The Rules of Murder

by The Rules of Murder (epub)

  ‘I need your help,’ Ben said.

  Dani was already on her feet.

  ‘You help me, I help you,’ he said.

  ‘What could you possibly have to offer me?’

  Confidence and arrogance had returned to Ben now. So many different and clashing personalities and emotions were on display, Dani could scarcely keep up with it all.

  ‘You’re a homicide detective, aren’t you?’ he said.

  Dani didn’t respond. Though the fact she remained standing and looking over at him likely showed him he still had her attention.

  ‘So go figure,’ he said.

  ‘You have information about a crime? A murder? Murders?’

  A petulant flick of his eyebrows.

  ‘Give me more,’ she said.

  ‘I will. When you’ve agreed to help me.’

  ‘Why me?’

  ‘Because you’re in a unique position to reciprocate.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘You may or may not know that Gregory’s working on my appeal, but as a backstop he’s also exploring other options. Like he’s suggesting a quid pro quo to increase my chances of a successful parole. I help the authorities if they help me.’

  ‘Then why isn’t Daley here? And if you’re asking for some sort of immunity or reduction in sentence, I’m not a judge or a prosecutor. I can’t do that, Ben. And I probably wouldn’t, for you, even if I could.’

  ‘Fair enough, but it all starts with you, Dani.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Like I said, you’re in a unique position to help. You’re right, you’re not a judge or a prosecutor, but you have links to them. But you also have links to my family.’

  ‘Gemma? The kids? What—?’

  ‘You need to help me, Dani.’

  ‘I don’t need to do anything for you.’

  ‘I have to see them. I have to be a part of their lives.’

  ‘You honestly believe that?’

  ‘I’m Harry and Chloe’s dad.’

  ‘Then maybe you should have thought twice about killing Harry’s mother, and trying to kill Chloe’s.’

  Ben looked angered again now.

  ‘You can try, Dani. Try to talk to them. I have to see them.’

  ‘I could try. But I won’t.’

  ‘You’d see people die instead of helping me?’ he said, incredulous now.

  Dani tensed up. What did that mean?

  ‘No, I wouldn’t want that,’ she said. ‘But you need to give me something first, to show me this isn’t some ridiculous fantasy.’

  ‘Actually, no. I don’t think I do. If you don’t want to talk, then fine. Perhaps you’ll figure it out sooner or later. But if more people die before then, don’t come blaming me.’

  A smug look had returned to his face. It pissed Dani off more than she would care to admit.

  ‘Ben, tell me what the hell is going on. What do you know?’

  He turned his head away from her, his lips firmly shut.

  ‘So you’ll give me nothing?’ she said, her own anger rising now.

  Ben still didn’t say a word. Just flicked his eyebrows once again. Dani wouldn’t waste any more of her time. She had far more pressing matters. She turned for the door, knocked on it and heard locks clicking. The door opened with a whoomph of air.

  ‘I expect I’ll see you very soon, sis,’ Ben said with oily confidence. ‘Oh, and how was the party at the Redfearnes’?’

  Dani paused now, her whole body rigid, but she didn’t turn back to face him.

  ‘Quite the place they have, I hear.’

  Dani cringed and clenched her fists as tightly as she could as she stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

  * * *

  ‘I need to see Cartwright, now,’ Dani said to the guard standing outside.

  The guard looked a little taken aback by Dani’s abruptness, but he nodded and they plodded off along corridors and through security doors until they came to the Deputy Governor’s out-of-date office.

  The guard knocked and opened the door when prompted. Dani stormed in past him without waiting for any sort of introduction.

  ‘Where’s Gregory Daley?’

  ‘DI Stephens,’ Cartwright said, getting to her feet from behind her desk, clearly perturbed by the sudden intrusion, even if her words didn’t show it. ‘I heard you were here—’

  ‘I need to see Daley, now.’

  Cartwright huffed. She nodded to the guard in the doorway, who grumbled as he moved away, shutting the door behind him.

