Dying Wish

by James Raven

  It was several seconds before his heart dropped to an even rhythm. He felt physically weak, drained of energy and emotion. He suddenly remembered what Grant Mason had once told him when they were sharing the secrets of their troubled childhoods.

  ‘In the end I got my own back on my dad,’ he said. ‘I burned the house down with him in it.’

  He wished he’d done the same to both his parents instead of running away from home. He never saw them again, and he never had the satisfaction of watching them suffer for what they’d done to him.

  37

  Sunday was not going to be a day of rest for Temple. He awoke at the crack of dawn after a fitful night. Too many thoughts were tumbling through his mind and even before he got out of bed, his stomach was knotted with tension.

  He crept out of the bedroom without waking Angel, and went downstairs to make himself some coffee and toast. He switched on the TV in the kitchen and Sky News immediately drew his attention.

  A reporter was voicing over shots of police activity at Deadman Hill.

  ‘Today the army will be searching for more graves,’ he was saying. ‘So far, three have been found and there could be up to seven more. Last night it was confirmed that the latest grave had been discovered in woods near the village of Godshill. It contained the remains of a woman.

  ‘In another development to this shocking story, police have named a man they want to question. He’s Ethan Kane, a convicted sex offender who apparently served time in prison with Grant Mason before he was released several years ago.’

  Kane’s mugshot appeared on the screen for several seconds before they cut to the reporter who was standing next to a sign that read Deadman Hill.

  ‘Meanwhile, there’s growing concern that what has happened in the New Forest will impact on visitor numbers. Millions of sightseers and holidaymakers come here every year, but there are reports that people are already cancelling hotel bookings.’

  It was something Temple hadn’t yet considered, but he could see now why the discovery of so many clandestine graves might have a serious impact on tourism in the short-term. And in the longer-term, it would undoubtedly sour the reputation of the forest as a place of peace and beauty.

  The reporter was explaining that the forest covered over 200 square miles of Southern England.

  ‘There are 30,000 acres of woodlands and about a further 90,000 acres of heaths, grasslands and bogs,’ he said. ‘The forest was originally established as a royal hunting reserve by William the Conqueror in 1079. It’s hard to believe that nearly a thousand years later, it’s become the scene of such horrific events.’

  Temple was still watching the blanket news coverage of the story when Angel appeared in her dressing gown. She sat at the breakfast bar while he made her a cup of tea.

  ‘I saw you on the news last night,’ she said. ‘You were out near Burley with Fiona.’

  He joined her at the breakfast bar, and told her where they were with the case and why he was so late getting home.

  ‘It’s going to be another long day,’ he said. ‘Are you going to be OK on your own?’

  ‘I was hoping to see Fiona this afternoon but I suppose that’s out of the question with so much going on.’

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ Temple said. ‘Were you planning to tell her about the baby?’

  She gave him a sheepish look. ‘I was hoping to. She is my best friend after all, and I don’t want to break the news over the phone.’

  He thought it prudent not to object. After all, the cat would soon be out of the bag now that he had declared his full support for the pregnancy.

  ‘Maybe she’ll have time to pop over later,’ he said. ‘It all depends on what happens.’

  ‘Meanwhile, I intend to ring my parents and let them know. Is that all right with you, Jeff?’

  She flashed him a hundred-watt smile and there was no way he was going to burst her bubble. For weeks she’d wallowed in self-pity and mild depression as she recovered from the crash. But the pregnancy had put the colour back into her cheeks and the glint back into her eyes.

  ‘Of course I don’t mind,’ he said. ‘Whatever makes you happy.’

  38

  When he got to the central police station Temple went straight to the custody suites to check on Tom Fowler. He was still sleeping through what must have been a whopping hangover.

  The duty officer told Temple that Fowler hadn’t yet been charged because when he was brought in, he’d been too drunk to understand what was going on.

  ‘Has he been out cold all night?’ Temple asked.

  ‘He woke up once, screaming and yelling, but he didn’t cause any trouble.’

