“DCs Harper and Merrick from Oldston CID,” she told the male voice who answered.
Moments later the gate sprung open and they were able to drive in. “Some pile they’ve got,” Craig noted.
“Business must be good. It’s a shame that we have to do this. I wonder if Liam’s given them much aggro over the years. He’s such a troubled young man I can’t see life with him being sweet, can you?”
“Is it about Brenda?” Percival Webb greeted them at the door. “It really shook everyone up, losing her like that.”
“Is your wife in, Mr Webb?” Grace asked with a smile.
“Judith? Well, yes, come on in,” he offered.
Judith Webb met them in the hall. She was about fifty years old. Her hair was greying, she was thin and she looked twitchy.
“This is about Nathan,” Grace began, “or perhaps I should call him Liam.”
Grace watched her reaction closely. Judith Webb’s expression did not change. She stared silently at both detectives for several seconds and then she looked at her husband.
“They know,” she almost whispered.
“We know that he isn’t your biological son, and we know who he really is. We need to find him. Liam has done things, terrible things, so we need to stop him before he does anything else.”
Grace saw the tears, the woman was upset. “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”
“He wasn’t your child, Mrs Webb.”
“No, but he wasn’t wanted by his real parents. We couldn’t have children of our own, and we were desperate,” sobbed Judith. “He was unwanted, ill-treated, but such a lovely little boy. When I heard the local news on the radio that day I had to do something, so I decided to take him.” She shrugged. “It was easy. I went to the police station and spoke to the officer on the desk. He brought Liam through to sit with me. We sat on a bench; I’d taken some toys and a bag of sweets. We chatted as we waited, I read him a story. They were very busy that day, there had been a robbery I think and everyone was called away. Me and Liam sat there in that draughty room for ages, but no one came. Eventually he fell asleep. I’d given the officer on the desk a false name. I know I was wrong but I was desperate for a child. We’d tried everything and got nowhere,” she explained as if it justified her actions. “Finally, I picked him up and took him out. No one came after us, we simply walked away. We raised him as our own. No one ever came looking and Liam seemed happy. We sent him to school and provided everything he wanted. One day he’ll inherit the business.”
“Where is he, Mr Webb?” Craig asked. “He’ll be at the workshop.” He went to stand beside his wife.
Craig took his phone and rang Greco.
Grace thought the whole incident sounded extraordinary. Why wasn’t the boy’s welfare followed up on? There must be more to it, but this was not the time to find out more.
* * *
It was late afternoon and getting dark. The workshop was bathed in fluorescent light as they approached. “Park behind that truck.” Greco pointed. “We don’t want him to see us coming.”
“Backup is on the way. They are blocking off the surrounding roads too. If he does do a runner then he’s got nowhere to go.”
Liam Donnelly had a hosepipe in his hand and was washing down a coach. He didn’t hear them approach and turned as one of the mechanics called out.
“What do you want?” His tone was sour. “We’re about to close up, can’t it wait until Monday?”
“This is not a business visit, Nathan, we’re the police.” Greco showed the young man his badge. “We want you to come with us, answer a few questions.”
“You’re wasting your time because I know nowt.”
“We’ve spoken to Mrs Webb, we know the truth about who you are,” Greco told him. “Look at me, Liam.”
* * *
Liam Donnelly turned slowly, dropped the hose and his odd-coloured eyes looked straight into Greco’s. This was the moment he’d been half expecting. He was clever; he could always get one over on the likes of the Hussains and Geegee, but the police were bound to be a close match for him. “I don’t care,” he smiled. “I got them and they suffered plenty for what they did to me.”
“Rose and Gibbs?”
“Sounds like a firm of solicitors.” His laugh was almost demented. “But they were far from that. They were my parents, can you believe that?” There was more manic laughter. “But joking apart, they were evil, the pair of them. I wanted to get back at them for screwing up my life.” He took a rag and started to clean the oil from his hands. “I planned and schemed with the worst of them. I did it well too. Shame about the drugs, though. I was set to be the new Mr Big around here,” he told them proudly. “I’ve stuffed the Hussains, big style.” He looked at Greco. “But you know that, don’t you, copper? A clever bloke like you — bet you’ve worked it all out.”
