Twisted Justice: A combined investigation. DI Lorne Warner and DI Sally Parker (Justice series Book 13)

by M A Comley

  “I think I understand, yes. I’m sorry this has happened to you, Allan. Would you be prepared to help us more with our enquiries? It might go a long way to making up for the shame you’ve suffered at the hands of this woman.” Lorne cringed at her words. However, by the way Allan was cringing himself, she knew she’d hit a nerve. Sometimes laying the facts out bare for folks spurred them to set off on their own journey of revenge. She’d used the ploy to great effect over the years.

  “Nothing would give me greater satisfaction, Inspector. I’m just not sure my heart could stand the stress such activities would entail.”

  “Are you saying that you’re in ill health, Allan?”

  “I am. Which is why she pounced, I suspect. Unlike her other husbands, who are now both pushing up daisies, I had the courage to escape her treacherous clutches.”

  Lorne glanced at Katy and raised an eyebrow. “At a significant cost, it would seem,” Lorne stated.

  “Indeed. I have to ask what crime you’re investigating, Inspector?”

  “Murder,” Lorne replied bluntly.

  Allan’s eyes widened. “Why am I not surprised to hear you say that? Would I know the person who has been murdered? Is that why you’re here?” He gasped. “It’s not her, is it?”

  Lorne smiled. “No, it’s not Claire Knight, although it is a member of her extended family. Ryan Timcott.”

  “Ryan! Jesus. How?”

  “His boat exploded off the Kent coast on Sunday.”

  Allan shook his head in bemusement. “I wasn’t aware he had a boat. What was he doing off the Kent coastline if he lives in Norfolk?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The boat was new. We have a few witnesses who have given us statements that Ryan left the marina with two women aboard his boat. However, only Ryan’s body was found on the vessel.”

  “How strange. Forgive me if I’m missing something here, but how do you know it was murder and not just an unfortunate accident?”

  “Because of the nature of Ryan’s injuries—we can’t go into details on that. Were you and Ryan close?”

  “I’ve had business dealings with him in the past. Apart from meeting up at the odd family gathering, I wouldn’t call us close.”

  “I see. Sorry, I should have asked what line of business you are in.”

  Seeming agitated, he began to pace the floor. “I was, before I met that confounded woman, in the banking business.”

  “And now?”

  “How many bank managers do you know, Inspector, who live in squalor like this?”

  “You’ve got me there. So what happened?”

  “I got suspended, that’s what. All because I fell in love with Claire Knight, or was it lust? I’m not sure. All I know is that she had some kind of spell over me.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Allan, but why the suspension?” Lorne hated urging the man to revisit his traumatic past, but she felt it was their best shot at delving into what made the woman tick.

  He paused for a few seconds then responded with venom, “She wanted me to rob my own bank.”

  “What? And did you?”

  “No. I would never do such an abysmal thing. I only had a few years to go before I received a substantial pension. It would have been foolish of me to jeopardise losing that after serving the bank for thirty years.”

  Lorne scratched the side of her face as she contemplated his answer. “So why did they suspend you? I’m confused.”

  “Because some kind soul, not mentioning any names, informed the bank of my intention. Only, nothing could be further from the truth.”

  “Claire? You think she dobbed you in?”

  “Who else? She was livid when I refused to go along with her wishes. The bitch had it all meticulously planned out. If nothing else, she’s an excellent planner.”

  “I don’t suppose you can lay your hands on these plans? We could use it as evidence against her.”

  “No. I was that disgusted when she showed them to me, I threw them in the open fire. She was bloody furious. Came at me like a bloody madwoman. I’d never seen that side of her up until then.”

  “How long were you married, Allan?”

  “Just over a year. The best and worst year of my life. We travelled to several exotic places I’d never dreamed of visiting before. I thought she truly loved me. Little did I know that she had ensnared me in her web and that her intentions would ultimately be of the unlawful variety. I’m a law-abiding citizen. I abhor any kind of deceit, Inspector. Now I’ve lost everything because I stupidly trusted and fell head over heels in love with a powerfully manipulative woman.”

