Truth or Die

by Katerina Diamond

  They were close to breaking him, but they were also close to shutting him down completely. Adrian didn’t want to stop him from talking altogether, so he pulled it back a little. ‘OK. We’ll come back to that. Let’s talk about Russ some more. Do you know where he is?’

  ‘I don’t feel very well.’ Finn’s face had gone pale, exaggerated by the redness of his neck. He looked like he was going to throw up.

  ‘Do you know where Russ is now?’ Adrian repeated the question.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said unconvincingly, the intonation at the end of the statement going upwards as though he were asking a question.

  ‘You don’t have any idea where he might be?’ Imogen pushed further.

  ‘His mum would probably know. She was always on his case to do better, to make sure he didn’t blow his chance at university. He would tell her things just to upset her, especially when he was off his face. Just to stop her thinking of him like he was her little boy still. He wasn’t a nice guy.’

  ‘I’ve noticed something,’ Imogen said. ‘You’ve been talking about Russ in the past tense. Why is that?’

  Adrian couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed. Imogen was right.

  ‘I haven’t seen him in ages and I don’t want to see him again. He is not part of my life any more. The guy is nuts.’

  ‘We’re going to go and speak to his mother again, see if they can tell us anything.’

  Adrian finish the recording and nodded to the constable to take Finn back to holding.

  ‘What do you think?’ Adrian said. ‘He’s weird, right?’

  ‘Seems OK to me. All over the place a bit, but that could be nerves. Then again, I have no point of reference. If you say he’s different to the last time you met him then maybe he is.’

  They walked into the observation room where DCI Kapoor was waiting for them.

  ‘It’s late or early depending on how you look at it. Should we go and see Judith Beacham now?’ Adrian looked at the clock – it was three in the morning.

  ‘Go home, grab a couple of hours’ sleep, get showered and then go and see the mother at first light,’ the DCI said. ‘I wish I could offer you more than that, but we don’t know when the next body is going to turn up and as you seem to have the firmest grasp on the facts of this case, better if you do the interviews at this point – we need continuity right now. You might spot something someone else doesn’t.’

  She was right, there were some cases you just couldn’t walk away from until they were done and dusted. When the threat of people being hurt was imminent, a good night’s sleep was the furthest thing from your mind. You just wanted to make sure that no one else died on your watch.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Imogen pulled up outside Adrian’s house and stopped the car. Adrian paused before turning to her. Still in the very early stages of a relationship, she had no idea what the protocol was now when they were driving each other home, as they always had done. It didn’t make much sense for both of them to drive into work. They were saving the environment. Now maybe the environment didn’t matter as much as setting boundaries.

  ‘What are you going to do now?’ Imogen asked.

  ‘Sleep. It’s been a while,’ Adrian said.

  ‘Oh, okay,’ Imogen tried not to sound disappointed.

  ‘You’re welcome to come in. I don’t want you to feel that you have to hang out with me all the time. But you should know that I would be fine with that.’

  ‘I might be OK with that as well.’ She smiled.

  ‘Come inside for a bit then?’ he said; he had that concerned look on his face.

  She switched the engine off. She didn’t want to be alone right now, the image of Caitlin was still fresh in her mind.

  They both got out and went inside. The house was cold; the heating had obviously been off for several hours. As soon as they were inside, Adrian put his arms around Imogen and held her close.

  ‘You smell like the station soap.’ He gently touched her face and she looked up. She liked the way Adrian looked at her now they were together. She could feel him studying her face and wondered what he was looking for.

  ‘Thanks. I haven’t been home since … earlier.’

  ‘You know, I could use a shower. Come in with me?’ He kissed her.

  She followed Adrian upstairs and he handed her a towel as she got undressed.

  In the shower, she stood with her back to him, his hands working the hot soapy water into her neck and shoulders, and she felt glad that he was grounding her like this, stopping her from thinking about that poor dead girl. She turned and pressed against him, water running between them. She just wanted to hold him for now.

