Dead Sweet: A D.I. Turnbull mystery

by Sally O'Brien

  A few minutes passed where Todd stood still, looking into space, concentrating only on the drum and bass which played noisily in his head.

  The bathroom door opened and a pristine Candace appeared. Todd knew he had to set the boundaries straight as soon as possible.

  "Candace, last night between us."

  "Yes?"

  "It shouldn't have happened."

  "No, but it did and it was amazing." Candace approached Todd and put her hands up onto his shoulders. He grasped her hands and removed them.

  "Candace, I'm your boss, we have a really important set of cases to investigate; we can't get distracted."

  "The cases will be investigated, don't worry about them." Candace shrugged, "And the guys at work will be fine about us, we can even invite them to the wedding," she smirked.

  "Shoot me now," Todd smiled as he realised Candace was joking with him. "But seriously, Candy Cane, "

  "Listen Todd," she interrupted him, "I had fun but I'm not stupid. I know how important the case is; I'm just as serious as you about catching the killer and getting justice for those poor girls. I do like you, but I'm a professional and you don't have to worry, this goes no further."

  "I'm sorry."

  "Don't be Todger, I knew what I was doing. Maybe when everything calms down."

  "Yeah maybe." Todd agreed, but he doubted very much whether he wanted to enter into a relationship with Candace.

  She read his face and shrugged again, "Or maybe not."

  "Sorry."

  "It's fine, honestly. Please Guv, let's forget this ever happened."

  "Ok well in that case, make me a bacon sandwich, I'm starving."

  "You can make your own sandwich, I have to go," laughed Candace.

  "So a blow job's out of the question then?"

  "Fuck off."

  "That's fuck off sir to you. Come on, I'll see you to the front door."

  -x-

  13:30 hours

  Todd drove away from his sister's house, stomach filled with cupcakes and tuna sandwiches. His hangover was finally beginning to subside and the food had made him feel normal again. Jasmine liked the doll Todd had chosen for her and he was sitting firmly in the position of number one favourite uncle of all time, as she had told him through a mouthful of birthday cake. Todd once again resolved to take some time off work to spend with his sister and niece; they had discussed going away on holiday together and he assured them that as soon as the murder case was over he would definitely go away with them; he just hoped that was sooner rather than later.

  Thirty minutes later, Todd pulled up at Olinsbury police station.

  "Ah Hollywood, how I have missed you." He muttered as he passed two of the Olinsbury youth, perched atop a wall with beer can in one hand and a suspicious looking cigarette in another. He drove through the open side gate and parked in his usual spot in the rear car park. Todd got out of his car and walked towards the back door which opened before he could do it himself. Two police community support officers came out of the building, hands tucked into their stab proof vests, sharing a joke as they walked.

  "You shouldn't do that," Todd pointed at the PCSO'S hands. "If someone grabs you, you won't be able to get your hands free."

  "Sorry sir," she said, removing her hands, her counterpart did the same.

  "Are you going out to the High Street?" Todd asked.

  "Yes sir."

  "Good, there are two lads sitting on the corner wall, pants nearly around their ankles. Go and speak to them please; they are drinking beer and I'm sure one of them has a joint."

  "Cheeky beggars," she smiled, "Right near the nick as well."

  "I know, can you make sure they get moved on please and if they do have the dope, call for back up."

  "Yes sir." The PCSO fluttered her eyelashes at Todd. Once again he cursed the way he looked, it was so hard to be taken seriously by women when they were always trying to get his attention sexually.

  "Go on then," he said sternly.

  "Sir." The two officers scuttled off out of the side gate.

  Todd walked up the flight of stairs to his office and found Candace sitting at her desk, looking at the files they had ignored the night before.

  "Any developments?" he asked

  "No Guv, just going back over the statements again." Candace said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not getting anywhere, I think we need to try something else."

  "Any ideas?"

