Dead Guilty

by Helen H. Durrant

  “Tom!” she called out. “Get one of the dogs in here.”

  Calladine appeared at her side. “Found something?”

  “There’s work being done on this. Engine, allegedly, but the mechanic’s nowhere to be found and look at this.” She pointed at the tools on the workbench.

  “Cutting gear. Why, I wonder?” He ran his hand over the surface of the beam.

  “It’s round here!” Ruth shouted. “A piece of the steel has been cut. It looks as if someone wants to remove a piece from this side.”

  “Mr Boardman,” Calladine called. “Do you have someone who can finish this?”

  Sam Boardman peered closely at the beam and frowned. “This work isn’t on the job sheet. What’s Tyler playing at?”

  Calladine studied the beam. “This has been cut and re-welded a number of times. You can see where the previous welds have been.”

  “I’ll get a welder to take a look.”

  “Very clever!” Ruth said once Boardman had left. “I reckon there’s one or more cavities in this beam and that’s where the drugs are stashed.” Calladine went for a word with one of the dog handlers, and then turned his attention to Boardman. “This Tyler, do you have a description?”

  “I can do better than that, I’ve got his employment record in the office.”

  “With a photo?”

  “Of course.”

  Chapter 40

  “Tyler Dodd has been working at Alder’s.” Calladine had assembled the team when he and Ruth got back to the station. “He worked on the lorries. A good welder, according to his boss.”

  Rocco was looking at the photos that had been taken of the lorry and the supporting beam. “So they hide the drugs inside. They could have been at this for ages. Dodd retrieves and distributes the drugs.”

  Alice spoke. “What about Billy? He was transport manager, he can’t have been oblivious.”

  Calladine nodded in agreement. “We still can’t find him. But given that he’s not returned, we have to assume that he is involved.”

  “Is Billy at the top of this tree?” Alice asked.

  “I’m still not sure.” Calladine frowned. “Billy likes the easy life, a night out, getting away with doing as little as possible. I just don’t see him as a top-notch crook.”

  “Richard Alder has to be implicated. It’s his firm,” Ruth pointed out.

  “I’m not sure about him either, Ruth.”

  “We can’t keep ruling people out!” she glared at him.

  “What we need is to bring in Tyler Dodd, and quickly. The Manchester force couldn’t find him because he was hiding under our very noses!”

  The office phone rang and Alice answered it. “Sir,” she called. “Billy Alder has been found.”

  “Are they bringing him in?”

  She shook her head. “No, sir. He’s dead. They found him in his car this morning, head bashed in.”

  There was a stunned silence. Calladine thought hard. Was this the top man’s revenge because Billy ran out on him? Or a rival gang’s attempt at a takeover? Whatever it was, it complicated matters even further. “We’d better go and take a look. Where was he found?”

  “The waste ground by the Hobfield.”

  “Same as Frankie. Any sign of Annie?”

  “There was no mention,” Alice confirmed.

  Calladine looked at Ruth. “Go and have another word with Joanne. Tell her about Billy. If she does know where Annie is, she might tell you now.”

  Calladine sat down at his desk. With Billy out of the frame, that left Richard Alder and Giles Pennington. With his past, Pennington was favourite. He’d bring him in again. Present the man with the new evidence and see what he had to say.

  “Rocco, bring Pennington in for another chat. I’ll go and have a look at the crime scene before they take Billy to the Duggan.”

  * * *

  Police tape had been stretched around a large area, where the CSI team in their white disposable overalls were hard at work. “It’s to keep them little urchins out,” a uniform explained, pointing at the tape. “But to be fair, they’re upset. Billy coached the footy team and they knew him.”

  “Billy’s dad, Alf, does he know?” Calladine asked.

  “A PC’s gone up there now. His brother Richard’s been told, too.”

  That was good, no need for him to go round just yet. “Let’s have a look.”

  “He’s in the driver’s seat, sir. Whoever did this swiped him with something heavy from behind.”