“Eventually,” Greco allowed. “The bomb scares?”
“Me, all me. My way of getting rid of Kashif and his cronies.”
“No real terrorists, then?”
“Not this time. Good plan though, don’t you think? Bomb in the luggage put in the hold of a coach. That system of doing things needs tightening up. A traveller doesn’t come back after a stop and the coach just continues — luggage left where it is. Big with possibilities that one.”
“Brenda Hirst — why kill her?”
“She stumbled onto the canal bank just as I was meeting Rose. I’d already given Rose something to make her — well, let’s just say, more amenable. Brenda got in the way. So I clobbered her.”
“You took her eyes, like with the others.”
“I like eyes,” he smiled. “They’re my hobby. I collect them, you know.”
“You need to come with us now, Liam.”
* * *
“He’s as mad as a hatter,” Quickenden decided as he came back from the cells. “He thinks he’s done well. He doesn’t see it at all.”
“I’m just glad it’s all over,” Grace added, leaning back on her chair and closing her eyes. “What about you, sir?”
“Absolutely.” He was looking at the incident board. “You all did very well in the end.”
Greco was particularly impressed with Grace. She’d contributed a lot to the case. Far from being one of the no-hopers, she had a future. Quickenden he wasn’t so sure about. The jury was still out on that one. Craig Merrick was a plodder and so was George. He’d see if the next case could ignite a spark before he made any decisions about their futures with the team.
“Coming for a drink with us, sir? It is Friday night.” Craig asked.
Greco was about to refuse. After all, he always did. But they were all looking at him expectantly. This case had changed something within the dynamic of the team. Team — yes; perhaps now they might be.
“Okay, but just one. I’ll give Suzy a ring first; tell her I’ll be late.”
The End
AVAILABLE NOW BY HELEN H. DURRANT
THE THREE CALLADINE AND BAYLISS MYSTERIES (book 3 features DI GRECO)
BOOK 1 DEAD WRONG:
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First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common . . .
Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to track down a killer before the whole area erupts in violence. Their boss thinks it’s all down to drug lord Ray Fallon, but Calladine’s instincts say something far nastier is happening on the Hobfield housing estate.
Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies and before the press publicize the gruesome crimes? Detectives Calladine and Bayliss are led on a trail which gets dangerously close to home. In a thrilling finale they race against time to rescue someone very close to Calladine’s heart.
BOOK 2: DEAD SILENT
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A body is found in a car crash, but the victim was already dead . . .
BOOK 3: DEAD LIST
This book is the first to feature D.I Greco
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An unlikely serial killer with a bucket list of victims . . .
Glossary of English Slang for US readers
Asian: someone who (or whose ancestors) originates from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Bladdered: drunk
Bob: money
Boot: trunk, as in car trunk
Bother: as in bother, means in trouble
Burqa: Head to foot covering worn by some Muslim women in public
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chinwag: conversation
Ciggy: cigarette
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Copper: police officer (slang)
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Coach: a bus, often used for travel, holidays or trips
Cos: because
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, body which decides whether cases go to criminal court
Council: local government
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Div: idiot (offensive)
Dodgy: not to be trusted, illegal
Dosh: money
Double glazing: insulated windows with two layers of glass
DI: detective inspector
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Early dart: to leave work early
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Fag: cigarette
FE: further education college
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gas people: company selling consumers gas for heating and hot water
Gobsmacked: surprised
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Handy Man case: the case Calladine and Bayliss dealt with described in Dead Wrong.
Hard nut: tough guy
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Inne: isn’t he
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Jobcentre: unemployment office
Kosher: genuine or legal
Lad: young man
Lamped: hit
Lift: as in give a lift, drive someone somewhere
Loo: toilet
Lorry: a truck
Mobile phone: cell phone
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
OCD: Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Overalls: dungarees
Owt: anything (Northern English)
PC: police constable
PM: post-mortem
Petrol: gasoline
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
Querent: person for whom the tarot card reading is done.
