Looking For A Reason (#4 - D.I. Paolo Storey Crime Series)

by Frances di Plino

  “Where do all these go?” Paolo asked.

  Trudy pointed to each door in turn. “That leads into the kitchens. That one into the wine cellars. That one goes into the main part of the building. That’s just storage. I have to come in and go out this way when there are functions on in the club.”

  “What sort of functions?” Paolo asked.

  Trudy smiled. “I have no idea. I’m not allowed in the main part of the club. It really is men only.”

  “Aren’t you curious?” Dave said. “I’d be peeping at the keyholes if someone told me I wasn’t allowed to see what was going on. What do you think they get up to?”

  The smile left her face. “I told you, I have no idea. I’ve no intention of trying to find out, either. I need this job and don’t intend to lose it by sticking my nose in where it’s not wanted. This leads to the back of the parking area.”

  She opened the door and stood pointedly holding it for them.

  Paolo smiled. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to upset you. Thank you for your time.”

  Trudy continued to hold the door until they passed through and shut it behind them without answering.

  They came out behind the club into an additional parking area not visible from the front of the building. It was fenced off with six foot high security panels with three strands of what looked like razor wire on top of that. Against the wall outside the door were three wheelie bins. Paolo lifted the lids, but they were empty.

  “Must have been refuse collection day today,” he said.

  Dave grinned at him. “Don’t tell me you were planning to rummage through their rubbish, sir.”

  Paolo returned the smile. “Nope, I was planning on making you do that, being as I’m the superior officer and all that. Seriously though, I thought there might be some paperwork to show what goes on in that place. To my mind, it stinks of something dodgy. I don’t know what, but I’m going to find out.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Paolo headed into the station bright and early the next day, determined to sort out the nastiness regarding Dave’s situation once and for all. As he climbed the stairs, he was already working out exactly what to say without revealing he knew about the note Dave had received. Bringing that up would just serve to make it seem that Dave had gone running to Paolo like a schoolboy unable to stand up to his tormentors.

  Paolo knew Dave wouldn’t be in until later, as he’d sent him off to ask William Coburn what his dispute with the centre had been about. April’s comment about discrepancies in the accounting had rankled overnight, so a quick call early this morning had solved both problems. It got Dave out the way so that Paolo could talk freely and it might just shed some light on what April had alluded to.

  Paolo walked into the main office and stopped by the crime scene board.

  “Listen up, everyone; I have something important to say.”

  It took a while until phone calls were finished and files saved, but eventually he had everyone’s attention.

  “I’ve chosen this morning to talk to you because Dave isn’t here.”

  “Skiving off again.”

  Although it had been whispered, the voice carried around the silent room. A few nervous laughs followed the words and then petered out.

  Paolo forced himself to stay calm. Losing his temper wouldn’t help Dave in any way.

  “I don’t suppose whoever said that has the guts to stand up and admit to it?”

  He waited a few seconds, but there was no movement anywhere in the room. He was aware of CC’s eyes on him and got the distinct impression she knew who’d spoken. Paolo had no intention of putting her on the spot by asking her to confirm it had been Jack Cummings. He looked around the room, making eye contact with each officer.

  “There’s no need to own up. I recognised the voice, as I’m sure you all did. That isn’t the issue. The point is that one of you felt it was okay to malign a fellow officer who works bloody hard. Others found it funny. Maybe if you’d been on the receiving end, you might not have enjoyed the comment as much. Most of you are aware of the number of hours Dave puts in, without claiming overtime, let me tell you. The reason he isn’t here is because I’ve sent him off on a job and I’ve done that because I’m sick to death of a room full of adults behaving like a kids in the playground. It needs to stop.”

  He paused for breath and was pleased to see he still had everyone’s attention.

