Doors Without Numbers

by C. D. Neill

“You are not going to ask me why?”

  “Should I? I presumed you would tell me if you needed to.”

  “Well, half of it is personal, I broke up with my partner and I think distance will help with the aftermath but the other half is because of you Hammond. I can’t work with you anymore.”

  Hammond’s eyebrows rose, he looked at her and waited.

  “You’ve been...difficult lately. My skills, my experience, I guess you could say my expertise, is not being valued enough for my liking. There is no point me standing around waiting for someone to recognise what I have to offer, basically, I feel useless.”

  Hammond was surprised, he believed Dunn to be an asset to his team. For a start, she was a woman and her gender was a valuable resource when it came to interviewing vulnerable or overly sensitive victims. Sexist as it seemed, it was well known that young people often responded to a female rather than a male. The fact that she was a woman without responsibilities at home meant that her mind was always on the job. Secondly, he could trust her. He had often chosen her to work with him knowing she was thorough and persistent, confident that she wouldn’t let him or the team down.

  “I am not sure what to say Dunn, I am not the kind of man that enthuses about my colleagues to their faces, however, I thought we had an understanding that we appreciated what the other could offer. We work well together, your brains, and brawn and my..well, my...” He paused, trying to think of a positive attribute he could claim as his own.

  “Your stubbornness, your conceitedness, your arrogance, shall I go on?”

  Dunn’s face had reddened slightly, she obviously wasn’t joking. Hammond appraised her and nodded.

  “Yes, I guess that too...Don’t hold back Dunn, please, say what you really think.”

  Dunn leaned towards Hammond across the table.

  “When Beech asked me why I hadn’t contributed more to the investigation, I felt humiliated and cheated. I give my all Hammond, and the Robert’s case was no exemption, yet you took over on a one-man crusade without even questioning what I thought was or wasn’t relevant. You were the senior officer so what you say goes, but at no point did you consult me on the investigation other than to give orders.”

  She waited whilst he blustered a reply, before asking her what she would have done differently. Dunn’s reply surprised him, not because she offered any other approach than the one he had already taken, but by offering the perspective of an outsider which was, she reflected, exactly what she had been made to feel.

  “Mrs Taylor’s behaviour during Thomas’s questioning, it seemed rather over dramatic to me. I mean, she was obviously worried for her son but her reaction to Thomas’ account was odd.”

  Hammond didn’t reply, he was remembering the interview. He waited for Dunn to elaborate and refilled her cup as he did so.

  “I thought about it afterwards, even replayed the video of the interview and there is definitely something that caught my interest. Her body language was contradictory.”

  “She’s his mother, it’s natural that she feels guilty that she didn’t protect him, she was under stress.”

  “Yes, but protect him from what? Thomas admitted that Roberts didn’t do anything as such. During the interview, she was using up as much space as possible, she spread her elbows wide on the table, and the next minute she has her hands under the table. It was as if one minute she wanted to take charge of the situation, the next she was occupied with trying to hide something.”

  Hammond looked across at Dunn quizzically. It was unlike Dunn to read too much into things yet her words did make sense to him. Reading body language was a part of the job, a skill that came with experience, but he felt as if he were missing what Dunn was trying to say. He encouraged her to continue.

  “I felt we were missing something. Thomas’ confession explained the evidence but it didn’t explain the motive, at least not well enough. My instinct is that Thomas’ mother knows something that she is not telling us, something that may explain why Thomas behaved the way he did.” Dunn looked at Hammond directly as she spoke, her brow was furrowed as if she were trying to explain as well as she could yet was finding it difficult to convey her reasoning.

  “So, what are you saying exactly? It is possible that she was trying to stop Thomas from admitting the assault, that’s natural.”

  Dunn nodded but her eyes averted Hammond’s gaze, then she looked up at him directly.” No, I think she was frightened of saying anything more than was necessary, it was as if she knew what he was going to say and she wanted to stop him.”

  “So, you think she knew about the attack?”

  “Maybe, I wondered whether she had found Robert’s wallet or his tablets in Thomas’s room and disposed of them after you questioned Thomas the first time, although, she did seem genuinely shocked that you had reason to bring Thomas in for questioning, I think that initial reaction was genuine. Maybe I am just splitting hairs, seeing stuff that isn’t there, but personally I would have spent more time with her, without Thomas being present. It’s too late now, but we failed to pick up all the signs. You said yourself that there were too many questions left unanswered.”

  “Dunn. I never stopped you from doing what you felt was necessary.”

  “Your approach wasn’t objective, it was obvious you were more sympathetic to the young assailant than you were to the victim, who had suffered a terrifying ordeal. He was beaten, then he was left to die, alone. Regardless of whether he was or was not a threat to children, you never considered that it was anyone else other than Thomas Taylor who needed a compassionate response. We can’t afford to take sides Hammond. You were responsible for heading a thorough and impartial investigation, and personally I do not feel that you did.”

  Dunn leaned back in her chair and studied his face for a response. Hammond was silent for several minutes, digesting her words. He found himself agreeing with her. It was true that he had felt protective of Thomas, even though it was apparent that Thomas’ attack on Graham Roberts wasn’t an act of self defence. He sighed and faced Dunn.

