Blood Line

by Lynda La Plante

  ‘Well, he must have some if he drives a Lotus, but compared to all this Newton Court is a bit downmarket – and he’s only renting.’

  They reached the fourth floor and as the glass door opened to allow them to step out, a pretty blonde girl was waiting.

  ‘Good morning. I am Sarah, Mr Phillips’s secretary. He’s just finishing a meeting – it shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. Please follow me.’

  They were led through a thickly carpeted corridor with numerous closed doors on either side. She reached the end and opened a door to conference room three. This was a corner room with long windows reaching from the floor to the ceiling. The table filled almost the entire space, with tubular steel and leather chairs surrounding it.

  ‘May I offer coffee or tea?’

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ Anna said, crossing to look out of the window.

  ‘Help yourself. There’s also herbal and decaf coffee.’

  Sarah walked out, closing the door silently behind her. Paul was making himself a coffee and stuffing his mouth with a fresh croissant.

  ‘This is all very swish, isn’t it? Do you want herbal or what?’

  Anna joined him, looking over the neatly arrayed rows of all the various teas and coffees.

  ‘I’ll have a Columbia, black.’ She picked up a chocolate digestive biscuit and took another look around the room. There was a stack of notebooks with sharpened pencils beside them with the logo of the company, A & C, entwined in navy blue. She carried her coffee to the table pondering which chair she should take, and decided to sit in the end one facing the door.

  ‘That’s probably the chairman’s seat,’ Paul said, wading through his second croissant.

  Anna sipped the piping hot thick black coffee; it tasted good. Paul drew out a chair midway along the table with his back to the tall windows. After ten minutes and no show of Michael Phillips, Anna was getting impatient. They’d helped themselves to more coffee and biscuits and Paul had also helped himself to a couple of notepads and pencils. Then the door swung open and in strode the over-confident and very handsome Michael Phillips. He first crossed to Anna to shake her hand and then went to Paul.

  ‘I’m not sure what this is about, but I apologise for keeping you waiting. Have you had coffee or—?’

  Anna interrupted his flow, holding up her cup. ‘Yes, thank you.’

  He spread his arms, smiling. ‘I sit down, do I?’

  Anna was immediately on her guard, not liking his manner. ‘As you wish, Mr Phillips.’

  She then introduced herself and Paul, even though it was obvious he knew who they were. He chose a seat almost opposite Paul, but he drew the chair out far enough to cross one leg over his knee.

  ‘How long have you lived at Newton Court?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Not that long, actually.’

  ‘How long?’

  ‘Eighteen months. It’s a rental property.’

  ‘Long way for you to come to work here, isn’t it?’

  ‘Not really. I have only been with this company four months and previously to that I worked in a Barclays Bank not far from Hounslow. I have no intention of staying there much longer, but I had renewed my one-year lease.’

  He was very slender, wearing a good grey suit with a pristine white shirt and black tie. He was also, Anna reckoned, about six foot two. He had very piercing dark eyes in a chiselled face, with strong cheekbones. His mouth was thin-lipped, which slightly diminished his handsome appearance, but he had thick glossy black hair parted on one side and had a habit of running his slender fingers through it. As she hadn’t spoken for a while she watched him pat his hair, tossing his head back slightly.

  ‘What is this about?’

  ‘You are a tenant and live next door to a Tina Brooks and her partner Alan Rawlins?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you aware that Mr Rawlins is missing?’

  ‘Sort of, yes.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Miss Brooks actually knocked on my door a while back asking if Mr Rawlins was with me, though why she would ask me didn’t really make any sense as I hardly knew him.’

  ‘But you did know him?’

  ‘I’d pass him going to work and sometimes when I returned. He once asked me about my car and we chatted a bit, but I wouldn’t say I knew him.’

  ‘What did you make of him?’

  ‘Make of him? I don’t understand. I’ve just said I hardly even spoke to him.’

  ‘When was the last time you did that?’

  He lolled back in his chair. ‘Erm . . . a few months ago.’

