‘You’re right. Why don’t we go past the Grand . . . see if they’ve freed up some rooms. We can maybe get breakfast there as well. I’ll bring the cases down; you go and open up the car.’
Orla took the keys and left the room. As she neared the bottom of the staircase, she could hear Declan’s soft tones as he spoke on the phone.
‘Sure thing Dafydd, you can have the room from two until four. The sheets have already been laundered. I thought you might call.’
Orla cursed as she passed the office, Damn you Matt Black!
Ten minutes later they were at the Grand Reception. ‘You’re lucky Miss Graham; we do have a couple of rooms but they won’t be free until eleven o’clock. Shall I book you in?’
Breakfast was spent in silence. The odd request for butter or tea was carried out with hushed politeness. Matt cleared his throat. ‘Orla! . . .’
‘It’s all right Matt; you don’t need to say anything. Anyway, it’s all been said. You don’t owe me an apology or anything. You were an innocent pawn in my fantasy world. I’m sorry I put you in such a position. Can we try to get back to normal?’ She looked at him, her eyes pleading for a return to their former innocent bond.
‘Orla, what happened last night completely overwhelmed me; I couldn’t believe that you fancied me like that.’ He saw a sudden change in her expression; her eyes dropped; she was embarrassed. He looked sheepishly at her and extended a hand across the table. ‘I can’t believe I screwed it up; I’m so sorry.’ The glower slowly began to soften. Without releasing her hand, Matt slowly rose and eased himself around the table. He placed his arm around her shoulder and hugged her, kissing her cheek as he did so.
‘That’s enough Matt,’ and she gently pushed him away, wiping a tear as she did so. ‘I think we need to go and meet Inspector Williams, don’t you?’
* * *
Bryn Williams stood a good six feet two inches tall; his heavy frame filled the doorway of his office. His jovial red face had all the hallmarks of a toper and his prematurely grey hair, neatly parted shone with Brilliantine. He stood aside allowing them space to enter. ‘Glad to see you found us!’ His wide smile was infectious. ‘You must have come down last night . . . stayed at “The Grand”?’
‘Yes we were booked in there.’
‘Superintendent Dundas gave me a brief run-down on why you are here; what can I do to help?’
‘Quite simply Inspector, we would like to look at your Incident Register for the weekend period Friday the eleventh of September, to Monday, the fourteenth. Kevin Crystal and his wife were here during that period. They collected a car from Frisbee Motors around Friday lunchtime, spent the weekend in the area, and left the town on the Monday morning at about ten o’clock.’
‘And you think that they may have been up to no good during that period?’ He looked at them quizzically. ‘That’s a pretty small window of opportunity!’
‘Yes it is!’ Matt suddenly felt unsure; was this all going to be a colossal waste of time?
‘And from what I can gather, you are looking for quite serious stuff; GBH, homicide and the like.’ Bryn Williams paused. ‘We are a small community detective and if anything like that happened here, it would be very big news indeed. I don’t wish to appear unhelpful but couldn’t you have achieved what you wanted by a phone call?
Seems you might have had a long trip for nothing. The only death that we have had over that weekend was a poor landlady, knew her well. She tripped in her living room and cracked her head. I was the first officer on the scene and I can assure you, there was no foul play involved. Nothing was taken . . . no robbery, no sexual motive or anything; just a tragic accident. The Coroner’s Office agreed with our findings, and that’s all we have!’
Orla edged forward. ‘Inspector, we happened by a pub last night and overheard a conversation. A young lad was talking about his father . . . he had gone missing . . . both him and his dog! When did that happen?’
‘Ah yes! Strange one that! Edward Sturgess is who you are talking about. We don’t know what’s gone on there but best guess is that he has fallen off the cliff taking the dog with him. We’ve checked the area below the cliffs but nothing came to light. It’s a very difficult coast there. There’s no access and the rocks make it impossible to get close in by boat. The local RNLI gave it a good try but no luck. We had a Spring Tide that week which didn’t help. If he was down there, it’s certain he would have been swept out to sea. So yes, I suppose that’s one incident that you could look at but it’s outside your window of opportunity. He was only reported missing a week after your man left here.’