  “I really am sorry that you got caught up with this woman. Wouldn’t you feel better if you helped us bring her to justice?”

  “Nothing would bring me greater pleasure, I assure you. But as I previously said, I doubt if my heart would take the stress. There’s also the fact that she’ll track me down somehow and finish me off. That was her parting words to me when she threw me out of my beautiful home. ‘Divulge any of what this family gets up to, and your life won’t be worth living.’ I wouldn’t put it past her to hire some kind of hitman to ensure that never happens.”

  “Really? She’s that twisted?”

  “Oh yes. Look, even if you offered me some kind of witness protection, I still wouldn’t—and couldn’t—help you. I couldn’t stand the thought of having to look over my shoulder every second of the day, wondering what she would do if she ever tracked me down. I’d much rather live like this and stress-free. I realise the place is a shit-tip. One day, I’ll get around to doing the right thing and clearing it up. I’m simply not in the right frame of mind at present. You understand that, don’t you, ladies?”

  Lorne rubbed his arm. “We understand. Sorry for the shit you’ve been caused by this woman. I can guarantee you one thing, Allan—we’ll do our utmost to bring this woman to justice.”

  “Good luck with that, Inspector. I think you’ll find it’s not just Claire Knight you have to worry about. Her whole family are on the take in one way or another.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Olga Smitz snorted a line of coke and wiped away the excess powder from under her nose. She needed something to combat the fear and nerves churning up her insides like a washing machine on the full-spin cycle.

  She was in position, sitting in the car outside the bank, following Teagan’s instructions to the letter. All she could think about was what she would do with her ‘payment.’ She might have told her sisters a small fib about booking into rehab—she was still in two minds whether she wanted to go down that route or not. Her mind constantly swayed between wanting the euphoria of the drugs to continue and being fed up with snorting. She wanted a better life going forward.

  A silver Merc entered the car park and pulled her out of her contemplative mood and sharply back to reality. She flashed her lights, and the driver of the Merc returned the gesture. The man, dressed in a steel grey suit and wearing a huge smile, walked towards her car. Actually, the car belonged to the family. Since the car was of little value it could be disposed of easily, which was likely after Olga had carried out Teagan’s directives.

  Olga forced herself to offer a welcoming smile as the man in his early thirties approached the car and snatched open the door. He fell into the passenger seat and nervously looked around him as his hand unfastened the zip on his trousers. Olga gulped. Teagan had prepared her that this man expected a blowjob as a form of introduction to working with someone new. The question was whether she had the stomach for obliging so early in the morning.

  “Nice to meet you. Get on with it,” he said, leaning back against the headrest after exposing his mediocre-sized manhood.

  Thankfully, the effects of the coke hit her just as she lowered her head to his lap. Every time a groan of satisfaction left his mouth, she had to resist the temptation to bite down hard on his dick. With the task completed, and feeling sick to the stomach, she sat up and wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her
jumper.

  “You’re good,” he stated, his eyes focused on the stray drip she’d unfortunately missed at the side of her mouth.

  Another swipe across her lips dealt with the offending liquid. “Well, do you have it?”

  The man laughed and zipped up his trousers. “No chance of doing that again, I suppose?”

  “You’re right—there’s no chance of that. Teagan said she thought you’d try it on, so she gave me your wife’s number.” Olga picked up her mobile. Her thumb hovered mischievously over the dial button. “It’s programmed in. All I need to do is hit the button. Cut the crap and give me what you’re supposed to deliver, and be quick about it. Do you want your staff showing up and seeing what you get up to when you’re not treating them like shit at work?”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I treat my staff very well indeed,” he countered, obviously offended.

  “Especially the female ones, eh? You probably hold frequent meetings in your office and receive regular favours. Don’t bother denying it, either. The world is crammed-full of guys like you.” Olga eyed him with contempt, regretting her actions immediately. It was the drugs talking. If Teagan found out, her life wouldn’t be worth living, not that it was up to much anyway.

