Doors Without Numbers (21 page)

“The sign language, how did you learn it?”

Jenny’s laughing eased, She offered Hammond the almost empty bottle.

“You’d better get some sleep. Thank you for listening to my woes.”

He took the hint and moved off the sofa bed, noting that the bed frame shifted as he shuffled himself to the edge to stand up. He looked at Jenny and asked if she had found the bed comfortable. It served the purpose she replied. Hammond suggested that she use the bed in Paul’s room. It wasn’t as if Paul needed it anyway, he was rather ashamed that he hadn’t thought of the idea earlier. Jenny accepted his offer and seemed pleased although he was aware she wanted him to leave her in peace. He bid her a restful sleep and walked to the kitchen where he placed the bottle on the worktop and left his glass in the sink. It was at that moment he remembered Harris’ call telling him about the file. It had been two days ago, the time when Kathleen had said Harris had been found confused wandering the streets. Either she had been dishonest or Harris had left the house with a sudden attack of dementia within minutes of phoning him. He doubted the plausibility of the latter scenario and wondered why Kathleen had lied to him.

Rather cowardly Hammond informed Dunn of his intended day of absence by SMS text. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to her he reasoned. Beech was unlikely to welcome Hammond back into the office until he could show he was fit enough to continue an investigation. Hammond knew he was perfectly fine but after a sleepless night, he was going to exploit the situation and stay in bed a little longer.

Hammond’s feet were cold; the duvet had been pulled over the wrong side of the bed and was now dangling towards the floor rather than covering him. He adjusted the covers and lay back on the pillows, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. He hadn’t noticed before how badly it needed to be painted, his eyes scanned the walls and saw that the decor had aged without him noticing. The north wall was looking damp; he reached his hand out as far as he could and felt the wall with the back of his hand. How could I not have noticed rising damp on the walls he thought. He scoffed at himself realising that inadvertently he had proven Beech was right; Hammond wasn’t seeing what was right in front of him. His hand returned to the warmth of the bed and he lay listening to the muffled sound of Jenny singing in the shower. He reflected on her situation confessed to him only hours earlier. She was more sensitive than he had supposed. He hadn’t been very considerate towards her, but at least he knew she would be more comfortable in Paul’s room. He knew Paul wouldn’t object since he hadn’t been home for months, too busy getting on with his own life Hammond considered and decided to phone his son later.

By the time Jenny appeared downstairs, the tea was poured, bread toasted and an array of jams were spread out on the table. Hammond was surprised at how many conserves there were, he didn’t remember buying any of them. She looked surprised to see him sitting at the kitchen table in his pyjamas and stopped short.

“Sit down Jenny, have some breakfast.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Ok, what have I done? You want me to leave?” It was a rhetorical question, she continued speaking without allowing him to explain he was simply trying to show her he cared.

“I knew it was too good to be true. I suppose it is because I am not doing anything all day, is that it? I should be paying rent or something.” She sighed heavily and sat on the chair opposite him, grabbing a slice of toast with a sulky expression.

“Why? Do you want to move in? How long do you intend to stay?”

“I don’t know! How should I know? How long does it take for a broken heart to mend?” she replied sarcastically. Hammond was amused by her answer, he tried not to smile but instead held her gaze with what he hoped was a kind but firm expression.

“You are welcome to stay for as long as you need too Jenny, but I don’t think it is healthy for you to stay here all day dwelling. We need to find something for you to do.”

“So that is why you stayed home today? To take me job hunting?”

“No, I am at home because my boss thinks I am unfit and need time off.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“What a bastard. I hope you told him where to go?” She bit into her toast, resembling a dog tearing at meat.

Hammond changed the subject. “I thought perhaps you and I could do something together, take a walk or something.”

“Have you seen outside? Don’t be an idiot Wally, it’s bloody freezing out there!”

Jenny poured herself tea, and blew into the mug before tasting it. She grimaced before adding milk and several heaps of sugar.