  ‘Let me know when he’s awake then. Might as well interview him before we press charges.’

  Upstairs, the incident room was already filling up. Both DC Marsh and DS Vaughan had arrived and Beresford had let it be known that he was in his office.

  Temple spent the first fifteen minutes bringing himself up to speed, and writing up his notes on what had happened the previous evening at the Court Jester.

  The briefing got underway at eight sharp and Beresford came along to find out how things were progressing, and to announce that another press conference would be taking place that afternoon.

  ‘The pressure is really on us to find the Hamiltons and Mason’s accomplice,’ he said. ‘The brass are even talking about setting up a task force because they think it’s getting too big for MIT. But I’m resisting because I’m convinced they’re wrong. This is our patch and our case and I want us to be the ones who solve it.’

  He then opened up the floor so the detectives could provide updates. Vaughan was the first to raise his hand.

  ‘I had a call back last night from Ethan Kane’s probation officer,’ he said. ‘His name’s Frank Meade and according to him, Kane is a really nasty piece of work.’

  ‘What did he tell you?’ Temple asked.

  ‘Quite a lot, including some useful background stuff. Kane’s parents lost control of him when he was a teenager and he was expelled from secondary school because of his violent behaviour towards other pupils. Several girls and a boy claimed he sexually abused them. Early psychiatric reports described him as seriously disturbed. One labelled him a sexual sadist. Another wrote that he was a cross-dresser. He apparently carried out two sex attacks on young men while wearing women’s clothes.’

  ‘Did you ask Meade if he thinks Kane could have been Mason’s accomplice?’ Temple asked.

  ‘I did and he said it’s quite possible. He believes that any man who enjoys torturing people is more than capable of committing murder.’

  ‘Does he know where Kane is?’

  ‘No, he doesn’t, but there’s an interesting story around his disappearance. Soon after being released from prison, he started frequenting dating sites on the internet. He met a woman named Theresa Bellamy and they hit it off. Five months into their relationship, he moved out of his rented flat in London and into her detached house in the Kent countryside. He was open about it and registered the address with the probation service. But then a few months later, he suddenly disappeared. Miss Bellamy was questioned by police and she told them that he just walked out without an explanation. She went to the shops one day and when she got back, he was gone with all his belongings.’

  ‘And I take it she didn’t know where he went.’

  ‘That’s what she told police, but the strange thing is that just weeks after she was questioned, she sold her house and vanished herself.’

  ‘How do we know? Was she under surveillance or something?’

  Vaughan shook his head. ‘Her daughter went to the police because she thought that something bad might have happened to her mother. Her married name is Ruth Kogan and she was living in Australia at the time. She received an email in which her mother told her she was selling up and moving abroad. When she tried to contact her mother she got no response. So she asked a friend to go to the house, and that’s when she discovered her mum had gone an
d the property had been sold.’

  ‘So what happened next?’

  ‘Kent police made inquiries and discovered that in the weeks leading up to the house sale, Miss Bellamy’s bank account was emptied of all her savings and she sold all her jewellery. They came to the conclusion that she’d either upped sticks and moved away by herself or had run off with Kane.’

  ‘So did they try to trace her?’

  ‘Of course, but they got nowhere.’

  ‘What about the money from the sale of the house? That must have been paid into a bank account.’

  ‘It was paid into her own account. But then she withdrew all £٣٠٠,٠٠٠ straightaway in order to buy gold ingots. She then closed the account and that’s where the money trail ended. We can only assume that she then sold the ingots so she could use the cash to start a new life.’

  ‘So the case must still be open,’ Temple said.

  Vaughan nodded. ‘It is, but Kent police aren’t pursuing it with any vigour. They say Miss Bellamy hasn’t done anything wrong and Kane’s not a priority.’

  ‘Well, he is now,’ Temple said. ‘So we need to follow it up ourselves. Let’s contact the daughter. Find out what she knows.’

