Righteous Anger: A frantic hunt for a child killer (DCI Rob Miller Book 3)

by BL Pearce

  Rob ignored the question and ploughed on. “We heard he’d recently been fired from his job in the city. Is that true?”

  Her voice was croaky as she tried to hold back the tears. “He went to pieces after we separated and started drinking heavily. He worked for a big import-export company and was responsible for millions of pounds worth of payments, so when he started dropping the balls and people weren’t getting paid, they dismissed him.”

  She knew a lot about the intricacies of her husband’s job. He said as much, but she shrugged. “Brian used to talk to me about his work, back when we could still communicate without having a row.” She hung her head in her hands. Tears hovered, threatening to fall, but somehow didn’t, making her eyes gleam. “It wasn’t always like this, you know?”

  He did. He really did.

  She continued, “I didn’t think it was right, them sacking him like that. Especially since they didn’t give him any notice. They paid him a month’s salary instead, so there was nothing he could do.”

  Rob frowned. That was a bit weird. They wanted rid of him so urgently that they didn’t give him the official notice period, preferring to pay him out instead. He must have seriously screwed up.

  “When was this?”

  “Some time ago now. When we first split up.”

  “A year ago?” He cast his mind back to their first conversation. Mallory nodded in silent confirmation.

  “Yes.”

  “How’s he been earning a living since then?”

  “He consults, advises people on their finances, that sort of thing.” She pursed her lips. “As far as I know, anyway.”

  Rob had seen how strained things were between them. Whatever communication had existed, had shut down as soon as she’d begun sleeping with Sergio.

  “Do you mind if we have a quick look at Katie’s room?”

  He hadn’t been up there yet, and even though the house had been thoroughly searched, he wanted to take a peek, just in case anything jumped out at him.

  Lisa glanced up, surprised by the sudden change in his line of questioning. “Oh, sure. Although the police have been up there all morning.”

  “I know. It’s just so I can get a feel for what Katie is like.” He nearly said ‘was’. Christ, that wouldn’t have gone down well.

  Seven hours.

  Lisa showed them to Katie’s room. It was a typical little girl’s room. Pink floral bedspread, matching curtains, a tasselled lampshade and posters of Ariana Grande on the wall.

  “She loves her.” Lisa nodded to the poster. “We considered going to that concert up in Manchester, but in the end, Brian said she was too young. Thank God we didn’t.”

  Rob nodded sagely. Thank God, indeed.

  Her lip quivered. “Turns out he was right about that too.”

  Mallory gave her a sympathetic grimace.

  There was a photograph of Katie and her parents in a gold frame on the dressing table. They looked happy. Brian had his arm around Lisa, Katie stood in front of them, beaming into the camera. They were on a beach somewhere, with straw umbrellas and the sea twinkling in the background. Happier times.

  “Where are you in the divorce proceedings?” he asked.

  Lisa’s face clouded over.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to ask.”

  “That has nothing to do with Katie’s disappearance,” she insisted. She adjusted the angle of the photograph, remembering. “Brian is a good man. He’d never hurt his own daughter.”

  Stranger things had happened.

  Mallory drew back the curtain and peered out of the window. “Direct view onto the street below,” he said.

  Rob turned to Lisa. “Still, you said he wanted custody of Katie.”

  The quivering lip again. “Yes, but I think it’s just because he’s angry at me for moving on. You know, with Sergio.”

  “But that’s nothing serious?” Her words.

  She gave a weak nod. “Brian doesn’t like the thought of a strange man in the house.”

  Perhaps he had a right to be cautious.

  Although, divorce brought out the worst in people. Rob knew that first-hand. His own had yet to be finalised, even though they’d completed the worst part, the negotiations. Luckily, Yvette, being an ex-lingerie model, had her own money and hadn’t wanted anything from him. She’d turned her nose up at his small, one-bed semi in Richmond, even though it was in a sought-after area.

