‘You know I’m off tomorrow too, sir?’ George screwed up his face, waiting for Huntington to suddenly declare it an emergency situation, demand his attendance and ruin his day.
‘Ah yes, yes of course. Have a good day.’
The call ended and George was left staring at his phone looking puzzled. Sarah popped her head round the door.
‘Modern Family’s on the telebox — you fancy it?’
‘Sure.’
Sarah smiled. George knew why, his wife was expecting him to tell her he had to go out.
‘Who was that?’
‘Work.’
‘I guessed that.’
George followed Sarah through to the lounge and sat on the sofa. ‘There’s a missing person come in, that’s all. High risk by the sounds of it.’
‘Did they ask you to go in?’
‘No. For once it seems like the boss is in control.’
* * *
Ed Kavski had been waiting some time, and at 11 p.m. he was happy to finally be able to step out and stretch his legs. Light snow fell around him, adding to the hushed atmosphere. Finally the light had gone out in what he was sure was the Elms’s master bedroom. Now he could complete his task.
Ed pulled off his leather gloves, and typed a simple message into his phone: Lights off.
The residents of Broadacre Avenue generally went to bed early. They had jobs that got them out of their beds early, in order to earn the sort of wages needed to live on such a street. Ed had no intention of staying long. He opened the back door of his Audi, and took out a black leather suitcase. He closed the car door quietly and strode across the road, making prints in the snow. He stopped at the Elms’s Renault Laguna, which had been backed onto the drive with the offside close to the front door. Ed walked round to the driver’s side. He would be able to work in the shadow of the house, and the car would screen him from the road.
Ed had once been regarded as a specialist in the deployment of improvised explosive devices. Ed had already prepared the explosive package, complete with a magnetic base that held it to the underside of the car, level with the driver’s seat. The IED was a home-made hand grenade-type device carrying twenty pounds of explosive. It was sufficient to consume the car and anyone in the vicinity. It worked on the same principle as a grenade — the IED had a pin that had to be removed from the body to set off a three-second delay before detonation. To finish the job, Ed needed only to fit a simple and almost invisible clip by tucking it underneath the door sill, which was attached to the bomb itself by a thin length of wire. Opening the driver’s door would pull the pin, detonating the bomb.
Inside the house, the Elms family slept soundly. After just two minutes of silent activity, the grey Audi A4 pulled away into the night.
Chapter 38
Charley creaked open the bedroom door and whispered to her dad. Losing patience, she bundled into her parents’ bed and crawled up George’s prone body.
‘It’s half six, Charley. The zoo doesn’t even open for another four hours.’ George pleaded with his daughter, whose face was less than an inch from his.
‘But we have to go to Tesco first, Daddy.’
George buried his face in the pillow. It was hardly the best thing to say to get him out of his warm bed.
Finally he relented. Sarah had stirred and complained at Charley’s constant fidgeting, so George had no option but to get up. He took a leisurely shower and, feeling suitably warmed, opened the bedroom curtains and had to squint against the brightness of the sun glinting off the snow and frost. Stars still twinkled above the houses.
‘Have you got the membership card for the zoo?’
‘No idea,’ he replied.
‘It should be in your wallet. I lent mine to Kate so you’ll need yours.’
‘My wallet?’ George patted down his work trousers and suit jacket, lying over the bedroom chair. ‘Have you seen my wallet?’
‘No. Have a look downstairs, or maybe your car.’
George snapped his fingers. ‘I got petrol.’
‘Good for you.’ Sarah rolled over.
‘I assume you’re not going to be in too much of a rush to meet Kate this morning?’
‘Yep. How often do I get the chance for a lie-in? Kate’s done the same. She’s lumbered Dave with the kids, so we’re both enjoying a rest.’
‘Is that what you’re doing, then? Lumbering me with our daughter?’
Sarah turned over again and flashed George a sleepy smile. ‘Definitely! Close the curtains, George, and piss off.’
She chuckled and buried herself under the covers.