  Afterwards, they lay together on the bed, her hair wet on the pillow. Occasionally he would kiss her forehead and stroke her arm, but other than that they just let the tension of the day slip away from them.

  ‘What are you thinking about?’ Adrian said as she dozed.

  ‘Isn’t that supposed to be my line?’

  ‘Don’t avoid the question.’

  ‘Sorry, officer,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Still avoiding. What’s on your mind?’

  ‘Just wish the world wasn’t so unfair sometimes, you know?’

  ‘We can’t control that,’ Adrian said.

  ‘If we had got there sooner then we might have been able to save her,’ Imogen admitted. It was a pointless thing to say because you could say that about almost every turn in every single case. You just had to follow the case and go where it took you. Not every crime was premeditated, some things you just couldn’t stop. Imogen knew all of that and yet she still couldn’t help feeling somewhat responsible.

  ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there.’

  ‘I’m glad you weren’t.’

  ‘We don’t have a crystal ball. You just have to know that you’re doing the best you can.’

  ‘Am I though? Half the time I’m thinking about my own bullshit.’

  ‘You’re a good policewoman, Imogen. Don’t tell yourself otherwise. It’s been a rough time, both of us have had a lot to deal with over the last couple of years. It won’t always be like this.’

  ‘After everything that’s happened, how can you be so optimistic? My mother spent her whole life alone and when she finally got the man she wanted, she died. These kids are being manipulated as part of someone’s sick game. Not to mention what happened to Dean … and Lucy.’ She felt his muscles tighten at the mention of Lucy’s name. ‘Sometimes it all feels so futile, like whack-a-mole or something. Get rid of one bad thing and another two pop up in its place.’

  ‘You miss him, don’t you? Dean.’

  ‘If I wanted to be with Dean, I could be with Dean, Adrian. You need to believe that I am choosing you, you are not the booby prize,’ Imogen said. She wasn’t lying; she had chosen the job over Dean and part of the reason she’d chosen the job over Dean, she realised, was because of her friendship with Adrian. Maybe she hadn’t admitted to herself that there had always been something more between them. When she’d transferred to Exeter, she had promised herself never to get involved with a colleague again, so she had never even entertained the idea of being with Adrian, until she couldn’t run away from her feelings any longer.

  She let out a big sigh and closed her eyes, hoping to drift off for a few minutes. It had been an exhausting day.

  Adrian broke the silence. ‘We’ll get the people responsible for this.’

  ‘Do you ever think that he’s right? Parker?’ Imogen asked.

  ‘Yes, I do sometimes, but then I remember why I chose to join the police. Because I believe in due process and not vigilante justice. I guess it’s just hard with the things we have seen to be clear-headed sometimes,’ Adrian said.

  ‘You can say that again.’

  ‘I feel bad for Caitlin Watts, too. Even after what she did, I don’t hold her responsible, I know she was forced to do it.’

  ‘Small consolation, I expect,’ Imogen said.

  ‘The
idea of someone deliberately doing that to anyone, making a false claim like that, is hideous. I could almost understand it if it was just one messed-up person looking for attention or something, but to think this was a premeditated and orchestrated accusation made to derail an investigation seems a lot more callous and inhuman.’

  ‘Which is why we have to get those involved. What’s left of them anyway,’ Imogen said.

  ‘We will. And if we don’t, Parker will.’

  ‘How do we keep him out of this?’

  ‘We don’t. If he gets linked to the investigation through the evidence, then we have no choice but to go after him. He knows that.’

  ‘But we’re not going to actually look for the evidence?’ Imogen asked.

  ‘I don’t know about you, but right now I’m glad he’s out there doing what he does. I’m scared that if he wasn’t and if we don’t find whoever is responsible, they would be able to set up shop somewhere else and ruin God knows how many more lives.’

  ‘Doesn’t it bother you that you’re OK with it?’ Imogen said.