  To be fair, she hadn’t been in the best frame of mind during the proceedings. Her mind clouded by panic attacks and agoraphobia; she’d just wanted the whole thing over with as soon as possible.

  He’d offered to wait, to give her some time to consider her options, but she wasn’t interested. Every minute married to him a stark reminder of the trauma from which she was trying to recover. He’d never felt more of a pariah in his life.

  Maybe this whole custody battle was just a spiteful attack on Lisa and had nothing to do with Katie herself. Hopefully, the courts would decide in the child’s best interests, whatever that was.

  There was nothing in the little girl’s bedroom that aroused his suspicion, and the more he spoke to Lisa, the more convinced he was that she had nothing to do with her daughter’s abduction. She talked about Katie as if she were still alive, in the present tense. She couldn’t stop crying, even when no one else was around, and it was clear she still clung to hope.

  “Ready to leave?” Rob asked Mallory, who was leafing through a book on Katie’s bedside table. A piece of paper fell out.

  Rob frowned as Mallory took out a latex glove and carefully picked it up.

  “We’ll be together soon. Love Dad,” he read.

  Lisa stared at the note. “What is that?”

  Mallory held it up. “Have you seen this before?”

  “No.” She squinted at it. “Brian must have given it to Katie. He sometimes comes round to read her a bedtime story.”

  Rob studied the note. “Is it his handwriting?”

  She nodded.

  The note was handwritten on a small, rectangular piece of paper like you’d write a shopping list on. “Do you know what he meant?”

  “No, I–” Her voice faded, and she shook her head. Then, she paled, and her hand flew to her mouth. “You don’t think…?”

  She swayed alarmingly.

  “Sit down.” Mallory led her to the bed where she collapsed. She’d gone whiter than the walls of her daughter’s bedroom.

  “I think we’d better get over to Brian Wells’ house,” muttered Rob, holding out an evidence bag that he’d pulled from his inside jacket pocket. Mallory slipped the note inside.

  They thanked Lisa and apologised for upsetting her.

  There was a moment before they left, when she clutched Rob’s hand and begged him to bring her Katie home. He assured her he would, even though he left with a massive lump in his throat.

  He prayed he wouldn’t have to break that promise.

  They were on their way to Katie’s father’s house when Rob’s mobile phone rang. “DCI Miller,” he barked.

  Ironically, it was one of the officers searching Brian Wells’ house. “Sir, we’ve found something. You’d better get over here.”

  9

  Brian Wells was fast becoming their prime suspect.

  His flat was a shambles, but whether it was from the police officers searching it or Brian himself, Rob wasn’t sure.

  He lived in an apartment in East Sheen, not far from Barnes, above a fishing tackle shop. The sound of afternoon traffic on Upper Richmond Road swept into the living room through the open sash window, as did the faintly acrid smell of exhaust fumes.

  “Are you renting?” Rob asked Brian.

  The sacked financier sat on the sofa staring straight ahead, oblivious to the goings-on around him. If Rob didn’t know better, he’d say he was in shock.

  “Yes.”

  “How long is your lease for?”

  Brian blinked. “Six months.”

  “That’s not very long?”<
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  Rob circled the room clocking the workstation in front of the window, the television set balancing precariously on a bookcase that was too small for it and the well-worn leather sofa. For someone who’d been a Finance Manager in the city, his apartment was surprisingly barren.

  “I was hoping to resolve things with my wife.” He glanced at Rob for the first time. “Then she shacked up with that Polish builder.” He shook his head.

  Rob nodded. The officers searching the flat had found two one-way Eurostar tickets on the printer, dated two weeks from today.

  He sat down next to Brian. “Were you planning on taking Katie on a trip?”

  The man didn’t respond.

  “Brian, this doesn’t look good. Your daughter has gone missing and you have two one-way tickets to France in your names booked for the Friday after next.”