  “What sort of heavy?”

  “Metal, I’d say,” Natasha said, joining them. “Faint traces of rust in the wound. But, as always, I’ll know more after the PM and we’ve run tests.”

  “Murder then?”

  “Well, he didn’t do that to himself, Tom.”

  “How long’s he been dead?”

  “No more than twelve hours. Can we move the body out now?”

  Calladine walked towards the car. Billy was slumped over the steering wheel, a bloody wound on the back of his skull. “Okay. Let me know when you do the PM. We are desperate for a break in this case — any forensics, get them to me fast,” he instructed. “Have you found any further forensics with either the Barber or Halliwell murders?”

  Natasha shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Sean Barber had been set upon by a mob, that made things tricky. Frankie Halliwell was found in the open. It was muddy and had been raining, so not much luck there either.”

  Calladine’s mobile rang. It was Ruth. She sounded excited. “I’ve finally found Annie. She’s with Sophie at Joanne’s place. I’ve asked her to come in but she’s refusing. Says she’s done nothing wrong and wants to be left alone.”

  “Did she say anything about Billy?”

  “Only that she’d left him.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “I’m in my car outside Joanne’s flat keeping an eye. She might try to run again.”

  “Does she know Billy’s dead?”

  “I didn’t tell her, but she doesn’t seem upset about anything.”

  “I’ll send a uniform to replace you. I need you back at the station.”

  * * *

  “We now know Annie’s whereabouts,” Calladine told the team. “We’ll speak to her shortly and break the news about Billy. He’s been murdered within the last twelve hours. Ideas anyone?”

  Ruth spoke. “The obvious candidate is Tyler Dodd. He wasn’t at Alder’s workshop when we visited earlier, and we now know what he was up to. It’s likely that Billy did too.”

  “Billy runs because he knows the score, has possibly been threatened. If he doesn’t go along with what Tyler wants, he’s a dead man,” Rocco said.

  Calladine nodded. It sounded plausible.

  “We’re still short of someone at the top. Billy’s murder means it wasn’t him. That leaves Alder and Pennington.”

  “Would Richard Alder kill his own brother?” Alice asked.

  Rocco’s eyes were fixed on the boss’s desk. “Can anyone else hear that phone? It’s faint, but I think it’s coming from your desk, sir.”

  Calladine suddenly remembered the phone he’d taken from Dean Laycock’s flat when he’d taken the overdose. He’d intended to get it looked at, but had forgotten.

  He retrieved the mobile from the drawer and looked at the caller. On the screen was one word — ‘Street.’ He picked up the office phone and dialled the techies. “I want to know which mast a caller pinged a few moments ago.” He gave them the number on Dean’s screen. “This is urgent,” he told them.

  “Dodd?” Ruth asked once he’d hung up.

  “I don’t think so.” He showed her the display.

  The techies were on it and got back quickly. “The location of the mobile with that number is Lowermill High Street,” they told Calladine.

  That was unexpected. Had he been wrong, and it was in fact Alder masterminding the drug dealing, and he’d found out where Annie was? It was risky, but he had to know. Calladine rang the number back. The
seconds ticked by. He waited. A female voice answered. “I’ve got work for you,” she said. There was no mistaking the voice. It was Annie. In a flash he realised how utterly they’d been duped. He was angry — with her for what she’d done, but most of all with himself for not even suspecting her.

  The team were waiting expectantly. “Well?” asked Ruth.

  “Lowermill High Street,” he said slowly. “That means . . .”

  “Annie Alder.” Ruth finished the sentence for him. “I’ll tell the PC on watch to bring her in.”

  “She’s dangerous, he’ll need help. Make sure he has it.”

  Calladine sat down at his desk. Annie Alder. The drugs, the killings, was all that down to her? Or did she have an accomplice? And why had no one she had dealt with ever mention that she was a woman? He groaned inwardly. Because she always texted them, that was why.

