DEAD & BURIED a gripping crime thriller full of twists (15 page)

“Great work you did,” he said. “I don’t know what it means but I don’t doubt we’ll find out.”

“It seems straightforward enough to me. Emily Blackwell set up the flower thing with the money from Jet Holdings,” she told him. “So ask Costello why.”

“That is just supposition. The money went from Jet into Emily’s bank account. She had a separate direct debit for the flowers, so we can’t prove it.”

“I’ve been talking to Shannon, the barmaid at the Wheatsheaf.”

This could be trouble. Ruth wasn’t happy and it didn’t take much brain-power to work out why. This was scarier than his impending interview with Costello. “Gossip, eh?”

“Yes, and not the type I wanted to hear. You were in there last night.”

It was no use denying it. “So?”

“You were with a woman, a woman Shannon didn’t recognise. The pair of you were very friendly. At one point you even kissed her.”

“Actually,
she
kissed me.” He shuffled uncomfortably, his hands in his pockets. “I’m a big lad now. I am allowed to see women, you know.”

She leaned towards him. “Monika!” she hissed. “Or have you forgotten about her? If she gets the merest whiff of this it’ll really piss her off, and you’ll have blown it for good. You may not appreciate it, Tom Calladine, but this is your last chance with her. She won’t stand for any more of your messing around.”

“I couldn’t help it.”

“You never can.”

There was an awkward silence. Calladine felt like a prat.

“So who is she?” Ruth finally asked.

“Just a woman I met when I was out walking Sam. She’s good fun. I like her.”

“Is she local?”

“No — Droylsden, Manchester.”

“So what brought her to Leesdon?”

“Work.”

“What does she do?”

“She runs an escort agency.” He crossed his fingers. Would he get away with that one?

“What sort of escort agency?”

Nope, he wouldn’t.

“You know. Escorts . . . dinner dates for lonely businessmen . . . she says it’s all very tasteful.”

“Hmm, sounds like a euphemism for the sex trade, then. And Monika? What are you going to do about her?”

“No, it’s not! It’s a perfectly respectable business that she runs. Shez is nice. You’d like her. Me and Monika . . . we’re just being friendly. I like her, I always have but she’s . . .” He shrugged. “Just . . . Monika,” he added lamely.

“You’ve let me down. Do you realise how hard I worked to get Monika onside? The christening plans are one thing, but I spent a lot of time talking about you. I convinced her that you would be up for giving it another go. I thought you were up for it too, when I saw how well you were getting on. You are good together.”

He grimaced. “I’m no good for any woman, Ruth. Never was, never will be.”

Chapter 17

“So why feed me all that crap?” DCI Eliza King waited for Archer to reply. “Why all the rubbish about having something on Costello that would put him away?”

Archer looked from one detective to the other. He did not reply.

“DCI King has a point,” Calladine added. “You’re not stupid. You know the reputation Costello has. Despite that, you agree to front this operation. Presumably you accept money from the woman. You must have known that if he got wind of what you were doing, Costello would come after you.”

“Suppose,” he whispered.

“It must have been a lot of money you were promised, lad. That, or she had something on you.”

Archer shook his head vigorously. “It was nowt like that!”

“This woman. Who is she?”

Archer looked at Eliza King and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“More crap! Of course you know. You’re not that stupid.”

“We never spoke. It was all just texts. She reckoned the police would move in before Costello had time to do anything. There was a couple of things to put in place, people to talk to, then it would start.”

“Who did she want to talk to?” asked Calladine.

“I don’t know.”

“You’re going to have to do better than this, Archer,” said King. “We are investigating three murders. Two of the victims were close to you. You were arrested with the gun that killed Emily and shot Davey in your possession. If you’re not careful you’ll find yourself in the frame.”

“I had nothing to do with shooting anybody!” He spat out the words. “Wayne and Mick were my friends.” His eyes flitted around the room. “I think it was the Blackwell woman she went to see,” he admitted at last. “You know, Ricky’s mum. She had something the woman wanted. I don’t know what — just that it was important.”