  "We could go to their old school and find out who their friends were. Check pictures and speak to teachers; there may be a connection to someone. It could even be a bully or a person they bullied, something like that."

  "Yes, I like your way of thinking Candace. Get onto their parents first, they may be able to start us off with names; it would make things a lot quicker."

  "Yes Guv, I'll get onto it."

  "Good girl. I'm going to speak to DI Jones to take over and get the low down on what's been going on in this wonderful town; do you know where he is?"

  "I think he's down in the station office. There's been a distraction theft in the High Street, some poor old soul is covered in dog shit down there."

  "Same gang?"

  "Sounds like it; there was a man and a woman that spoke to him before the money went missing."

  "How much?"

  "Two grand."

  "What? What's an old man doing with that much money?"

  "He drew it out to pay for a ticket to Australia; he's got a daughter out there."

  Todd sighed, he felt so sorry for the victim of the latest crime wave which was hitting Olinsbury. A gang of men and women were operating on the High Street; watching the local banks and waiting for someone to make a big withdrawal. When their mark was spotted, they would wait for the person to leave the bank and throw a noxious substance at their backs; then a woman would alert the victim to the stain and 'help' them remove their coat. The rest of the gang would join in as concerned by-passers and by the time the victim's coat was handed back, the money would be gone and so would the gang, very swiftly after.

  "Poor man, I'll go down and see what I can do."

  "Ok Guv, I'll carry on here."

  Todd walked down the stairs and out into the public area of the police station. He was immediately hit by the smell of shit which hung thickly in the air. Todd saw a frail old man sobbing quietly, sitting on the blue metal chairs which lined the wall of the waiting area.

  Detective Inspector Jones was squatting on the floor in front of the old guy, one hand on his knee, and talking quietly to him. He turned towards Todd as the door opened.

  "Hi Todd."

  "Hello Trevor, how are we doing?"

  "Excuse me Mr Windruff, I need to speak with my colleague." The man nodded his head. DI Jones got up and retrieved a beige overcoat from the floor beside him. He held it up so Todd could see the large stain of excrement which painted the back of the coat; the lines of liquid matter told Todd it had been squirted onto the material.

  "Same guys?" he asked.

  "Definitely the same gang; one short Spanish looking woman, black haired and at least another two Mediterranean men."

  Todd walked over to the old man who continued to sob quietly on the chair.

  "I'm sorry this had to happen to you." He said, "Mr?"

  "Billy. I was going to see my daughter," the man said, "I haven't seen her for twenty years."

  "It's a disgusting thing to happen, have we got any cars out looking," he asked DI Jones.

  "Yes, all cars are on alert and PCSOs are going up and down the High Street and surrounding roads. It took a little while for Billy to discover the theft though so they may have already left the area."

  "It all happened so quickly," Billy sobbed. "I just walked out of the bank and she said, 'You've got something on your coat,' then she helped me take it off and the other guys sat me down on the bench. She gave me back the coat and told me to take it to the cleaners, so I did because I couldn't walk around covered in that muck. I only checked the pockets when
I got there; that's when I realised the envelope wasn't there. It was all gone, every penny. Now I won't ever be able to see my daughter again. It took me five years to save that, I don't think I've got five years left in me to save it again."

  Todd looked at Mr Windruff's watery eyes and had to fight the urge to take out his wallet. He knew he couldn't start helping every victim that came in the station or he would be a very poor man. It was horrible to see someone going through so much torment. He wished the perpetrators could see the consequences of their crime; the utter devastation they brought to people just so they could steal money to buy bigger cars or more expensive clothes.

  "Where do you live Billy?" Todd asked.

  "Twockford; I suppose I should go home and phone my daughter. She will be so angry with me for being so stupid."

  "I think she'll be angrier at the people who stole from you."

  "No, she's always telling me to use my Visa card, but I don't trust the computers. I'm used to paying in cash; wish I had listened to her and not been such a stubborn old fool."

