A Deadly Imperfection: Calladine & Bayliss 3 (16 page)

The two saw the tarpaulin.  There was no hiding the fact that it was covering something.  Ruth took hold of one edge and pulled tentatively.

‘Jayden North,’ she said, shocked at the sight that met her.  He was lying in a pool of his own blood and there was a nasty wound to his neck.  ‘I should check that he’s actually dead,’ she decided, looking at Calladine who simply stood back staring at the floor.

How had a middle aged, dying woman managed to wreak such havoc?  Harriet Finch had killed four people to his knowledge.  She was frail, weak and in constant need of medication – so what was it that had kept her going? 

Ruth put a hand to the uninjured side of his neck and nodded.  ‘No pulse and he’s cold, Guv.’

‘How’s she managed it,’ he asked incredulously?  ‘So much death caused by someone so fragile,’ he shuddered.  ‘I don’t understand how Harriet Finch could get the upper hand physically against someone like him.’

‘She’d nothing to lose - that must be it.’

‘But why him - with the others she was on a mission, righting wrongs.  So why did Jayden North become a victim?’

‘He surprised her,’ Ruth postulated?  ‘Imogen may have said something when she spoke to him.  If he knew stuff, if he thought Harriet was responsible for his uncle’s death then he’d come looking.’

‘She wouldn’t have seemed much of a threat either,’ Calladine pulled a face.  ‘How wrong he was, and he paid for his mistake with his life.’

‘We need to get the Doc down here, Guv.  Uniform have arrived, I’ll get them to seal the place.’

According to information Rocco found for them Gordon Lessing rented a small office and two large parking lots on the Industrial Estate.  The office was empty and the unopened mail had gathered behind the door.

‘Looks like he’s not been here in a while,’ Ruth noted. 

‘Doesn’t look good then, does it?  If he was keeping the girls here then you’d expect him to visit – carry on as normal.’

‘Oh this is normal,’ a female voice replied from behind them.  ‘We never see him from one weeks end to the other.’

‘Do you work for Mr Lessing,’ Calladine asked?

‘No – for the engineering firm next door.  I’m what passes for admin.  The reality is the owner’s my son,’ she smiled.

Calladine got out his warrant card and showed it to the woman.  ‘According to our records Lessing has this office and two parking lots for his wagons.  Are they out at the moment?’

‘God no – I don’t think they’ve moved in weeks,’ she scoffed.  ‘How he can call this shambles a business, I don’t know.  But then again he must be doing something right - you should see the car he drives,’ he told them pointedly.  ‘It makes no sense - he must make his money doing something, but it’s got nowt to do with haulage.’

‘So where are they, the wagons,’ Ruth asked.  ‘Shouldn’t they be parked here?’

‘They used to be, but they got in everyone’s way – old decrepit things they are.  He’s parked them up round the back somewhere – on a piece of spare land.  Like I said, they haven’t moved in ages.’

‘We should take a look,’ Calladine gestured to Ruth.  ‘Give me a minute – I want to get some things from the car.’

He opened the boot and took out a long screwdriver and a bunch of keys.  Then the two walked off along a path that took them around to the rear of the buildings.  Once round the back the path disappeared and they were soon stepping over some very rough ground.  Calladine knew the land stretched out for some way, all the way back to the Garden Centre in fact.

‘It’s a bit wild on here.’  Ruth had to tread carefully – the long grass was covering a lot of rubble.  ‘There’s all sorts of rubbish lying around.  Watch you don’t stand on a broken bottle - some idiots have been using this as a tip.’

‘That’s the Hobfield,’ Calladine nodded towards the tower blocks stood a few hundred yards away.  ‘I’m surprised the kids aren’t running riot across here.’

‘There are notices,’ Ruth pointed to one.

Calladine shook his head, ‘lucky if the little bastards can read.  Even if they could – they’d pay no heed.’

‘There Guv,’ Ruth pointed.

The two lorries were parked up in front of them.  The woman had been right – neither of them was going anywhere.  One had two tyres missing and there was grass as high as one of the back doors on the other.  It looked like no one had been near them in weeks.

‘What are we looking for, Guv,’ Ruth asked, feeling a shiver travel her spine.  ‘I don’t like this – it’s too quiet back here and it’s well sheltered by those trees,’ she nodded.

‘Yeh – you could come and go, do what you like and no one would see.’

Calladine rapped on the side of one of the wagons with the screwdriver while Ruth walked around the one with the tyres missing. 

