by Les Rixon
‘The world is now your oyster. One thought, which might suit you, could be to set up your own practice’
‘That could well be on the cards.’
With that the ladies retuned from the kitchen and Richard said: ‘If my father had been alive and in my situation, he would say without doubt “This calls for a celebration” and he would have produced a bottle of champagne and glasses and I intend to do the same.’
Ronald smiled and said: ‘Yes I think you are a chip off the old block.’ This concluded a very interesting and rewarding day.
Chapter 16
The next day Simon Parker came into Richard’s office and asked Richard how things were going following the funeral. ‘Well’ replied Richard ‘we are slowly trying to get used to the fact that my parents are no longer around.’
‘Yes’ said Simon ‘you have been through a very traumatic time. Now there is something I would like you to know. We had a Partner’s meeting on Friday and are considering extending the Practice by opening a branch not far from here you live. We feel that you would be the right person to run it. We would also like to offer you a share in the business, whereby you would become a senior partner with an obvious increase in salary and participation in our profit sharing scheme. Naturally, we would expect you to invest in the practice.’
Richard responded: ‘I would have to discuss all this with Mary.’
‘That’s fine, there’s no great rush, but we would like you to consider the offer. I can assure you it’s a very good opportunity for you.’
Shortly after Simon Parker had left, Tom came in to see Richard to discuss one of the cases with which they were dealing. Richard said: ‘Firstly of all, there is something I would like to discuss with you, but close the door. What I have to say is between you and me and in very simple terms, if I am willing to invest in the firm, I would become a senior partner.’
‘Well, well’ said Tom ‘call me a cynic if you like, but I half suspected this would happen. I will put one question to you and I think you know the answer. The question is: how long would you have to have been here to receive this offer if you had not been in such a strong financial position? Now there is another alternative. Why not start your own practice?’
Richard said: ‘Tom, believe it or not, you are not the first person to suggest that. It’s been on my mind on and off for some time. Now I am quite serious. If I went down that road, would you like to join me?’
Tom replied: ‘I would be more than happy to do so.’
Chapter 17
Two years later.
Some eighteen months ago Richard bought a substantial property in St. Margaret’s square in Hannisford. It comprised two floors, the lower floor was a shop of over 2,000 square feet, above which was an extensive suite of office space. The two floors were completely self-contained. The office area was reached by a separate entrance. The entrance was enhanced considerably by a modern lift to the offices above, which had influenced Richard to go ahead with the purchase. The owners of the property were very keen to sell due to other serious financial problems. The property was up for sale for just under one million pounds. Richard made an offer of £800,000. The agent handling the sale advised the sellers that the offer was from a sound buyer who could complete with the minimum of delay. To Richard’s surprise, the offer was accepted.
The first thing Richard did was to find a tenant for the ground floor shop. The agent had told him that the shop premises were located in a prestigious area and generally, in most respects, had been well maintained by the previous tenants.
A few weeks later a lease was granted to a company who were keen to extend their number of pharmacies. Richard discussed this with Tom saying: ‘This means we can now push ahead with the development programme for the first floor.’
The first floor had previously been used by an Insurance Company had an ideal layout with a Reception area and various rooms. Another strongpoint was the telephone system had links to all rooms. All that was now required was for the telephone line to be re-connected. So the Practice of Richard Reynolds was up and running.
Business was slow to begin with but six months later things started to pick up, by which time they had taken on a Receptionist/Typist called Monica Jones. She proved to be very capable and a most useful addition to the Practice. The Practice was also beginning to benefit from its location in the Square being nearby to several business concerns, not least of which was an Estate Agents across the Square.
Richard, during a serious discussion with Tom, said: ‘Tom, I think we have reached the stage where we need more staff. Firstly we need a Secretary. Monica is working her socks off to keep up with us. I think also, by the way it is going, we could use another Solicitor. Your input, Tom, would still be invaluable and so I suggest that you become Office Manager with an increased salary.’
Tom smiled and replied: ‘Which I am happy to accept.’
Chapter 18
The expansion went ahead and the Practice became very busy. They even took on a few clients that were previously with Phillips and Wareham. All members of staff held a key to the premises, which meant that whoever was first to arrive could open up and whoever was last to leave at the end of the day could lock up. At the end of a busy day, it was Richard who was last to leave and so, from his bunch of keys, he locked up, confident as always that the building was secure. He considered his decision to change the original lock for a Chubb 5 lever lock to have been a good investment.
It was almost dark when he left the building. All the street lights were on and he started to cross St. Margaret’s square. A lady close by said: ‘Good Evening’ to which Richard politely responded. The woman then continued: ‘It’s Mr. Reynolds, isn’t it?’
‘Well yes’ replied Richard.
‘I don’t think you remember me, but some years ago you managed my divorce’
‘Ah’ said Richard ‘It’s Mrs. O’Brien.’
‘Not any more’ she replied. ‘I’ve now remarried and am Suzanne Sullivan and very happy with my second husband. I now live in a very nice bungalow in Boundary Road, Elmhurst.’