  He placed his hand on the door handle and glared at her. “That’s easily corrected. I don’t have to take this kind of bullshit from you or any other member of your family. You can go whistle for your money now.” If he thought his words would scare her, he was gravely mistaken. Olga hit the dial key and put her phone on speaker. A scuffle broke out as he tried to snatch the phone from her hand before his wife answered the call. “You crazy fucking bitch, give me the damn phone.”

  The car fell silent when his wife’s frustrated tone filled the car. “Hello? Hello? Who is this? Go play your stupid pranks on someone else, you cocksucker!” The line went dead.

  Olga sniggered. “She must have a crystal ball.” Her smile quickly turned into a sneer. “Next time, I’ll talk and tell her how accurate her name-calling was. Now, do I have your full attention?”

  “You’re bloody sick. You wait, your sister will be hearing about your fucking stunt.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just bloody hand over the money and papers, and I’ll get out of your hair.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not going to happen. I draw the line at working with psychos.”

  Olga hit the send button again on the phone. “Your choice, buster. Wanna make a bet on how little wifey is going to react when she hears what a naughty boy you’ve been?”

  “All right, you’ve made your bloody point. Hang up, and I’ll go and get what you need from the car.”

  “I knew a little coercion would make you see sense. Hop to it, before your staff turn up.”

  He exited the car and raced back to his own. Shiftily scanning the area around him, he ran back to the car and threw a carrier bag at her. Olga needed to think quickly to prevent him from leaving the car. A huge smile pulled her lips apart to show her beautifully white teeth, then she seductively ran her tongue across her lips. “There’s a good boy. That’s deserving of an encore, don’t you think?”

  He didn’t hesitate. He stumbled into the passenger seat again and unzipped his trousers. Olga gulped down the bile rising in her throat, and while one hand reached for his limp cock, her other hand felt under her seat for the weapon. She had no intention of letting him near her mouth again, but she did have other plans for his now-erect penis.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Lorne and Katy arrived at the station in a thoughtful mood that soon dispersed once AJ filled them in on a new case. The body of a man had been found in a bank’s car park.

  “What? Out in the open? In the daylight? Not disguised at all?” Lorne asked incredulously, thinking AJ was talking about a murder victim, judging by the injuries he’d relayed to them.

  “Nope. Just ditched near his car.”

  “I take it the pathologist is at the scene, AJ?”

  “Yes, boss.”

  “Right, do you want to come with me, Katy, or would you rather stay here?”

  “Maybe I’ll pass the baton to AJ on this one. Would you mind?” Katy asked, looking from Lorne to her fiancé.

  AJ shrugged. “Fine by me.”

  “That’s settled, then. Grab your coat.”

  AJ raced down the stairs behind Lorne and out of the station. The bank was situated in Fulham, at least a forty-minute drive away. Weariness seeped through her veins after the long drive she’d experienced with Tony that morning, but her determination to get to the scene ASAP spurred her on.

  Patti was at her car, searching for something in the boot when they drew up at the zoned-off crime scene. “Everything all right, Patti? This is AJ, Katy’s fiancé. Not sure if you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting him before.”

  Patti looked AJ up and down and whistled. “Katy is a very lucky girl, and I predict that baby she’s carrying is going to break hearts with a handsome couple like you being its parents.”

  Lorne thumbed in Patti’s direction. “As you can see, Patti has never been the type of person to hold back.” Lorne laughed when she saw the colour rise in AJ’s cheeks. “Aww... look what you’ve done, Patti.”

  Patti dug around in her car and mumbled, “I know what I’d like to do to him.”

  Lorne placed her hand over her eyes and chuckled. Pulling a straight face, she asked, “Do we have a clue who the victim is yet?”

  After retrieving a few evidence bags from the boot, Patti turned and led the way back to the body covered by a sheet close to his car. “Yep, he was identified earlier as Daniel Grade, the bank manager of this branch.”

