Behind the Walls: A British Crime Thriller (A DCI Pilgrim Thriller Book 4)

by A L Fraine

  “And was it not? Is that why you sold it?”

  “It was a lot of hassle, is what it was. I’d get called out to deal with stuff at all hours, and I just got fed up.”

  “And you sold it to the Woods family.”

  “I think so. Is that their name?”

  Jon nodded.

  “Alright then, if you say so.”

  “What about your brother? Were you not tempted to let him have it?”

  “Evan? Nah, screw him. He’s been nothing but a pain in my arse since he got back.”

  Jon frowned, wondering what that was all about, but he was getting a little ahead of himself and needed to go back to the renting. “Okay, well, let’s go back to the renting. How many tenants did you have during those two years?”

  “Just the one.”

  “Aaaand, that was?”

  “Oh. Corey Grant. He rented it from me for that whole time.”

  “I see,” Jon replied. “And who is he?”

  “Just a guy. I’d met him before a few times, and he said he needed a place to live. So, I offered the house, said he could rent it from me.”

  “So, he was a friend?”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

  “And, what did Corey do, for a job I mean?”

  “Aww, bits of this and that. He was a bit of a handyman I think. A jack of all trades. We didn’t talk about it much. He didn’t like to.”

  “Okay. So during those few years when Corey was renting it from you, did you do any work on the house? Any renovating? Build some walls, maybe?”

  “Corey did,” Duncan replied.

  “Oh,” Jon replied, and a jigsaw piece fell into place in his head. “Really? Isn’t that a little unusual?”

  “Nah, it was fine. He asked if he could, so we talked about it, and I let him do some re-wiring and stuff. He wasn’t very good at it, though. He learnt it in prison, I think. You know, one of those schemes they do to try and get them working again.”

  “He’d spent some time in prison?” Kate asked.

  “Some, yes. He could get angry, sometimes, and violent. He said he hurt someone and got sent down for it. He didn’t like to talk about that either. But the building work, that’s how he kept calm. He said he found it soothing.”

  “I see. And, did he do any work in the back room?”

  “Aww yeah. He did a few bits back there, I think.”

  Jon nodded, catching a glance from Kate. He met her eyes briefly, and there was a mutual understanding that they knew they were onto something here.

  “Great, so, he did some work for you, and then presumably moved out?”

  “That’s right,” Duncan replied, and then he sighed. “It wasn’t a good ending really. We argued, and he ended up moving out. That was the last straw for me, and that’s when I sold the place.”

  “I see. And did you notice anything odd while he was living there? Any odd habits?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “It’s hard to describe, but did you get the feeling he was keeping things from you?”

  Duncan sighed. “A bit. He kept odd hours and didn’t seem to work to any kind of schedule, I suppose. I’m not sure what he was doing. That was one of the things we argued about, actually.”

  “Did you keep in touch after he moved out?” Kate asked.

  “Not really, no.”

  “Did he leave a forwarding address?” she pressed.

  “No. He wasn’t very happy with me. We had some issues, and I don’t think he wanted to deal with them. So no, I don’t know where he went.”

  “Okay, that’s very helpful,” Kate said.

  “Let’s return to Evan, then,” Jon suggested. “You said he came back, so I take it he left?”

  “Yep, he joined the army, leaving us. I was glad to see him go, to be honest. We fought a lot.”

  “Where was your father?”

  “He left. That was what made Evan so angry. He hated that Dad just disappeared. Evan was away for years and never showed any interest in mum or me, and then just a few years ago, he shows up out of nowhere after mum died. He’d heard about her passing and that prompted him to come back here. Oh, he hated that I got the house and was renting it out. Hated it. But where was he when we needed him? When mum needed him? Nowhere, that’s where. He’s just been causing problems ever since.”

  Jon wondered if there might be some lingering issues from his time serving the country. Some PTSD maybe? He’d seen what it could do to some people if it wasn’t treated and wondered if that was an issue here.

  “So, was Evan around while Corey was renting from you?” Kate asked.

  “Oh, yeah. He was causing problems back then, with Corey, showing up unannounced at the house and stuff. And then he tried to buy it when I sold it, but he didn’t quite have the funds and lost out. Has he been causing problems for the family that’s in there now? Is that what this is about?”

  “It might be related,” Jon admitted. “So, you don’t have much contact with Evan?”

  “Not really, no. We don’t have much in common.”

  “And, other than the family connection, do you know why he might be interested in the house as much as he is?”

  “Not really, no. I think it’s just the family connection to it.”

  Jon nodded, but wasn’t sure he agreed.

  11

  “Alright, here we are.” Kate led Jon in through the front door of the apartment block. She smiled as he walked in and manoeuvred around him to close the door. As he waited, the door on his right to flat one opened, revealing an older woman with grey hair peering out.

  “Oh, Kate dear, it’s you. How are you?”

  “Hi Francine,” Kate replied, sounding a little exasperated that she’d appeared.

  “Is this a friend of yours, dear? Are you going to introduce me?”

  “Forgive Kate’s rudeness,” Jon cut in before Kate could say anything. “I’m Jon.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jon,” Francine replied. Behind her, Kate pulled a face.

