The Eyes of the Accused: A dark disturbing mystery thriller (The Ben Whittle Investigation Series Book 2)

by Mark Tilbury

  Ben sighed. ‘Maddie doesn’t go clubbing.’

  ‘How do you know? Did you get married in a secret ceremony?’

  ‘Very funny.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Maddie said. ‘I just need to get going.’

  ‘Glad to hear it, because we’ve got a busy day ahead. I’ve just had a call from Monica Heath, and she says she’s got a cheque for a thousand pounds waiting to be picked up.’

  Ben now realised the reason for his father’s amiable mood. ‘At least we can make a start now.’

  Geoff nodded. ‘Yep. By the way, Andy at Oxford nick got back to me earlier. Seems that they had a suspect at the time Hannah went missing.’

  Ben’s mind snapped to attention. ‘Who?’

  Geoff pulled a photo from the drawer. He laid it on the desk. The guy in the photo was wearing a black tee-shirt and black jeans. His stomach hung over the waistband of the jeans, and his thinning black hair was greased back. There was a bootlace tied around his neck. ‘Francis Arthur Crowley. This is his Facebook profile picture. He’s the maintenance man at Sunnyside. Andy said he raised a red flag.’

  ‘Why?’ Maddie asked. ‘What did he do?’

  ‘Nothing solid enough to haul him in for questioning. But staff at Sunnyside reckon he’s a right creep.’

  Ben looked at Crowley’s photo. ‘Why?’

  ‘Always hanging about like a bad smell.’

  ‘Well, he would if he works there, wouldn’t he? That’s just tittle-tattle.’

  Geoff shook his head. ‘He’s also got history.’

  ‘We’ve all got history. That doesn’t mean he’s capable of—’

  ‘Our friend Crowley exposed himself to a schoolgirl. That makes him capable of anything.’

  ‘When?’ Maddie asked.

  ‘About twenty years back.’

  ‘Was he charged?’ Ben asked. ‘Convicted?’

  ‘Yeah. Claimed he was pissed when he did it and doesn’t remember a thing. Another year later and the bugger would have been on the Sex Offenders’ Register. He had a lucky escape. The law was still quite lenient with perverts back then. Anyway, he’s our number one suspect.’

  Ben wasn’t so sure. ‘Just because he flashed to a woman?’

  ‘Schoolgirl,’ Geoff corrected. ‘A kid barely in her teens.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean he’s done anything to Hannah Heath, though, does it? That’s like saying just because someone bought a box of matches on the day of a fire they had to be the one who set it.’

  ‘It’s nothing of the sort. Crowley works – worked – with Hannah. He’s got previous for flashing to a kid. That marks him down as a filthy pervert. What more do you want?’

  Ben thought some proof that Crowley had actually abducted Hannah might be good. ‘Evidence.’

  ‘Then let’s get some. The sooner we find out what our Mr Crowley’s been up to, the better.’

  Maddie asked Geoff what else the police had found out about Hannah.

  ‘Not a lot. They’ve done all the usual searches. Hotels, guest houses, taxis, buses – zilch. It seems like she’s been abducted by a UFO.’

  ‘Maybe she has,’ Ben said. ‘Anyway, if the cops reckon this Crowley dude is so suspicious, why don’t they arrest him?’

  ‘Because they haven’t got a single stitch of evidence,’ Geoff said. ‘And, just for the record, we’re in England. Crowley is a man, not a “dude”. Next thing, you’ll be calling the pavement a “sidewalk” and the tap a “faucet”.’

  Ben ignored him. ‘Why didn’t the cops put him under surveillance?’

  ‘You’ve been watching too many police dramas. They don’t have the resources to follow any Tom, Dick or Harry.’

  ‘And we do?’

  ‘No. But as long as the Heaths stump up the cash, we can afford to follow Francis Arthur Crowley to the ends of the earth.’

  ‘Where does Crowley live?’ Maddie asked.

  ‘The mobile home site on Constitution Hill. Fifty-three River Walk.’

  ‘What about Hannah’s mobile?’ Maddie asked. ‘Has she used it since she went missing?’

  ‘Andy said they checked the records and there hasn’t been a single call made from it. The last one was to her mother at lunchtime the day she went missing.’

  ‘Sounds ominous,’ Maddie said.

  Geoff agreed. ‘Yes, but it’s not conclusive. There are other options to consider.’

