Brutal Pursuit

by Diane M Dickson

  Nobody was happy with the idea of her driving. She knew that if an emergency ambulance had been called then a police car would be on the way and she could wait for them and have them take her home. She didn’t think they’d be rushing though, and she just wanted to get away from the muggy clubhouse. She needed peace and quiet and room to think. In the end, she agreed to take a taxi and left the car to be collected.

  * * *

  Back in her own house she stuffed the filthy, wet clothes into the washing machine and wrapped herself in a fluffy dressing gown. Against all advice, she poured a glass of whisky, settled back on the settee in the dim room and tried to make sense of what had happened.

  She called Paul Harris. He answered after a few rings, but she could tell he was groggy from sleep. She gave him a brief precis of the events since he had left her at the block of flats. “I’m just beginning to function properly again,” she said. “I still feel a bit foggy, but we need to take action now. I know I should have bloody organised it already, but it was all so confusing. Get a watch out for him. Have a squad car sent to his flat. I don’t know what happened to me, I really don’t, but I don’t believe I was hit by a tree branch.”

  “Are you sure you shouldn’t be at the hospital?” Paul asked.

  “Probably, but I can’t stand those places, and this is a development. I’ve taken some painkillers for my headache, but they haven’t kicked in yet. Please, Sergeant, sort the alert for his van for me. I’ll catch a few hours sleep and then see you in the office. It’s…” She glanced at her watch. “Just after midnight. Let’s get into work about six in the morning. We’ll regroup there. Call Kate at a more reasonable hour, will you? Bring her up to date. God, I just need to have a lie down, just for a bit.”

  “I don’t think there’s any point in searching his flat again, but we need someone out there to watch for him. We have a solid reason now to bring him in; when we find him. I reckon he must have clobbered me. It’s the only explanation I can come up with. Damn it, I wish I could remember,” Tanya continued.

  “Don’t stress, boss. I’ll get an all points alert sorted and I’ll pick you up around six. I assume you didn’t drive home?”

  “Bugger, no I didn’t. We’ll need to send someone to fetch my car in the morning. What a bloody mess.”

  Chapter 53

  Tanya slept. When she woke it was to a pounding headache and sweeping nausea as she lifted her head from the pillow. Her hair was knotted and sticky with dried blood. The paramedics had told her to keep the area dry but there was no way she was turning up at work with her hair clogged and filthy. She stuck a second dressing over the first and managed a reasonable job with it all in the shower. When she pulled the sticking plaster away it dragged hairs from her scalp and the pain brought tears to her eyes. She felt battered, woozy and sore but had to press through it.

  She couldn’t face food, but two cups of strong coffee helped and by the time Paul Harris blew the horn outside she was functioning at least.

  “They’ve found him.”

  She had barely fastened her seat belt before Harris blurted out the news, grinning at her as he pulled away from the kerb.

  “Excellent, where?”

  “M6, on his way up north. I reckon he was heading for home, like a rat scurrying for his hiding place. They’re bringing him back. They’ve impounded the van, and now we have a clear reason to examine it. It was filled with booze and cigarettes, but he’s given no explanation. He hasn’t said anything, just asked for a solicitor. He’s well practised in all this, isn’t he?”

  “He is, but it won’t matter if we find something in his van to link him to our bodies.”

  “Or something to prove he gave you that egg on your head.”

  Tanya touched the sore spot tenderly, she winced. “How does it look?”

  “Like you’ve been clouted with a heavy object. You look a bit off actually, boss.”

  “Yes, I know, but I think I look worse than I feel. Now we’ve got Mulholland I reckon we’re on the way.” Although she had managed to sound upbeat and confident, she mentally crossed her fingers because so much of this was supposition and hope.

  * * *

  They left Jamie Mulholland sitting in an interview room on his own for a couple of hours. He looked tired and bored. He asked for coffee, breakfast, and a legal representative. The duty solicitor was called and when he came there was the inevitable “No comment. Nothing to say.” It went back and forth for a while and it was no more than they had expected. Tanya let Paul Harris and Kate Lewis handle it. She drank more coffee and brought the DCI up to date with the developments.

  It was a long morning and she felt more and more ill as the hours past. By lunchtime, her vision was blurring, and she admitted to herself that she really ought to have some medical attention for what was obviously concussion. But she couldn’t go, not now, not when they were getting somewhere. She called the team examining the van over and over until in the end, the sergeant in charge pointed out that they would be able to get on with it all much quicker if she would leave them to do their jobs.

  “We’ve got boxes of booze and fags,” he told her, “a few tools, not much more than that. I’ve sent a big spanner off already because there was some hair and blood on it. From what I’ve heard that could be yours, Detective Inspector, so you’ll have him. But apart from that, we’re still working on it. Why don’t you find someone else to torment, eh?”

  She could have put him on report for his attitude, but she needed him on her side and truthfully, she had to acknowledge he had a point.

  She walked down the corridor and watched in frustration from the viewing room while Kate and Paul got nowhere with the interview. She was relieved by the distraction when her phone rang and she saw Simon Hewitt’s name on the screen.

  “Tanya, I heard you were hurt; are you okay?”