Randy: horny
Rock: a sugary candy often on sale at the seaside
Scroat: low-life
Semi: Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only
Skinful: enough alcohol to make you drunk
Services: Shops and gas station by highway
Sod: an annoying person
Solicitor: lawyer
Summat: something (Northern English)
Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart
Tea: Dinner (Northern English)
Till: cash register
Tipsy: a bit drunk
Toerag: loser (insulting)
Ton: a hundred pounds
Torch: flashlight
Tutor: university teacher
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
Two-up two-down: house with two bedrooms upstairs, and two rooms downstairs
Uniform: a police officer wearing a uniform, usually a police constable
Warrant card: police ID in the UK
CHARACTER LIST (contains minor spoilers)
DI Stephen Greco
Greco is a dedicated policeman who can’t imagine ever doing anything else. He is in his mid-thirties, tall, blond, strait-laced, and meticulous in his approach to work. Greco is the first to admit that he is ‘faulty.’ He has mild OCD and is not a people person. He finds making friends difficult. He doesn’t mix with the team out of the office and finds conversations about anything other than the current case awkward.
He is based in Oldston, an industrial town in the north of England. He recently moved from East Anglia, after his divorce. He followed his ex-wife north so that he could be near to his five-year-old daughter, Matilda. Life in Oldston is very different from what he was used to. He finds Oldston raw and doesn’t like the poverty prevalent in the town.
DS Jed Quickenden
Known as ‘Speedy’ to his mates. Quickenden is disillusioned with his job. He was born and bred in Oldston, everyone he knows lives there. Most of his old mates from school are wasters who have turned to gambling or crime to make ends meet. He knows this and turns a blind eye. He drinks with them in a dive of a pub — the Spinners. Speedy is tall and thin, he towers over most of his colleagues. He has mid-length curly hair and is frequently untidy in appearance.
DC Grace Harper
She likes to know the gossip. She is ambitious and wishes she could give all to her job and win promotion. But she has small child, Holly, and she’s a single parent. Her partner did a runner while Grace was pregnant and has nothing to do with Holly. She feels guilty about going back to work, leaving Holly in nursery or cared for by her mother. She is torn between the job and her daughter. Given the chance she could be a good detective. She is bright, intuitive and popular.
Grace Harper is in her early twenties. She is slim — a figure that is straight up and down — boyish, with long blonde hair that she tends to wear back in ponytail. She is pretty, but the trials and tribulations of life have hardened her features. She looks like the sort of woman who’d stand no nonsense. She doesn’t eat much and Greco deduces that is why she is so thin. She was bullied for being fat when she was a schoolgirl.
DC Craig Merrick
Early promise was compromised by Craig falling foul of a local gang member. He was accused of taking a bribe, and although nothing was proved, it has hampered his career. He idolises Quickenden, definitely the wrong choice. He drinks with him in the Spinners pub. Craig is young, takes care over his appearance and is more fashionable than either Greco or Quickenden.
Georgina Booth
Known as ‘George’ to the team. She works as the information officer for the station. She is good at the job and gets results because she is a plodder and takes it seriously. She is very much in Grace’s shadow. Grace is the pretty one, the one the men notice — they pay little attention to George. She is short, overweight and has dark hair worn in a style that does her no favou
rs. She is in her late twenties and lives alone.
Superintendent Mark Wilkes
He is in charge of the station at Oldston. He is mid-fifties, slim and generally keeps out of the way unless something really important demands his attention.
Suzy Greco
Stephen Greco’s ex-wife. She has retired parents living in Cromer. Her father has had a heart attack and being an only child has to go help her mother look after him. This means leaving their daughter, Matilda, with Greco. She regrets the divorce and admits as much. She wants to try again. She is blonde, attractive and appears to be a person who copes. However Greco comes to realise that this is far from the truth.
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