  ‘Perhaps you’d like to take a minute to calm down. I’m sure I’ve not done anything to warrant your animosity.’

  It was a fair point, and Cartwright’s level tone took the edge off Dani’s bubbling anger. A little.

  ‘Is he still here?’

  ‘I believe so,’ Cartwright said. ‘I was told he’d want to see your brother again once you were finished.’

  ‘Well we’re finished. But I need to see Daley first.’

  ‘Is there a problem? I was told you were coming here on police business? As you know from past experience, you can only make personal visits through the formal—’

  ‘Yes there’s a problem. The problem is I need to see Daley, and I need to see him now. And yes, this is official business.’

  Cartwright considered this for a few moments before she sighed and turned and picked up her desk phone and had a hushed conversation with someone on the other end. When she put the phone down a few moments later Dani was still on edge, though the edge was continuing to dull.

  ‘I’ll take you to him,’ Cartwright said.

  ‘Thank you,’ Dani said, trying to sound sincere, though she really wasn’t feeling it, even if she realised that Cartwright had done nothing wrong here. If anything, she was being accommodating to Dani.

  Cartwright led them back along the same bland corridors as before, and they soon passed the room where minutes earlier Dani had been speaking to Ben. Two doors further along and Cartwright stopped. Dani presumed the door in between here and the room she’d met with Ben led to a listening room. Had Daley been in there earlier when she was with Ben, despite what Ben had said?

  Cartwright knocked and opened the door and said a few words while Dani held back, trying to compose herself, trying to stay calm. Cartwright stepped out of the doorway.

  ‘Go ahead,’ Cartwright said. ‘I’ll send a guard down to escort you out when you’re done.’

  Dani nodded and stepped inside.

  * * *

  She tried to hold back, she really did. Was it the situation and the thoughts of Ben messing with her head that had her so riled, or was it her own mental problems haunting her once again, as they still did even after all this time, ever since Ben had attacked and tried to kill her?

  Perhaps it was even because she detested Gregory Daley about as much as she detested anyone else she’d ever met.

  ‘What the fuck are you playing at, you piece of shit?’ Dani slammed as she stepped into the room and banged the door shut behind her.

  Daley just sat in his chair and stared at her. In his mid-forties, he had thinning dark brown hair, all mussy on top, designer thick-rimmed glasses, and he wore an immaculate dark blue suit. Everything about him screamed lawyer. Everything about him screamed arrogance and a know-it-all attitude. He’d been Ben’s lawyer from day one after his arrest, and had a string of incredible defences under his belt prior to that. As far as Dani could see, he’d only taken Ben’s case, at a vastly reduced fee, to further his public career. Although ultimately Ben’s case was considered by many to be Daley’s biggest humiliation, he was still beavering away to gain whatever advantages he could for his murderous client.

  ‘Were you listening?’ Dani said.

  ‘Would you care to take a seat?’

  ‘No. Were you listening?’

  ‘Very well. No is the answer,’ Daley said, cupping his hands together, elbows on the desk. ‘My client asked me not to. He wanted a priva
te discussion with his sister.’

  ‘Yeah, but you know exactly what it was about, don’t you?’

  ‘What I do and don’t know about your brother is irrelevant.’

  ‘Tell me what’s going on.’

  ‘What’s going on?’

  He asked the question as though it was the most complex question to mankind, as though the answer was infinite.

  ‘You called me to get me here, so don’t play dumb, however much it suits you.’ Dani was perversely pleased to see the look of offence at that. ‘What does Ben know about murder cases? Active or otherwise. He says he has information. I need that information.’

  ‘Ms Stephens—’

  ‘DI Stephens. I’m here in a professional capacity.’

  ‘DI Stephens, what I discuss with your brother, my client, is protected by privilege, as you are very much aware.’

  ‘Really? You want to play that game? From what I gather my brother has information pertinent to the homicide team at West Midlands Police. That’s what I’m here for. Information he’ll only divulge if his demands are met. You know that, because you called me—’

  ‘Well I really—’

  ‘You’re happy to have blood on your hands, if it comes to that?’