  “What? Did a member of his staff find him?” Lorne glanced up at the building to see if she could locate any CCTV cameras.

  “Yes, a few of them turned up for work in a car-share and discovered the gruesome find.” Patti crouched and pulled back the sheet to reveal the victim’s upper torso.

  “Ouch!” Lorne said as AJ gasped. “Let’s hope he was dead before it was cut off.”

  Patti glanced up at Lorne and shook her head slowly. “Nope. This man suffered a significant amount of pain and blood loss before his death. He has a nick to his femoral artery. The combined injuries would have been enough to kill him fairly quickly. Someone had a personal score to settle, don’t you think?”

  “Agreed. The intent was pretty vicious, then.”

  “Maybe he was cheating on his wife,” AJ offered, wincing.

  Lorne tilted her head from side to side, observing the man’s penis emerging from his own mouth. “You’re probably right with that conjecture, AJ. The first thing we need to accomplish is seeing if the CCTV system was functioning last night. I’ll leave you to deal with that, AJ, as it seems to be your forte.”

  AJ left them and walked into the bank.

  “Any form of evidence found yet, Patti?” Lorne asked.

  “Not that I can tell, except...”

  “Go on? Stop your bloody teasing.”

  “Well, I took an initial sample from the man’s penis, and my preliminary assessment would be that he’s recently had sex, maybe not vaginal sex. I think we’re more than likely talking about oral sex.”

  “So, he had oral sex with someone in a car park, and then that person chopped his dick off and shoved it in his mouth! An unsatisfied lover? A prostitute perhaps? Is his wallet still on him?”

  “Yes, his wallet is here. As to your other theories, I wouldn’t like to say. My opinion is you’re dealing with someone not quite right in the head.”

  “Der... obviously! What about a staff member? Maybe he was having an affair with a colleague and he tried to call it off.”

  “That’s your department, Lorne. I’m only here to gather the evidence to put before you.”

  “And a mighty fine job you do of that, too.”

  Patti re-covered the corpse and stood up. “I’m actually surprised to see you here. What about your other case? The boat explosion? How’s that pro
gressing?”

  “It’s turning out to be far more complicated than we ever expected. Tony and I have just returned from Norfolk this morning.”

  “Really? Why is Tony involved?”

  “He’s not. I wanted moral support. Truth be told, I didn’t want to make the long trip by myself. The good news is that one of my dear friends, DI Sally Parker of the Norfolk Constabulary, is working the case at that end.”

  Patti frowned. “A joint investigation? How come?”

  “Because of where the victim, Ryan Timcott, was based. It’s still puzzling us why he travelled down here with his boat. According to his wife, he was out showing off his new acquisition to his mates, who are all based in the Norfolk area. Sally intends to question Ryan’s friends over the next few days. In the meantime, my suspicions lie at the mother-in-law’s door. She seems an evil cow, grossly lacking in compassion for her daughter’s grief, from what I could tell.”

  “How strange. Are you saying that you think the mother was one of the women aboard the boat?”

  “At this point, I really couldn’t say. However, we’re coming up with some very interesting information that we found lingering in her dark past.”

  “Interesting information? Anything I can help you with?” Patti offered.

  “Possibly. I want to discover all the facts I can about her previous marriages first, and then I might take you up on your offer. Two of her husbands died in suspicious circumstances, and the recent one is living in squalor while she lives it up in a mansion which belonged to him long before she came on the scene. He didn’t have a good thing to say about Claire Knight, if I’m honest. I’m sure it wasn’t a case of sour grapes, either.”

  Patti nodded at the corpse. “Looks like you and your team are going to have your hands full over the coming few weeks.”

  “It does indeed. You could help us out by rushing the PM and path tests through on matey here, if you’d be so kind?” Lorne winked at her friend.

  “Ever the one to pour pressure on me, aren’t you? I’ll do my best.”