Only the Brave (A DS Allie Shenton Novel Book 3)

by Mel Sherratt

  ‘You can’t trust a soul in Stoke these days.’ Terry shook his head as if mocking them.

  ‘We just wondered why it would be found in your house, in a place that only Kirstie knew existed.’

  Terry looked at them again. ‘Can you be certain that only my daughter knows about it?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then she has no case to answer to. I’m sure Mr Woodgate will tell you that too.’

  The air thickened as Terry looked from one to the other over and over again. A silence fell in the small room.

  ‘Was Jordan put in to look after Kirstie?’ Allie broke into it.

  Terry sighed. ‘Yes. She’s a young woman, who lost both of her parents in the space of a month. I couldn’t leave everything under her control.’

  ‘But he’s young, good-looking, power-hungry even. I’m sure a man of your intelligence would have seen that as a threat rather than an advantage?’

  Terry laughed. ‘What planet do you live on, Detective Sergeant? He’s just an employee of mine.’

  It still irked Allie that nothing of Ryder’s could be taken away from him until they could prove he was doing something illegal.

  ‘What did Jordan help you out with?’ asked Nick.

  ‘Well, as you know, he helped to run Flynn’s nightclub and he kept an eye on Kirstie and the house.’

  ‘So he didn’t work for you regarding Car Wash City?’

  ‘Ah. You mean the best hand job in town.’

  Allie drew in her breath.

  ‘Sorry?’ said Nick, frowning at him.

  ‘It’s a new tagline I thought up while I was in here. Good, isn’t it?’

  Allie wanted to lean across the table. She would punch his lights out if she had the chance, or courage to fight. An obnoxious twat – that’s all he ever was.

  ‘Do you have people running around doing everything for you on the outside?’ Nick continued.

  ‘It seems I do.’

  ‘And do they know everything that goes on?’

  ‘I’m not with you.’

  ‘Do they know where that large amount of cash came from?’

  ‘I’m not sure I follow what you’re getting at.’

  Allie raised her eyebrows.

  ‘You think I’m money laundering, as another side of the business?’ Terry laughed. ‘Just exactly how much do you think I can do from my cell?’

  Perry joined Jacob in the interview room and sat across from him and a duty solicitor. Liz Harding was a heavy-built woman, mid-thirties, dressed in a black trouser suit, the frame of her glasses almost the same shade of red as her short hair. Perry had known her for a few years now.

  ‘Jacob, where were you between one a.m. and four a.m. yesterday morning?’

  ‘I was out with Tommy.’

  ‘For the benefit of the recording, please confirm who Tommy is.’

  ‘My brother.’

  ‘You told me that you were in Burslem and had a few pints at The Leopard. Is that right?’

  Jacob folded his arms and sat back in his chair. ‘No comment.’

  ‘What time did you get home?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘What time did you leave the pub?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘Did you go anywhere else?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘Are you covering for Tommy, Jacob? Did you really go out together last night?’

  ‘No comm –’

  ‘No comment. Yes, I get it.’ Perry shook his head, folding his arms and then unfolding them again just as quickly. ‘Do you smoke, Jacob?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘And Tommy – does he smoke?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘There was a cigarette butt found near to the body of Jordan Johnson and it has your DNA on it.’

  Jacob met his eye with a steely glare. ‘No comment.’

  ‘Do you think Tommy could stick a knife in Jordan Johnson?’

  ‘I doubt it. He’s a wuss.’

  ‘I think that you could.’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘So it wasn’t you who stabbed Jordan Johnson?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘And the only alibi you have is your brother, Tommy Granger?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘Interview paused at twelve forty-five. I’ll grab you a brew, Jacob. Tea or coffee?’

  ‘Tea. Two sugars.’

  Perry sighed. ‘Those three words were easy enough to say.’

