Bad Moon Rising (#1 - D.I. Paolo Storey Crime Series)

by Frances di Plino

  Paolo stopped speaking as he realised the line had gone dead. Damn Barbara to hell and back. She’d left him feeling as guilty as sin for not saving Sharon. He’d done all he could with Larry. Barbara had worked with enough marital abuse victims to know that unless Sharon chose to leave no one could really help her. The police couldn’t go storming into someone’s home unless they were called in or the neighbours complained.

  ***

  Barbara sat opposite Leanna in the pub. At least she’d been able to rely on one of her friends to turn up when needed. After she’d slammed the phone down on Paolo, she’d called Leanna. Maybe, if Larry saw that Sharon had friends who cared he’d be less likely to let fly with his fists whenever he felt like it.

  On the other hand, from the whispered words she’d had with Sharon when she’d arrived, it was possible that Paolo’s talk with Larry might have done some good after all.

  Larry cleared their plates from the table. He seemed to be unusually subdued and hadn’t passed any comments about their looks or their love lives. Something Barbara hadn’t thought he was capable of keeping out of his normal conversation. She watched as he headed towards the kitchen with the dirty tableware and then leaned across the table and lowered her voice.

  “From what Sharon said while Larry was off changing the barrels, he’s been as good as gold recently.”

  “Let’s hope he’s more scared of what Paolo might have threatened him with than you’d thought, but you know as well as I do, Barbara, it’s not likely to last.”

  Barbara nodded. “That’s why I wanted Paolo to come here. To give Larry a little reminder that he’s being watched.”

  She stopped speaking and pointed at the television. Leanna glanced up at the screen. The newscasters were reading out yet another appeal for anyone knowing the whereabouts of Sean Andrews to please come forward. Pictures of him laughing with friends, just days before he went on the run, showed a good-looking dark-haired man with an uncanny resemblance to Matthew Roberts.

  “They look so alike. I suppose they must take after their natural mother. Strange, isn’t it? Neither of them knew her, but they both carry her genes.”

  Leanna gave a bitter laugh. “If he’s anything like his brother, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out he’s yet another woman hater. We seem to be surrounded by them in this bloody town.”

  “Another woman hater? You mean Matthew Roberts? Or are we still talking about Larry? I wouldn’t have said Matthew Roberts was the type; he’s always got an adoring woman hanging on his arm at all the big functions.”

  “Yes, but it’s rarely the same one. He’s a pig.”

  Barbara turned away from looking at the screen to study her friend’s face. Leanna had turned a deep crimson.

  “You’re flushed. Is that from anger or embarrassment?”

  “Both. Matthew Roberts was responsible for the most humiliating thing that’s ever happened to me. I still cringe when I think about it, but it makes me bloody furious as well.”

  Leanna sighed and Barbara noticed her hands were shaking as she took a sip of her drink.

  “I’ve never spoken of it. Never trusted anyone enough to tell them without thinking they might, I don’t know, think I deserved it, I suppose.”

  Barbara touched Leanna’s arm. “Want to talk about it now?”

  Leanna nodded and took a deep breath. “I met Matthew when I was a freshman at uni. He was in his final year of law. We met, hit it off, or at least I thought we did. He was helping me with my studying. I ended up back at his room one night and we almost slept together. Funnily enough, if we had, I think it might have been his first time.”

  “What? You’re kidding? If he was in his final year I’m amazed he hadn’t had loads of partners.”

  Leanna nodded. “I know, I thought the same, but he definitely wasn’t experienced. You know what I mean? He was so gentle and shy, wouldn’t even get fully undressed. I thought he was the answer to a girl’s dreams.” She pulled a face. “Well, who wouldn’t? He was gorgeous looking, well spoken, intelligent, funny – but he turned out to be a complete jerk.”

  “What happened?”

  “We were sitting on the edge of his bed, kissing. He was shaking. Mind you, so was I. Then the phone rang. Jed had the genetic test results and was so excited I could hear him from my side of the bed, even though Matthew had the receiver pressed to his ear.”