  “Yes, Dave is the Chief’s nephew. While none of you knew about it I never heard a single word of complaint about Dave or his work ethic. The relationship made the press and suddenly some of you have taken it into your heads to see favouritism that isn’t there. The person who leaked the information to the press was a bitter man. He was bloody good at his job, but thought Dave had been unfairly favoured by me because of his connections. I’m telling you now, that was crap then and it’s crap now. You all know Dave. Stop acting like idiots and remember how you felt before you read the report in the papers!” He smiled. “That’s it. Lecture over.”

  In the sullen silence which reigned over the room, Paolo turned to Andrea. Seeing as she was being mentored by CC, he was fairly sure Andrea wouldn’t be harbouring resentment over imagined favouritism.

  “Andrea, you were going to check on CCTV coverage of the canal area where the brutality victim was dumped. What have you found out?”

  She pulled a file closer to her and opened it. “Nothing of use to us, sir. There are cameras all along the canal, but the ones we needed are no longer functioning. Apparently, the cameras are still there, but they stopped using them when Fletcher Simpson started his renovation project.”

  Paolo frowned. “Did the council approve this, or did he do it without consulting with the other councillors?”

  Andrea shook her head. “I asked the spokesperson for Simpson Holdings and was told to contact the council directly for that information. I have it on my list for today, sir.”

  “Leave it with me,” Paolo said. “I have to speak to Montague Mason about youth centre matters at some point anyway. I’m quite sure if Fletcher Simpson acted without the backing of the council, Mason will be only too pleased to let me know.”

  Andrea grinned. “That reminds me. Did anyone listen to Radio Bradchester this morning? Clementine Towers has formed an action group and managed to get herself interviewed on that very subject.”

  “Really? What’s it got to do with her?” Paolo asked. “I’d have thought she had her hands full making sure no deviant books get smuggled onto the shelves of the youth centre library.”

  “She was making an appeal for people to join the Bradchester Brigade. They’re protesting against Simpson’s plans.”

  Paolo laughed. “Maybe I should volunteer my services. I’m not sure I approve of his renovation project.”

  Andrea looked confused, but CC laughed. “You’ve touched one of our beloved leader’s sore spots. He likes the canal as it is.”

  “What, all clogged up and dirty?”

  “Of course I don’t want that,” Paolo said. “It has to be cleaned up, but I want it done for the benefit of Bradchester, not to line Simpson’s pockets.”

  “Blimey, are you on that soapbox again, sir?” Dave called out from the doorway.

  “Always will be where greed gets in the way of the town, Dave. How did you get on with William Coburn? Come in and bring us all up to date. Andrea can fill you in on her findings afterwards.”

  Dave walked over and stood next to Paolo.

  “Coburn was there that day because one of his repeat invoices had been returned as already paid, but he hadn’t actually received the funds in his account. Apparently, he was being given the run-around by April, so he went to the centre to have it out with her. She claimed Mason had insisted the account had been paid. According to Coburn, she made him feel like he was trying to pull a fast one, instead of simply getting the money owed to him. He wanted to see Mason, but even though he hung around for over an hour, he never got the opportunity. Funnily enough, he says the
money was in his bank account the next day. He doesn’t know whether it was Mason or his secretary who was playing games with his cash, but he insists one of them was.”

  Paolo saw CC frown. “Problem, CC?”

  “Yeah, why didn’t he tell us that when Andrea and I went to talk to him?”

  Dave blushed. “He, um, he… I don’t know.”

  “Rubbish,” CC said. “What did he say that you don’t want to tell us? Come on, Dave, spit it out. You couldn’t lie to save your life.”

  Dave looked as if he’d rather be anywhere than in the office. “There’s nothing, really.”

  Paolo spotted CC winking at Andrea. “Shall I tell you what I think he said? Andrea and I were talking about him this morning. I think he didn’t trust a couple of girlies to get the facts straight. I bet he told you he was glad you came so that he could deal with it man to man.”

  Dave’s blush deepened. “How the hell did you know that?”

