Taste of Fury

by M A Comley

  “Now you’re scaring me,” Mrs Simmonds said.

  Her husband tore a tissue out of the box sitting in the middle of the table and handed it to his wife. “Please, whatever you have to tell us, get it over with.”

  Katy sucked in a large breath. “It is with regret that I have to tell you your son was found dead a few hours ago.”

  The couple faced each other and shook their heads. Tears slipped down Mrs Simmonds’ flushed cheeks. “No, this can’t be true. Not Bobby. Oh, God, not after losing Gina…”

  Her husband shuffled his chair closer and rested his wife’s head on his chest. “Hush now. Let’s hear what the inspector has to say, darling.”

  “We’ve just been to break the news to his wife, she asked us to come and speak to you. I’m sorry this has come as such a shock.”

  “Oh, her. Bloody hell, I suppose she’ll get the house now.” Mr Simmonds spat the words out with venom.

  Katy’s interest piqued. “What are you saying, Mr Simmonds?”

  “I’m saying they’ve been struggling for a few months to come to a conclusion on splitting up the house, don’t you think it’s a coincidence that all her problems are solved now that he’s dead?”

  “Robert! You can’t go around making accusations of that magnitude. We don’t know all the facts yet,” Mrs Simmonds chastised.

  Her husband sat back in his chair and folded his arms. “Go on, tell me she wasn’t shifty when you spoke to her. Where was she when he died?”

  “We questioned her about that. According to Anne, she was away from the house, staying with a friend.”

  “Ha! I rest my case. Pretty convenient, wasn’t it? Don’t answer that, I have my own theories about what happened and she would be right at the top of the list as a prime suspect.”

  “I’m interested to know why you should say that, Mr Simmonds. Has she ever threatened your son?”

  “No, she hasn’t. Robert Simmonds, you take that back this instant. Just because they fell out of love, it doesn’t mean either of them would go after the other to get revenge. At least, I hope not. Anne has always been a quite reserved character in our eyes. She failed to integrate in the family, to embrace us as part of her extended family over the years. That’s been a bugbear with us. I’m afraid what my husband has to say about her has been clouded by his judgement of the woman because of that fact.”

  “I see. We’ll bear the information in mind, should any other evidence emerge in the meantime. I take it you were close to your son, is that correct?”

  “Yes, very close to him. We were his parents.” Mr Simmonds huffed out a breath.

  “Robert, that was uncalled for, apologise to the nice police officer.”

  “I’m sorry. My mouth has a tendency to run away from me at times.”

  Katy nodded and smiled. “Accepted. What I was getting around to asking is, are you aware of your son having a dispute with anyone over the past few months?”

  “A dispute? About what?” Mr Simmonds demanded. He turned to face his wife and they both shrugged.

  “Anything, perhaps, with a neighbour or a falling out with a work colleague?”

  Mr and Mrs Simmonds shook their heads. “No. What are you saying?” Mr Simmonds said, sitting forward in his chair.

  “We believe your son lost his life in an accident, however, the pathologist has suggested that foul play could be involved just because of the injuries he sustained.”

  Mrs Simmonds gasped. “What… injuries? You haven’t told us how he died, why haven’t you told us that?”

  Katy inhaled and let the breath seep between her lips. “It’s a difficult one. We’re a little in the dark as to how it happened. Our first assumption was that Bobby was knocked off his bike, however,” she paused to choose her words carefully, “there were also tyre marks left on his face and body.”

  Mr Simmonds shot out of his chair and rushed to the sink. He turned on the tap, filled a glass with water and downed it in one go. “What are you saying? Someone deliberately drove over our son? That’s inconceivable. Are you sure?”

  “The evidence was there for all to see, Mr Simmonds. I’m sorry the news couldn’t be better.”

  “Better as in, our son isn’t really dead?” He returned to his seat and slumped into it.