  “You are not the first to offer me criticism Dunn, and you will not be the last. I failed you and the team miserably, yet we got a result. In that sense the investigation had an almost satisfactory outcome. At least, we made an arrest and Thomas has been charged. However, I go by my gut, that is what has guided me throughout my career and my instinct is my most valued tool. Call it arrogance if you wish. As for the Roberts case I do not believe that it is closed. Not until everything is accounted for. Thomas Taylor was charged with Robert’s assault with the risk that other factors were being ignored.”

  “You’ve changed Wallace. Over the last year you’ve become this semi-retired PC, you’ve lost the drive, the ambition that I used to admire in you.”

  Hammond appreciated her honesty, he knew she believed what she was saying and felt himself comparing her words to Beech’s criticism. Her honesty showed she had some respect for him which he was grateful for. He said so, offering a lop-sided smile to show her that her opinion was valued, no matter how hard it was to listen to.

  Dunn acknowledged his thanks with a slow nod. “This case you are working on for your friend. I offered you my discretion and my free time, but you didn’t accept my offer. Why?”

  “To be honest Dunn, I haven’t exactly known what the hell I was supposed to be investigating in the first place. I guess I was just attempting to make sense of why Harris had asked me to look at his suspicions. It didn’t seem rational to ask anyone to investigate with me.”

  Dunn seemed surprised by Hammond’s admission, she sipped her coffee and her posture relaxed. “Yet you asked your lodger...what’s her name? Jenny?”

  “Jenny? She’s my son’s friend who needed a distraction and a place to stay. I didn’t ask her to do anything really; she simply enabled me to make contact with a potential witness.”

  “A witness? To what, the suicides?”

  Hammond waved a hand to dismiss the idea.

  “No.
The witness was a former flatmate of a girl who was murdered in ninety-one. The murdered girl had been fostered by the same woman and at the same time as all the despondents who have committed suicide within the last two years.”

  Dunn raised her eyebrows. “You found a link, which is what you were looking for.”

  Hammond updated her on the details of the investigation. He felt as if he owed her, he wanted to make her feel included, to reassure her that her opinion mattered. Which it did, he valued Dunn’s ability to think concisely and objectively.

  “You may need to take me up on my offer Hammond. You can’t go everywhere by bus or taxi. Even if you use me as your own transport services, at least I know you are not acting like a one-man band. You should realise you are getting yourself a reputation as being too single minded for your own good.”

  Hammond retorted that she was beginning to sound like Beech to which she replied it was Beech’s words she was simply reiterating. They bickered good humouredly before Dunn became serious.

  “I got the feeling that this accident of yours is being investigated further.”

  Hammond was embarrassed by the idea that his car had been sabotaged. He had tried to push the thought to the back of his mind since Beech had spoken the thought aloud. Someone had wanted to kill him. It seemed too dramatic to accept despite all other explanations being less reasonable. He was surprised by Dunn’s reaction when he told her.

  “You are a crazy fool! You didn’t tell anyone? Why?”

  “There is, there was, nothing to tell! As far as I know, the car is still being examined; until it is official I cannot go around assuming I am a potential victim. There is no reason why someone would go to such lengths to kill me. Scare me, maybe, but I don’t know who or why so I am not going to start getting paranoid until I am sure the attempt was a serious one.”

  Dunn stood up from her chair so abruptly, her coffee mug wobbled, causing its contents to slosh onto the table. She walked around the table and leaned over Hammond, her face inches from his.

  “Damn you Wallace! Why do you insist on behaving as if you know all the answers! You are being naive. Of course someone wants to kill you! Right now I am tempted myself! You wander around, ambling from one chaotic scene to the next without looking over your shoulder and seeing the mess you have created! Someone wants you harmed Hammond, you need to think who that person is fast! Otherwise, they will succeed next time and it won’t be just innocent drivers on a motorway who suffer, it could be your colleagues, it could be your family! Don’t be such a bloody martyr!”

  Dunn’s eyes were staring at Hammond with such anger; he was taken aback and unsure how to respond. At the reminder of the people who had died at the scene of the motorway crash, he felt humbled and sickened that his arrogance had allowed him to forget them for one second. He felt responsible for their deaths; even though he knew he had done everything right. He hadn’t driven with recklessness, he had maintained the car safely yet lives had ended because he had antagonised someone so much that they had resorted to sabotaging his car with the intention of harming him. His head lowered, he felt his eyes stinging but didn’t want Dunn to see him weak. He knew she was right to be angry but his pride wouldn’t allow him to acknowledge it openly. He waited until she had backed away before he raised his head and continued drinking his coffee in silence.

  “Has it not occurred to you that the car accident and the break-in are connected?”

  Dunn’s voice was quiet and calm, she was standing behind him so he couldn’t look at her but he knew she was thinking, trying to make sense of what he had told her.

  “I guess it crossed my mind for a moment, but it could be simply co-incidence. There is the possibility that the burglar was looking for Christmas presents and didn’t find any so left.”

  “You didn’t get your family any presents?” Her tone was incredulous.