‘There are greasy finger prints on the doors here,’ she called to him, ‘and relatively fresh footprints too, in the mud.  See, the ground has frozen since leaving a perfect imprint.’

‘So someone has been here,’ he knocked again.

‘We should get Julian down here – he needs to look at this,’ Ruth decided.

‘We don’t know what we’ve got yet,’ he replied, taking hold of the backdoor handle and pulling, ‘locked.’

‘If it wasn’t, half the kids from the estate would be hanging out in there,’ she smiled.

‘We need to get both these wagons open and take a look inside.’

‘Lessing has been murdered – we know he’s involved in the kidnapping, so call for backup.’

Ruth was getting annoyed at his resistance to allow anyone else in.  ‘This is really about Greco, isn’t it?  You call Julian, and Stephen Greco will be down here in a flash,’ she frowned.  ‘But you can’t keep him out.  This is his case so he has every right to know – in fact I’m surprised he isn’t here already.’

But Calladine wasn’t listening.  He was examining the bunch of keys closely.

‘This one,’ he decided at last.

He tried the key in the lock on the door handle but it only turned so far.  He pulled again but no luck.  Calladine rammed the screwdriver into the gap between both doors trying to lever them apart.  The doors were rusty so he must be in with a chance.

Five or so minutes of pushing and banging and he was in.  The back doors sprung open filling the cavernous interior with light.  The smell hit them first.  For a few seconds Ruth felt sick – not because of the smell, but at thought of finding two small bodies inside.  Her heart was pounding – this was a part of the job she hated, there was nothing worse than crimes involving children.

‘It’s a chemical smell,’ she said surprised.

‘Reminds me of caravan holidays when I was a kid,’ Calladine said, squinting as he tried to see.

‘A chemical toilet, that’s what it is,’ Ruth realised.  ‘Look Guv, right at the end, on the floor.’

Calladine climbed in.  The wagon wasn’t big enough for him to stand so he crawled across to what looked like a heap of rags on the floor.

‘I think it’s them,’ he called back to Ruth.  He didn’t want to, in case he found the unspeakable, but he had to look.  He carefully removed an almost threadbare blanket and saw the two girls.  They were still in their school uniforms and huddled together for warmth – neither of them conscious, but both were breathing.

‘Time to get that help you wanted, and quick,’ he called back to Ruth.  ‘They’re here, both of them.  They’re cold but breathing - I think they’ve been drugged.’

Ruth felt the relief wash through her and took a deep breath.  She was on her phone within seconds.  She called for yet another Ambulance then she rang Julian.  She looked back into the wagon - Calladine had taken off his coat and placed it over the girls.  She didn’t want to go against his wishes but she had no choice.  She rang DI Greco’s number.

Within fifteen minutes the rough tract of land was crowded.  The Paramedics lifted both girls and took them away in an ambulance.   Julian had his forensics people crawling over the place then Greco arrived.

The young DI had a face like thunder.

‘This is my case, Calladine,’ he spat.  ‘At the very least you should have told me what you were up to.’

‘I’d no idea I’d find them here,’ he protested.  ‘But I’m not going to apologise for doing so,’ he scoffed.  ‘You should be looking for the man called
Yuri
– not harassing me.  Apparently Vice at Central knows him.’

‘I’m on it,’ he retorted.  ‘How Calladine – how did you find this place?’

‘Harriet Finch told me about it.’

‘Who the hell is she?’

‘She’s Lessing’s sister-in-law – our
Bucket List killer
, or
Tarot Card killer
– take your choice.’

‘So the cases are linked?’

‘Yes – I did say as much earlier, but you didn’t want me involved – remember.’

Ruth was fed up with all this masculine posturing.  ‘Guv,’ she called.  ‘We should go speak to Harriet, don’t you think?’

‘Okay – our job’s done here anyway.’

He gave Greco a self satisfied smile and walked off after Ruth.

‘Big headed prick – what is it with him?’

‘Simple Guv – nothing, but you still don’t like him, do you?  You’re behaving like a child and it doesn’t suit you.’

‘Solved the case though, didn’t we, and with no input from him.’

‘That was down to Harriet,’ she reminded him.

‘What time is it?’

‘Why, have you got somewhere else to be, Guv,’ Ruth asked sarcastically?

‘Actually I have, and I don’t want to be late.’

‘We’ll go to the hospital, check on the girls, look in on Harriet Finch then you can get off, what d’you say?’

‘I’ll drive,’ he nodded.  ‘And stop getting at me.  I’ve got a lot on my mind.’