  “I’m sorry. It’s a difficult job, trying to explain to loved ones how their relative has died. I appreciate you’ll want to remember him as he was.”

  “Difficult? And you think the last ten minutes of you going around the houses has been a walk in the park?”

  His wife placed a hand over his. “You’ll have to excuse my husband, he’s hurting and lashing out.”

  “Don’t make excuses for me, love. I’m behaving the same way most parents would who have just heard their son has been killed. That is what you’re telling us, isn’t it?”

  “Possibly. However, until the post-mortem has been carried and we have the report to hand, we will not be in a position to determine the facts, Mr Simmonds.”

  He shook his head and growled. “I can’t bear the thought of him being cut open. You should be there with her… questioning her, interrogating her. Anne’s the culprit, I would lay ten grand on it if I had the funds.”

  “You’re talking nonsense as usual, Robert. Stop this. All you’re going to do is cause the officers more work if you insist on suggesting Anne is involved.”

  “So what? What if it’s the truth, love? Are you prepared to let her get away with it? With killing our son in order to gain financially? That’s what this all amounts to. You have to investigate her if there’s any doubt in your mind, don’t you, Inspector?”

  “You’re right. We do. We’ve already checked out her alibi, sir.”

  He stared at her and fell silent. “In that case, we have nothing else for you. Our son generally got on with most people. We’re distraught to learn of his death. Maybe if you leave us a card, we’ll discuss the matter when you go; something might come to mind. It’s the pressure of having you here, my brain has turned to mush. What about you, love?”

  Mrs Simmonds nodded. “I agree. I’m finding it extremely hard to keep focussed right now.”

  “Okay, we’ll leave you for now if that’s what you want.” Katy slid a card across the table and Mr Simmonds put his hand over it.

  Katy and Charlie stood and said their farewells. “I’m so sorry for your loss. You have my assurance that my team and I will do everything possible to find the person responsible.”

  “Ha, don’t forget to dig deep where Anne is concerned.”

  “Robert!” his wife warned.

  He left his chair and showed them through the bungalow again. He refused to shake their hands. “I’m not kidding when I say this, Inspector, either you take my son’s death seriously or I will take matters higher. Some of my best friends are ex-police officers and they still have contacts on the force.”

  Katy’s head tilted to the left. “Is that a threat, Mr Simmonds?”

  “Call it a warning. I know how these sorts of cases pan out; my advice would be for you not to cast this particular case aside, if you know what’s good for you.”

  “It was nice meeting you, sir. We’ll be in touch soon, should anything arise.” Katy smiled even though she was seething inside.

  She felt the waft of the door behind her when he slammed it shut.

  “Bloody hell, that was uncalled for,” Charlie mumbled.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Charlie walked a few steps behind Katy. They stepped back into the car and Katy sighed heavily.

  “Are you okay?” Charlie asked, concern written into the creases on her face.

  “Yeah, he took the wind out of my sails. What the hell was that all about?”

  “Maybe conducting an in-depth search into the family will reveal what his problem is.”

  “Can you make that a priority when we get back?”

  “I’d be honoured. His anger was totally off the scale for me. Silly man, he might ha
ve just opened up a can of worms.”

  Katy sniggered. “You do amuse me, even when things are against us, you always seem to come out fighting.”

  “I do? I hadn’t noticed. His attitude sucked, there has to be a reason why he turned on us in an instant.”

  “Ever the intrepid sergeant, I’m sure you’ll discover the reason soon enough.”

  5

  Armed with a coffee, Katy left the team doing the research and headed for the office. Needing to hear AJ’s voice, she snuck in a quick call to home before she settled down to attack the onerous chore of opening the brown envelopes which were, thankfully at a minimum today.

  “Hey, you, how are you enjoying your Saturday morning?” She sat back in her chair and peered up at the sun’s rays radiating through the clouds overhead.

  “You’ve just caught us. I asked Georgie what she fancied doing today and she’s chosen to go to the adventure park in town.”