“This is what we will do Wally. First you tell me how your date went last night, then you are going to tell me what has been on your mind lately. Ever since I have been here, you have been walking around with your head in the clouds.”

Startled, Hammond looked at her. “I have?”

“Yep, It’s not a woman, I know that much. You get this look across your face as if you are thinking hard.”

“Oh.”

“The date, how did it go?”

Hammond remembered Kathleen’s proposition and blushed slightly, not replying.

“Aha! You got laid!”

It took a second to set her straight. Jenny stared as if she couldn’t believe what he was saying. It was a mystery to her how Hammond could have possibly refused Kathleen’s offer. Hammond had thought the same, but then he was reminded of the nagging doubt he had about Kathleen. Tom Edward’s words kept floating to the forefront of his mind. “How trustworthy is Kathleen?” he had said. At the time Hammond had thought Edwards was simply imagining a conspiracy for the sake of being awkward, but since then Kathleen had lied to him and he didn’t understand why.

“It could be perfectly innocent, she might have simply got her dates wrong or maybe she wanted you to feel sorry for her. Some women are like that you know, they like to be seen to be hard done by and need a hero to rescue them.”

Hammond wasn’t sure. He couldn’t rid himself of doubt that Harris was not as confused as Kathleen would like him to believe, but why would she want to mislead him? So that he wouldn’t help his friend? If Harris had been working on his own investigation before he was diagnosed surely Kathleen would appreciate her father having an interest that distracted him from the thought of his own mortality? He felt uneasy about the way she had suddenly tried to seduce him. He hadn’t seen her for years, why take an interest in him now?

Jenny had more faith in his ability to attract women than he did. “Perhaps she has fancied you for ages but didn’t make a move because you were married.”

Hammond’s facial expression suggested he was considering the idea although his instincts told him otherwise. The policeman’s motto rang in his head “Assume anything, believe nothing, challenge everything.” It was a sad state of affairs when he couldn’t trust a former police officer’s daughter. It was Hammond’s turn to confide in Jenny. He moved on to the subject of Lloyd Harris, telling Jenny about the request Harris had made, but deliberately omitted his involvement with The Home Office investigation during the 1980’s. Kathleen had contacted Hammond after Harris had asked him to look into the case, it was too much of a coincidence for Hammond’s liking.

“So, this file, take a look at it. You don’t have to go into work, so how about we both look into it? I can help you.”

Jenny seemed enthusiastic. Pleased to have found her a distraction from her heartache he agreed and collected the little information he had gathered so far. The two heads bent over the papers he had printed off the internet a few days previously. Jenny’s interest was focused on the FFASL forum pages. She read the last entry circled by Hammond. “
In memory of Theresa Davenport. A girl who did not deserve to die. Her killers are still out there somewhere, they know I know...question is what will they do about it?”

“Did you reply to Cherry13?”

Hammond replied that the original comment by Cherry13 had been entered several months before.

“It’s worth trying, just to see if you get a response, you know, throw some bait and reel them in.” Hammond was confused; Jenny made it all sound so easy, he doubted that Cherry13 would fall for such a ploy and said as much, adding that he didn’t know what results he hoped to achieve.

“Well, for a start you may find out their identity, secondly, if you can get Cherry13 to reply to your e-mail somehow, you can get their IP address and trace from where the e-mail was sent.”

Hammond confessed he hadn’t thought of this. The difficulty would be in encouraging Cherry13 to send a personal e-mail. The forum could be protected by confidentiality rules which meant that the only way of gaining access to this material would be by exposing his true identity and worse still, making his investigation official. Even if he did succeed in getting Cherry13 to reply personally, it would be foolish to assume that Cherry13 had used a computer at their home, the IP trace could lead to a public computer. He spoke these thoughts aloud to Jenny.

“If Cherry13 used a public computer, there may be CCTV; all you’d have to do is check the time of the entry.”

“To access the CCTV footage, I would need to make an official request, I don’t want to do that unless I am sure there is a crime to investigate.”