  Still no response. Brian stared blankly at the television screen. He was in marginally better shape than his wife. His hair was dishevelled, his face sallow and he hadn’t shaved for a good twenty-four hours. He looked like a man whose kid had gone missing.

  That didn’t mean he was.

  “Look, we’re trying to be objective here, but unless you can explain these train tickets, we’re going to have to take you down to the station.”

  He burped, then leaned forward. “I’m going to be sick.”

  Shit.

  Rob hopped up and took a few steps back, out of the line of fire. “Okay, Brian. Take a moment.”

  “I gotta go to the bathroom,” he mumbled, and pushed past Mallory.

  The house was swarming with coppers, there was nowhere to run.

  The bathroom door banged shut.

  “There’s no sign of Katie here,” Mallory filled the gap. They could hear Brian retching in the toilet. “He has some of her clothes in a drawer, along with a sketch pad and crayons plus a few other bits and pieces, but that’s not unusual since she stays with him every second Saturday.”

  Lisa had told them that.

  “He doesn’t have a second bedroom?” Rob remarked.

  “Apparently, she sleeps in his room and he takes the couch.”

  The sound of the toilet flushing.

  “He could have hidden her somewhere else,” Rob said.

  Mallory nodded. “Yeah, that’s the most likely scenario. He’d know we’d search his flat.”

  “Let’s get him back to the station and find out. I’m sick of waiting. God knows where she is, but if he had anything to do with it, we’ll get it out of him.”

  Rob banged on the bathroom door.

  “Mr Wells? Can you come out please?”

  There was no answer.

  He sighed. “Mr Wells? Brian? If you don’t come out, we’re going to come in and get you.”

  Nothing.

  Great, this was all they needed.

  Mallory beckoned to a uniformed officer standing just inside the front door. He came over and kicked it down. It didn’t give straight away, but rather took two sturdy boot kicks before it flung open.

  The bathroom was empty.

  Fuck.

  “Outside!” yelled Rob.

  The officer was already running out of the door. Brian had made the one-storey drop and was sprinting up the busy high street.

  Two policemen raced after him.

  “The bugger jumped.” Rob shook his head. Already, the officers in pursuit had radioed in the suspect’s location and before long sirens came screaming down the road.

  Rob’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen.

  “They’ve got him. Stupid bastard. Let’s get down to the station and find out what he’s got to say.”

  Mallory pressed the record button and introduced everyone present. He was leading the interview and beside him sat DS Jenny Bird. Brian Wells sulked on the other side of the table.

  He’d requested legal representation after his arrest. He didn’t have a solicitor, so one had been assigned to him. Not many people did, to be honest.

  The solicitor, a confident Asian woman with sincere eyes magnified by thick glasses sat beside him, an open notepad in front of her.

  Rob watched from the viewing room. As SIO, his job was to study and analyse. Lawrence would go mental if he conducted the interview.

  There were two screens in front of him. One monitored the suspect head-on, the other afforded a side view. The interrogation room was small and functional. It contained a table and four chairs, nothing else, and the suspect’s chair was nailed to the floor.

  “Brian–Can I call you Brian?” Mallory asked.

  The suspect shrugged.

  “Could you explain why you bought these tickets? For the record, I’m showing the suspect two one-way Eurostar tickets in the names of Brian Wells and Katie Wells for Friday 16th of August.”

  “We were going on a trip.”

  His solicitor had obviously primed him. Being seen to cooperate with the police was the best strategy in this case. Guilty people tend to clam up or take the ‘no comment’ approach, but that often harmed their defence when they got to court.

  Brian hadn’t got off to a great start by jumping out of the window and high-tailing it up the road. The evidence was also pretty damning, but Rob would reserve judgement on that one.

  “Was Katie’s mother, Lisa, aware of this proposed trip?” asked Mallory

  Brian hung his head, but his solicitor nudged him.

  “No.” His voice was barely a whisper.

  “Were you planning on informing her?”

  He shook his head.

  “For the record, Brian Wells is shaking his head to indicate no,” Jenny clarified.

