For All Our Sins: A gripping thriller with a killer twist (DCI Claire Winters, Book 1)

by T. M. E. Walsh

  ‘Carry on.’

  ‘We’ve positively identified the man as being Adrian Brown.’

  Before Matthews could continue, Michael spoke up. ‘What has this got to do with Wainwright?’

  Matthews sucked in air and flushed. He looked at Claire for encouragement and she raised her hand at Michael to be silent.

  ‘I looked in to Brown’s other listed tenants occupying the flats in Swanton Place. I double-checked the list myself when I came up with one resident in particular, Amelia Williams.

  ‘I believe you’ve already questioned her but, and I hope you don’t think it hasty of me, I spoke to Brown’s PA this morning. I asked her if there’d been anything unusual in the last few weeks with Brown and his behaviour. She mentioned that Williams had come into the office for a meeting with Brown and caused some kind of commotion. He then left the office saying he had a hospital appointment, which he hadn’t mentioned previously. His PA thought it strange because normally, if he would be away from the office, he would tell her in advance.’

  ‘Which hospital?’

  ‘She didn’t know.’

  ‘Is Williams or this relevant?’ Stefan cut in, looking at Claire.

  She sat back in her chair. ‘Her name keeps coming up. Is she the common denominator?’

  She pulled out her file on Amelia and passed it to Stefan. ‘She was a former foster child of Mark Jenkins, the RS teacher, who was the last person to see Wainwright alive. She also attended Shrovesbury Manor, where Wainwright volunteered when he wasn’t looking after his own church.’

  Stefan looked up from the file notes. ‘And she lives in the same block of flats where Miller was found with his chest cut open.’

  ‘Like Wainwright,’ Michael added.

  ‘Well, Matthews,’ Claire said, ‘we could have something here but my problem is Hargreaves. Where does he slot in to all this?’

  ‘That’s the killer question we need answers to and I’d pay him a visit but…he’s gone missing.’

  Claire bolted upright in her seat, making all three men jump.

  ‘Missing!’

  ‘Dropped off the radar.’

  ‘How can he just drop off the radar, Matthews? He’s not exactly incon-fucking-spicuous, is he?’

  ‘I’ve got the team working on it. His van was last seen in Haverbridge industrial area. That’s all we have so far, but I think all these facts link together somehow,’ he said, his voice rising to match hers.

  Claire took a deep breath and glared at all of them.

  ‘OK, I want Hargreaves located. What’s his significance with Adrian Brown? Matthews, that’s your job. Find out who Brown’s mobile network provider is. I want a list of incoming and outgoing calls made in the last two months.

  ‘Stefan, go to all the local hospitals within a ten-mile radius. See if any of them have a record of Brown in the last few weeks.’ She paused and looked at Michael. ‘Diego, you’re driving. I want to talk to his PA.’

  CHAPTER 54

  Mary Harris looked shaken, her face ashen, and her eyes red from crying. She pulled her tissue from under the cuff of her cardigan and blew her nose.

  Claire eyed her desk and dismissed most of the clutter of stationery, files and food wrappers until she caught sight of a picture taken at an office party, crudely pinned to the partition wall of a row of desks beside her.

  It showed Mary draping her arm around Adrian and smiling for the camera. Adrian’s arm appeared to be circled around her waist, and even though there were other employees around them, posing for the same picture, Claire guessed there could be more to this than she first thought.

  ‘Do you know who did this?’ Mary sniffed, looking up at Claire. Michael handed her a fresh tissue from the box sitting next to her. She took it and mouthed a thank you.

  ‘Did what?’ asked Claire.

  She’d seen the minimal press coverage and so far the fact they now had yet another brutal murder on their hands had not been leaked. Adrian’s death was being portrayed as a terrible accident.

  ‘We’re not treating this as arson just yet.’

  Mary ignored her and stared into space. Looking at Claire, Michael rolled his eyes and took the lead.

  ‘Were you and Mr Brown close?’

  ‘Adrian was a good guy,’ Mary said, sniffing into her tissue. ‘I know everyone’s saying what a self-righteous prick he was but they don’t know him like I do…sorry, did.’

