would have been able to carry it into the flat by himself. Someone had clearly delivered it and brought it in for him. Possibly the same person had moved the insulin out of reach.
Honest John had made quite a dent on the hamper, and looked to have put away the best part of a bottle of sweet dessert wine, as well as the food. Ted knew he wasn't supposed to drink at all, because of his medical condition. He'd also polished off a full box of expensive hand-made Belgian chocolates, amongst other tempting goodies. It must have had a catastrophic effect on his blood sugar levels, and without his insulin to hand, the result was a foregone conclusion. Ted just hoped he'd enjoyed every mouthful before he'd slipped into a coma.
'You did good work here, Steve, well done,' Ted told him when he went back out. 'I agree with all your observations. I can't see where John would have had the money for a hamper like that. Even if he had, he wasn't stupid. He knew he was taking a risk with the pizzas and crisps he usually ate, but I can't see him starting on chocolates and alcohol unless the temptation was put in his way.
'I'll take the inquest on this, Jo. I feel I owe it to John. And you and I need to go and have a chat with my friend Pocket Billiards next, about what is going on at this block of flats, and why someone clearly wants rid of the secure tenants.'
Chapter Twenty-two
Ted wanted to let the Ice Queen know the details of the latest death before she left for the evening. He knew she could well be unavailable all the next day, with her meeting, and he needed to run some ideas past her before she disappeared.
'We're now on the fourth suspicious death in that same small block of flats. It can't be coincidental. I think it's something we need to look into as a possible murder case.'
'I'm struggling, at the moment, to see how a murder case can be made out of someone buying a bottle of whisky for a known alcoholic, or supplying high-quality heroin to a drug addict. How could we begin to prove intention to kill?'
'With great difficulty, I agree,' Ted conceded. 'But with Honest John, it looks fairly certain that someone deliberately removed his diabetes medication. We couldn't find it anywhere in the flat, and that opens up possibilities for us.'
'Could he not simply have run out and been unable to get any more?'
Ted shook his head. 'It was on repeat prescription, which went direct to the pharmacy, and they delivered regularly. They were good to him, always kept an eye on him. He used to tell me he enjoyed their visits. And I checked with them. They'd been to top him up just last week. So it certainly indicates that someone may have removed it from the property.
'What I want to do now is go and find our local news-hound and ask him what he knows about the building. See if he has any ideas of who might have a motive to want secure tenants out. Then that might lead us to who is behind it. So when I see him, he's going to want something juicy in exchange on our Lonely Hearts killer. Is it time to make good use of him once more, circulate even a vague description of our so-called Linda Lovelace through him? Maybe issue a warning about the dangers of blind dating, especially with a killer on the loose? Without, of course, causing panic.'
'I certainly shouldn't have any trouble getting the hours we need if you are really saying you have two separate cases, with a total of, what is it now, seven victims in all? Are you going to be able to head up both enquiries, without compromising either of them?'
'I'd be happy, at this stage, to leave Jo and Mike Hallam to the Sabden House case. I'm impressed with what I've seen of Jo so far, and we already know that Mike is a safe pair of hands. I want to take Jo with me to meet our reporter friend, see what we can dig out. What I would like from you first is a statement, or press release, or something I can feed him about the Lonely Hearts case, to keep him sweet. Or as sweet as someone that obnoxious ever is.'
'Shouldn't that come from DSU Baker, as he's in overall charge of that case?'
'It should, ideally, but he's busy dealing with corrupt coppers and I don't want to interrupt him on that. Besides, he's with DSU Fletcher at the moment, and he's scary.'
The Ice Queen hid a smile, finding it difficult to imagine Te
d being really afraid of anyone, although she, too, knew the head of C&D, and his formidable reputation.
'And I know all this means it's the worst possible time for me to want to take a weekend off, but it's only really Saturday, I'll come back in on Sunday as soon as I get back…'
'Nonsense, you should be entitled to the odd day off. We're all inclined to forget we have home lives, when working a difficult case. But we shouldn't. They're what keep us grounded. I'm actually hoping to try for a bit of family sailing this weekend myself.