  "You're not the only person this has happened to mate; people younger and stronger than you have been duped by this gang. They are working together; it's a professional hit." Todd consoled him. "There was nothing you could have done differently. Once they decide they're going to steal from you, that's exactly what's going to happen."

  "Still, there's no fool like an old fool," Billy sniffed, "Ok I'll go home now."

  "I'll drive you," Todd offered. "Trevor, can you do the handover with Candace, she's upstairs. I'll take Mr Windruff home, it's the least we can do."

  "Ok Todd, I'm going to bag up this coat so you can take it home Billy, at least it won't smell in the bag."

  "Bin it," the old guy said. "I don't want to see it again. I've got other jackets at home."

  "Ok if you're sure."

  "Yes, I can't deal with it. I just want to forget it ever happened. I don't think I'll be going out for a while now."

  "You need to make sure you go out again; don't let them beat you Billy. You're made of sterner stuff than that. I bet you were in the war." Todd said.

  "Corporal Billy Windruff," he said giving a mock salute, eyes coming alive at the memory of his former years. "Bit older now though," he sighed.

  "Come on mate, I'll get you home. If we need any more from you I'll send officers around. I'm also going to call Victim Support for you."

  "What for?"

  "Someone to talk to."

  "Bleeding hearts. I can't be doing with all that," Billy protested, "I'll be ok."

  Todd wondered at the resilience of the guy. "That's the spirit, stiff upper lip."

  "It's how we won the war. Come on then I'll have to face the daughter some time."

  Todd walked Billy through to his car and spent the journey letting him speak about his daughter and his forty years working for the Royal Mail. The old soldier even managed a laugh or two during the journey and Todd was pleased he had offered to give him a lift home. They turned into a tree-lined avenue and Todd saw a cluster of men standing on the pavement, some holding cameras with large lenses and others smoking or blowing into paper cups of coffee.

  "What's going on I wonder." Todd said as he pulled up outside Billy's house.

  "Oh it's that bloody woman off the telly," Billy said, "What's her name? Foxy or something like that; big boobs."

  "Vixen?"

  "That's the one, she lives there."

  "Ah yes, that's right, I was speaking to her the other day."

  "Bloody pain in the arse, they're here all day and all night." Billy tsked, "At least I won't get burgled. Not that I've got anything worth taking, especially now." Tears filled his eyes again. Todd reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

  "Come on Billy, let's get you inside, I could murder a cup of tea."

  "Ok," Billy took his time to leave the car, his movements slow and unsteady. Todd saw tears once more in his eyes and once again felt sadness for the poor man.

  "I'll tell you something Billy; I'm gonna have a whip round back at the nick and see if we can get you some of that money back. I'll also speak to our witness and victim support team. I might not be able to get the full amount but I'll have a bloody good go."

  "Really?" hope glimmered on Billy's face. "I can't ask you to do that officer, it wouldn't be right."

  "Nonsense; if we can't help the very people who fought to give us Britain then who can we help?"

  Todd made up his mind as he spoke that he was going to make sure Billy got to Australia. He just couldn't turn his back and walk away from someone in so much pain. He held onto Billy by the elbow and began to lead him into the house.

  "Officer," a female voice shouted from across the road. Todd turned to see Vixen hanging out of the upper floor window of her home; earrings so large they threatened to weight her head down so much, she just may fall out of the window she leaned from. Todd gave a curt wave before continuing to lead Billy into his house.

  "Officer," Vixen persisted. Todd had no intention of shouting across the road and signalled to Vixen to keep the noise down.

  "I need to see you," she shouted; flashes from cameras went off and the crowd of men standing outside Vixen's house began to call out to her.

  "Vixen, over here; give us a pout."