  “Not really, to be honest, but it’ll help when I get this scrote locked up.”

  “Has he admitted anything, yet?” Hewitt asked.

  “No, but they’ve found evidence in his van. Not the stuff I was hoping for, but they’re still working on it.” She wanted him to go away now, it made her head pound just to talk.

  “Well, look, be careful. You really should see someone. You’ve probably got concussion and you can’t mess about with that.”

  “Yes, I know. I’ll see the doctor later.” She moved her finger to finish the call.

  “There is just one other thing, Tanya.”

  She closed her eyes and waited in silence for him to continue.

  “We’ve had the toxicology report on the suicide… Mr Baker.”

  It wasn’t what she had been expecting and, as she made the mistake of shaking her head in confusion, fireworks exploded inside her skull. She groaned.

  “Are you okay. You really shouldn’t be in work. Won’t you go home?” Hewitt said.

  “I’m fine. You were telling me about Baker.”

  “Yes. We knew that there would be drugs in his system; I think a glass was found at the scene, there was residue.”

  “That’s right. He must have taken something and then settled into the car and let the fumes do the rest.”

  “Well, that’s logical. We found evidence of the anti-anxiolytic that he’d been prescribed. There was something else though. I had them double check before I called you.”

  She needed to sit down, she really wished he’d get on with it. “What else was there?”

  “There was ketamine and cocaine. Enough to knock out a horse.”

  “Bloody hell, really? Well, he meant to do a good job didn’t he?”

  Dr Hewitt hadn’t finished. “With the new information, I had them go back and have another look at his body.”

  Tanya felt the throb in her head as her heart pounded. There was something here, something important. She wanted to scream at him to get to the point. She pulled a chair away from the wall, lowering herself carefully into the plastic seat. “Yes, and?”

  “The
re is a needle mark on his left arm. Nobody had looked for it because it seemed that we understood what had happened to him – sloppy work and I shall be having a word. I should have supervised more closely; the new examiner is still fairly inexperienced. She’s feeling bad now, so she’ll have learned from it, but the buck has to stop with me. Anyway, that’s my problem, well mine and my staff’s, but there will be a full enquiry, the results will be disclosed. I would say he took some of the drug by mouth, there was evidence of it in his stomach. He has a broken tooth. There’s no way to know for certain when that happened, but the rest of his dental work is well maintained.”

  “What does that mean?” Tanya asked.

  “Well, it suggests to me that he was forcibly made to swallow the drugs in the glass and his tooth was damaged in the process. That was probably done to try and convince us it was suicide. We will now re-examine his stomach contents, in case the piece of tooth is there. But he could have spat it out. Once he was subdued, then the heavy sedation was administered by injection. It’s still a vague possibility that he did that himself but there was no syringe, no tourniquet in the car. I took the liberty of reading the report before I called you.”

  “Could he have done it in the house and then walked to the car?”

  “I would say, no. With the prescribed drugs yes, but not with the injected substance.”

  “Then the only explanation…” Tanya paused.

  “Yes, the only viable explanation is that there was a third party involved.” Simon Hewitt was speaking quietly now.

  “Bloody hell. He was murdered and it was set up to look like a suicide.”

  “I’m afraid it looks like it, Detective Inspector. I’m ashamed to say that it almost worked.”

  Tanya slid her phone onto the table and lowered her head onto her crossed arms. She should have made reassuring noises, tried to make him feel better. But she just needed to think straight, she really did, and the pounding in her head, the nausea, was getting in the way. She’d have more coffee.

  Chapter 54

  A few minutes in the quiet of her office helped. Tanya popped some more painkillers, they weren’t helping much. She knew it was too soon, but the thunder in her head wouldn’t let her think, and she really needed to think.

  She heard Detectives Harris and Lewis in the incident room and dragged herself down the corridor. When Kate Lewis saw her, she screwed up her face. “Ma’am, you really should be at home, or better still at the hospital – you look terrible.” As she spoke, she pulled a chair from beneath one of the desks and Tanya sank into it.

  Kate continued, “Mulholland and his solicitor have demanded a break. We still haven’t got very far, but we haven’t told him about the spanner in his van. Once we reveal that, I reckon he’ll see the sense in talking. He must know it was there. I suppose he’s been hoping we’ll overlook it. We’re saving it until confirmation comes back from the lab, so he has no wiggle room.”

  “Okay, keep pegging away at him. But I’ve had a call from Dr Hewitt.” She told them the latest development.

  “That doesn’t fit with anything,” Paul Harris said.

  “I know. It’s another complication. Thing is though, there is a connection between Mulholland and Baker, isn’t there; it’s only slight but they did know each other at the golf club.”

  “Do you fancy him for murder though?” Kate said “Why? Unless Baker really knew more than he told us, and Mulholland was threatened by it. Possible, I suppose. I know you can’t really go by appearances, but I just don’t feel it, to be honest.”

  “Well, he could have finished me off if he’d hit me a bit harder,” Tanya said. “To be honest, the way I feel right now I almost wish he had.” She laughed at the look on their faces. “Okay, poor taste. Sorry.”

  “It’s a bloody tangled sort of a carry on though, isn’t it?” Paul said.