  Katy’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of her baby exerting herself when she’d only just recovered from meningitis and the significant strain that had put on her already weak heart.

  “Katy, are you still there?” AJ asked after a moment’s silence.

  “I am. Do you think that’s wise, in the circumstances?”

  “We can’t wrap her up in a blanket all her life, sweetheart. I’ll be extra vigilant with her, I promise.”

  “That wasn’t a slight on you and your care for her, AJ. I just turned hot and cold within a few minutes there at the thought of her doing too much.”

  “I appreciate that. It’s what she wants to do, who am I to stop her?”

  “I want to visit Santa in Lapland mid-summer just to see what he does on his time off, but it ain’t going to happen, AJ.”

  He laughed. “You’ve made your point. Sorry, but I’m overruling you this time. I hope that doesn’t cause a rift between us.”

  “No, it shouldn’t do. I trust you. I’m at fault for mollycoddling her unnecessarily. You go and have a good time.”

  “We will, and you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t question how I bring our daughter up at least once a week.”

  Katy’s mouth dropped open, and a pain developed in her chest as if her husband had just plunged a knife two inches into her heart. “What? I don’t.”

  He laughed, perhaps realising he’d gone too far. “Sorry, I was only joking.”

  Many a true word spoken in jest?

  “I should hope so. I trust you implicitly, AJ, deep down you know that, right?”

  “I do. Take it in the spirit it was meant, okay? Look, I have to go, Georgie is tugging on my leg to hurry up. I need to get her togged up, there’s a slight breeze out there today.”

  “Okay. Take care and have a good time.”

  “What? No added be careful at the end?”

  “That as well. I love you. Thank you for taking care of our daughter so well, just in case I don’t say it enough.”

  “You do. We love you too, don’t we, Georgie?”

  “Yes, Mummy, love you. Daddy, I want to go now,” her daughter shouted excitedly.

  “I have my orders. Will you be home the usual time this evening?”

  “That’s the plan. I’ll tell you about my day when I get home.”

  “Sounds ominous. Do you need to chat? I can hang around for another five minutes if you do.”

  “No, you go. I was only checking in on my two favourite people in this world. Miss you, have fun.”

  “We will. See you later.”

  Katy ended the call and sipped at her coffee, her mind full of anxious scenarios that might crop up for AJ and Georgie at the adventure park. She shook her head to dislodge the images and refused to visit them again for the rest of the day.

  She left her office and brought the team together. They went over the facts they had in place and Katy transferred everything to two whiteboards, ensuring they keep both crimes separate.

  “Over here, we have the first victim, Jason Davis, whose car was torched. We’re aware what a vicious act that was and we believe we’re on the lookout for this young woman. What do we have on her yet? Anything?”

  The team’s response was silence.

  Dismayed, she shook her head. “I’m not liking your response.”

  Charlie raised her hand to speak. “What else can we tell you? No matter how frustrating it is, the crunch is we have nothing.”

  “Okay, let’s set that case aside for now and I want to bring you up to speed on the other case Charlie and I attended first thing. That of Bobby Simmonds. From the snippets of information we’ve managed to gather from his soon to be ex-wife and his parents, it would appear that the man was perhaps mown down by accident and left on the road to die. Except the pathologist is suggesting a very different scenario, that Bobby was driven over a few times.”

  “Ouch, why? To be sure he was dead?” Patrick asked.

  “Maybe.” Katy blew out a breath and circled his name. “Here’s what else we learned today, his parents are laying the blame solely at his wife’s door. Our problem is that we’ve already checked out her alibi. She was staying with a friend when the incident probably happened.”

  “A friend who is willing to vouch for her whereabouts? From past experience, we know how that has worked out, right?” Graham raised a fair point.