Matt was uneasy. There was certainly little to go on; nothing had occurred to arouse any suspicions of foul play. But by the same token, none of them had been close to the influence of Kevin Crystal. He looked at Orla; she returned his gaze with lips pursed.
‘Inspector, when was this Sturgess chap, last seen? You say he was reported missing almost a week after Crystal left the area; but when was he last seen?’
‘I had to visit the house on the Wednesday to talk to Gareth. There had been an attempted robbery in the village on the Monday night. Someone tried to get into the Post Office. Young Sturgess’s buzz bike was seen in the area and I had to speak to him on the matter. I went up to the house about six o’clock and rang the bell by the gate. That dog of theirs would have you for dinner if you set foot on the property so I waited until the lad came out and met me at the gate. He denied any involvement, as of course he would. Said he was home all night and his old man would vouch for him. He waved in the general direction of the house to indicate that his Dad was there.’
‘But you didn’t see him?’ Matt was pressing.
‘No I didn’t, but I did see the bedroom curtain shift, like I was being spied on; and there’s only the two of them there.’
‘What about the dog?’ Bryn Williams shifted uneasily.
‘That’s a point . . . I never thought about the dog. I just supposed it was locked up in the house.’
‘I think if that dog had been there, it would have let you know the moment you rang the bell.’ Matt was starting to pick up the pace.
‘But why would the lad lie?’ Bryn was on the defensive.
‘I think the lad was protecting his alibi!’ Orla had their attention. ‘He probably didn’t know the whereabouts of his Dad, but expected him to pitch up and if his son was in trouble, he would have lied to protect him; the son would have known that. When the father hadn’t appeared by the weekend, the lad realised something was wrong. It was then that he reported him missing.’
Bryn Williams sat quietly. ‘Well, you’ve certainly come up with a possible scenario, but it is all speculation; we don’t have anything to go on. What possible reason would your Mr. Crystal have for wanting to waste Edward Sturgess? I looked at possible motives for his disappearance at the time. Checked his bank accounts and credit cards, but there was no money moving out. There was a deposit into the current account on the Saturday before, but that was it.’
‘How much?’ Matt’s interested was aroused.
‘I’ll get the file.’ Bryn got up and pulled open a cabinet drawer. ‘Here we are! You can look for yourself.’
Orla took the file from him. The last month’s banking accounts were neatly filed. ‘Here we are . . . yes, a deposit of £2,500. Came from a telephonic transfer on Saturday, 12th September at 13.29 from Leamington Spa. Account in the name of Jane Hunter!’
The colour drained from Matt’s face. ‘That’s Catherine’s account! Her maiden name was Hunter and her first name is Jane; she obviously hasn’t changed the account details.’
Bryn Williams shuffled uneasily. ‘So what are you telling me?’
‘Quite simply, Kevin Crystal made contact with Edward Sturgess and now he and his dog have gone missing!’ Matt glanced at Orla. ‘I wonder what the money was used for?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. What we need to do is try to retrace their steps from where they left Frisbee’s to w
here they could have met up with Sturgess. We know they were stuck for a while on some beach or other, perhaps we should start there.’
Bryn pricked up his ears as he listened to them discuss their options. ‘If they got stuck on a beach, it was probably the one on the Sturgess property. That’s the only beach that would fit the bill! Come on, I’ll run you up there.’
Ten minutes later, they were heading out of town on the coast road. Relegated to the rear seat, Orla had room to stretch out. Ignoring the chat up front, she watched closely as the rocky shoreline created small coves and tiny sandy beaches. It reminded her of parts of the Donegal coast, an hour or so’s drive from her home in Fermanagh. Her thoughts wandered back to those days when as a youngster, the family would go in search of such private places; a day spent just chilling out . . . she missed it.
‘Here we are!’ Bryn’s voice brought her back to the present, the car slowing to a crawl as he turned off the road onto a sandy track.
Matt read out aloud the wording on the sign that greeted them. ‘No Vehicular Access to Beach.’