  “It was pretty obvious when we were there yesterday. You remember I said I thought he was holding something back? That’s obviously what it was. He all but patted us on the head when we left. He didn’t say the words, but the implication was to get back to the station and do the typing and leave the investigating to the men.”

  “Sorry,” Dave said.

  CC laughed. “No need for you to apologise. It’s not your fault he’s an arsehole.”

  “Okay,” Paolo said, “we’ve established he’s a pillock, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he had to fight to get his money. That centre isn’t exactly overburdened with cash, but there should be enough in the bank to cover all the invoices for work carried out. Dave, I want you to contact financial crimes and see if they’ve uncovered anything we can get our teeth into.”

  He glanced back at the board. “I take it there’s been no news on the mystery patient?”

  “No, sir,” Andrea said. “I called in on my way to work this morning. There’s no change at all in his condition.”

  “Well, until we know who he is, it’s going to be difficult to track down his assailant.”

  “Right, Andrea, see if there are cameras on the approach roads to the canal. It’s a long shot, but we’ve got nothing else to go on. CC, I need you to contact our local Rape Crisis and find out if there is a male equivalent service in Bradchester. If not, ask where the nearest one is. I know some towns and cities have them.”

  “I can get the general information, sir, but you know they won’t give any specifics, don’t you?”

  Paolo sighed. “I know, CC, but I’m hoping if someone with injuries matching our victim in the hospital should get in touch, knowing there is a serial abuser out there might convince the counsellors to encourage a victim to talk to us. I know it’s a long shot, but what else have we got?”

  He left them to their allocated tasks and headed off to his own office to tackle the paperwork he never seemed to get on top of. The endless bloody forms and worksheets he had to fill in took more time than solving the crimes he was reporting on. And every government promised to cut back, but added to the paper trail as soon as they took office.

  As he reached the doorway and put his hand out to push the door open, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He’d put it on silent while delivering his lecture, but fished it out now and flicked the switch to change from mute to ringing. He saw Katy’s name on the screen and slid the bar across to answer the call.

  “Hi, Katy, what’s up?”

  Kicking the door closed behind him, he walked over to his desk, trying not to look at the paper towers he’d constructed.

  “Nothing’s up, Dad. That’s not nice, thinking I only call when something’s wrong.”

  He heard the laughter in her voice and relaxed. No matter what age she was, she would always be his baby and he’d never stop worrying that something bad would happen to her. She’d been through enough over the last couple of years to emotionally cripple most young people, but somehow she’d found a way to cope with the trauma and enjoy life again.

  “Okay, if there’s nothing up, to what do I owe the pleasure of a call from you in the middle of the morning?”

  “Oh, you know, just thought I’d ring for a chat.”

  “Really?” Paolo said. “No ulterior motive? Not even a tiny one?”

  “Hmm, maybe a small one.”

  “Financially small or emotionally small?”

  She laughed. “Can I go for the jackpot and have both?”

  “That sounds worrying,” Paolo said. “You’d better come round tonight and tell me your woes over takeaway pizza.”

  “Great, see you about seven-ish,” she said.

  “Whoa, hang on a minute. Pizza for two or for three?”

  “Just two. Danny’s volunteering at the shelter tonight. Besides, I need to talk to you on my own. I’ll tell Mum I won’t be home for dinner.”

  Paolo ended the call not knowing whether to be worried or pleased Katy wanted to confide in him. A tiny voice told him whatever it was she had to say, her mind was already made up. He shrugged, whatever it was, he’d deal with it later. Right now, work called. He’d made considerable inroads into one pile when a tap on the door released him from his misery.

  “Come in,” he called.

  CC opened the door. “Sorry to disturb you, sir.”

  “Don’t be, I’m not! Sit down and tell me what you’ve found out.”

  “I spoke to a lovely lady at Rape Crisis who couldn’t have been more helpful. I explained about our nameless victim and how we hoped she could help us prevent further attacks. She said that around half of the Rape Crisis Centres also offer a specific service to men and/or boys. We don’t have one here, or in Leicester, but if a male, man or boy, contacted our local Rape Crisis Centre, he would be advised of the nearest appropriate services. There are two centres in Northampton I’m going to contact.”