“You may not need to do it officially, it depends on the settings of the forum, sometimes you can share your details when you register, make your e-mail address public, or there may be a facility that sends you an e-mail every time someone has made an update on the forum page.”

Hammond felt encouraged. For the first time he wished he had a computer at home, and said so to Jenny who suggested borrowing Mary’s. She returned from their next door neighbours house carrying a laptop and set it up on the kitchen table. Jenny’s fingers tapped lightly over the keyboard. Using Mary’s wireless signal, they managed to get onto the internet and find the forum page where Cherry13 had written her entry..

Using a new e-mail account set up specifically for the purpose, Jenny registered an alias onto the FFASL forum and highlighted Cherry13’s icon. A new tab was opened with an option to contact Cherry13. With a broad smile, Jenny passed the keyboard to Hammond and encouraged him to write a message. Pleased though he was by their progress, he suddenly felt hesitant and questioned his methods. He was beginning to behave like a private detective which was the last thing he wanted to do. He sat there in silence, not knowing what to write. He decided to be honest but keep the message simple. “I would like to know more about Theresa Davenport. Why do you think she was killed?” He clicked send and then questioned aloud what was supposed to happen next. There was no activity for a while during which time, Hammond had drunk three cups of coffee and Jenny had ventured outside the front door to smoke the last of her cigarettes. Eventually their patience was rewarded by a tab appearing on the bottom right corner of the screen. Cherry13 was online, he was invited to enter a chat room, he accepted. The reply by Cherry13 asked why they were interested. With tact and diplomacy Hammond replied, he was unsure whether to include too much information but knew he needed something to make Cherry13 realise his interest exceeded beyond mere curiosity.

“If Theresa was killed like you say, then I want the guilty identified.”

The reply was immediate. “Why should I trust you?”

His answer was typed before he had a chance to think about what he wanted to say.

“Because Theresa may not be the only one. There may be others.”

There was no reply, Cherry13 went off-line. Hammond swore loudly, he had blown it.

“
A very little bundle of instincts and impulses is indispensable to a man on his way down the path of life to a peaceful and humble grave.”
Henry Havelock Ellis. The Dance of Life. 1923

Hammond didn’t bother to shower until midday and cut his toiletry routine by not shaving. He studied his reflection in the mirror and wondered what information his features gave away. He was frowning and attempted to relax the brow muscles but found the more he studied himself, the more tense his features became. Is this what others see? He tried to remember the last time he had bellowed with laughter, he couldn’t. The possibility that he was entering a depression was frightening. He couldn’t understand what was happening, why Beech couldn’t trust him to do his job. He rubbed himself dry with the towel that hung off the back of the bathroom door. Could it be that I am getting old before my time? The previous evening’s conversation with Kathleen had brought back memories of his mother. Towards the end of her life, she had seemed frail, yet she had only been three years older than he was now when she died. Perhaps it is hereditary, maybe I take after her; I am disintegrating away, piece by piece. He returned to the mirror reflection and told it to stop being so ridiculous before searching for the toothpaste.

He went back to his bedroom and looked for a clean pair of socks. Only one sock was found, he searched the drawer contents looking for the other when his mobile beeped. He saw that he had three missed calls. He pressed call back. Edwards answered, his voice sounded more refined on the phone than face to face.”Sir, I’ve got good news and bad news, which do you want first?”

Impatiently, Hammond replied he’d rather the information be given without games. Edwards delivered as requested.”DS Dunn has been reassigned to a rape case, so Galvin and I are pretty much the only two here sealing the Robert’s case.”

“Damn!” Hammond knew Beech was doing his upmost to close the case, having Hammond and now Dunn out of the way meant that less time and resources would be spent on what Beech considered to be a completed investigation.

“Forensics have completed their report. The soil found in the nostrils of Graham Roberts has been identified as being native soil from where he was found so he died after the fall. Secondly, toxicology came back, there were traces of Beta-Blockers, Statins, Angiotensin and Calcium Channel Blockers but negative for Aspirin or Nitrates so the original time of death still stands.”