  ‘What happened on that occasion?’

  ‘As far as I can recall, I was coming into the block and he was leaving. He said hi or something like that and that’s it.’

  ‘What about Tina Brooks?’

  ‘I know they lived together, but that’s all I knew about them.’

  ‘So you didn’t socialise with them?’

  ‘No. To be honest, I can’t wait to leave, but it was very useful for me when I was at my previous job in Hounslow. I was working not too far away, but with all the present banking fiasco I was one of the first they let go, so I applied for numerous positions and got lucky here.’

  ‘What exactly do you do?’

  ‘Investments.’

  Anna tapped her notebook and then gave a smile. ‘You look fit, Mr Phillips. Do you work out?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do you use the same gym as Tina and Alan?’

  He nodded and then ran his hand through his hair.

  ‘I was a member at the local gym, but we have our own here in the basement so I didn’t renew my membership.’

  ‘So you must have met Tina there?’

  ‘Yes, she was there on a number of occasions, I think, but like I said I didn’t really know either of them and I used a personal trainer there so I didn’t really mix with anyone else.’

  ‘Did you ever hear any arguments between them?’

  He sighed and shook his head. ‘No. I’m not wall to wall to them but opposite, so even if they had argued I doubt if I’d have heard them. They live in flat two and I am in flat one.’

  ‘Have you ever seen anything suspicious with regard to them?’

  ‘No. I leave early and I get back around seven. To be honest, the block is a bit of a dead zone apart from some tenants above; apparently their cooking smells drift upwards. I don’t think I’ve ever even met them. I know there’s a woman with a small yapping dog and a Mr and Mrs Maisell who I’ve bumped into a few times.’

  ‘But you didn’t know either Tina or Alan well?’

  ‘No. I’ve already said that I didn’t.’

  ‘Your flat is the same size as theirs?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Quite large for a bachelor, isn’t it?’

  ‘Not at all. In fact, when I first looked over the place I was with a friend and it was sort of a maybe situation of us moving there together, but it didn’t work out.’

  ‘Girlfriend?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So you’re not engaged?’

  ‘Been almost caught,’ he grinned, ‘but no, I’m single.’

  ‘Do you have an ongoing relationship now?’

  ‘No, actually I don’t. I’m playing the field, as they say.’

  ‘Did you ever play with Tina Brooks?’

  His face tightened. ‘No – and if there is nothing more you need to ask me, I should get back to work.’

  Anna stood up and gathered her notebook and pen, which she had not used, and slipped them into her briefcase.

  ‘What do you think happened to him?’ Phillips asked.

  ‘Well, we are trying to find out. Thank you for your time. Do you have a card in case we need to contact you again?’

  When he stood up he towered above Anna and she reckoned she’d been out by a couple of inches; he was at least six foot four. He handed Anna his business card as he led them back to the lifts and waited until they stepped inside before moving o
ff.

  ‘What do you think?’ Anna asked Paul, who had not said one word.

  ‘I dunno. He seemed like an okay bloke, bit of the flash type, but he didn’t come over to me like he was lying.’

  ‘Did to me,’ she said as they walked out to her car.

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Come on – think about it. He’s young and around the same age as Alan and Tina, lives on their doorstep, but never gets friendly, drives a Lotus, and we know Alan’s a mechanic, et cetera, et cetera.’

  ‘Are you sure you’re not wanting him to be involved, because it didn’t come across to me that he was lying. He was good-looking though, wasn’t he?’

  ‘Oh please.’

  ‘In a hetero-very-sexual way.’

  ‘We’ll go back to the gym and ask them about him.’

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘I want our heterosexual neighbour checked out. See if he has ever come to police notice.’

  ‘He’s obviously earning a packet.’

  ‘Did you look at his shoes?’ Anna asked.

  ‘His shoes?’

  ‘Yes. Case I was on with Langton, we all missed our suspect and let him walk out on us, but Langton suddenly went crazy. It was the guy’s shoes. He came in as a Drug Squad officer and we were all fooled.’