‘And welcome to you too!’ Orla’s bright response was welcomed by Matt. He turned to speak, but she avoided his attempted contact.
Bryn brought his local knowledge to the fore. ‘This stretch of land that borders the road belongs to Sturgess. The previous owners didn’t mind it being used to access the beach, so you can imagine the bad feelings that erupted when Sturgess put up that sign.’
‘But he didn’t gate it!’ Orla’s remark seemingly went unnoticed.
Bryn drove down onto the bleached sands; turning left, he parking parallel to the sea. ‘Jump out, I’ll show you something! . . . If you look behind you, far away, you can see the lines of the hills, gently forming a shallow valley that points in this direction.
Well, what you can’t see is the underground river that has been formed as the water has been channelled down towards us. The rock stratum is such that it keeps it underground until it arrives at this beach. The water then oozes through the sand and eventually into the sea. Now the area of beach that is affected by this water,’ and he pointed away to the right, ‘becomes well, like a quicksand. It’s OK to walk on but if you park a car for more than a couple of minutes, you can find yourself in trouble! The reason Sturgess hasn’t gated the access is because every now and again, some poor bugger gets stuck and of course it’s tidal. This beach all but disappears at high tide. At least that’s my take on it . . . and I don’t think I’m wrong.’
‘Sounds like a nice little earner.’ Matt scanned the beach as he spoke. ‘Is that where he lives?’ He pointed to a large house, high on the headland overlooking the beach.
Bryn followed his gaze. ‘Yes . . . that’s the house, but there’s another thing that bothers me, you said this Crystal chap got his Land Rover stuck on the beach but managed to drive it off?’
‘Yes, that’s what we were told.’
‘Well if he got stuck on this beach, he didn’t drive it off! He would have to be towed . . . and by a tractor . . . believe me!’
Orla had been listening intently. ‘What does he charge?’
Bryn gave a low whistle. ‘I’ve heard it can be 10% of the vehicles value!’
‘Hence, a sum of £2,500 was sent to his account! Jeepers Orla, what the hell are we looking at here . . . I don’t believe Catherine could possibly be involved! She made the payment, but what went on after that?’
‘Whether you like it or not Matt, it’s time to talk to her.’
‘Yes you’re right . . . you’re absolutely right. Can we go up to the house Bryn? You don’t mind me calling you Bryn do you? Let’s see what we can find!’
Five minutes later they were parked outside. Orla looked down from the house, along the beach. ‘Wow! What a view. You can see the whole seafront area from here and look . . . he has his own drive from the house, straight down onto the beach. He could watch out for errant motorists with ease from up here.’
‘And I’m sure that’s what he did.’ Matt’s eyes were everywhere. The gate caught his eye. ‘Look at the state of this gate. The dog has torn it to pieces. It’s been patched fairly recently, but just look at it!’ He looked up at Bryn. ‘What kind of dog is it?’
The Inspector laughed nervously, ‘Don’t ask me . . . I’m not a dog man. It’s a blerry big thing with teeth, and a leg at each corner . . . that’s all I can tell you; and when he takes it out, it’s on a big chain.’ They listened with interest as Bryn continued, ‘You know, whoever took on Sturgess, would have to have taken on the dog as well. A shotgun would do it, there are plenty of them around, but it would make an awful mess . . . and there’s no evidence around to support that. The most obvious place would be the cliff walk.’ and he pointed away to the right. ‘He took the dog up that path every night without fail, but we’ve searched the whole area and there is no evidence of any kind whatsoever.’
‘How long would it take to walk?’ Orla was looking for a taker.
Bryn eyed the Bluff. ‘About an hour all told.’
‘Are you up for it Matt? There’s got to be something they’ve missed!’ She smiled coyly.
He picked up on the inference but his poker face remained set. ‘Sounds like a good idea. We need to cover all possible angles . . . let’s go!’