  Hammond ignored her question, he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that she wasn’t behaving as his subordinate, if anything she was showing her disapproval like a frustrated wife.

  There was an awkward silence before Dunn resumed her seat at the table.

  “Ok, let’s consider the possibility that whoever broke in was looking for something other than Christmas presents...let’s also consider that there is a possibility that the same person was responsible for the car damage. They sabotaged your car, maybe not to kill you, maybe it was a warning or an attempt to handicap your progress with an investigation. Whilst you are out of action, they break in to your house looking for something...”

  “Jenny thought the house was being watched.”

  Dunn nodded as if she was aware of this already. “It is a possibility, I looked for a silver Citroen when I arrived this morning but there wasn’t one fitting the description she gave me. I guess we will have to keep an eye open. Where are Jenny and Paul now?”

  She listened to Hammond’s answer impatiently. “Allow yourself the luxury of being paranoid, look out for yourself Hammond. Think about what it is you have discovered that would make someone want to stop you delving deeper. Do you think it could be something you’ve uncovered about the girl who was murdered in 1991?”

  They discussed the possibility but couldn’t produce any theory that would make sense. For a brief second Hammond considered the contents of the box file. He had the file with him at the time of the accident, it was plausible that the same person had wanted to find the file whilst he was in hospital.

  Dunn asked to look at the file. Rather than limping to where he had left it, he directed her into the other room and waited for her to return into the kitchen. They browsed through the contents together whilst Hammond identified the faces in each photograph.

  “It’s unlikely someone was looking for this, there isn’t anything incriminating here surely.”

  Hammond agreed. He pulled out the Offstead report and notes on Rachel Turner, the social worker.

  “You’ve investigated her yet?”

  “No, that was my next point of call.”

  “Well, if I get a move on I may be able to do a discreet check.”

  Hammond smiled at her “Are you offering your skills, expertise and valued experience?”

  Dunn returned his smile.” You may as well make the most of it now in order to appreciate what you will miss later.”

  For some time after Dunn had left, Hammond found himself thinking about what they had discussed. It was the first time he had allowed himself to think about the cause of the car accident. He couldn’t agree that the sabotaged car was an attempt on his life yet at the same time, he could find no other reasonable explanation. He had been selfish to have ignored the warning. What if Paul had been in the car? The idea was too awful to think about. He wondered whether Lyn had been told or whether she had assumed he had been to blame. He hoped not. Her opinion about him still mattered, it always would.

  The house had been ransacked whilst he had been away in hospital, someone had been looking for something and had used this time to explore the house. This meant that they had known they wouldn’t be disturbed. Jenny may have been right, the house had been watched. But for how long? Hammond was relieved that Jenny and Paul were away, at least he was reassured that they were safe. There was a possibility that the same person was responsible for the car damage and the break-in which was a chilling thought. If they had wanted to hurt him, would they have been willing to have hurt Paul or Jenny if they had been at home when they broke in? The thoughts swam around Hammond’s mind and he knew Dunn was right. He had to work out who was responsible and why, before anyone else got hurt. He sat at the kitchen table and wrote a list of people from whom he had received violent threats, all those he had arrested in his career, people who had reason to feel angry enough to strike back at him. Then he read the list. There were thirty three people, all of whom had threatened him with violence or revenge at some point in his career. Then he considered what each person would benefit from his death and drew a blank. There was no benefit to any of them with
him being dead. Maybe a perverse satisfaction that he had been taught a lesson, but otherwise there was no reason for them to have taken the trouble to have sabotaged his car. It would have been easier to have killed him with a passing shot or a knife in the back whilst he was unprepared. It didn’t make sense, none of it did. Hammond sighed and crumbled the list before throwing it in the recycling bin. He got up from his chair and looked in the fridge, even though he knew it was empty. He hadn’t shopped since before Christmas and he needed to eat, it was the only thing that brought him comfort when his mind was occupied with answering riddles he had no hope of solving.

  The phone rang as Hammond was debating whether to order a pizza.

  “So far I haven’t found anyone registered as a foster carer under the name of Goodchild but I think I’ve found something else.” Dunn didn’t wait for Hammond to answer before she launched herself into an explanation for the call.

  “Rachel Turner was registered with the Social Care Council in 1984, she worked with the Kent Social Services for twelve years, until she disappeared in 1999. I found a missing persons file on her. I am certain it is the same woman as the Rachel Turner mentioned in the Offstead report you have in the file.”

  “There’s no other information?”

  “Well, only the obvious, the notes of the police investigation into her disappearance. You want me to pick you up? I can leave now.”

  Rachel Turner’s husband was a slim, intelligent looking man in his late fifties. He ushered the two officers into his home with a welcoming air, and immediately offered Hammond a chair to rest his plastered leg upon. He listened politely as Dunn explained the reason for their visit. They were investigating the background of several people who possibly had been fostered under his wife’s supervision as a social worker. Dunn made no promises to investigate his wife’s whereabouts but she gave no reason for him to believe that the police investigation into his wife’s disappearance had been forgotten.

  Mr Turner seemed nervous of their presence but made it clear he wanted to help with their enquiries.