  Chapter 41

  Annie Alder sat quietly in the interview room. Calladine stood in the adjoining room watching her through the one-way window. He couldn’t work out what had motivated her to carry out those crimes. The drug dealing was obviously for money, which didn’t make sense because her husband was a wealthy man. What bothered Calladine were the murders. Was she responsible for any, or all, of those? He turned on his heel and went back to the incident room.

  “Right. Ruth you’re with me,” he said. “This isn’t going to be pleasant, and I’d value your help. Annie has lied and pulled the wool over our eyes consistently throughout this case. You have spoken to her more than the rest of us, she might open up to you. We need the truth, and quick. This case has dragged on for long enough.” He saw Ruth check the office clock. “I know it’s late, are you okay with this?”

  Ruth nodded. “I want the truth every bit as much as you do. Let’s get on with it.”

  “Annie, you should have a solicitor to advise you,” Ruth said as the two detectives entered the interview room. “We can get one for you.”

  “No need, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  She was confident. Gone was the scared, tearful woman they had become accustomed to.

  “Why did you ring that mobile number earlier?” Calladine began.

  “I got the wrong number, my mistake.” She smiled.

  “You spoke to me. What did you mean by ‘I’ve got work for you?’”

  “I thought you were someone else, the gardener I use.”

  “Rubbish! You thought you were talking to Dean Laycock.”

  Annie looked from one detective to the other. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Dean Laycock’s name had made her nervous. She was pulling at the sleeve of the jumper she wore, tugging it over the palm of her right hand.

  “Have you hurt yourself, Annie?” Ruth asked her.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Do you know that Billy’s dead, murdered?” Ruth asked.

  “No, I didn’t. But me and Billy are over. I haven’t seen him in days.”

  There was no hint of emotion on her face. She didn’t care. A man she’d left her husband for, a man she was prepared to start a new life with, had been killed, and all she could do was shrug it off.

  “You don’t give a damn about Billy, do you?” Calladine said.

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  “I don’t want to go over it again, it’s too raw.”

  Calladine was fast losing patience. It was late and she would run rings around them all night if it suited.

  “We believe you’ve been smuggling drugs into the country in your husband’s lorries.”

  “You’re off your head. You must be if you imagine I could do that!”

  “You weren’t on your own, Annie. You had Tyler Dodd and Billy to help you. Billy get cold feet, did he?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Annie, tell us the truth,” Ruth said gently. “We’ll be here all night otherwise and you’ve got Sophie to think of.”

  Annie looked at Ruth. A smile played on her lips. “You’re right, Ruth. I’ve got to go, Sophie needs me.” She turned her attention to Calladine. “Do you have any evidence against me apart from calling a wrong number?”

  Calladine was not about to let her worm her way out of this. He stood up. “We’ve not finished yet. Keep an eye on her,” he told the uniform.

  “She’s right,” Ruth grumbled as they walked down the corridor. “We have nothing concrete. No Dodd, Billy’s dead, so no statement from him. Do you think Dean Laycock will identify her?”

  “Unlikely, Ruth.”

  Calladine was annoyed, too. All along he’d known Annie was playing her own game but not once did he think she was their ‘Mr Big.’

  “It’s not going well,” he told Rocco and Alice back in the incident room. “We need more than that phone call to throw at her. She might look sweet and innocent, but Annie Alder is far from that, believe me.”

  “I’ve rung the Duggan, guv,” Rocco said. “CSI have completed their search of Alder’s workshops. They found cocaine residue in the cavities in that flatbed. Julian says to give him another hour and he may have something we can use.”

  Good old Julian, that was if there was anything to find. Calladine sighed wearily.

  “Oh, and Bill Geddes is waiting for you downstairs,” Rocco added.

  “I’ll go and see what he wants. He might have something useful, he did give us Andrew Harvey. We’ll take a break and try again,” he told Ruth.