  “I know. That’s why we need to keep digging. Not only that, his parents in a roundabout way turned on us while we were there. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were doing their utmost to deceive us. I want to know what’s gone on in the family’s past. Maybe that’s the key here. The next step in this case is for me and Charlie to go and visit his place of work. We could have stayed out there and done that this morning, but I felt I had to bring you guys into the action first. Therefore, I’m going to request the usual from you for both victims. We’ll be working both cases at the same time. However, if one case turns out to be more worthy of attention than the other, well, we’ll give that one precedence, of course.”

  “I’m just going to ask the most obvious question I can think of here,” Charlie began, drawing everyone’s gaze. “What if it turns out the cases are linked?”

  Katy shrugged. “Of course it’s a possibility, however, let’s keep them separate for now until something definitive points us in that direction, Charlie.”

  Charlie seemed peeved. “Mind if I check social media, see if anything shows up? Just to satisfy my own curiosity.”

  “Go for it, if it’ll make you feel better.” Katy clapped and added, “Okay, you’ve got your instructions. I know it’s Saturday and we’re all a little jaded from working our butts off all week, but give it your all and hopefully we can get out of here early today. Don’t quote me on that though.” She smiled and dipped back in her office to retrieve her jacket. When she emerged again, Charlie was already standing by the exit. “Eager beaver.”

  They arrived at the B&Q store on the outskirts of town in a large trading estate. Katy produced her ID to the girl sitting on the reception desk and asked to speak to the manager. The young woman made a call and told them to take a seat. Sara watched a number of customers go through the tills and tried to figure out what they planned to do with their purchases. She nudged Charlie with her elbow. “Sitting here, watching all this activity involving DIY is making me feel guilty, our place could do with a lick of paint here and there.”

  Charlie sniggered. “Don’t look. My place is the same but I refuse to feel either ashamed or guilty. We put in a lot of hours, Katy, I think we have a good excuse for not having the time to decorate.”

  “Thanks, that’s made me feel a whole lot better.”

  A young man with greased back hair, wearing a suit, approached them five minutes later. “You wanted to see me? I’m David Evans, how can I help?”

  Katy glanced around and leaned in, “Would it be possible to speak to you in private, sir? Perhaps in your office?”

  His brow furrowed. He turned on his heel and called over his shoulder,
“Come with me.”

  He marched off ahead of them, forcing Katy and Charlie to jog a little to keep up with him. “Bloody speedy Gonzales needs to effing slow down a little.” Katy mumbled the complaint.

  Charlie sniggered. “Tell him.”

  “Umm… Mr Evans, where’s the fire?”

  “Sorry?”

  “Why the rush?” Katy asked. Her breathing rate escalated more than she had expected.

  “Oh dear, having a problem keeping up, are you?”

  “You could say that.”

  He threw them a smile and slowed down a touch until he reached the manager’s office fifty yards ahead of him. “Take a seat. Excuse the mess, I have the big bosses descending on me in a few days.”

  “Ah, that explains a lot. We’ll try not to keep you too long.”

  “Thanks. What’s this all about?”

  “Bobby Simmonds.”

  He leaned back in his chair and stared at Katy. “Go on. He’s not here today, I’ve tried contacting him on his phone and at the house, but received zilch from both.”

  “I have to inform you that Bobby lost his life last night.”

  Evans bolted upright. “What?” he shouted.

  “It’s true. We’re trying to figure out what his final movements would have been.”

  “I’m not with you. Why would you need to do that?”

  “Mr Simmonds lost his life in an incident.”

  “An incident or an accident? I’m not sure I heard you correctly.”

  “An incident. He was cycling home last night and we believe he was knocked off his bike and killed.”

  “So it was an accident then?” Evans corrected her, seemingly confused.

  “No. I can’t really go into details, not because I don’t want to, but because we don’t really know what actually occurred until the pathologist has managed to piece things together during her post-mortem.”

  “Damn. I don’t know what else to say. He was a good man. Very thorough in his job, the utter professional.”