  Like she phoned ET to take her home, Ben thought. ‘Such as?’

  ‘It’s possible she wanted to disappear. Ran off with someone and disabled her phone.’

  Ben didn’t buy that. ‘She was about to get married. Why would she run off with someone else?’

  ‘Who knows? Women are unfathomable at the best of times. And while we’re on the subject of possibilities, it’s not inconceivable that she went somewhere and took her own life.’

  Ben didn’t believe that for one moment. ‘Her mother gave no indication that Hannah was depressed.’

  ‘Mothers don’t know everything.’

  ‘Monica would know how Hannah was feeling,’ Maddie said. ‘She seemed really close to her.’

  Geoff looked at Ben. ‘Does your mother know what’s going on inside your head?’

  Ben sincerely hoped not. ‘I doubt it.’

  ‘Would you tell her if you were depressed?’

  ‘Probably not.’

  ‘Would you tell me?’

  ‘It’s not me who’s vanished, though, is it?’

  Maddie rescued Ben from a hypothetical depression. ‘Anyway, Hannah was pregnant. She had everything to live for.’

  ‘I agree,’ Geoff said. ‘But women’s hormones are all over the place when they’re up the duff. I caught Anne trying to get out of the bedroom window once when she was carrying Ben. Reckoned she was dreaming. I’m not so sure.’

  Ben could fully understand his mother wanting to jump out of a bedroom window to escape his father. Especially when he was droning on and on about what was wrong with the world.

  ‘Anyway, I’m not saying she has done away with herself. It’s just an option. Write Hannah’s name and age at the top of the whiteboard. Beneath it divide the board into three columns. Suspects, Possibilities and Miscellaneous.’

  Shall I write hormone imbalance in the Possibilities column, Ben thought.

  ‘Put Frank Crowley in the suspects’ column and Blu-Tack his ugly mug to the board,’ Geoff said. ‘We don’t need to look much further than him.’

  Ben did as he was told. Perhaps his father would have fared better in medieval England when it was perfectly legal to conduct witch-hunts.

  ‘Right. Let’s write down a few possibilities,’ Geoff said. ‘First off, abduction. Then murder. Then suicide. And, last but not least, elopement.’

  After Ben had finished, Geoff asked Maddie if anything jumped out at her.

  Maddie studied the board. ‘I reckon Crowley is definitely the best place to start.’

  ‘Without doubt,’ Geoff agreed. ‘I don’t like the look of him one bit.’

  You don’t like the look of anyone, Ben thought. ‘I thought you shouldn’t judge a book by—’

  Geoff flapped a hand, as if swatting fly. ‘When you speak to the boyfriend, see if you can’t build up a better picture of Hannah’s state of mind. Monica Heath’s bound to be biased. It wouldn’t be the first time history’s been re-written by a mother’s love.’

  ‘What’s the point?’ Ben said. ‘We’ve already tried and convicted Crowley.’

  ‘It’s called covering all the bases. Then I want you to go to Sunnyside Nursing Home and talk to the care manager. See what she knows about Crowley. It might also be an idea to go and have a look around his mobile home while he’s at work.’

  ‘Is that legal?’ Ben asked. ‘We can’t just break in.’

  Geoff reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a bunch of keys. ‘No one’s suggesting we break in. These babies fit anything.’

  ‘And what do we do if someone sees us? Wave the keys in
their face and say, don’t worry, my dad runs a private investigation business and he gave us a set of keys?’

  Geoff rolled his eyes. ‘You say you’re site maintenance. You’re carrying out work on the caravan.’

  Ben shook his head. ‘No way. I’m not breaking in. If we get caught that’s the whole operation up the swanny.’

  ‘Can’t we just interview Crowley at work?’ Maddie suggested. ‘On more neutral ground.’

  ‘I don’t want him to know he’s in our thinking. Which reminds me, you’re not going to Sunnyside with Ben.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I don’t want Crowley seeing you. I’ve got plans for you.’

  ‘What plans?’ Ben said. ‘Or dare I ask?’

  ‘I think Maddie should get close to Crowley. See if she can get him to open up.’

  Ben’s heart missed a beat. ‘What do you mean, “close”?’

  ‘Get friendly with him. Make him think she’s interested in him. Andy said he drinks in The Three Horseshoes.’

  ‘What’s Maddie supposed to do? Buy him a drink and ask him what he’s done with Hannah?’