  Barbara put up her hand. “Whoa, slow down a bit. I’m confused. Who is Jed and what’s he got to do with your story?”

  Leanna smiled. “Sorry, I need to back up a bit to explain it all properly. I most probably would never have met Matthew, or at least, not socially, if it hadn’t been for Jed. He was a geneticist doing his masters and had put up a poster calling for volunteers for his programme. I’ve always been interested in genetics, so thought I’d go along. Matthew was there, as well as about ten others. He and Jed were in the same hall of residence, so they knew each other fairly well.”

  Barbara smiled. “Okay, at least I know who called, but what happened after that?”

  “Hmm, I think I’m going to have to tell you what happened during the tests, Barbara, for it to make any sense. Jed took samples of everyone’s blood, hair, saliva and other, you know, bodily fluids. The men provided samples of their semen. Jed said he’d use the results anonymously in his research. Anyway, that was the last I’d heard of the tests until that night when I was with Matthew and the phone rang with Jed yelling with excitement about something fantastic and for Matthew to come over to the lab immediately.”

  Leanna fell silent as tears filled her eyes. Barbara took her hand. “Don’t go on if you’d rather not, Leanna. You don’t have to tell me.”

  “No, it’s okay. I want to tell someone, Barbara. I’ve kept this to myself for too long. Matthew couldn’t calm Jed down over the phone, so said he’d go to look at whatever the amazing results were. He slipped the rest of his clothes on and said he’d be right back. The bastard even kissed the top of my head, but he also seemed a bit relieved that we’d been interrupted. It was all so weird. I couldn’t figure him out at all.”

  Barbara was wondering how to respond when she saw that Leanna was shaking and tears had flooded her cheeks. Eyes clouded with pain, she took another gulp of her gin before continuing.

  “I waited for ages, but Matthew didn’t come back. I didn’t know what to do – wait for him or go back to my own hall. In the end I must have dozed off because the phone woke me. It was Jed asking if Matthew was there. I looked at the clock and saw it was eight in the morning. Jed was concerned about Matthew. Apparently he’d reacted oddly when he’d seen the lab results. I asked Jed what he’d told Matthew, but he said he couldn’t tell me. If Matthew wanted me to know, he’d tell me himself. But he was clearly worried about whatever it was he’d told Matthew because he made me promise to get Matthew to call him as soon as he came in. I was now really worried as well, but didn’t know where to go looking for him. I decided to wait in his room until he came back. About an hour later, he came in.”

  She stopped speaking, her body wracked with silent sobs. Barbara got up and moved round to sit next to Leanna on the other side of the table. Reaching out, she put her arms around her.

  “Leanna, honey, whatever it is, whatever happened, it’s in the past.”

  “I know, Barbara, but you don’t know what he did.”

  Barbara looked around. The pub was still virtually empty and the people sitting at the bar were too far away to hear anything Leanna said.

  “If you want to tell me, it’s okay. I’m a safe place to unload. Whatever you say will stay with me, Leanna. I promise.”

  Leanna pulled back from Barbara’s embrace and blew her nose. That seemed to give her the strength to continue because she managed a weak and slightly watery smile.

  “Okay, I’m ready to finish this,” she said. “I was sitting on the edge of the bed. Matthew walked over and dragged me off it by my hair.”

  “What? Why?”

&
nbsp; “Barbara, to this day I have no idea. When he left to see Jed he was normal, when he came back he was a maniac. He was ranting that I was a whore who’d invaded his room. He... he... I’m sorry, Barbara, this bit is really hard. He dragged me to the door and threw me out into the corridor, yelling at me all time. Doors opened and people cheered like it was some kind of entertainment laid on to brighten up their Sunday morning.”

  “Oh bloody hell, but surely he didn’t leave you out there? What about your notes and stuff?”

  Leanna laughed, but there was no humour in it. “When the door opened again I thought Matthew was going to take me back inside, say it was some sort of bizarre joke. But no. He opened the door and chucked my notes and books at me. The edge of one of the books hit here, under my eye; you can still see the tiny scar where it cut. The papers scattered everywhere. Then he shouted to everyone in the corridor that I was a whore and not to touch me because they might catch something.”