  ‘It does,’ Adrian said before kissing her again. Obviously in a move to stop her talking. She was fine with that. She pulled him onto her – his weight on her felt good. They had some time before they had to go to work again.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  For the second time in as many days, Imogen and Adrian were visiting the Beacham residence. Russ’s mother looked surprised to see them. More surprised than she had the first time. Imogen knew when someone was keeping secrets; either something had happened since the last time they spoke, or she had neglected to tell them something important and knew they were back to get the information.

  Judith Beacham welcomed them into the house and showed them into the lounge again. She seemed almost put out by their reappearance, but that wasn’t going to stop Imogen from getting to the bottom of this. This case was really doing her head in.

  ‘Is there something you haven’t told us about Russ?’ Imogen said, getting right to the point.

  ‘Like what? I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘Do you have any idea where he is?’ Imogen asked.

  ‘Can I get you a cup of tea? Or some water maybe?’ Judith said.

  ‘Do you think Russ is in trouble? Do you think he’s done something he shouldn’t have?’ Adrian asked.

  ‘He’s a good kid, he’s just been … Different lately. Whatever he’s done is not his fault, someone must’ve made him do it.’ Judith seemed to have changed her tune since yesterday.

  ‘So, you do know something, something you haven’t already told us?’ Imogen said.

  ‘Please know that I was completely honest with you yesterday, but …’

  ‘But you got some new information?’ Adrian said, his voice softer than Imogen’s. Adrian was always the good cop.

  ‘My parents knew I’d been having problems with Russ and so they didn’t tell me that he’d taken their car again. It’s been missing for over a week. I phoned them last night to tell them you had been. They just didn’t want to get him into trouble either. I was going to call you first thing this morning, I swear.’

  ‘You said yesterday that he had taken the car before?’

  ‘Him and that girl had taken it and driven out to the reservoir at Kennick. I think they went skinny dipping in there.’

  ‘Caitlin Watts? The girl we showed you the picture of?’

  ‘Yes, her.’

  ‘Did Russ have any male friends? Do you know who this boy is?’ Imogen pulled out her phone and pulled up the picture of Finn Blackwell.

  Judith Beacham looked at the picture for a good few seconds before shaking her head. ‘No, I don’t think I ever saw this boy with my son.’

  ‘Just the girl?’

  ‘What is all this about? What do you think he’s done?’ she said, her eyebrows knotted in confusion.

  ‘We’re just trying to eliminate him from our enquiries,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Do you know the registration number of your parents’ car? Do you think you could write it down for us?’

  Judith leaned forward and scribbled on a notepad that was on her coffee table. She tore the page out of the book and handed it to Adrian. Imogen had noticed plenty of times before how women much preferred dealing with Adrian than they did with her. She had never particularly got any feelings of solidarity from any females in her life. She didn’t even have a best friend, never had done, unless you counted Adrian. Which she did.

  Five minutes later, they were stood outside the Beacham flat, the door firmly closed.

  ‘I think I can get more out of Finn Blackwell. We already know they knew each other. I don’t know what it is that bothers me about that Blackwell kid, but there’s definitely something. I think I should talk to him again,’ Adrian said.

  ‘Are you sure? What about this Beacham lead?’ Imogen said.

  ‘Call DI Walsh and ask what he wants to do. If we find the car we will probably find Russ Beacham.’

  Chapter Forty

  Adrian and Imogen got back to the station just as Gary was arriving. They all walked straight in to see DCI Kapoor to let her know what they had learned. DCI Kapoor was putting the phone down as they entered. She had the look of someone who had just been reprimanded. Adrian was all too familiar with that feeling.

  ‘Please tell me you have something,’ she said.

  ‘We spoke to Russ Beacham’s mother again and she said that he took his grandparents car a while ago and hasn’t returned it,’ Adrian explained.

  ‘So, we need to look for this car then. What is it?’ Gary asked.

  ‘Nothing too fancy, just a silver Ford Focus,’ Adrian said.

  ‘Oh good, there aren’t many of those around,’ Gary rolled his eyes.

  ‘It is what it is,’ Adrian shrugged.

  ‘Do we have any possible ideas about where it might be?’ DCI Kapoor asked.