  10.30 A.M.

  ‘Can you believe the gall of the man?’ Allie almost spat out fire when they were in the car on their way back to Stoke-on-Trent again. ‘He’s laughing at us. I hope that he hasn’t had any more secret hideaways made for Kirstie that we don’t know about. Oh, he would love that, the self-centred bastard – making this all about him. I feel like I want to –’

  ‘What went on between you and him?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You know exactly what I mean.’

  ‘Nothing, sir.’ Allie looked out of the window quickly.

  ‘Really – off the record.’ Nick glanced her way before indicating to change lanes and manoeuvring out. ‘I’ve worked with you a long time now. You’re a passionate officer and fantastic at using your emotion to gain respect so that people confide in you. And you’re a bit erratic at times but I’ve never seen you this wound up about anyone – anything! He’s really got under your skin.’

  ‘It’s not like that. I –’

  ‘Did you sleep with him?’

  Allie turned to him sharply. ‘No, I bloody well didn’t . . . sir!”

  ‘You wouldn’t be the first officer to step over the line.’

  She shook her head. ‘You told me to work closely with him to get the truth. He wanted to get a lot closer than was necessary. I was only following my gut instinct. I did my job. Sir.’

  Allie’s phone rang and she gave silent thanks as she answered it.

  ‘That was Sam,’ she said after she’d disconnected the call. ‘She’s been going through camera footage taken from some of the shops on the route home that the Granger twins would have taken on Friday night. There’s only one of them seen walking alone – although we can’t be certain whether it’s Jacob or Tommy.’

  ‘Great. We’ll be back in time to put it to them.’

  ‘Oh, I have much better news than that.’ Allie couldn’t help but feel a bit breathless as the adrenaline kicked in. ‘While she was looking for those two, she spotted Kirstie Ryder’s car going down Ford Green Road and then parking up in Regina Street.’

  ‘That’s only streets away from Harrison House.’

  ‘And exactly the same place where Craig Elliott’s car was seen too.’

  ‘What time?’

  ‘Three o’clock yesterday morning.’

  Perry had been called back to his desk by Sam.

  ‘Here you go.’ She handed him several photos of a lone male at various points on Moorland Road and Ford Green Road.

  ‘Brilliant!’

  ‘Oh, there’s more. Guess what else I found while I was looking for these?’ Sam showed him the images she had of a car, its number plate clearly visible. ‘That belongs to Kirstie Ryder.’

  Perry’s eyes widened. ‘Great job, Sam! So that puts her near to the murder scene too. Allie will be pleased when she gets back. Did she say how long she’ll be?’

  ‘Another half hour.’

  After a short break, Perry interviewed Tommy Granger next. Liz Harding had joined them again.

  ‘What’s happened to your face, Tommy?’

  ‘Oh – I fell.’ Tommy put a hand to his nose and winced.

  ‘Okay . . . Tommy, where were you yesterday between one a.m. and four a.m.?’

  ‘I told you – I
was with my brother.’

  Perry made a show of looking back through his notebook. ‘You told me that you were in Burslem and had a few pints at The Leopard. Is that right?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘What time did you get home?’

  ‘About half one.’

  ‘What time did you leave the pub?’

  ‘Around midnight, I guess.’

  ‘So what did you do in the time it took for you to get home, which is,’ he shrugged his shoulders, ‘forty minutes at staggering pace?’

  ‘Can’t remember. We’d had a few pints, like you’ve said.’

  ‘Can anyone vouch for you?’

  ‘My brother, Jacob.’

  Tommy folded his arms and looked on a little unnerved. Perry had a sense of déjà vu as his actions mirrored Jacob’s earlier.

  ‘Were you with him all night?’ he asked next.

  ‘Yes.’

  Perry frowned. ‘That’s strange, because we only have one of you on CCTV.’ He pushed a video still across the desk. ‘Is this you, or Jacob, seen walking down Moorland Road?’

  Tommy shrugged. ‘I was drunk.’

  ‘If it is you, where is Jacob?’

  ‘I – I don’t know. I can’t remember.’

  ‘Are you covering for your brother, Tommy? Did you really go out with him on Wednesday night?’