  “And you, Francine. It’s a pleasure. Kate has mentioned many times how much she enjoys your monthly residents’ meetings.” From the corner of his eyes, he could see Kate’s shocked look. She mouthed the word ‘no’ as she drew her hand across her neck.

  “Oh, thank you. I do enjoy putting them on. It’s nice to know who you’re living with, you know?”

  “Well, I’ll do my best to make sure Kate gets time off to attend.”

  Kate rolled her eyes, out of view of Francine.

  “Oh, so you’re her boss?”

  “She works on my team, yes.”

  “How nice! That’s a lovely accent you have, by the way. Are you not from around here?”

  Jon smiled warmly at her. “Why, thank you. I’m so glad you like it.” He gave Kate a look. She raised an eyebrow. “I’m from Nottingham, but I moved down for the job.”

  “That’s dedication,” Francine replied. “You must be a hard worker.”

  “I put the hours in,” Jon answered, as Kate used her hands to indicate a swelling head.

  “That’s good to know. Well, I mustn’t keep you. I’m not sure I would have been allowed to bring boys home with me when I was young, you know. But times change.”

  “Now Francine, you can’t fool me. I’m sure you were a firecracker in your day.”

  “Oh tosh.” She swatted at him with her hand. “You kids go and have fun. Goodbye Kate. You look after this one.”

  “I will. Bye Francine,” Kate replied and smiled sweetly as Francine retreated to her room. With her gone, Kate’s face turned to thunder as she waved her hand at him. “Go on, up you go. Jesus, what was that? You want me to attend more residents’ meetings? Do you want my brain to turn to mush?”

  “I was messin’,” Jon replied with a smirk.

  “She’ll take it seriously, you know.”

  “I’m sure she will. Maybe I’ll let you go to them more frequently. It’s good to know your neighbours.�
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  “Ugh. I know. But the meetings are so boring and awkward,” she replied as they approached her door upstairs. “I’d rather be on a case.”

  “Fair enough. Let’s get inside and have some food. I’m looking forward to this,” he said, holding up the white carrier bag with the takeaway food inside. He could smell the inviting aroma coming from it, and couldn’t wait to tuck in.

  Kate led him inside. He placed the bag on the counter and set to work, pulling out the various boxes, while Kate busied herself with plates and drinks.

  Within moments, they were sitting at the small, two-person table against the wall as Jon opened up the box of barbeque chicken wings he’d got from Royal Chicken in Leatherhead.

  “They look messy,” Kate said, picking up a slice of her pizza.

  “They look divine,” his mouth already watering at the thought of taking a bite. Without waiting another moment, he picked one up. It was still red hot from being packed in the box in foil wrap, and it took him a couple of tries to pull the first wing free from the others and take a bite.

  But the moment he did, it was as if he’d gone to heaven.

  The BBQ sauce was simply wonderful. He quickly forgot that his fingertips were being slowly seared by the heat from the wing as he devoured the tasty treat and moved onto the next one.

  They were messy, for sure, and within moments his fingers were covered in BBQ sauce. He felt sure he had it all around his mouth too. It probably wasn’t good date food really, and it perhaps didn’t make a great impression, but Kate knew him well enough by now, so if she was put off by some messy food, well, that was on her.

  Besides, this wasn’t just food. This was manna from the very gods themselves. This was mind-expanding wondrousness. Was that even a word? He didn’t care.

  All he cared about was getting another bite of chicken in his mouth. Right freaking now.

  “Wow, you really like that, don’t you,” Kate said, plucking a chip from his plate.

  “Oi! Get your own chips if you want some.”

  “But, I don’t want a full portion. Besides, if you loved me, you wouldn’t mind.”

  “I’m gonna go off you pretty quick if you keep stealing my food.”

  “You don’t mean that,” she said and reached for another chip.

  He swatted at her hand and got some sauce on her fingers.

  “Ack! Hey, look what you did.” With a sigh, she popped a finger in her mouth and sucked the sauce off. The moment she did, her eyes bugged, she stared at him. “Oh wow, now that is special.”

  “I know,” he replied and covered the box of chicken with his hands. “And they’re mine.”

  “You can spare one, surely. You can have some of my pizza.”

  “Get your own.”

  “Oh, please! Just one. I just want to try one. That’s a lot of chicken you have there.”

  Jon sighed, knowing he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t. “Okay, fine,” he said, and pulled out a wing. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a smile and bit into it. “Mmm, mmm, that is amazing.”

  “Messy, but worth it,” Jon replied.

  “So worth it,” Kate agreed, sauce already around her mouth. “So very worth it.”

  Jon tucked into the rest of his food. A short time and a quick hand wash later, he sat sideways in his chair with his back against the wall, and a can of fizzy drink in his hand, feeling suitably stuffed. Kate did likewise.

  “I’m sure I’m going to regret this later,” she said.

  “Me too, but I just don’t care. I’d eat that again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day…”

  “Well, I know what I’ll be having the next time I go there.”

  “Have you been there before?”

  “Yeah. They’re fairly close so…”

  “Convenient.”

  “Yep.”