'Leave the statement to me. I'll make sure you get it before tomorrow morning. We'll give him just enough detail to keep him cooperative. And well done with the improved relations you've forged with him so far.'
Trev kept asking Ted every day if he was still going to be able to get the weekend off. He was pleased to be able to pass on the Ice Queen's words when he got home that evening.
'But that does mean I'm not going to be able to make it to the dojo tomorrow. I need to get everything up to speed before you drag me away on this dirty weekend. I'll need to work late tomorrow and Thursday, if you want us to leave at a decent time on Friday.'
He'd been pleased to get home to extra hugs when he told Trev about Honest John.
'I know you were fond of him. I just wished I'd made the time to go with you to meet him one time. It sounds as if we would have got along. Just as well I made sticky toffee pud again for tonight. It sounds as if you're in need of some comfort food.'
Ted had often told his partner he should meet John. Russian was one of the languages Trev spoke, though not as fluently as some others. Ted had suggested he meet John so he would have someone to practise with. He knew John would have been glad of the intelligent company, even if only occasionally.
'The kids will all miss you tomorrow. I will, too. But I'll explain about work, and it's fine by me, as long as it means you'll be able to come with me at the weekend.'
'I'll miss the physical workout, if you keep making me sticky toffee pud. I'll need a way to burn off the calories.'
'Oh, I think we can always find other means of doing that.'
Ted called another early morning full team meeting for Wednesday. He was pleased to see that the three officers from South Manchester were on time. All three looked subdued, no doubt shaken by the news of DI Foster's death, and the implications of what was going on behind the scenes with their team. He was also impressed that once again, Océane had shown up for the meeting, when she was not obliged to.
The conference room was being used for the budget meeting, so they all crowded into the main office and it was standing room only for some. Ted mentioned first the Sabden House case, telling the team that they would now be investigating it as a possible murder enquiry, then asked for an update on their Lonely Hearts case.
'A bit of progress, boss,' Rob O'Connell told him. He'd been put in charge of coordinating witness statements for all three killings. 'We have a staff member at the hotel where Mr Gildyke was killed, who may just possibly have seen our prime suspect. The reception is manned through the night there, unusually for a budget hotel. She'd sloped outside for a quiet fag and passed someone who could have been the killer in the doorway as she was going back in and they were coming out.'
'There are advantages to a sneaky smoking break, then,' Jo put in, grinning meaningfully at Ted.
Ted smiled back, then asked, 'Description?'
'Not much of one, boss. Witness is five-six and said the man was about three or four inches taller than her, medium build. She didn't much notice what he was wearing but she said he had some sort of shoulder bag as it bumped against her when they both went through the doorway. It was sometime around midnight, is all she can say for timing, and they don't have CCTV on the front door, so nothing from that.'
'What about the women involved in the second and third cases? Are we any closer to finding them? Ted asked, looking round.
'Unfortunately, from the laptops and phones, I've not been able to pin down any definitely planned meet-ups for either of the second two victims,' Océane told them. 'Both of those two, although active on the various dating sites, seemed to prefer to leave it to chance. Both of them had been searching online for pubs doing singles nights and the like for the days when they would be in the area.'
'So we're basically down to legwork on that side of things. I don't suppose we got lucky with DNA for either woman from the room or the sheets and found they have convictions and are on the database?'
'No such luck, boss,' Sal told him. He was in charge of collating all the forensic evidence from the three crime scenes.
'So why is everyone so convinced this Linda Lovelace person isn't just another woman? And why that she must be the man in the pub?' DC Eccles asked. At least he was showing something of an interest, although again he showed he was not up to speed on the case.
'Jezza and I have had the privilege of reading through all the email exchanges between Linda Lovelace and the first victim. It's not exactly scientific, but we both agree the wording is wrong for a woman. It's much more like a man trying to write like a woman,' Ted told him. 'That, and the timings, make it likely that Linda and the man in the pub are in fact the same person.'