  ‘No! Yes, I went out with him!’

  ‘So is that you on the photo or your brother?’

  Tommy spoke to Liz for a few moments and then turned back to him.

  Perry waited patiently for him to work out what to say next. Either answer had ramifications for him and he could almost hear Tommy’s brain whirring as he tried to figure out the best thing to do.

  ‘I – I – what’s this about?’ said Tommy. ‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’

  ‘Is that or is that not you in the photo?’

  ‘I can’t remember.’

  ‘But you can remember getting in around one thirty a.m.?’

  Tommy looked at his fingernails as he picked at the skin around them.

  ‘Do you smoke, Tommy?’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘Not really?’

  ‘I gave up – but I have the odd one every now and again.’

  ‘And Jacob – does he smoke?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Ah, then you see, this is where I have a problem.’ Perry paused for a moment and stared at Tommy, scanning his body language for signs of agitation – eyes flitting everywhere around the room but not catching his, perspiration on his forehead despite the chilly temperature, left knee jigging.

  ‘There was a cigarette butt found near to the body of Jordan Johnson and it has DNA on it.’

  ‘It isn’t mine!’ Tommy scraped his chair back and stood up. ‘I didn’t have anything to do with that.’

  ‘Sit down, Tommy.’

  ‘It isn’t mine!’

  Perry remained quiet while he waited for him to sit down again. Once he had, he continued.

  ‘Something doesn’t add up here, Tommy,’ he said. ‘Look at it from my point of view. You won’t tell me if the image on the photograph is you or if it’s your brother. I have a cigarette butt with DNA on it and again it could be from either one of you. As you know, we can’t yet distinguish saliva for identical twins.’

  ‘But that could have been there for weeks!’

  ‘I guess you’re right.’ Perry nodded.

  ‘I could never stick a knife in anyone and kill them!’

  ‘Do you think Jacob could?’

  Tommy shook his head vehemently.

  Perry let him stew for a moment before continuing. ‘Tommy, you need to come clean with me if you don’t want to be arrested for the murder of Jordan Johnson. Was it you or was it your brother on the CCTV footage?’

  Tommy kept on shaking his head.

  ‘We have several images of this person,’ he pointed to the photo, ‘in different places walking up Moorland Road and down Ford Green Road. Several small shops along the way, you see.’

  Tommy held his head in his hands.

  ‘It wasn’t you, was it?’ said Perry.

  Tommy looked up for a moment between his fingers. ‘No comment.’

  11.45 A.M.

  As soon as Allie and Nick got back to the station, Allie headed for her desk. She looked around in expectancy.

  ‘What?’ said Sam, as she clocked what she was doing.

  ‘Please tell me you got my usual order from Graham. I’m starving and two oatcakes would just fill the gap nicely.’

  ‘He hasn’t been yet.’ Sam checked her watch and frowned. ‘He’s late today.’ She beckoned Allie over to her desk. ‘Come see what I’ve spotted.’

  ‘You look as excited as Emily at a birthday party,’ Allie remarked. Emily was Sam’s five-year-old daughter. ‘Good job on the CCTV footage, by the way.’

  ‘That’s nothing to what I spotted afterwards.’

  Intrigued, Allie rolled her chair along to Sam’s monitor and sat down beside her.

  ‘Sir!’ Sam shouted when she saw Nick come into the room. ‘You have to see this.’

  Nick came over and stood beside them.

  ‘Ready for the finale?’ Sam looked up at them.

  ‘Just press the button!’ Allie cried.

  ‘Right, then. You know I spotted Kirstie’s car at 03.02 going down Ford Green Road yesterday morning?’ Sam pointed to the screen. ‘Well, I started checking the streets around to see where she went and I spotted . . . him.’

  Allie saw a lone male walking out of the pathway by the side of Harrison Road. Sam zoomed in.

  ‘Is that . . . ?’

  ‘Yep. A Granger twin.’