  ‘Detective, my conscience is clear,’ Daley said, now sounding uptight as he went on the defensive. ‘Your brother has a right to representation, and I assist my client in his best interests. I’m aware he has stated to you that he has information which may be of benefit to the West Midlands Police. And I’m also aware that as part of my work with him, he’ll be willing to divulge this information if the right guarantees are met by you, and by the CPS. It’s for you to decide how you wish to proceed with that. My client is not trying or wanting to be difficult here, and neither am I—’

  ‘You’re scum. You really are.’

  ‘I’m afraid personal insults are lost on me, Detective.’

  His words belied the fact that he by now looked seriously pissed off by Dani’s aggression towards him. Sod it. He was lucky she wasn’t launching herself over the desk to throttle him into telling her the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the damn truth.

  ‘I’m done,’ Dani said turning for the door. ‘I want nothing to do with this sick deal, whatever the hell it is.’

  ‘Very well, DI Stephens.’

  Dani felt ready to explode. It took everything she had not to turn around and lay into Daley some more. Verbally. Physically. She just needed to go, before she lost it. She knew she’d only regret it if she did.

  Her body tingling with surging adrenaline, she reached out with a shaky hand and opened the door.

  ‘I shall inform my client of your decision,’ Daley said, calm and in control, which only made Dani all the more angry. ‘Though he assures me you’ll change your mind soon enough.’

  Dani cringed as she stepped out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

  Chapter Eleven

  A handful of pills and a drive back to Birmingham later, Dani was finally feeling as though she could operate on an even keel once again, though she felt horrible knowing that the only way for her to even attempt to feel ‘normal’ lately was through chemical inducement.

  Had she really fallen back into this?

  She could hear with crystal clarity Jason’s nagging tone, warning her of the pitfalls of upping her meds. As much as that nagging tone irked, she also knew he was damn right.

  Still, tomorrow would be a new day, right?

  The others were already waiting for Dani when she arrived back at HQ. Her first action as soon as she’d reached her car on leaving the prison – after necking her pills that is – was to call DCI McNair to explain what had happened with Ben. Dani had no choice. She really didn’t know how else to deal with what Ben had said. Did he really have information relevant to the homicide team? About the Redfearne case? Regardless, she couldn’t keep something so potentially significant to herself.

  Needless to say, McNair had taken the revelation, as lacking in supporting evidence as it was, very seriously indeed, and had set up a meeting for her and Dani with Chief Superintendent Eric Baxter plus a senior lawyer from the Crown Prosecution Service – Ahmad Hussein – who Dani hadn’t met before.

  Dani walked into the room full of senior personnel expecting a grilling. She almost fainted when what she actually received wasn’t far short of a bloody standing ovation.

  ‘I hear congratulations are in order,’ Baxter, a silver fox, said as he headed over to Dani, all smiles, and shook her hand and patted her shoulder like a proud dad might.

  ‘You really helped us to put a watertight case together,’ Hussein said. In his forties, he was pot-bellied and had a shiny bald head, a warming smile to go with it. He too came around to shake Dani’s hand. ‘I’ve heard good things about you, DI Stephens, and the whole team on the Clarkson case is very grateful for your hard and meticulous work.’

  Dani was lost for words.

  ‘Well done, Dani,’ McNair said, beaming with pride. ‘Clarkson got what he deserved.’

  What the hell was all this? Had she stepped into an alternate universe? Or maybe this was all a pill-induced hallucination. Perhaps her car was lying in a ditch somewhere off the A435.

  The overt pleasantries were thankfully soon over with, even if the praise had been a brief and welcome diversion. The room took on a more hushed and contemplative tone as Dani explained, as succinctly and with as little emotion as she could, what had transpired at Long Lartin earlier.

  ‘How on earth would he know about the Redfearnes’ party?’ Baxter asked, his eyes sweeping the room as if the question was directed at each one of them.