  ‘So he wasn’t well liked?’

  Mary shook her head. ‘People just didn’t understand him. Once you got to know him, he was a nice guy.’

  Claire looked around the office. She studied the other members of staff and noticed none of them seemed at all cut up over the news of Adrian’s death. They were just a bit quiet but she guessed that had more to do with her and Michael’s presence than grief.

  ‘Can you believe they didn’t even let us have today off over this?’ Mary said, more as an open question than to anyone in particular.

  ‘I spoke to your area manager before we got here. He said you all had a minute’s silence this morning,’ said Michael. Mary shrugged her shoulders and looked at her computer. ‘I’m sure everyone’s just in shock but you can’t stop all business because of one tragedy.’

  Mary cried fresh tears into her sodden tissue and Claire rolled her eyes at him for his tactless remark. Mary was also drawing a lot of unwanted attention from other staff, so Claire leaned forward and put her hand on her shoulder.

  ‘I think we should go somewhere more private, if that’s OK with you, Miss Harris?’

  Mary nodded and she showed them into a small, stuffy room, usually used for in-house meetings. Claire wasted no time in firing off her questions.

  ‘You mentioned to my colleague Inspector Matthews over the phone this morning that Adrian had gone to hospital suddenly the other week.’

  Mary nodded, wiping her eyes on a fresh tissue.

  ‘He wouldn’t tell me why, but I knew something bad had to have happened to him. It was out of character… He depended on me. If he’d been ill he would’ve asked me to call someone.’

  ‘You said he’d had a visit from one of his tenants.’

  ‘Yes. Amelia Williams. He wasn’t scheduled to meet her but she called and demanded to see him later in the day. I booked her in and forgot to tell Adrian. He was angry with me, but I had so much to do that day I just forgot and—’

  ‘Just stick to the basics, please,’ Claire said, cutting her off mid-sentence. ‘You say Williams demanded to see Adrian. Do you know why?’

  Mary tried to recall everything in detail. ‘She wouldn’t say. She got really angry when I tried to schedule her for another day.’

  ‘What did she say?’ Michael asked.

  ‘It’s not so much what she said,’ Mary replied, feeling a little stupid. ‘It was more how she said it… I knew I shouldn’t cross her.’

  Claire and Michael exchanged glances.

  ‘Mary, why don’t you start from the moment Williams arrived? Take us through what happened,’ said Claire, pulling out her notebook. Mary nodded, and took herself back to that afternoon.

  After she’d explained the details, her face had turned white. She got up and poured herself a cup of water from the cooler in the corner of the meeting room, and sat down again. She took a few sips before setting the cup down.

  ‘On Monday, Adrian was acting weird,’ she continued without prompting. ‘He came in and looked like he hadn’t had much sleep. He sat in his office for a while without asking me to make him his coffee.’ Mary looked up at Claire. ‘Usually it’s the first thing he’ll ask me for. Anyway, when he did emerge he asked for the file for Williams’s flat, then locked himself away for a bit.’ She paused to drink some more water.

  Michael and Claire watched her carefully. Mary seemed to be in her own world, alone without them, until at length she spoke again. ‘You know the last time Adrian spoke to me was in an email. I remember being angry about it.’

  ‘What did it sa
y?’ Claire asked.

  Mary looked up at her. ‘Does it matter now?’

  ‘It could offer us some insight as to Adrian’s state of mind before he died. It’s important. Whatever details you can give us, no matter how insignificant you may think it is, you must tell us.’

  Mary nodded. ‘Wait here a minute,’ she said, before leaving the room.

  In her absence, Michael turned to Claire. ‘This is getting us nowhere fast.’

  He wiped his face with his hand, waiting for her to agree with him. She offered no support; instead she watched Mary returning a minute or so later, a piece of paper in hand.

  ‘Here,’ she said.

  Claire read the email and handed it to Michael. ‘Is this typical of something he might’ve sent to you?’

  Mary shook her head. ‘No, not Adrian. Not to me at least. I mean sure, he could be blunt and to the point sometimes but never so… I struggle for the right word.’