‘I’m pleased to hear it’ said Richard. ‘Incidentally I also live in Elmhurst and I’m on my home now. Would you like a lift? My car is in the church car park just across the Square.’
‘Thank you very much. The buses at this time are always crowded.’
They crossed the Square and onto the footpath leading to the church car park. It was there that they saw a young lady running fast towards them. Then to their amazement two shots rang out and the lady collapsed in front of them. As they bent over her a man ran passed them with an obvious limp.
Richard exclaimed: ‘My God! What happened?’
Mrs. Sullivan said: ‘I have my mobile with me. I’ll ring for an ambulance’
‘Good, I’ll ring the Police.’
It seemed a while before the Police and Ambulance arrived, but it was in fact, just under ten minutes.
Richard quickly explained to the paramedic: ‘I think she has been shot in the back.’ The paramedics quickly checked to see if she was dead. They said she was still alive but said they could not do much there and needed to take her to hospital as quickly as possible. They transferred her to the ambulance and drove away with their siren ringing.
Very quickly more Police arrived including a Sergeant. Firstly, they sealed off the cul-de-sac and footpath. The Sergeant then approached Richard and Mrs. Sullivan. ‘Can you tell me what happened?’ he asked.
Richard then gave an accurate description of what had occurred.
‘Now’ said the Sergeant, addressing Mrs. Sullivan ‘can you confirm what this gentleman has just told me?’
‘Yes’ replied Mrs. Sullivan ‘I could not have put it better myself. Now can we go? My husband will be wondering where I am.’ The Sergeant said: ‘Just one more thing. Would you both ple
ase give me your names and addresses.’
Richard produced one of his business cards and Mrs. Sullivan gave her address. The Sergeant thanked them for all the information they had given him and said: ‘We will want a statement from you in the next few days and we will contact you in due course.’
Richard dropped Mrs. Sullivan off at her house and gave her one of his business cards, saying: ‘If you get any concerns about tonight, just ring me at my office.’
Mrs. Sullivan said: ‘I cannot thank you enough for your support tonight. I would have been devastated if I had been on my own.’
Mary by chance had seen Richard’s car pulled onto their drive and opened the front door for him. ‘You’re late tonight Richard’ she said ‘I rang the office but all I heard was a message on the answerphone to say that the office was closed. I was getting quite worried.’
‘Well you won’t believe it, but myself and a lady were witnesses to an attempted murder by the car park at St. Margaret’s church. It was awful.’
Sit down for a minute. You have had a nasty shock.’ With that she gave Richard a generous measure of brandy. ‘Now’ she continued ‘I’ve kept warm some shepherd’s pie for you.’
‘I don’t feel like eating much.’
‘Well eat what you can.’
After the meal Richard told Mary about what happened earlier, and how, by chance, he had met Mrs. Sullivan. He concluded. ‘I suppose it will be on the television news later on.’ Later they were in the lounge watching a television programme about antiques, which was something that had always interested them. This was followed by the news, and sure enough, there was a mention of a shooting of a girl in Hannisford who was now in hospital with serious injuries.
The following morning Richard went to work and found Monica, his Receptionist, had already arrived. She greeted Richard and said ‘I suppose you have heard about the incident across the square?’
‘Yes’ replied Richard calmly ‘I was there. Myself and another person were witnesses.’ Richard then told her the brief details of what had happened.
‘How awful for you’
‘Actually the victim nearly escaped before the shots were fired. The man chasing her was not as fast as her and seemed to be losing ground. I think that’s why he may have tried to shoot her. That’s only my theory. I just hope they catch the villain.’
Chapter 19
It was sometime after that Monica, put through a call to Richard saying: ‘I have an Inspector Wilson on the telephone asking to speak to you.’
‘Put him through.’
‘Richard it’s Bob. I need to see you about last night’
‘Well I have no clients to see me before 11.30am, so come as soon as you like.’
Ten minutes later Inspector Wilson arrived and was shown into Richard’s office. They were both members of the local golf club and played together on several occasions so no introductions were necessary. Richard asked:
‘Would you like a coffee?’
‘Yes, that would be very acceptable; I’ve hardly stopped for breath this morning.’
Richard asked Monica for two coffees which she readily agreed to provide.
Bob began: ‘My visit here is obviously regarding last night. Now one thing I need to ask you is can you add anything to your description of the man who ran past you?’
‘Well the one thing that sticks in my mind is the way he ran past me. It was not a smooth run and I think he had a problem in that he was losing ground on the girl who was running away. Maybe that’s why he fired at her. Beyond that there’s not much more I can add. It all happened so quickly.’
‘What you have told me may be very useful.’
With that Bob left Richard to return to the station. On the way out Monica asked him: ‘Could I have a quick word with you about last night?’
‘Go ahead’
‘Well about five or six years ago I was working for the local newspaper and the big news at that time was the attempted robbery at a bank in the high street. Two armed men almost got away with it. As they left the bank with a large amount of cash, one of the men sprinted rapidly to a waiting car. The other man had a limp and collided with a member of the public, causing him to fall to the ground. He was promptly arrested by two police officers who were nearby. His arrest led the police to the other robber. They were both sentenced to eight years.’