* * *
George was taken aback by the wall of cold as he opened his front door.
‘Are we going now, Daddy?’ Charley appeared in the doorway. She had doubled her normal size by putting on all of her winter clothes, complete with pink gloves and fur-topped boots. She skipped over to where George stood at the driver’s door of the Laguna.
‘Not yet, hon. I’m just going to grab my wallet and then finish my cup of tea. Wait inside for me, young lady, it’s too cold out here.’
Charley pouted, stomped a foot and stood still. George couldn’t be bothered to argue with her and turned back towards the Laguna, pressing the button on his fob.
‘Shit!’ He turned to his daughter to see if she’d heard him. She was busy trying to scrape frost together in a pile. He pressed the fob again. Still nothing. ‘Shit thing,’ he said again, under his breath. He stepped forward, his daughter watching, banging her padded gloves together to shake them free of ice.
George slid the car key into the driver’s door lock where it stopped less than halfway in, the metal end pushing against ice. With increasing frustration, he pulled it out and jammed it back in again. There was some give but not enough to unlock the car. He tried again, and it sunk in a little further — it was almost there. He tried to turn it, hoping to hear the lock clunk open. Instead, he heard the distinct sound of a key snapping.
It broke at the base of the black plastic handle, leaving a barely visible piece of polished metal protruding out of the lock. George swore through his clenched teeth and bent down to inspect the damage. There wasn’t enough of the key to grasp it with pliers. Still muttering under his breath, he stormed back into the house, leaving the front door open for Charley to follow.
‘Are we nearly ready to go, Daddy?’
‘Not now, Charley!’
‘Everything okay?’ Sarah called down from the bedroom.
‘Yeah, fine. I need to call the AA out for the Laguna. Nothing major — I just can’t get into the damned thing.’
‘Do you want to take mine? Kate’s picking me up in an hour or so. I can sort the AA man for when you’re back.’
‘I’ll give them a call. If time starts to get on, then I’ll take yours.’
‘Suit yourself,’ Sarah called back down. ‘You can bring me a coffee, too, seeing as you seem determined not to let me have my lie-in.’
George dialled the AA while he put the kettle on.
* * *
‘DC Baern?’
‘Yes?’ Paul said, but didn’t look up.
‘Yes, good morning. I was hoping to speak to you, Paul. I’m Graham Huntington.’ Huntington held out a hand and Paul suddenly sprung to his feet and took up the handshake.
‘Sorry, sir, I was miles away. Good morning.’
‘Please sit down,’ Huntington continued. ‘I know George is away today, but I wondered if you knew anything about Elliot Tinsow?’
Sam could see Paul was floundering, so she came to his aid. ‘Sir, we’ve all had some involvement with Tinsow, but I interviewed him and did a follow-up with the sergeant.’
Huntington had walked straight past Sam and addressed the male DC. He turned to look at her. ‘Ah, Sam, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right. I might be able to help with Tinsow.’
Huntington smiled. ‘Very good. Bail checks were carried out on our friend Tinsow last night, and it appears he was not
there to answer them. We now suspect that he had little choice but to breach his bail — someone may have . . . got to him.’
‘Got to him?’ Sam said.
‘Indeed. From what we understand, Mr Tinsow had been under pressure to come in here and hold his hands up for this job. The fear is that his disappearance is related to this.’
‘Disappearance?’ Sam bit her lip. This was not the time for a told-you-so.
‘His mother has reported him missing, and we have been unable to locate him at this time. That is a disappearance in name at least. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time someone’s gone missing on bail . . .’
‘But you don’t think this is a simple breach of bail, do you? I have to say, sir, from what I know of Tinsow, I would agree. He is not a man who would breach his bail lightly.’
‘Quite. I’m here because of your team’s involvement with Tinsow, and your knowledge of Epping Hill. If there’s anywhere you think we might try, and if you can fit some time into your day today to assist with the search for Tinsow, then I would very much appreciate it. We have uniform checking each of his listed associates but unfortunately, due to his lifestyle, Mr Tinsow has been associated with just about everyone within five square miles of his home at one time or another.’