  ‘Rude, perhaps?’ Claire offered.

  ‘Exactly,’ Mary said, smiling a little.

  Claire looked at the email again. ‘Can I keep this?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Also, can I ask you to bring me the file you gave Adrian on Monday for Williams’s flat?’

  ***

  It was getting near closing time by the time Claire and Michael had sifted through the file Mary had brought them. Michael sat back in his chair and flexed his fingers, cracking them, making Claire cringe.

  ‘I wish you wouldn’t do that.’

  He looked at her and then cracked the fingers on the other hand, grinning as she shot him a look. She was about to retaliate with words but stopped herself as Mary put her head behind the door.

  ‘Sorry, but the office is closing in about ten minutes.’

  Claire nodded and waited until the door was closed again. ‘I’d put money on the fact there was something going on between them.’

  Looking up from his notes, Michael raised his eyebrows. ‘Maybe she just wanted there to be more.’

  ‘I know these things,’ she said, then fell silent when she realised what she’d said. Michael put down his pen and looked at her. He ran his hands through his hair.

  ‘I’ve had enough.’

  Claire glared at him. ‘Of what?’

  ‘Of clutching at straws,’ he said, pointing at the file. ‘What’re we looking for exactly?’

  Claire mulled over the question before answering. ‘I’ll know when I see it.’

  ‘Oh that’s really helpful.’

  Claire ignored him and it wasn’t until the last few pages of the file that she noticed something. ‘This file is incomplete.’ Michael looked up, vaguely interested, and glanced at the page.

  ‘How can you tell?’

  Claire turned the pages around for him to have a better view and marked out a few sections on the pages in front of him with her pencil. ‘Here, here and here… The sums and figures are incomplete. They don’t tally right either. Do the maths.’

  Michael studied the page of numbers and breakdowns regarding the monthly rent. ‘I was terrible at maths, I’ll take your word for it.’

  Claire ignored him and glanced at her watch. She got up from the table and left the room. She found Mary sitting by her computer.

  ‘Mary, do you know Adrian’s password for his PC?’

  CHAPTER 55

  As Matthews entered the farmhouse, he saw the blood spatters across the walls and floor. He prepared himself for the worst.

  When he’d received the call that a local boy had found a van with three dead men inside, matching the description of known associates of Gavin Hargreaves, he’d immediately driven down to the crime scene himself.

  He’d had a brief look inside the van and recognised one of the men, but had moved inside, and hoped the body he was about to see was not Hargreaves, as the SOCOs had been saying. He needed him alive and able to talk if he was to bring any justice to his past victims.

  Once suited up, Matthews had entered the farmhouse and peered into the bedroom.

  He now saw the familiar shape of Gavin Hargreaves lying on the floor with a pool of dried blood around his head. Matthews stared at the bloody scene and swore, smashing his hand against the door in frustration.

  His outburst startled Dr Danika Schreiber, who’d been standing with her assistant. She pulled off her gloves as she approached him. ‘I know this is the worst possible thing to have happened right now.’

  Matthews looked at her and shook his head. ‘We were that close to bringing him in,’ he said, gesturing a small space with his fingers. ‘Now the bastard’s dead.’

  Danika saw the anger in his face. ‘Do you want a brief breakdown so far?’

  He nodded, his eyes still focused on Hargreaves’s body.

  ‘My initial estimation is that he died from trauma to the head, probably caused as a result of falling from the bed. Judging by the pooling of the blood, spatter and position of the body, he died there instantly. He hasn’t been moved.’

  Matthews nodded, struggling to take in and process the information. Danika guessed he still hadn’t heard about the wounds sustained before death so she pulled him to one side.

  ‘I need your full attention, David,’ she said, her eyes serious. ‘Just looking at what’s in front of me, I’m guessing Hargreaves and his men had someone tied up in here.’

  Matthews’s face dropped.

  ‘Shit, I’ve just been reeling from seeing him like this. I hadn’t even thought about why he’s here.’

  Danika put her hand on his shoulder. ‘It’s OK.’ She moved him back through to the kitchen area. ‘Hargreaves suffered before he died.’