  Barbara would cheerfully have disembowelled Matthew at that moment if it had been possible. “What happened? Surely someone must have helped you.”

  Leanna nodded. “The girlfriend of the guy who lived opposite Matthew helped me pick everything up and took me to the hospital to get my cut stitched. It was only a tiny cut, but there was blood everywhere.” She laughed a little hysterically. “So, that was my big romance with the wonderful Matthew and now it seems like his younger brother is even more of a bastard.”

  Barbara thought about the part genetics played in shaping people. Something Leanna had said pushed its way to the forefront of her mind.

  “Leanna, can you remember the last name of the guy who did the tests? It wasn’t Lawrence by any chance, was it?”

  “Yes! But how did you know?”

  “Because I think I’ve missed something and it might be really important. I know what field Jed Lawrence specialised in. He is, or rather was, famous for his research.”

  “What do you mean, was?”

  “I don’t know if you remember, but a few months back the newspapers were full of stories about a world-renowned geneticist who was killed by a hit and run driver in London. That was Jed Lawrence.”

  Leanna turned pale. “I didn’t see that. It must have been while I was in the US. Are you sure it’s the same person?”

  Barbara reached across the table and grabbed her handbag. “I’m pretty sure it was, but I can easily check. If your Jed and the geneticist are one and the same, then I’ve got some urgent research to do – and I have to let Paolo know what I suspect.”

  Leanna’s confusion showed on her face. “I don’t understand. Is it something to do with Jed’s tests?”

  Barbara nodded. “Yes, but I have to check my facts before I call Paolo.”

  Barbara pulled some notes from her purse and headed for the bar to pay for their lunches.

  Leanna followed her over. “I’ve got some time to spare this afternoon, so just tell me what you need and I’ll help you with it.”

  Barbara took her arm and propelled her to the door. “I don’t think we should waste any time. What you’ve told me changes everything.”

  ***

  Dave burst into Paolo’s office waving a computer print-out. Before Paolo could say a word, Dave chucked the page on to the desk.

  “Look at the highlighted numbers, sir. Bloody Matthew Roberts has been helping his brother from the outset.”

  Paolo picked up the printed pages and scanned through the entries highlighted in bright yellow. There were at least ten items – all to the same mobile phone number. Every one of them had been made several months earlier at a time when Matthew had claimed he didn’t even know he had a brother, far less that he’d been in contact with him.

  “Willows really didn’t want to authorise us to get Roberts’ phone records. I wonder what he’ll have to say now. Well done, Dave. I take it there’s been no contact recently?”

  “Not to the number Lizzie Cooper gave us.”

  Paolo’s phone rang and Katy’s name flashed on the screen. She should be in school at this hour. Worried that she might be in trouble yet again, he flipped the phone open.

  “You okay? Why aren’t you in class?”

  “I’ve slipped out. Told my teacher I needed the bathroom. Listen, Dad, I’ve had a thought about how I can find out what Father Gregory’s up to.”

  “Is that all? Jesus, Katy, I thought something bad had happened to you.”

  “Why do you and Mum always think I’m in trouble? No, don’t answer that,” she said. “I’ve come up with a plan to find Father Gregory.”

  “I haven’t got time to explain right now, but forget about him. Where he is and what he’s doing is nothing to do with you.”

  “But, I...”

  “Look, Katy, I really can’t talk. I know all about Father Gregory. I’ll call you this evening, okay?”

  He waited a moment, but Katy remained silent.

  “Did you hear me?”

  He heard her sigh. “Yeah, I heard you. But, Dad, I really think...”

  “Katy, we’ll talk tonight. I have to go.”

  The phone went dead. He was tempted to call her back, but decided to make his peace with her later. He’d no sooner put the phone on his desk than it rang again. He picked it up, saw Barbara’s name and switched his calls to voicemail. As guilty as he felt about not going to the pub with Barbara, he had to stick with his priorities. Larry and Sharon’s problems would have to wait until after they’d found Sean Andrews.