‘I don’t think he would have gone far,’ Sam mused.
‘Our thoughts exactly. There was a male at the address when police called, who said that someone took Tinsow away, and there is some suggestion that it was against his will. We couldn’t get much sense out of him at the time, so uniform went back at around midnight last night and arrested this male for Tinsow’s abduction.’
‘To sober him up?’ Sam smiled.
‘Exactly. An old trick indeed. Our colleagues in Major Crime should be speaking to him in the next hour, so hopefully that will give us something to go on.’
‘We can help out today, I’m sure. I’ve met Tinsow’s mum. That might be a place to start,’ Sam offered.
‘Very good.’ Huntington turned smartly away and was gone.
‘Didn’t that strike you as odd?’ Paul asked.
‘He’s a very odd man.’
‘I meant the way he was acting.’
Sam nodded. ‘Whenever I’ve met him before there were no airs and graces. Get it done and get it done now. That’s how he works. What was all this “if you have the time” crap?’
Paul chuckled. ‘Maybe he’s just a bit misunderstood.’
‘Or maybe he knows he was wrong about Tinsow?’
‘And maybe he doesn’t give a shit about that.’
‘I didn’t know how much to say to him, you know. I don’t think he wanted George to go out and speak to Tinsow, so I didn’t want to say too much.’
‘I know what you mean. Perhaps we should check with the skipper how much he’s told the boss.’
‘Call him on his day off? This time in the morning?’
‘He won’t mind. He might appreciate knowing that Tinsow is missing, and that Huntington is personally leading the search.’
‘And maybe he won’t!’ Sam said.
‘And mention that he’s gone a bit weird on us, too. George might be able to shed some light on it, or tell us if that’s a danger sign.’
‘Oh, I’m ringing him, am I?’
‘You’re his favourite!’
‘Whatever. Maybe Huntington’s speaking to us like that because he really needs our help.’ Sam began scrolling through her phone for her sergeant’s number.
‘Who knows.’
Sam pushed the call button then thrust the phone at Paul. ‘It’s ringing!’
Paul shook his head and took it.
* * *
‘Morning, sir.’ The middle-aged AA man emerged from a hi-visibility orange Transit van. He was decked out in the same colours, and wore a name tag reading “Stan.” George came out to greet him, looking a little sheepish.
‘Morning. I’m sure you get called out to idiots like me all the time.’
Stan smiled. ‘You’d be surprised what we get called to. Our operator said you’d snapped the key off in the ignition?’
‘No, no, I didn’t even get that far. I’ve snapped it off in the driver’s door.’ George pointed to where what was left of the key could be seen jutting out.
‘Ah, I see. Then you’d better put the kettle on.’
George was a little taken aback at the man’s cheek. ‘Tea or coffee?’
‘Oh, thank you, coffee . . . if there’s any water left when we’ve poured it over your lock.’
‘Oh, I see! I didn’t think of that.’
‘Well, it wasn’t like I was doing much.’ Stan laughed heartily. ‘Of course, the later models of the Laguna don’t even use a key.’
‘Oh, really?’ George said, uninterested.
‘No, no. You get a card you slide into the dash. The car starts with the push of a button. It’s all very high tech.’
‘Hmmm. George shifted from foot to foot as he struggled to pay attention to a lecture on starting devices.
‘. . . You sit down and the car knows exactly what driving position you want and everything, the seat just adjusts.’
George checked his watch. They were getting to the point where they would have to miss out Tesco and go straight to the zoo. This could actually work in his favour.
‘I might not need the kettle after all.’ Stan had pulled the front of the driver’s door handle away, leaving more of the key exposed.
‘Daddy!’ Charley called out from the doorstep. She had refused to take her boots and coat off, apparently believing that if she did so, they would never leave. She stepped back out onto the frozen drive. ‘Mummy’s asking how long it’s going to take.’
Stan re-emerged from the rear of his van with a pair of pliers and a grin. ‘Women, eh? I should have this out in a jiffy. Do you have a spare key?’