  ‘I’m already on it, guv. She lives in Aldershot now with her husband. I actually spoke to her briefly last night and she’s agreed to come in later this morning to talk to us.’

  ‘That’s good work, Dave. Stick with it and see what else you can come up with.’

  ‘Well, there’s one other thing I need to mention,’ Vaughan said. ‘The probation officer told me that soon after leaving prison, Kane had an operation to straighten his broken nose. So he looks very different now to how he looks in the mugshot.’

  39

  As the briefing continued, Temple became aware of a growing level of excitement in the room. His detectives could see that in Ethan Kane they had a viable suspect. There was also a sense of collective purpose that instilled him with confidence in his team.

  They all looked tired, though. He spotted a few red eyes and stifled yawns. But it was clear from the various updates that they were working flat out and doing a good job.

  He was told that the bodies found in the grave near Burley had been positively identified as those of Simon and Jane Cramer. The post-mortems were to be held today. However, there was still no confirmation on the identity of the corpse at Deadman Hill, although they were pretty certain it would turn out to be the foreign exchange student, Angeline Bedel.

  The team had had some luck with traffic camera footage near the van hire company in Southampton. The van taken out by Mason the week before had been caught on several cameras, but none had captured him being dropped off or picked up there. The van in question was now with forensics, who were examining it for fingerprints and for any evidence that the Hamiltons had been inside.

  Ross Cavendish, the guy who ran the agency which supplied Fowler with S&M prostitutes, had been questioned by DC Whelan.

  ‘He’s a right spiv and at first, he denied having met Fowler,’ Whelan said. ‘But he changed his tune when I threatened to arrest him for obstruction and pimping. Then he confirmed what Fowler said about using the agency. They’ve supplied him with whiplash whores for a couple of years. He goes to them about once a month and he’s always the submissive.’

  ‘So where do the sessions take place?’

  ‘There’s a house here in town that’s fully equipped with all the S&M paraphernalia. It’s a glorified brothel and three so-called mistresses work from there, offering a specialized service. We checked it out late last night but it’s obviously not the room featured in the videos found in Mason’s loft.’

  Temple then told the team that Tom Fowler was in a cell and described what had happened in the pub the night before.

  ‘It’s given us an opportunity to interview him here under caution,’ he said. ‘Hopefully we’ll be able to search his house at the same time.’

  ‘I’ll chase up the warrant,’ Beresford said. ‘Is he still in the frame then?’

  Temple nodded. ‘For the time being he is.’

  He then reported on his chat with Noah Cross and asked Marsh to check out Cross’s alibi.

  ‘He’s given me the number of a friend he’s been staying with in London. He claims he got a late train up on Thursday and his friend met him at Waterloo. If it’s true, then he couldn’t have been the man who broke into Mason’s house and attacked me.’

  Temple went through task assignments, and then Beresford brought the meeting to a close by reminding everyone that the army was joining the search teams at the other seven locations marked on Mason’s map.

  ‘This is an unprecedented deployment of police and service personnel,’ he said, his voice solemn. ‘By the end of today, it’s possible that we’ll have discovered the bodies of more murder victims.’

  40

  Tom Fowler looked like death warmed up. His stubble was a charcoal shadow on his jaw and there were dark smudges beneath his bloodshot eyes. He also reeked of alcohol and vomit, which made it uncomfortable in the interview room.

  Temple handed him a coffee from the machine and sat down to face him across the table. Fowler’s hand shook as he picked up the cup and slurped from it.

  ‘So, what can you remember about last night, Mr Fowler?’

  Fowler held the cup in both hands and lifted his head to look at Temple.

  His voice was thin and wheezy. ‘I remember I got angry and broke a few glasses. You made a big deal out of it and I was arrested. You treated me like a fucking armed robber.’

  ‘You broke more than a few glasses,’ Temple said. ‘And I’m sure that if I hadn’t stepped in, things would have turned even uglier.’

  ‘That’s total rubbish. I’d had a couple of drinks so I was a bit tipsy. And I was pissed off because I’d lost my keys. Then you started harassing me. So is it any wonder that I lost my temper?’

