Reprobates (18 page)

‘
Is that your phone ringing or mine?’ asked Rita, as she tied the exhibit label to the firearm with a piece of string.

‘Mine.
’ Jen put her hand into her pocket but by the time she had got it out the caller had rung off. ‘It’s Dylan,’ she said looking at the image on the screen. ‘I should be home by now.’

‘
Should you go?’

‘
No, I know Maisy is fine at the childminder’s. Chantall will have given her her tea by now. I’ll help you get this lot booked in first.’

‘You
’re a star,’ Rita said smiling at her friend. ‘It’s good to have you back. I can’t ever imagine Donna getting her hands dirty like this, can you? I won’t be a minute. This last load should empty the temporary store. You okay in here while I go get it?’

***

Dylan walked into the station just as Rita was heading back out to the permanent store in the yard, with the property.

‘Jen
’s inside,’ she said, nodding her head in the direction of the store in the yard. He followed.

The cache of firearms inside was huge.
‘Where did all these come from?’ asked Dylan as he squeezed Jen around her waist. ‘Hello you,’ he said.

‘
The amnesty. We’ve had three hundred and seventy three guns and seven thousand rounds of ammunition handed in so far across the area, including a rocket launcher, a gun fashioned from a walking stick and a home-made cannon,’ said Rita.

‘
Unbelievable. But just one of these weapons off the streets,’ he said picking up a .357 Magnum revolver and propelling it in his hand, ‘is bound to save a life.’

‘
Oh, that one’s not from the amnesty it’s from another job.’

Rita picked up the form on which the items were listed.
‘A Mr James. Didn’t have a current gun licence it appears. But he’s dead anyway now.’

‘
How come?’

‘
Suicide. The jumper from the other night. Turns out he’s was bit of a perv too by all accounts.’

‘Yep!
We won’t be worrying too much about him then will we?’

‘
Where did you learn that trick?’ asked Jen who stood opened mouthed facing Dylan.

Dylan spun the revolver around in his hand again with ease.
‘Ah,’ he said tapping his nose with his finger. ‘I can still surprise you, that’s good.’ Dylan grinned ‘You not clocked off yet, missus?’ he asked, putting the gun down and pulling her towards him.

‘
No, but I won’t be long now. You look tired,’ she said reaching up to touch his face. ‘That belonged to the guy you went out to try and negotiate with the other night?’

‘
Yes. Hey, have those been checked?’ asked Dylan, reaching out quickly towards Rita who had her hand on a trigger of a semi-automatic pistol pointed in their direction. It was his turn to look concerned. He took the gun off her with the confidence of someone trained in the act.

‘
I guessed so. They were tagged in the temporary store,’ Rita said looking a little taken aback.

‘
I know I go on about never assuming but the exception to that rule is always assume a gun is loaded,’ he said, with a furrowed brow.

‘
How would I check?’ asked Rita. ‘Go on, give us a quick lesson.’

Dylan obliged by picking up the gun nearest to him.
‘Point it in a safe direction. Since the slide lock is closed you’d check that a round isn’t still in the chamber. On this particular one by pulling the slide back and raising the slide lock.’ He laid the gun down with the muzzle facing in a safe direction even though it was empty.

‘
And if it was loaded? What would I do then?’

‘
If there are rounds of ammo in the magazine, press down slightly on the top Round and with your thumb, slide the Round out. You’d have to keep doing that until they’d all been removed. Now, ladies, store them all somewhere safely.’

‘
What do people do this for?’ Rita said, picking up a sawn-off shotgun.

‘
A modified shotgun is more manoeuvrable and a lot lighter than a full size shotgun, see,’ he said handing the gun to Jen, who recoiled from handling the monstrous looking weapon.

Dylan laughed.
‘However, remember decreasing the length of the gun will reduce its accuracy and increase the recoil. If the person holding the gun has a hand on top of the barrel...’ Dylan indicated this by placing his left hand facing downwards on the shortened barrel, ‘they are aware of the recoil, and they would do this to stop it firing upwards.’

Jen screwed up her eyes.
‘I can’t believe you hadn’t told me... Where on earth did you learn that?’ she asked.

‘
I told you, I’m trained,’ he said as he turned on his heels. ‘Bye love,’ he said blowing her a kiss. ‘It’s looking like a late one so don’t wait up,’ he called over his shoulder. The property door slammed shut behind him.

***

The guns were safely locked in the secure cabinet. Jen looked down at her dirty hands. ‘What’s up Jen?’ Rita asked as she followed Jen out of the store and locked the door behind them.

‘
I don’t know... Sometimes I just get a glimpse of another side of Jack Dylan and realise how little I know about him.’

‘
I guess we never know everything about someone, no matter how close we are.’

‘
I know but you’d think... Oh, don’t mind me I’m just being silly.’

***

Dylan was in the custody suite ensuring that Derek Harper had himself a solicitor and was updating the staff on duty. Now they had found a body at Mr Harper’s address he was going nowhere. ‘CID will be down to arrest him with murder any time now,’ he said.

‘
You may be right there, sir, but he might be going somewhere rather sooner than you thought. We’ve an ambulance en route.’

‘
Bloody hell,’ Dylan said. ‘Not that old nugget?’

The Custody Officer nodded his head.
‘I don’t think for a minute... but better to be safe than sorry. His solicitor has asked for a call back once we know what’s happening with him.’

‘
Who’s he got, Perfect and Best by any chance?’

‘
No, it’s David Scacchetti from over Leeds way. Don’t know him.’