  Dani had no answer.

  ‘We should look at what relationships he’s made on the inside,’ Dani said. ‘If he really does know anything about any crimes that have taken place or are about to take place that has to be his source.’

  ‘Possibly,’ Hussein said. ‘Unless this is information he’s held since before he was jailed. He mentioned the Redfearnes’ party but that doesn’t mean his information is related to that case. He could have information on a cold case from years ago.’

  ‘Or he could have nothing at all,’ McNair said.

  The room fell silent for a few moments.

  ‘The key question is,’ Dani said, ‘regardless of what he knows, how do we get him to tell us?’

  ‘If he doesn’t tell us then can we not just hit him, and his lawyer, with a charge of obstruction?’ Baxter said, looking to Hussein.

  Hussein sighed and thought about that one for a few moments. ‘It’s not so easy to answer based on the little we know.’

  ‘But it’s possible?’

  ‘It’s possible. Whether the simple threat of that would be enough to get what we want… who knows?’

  Dani wasn’t so sure. Would such a charge even sway Ben, given he was already currently staring at a life in prison? And Daley certainly wasn’t one to be pressured easily.

  She glanced at her watch. Not for the first time, and the move didn’t go unnoticed by McNair.

  ‘DI Stephens?’

  ‘Sorry, it’s just… I was supposed to be at an interview. For the Redfearne case.’

  McNair looked over to Baxter and Hussein.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Baxter said. ‘Don’t let us keep you from your duty. We’ve got plenty more to discuss here but McNair can fill you in later.’

  Dani nodded and was soon out of the room, feeling relief more than anything. Coming out of the prison, Ben’s ultimatum had felt like a huge and personal burden, but with the senior team taking ownership of the problem, Dani could at least try and forget all about Ben, however hard that was.

  As she strode through the corridors of HQ, she checked her watch again. If she was quick, she’d just about make it on time.

  * * *

  ‘Do you make a habit of harassing teenage girls… Mr Davenport?’

  The interview room fell silent. Dani could sense Easton shuffl
ing quietly next to her, perhaps as taken aback by her abrupt change of pace and tone as the others in the room. Dani didn’t look to her colleague. Instead she maintained eye contact with Arnold Davenport, the portly businessman sitting opposite the table to her, next to his no doubt ridiculously expensive solicitor, Amanda Johansson. Perhaps the question, out of the blue, was a bit strong, and a bit unwarranted, but Dani really didn’t care much.

  ‘Mr Davenport?’ Dani said.

  ‘Detective, I’m not sure of the relevance of the question,’ Johansson said, cutting off her client as he opened his mouth to retort.

  ‘Mr Davenport?’ Dani said again, not interested in Johansson’s view.

  ‘No of course I don’t,’ he said. ‘What a ridiculous and baseless question.’

  He looked to Johansson as if to question why she wasn’t pushing back more strongly, but then Dani’s change of pace had very deliberately been intended to catch them both off-guard. They’d already gone through his version of events as to what he’d seen and done at the Redfearnes’ party on Saturday night in excruciatingly boring detail. His version being bland, to say the least. As though the whole thing had just been a small group of friends sitting around a table quaffing fine wine and chatting about who had more money than whom. There was more to that party than that. More sleaze, certainly. Crimes? Dani wasn’t sure. Now was the perfect time to turn things around and try and find out.

  ‘You’re unmarried?’ Dani asked.

  ‘Divorced. Twice.’

  ‘So you’re single?’

  ‘Unattached.’

  ‘Do you engage in the use of escorts?’

  Davenport looked to his lawyer.

  ‘He doesn’t have to answer that,’ Johansson said, a steely glare now fixed on Dani.

  ‘How about prostitutes? I understand—’

  ‘Detective Stephens, that is enough!’ Johansson shouted. ‘You—’

  ‘How dare you?’ Davenport said to Dani, as if unwilling to let his lawyer do his defending on her own.

  His interruption of his counsel gave Dani the opportunity to go again. She wouldn’t let up.