  ‘Well, the mother said the last time he’d taken it with Caitlin they drove out to Kennick in it, so I guess anywhere around there might be a good starting place, plus the surrounding area too,’ Adrian said.

  ‘By surrounding area do you mean Dartmoor? Roughly a thousand square kilometres of land? Brilliant,’ Gary said.

  ‘Can I get you a coffee or something? You seem unusually irritable,’ Imogen acknowledged.

  ‘Am I not allowed an off day?’ Gary asked.

  Adrian leaned against the wall and folded his arms; he hadn’t dealt with bad mood Gary before, but he imagined it worked a lot like bad mood Imogen, who he had much experience with. If Gary was going to share what was bothering him, he needed the space to do it in. Badgering people for information only ever worked when you had them in an interrogation suite and even then, it wasn’t a given.

  Gary opened his laptop and started tapping away. He pulled up several videos on the screens and pressed play on one of them.

  ‘I’ve got something, too,’ Gary said as the video started playing.

  ‘What’s this?’ DCI Kapoor asked.

  It was Hugh Norris’s office and after a few moments it became apparent that it was the murder. The resolution wasn’t great and it wasn’t from a particularly helpful angle.

  ‘What do you think it is?’ Gary said, looking at Adrian.

  Adrian watched as the murder unfolded in front of him. The killer was wearing a hoodie and his face was covered, so there was no way of telling who it was, but still, this was a great piece of evidence, if only to understand the logistics of the crime.

  ‘Where did you get this?’ Adrian asked.

  ‘Gillian Mitchell’s computer. The crime techs didn’t mention there being any hidden cameras in the offices, but there must have been and Gillian had the videos encrypted and hidden inside a ridiculous amount of subfolders – it took me a while to find it. I’ve passed this information on and Karen Bell went to check for the camera. Unfortunately, whoever the cameras belonged to has had them removed. Someone with access. There is more footage though. Most of it’s pretty
dull – just a bloke in his office. Still got a fair amount to get through, but I thought you would want to see these.’

  Gary pulled up the murders of both Robert Coley and Gillian Mitchell in split windows. Same figure, same coldness.

  ‘Fuck,’ Adrian said.

  The Coley murder was particularly long and hideous. The videos were all terrible resolution and in all of them the killer’s face was obscured, even though Adrian knew who the killer was. It was one thing to theoretically understand where Parker was coming from, it was another thing to witness the calm cold-bloodedness of his crimes.

  ‘Whoever this guy is, he’s messed up. He shouldn’t be on the streets,’ Gary said, shooting yet another dirty look at Adrian.

  ‘Can you enhance the resolution at all?’ DCI Kapoor asked.

  ‘I’ve been trying. Crap hardware and lens means it’s not necessarily something that can be enhanced,’ Gary said.

  ‘We’ll never get a conviction from it, even if we knew who was doing it. The resolution is terrible and if you say you can’t enhance it then we definitely need much more than this. You can’t even tell if it’s a male or a female,’ DCI Kapoor said. ‘If we are to believe Finn Blackwell then this could be Russ Beacham. We need to find him. That’s assuming Blackwell can be trusted. What do we really know about him?’

  ‘Didn’t get the right grades, same as the others. Been picked up twice by us before, once when I saw him and another time for causing a bit of a scene in Princesshay Shopping Centre; he urinated on one of the statues and someone called the cops. He wasn’t charged either time.’

  ‘Maybe you should go and speak to the other kids in the halls and see if they know anything about him. They might be able to tell you who has been visiting him or what hours he keeps, when he goes out, who with, if he is an easy neighbour or a troublemaker, et cetera. We need a more complete profile of this boy,’ DCI Kapoor said.

  ‘OK, Ma’am.’ Adrian said.

  ‘Get to it, then,’ she said, beginning to usher them out.

  Gary picked his laptop up and left the room. Adrian shot a questioning look at Imogen, who nodded for him to go after Gary. Adrian rushed out and down the corridor, grabbing hold of Gary’s arm.