  “Northampton? Nothing closer?”

  CC shook her head. “Nope, not via Rape Crisis, but the person I was dealing with said there are other organisations that specialise in supporting male survivors and she’s given me some info to follow up on.”

  “Will you be able to contact the two Northampton centres? Although, to be honest, I think they are too far away, don’t you?”

  She nodded. “Probably, but I’ll call them anyway. One of them is primarily a telephone helpline support service, offering counselling and referrals for males and females over the age of thirteen. Even if they are in Northampton, they might still get a call from a victim of a similar attack.”

  Paolo knew she was right, but wished there was somewhere closer. Probably victims of sexual abuse wished the same thing.

  “Do what you can, CC. I doubt they will be able to persuade someone who’s been subjected to that level of violence to come forward, but we have to at least try.”

  “Right, sir, I’ll get onto it straight away.” She stood up, but didn’t move towards the door. Paolo could see she was debating whether or not to speak.

  “Come on, CC, spit it out. What is it you don’t want to say, but feel you must?”

  She let out a long drawn out sigh. “You meant well this morning, sir, but I’m not sure your talk had the right effect. The whisper now is that Dave’s uncle leaned on you to lean on us.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Paolo hissed, slapping his hand down on the desk and sending files sliding in all directions. “What is wrong with people? Who is it?”

  CC looked at him as if he’d lost his mind, which he probably had, asking her to grass on colleagues. She’d be more like to pull out her own fingernails than to split on anyone.

  “I’ve nothing to say, sir, except, let things settle in their own good time. Dave’s a good copper. You know that, I know it, and so do the idiots out there making the snide comments. Eventually it will all work itself out when they see that you really aren’t playing favourites.”

  She shrugged, as if to say sorry, and then left.

  Paolo looked at the files now lying ev
ery which way on his desk. He needed to get out and do some proper police work instead of shutting himself up in here. He stood up, ready to sweep the whole lot off his desk when another tap on the door stopped him just as he’d raised his arm.

  “Come in,” he snapped, then regretted it when he saw the wary look on Andrea’s face. “Sorry, ignore my bad mood. Come in. What have you found out?”

  “There are CCTV cameras on three of the roads leading down to the canal, but not on another two. I’ve been in touch with the security firm who run the footage. I think it’s worth calling in the DVDs and viewing them. You never know, we might strike lucky.”

  Paolo smiled. “I agree. Let me know if you find anything.”

  As she was about to leave, Dave appeared in the doorway.

  “Bloody hell, I’m popular this afternoon. CC, call Andrea in. We might as well all hear Dave’s news together.”

  Dave waited until everyone was settled and then opened his notebook.

  “I spoke to Pat Byrne who is looking into the youth centre’s books and asked him to pay particular attention to payments made to William Coburn. Pat has just called be back to say there are definite irregularities. There’s evidence of funds being moved around, robbing Peter to pay Paul sort of thing. He is going to prepare a full report for you but said he’s still looking back over past payments and money transfers.”

  Paolo drummed his fingers on the desk. “Did he give any indication as to who has been creative with the accounting? I know Mason controlled the centre’s finances, but I believe April was involved with the bookkeeping as well.”

  “Pat didn’t say, sir. He said whoever was moving the money around was very careful and covered his or her tracks very well. If no one had raised a suspicion, the chances are it would never have been picked up. There doesn’t appear to be money missing, but discrepancies could have been hidden in the ledgers under a different heading. To be honest, by the time Pat had finished explaining it all to me my brain had just about shut down, but he seemed to have a handle on it and said he’d put it into words of one syllable in his report so that even dummies like me could understand it.” Dave grinned. “That last bit was my interpretation of what he actually said. His words were much more diplomatic.”