  ‘Good work, Sam,’ said Nick.

  ‘That’s not all.’ Sam’s smile widened.

  They continued to watch as he crossed over Ford Green Road and stopped at a car. Sam zoomed in closer.

  Nick leaned forward. ‘Did he just give something to the driver?’

  The driver’s face was partly covered by a scarf, so Sam zoomed in again. They could see dark hair.

  ‘Is that Kirstie Ryder?’ Allie sat there open-mouthed as the two people on screen spoke for a moment or so.

  ‘I can’t be certain, but I’d like to take a bet on it before it’s enhanced,’ said Sam.

  The male walked off. Seconds later, the car moved away too.

  ‘It looks like her,’ said Nick.

  ‘It’s her,’ said Allie, nodding her head profusely.

  ‘It’s not enough yet.’ Sam handed Nick several stills of the footage that she had printed off. ‘But once it’s been printed out professionally, it will show her properly.’

  Allie turned to her and kissed her full on the lips. ‘You wonderful, wonderful woman.’

  Nick moved forward to do the same but Sam squirmed away. He grinned. ‘Allie, I’ll come in with you for the next interview. But first, can you have a go at Jacob and then we can discuss how best to deal with Kirstie afterwards.’

  Perry was back in an interview room with Tommy Granger.

  ‘Do you get on with your brother, Tommy?’ said Perry.

  ‘Yeah, why wouldn’t I? He’s my brother.’

  ‘Okay, let me rephrase that, while there’s only us in this room. Are you scared of your brother?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Does Kayleigh get on well with him?’

  He watched Tommy’s facial expressions change.

  ‘I checked with her earlier – Kayleigh Smith, isn’t it? She seems to think a lot of you.’

  There was a hint of a smile. ‘Yeah.’

  ‘You been seeing her long?’

  ‘A few months.’

  ‘Things going well?’ Perry smiled too. ‘Seems that way from ho
w she spoke about you.’

  Tommy raised a shoulder. ‘She’s nice. I like her a lot.’

  ‘I got the impression she’s heard those three words that women like to hear quite a few times from you so far. I certainly got the impression that she says them back to you too.’

  That smile was there again.

  ‘So why did you want her to lie for you? It’s not a nice thing to ask anyone, especially someone you obviously care so much about.’ When Tommy remained silent, Perry went on. ‘She says that you spent the night at her house on Wednesday, that you weren’t with Jacob at all. So . . . which one of you two is lying?’

  Still Tommy said nothing, just chewed at his nails.

  ‘We also found a substantial amount of money in your room. Does it belong to you or Jacob?’

  ‘I don’t have any money! Fuck, where did you find it?’

  ‘Under his bed.’ Perry couldn’t help but smile. ‘He didn’t have the nouse to hide it anywhere decent.’

  Tommy shook his head in despair.

  ‘Why did you lie about being with Jacob? Was it because of what he’d done? Or because of what he would do to you if you didn’t stick by him?’

  ‘I don’t know!’

  ‘You weren’t with Jacob on Wednesday night, were you?’

  Tommy shook his head. ‘I was with Kayleigh.’

  ‘All night?’

  ‘Yeah.’ He looked at Perry. ‘I didn’t know anything about Jordan at first. And when I did, I was in too deep and had already lied to you lot. And then Jacob made it worse by saying something different.’ He put his head in his hands. ‘But you don’t know my brother. He threatened me, and my mum. Said that if I grassed him up, he would get Kayleigh and throw acid in her face. He would, too. He’s a nutter.’

  ‘So are you saying that Jacob stabbed Jordan Johnson?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Tommy’s face lost its colour in seconds. ‘He came at me with a knife the last time I saw him. He gave me the bruised face. He owed money to Kenny Webb, got himself in bother because of it. He was after money to pay him back.’

  ‘A bit heartless, don’t you think?’ Perry shook his head. ‘There can’t be many people, no matter how much money they get, who would have the guts to stick a knife in someone to kill them.’