Chapter 48
Although quite steep in places the walk was fairly easy and the pathway being quite well trodden allowed them to make good progress. The sea views were outstanding and the path remained a safe distance from the cliff edge . . . until they rounded a corner. A steep vertical rise in the headland had forced the path outwards towards the edge of the precipice. Whilst still firm, it was no more than six feet wide. The edge fell away at about sixty degrees for twenty feet or so before the drop to oblivion. If anyone should stumble off the path onto the slope, there would be no way back. The surface texture bore the hallmarks of a scree; there was absolutely no foothold to be had.
Standing carefully on the edge, the three pairs of eyes studied every mark and aberration that they could latch onto.
Bryn broke the silence. ‘If he went over there, that would be it! And d’you know, who’s to say the dog didn’t take him over, chasing a rabbit or something!’
Matt thought hard. ‘Indeed . . . who’s to say? . . . We need to find the body! Without that, we are wasting our time.’
Orla chipped in. ‘We’ve come a long way this morning. We know that Kevin and Sturgess met on the Friday morning. We know that money changed hands, and I suspect with a lot of heated words and bad feeling . . . so we certainly have a motive. We also know that Kevin took the trouble to visit the guy at Frisbee Motors, the next morning, to tell him that he got off the beach without a tow. Why would he do that? What was he trying to hide? That leaves opportunity! How could a crime have been engineered without Catherine knowing?’
Matt remained silent, brooding over the question. He looked up, his eyes appearing sunken and sad. ‘I don’t know Orla . . . I just don’t know. Bryn, is there any point in going any further?’
‘No, I don’t think so. The path turns away from the cliff from here onwards. If he went over, it would be from here. Whether he was pushed or fell, this is where it would have happened.’
‘So where to from here? It’s over to you Bryn. How can we organise a proper search?’ Matt waited for an answer.
‘The only way that we can do that is to call up a chopper. Have them dangle an observer or whatever they call him, from a whirlybird. I’ll put in a request when we get back but I don’t expect them to come up with much. The RNLI guys gave it a good going over, but we’ll see. If he’s out there we need to find him. Let’s head back!’
The walk back went quickly, three minds churning over all the possible scenarios of what might have happened. Not a word was passed between them; there was nothing to say.
As they approached the car, Bryn asked, ‘Is anyone feeling peckish?’
‘Since you mentioned it, yes! What about you Orla?’ Matt was trying to
act normal, his previous evening’s gaff, still weighing heavy.
‘Just a sandwich; something light thanks.’
The thought of food put a spring in Bryn’s step. ‘I know just the place.’
As the car approached the road, a large detached house, about a hundred yards up on the right hand side, caught Matt’s eye. ‘That looks like a Boarding House; could Crystal have stayed there?’
Bryn answered without looking up. ‘Well it was until last month. That’s where poor Mrs. Vaughan lived, you know the lady that fell and clouted her head.’
‘Why the hell didn’t you tell us that earlier?’ Matt was fuming. ‘One guy goes missing and this old lady dies from a so called accident, and they live a couple of undred yards from each other! . . .Jeez!’
‘Keep your hat on detective, it’s only a coincidence . . . they are totally unrelated.’
‘Coincidences only happen to ordinary people doing ordinary things. We need to review what went on over there.’ Matt’s frustration was showing. ‘Can we get access?’
‘I guess we can . . . the son is here at the moment; he came over from South Africa, that’s where they’re from. He’s here to wrap up her belongings and I guess put the place on the market. I met him last week when he arrived, let’s go and see if he is about.’
Bryn surveyed the scene as they pulled into the drive. ‘His car’s not here but I’ve got his mobile number. I’ll try and arrange for him to meet up with us later at the house.’
‘Do you still have the case notes concerning the landlady?’
‘Yes of course; everything . . . including the pictures I took when I first got there. I was the only one on site, well me and the postman that is; it was he who raised the alarm. He used to pop in every morning for a cuppa, and found her lying there. Checked her pulse . . . realised she was dead and called me straight away. I made sure that nothing was touched until the detectives got there. It took them about four hours from Fishguard, so I had plenty of time to survey the scene. I know you would like to think that your man had something to do with this death detective, but believe me the only thing that connects them is the locality.’
A Killer's Calling: Incite to Murder 1 Page 20