  “Yes, I think we need to have a meeting and get everything straightened out – update the book, sort the boards. There have been developments now and we really have to keep it all straight. We need ideas as much as anything, and I don’t need to tell you that we need them now.” She looked up as a uniformed officer appeared in the doorway.

  “Detective Inspector Miller?” she said.

  “Me.” Tanya held up a hand.

  “There’s a PCSO in reception, she’s insisting on speaking to you. Says she has information about the body in the lake. The female murder victim.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Karen Laidlaw. She’s a youngster, but very insistent.”

  “Okay, I’ll speak to her. Bring her up here, will you? Kate, can you sort the boards with the new information, and then let me know when you go back down to the interview? Paul get on to the lab, see where they are at with the spanner. They should have a blood group by now and if they want some hair for comparison, they can send someone up. They have my DNA on record already, though that won’t help immediately.”

  * * *

  Karen Laidlaw was in uniform and doing her best not to be overawed by her surroundings. On another day Tanya might have been more welcoming, suggesting the woman have a look at the incident room, answering any questions she might have. Although she thought the PCSOs were lacking in ambition, taking an easy route to being in uniform, she would always encourage a young woman. She might even have suggested the girl think about taking the next step and applying to join the main force. Today, though, she just wanted her to say her piece and then leave her in the quiet and think.

  “You have something for me, Officer Laidlaw?”

  “Yes. At least I think I have, it’s not much, well it could be, but it needs to be looked into. I tried to get the sergeant to do something, but it was too late, and he just said that someone else would probably handle it.”

  Tanya held up a hand. “Okay, officer. Just take a breath and try to make some sense. Nothing of what you have just said has told me anything.” She knew she sounded cranky, but that was how she felt, and this didn’t seem as though it was going anywhere.

  “Sorry, ma’am.” Laidlaw hesitated a moment and gathered her thoughts. “We’ve had a young woman in custody. She was involved in a mugging; she stole a mobile phone. She refused to speak even though we had her for a couple of days. We know she isn’t English, but that’s all. Eventually we had to hand her over to the immigration people. Even though she may be here legally, she made no attempt to answer questions that would have saved her being held and perhaps deported.”

  “Where are you going with this?” Tanya struggled with rising impatience.

  “Sorry, I just wanted to give you a bit of background, ma’am. Anyway, as she was being transported, she spotted this.” Karen held up the poster showing the computer-generated image of the female victim. “She said that this woman was her friend and asked me to let her know where they were taking her. It was too late for me to ask her anything, they had her in the van before I had a chance. Then, of course, I found out that this is one of your murder victims.”

  “Bloody hell, officer, why didn’t you just say? Kate, get in here.” Tanya made the mistake of standing too quickly and shouting through to the incident room. The floor tipped, and her stomach churned. She leaned against the desk. “Detective Lewis take Officer Laidlaw and get as many details as you can from her. There is a young woman being held by immigration who can identify our Jane Doe. Get on it, will you.”

  The two women left and as the door closed behind them Tanya slid to the floor of her office with a soft thud.

  Chapter 55

  This time when she awoke, Tanya knew immediately where she was. She recognised the posters on the wall, the pale green paint, and the thin, hard bed that she was lying on. She knew that when she turned her head, Sister Rouse would be sitting behind the desk. The senior nurse practitioner administered anti-tetanus injections, dressed wounds, and decided who did and did not need to be sent to the hospital, all with the same dour expression and cold manner. Years of dealing with antsy detainees
and argumentative officers had soured whatever bedside manner she might have had.

  “Ah, Detective Inspector, you’ve decided to re-join us.” The thin woman in an unflattering trouser suit uniform, grabbed Tanya’s wrist to take her pulse. She shone a light into her eyes. “You’ve been stupid. You should have been at the hospital. You do know that I am risking the wrath of the DCI by having you in here. We should have stuck you straight in an ambulance when we scraped you off the floor of your office.”

  Tanya didn’t answer; she could tell there was more to come.

  “Promise me you’ll go home, now, have a friend to stay with you tonight, and take at least three days sick. It should be longer, but I am aware that you are in the middle of something and we are so thin on the ground you probably wouldn’t stick to it anyway. I’m not in the habit of wasting breath.”

  “I’m okay. Got a headache, obviously, but I think I just needed some food. I didn’t have breakfast.” Tanya knew that she wasn’t going to get away with it.

  Sister Rouse didn’t even bother to argue. “There’s a leaflet here. Read it; it tells you what to watch out for. Any of these symptoms, don’t mess about – get medical care. Now, either agree or I’m having you taken to the hospital immediately.”

  There was no choice and while she waited for Kate Lewis to collect her Tanya read the leaflet, stuffed it into her pocket, and planned how much she would reasonably be able to achieve from home. Though she was frustrated and angry with herself, she had to admit that the thought of her quiet living room and the comfort of home was appealing.

  * * *

  “Do you want anything?” Kate had driven her home and now stood in the narrow hallway, not sure how to behave.

  “Yes.”

  The straightforward response pleased her, and she stepped towards the kitchen, anticipating making tea and toast or bringing cushions and blankets from the bedroom.