  “What about the night Sean went missing, was Lizzie telling the truth about Sean calling Matthew that night?”

  Dave nodded. “They spoke for several minutes, sir. There’s no way now that Roberts could claim not to have known about his brother. I suppose he could have spoken to him back then and not heard from him since, but then why not tell us? Why pretend he didn’t know about his birth family?”

  Paolo stood up. “That’s a good question, Dave, and one I want to ask Matthew Roberts as soon as possible. I suppose he could have been embarrassed about his background. His adopted parents were terrible snobs, so maybe he didn’t want to admit to coming from a working class family, or maybe it was the prostitute mother he wanted to hide. There’s only one way to find out. Come on, it’s visiting time again, but this time we won’t let Matthew know we’re on our way over.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Paolo and Dave reached Matthew’s office just after five, but they were already too late to catch him at work. Jennifer, Matthew’s secretary, had insisted her boss couldn’t be disturbed, but Paolo had stood his ground. She’d been more surprised than any of them when she’d opened the inner door to find Matthew’s office empty.

  “I can’t understand it,” she said when back in her own office, re-checking his diary. “He definitely has an appointment marked down with a Mr Gordon. He told me it would run late and he wasn’t to be interrupted under any circumstances. If you hadn’t insisted on seeing him I would never have opened that door.”

  As she said the words Paolo got the distinct impression that somehow she blamed him for Matthew’s disappearance.

  “It’s most unlike him,” she said. “He always works such long hours. I can’t imagine why he didn’t tell me his appointment was over.”

  “Maybe he went to meet someone,” Paolo suggested. “Has he ever mentioned his brother to you?”

  “He doesn’t have one,” she said. “I thought you knew that he was an only child.”

  Paolo nodded. “Yes, he was, but only in the adopted sense. He has a brother by his birth mother and we know that they have been in touch with each other. We’ve been trying to find him for some time. You might have seen the appeals on television. His name is Sean Andrews.”

  “Do you mean to tell me that the murderer you’re looking for is Mr Roberts’ brother?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe it. The resemblance is there, I even commented on it to Mr Roberts, but... no, I don’t believe it. When I mentioned how much he looked like that man
when the picture first appeared, Mr Roberts made a joke of it. He wouldn’t have done that if... no... surely not.”

  She fell back into her chair and looked so close to passing out that Paolo sent Dave to fetch a glass of water to give her. When he came back from the kitchen and handed her the glass her hand shook so badly the water spilled over the papers on her desk. She patted at the mess with a tissue, but so ineffectually that it was clear she was in no fit state to be left alone.

  “Is there someone we can call to sit with you for a while?” Paolo asked.

  Jennifer nodded. “My sister. I’ll, I’ll call... I’ll...”

  “Give me the number and I’ll call for you,” Dave said.

  Paolo waited until Dave had made the call before questioning Jennifer further.

  “We need to locate Sean Andrews as soon as we possibly can. You know most of Mr Roberts’ business. Other than his penthouse, does he have any other property? Is there somewhere he might have allowed Sean to hide?”

  Jennifer shook her head. “He wouldn’t do that. I’m sure he wouldn’t. You must be mistaken.”

  Paolo tried hard not to let his irritation show. The woman was clearly distraught, he didn’t want to add to her distress, but somehow he had to get over to her that Matthew Roberts had definitely been in touch with Sean, even if it had been a while back.

  “It’s possible that Mr Roberts is being coerced in some way. Maybe he is hiding Sean Andrews because he’s being forced to do so. Jennifer, if you know of somewhere that Matthew goes, maybe a weekend place or something like that, you must tell us. Matthew could be in danger from his brother.”

  She looked more distressed than ever. “He does have a weekend cottage, but I’m not supposed to tell anyone about it. I’ve never been out there; I don’t even have a telephone number for it. If ever I’ve needed to get hold of him in an emergency I’ve always used his mobile number.”