  Maddie cut Ben an impatient glance and then looked back at Geoff. ‘Do you really that would work?’

  ‘It’s worth a try, love. I reckon he’ll start blabbing.’

  Ben didn’t like the sound of this at all. ‘Like one of those honey-trap things?’

  Geoff nodded. ‘Sort of.’

  ‘But you can’t get evidence that way. It’s illegal. Look what happened when the cops tried that with that bloke on Wimbledon Common.’

  ‘Colin Stagg?’

  Ben didn’t remember the name. ‘That stuff won’t stand up in court. Even if Crowley’s guilty, the court will throw it out. Any half-decent lawyer will say Maddie was leading the witness. You should know that better than anyone.’

  Geoff took a deep breath and sighed. ‘We’re not trying to make it stand up in court. We’re trying to find out if he’s done anything to Hannah. Anyway, the Wimbledon Common case was already a murder enquiry. This isn’t.’

  ‘What’s the difference? It’s still obtaining information under false pretences.’

  ‘I don’t give a tuppenny tit what words you dress it up in. If Crowley’s holding Hannah somewhere, we need to find out where. And quick. Who know what that sick bastard might be doing to her.’

  Ben turned to Maddie. ‘You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.’

  ‘She does if she wants to continue working for me,’ Geoff said. ‘This isn’t a game of pick and choose.’

  Maddie tilted her head up. ‘It’s all right. I want to do it.’

  Geoff grinned. ‘Good. It’s nice to see enthusiasm for once.’

  ‘What if Crowley twigs?’ Ben said. ‘What if he attacks Maddie? What do we do, then? Tell Pastor Tom we let his daughter get intimate with a madman?’

  ‘We’ll put a wire on her. That way we can get everything recorded and keep tabs on what’s happening at the same time. The R27’s got a good range.’

  Ben didn’t feel any more confident. ‘It sounds too risky to me.’

  ‘You’d find something amiss in a lottery win, boy. Stop faffing and fussing. You sound like your mother.’

  I’d rather sound like my mother than like you, Ben thought. ‘And if Crowley finds the wire?’

  ‘The R27’s no bigger than a five pence piece. Unless Crowley’s trained in surveillance, he won’t find it. As long as you stay within five miles of Maddie, you’ll be on hand if anything goes wrong.’

  ‘I suppose everyone’s forgotten about what happened at Penghilly’s Farm?’ Ben said. ‘What happens when you mess around with crazy people?’

  ‘We’re all still here,’ Maddie reminded him. ‘I’ll be fine.’

  Ben’s heart spoke up. ‘I’m just looking out for you.’

  ‘I know. And it’s really sweet, Ben. But I’m a big girl. I can look after myself.’

  ‘We’ll discuss it in more detail later,’ Geoff said. ‘First things first, go and speak to the boyfriend. See if you can’t drill down further into Hannah’s state of mind. Then I want you to drop Maddie off at the Paddocks while you go to Sunnyside and interview the care manager.’

  ‘Why do I have to drop Maddie at the Paddocks?’

  ‘To check along the grass verges for clues. When you’re finished at Sunnyside, you can walk back towards Feelham and meet up in the middle.’

  ‘What are we looking for?’ Ben said. ‘An incriminating thistle?’

  ‘Don’t be flippant. If she’s been forced into a car, something might be left behind at the roadside.’

  ‘Wouldn’t the police have checked all that?’ Maddie said.

  ‘In a murder investigation, yes. But this is a missing-persons case. There isn’t even any evidence of foul play. Like I told you before, they won’t have the manpower or the resources to do that level of search for an adult.’

  ‘But it’s freezing outside,’ Ben protested. ‘We’ll end up with hypothermia walking all that way.’

  Geoff looked out the office window at the light dusting of snow on the ground. ‘Order a taxi after you meet up.’

  ‘And who’s paying for that?’ Ben asked. ‘I’m skint.’

  ‘It’s on the company. But make sure you don’t use Faretrip; they’d charge a blind man for his stick.’

  ‘Your generosity knows no bounds,’ Ben said.

  ‘Every penny counts. Especially now we have an extra body on the payroll. Right, anyone got any other suggestions regarding Hannah Heath?’

  ‘I reckon she’s dead,’ Ben said. ‘Pregnant women don’t just vanish and turn up alive months later.’