'That and the blindingly bloody obvious factor of not giving the first victim a mobile phone number,' Océane said scornfully then, seeing the DC's face still looking puzzled, she explained, with barely concealed impatience, 'Well, if any of the men phoned so-called Linda and were answered with a gravelly baritone, it would be a bit of a giveaway, wouldn't it?'
'So with no phone number and only throwaway email addresses, how are we going to track down Linda? And more importantly, how are we going to get to the next potential victim before he does?' Ted asked the team.
'Boss, I've been digging through the files for people who've been in to report financial scams. Most of them never go on to press charges because they're too ashamed. One or two have, but those have gone to court and been resolved. Different person in each,' Maurice told them. 'That means publicity, in both cases. So if someone was after revenge for one of those, why the random killings? They would know the actual identities of the people involved.'
'Sir,' DC Winters began hesitantly. 'What about inquests? Have there been any cases recently where someone may have taken their own life because of some financial scam or another?'
'Very good point,' Ted told him. 'Maurice, can you add that to your list of things to check, please. Also I'll ask our reporter friend when Jo and I go to see him, hopefully today. Meanwhile, how are we going to get the jump on our killer before he strikes again? Because if he's hoping to target someone specific, he will probably keep going until he finds them. But if he's just randomly killing anyone who may be doing the same thing as whoever he has the grudge against, then we really do have a problem.'
'We could all get out there and hit the singles scene,' DC Eccles suggested. 'Then if we see someone who looks like the suspect, follow him back to the hotel and…'
Ted carefully unbuttoned the cuff of his left shirt sleeve, pushed it and his jacket sleeve back and held his arm up, palm towards the South Manchester three.
'I'm weapons trained, ex-SFO and I have black belts in four martial arts. This is what happened when I was trying to disarm a trained soldier with a knife,' he told them. The scar on his hand and forearm was healing well but was still pronounced. 'And I'll spare Maurice his blushes by not asking him to show you his scar from the same attacker.'
'Ugh, yes, who wants to see Maurice's belly right after breakfast?' Jezza grinned, prompting a chuckle from the team.
'Settle down, everyone. We're dealing with seven potential murders here. Let's keep it respectful,' Ted reminded them, then continued, 'It's a reasonable enough suggestion, DC Eccles. The problem is, we would have no way of getting back-up in place and we don't know this man's capabilities. All we know is that he is armed and his attacks are frenzied.
'The other thing we need to consider is that our man would appear to fo
llow his target back to the hotel but then wait for the woman he's with to leave before he strikes. It could be that he doesn't want to scare them, or to implicate them. That to me tends to suggest that he's doing this on behalf of a woman, but that's just speculation. So he's hanging around somewhere, and he might well spot anyone watching him.
'For an operation such as you suggest to succeed, I would want back-up both inside and outside the bedroom and I can't, at the moment see any way of doing that. We would have to go down the route of running a sting, a honey-trap, and that's not always easy to run, or to get approval for. But it's a valid suggestion, thank you.'
Eccles looked stunned, both at Ted's revelation and at the unexpected praise. Ted always found he got better results with a bit of encouragement.
'Boss, we could at least try that way, without it being a sting,' Jezza began. She was comfortable enough with the boss to cut across him when he started to protest. 'Just hear me out before you say no. If we find out where the dating nights are in the area, we could start going to some of them, in twos, for safety. Then if any of us does see someone who could be Linda, we could call back up before we follow them. We only need to stop them on suspicion and do a search. If it's someone walking round with an offensive weapon in their possession, we could haul them in for that, then get fingerprints and DNA and we might get our murderer.'
'I'll think about it. It will need clearance from both Superintendent Caldwell, and DSU Baker, especially in light of what happened to me and Maurice. But I will definitely consider it. Steve, can you start drawing up a list of all the likely venues across the Greater Manchester area, then we'll look at dividing up who covers what. And that is only if I get clearance, which will certainly not be before next week at the earliest. Is that clear everyone? DC Vine? And it certainly won't be an excuse for a pub crawl on expenses.'