  "Please come over," she shouted once again. Todd acknowledged he had heard her and she disappeared back into her house. Todd continued to help Billy into his dilapidated town house. Its proportions were much the same as the Celeb's palace which shown across the road, but years of neglect had left it looking rather forlorn. Todd shared a cup of tea with Billy and exchanged small talk and war stories. He reassured Billy once again that he would sort some money out for him and left with Billy's thanks and feeling much better for doing something good.

  It only took a few seconds and Todd was knocking on Vixen's front door, questions being fired at him by the paparazzi.

  "Who are you mate?"

  "Why are you visiting Vixen?"

  "Are you family?"

  He ignored them and quickly stepped inside the house when the front door was opened for him. Vixen walked in front of Todd and motioned for him to follow her up the stairs.

  "Madam, I am very busy, would you like to tell me how I can help you?" Vixen stopped mid-way up the stairs.

  "He's been here," she said.

  "Who?"

  "That man I was telling you about; Malcolm."

  "What happened?" Todd asked, concerned now that a physical event had taken place.

  "He was outside my window last night." She lowered her voice, "Wanking."

  "Did you actually see him outside masturbating?" Todd enquired.

  "Well no, it was very dark, but..." Vixen stopped and looked shyly away.

  "Yes Vixen? It's ok, you can't shock me."

  "Well he threw his spunk at the window," she stifled a giggle, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh but can you believe it? I mean I've had some things thrown at me before, but never that. It's like something out of Silence of the Lambs; sick."

  "Show me your window." Todd said, he agreed it was disgusting, but couldn't help feeling slightly excited at the prospect of maybe finding the perpetrator of the murders he had been investigating. Everything Vixen had described about the things Malcolm had said to her, pointed to someone with a sexual proclivity relating to food. He knew that wasn't enough; the person would also need to have a propensity for violence, but for all Todd knew, when he finally caught up with Malcolm, that's just what he would find. He followed Vixen to her bedroom and was shown to the window which had a definite mark on it.

  "Ok, I'll get SOCO over again to take a specimen as soon as possible. Did you see him Vixen? How do you know it was him?"

  "I don't actually know it was him, but who else could it be? He's the only nutter talking to me."

  "Have you had any further conversation with him?"

  "Well no, you've taken my computer and my phone's a piece of shit."

  "What does h
e look like? Could you tell me exactly what happened?"

  "I just came into the bedroom last night and I was looking at myself in the mirror, checking my implants."

  "Were you naked?"

  "Only the top half. Anyway I got a feeling that I was being watched, I don't know how I knew; it was just a feeling and then I heard a splat against the window. I went and looked outside and I swear I saw someone in the bushes.

  "Can you say what he looked like?"

  "No it was too dark, but it has to be him."

  "We'll take a sample and if he's on our database then we will get him nicked and put a stop to it."

  "And if he isn't?"

  "The data technicians are still working on the hard drive, they will definitely be able to extract the IP address for the computer he uses. If it's a home-based unit then we've got him."

  "Can I have protection until then?"

  "I'd love to say yes to you Vixen but we just don't have the resources for personal protection. I can tell my control room to treat all your calls as urgent and I can get a panic button installed if you feel it would make you safer."

  Vixen sat on her king sized be and took hold of a sparkly cushion, Todd wondered if the crystals scratched her face as she was sleeping. "I'll have to employ my own protection then," she opined, "I was going to do that soon enough; it makes you look more famous," she laughed.

  "You can be sure that if you need the police, we will come immediately." Todd assured her, "Until then, please don't clean that window."

  "I won't and I'll tell my cleaner to leave it alone as well."

  "Great, I'll get going unless there's anything else you'd like to speak about?"

  "Have you ever thought about going on telly? You have a great look you know?"

  "So I've been told, but no, I can't sing, act or dance."

  "You don't need to with a face like that. I could make you a star you know?"

  "I'm good, but thanks for the offer," Todd saw himself back to the stairs and let himself out of the house. He got straight on the phone to his Scenes of Crime officer and requested immediate retrieval of the window substance, then rang Candace at the station.