  “Why not?”

  “She wouldn’t have let us go. I only get to see my little girl once every two weeks. It’s not enough.”

  His voice cracked. From behind the screen, Rob narrowed his gaze.

  “Where were you taking her?” asked Mallory

  “To the seaside, for a holiday.”

  “Your tickets were to Paris.”

  “I was going to hire a car and drive to the coast.”

  “Did you have anywhere booked?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “Why the one-way ticket? Was it because you weren’t planning on coming back?”

  His head popped up. “No. I swear, we were coming back. I just wanted to spend some time with her, that’s all.”

  Rob wasn’t convinced.

  “Brian, do you acknowledge writing this note?” Mallory slid the piece of paper they’d found in the book across the table. It was in a plastic sheath and the harsh, fluorescent light bounced off it with an accusatory gleam. “For the record, I’m showing the suspect a handwritten note that was found in his daughter’s bedroom.”

  Brian stared at it for a long time.

  “Brian?”

  He nodded.

  Jenny stated that he’d responded with a nod.

  “What did you mean by it?”

  “Nothing.” His gaze flickered and then he glanced away, back at his lap.

  Rob leaned back in his chair. There was something he wasn’t saying.

  “I think you meant that you’d be taking her away soon, without her mother knowing.” Mallory’s tone changed. Harsher.

  “No.”

  “Where is she, Brian?”

  A pause.

  “The suspect failed to respond,” said Jenny.

  Brian shifted position. Beads of perspiration appeared on his brow. Mallory pushed on with the line of questioning, applying pressure.

  “Did you take her, Brian? Did you lure her into the nature reserve, dump her backpack in the pond and hide her somewhere, making it look like she’d been kidnapped?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure? Because I think you planned to keep her hidden away for a few weeks until things had settled down and then you’d quietly leave and take her to France where it would be just the two of you.”

  “No!”

  “Detective, do you have any a
ctual evidence that my client kidnapped his daughter?” This from the smooth-talking solicitor.

  Rob shook his head. They didn’t. That was the problem. The note and the tickets were circumstantial, at best.

  “We know he was thinking about taking her to France.” Mallory didn’t take his eyes off Brian Wells.

  “Thinking isn’t doing, detective, as well you know.”

  Still, they could hold Brian in custody for twenty-four hours and have another crack at him later, once he’d had time to ponder his predicament.

  Or they could let him go and hope he led them to Katie.

  Mallory tried one more time. “If you know where she is, Brian, tell us now. She’s probably alone and frightened. You don’t want her to suffer, do you?”

  Brian’s gaze darkened. “I don’t know where she is. If I did, I’d tell you.”

  Mallory sighed. “I’m going to speak to the custody sergeant and recommend we hold you for the full twenty-four hours. I urge you to think very strongly about telling us where your daughter is, because you won’t be able to see her for a while.”

  Brian swallowed, but didn’t reply.

  “Is there anything you want to add?” Mallory asked.

  “The suspect hasn’t responded,” noted Jenny.

  “My client has already stated he did not kidnap his daughter.”

  Rob watched as a surly-faced Brian was led from the interrogation room. He’d be put in a holding cell overnight.

  “Let’s leave him to sweat.” Rob paced up and down the squad room. “Perhaps then he’ll tell us where he’s hidden her.”

  “If he’s hidden her,” pointed out Mallory. “I’m not sure about him.”

  Rob acknowledged the truth of that statement with an annoyed nod. “It won’t do him any harm to sit in the holding cells for a few hours. If he hasn’t said anything by midnight, we’ll release him. But let’s put a tail on him, make sure we know where he is at all times.”

  Mallory nodded. He knew the drill.

  “Hell of a coincidence that he has those tickets booked for two weeks after Katie disappears.”

  Mallory grunted. “Doesn’t mean he did it, though. Could just be lousy timing.”

  Rob shot him a look that said, Really?