‘A lot on your mind – that’s rich!  Most of it’s your own doing.  Lydia, Eve Walker, and Greco – you bring it on yourself.’

Calladine had been in a funny mood for a day or two but he wasn’t saying much so Ruth could only guess – the women in his life, his current state of mind could be down to any one of them.  Then again perhaps it was the job.  He’d come back too soon, perhaps he’d got more of a shock than they’d realised when Fallon shot him?  But whatever was churning inside his head – he wasn’t saying.

‘You are going to have to make your peace with Greco – you know that, don’t you, Guv?’

They’d pulled into the hospital car park.

‘I suppose I’ll get used to him,’ he sighed.  ‘He’s thorough apparently, but he’s a tad slow for my liking.  I mean he should be here too, but I don’t see his car.’

‘He’ll be bothering Julian, making sure he doesn’t miss anything, Guv.’

Calladine flashed his Warrant Card at the receptionist, not that he needed to, she knew very well who he was.

‘Where are the girls,’ he asked.

‘Paediatrics, second floor,’ she smiled.

They both walked up the stairs, Ruth was flagging a bit. ‘Bloody pregnancy,’ she moaned.  ‘Seems to sap all my energy – most days I’m dead on my feet by teatime.’

‘Me too and I’m not pregnant,’ he laughed, ‘just getting old, perhaps too bloody old.’

Ruth wondered if that was what was bothering him - he didn’t feel up to the job anymore.  He saw Stephen Greco as a threat, the future that he wasn’t part of.  Before the shooting she wouldn’t have given the thought house room but now?  Something had him rattled and she couldn’t for the life of her work it out.

The two girls were in separate but adjoining rooms.  A female PC had been assigned to them both with instructions to monitor conversations between them.  It was one way of finding out small details they might be reluctant to talk about.

The Doctor greeted Calladine with a nod in the corridor.  ‘The parents are with them,’ he told him.

‘How are they – are they hurt in any way?’

Ruth almost wished she could close her ears and not have to listen to the next bit.

‘They’ve been given something.  I suspect a tranquilizer, nothing more.  From what Isla Prideau told her mother they appear to have slept for most of the time.  Someone brought them a little food and water but only twice, she thinks.’

‘Have either of them been injured or abused?’

‘No Inspector, they are both okay.  They have been examined and we found nothing untoward, and there is no sign of sexual interference.  They’re still sleepy but I’m sure that that will have worn off by tomorrow.’

Ruth heaved a sign of relief when she heard that.

‘Their clothes will need to go to forensics,’ Calladine told him.

‘An officer has already bagged them up, Inspector.’

‘There’re safe, Guv.  We found them, and got them out,’ Ruth reassured him.

‘Any longer and it would have been a different story.  Yuri wouldn’t have left them there for ever.   He’d have moved them on – sold them on,’ he shuddered.

Leah Cassidy’s mother was weeping, although Calladine couldn’t imagine why.  Her daughter was safe, unhurt – she’d been lucky.

‘It was my fault,’ she told them.  ‘I put that stupid photo on the website.  It was only so my friends could see what a big girl she was – going off to school in her uniform.’

‘He was a seasoned predator, Mrs Cassidy.  You weren’t to know,’ Ruth consoled her.

‘This has been the worst time of my entire life.  I thought I’d lost her,’ she sobbed.

‘She needs to rest,’ the doctor said patting her shoulder.

‘I can’t leave her,’ she protested.  ‘I doubt I’ll ever leave her again.’

‘Harriet Finch,’ Ruth suggested?

‘Okay – we’ll go find her.’

Staying with the children would get them nowhere until they were fully awake and anyway by that time Greco would have his people in place.

Harriet had been given a large dose of morphine and was barely conscious.  Her friend Nesta was by her bedside and a young woman Calladine didn’t know.

‘Jane Lessing,’ she nodded, ‘I’m Harriet’s niece.’

‘Lessing,’ Ruth queried?

‘Gordon Lessing was my father,’ she told them soberly.  ‘Aunt Harriet is all that’s left of my family now, and from the looks of things, she won’t be with us for much longer.’

‘You do know what Harriet did,’ Ruth asked tentatively?

‘She killed him.  She lured him down into that cellar of his and left him to die.’

‘But you’re still here, supporting her?’

‘She wouldn’t have done those things without good reason.  Harriet is a good woman, well until very recently she was.’  Jane Lessing wiped the tears from her eyes – this was a lot to take in.  ‘The cancer had spread to her brain, what with that and the medication she was nothing like her old self.  You aren’t going to whip her away and lock her up in prison or anything, are you?’