“Back to her name. What did you call her?”

Archer shook his head. “Didn’t call her anything.”

“Think harder,” King insisted.

“I’ve told you everything I know,” he said.

“Did she ever mention anyone else?” asked King.

He did not reply.

“Shouldn’t have been so quick to get rid of the phone, should you?”

“In one text she warned me not to get involved with someone, a bloke.”

“What bloke?”

“She called him
Trent
.”

* * *

“Gavin Trent.” Calladine wrote the name prominently on the incident board and underlined it. “He’s been in Leesdon recently. He was DCI King’s contact and he’s the bloke Archer reckons he was warned about by our mystery woman.” He stood back and looked at the jumble of words that filled the space in front of him. “What we need to know is, why?”

“Doesn’t he work for Costello?” asked Rocco.

“We don’t know for sure. He could be the bloke who recruited Archer and his mates. Always providing we are running with the idea that Costello wants the Hobfield of course.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then I’m stumped. Kayne Archer is approached by two people. One, a woman, wants to set him against Costello. And promises to furnish him with information he can take to the police. The other, possibly Trent, wants to recruit him and his gang for Costello. The woman? Ideas anyone?”

“Tanya Mallon,” Imogen said at once.

“They know each other certainly. They could be bosom buddies for all we know. This recruiting thing, though. I still don’t see it. Costello doesn’t want the Hobfield. He’s way past running drugs on run-down estates.”

“Could it be personal?” Rocco suggested.

This had them all thinking.

“The woman has a beef with Costello?” DCI King postulated.

“Possibly,” said Calladine. “Or perhaps this is all some elaborate takeover bid. Get rid of the big bad boss and rule the empire in his place.”

“Are we going with Trent meeting Emily on that hill?”

Calladine wasn’t sure. “Archer thinks his mystery woman met Emily. But he could be spinning us a tale.”

“Why would he?” asked Eliza King.

“Because, DCI King, we piled on the pressure in there.”

She folded her arms and turned away.

“But then again it might make sense. Emily knew Costello. They had maintained some sort of relationship all these years. She could have known things — secrets from the past.”

“We could do with finding Ricky and Enid,” Rocco said.

Calladine nodded. “Imogen — any luck with Cardiff?”

“No. They got off the coach at the bus station and then disappeared. I’ve got the local police checking with taxi firms, but it’s a long shot. I did have better luck with Tanya Mallon though.”

Calladine went to look at her computer screen. “Tanya Mallon married Greg Mallon twenty years ago,” he read. “Her maiden name was Slater. She was born Tanya Slater in Leesdon. No father on the certificate but her mother was Mary — our abortionist.”

“She’s from around here. So she knows people. She could have known Emily,” Eliza King said.

“There is a difference in their ages,” Imogen reminded them. “Tanya was only six years old in 1969. Emily would have been in her teens.”

Calladine shook his head. “So what does it mean? Why didn’t she just tell us? It’s probably the reason she bid on the cottage.”

“Perhaps, but was it sentiment or to cover someone’s tracks? Tanya may have known that there was stuff still hidden there. Carol’s satchel, for example. Costello could have sent her here to get it back,” said Eliza King.

She had a point. “We need to bring her in. Rocco — send a couple of uniforms up to that hotel to fetch her.”

“Alternatively, your theory that she’s working with Trent to bring Costello down could be correct,” Eliza King continued.

“Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know, Tom, but it’s a possibility.”

“Arrange for a plain clothes officer to hang around up there for a while. Let’s see if this man Trent makes an appearance,” he told Rocco.

He turned to Eliza King. “Is there anything else you can tell us about Gavin Trent? Any little detail that will help us to identify him? We already know he has half a finger missing. We know he’s tall and thin, but that’s about it.”

She shook her head.

“I would recognise his voice,” Imogen told them. “I spoke to him, remember.”

“That could be useful,” Eliza King noted. “Tom, what do we do about Archer?”