  ‘What about his shoes?’

  ‘Handmade by Lobb and probably cost more than my week’s wages. Langton was correct; the guy hoodwinked every one of us.’

  ‘So Mr Phillips has expensive shoes.’

  ‘No, that’s just it – they were rundown at the heels. And I didn’t buy his story about why he’s living out in Hounslow in a rented flat if he’s working for that posh firm.’

  ‘Maybe they’re just comfortable.’

  ‘I also want to check out his phones, landline and mobiles, see if he lied about not socialising with our Tina Brooks, check if there are any phone calls between them.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘We also get a search warrant for Tina Brooks’s flat.’

  ‘You won’t get it through without more evidence.’

  ‘Want to bet? The bleach, carpet cleaner then the new carpet she’s ordered – we’ll get it through. As Langton’s been so keen on us following this up, I’ll get him to back me.’

  They drove out of the parking area onto Bishopsgate. Paul was surprised by her newfound energy, unless it was down to the several cups of strong coffee, but Anna was buzzing.

  ‘This is all getting very interesting, Paul. I know at first I was pissed off, but I’m changing my mind as it’s possible Alan Rawlins isn’t missing: I think he could have been murdered. Pity we don’t have a body, but charges have been brought without one before.’

  She gave him a smile and then returned to weaving in and out of the traffic, constantly using the car horn and swearing as they hit a snarl up by Ladbroke Grove. Paul felt very uneasy, and not just because of her erratic driving, although it did make him cringe back in his seat a few times, but rather because of her attitude. Anna seemed pleased about Alan Rawlins possibly being a victim. He himself was not so certain. They still had no real evidence to warrant a full-scale investigation, but he didn’t feel like getting into any kind of disagreement, especially not with a hangover.

  Chapter Five

  It took considerable time to gain access to the phone records for both Tina and Michael Phillips, and it was not until 5 p.m. that the team acquired access to Phillips’s bank accounts. Anna had left messages for Langton to call and she was becoming very impatient waiting for him to respond. She constantly badgered Paul for a result, but when he eventually did come up with the information it was disappointing. There were no calls to Michael Phillips from Tina’s landline or mobile phone. Her listed calls were already noted as she had given details to Anna about where and who she had rung in an attempt to find out what had happened to Alan Rawlins. In response, Anna snapped, enquiring where the records of Phillips’s calls were. Paul informed Anna that Michael Phillips didn’t appear to have a landline but only a company mobile phone, so the records would take longer to compile and check. Added to that disappointment came the financial position of their ‘suspect’, as they were now referring to Phillips.

  Paul was feeling really frazzled. Nothing had shifted his hangover headache, and spending so much time on the phone and then on the computer had made it feel worse.

  ‘Okay – quick rundown,’ he said to Anna. ‘This is as much as I’ve got. He did work for Barclays, but was one of the many made redundant. Previously he’d been with two other banks that went under. He’s not had what I’d call a successful career. He lost half a million with the Icelandic Bank, but he got a leg-up with his present employers as his sister is married to one of the chief executives. The Lotus is leased, by the way, he doesn’t even own that. So renting a place in Hounslow is about all he could afford.’

  ‘So I was right about his shoes,’ Anna said, folding her arms. ‘Does he have more than one mobile?’

  ‘I’ve not checked that yet. I’m still working on his business card number.’

  She glanced at her watch. Paul could feel her irritation.

  ‘What has Langton got to say?’ he asked.

  ‘He’s not returned my calls, but you go off and come in first thing in the morning.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Anna glanced through Paul’s notes and was about to put in yet another call to Langton when the man himself walked into her office.

  ‘I’ve not got long,’ he said, sitting down. ‘I’m really busy.’

  ‘Well, excuse me, but I’ve been running around on this Alan Rawlins business and now I need your approval.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘I want to get a search warrant issued to look over Tina Brooks’s flat.’

  ‘But you’ve been there, haven’t you?’

  Anna filled him in on the carpet order and the bleach purchase, and said that although she had interviewed Tina, they had not had a thorough or even part-detailed search of the flat.