  ‘You were acting like someone who’s really stressed out, Mr Fowler,’ Temple said. ‘Was it because we gave you a fright when we came to see you?’

  His jaw stiffened. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

  ‘Well, if I was in your shoes I’d be shit scared too. After all, given your relationship with Mason and the fact that you’re a sado masochist yourself…’

  Fowler slammed his fist down on the table and stared daggers at Temple.

  ‘You’re trying to fit me up because I’m an obvious target. Well, I’m not going to make it easy for you. There’s no evidence linking me to what Mason did and there’s no way you’ll get me to incriminate myself. So don’t bother trying.’

  Temple sat back, crossed his arms. ‘OK, let’s play it your way. Tell me again about your first encounter with Grant Mason.’

  Fowler shook his head. ‘No way. I’ve been arrested for what happened in the pub. Charge me in relation to that or let me go.’

  ‘You’ll be charged in due course, Mr Fowler, but your legal rights don’t extend to telling me what questions I can ask you.’

  Fowler uncrossed his arms and leaned forwards, resting on his elbows. He released a breath and Temple caught a blast of alcohol.

  ‘In that case, I’m not saying another word until I’ve talked to a lawyer.’

  Temple tutted and looked at his watch. ‘I can arrange for you to see a duty solicitor or you can call in your own brief? What’s it to be?’

  ‘The duty solicitor’s fine.’

  ‘In that case I’ll get right onto it. Meanwhile, you’ll remain in custody.’

  ‘Then I want some breakfast. I’m starving.’

  ‘I’ll sort it.’ Temple got to his feet. ‘You should also know that I’ve just obtained a warrant to search your house. A forensic team will be going there shortly.’

  Fowler sprang up, knocking over the cup and spilling hot coffee across the table. He stabbed a rigid finger at Temple.

  ‘You bastards have no right to invade my privacy. I haven’t done anything wrong. This is a stitch up.’

&nbs
p; ‘Don’t be absurd, Mr Fowler. We’re just doing our job. Yours won’t be the only property we search during the course of our investigation into Grant Mason and the murders he committed. And if you have nothing to hide, then you should have nothing to worry about.’

  41

  Ruth Kogan arrived at ten after driving down from Aldershot. DS Vaughan went to meet her in reception and brought her up to Temple’s office.

  She was in her late twenties with a broad, homely face and small button nose. Her short brown hair was shiny and neat, and she wore a dark tank top over jeans that were tight around the hips.

  Vaughan had already explained to her over the phone that they wanted to ask her about her mother’s former live-in boyfriend, Ethan Kane. And she’d gleaned from the TV that he was being sought in connection with the New Forest murders.

  ‘I knew nothing about Kane’s past until I returned from Australia three years ago and spoke to the police about my mother’s disappearance,’ she said. ‘And of course I never met the man so I don’t know what he was like.’

  She went on to say that she was still desperately worried about her mother because she hadn’t heard from her in all that time.

  ‘I’m convinced that Kane must have had something to do with it,’ she said. ‘That’s why I decided to come straight down here today. If you’re going to start looking for him again, then I want to do all that I can to help.’

  Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back.

  ‘Were you and your mother close?’ Temple asked.

  ‘We were at one time. My father died when I was ten and my mother brought me up by herself. We got on well until I was twenty-four and went to Australia on holiday. While there, I met a man and fell in love so I decided to stay. My mother was devastated and even refused to come to the wedding a year later. Eventually, she flew down to meet my husband and we stayed in touch after that by phone and email.’

  ‘I gather Kane moved in with her soon after he was released from prison.’

  She nodded. ’He didn’t tell her he’d been to jail. She met him through an online dating agency, and he said he was divorced and had been living in Spain where he’d owned a bar. She wrote, telling me that he was moving in and she was really smitten. I was happy for her and he sounded like a nice man so I saw no need to worry. But all that changed when I got this email.’