‘This is very interesting and could be important. I’ve only been in this locality for about three years but I will check back on that attempted armed robbery.’
With that, he thanked Monica for her information and then returned to the local police station, where he decided to check the attempted robbery of six years ago. He firstly asked Sergeant Cook to join him in his office and asked him:
‘How long have you been here?’
‘About eight years.’
‘Good, now do you remember the attempted robbery at the bank in the High Street?’
‘Yes, very well Sir.’
‘Well can you leave whatever you are doing this morning and dig out all the information on the attempted robbery, and provide me with a printout straight away.
Fifteen minutes later, Sergeant Cook produced two sheets of A4 paper with all the information Wilson required.
Inspector Wilson read the sheets. ‘Good God!’ he exclaimed. ‘The man we are interested in was released from prison four weeks ago. Now Sergeant, get on to the Probation office and get an update on this man.’
Sergeant Cook, in his usual efficient way, soon found out all he needed to know. With the information, he went to see Inspector Wilson and gave him the details he had ascertained. ‘Firstly our suspect Eric Smith is currently staying in a B & B at 34 East Street. The B & B s run by a Mrs. Angela Riley and this is her telephone number.’
‘Give me a few minutes and we will decide our next move.’
Inspector Wilson then rang Mrs. Riley and explained who he was. He then asked if she had a Mr. Eric Smith staying there.
Mrs. Riley quickly responded: ‘I did have him staying here but he has gone. He didn’t come to breakfast this morning, so I checked his room. He was not there and all his limited belongings were gone. He could have left at any time. The last time I saw him was at midday yesterday.’
Inspector Wilson then said: ‘I will send one of my men over just to double check his room.’ He then thanked Mrs. Riley for her co-operation. He then asked Sergeant Graham Cook to join him. ‘Well Sergeant the bird has flown.’ He related his discussion with Mrs. Riley. ‘Now what I want to do firstly is to send a plain clothed officer to inspect Smith’s room. There might be something useful to our enquires.’
Two hours later Detective Sergeant Cook returned to the station following a complete search of Eric Smith’s room. He went straight to see Inspector Wilson who said:
‘Well, did you find anything useful?’
‘Yes I found this cardboard box underneath the loose shelf at the bottom of the meter cabinet.’
He showed Inspector Wilson the box, which was about fifteen inches long and six inches wide. Sergeant Cook then lifted the flap on the box. Inside was a metal box with a three pin electric plug and two small cardboard boxes.
Sergeant Cook said: ‘I haven’t touched the metal in case there are some useful prints.’
Also in the box was a small bottle of liquid and a small plastic measure. It was just possible to read on the bottle: ‘one cap full per measure’. The Inspector removed one of the two small cardboard boxes and gently opened it. To his amazement it contained a small cartridge case without any bullet heads.
Inspector Wilson said: ‘What the hell have we got there? Any ideas Sergeant Cook?’
‘No Sir, I am afraid I have not seen anything like this.’
‘Right, take any prints you can from the top of the box and then take it to
the police armourer. The nearest is at Heathrow. We don’t have any weapons at this station but they do at Heathrow. I will ring them and explain what we need to know.’
‘One final thing’ said Sergeant Cook ‘I did ask Mrs. Riley if Smith had any transport. She told me that he had recently acquired an ex-Post Office van with all its insignia removed.’
‘That’s interesting Sergeant Cook. You have done very well on this investigation. I think we are getting somewhere.’
Sergeant Cook left and Inspector Wilson telephoned the Armed Specialist Unit at Heathrow and outlined what had been found in the course of a current attempted murder enquiry.
The officer at the unit was very interested and said: ‘That’s the last type of weapon we want in this country, especially anywhere near Heathrow.’ The following morning Inspector Wilson received a call from the Head of the Specialist Unit at Heathrow. He thanked Inspector Wilson for sending such an unusual type of weapon. He went on to say:
‘None of my staff has ever seen such a weapon, so we have sent it to the Metropolitan Police for their opinion, since they have greater facilities than we have here. The only thing we discovered was a couple of words on a bottle of fluid, which according to one of my staff who used to work for the Hong Kong Police some years ago, could be Chinese.’
The response from Scotland Yard arrived the next morning. Their verdict was that the weapon was made to order by a gang, and although it must have cost a small fortune to make, could have only limited use. The revolver used bullets made of ice moulded into a brass bullet casting which obviously dissolved quite quickly on entering the victim. Tests carried out on the weapon revealed that the revolver would need to be used within thirty minutes of preparing the frozen bullet, plus the fact that the revolver was insulated, making it heavier than the normal weapon and therefore making accuracy more difficult to achieve.
The Officer then said: ‘We would like to keep this item in out museum of small arm and would suggest that information concerning this weapon be kept confidential to avoid any copycat reaction.’ Inspector Wilson readily agreed.