George felt his mobile phone vibrate in his pocket. It was Sam.
‘It’s here,’ George called out, and placed the key down next to Stan. ‘I just need to take this.’ He ushered Charley back inside.
‘Sam?’
Paul answered. ‘Sorry to bother you on your personal phone.’
‘You may just have saved me from the most boring man who’s ever fixed a car,’ George whispered. Charley started to walk towards the kitchen.
Five metres behind them, with a little brute force and some wriggling, the front part of the key finally slid out. Stan took the spare key and inserted it into the thawed lock. ‘I think the ice has cleared!’ he called to George.
Stan pulled at the door handle. He had to use his considerable weight to pull the frozen door open. ‘We’re in!’ he called out triumphantly. George half turned in the doorway to give him a thumbs-up.
The blast surged upwards and the fuel tank immediately caught alight. The Laguna was engulfed in flames. The shock wave tore Stan apart before the flames could even reach him.
The blast lifted George off his feet, through the internal double doors and into their living room, where he struck the far wall. His phone was thrown free and smashed to pieces. Charley was thrown against the doorframe and she fell to the floor.
* * *
Sarah had just dozed off when she heard the explosion. She struggled to get out of bed and put some clothes on, to the sound of falling debris.
She heard Charley wailing at the bottom of the stairs, and the sound tore through her. Sarah flew down the stairs, to her daughter, who was bleeding from her leg and the side of her face. She heard a rumble above her, another loud thud and the roof tiles smashing. Was the house about to fall down?
‘Charley, honey, we have to get out of the house, but I need to find Daddy first. Where is he?’
Things were falling from the shelves and walls, each crash making Sarah jump.
‘He was here, he was here,’ Charley managed to say through her tears.
‘Okay, baby, okay. Where are you hurt, Char?’
‘My leg hurts, Mummy.’
Sa
rah looked down at Charley’s left leg. Her foot was twisted round at an impossible angle, making Sarah wince.
‘Okay, honey, it’s okay. Anywhere else, Char? This is important. Is there anywhere else that hurts?’
‘Where’s Daddy?’ Charley screamed as the pain increased.
‘Listen, baby, we’re going to have a quick look and then we’ve got to get out of the house.’
Sarah got up and made her way to where the lounge door had been. All the windows in the room had been blown out and a weak breeze rustled through the broken blinds. The room was littered with broken furniture and other debris. Charley clung to her, weeping quietly. Then Sarah saw her husband’s leg over the back of the sofa. She moved forward to look, bracing herself for the worst.
George’s face was black. Fresh blood ran down his cheeks and trickled from one of his ears. His shoulder looked as if it was pushed too far forward. He had come to rest on the back of his head and shoulders, his body twisted upwards. Sarah couldn’t tell if he was breathing, but he was lying so still she knew he must be dead. She began to sob.
Something large and loud gave way in the kitchen. Realising that she needed to get her daughter out, Sarah made for the gap that had been the front door. Holding tight to Charley, she stumbled over the debris and past the smouldering shell of the Laguna, the thick smoke stinging her tear-filled eyes.
Her neighbours met her at the end of her drive. The couple had rushed out of their house at the noise, and were in shock themselves. Sarah, wearing nothing but bed shorts and vest, ran over to them and fell to her knees.
‘My husband!’ she managed, ‘he’s dead.’
Chapter 39
Sam and Paul had given up trying to call George, and they continued with their day. Sam was frustrated. It was just as Huntington had said — everyone knew Elliot Tinsow, everyone was an associate, just about everyone had a different opinion on where he might be, and every one of them was too drunk or high to care. She’d contacted the office for an update on the man arrested for his abduction, and the story was the same. He could remember nothing about his movements the night before, except going to the Co-op with Tinsow early in the morning to stock up on cider, and a blurry recollection of a man banging on the door, who Tinsow seemed to be scared of.
BODILY HARM a gripping crime thriller full of twists Page 19