  ‘Suffered?’

  ‘His tongue has been bitten off, and his eyes gouged out, probably by someone’s fingers.’

  ‘Jesus Christ…’ His eyes widened at her words. ‘By who? Whoever you say they had tied up in here?’

  ‘I’m not sure, but by the way the bed sheet is tangled, I can tell there was a struggle. There’s some dirt on the bed, from a shoe probably, judging by the shape. SOCOs have found some fibres which look like they came from rope, and judging by the heavies piled in the van, I’m guessing they transported someone in the back and into here for God knows what.’

  Matthews glanced out to the courtyard and looked at the van, its back doors still open. ‘Have you looked in there yet? Checked the bodies?’

  She shook her head. ‘I’ve not had a chance… Do you know how busy I’ve been with all these bodies mounting up? Seriously, what’s going on?’

  Matthews ignored her and looked back inside the room at Hargreaves’s body. ‘We’re in serious shit,’ he said to himself. Danika watched him carefully, and tried to think of something that might help.

  Then she remembered the photograph.

  ‘I might have something. Wait here.’

  Matthews said nothing but watched her speak to a SOCO, who handed her an evidence bag. She brought it to Matthews.

  ‘We found this in his wallet.’

  Matthews stared at the small passport-sized photograph through the clear bag and pulled his mobile from his jacket pocket.

  As he waited for someone to pick up at the other end of the line, he stared back at the pretty girl in the photograph, whose bright green eyes stared hard back into his.

  CHAPTER 56

  Claire ignored her BlackBerry as it rang in her pocket. She waited for Mary to type in the password for Adrian’s PC. She watched the letters that she typed.

  ‘Shakespeare1564… That’s the password?’

  Mary shrugged and smiled. ‘Like I said, there was so much more to Adrian than people thought.’ She returned her attention to the monitor in front of her.

  ‘Adrian kept all the files on our in-house system but also kept backups in his personal files, or rather I did it for him. He was hopeless at saving stuff.’ She accessed the main drive and selected a series of Excel files.

  ‘All the account information is here?’ said Claire. Mary no
dded and got up from the chair, so Claire could sit. She instantly began sifting through information. Michael watched from over her shoulder. Claire looked at him after a few minutes.

  ‘There’re certain files missing for Amelia’s rent account. Look, the dates don’t match.’

  Michael moved her hand from the mouse and used it to access the Recycle Bin, but it showed empty. He then right clicked the Tenant Account file and checked the Properties.

  ‘This was last updated on Monday, at nine-forty.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Mary asked from behind them.

  ‘It means Adrian was hiding something in the accounts figures,’ Michael said, turning to face her.

  Claire went to speak but her BlackBerry rang again, and she fished it out from her pocket and answered it. Michael saw her face turn serious. ‘Everything all right?’

  ‘You’re serious?’ she said into the phone. She looked at Michael and held up her finger for him to be silent. ‘Bring her in,’ she continued. ‘Arrest Amelia Williams immediately.’ After a few seconds she hung up and swore.

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘That was Matthews. It’s Hargreaves. He’s been found dead… Murdered, to be more precise.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Michael said, his voice not hiding his frustration. Claire looked at him, her face serious.

  ‘A photograph of Williams was found in Hargreaves’s wallet. She bloody knows something.’

  ‘A photograph? That’s weak at best.’

  ‘She’s the only specific suspect we have right now.’

  ‘I think maybe we need to be looking closer at Chloe Jenkins.’ Claire turned to him, surprised. ‘She grew up with Amelia. That Manor was her stomping ground for a while. She knew Wainwright.’

  ‘OK,’ she said, folding her arms. ‘So what does she have to do with Gavin Hargreaves?’ When Michael’s face looked blank, she arched her eyebrow. ‘Exactly.’

  ‘I’m just saying she’s worth looking at again.’

  Claire chewed at her bottom lip. ‘Right now we get Amelia in. I’ll speak to DC Harper about Chloe Jenkins. Leave it with me.’

  Claire walked out of Adrian’s office and Mary followed.