  Geddes was sitting in reception, a large envelope in his hands. “Inspector Calladine, I’ve got something for you.”

  Calladine took the envelope from him. “What’s this?”

  “Something you’ll find useful. I picked up a lot of useful skills being with the group. How to blend into the shadows for one. I’ve been watching you. For days now I’ve been on your tail,” he admitted. “But I drew the line at following you to Wales.” He smiled.

  This was news to Calladine. He’d had no idea he’d been followed.

  “I’ve also spoken to people you interviewed. Most were cagey, but Alf Alder was happy to talk. The night the ambulance carted off that lad, I hung around outside.”

  “I left a uniformed officer watching that flat, he never reported seeing you.”

  Geddes laughed at the surprised look on Calladine’s face. “He wouldn’t, like I said, I’m good at not being seen. I’ve had a lot of practice recently.”

  “I thought you’d done with all that.”

  “I have. I’ve ditched the vigilantes. I haven’t the stomach for it, as I said. But I still need justice for my boy. I couldn’t just let it drop. He was part of something much bigger than simple bullying. I worked that much out.”

  “You were taking a risk.”

  “It’s my neck on the line,” he said. “Anyway, I was round the back of the car park. I waited for an hour or more and then decided to go home. I walked over the waste ground back to the town.”

  “You saw who killed Billy Alder,” Calladine said.

  “I certainly did, and it came as a shock I’ll tell you. I would have intervened, but it was too late, the bloke was already dead.”

  Calladine opened the envelope and pulled out a sheaf of photographs. There were at least ten. One caught his eye. Annie Alder closing the driver’s door. She was dressed in dark clothing and wearing a hoodie, but there was no doubt it was her. She was turned face-on towards the camera.

  “What she did sickened me, I couldn’t let it go. I followed her. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I toyed with the idea of tackling her, but thought better of it. That’s one dangerous lady. Halfway along Leesdon High Street, she threw this in a bin.” He held up a bloodied wrench in a plastic bag. “It was far enough away from the crime scene, I bet she thought it’d never be found.”

  * * *

  Calladine sent the wrench straight to Julian at the Duggan. He wanted proof that it had Billy Alder’s blood on it, and, with luck, there might be fingerprints. />
  “We’ve got her,” he announced to the team. “Bill Geddes saw Annie kill Billy. He’s been following us, was anyone aware of that?”

  They shook their heads. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Ruth admitted. “Losing his son like that cut him to shreds. He’s had no closure, no one has been prosecuted. This is his way.”

  “We have photos too. I intend to charge Annie Alder with Billy’s murder and lock her up overnight. Tomorrow we’ll have the results off Julian. Let’s see her wriggle out of this one.”

  Calladine packed up for the night on a high. Annie had screamed the place down when he’d charged her. Flew at him in a rage, shrieking that she didn’t do it. Calladine had phoned Richard Alder and told him to pick up his daughter. He’d been shocked, admitted that never in a million years would he have suspected her. But he was thrilled to have Sophie home and safe.

  “Calladine, congratulations.” It was DCI Birch. “You’ve got your breakthrough, I believe.”

  “Yes ma’am. A member of the public came forward with vital evidence.”

  “An update for you. It will be common knowledge soon enough but for now, keep it to yourself. Isaac Chesworth has resigned. It won’t stop the investigation — he was receiving regular payments from an account in the name of Wendy Jones.”

  “An alias of Annie Alder’s. She was paying him to turn a blind eye.”

  “And to ensure that if there were any hiccups at the ports, they were rectified swiftly.”

  “Does that mean you’re staying with us, ma’am?”

  “No, I’m still leaving in a couple of months. I suggest you get your application in for DCI.”

  Chapter 42

  Day 10

  “Julian must have been working through the night,” Calladine told the team. “We owe him. Annie Alder’s prints were on that wrench and they found traces of both hers and Billy Alder’s blood.”

  Ruth looked confused. “How did Annie’s blood get on it?”