“We hold him.”

“Do we charge him?”

“Not yet. He didn’t kill Emily nor did he knife the others, but he is mixed up in this.”

“Okay — another twenty-four hours.” She stood and walked away into his office.

“Sir!” Imogen said. “That name you gave me to look up. He’s clean but his son was quite a character.”

“Was?”

“Yes, sir, he was killed on a robbery. That Cheshire robbery actually.”

Calladine looked at Imogen’s computer screen. Robert Silver’s son Ryan had a police record. “He was quite a bad boy, wasn’t he?”

Imogen pointed to a paragraph. “And he was a known associate of Vinny Costello’s. How do you know about him?”

“A piece of luck,” he replied. “Print it out for me. I’ll look at it closer. He took the sheet and sat at Ruth’s desk. Prior to the Cheshire job, Ryan Silver had been in prison a couple of times for robbery with violence. There was also a note about the Costello connection.

“Calladine!” It was Birch. “Costello is coming in this afternoon, at about two. You and DC Rockliffe can speak to him. Do not involve DCI King,” she said firmly. “I get the distinct impression that would cause real problems.”

This afternoon! He needed some strong coffee.

“You feeling alright, guv?” asked Imogen. “Only you’ve gone green.”

“Do you blame me? This has to be handled exactly right. We get this wrong, make Costello think he’s under suspicion and he’ll make sure no one can talk. People will disappear. You all thought Fallon was evil. Well, Costello is far worse.”

His headache was back. He ducked out into the corridor and rang Ruth. “Are you busy this afternoon?”

“No. Want some help?”

“I want you to hang around the graveyard for a bit, from about two this afternoon. We’ve got Costello coming in. I want to know what he does when he leaves here.”

“You think he’ll go there? Why?”

“Just a hunch. Let’s see if I’m right . . . Rocco, we’ll get a drink and discuss tactics.” On the way down to the canteen Calladine’s mobile rang. It was Shez.

“I’ve got the night off,” she said in a sultry voice. “I’m all yours if you want me.”

Normally Calladine would have piled on the charm. But Rocco was at his side.

“What’s wrong? My favourite detective not up for a heavy night out?”

“It’s not that. It’s the case. We’re really stretched.”

“You don’t work all night. Come on, Tom, we’ll eat and then round the night off back at yours.”

“Not shy, are you?”

“You’ve a lot to learn about me, Tom Calladine. I don’t hang about. I see, I like, and I go for it.” She paused. “You don’t mind, do you? Or am I wasting my time?”

“No, not at all. It’ll be good to see you again.”

“Okay. I’ll text you later. If you don’t mind, I’d like to know a bit more about Robert Silver. We can eat at that new Italian.”

Rocco was grinning. “That didn’t sound like Monika, sir.”

“I can just about get away with saying it’s work,” said Calladine. “That woman knows Robert Silver. I want her to talk to me.”

“Who is he?”

“For the time being Silver is simply a person of interest.”

“And your lady friend?”

“A woman I met the other night when I was out walking Sam. We ended up going for a drink in the Wheatsheaf. Problem is, Ruth found out and now she’s on my back about Monika.”

“Is she involved in any of this?”

“No. And I’m not even sure that Robert Silver is. But he is staying at the Pennine Inn and he knows Tanya Mallon.”

They sat at a table in the corner of the canteen with two strong coffees and a notebook.

“We have nothing on Costello,” Calladine reminded Rocco. “He is coming here voluntarily so we must keep it light. We need to get him to talk about Emily and Carol. He might know where Carol is and he might have an idea why Emily was targeted like that. We know he had a soft spot for Carol, so I’m hoping he’ll talk to us.”

“He doesn’t usually help the police, sir.”

“I know, and that’s got me thinking too. Birch will have given his legal people an inkling of what this is about. Something has touched a nerve — Carol Rhodes I suspect.”

“Can we do this, sir?”

“Yep, Rocco. Piece of cake.”

Calladine just wished he felt as confident as he sounded.