Dylan raised his eyebrows.
‘Me neither. Let me know when you know what’s happening too will you?’

***

Acting Detective Sergeant Vicky Hardacre looked downhearted when she heard the news.

‘
Look on the positive. It gives us a bit of time whilst his custody clock is stopped,’ he said. ‘Everything happens for a reason. He won’t gain anything.’

‘
You think it’s Kirsty, boss?’ asked Paul.

‘
I think so, yes. The post-mortem is set for half seven tomorrow morning. We’ll get the samples checked as soon as possible. The body is in a pretty decomposed state.’

‘
Is he the killer do you think or just a weirdo?’

‘
Likely to be the latter, but who knows? We have to keep an open mind and let the facts speak for themselves.’

‘I
’d planned to see the guy in the photo tomorrow morning. I’ve been given his duties so I thought I’d drop on him unannounced. See what reaction I get.’

‘
Good.’

‘I
’ve got some good news for you from the Forensic lab,’ he said.

‘
You have? What’s that?’ Dylan’s eyes widened.

‘
Early indications confirm two different hair samples have been found in the mask Billy Simpson was wearing, and from the house-to-house enquiries it would appear our Jane had a regular male visitor who drove a transit van.’

‘
When was it last seen?’

‘Don
’t know any more at the moment.’

Dylan
’s phone rang. ‘That sounds interesting, Paul,’ he said as he picked it up.

***

It was dark outside. Dylan stood at the window. The car park was all but bare, apart from a couple of uniform marked cars. Most of his team were out on enquiries, in the unmarked police vehicles. The search team at Derek Harper’s house had finished for the night but he was told they would resume at first light. The technical team had Harper’s computers and were about to start to examine the information thereon. Already they knew there was a vast amount of images of a sexual nature stored on various files and each file would be subject to scrutiny.

Harper lived alone so it was likely only he had access to the computer, therefore Dylan hoped he wouldn
’t have gone to elaborate lengths to conceal things. He reminded uniform of the need for security to be retained overnight at the scene.

Dylan tapped his fingers on the desk awaiting an update on Derek Harper from the hospital. The telephone rang and he picked it up.
‘Dylan,’ he said.

‘
Claire Rose, press office. We’ve got a lot of media attention about an incident at 5, Hawthorne Terrace, today. Is there anything I can tell them?’

‘You
’ve drawn the short straw again, Claire?’

‘Yeah,
’ she said. ‘I’m working a split shift.’

‘
Unfortunately not. We need to keep this one under wraps until at least tomorrow. In fact until we know exactly what it is we’re dealing with. Sorry, I know it’s a pain for you and the press but I’m not doing it to be awkward. You know me, I’d give them a story if I could. I promise I’ll update you as soon as I can.’

No sooner had he replaced the receiver than it rang again.
‘Patrol’s gonna love you, sir,’ said the Custody Officer.

‘
Why’s that?’

‘
Not only have you got their officers guarding the scene at Harper’s home address but they’re also going to be needed to sit with him at the hospital overnight. Doctor has checked him over, announced he’s okay but they want to keep him in for obs as a precaution.’

‘
Thanks for that.’

Dylan got up from behind his desk and walked into the
Incident Room. ‘Okay, let’s go home. Derek Harper will be in hospital till tomorrow with his alleged chest pains, so that gives us a little breathing space. Go get your heads down and I’ll see you bright and early.’

As Dylan walked back to his office he could hear the intermittent mumblings of the team. Oh, for his bed and Jens soft, warm body. He yawned.

***

All lights were lit in the house when Dylan parked his car in the driveway. The only explanation he could think of was Maisy wouldn
’t settle. As he put his key in the lock he heard voices.

Penny was slumped on the sofa with an empty wine glass in one hand and a bottle in the other. Jen held a sleeping Maisy over her shoulder.

‘Hello, Dylan,’ Penny said with a drawl and a glint in her eye. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’

Jen put her finger to her lips.
‘Shh... Penny. You’ll wake Maisy.’ Jen’s eyes went to the ceiling. ‘I’ll go and put her in her cot.

Penny winked at Dylan. A slow and very deliberate closing of one eye. She dropped the bottle on the floor. Dylan went to retrieve it and Penny patted the cushion next to her and in doing so Dylan saw the plasters.

‘Oops,’ she said putting her hand to her mouth.

‘Don
’t worry, it’s empty,’ he said. ‘What’ve you done there, Penny?’ he asked pointing to the marks on her arm. Jen walked into the room and shut the door quietly behind her.

‘
Just a spot of horse play. Come sit next to me and I’ll share the details...’ she said. Her voice slurring. She purposefully patted the cushion next to her with more vigour.

He looked at Jen who shrugged her shoulders.
‘I’ll put the kettle on shall I and make us a nice strong drink of coffee?’

‘And I
’ll let Max out,’ Dylan said following her into the kitchen.

‘Don
’t be long, Dylan. I need to get an update before I go...’ Penny called after him.

Jen
was standing filling the kettle at the kitchen sink.

‘
When did she get here?’

‘
She was still here when I got home.’

Dylan looked puzzled.

‘She’d been to clean,’ she whispered. ‘She’s not been home. Insisted on seeing you.’

‘
But it’s past midnight,’ he said, watching an excited Max who was dancing on his toes at the back door. ‘I hope she isn’t going to make a habit of it.’

‘
You and me alike. The bottle of red she brought with her has been empty for an hour and she’d already downed a bottle of ours, but she insisted on waiting till you came home for an update.’

‘
An update on what?’ he asked.