  “Any thoughts on the case, so far?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

  “I don’t know. Duncan seems credible, and he didn’t live in the house during the time that the bodies were placed there. I’m curious to know more about this Corey Grant.”

  “Me too,” Jon agreed. “I have a feeling he might have some secrets for us.”

  “Secrets?”

  “I’m just going on what Duncan said. No set work hours, late nights, didn’t want to talk about his job, and prison time. I think he was up to no good.”

  “Since he’s been in prison, then we’ll have a look at his record. This might be the gang connection you talked about.”

  “Right. And if it is, he’s just booked himself a place at the number one spot on our suspect list.”

  “Lucky him.”

  “Well, we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

  “Yep. So, do you want to stay the night?”

  Jon considered his options. “Tempting,” he replied.

  “You’ve got a better offer?”

  “No. It’s just that it’s not too late, and I can get a couple of hours of unpacking done if I get home before hitting the sack.”

  “Yeah, fair enough. I was surprised you came and had dinner with me.”

  “I could hardly say no to that offer. And I’m glad I didn’t because that was delicious.”

  “It was,” Kate agreed. “So, you’re heading back to Guildford then?”

  “If that’s okay? I don’t like just disappearing given how little time we get to ourselves, but I’m desperate to get the house liveable as soon as possible.”

  “I’d offer to come with you, but I’m in a mess here, and I might go and do some late night shopping, anyway,” Kate replied.

  “That’s fine. You can help another time. Give the place a woman’s touch.”

  Kate wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Glad to. We wouldn’t want it becoming too much of a man-cave. You might scare us little ladies off.”

  “And I wouldn’t want that,” he replied.

  Saying his goodbyes, he drove back west to Guildford and his home. It wasn’t too late, and he was keen to do something constructive before he dived into bed. If he procrastinated, he’d get nothing done, and he’d end up living out of boxes, something he really didn’t want to do.

  Walking up to his house, he turned into the front path through the modest front garden and stopped dead in his tracks.

  Ariadne was sitting on his front step, a bottle of champagne in her hand.

  “Surprise,” she said with a smile.

  Jon sighed, loudly, and put his weight on one leg. “What are you doing here?”

  She got to her feet. “I realised I didn’t bring you a moving-in gift, so I thought I’d rectify that oversight.” She waved the bottle around before her.

  “I see. And after our little chat this morning, you thought that I wanted to see you again, did you?”

  “Jon. You’re being rude again.”

  Jon rolled his eyes. Admittedly she was right, and although she was clearly a Black Widow of sorts, she’d actually been nothing but nice to him. Too nice really, and a little too affectionate. But there was a dangerous side to her, of that he was certain.

  “Okay, sure,” he replied, thinking that he’d play along for a while, to see where this went. “I’ll play nice.”

  “Well, that’s a start, at least. May I come in?”

  “I don’t think that’s such a great idea, Ariadne. I said I’d be civil, but that doesn’t mean inviting you in for a drink when my girlfriend isn’t here.”

  Now she sighed. “And here I was, thinking we were just starting to get along.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” Jon replied.

  “You don’t disappoint me, Jon. You could never do that.”

  “I beg to differ, but okay.”

  “Here, this is yours. I was hoping to share it with you,” she said. It was curious. Her tone had changed, she sounded a little more normal and a little less like she was trying to seduce him. Although that in itself could be a clever tactic on her part to try and woo him.
That and the bottle of bubbly.

  “So, how is your beautiful girlfriend? Kate, right?”

  “DS O’Connell to you.”

  She gave him a look.

  He sighed, and nodded. “She’s fine. We’re fine, thank you. Great, actually.”

  “How wonderful for you,” she said, sounding a little more like her usual sultry self.

  “Oi, Pilgrim, you fucker.” Jon looked up at a passing van. A man leant out of the window, hollering at him as it passed at a slow, rolling pace. “You and Kate better watch yourselves, you know, wouldn’t want either of you getting hurt, if you know what I mean.”

  The man laughed, and the van sped off down the street. Jon watched it go, shocked that anyone knew who he was and where he lived. After a moment, he realised he’d forgotten to get the number plate, and made to run for the road. He slowed and never got there. It was too late, and the van was too far off.

  “Shit,” he cursed.

  “What the hell was that?” Ariadne asked.

  Jon watched the van, way in the distance, turn a corner and disappear from sight. He shook his head. “I have no idea.”

  “Have you pissed someone off recently?”

  Jon gave Ariadne a look. “I’m a police officer. I piss people off all the time. You should know that better than most.”

  “Of course you do. Hmm, well, looks like someone knows where you live.”

  “The thought had occurred to me,” Jon said, feeling a little worried. He made a mental note to get some stronger locks installed as he wondered who the man was. As he stared off into the distance, he remembered seeing a man standing outside the house last night after he moved in. Was that the same man?

  Had he been watching him? It made sense. Damn it. He’d need to keep an eye out when he came home from now on, just in case.

  “So, how about that drink, Jon?”

  He returned his attention to Ariadne and raised an eyebrow again. “Sorry, no. I’ve got some jobs to do. But thank you for the gift, I appreciate it.”