  Anne Whittle walked into the office. ‘Pregnant women do all sorts of funny things.’

  Geoff studied his wife. ‘Women don’t need pregnancy to do funny things.’

  ‘Men don’t understand,’ Anne continued. ‘They think being pregnant is a walk in the park. But it’s not. It can be a really difficult time, what with prenatal depression and hormone imbalances.’

  ‘Did you want something?’ Geoff asked. ‘Or are you training to be a midwife?’

  ‘I wondered if you wanted a pot of tea?’

  Ben jumped in before his father had a chance to say anything sarcastic. ‘Tea would be lovely, mum.’

  ‘Aunt Mary slapped Uncle John once when she was pregnant,’ Anne said. ‘I don’t blame her. He can be such a—’

  ‘Will you stop prattling on about your sister?’ Geoff said. ‘We’re trying to have a serious discussion about a missing girl here.’

  Anne walked out of the office. ‘Pardon me for breathing.’

  ‘You’re pardoned.’ Geoff turned his attention back to the case. ‘Don’t forget to use a dictaphone when you speak to the boyfriend. You can learn a lot from listening back to an interview. Andy said the guy seemed genuine enough, but from my experience, criminals are all worthy of Oscars.’

  Maddie asked Geoff who actually reported Hannah missing.

  ‘Andy said the mother called it in at half nine. The boyfriend phoned her when Hannah failed to show up from work.’

  ‘Why didn’t Hannah just call her boyfriend and ask for a lift home?’ Maddie wondered.

  ‘He was working late. Andy said everything checked out. But it wouldn’t hurt to go over it again and establish an exact timeline of events for that day.’

  ‘I know one thing,’ Ben said. ‘A pregnant girl suffering severe stomach pain wouldn’t try to walk all the way home to Feelham.’

  Geoff agreed. ‘Andy said the bus through Tadmarsh stops running at six, so that rules that one out if she left work at seven.’

  ‘Maybe she called a cab?’ Maddie suggested.

  ‘They checked the local cab companies. Nothing. No one picked up any fares from Sunnyside Nursing Home that day.’

  Ben took a deep breath. Without Hannah, dead or alive, no one would ever know what had happened to her. If assumption was the best friend of error, then speculation was the
best friend of the bookmaker. And right now, the odds were well and truly stacked against them.

  Chapter Seven

  Ben parked at the Paddocks – a large empty field on the edge of Feelham that used to stable horses and offer riding lessons before the business went bust – and switched off the engine. ‘What did you make of Robert?’

  Maddie thought for a few moments. ‘I think he loves Hannah very much.’

  ‘Seems to.’

  ‘Anyway, your dad says he checked out with the cops. And he was working late the night Hannah went missing.’

  ‘People can cover for you.’

  Maddie opened the door and invited an icy blast of wind into the car. ‘I think we need to focus on Crowley for now.’

  ‘Just because a few women say he’s a creep?’

  ‘And he flashed to a schoolgirl.’

  ‘Twenty years ago. There hasn’t been anything since.’

  ‘Still shows what he’s capable of.’

  ‘All the more reason to stay away from him.’

  ‘I’ll be careful.’

  ‘I wonder how many women have said that before and ended up dead?’

  Maddie stepped out of the car and shivered. She buttoned her coat up to the neck and thrust her hands deep into her pockets. ‘At the moment, Crowley’s all we’ve got.’

  Ben looked about to say something else, but Maddie closed the door and walked off towards Tadmarsh. She didn’t want to get drawn into an argument about the rights and wrongs of going after Frank Crowley. As her father would say: ‘Never try, never know’.

  The grass verges along the edge of the road gave way to a ditch about three feet deep, with tall hedgerows separating it from the fields beyond. Snow frosted the naked trees. Maddie’s lips already felt numb. The cold penetrated her thin woollen coat. A vision of Hannah popped into her mind: a corpse at the bottom of the ditch, mouth frozen into a wide rictus grin. Maggots using her eye sockets as a macabre playground.

  ‘Hannah won’t be here,’ she told the empty road. ‘Someone would have found her by now. Someone walking a dog. Kids playing.’

  Unless she’s been covered over with leaves and dirt in the bottom of the ditch.

  Maddie shuddered. She walked along the edge of the road for almost two miles scanning the grass verges. It was a pointless exercise. She wouldn’t find anything. She had more chance of finding a book on the occult in her father’s study.