  ‘You didn’t really need my authority, but if you now think that we have a murder then it will have to go through all the usual channels. What’s more, you’ll have to set up a new team as I’ve put the rest onto other cases.’

  ‘I am aware of that, obviously. But as you oversee all the murder enquiries, do I get the go-ahead?’

  He frowned and then stood up, stretching his legs and rubbing his bad knee.

  ‘You able to cope with this?’ he grunted.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You want me to repeat it?’

  ‘No, I don’t, but what makes you ask if I can cope?’

  ‘Because as DCI you’ll head the team. I can look over your shoulder, obviously.’

  ‘When have you not? But I have handled my last case and—’

  He turned on her angrily, leaning against the edge of her desk.

  ‘Don’t you get flippant with me! Just remember, whatever personal relationship we might have had, I am your—’

  Equally angry, she stood up to face him, interrupting him.

  ‘Superior! Well, you tell me if you wouldn’t want a full investigation after what I’ve told you.’

  ‘You have only circumstantial possibilities.’

  She flopped back down into her chair.

  ‘Oh, wait a minute,’ she fumed. ‘You have been the one wanting more details. Basically it was a Mispers case, but because you insisted I look into it, that is what I have done. And now that it looks like a murder enquiry, you start telling me to back off.’

  ‘I did not suggest that.’

  ‘What do you want – to get someone else to do it?’ Anna demanded.

  ‘I am just concerned about putting too much pressure on you. Right now I need all the people I have, but I can allocate another DCI to make further enquiries.’

  ‘I see. So what has this all been about – give her something to occupy her mind, nothing too strenuous – because you think I’m not capable?’
>
  ‘You are more than capable, Anna.’

  ‘So what is your problem?’

  ‘You, Anna. You have been through a terrible ordeal, your fiancé has been murdered, and as far as I can ascertain you have refused to take any time out.’

  ‘What about the previous case I worked on and got a result?’

  ‘Come on, it was a cut-and-dried case – of course you got a guilty verdict!’

  She was so angry she could hardly look at him.

  ‘I thought it was best as you had insisted on returning to work,’ Langton went on, ‘but now I am not so sure. I am worried about you.’

  ‘Well, you don’t have to be. I am fine! And what’s more, I don’t want anyone else taking over the Alan Rawlins investigation. If he is dead, I am damn sure Tina Brooks had something to do with it.’

  ‘You have to be aware how difficult it is to bring charges without a body.’

  ‘Give me time and maybe I’ll find one for you!’

  He glanced at his watch. ‘I can’t argue about this now. Get the search warrants and see what the outcome is.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Langton found it difficult to deal with her. She was so rigid and so defensive, and he really didn’t want to force her into taking a holiday. Yet she was suffering extreme emotional anguish of the kind he himself had experienced when his first wife had died, and he wanted to help.

  She wished he would go. Now she’d got the permission for moving on with the case, she didn’t want to discuss anything else. She looked at him, and then turned away because she didn’t like the expression in his eyes.

  ‘Listen to me, sweetheart. You lose someone you love, and no amount of work can help you deal with the loss. It takes a long time,’ Langton advised.

  ‘You’ve already told me this. Maybe you are projecting your own inability to come to terms with grief. I lived with you, James, and let me tell you, I have no intention of ever allowing myself to form another relationship until I am well and truly recovered from losing Ken. However, what happened with him is over, finished – and I just want to get on with my life, my career.’

  He wanted to slap her, the way she stuck out her chin and clenched her fists at her side. He was only too aware of the fact that he had been unable to sustain a relationship with Anna. He had known he couldn’t give her more than what he had to offer, and it had not been enough. Even now, married to his second wife, taking on her daughter, Kitty, and with a son, Tommy, he was still having extramarital affairs. He also still held a passion for Anna. It was not reciprocated and he knew that, but he also knew that, given the opportunity, he would start up seeing her again – and what made it worse, he actually felt no shame even contemplating it.