The Collared Collection (35 page)

‘This is surreal!’

‘I assure you it’s true; Mike might have been able to make the connection sooner, if you and Elizabeth hadn’t held on to the information for so long. That was obstructive.’

‘Are you saying you think I was responsible for her death?’

‘No, I don’t mean that – the person who shot Elizabeth is solely responsible for her death. But the pair of you were playing a very dangerous game and as things turned out, the consequences were tragic.’

‘I’m sorry, David, but we’d lost faith in the police enquiry, so we decided to do some digging ourselves, with a little help. We’d both suffered assault and battery at the hands of Balaclava Man and you and your colleagues seemed to be getting nowhere – frankly, we were tired of being sitting ducks.’

He looked thoughtful. ‘I am a little surprised at Mike; once he had the Joanne Clack angle handed to him on a plate, he should have been able to forge ahead from there. He’s got a lot of contacts, dodgy and otherwise.’

‘Maybe he just didn’t get a lucky break?’

‘I think it’s more than that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well … remember before, when I told you he was acting weird and I thought he was involved with a new woman?’

‘Yes, but you were totally wrong about that, weren’t you? The poor guy was eaten up with worry, and ferrying his mum around to hospital appointments, all the while afraid that she was going to die. And that was on top of losing Ginny.’

‘Yes, I realise I got that all arse about face, but he’s still acting strangely – he disappears at odd times, takes leave without notice, and sometimes his work isn’t up to scratch. His mind just isn’t on the job and I’m more convinced than ever that he’s got someone on the go.’

‘For goodness sake! I thought you and Mike were meant to be good mates … I’d never have guessed, from the way you gossip about each other behind backs. And they say women are bitchy!’

‘Actually, I only met Mike when he was assigned to your protection. We had you and Ginny in common, but we’re not long-term buddies.’

That came as a surprise. ‘Oh, I didn’t realise … but that doesn’t change anything; he’s entitled to a slice of happiness. If he’s found another woman, good luck to him – he was absolutely devastated over Ginny’s awful, sudden death and he deserves a second chance. Maybe someone else will put some sparkle back into his life.’

‘You’ve changed your tune!’

‘I know … I’m beginning to realise, and I admit I’m a desperately slow learner, that life is a very fragile commodity, and if we are offered something good, we should grab it with both hands. Nobody knows what’s lurking just around the corner.’

‘Does that mean you’ll marry me?’

‘I wasn’t talking about me! I was thinking of Elizabeth and Keith … her life was on hold, waiting for him to be released so they could be together. And now they …’ Damn, she hadn’t meant to dissolve into tears.

‘Hey, don’t cry. St John assured me none of the family blame you for what happened to his sister.’

‘Maybe I do though!’ She broke into a fit of noisy sobs, got up from the sofa and walked around, doing some deep breathing to control her emotions. ‘I’ve lost two good friends and Sally Stephens was killed because of me …’

‘No, she wasn’t, she was poking around of her own volition, without official back-up – much like you and Elizabeth. And she seems to have discovered the Ellison connection somehow. That’s what got her killed.’

‘It doesn’t make her any less dead though, just like Ginny and Elizabeth.’

He sighed. ‘This isn’t getting us anywhere.’

Still upset, she flopped back down beside him, hoping she sounded more or less normal, when she asked, ‘So, we know who Dee was and what she’d done. We have to assume that’s why she was killed; do you think Giles was tarred guilty by association and that’s why he was attacked too?’

‘Maybe, although I’m not altogether convinced of that.’

‘Alright,’ she yawned, suddenly feeling very tired, ‘Who was it took the law into their own hands and set themselves up as avenging angel to execute Dee?’

‘Ah … there I’m afraid the trail runs cold. Ben was an only child and his parents are both dead now; no other surviving family members. So, it looks as though we can rule out about the Ellison clan. Who else would feel that strongly, or harbour a grudge for all those years?’

‘You’re the detective – I suggest you detect.’

‘Not helpful, Callie. I have to get going soon, but first, I’d like you to look at a few photographs, see if you recognise anyone. Most of them are taken off security footage and aren’t very clear, so just do your best.’

‘OK … but can’t you stay a while longer?’

‘Sorry, I really have to get back. I’ll come again soon, I promise.’

‘I suppose that will have to do. Come on then, let me see these pictures.’

One by one, David passed grainy black and white shots in front of her – they included unclear images of Mimi Hammerton, Jade-Mercy, and Jess White, who turned out to be an elderly black man who walked with a stick. Nothing spoke to her.

Chapter Fifty-six

Quite rightly, she conceded, she was banned from attending Elizabeth’s funeral in Sussex. Though she’d passed on to St John, via David, Elizabeth’s remark to her about having her ashes scattered in Richmond Park, St John insisted his sister should be buried in the family crypt at Cassocks, so that he could look after her. And who could argue with that? David attended on Callie’s behalf what turned out to be a very grand send-off. She wondered if down-to-earth, no-nonsense Elizabeth would have approved.

She also missed the boys’ first day back at school, which was miserable. She wanted to be there to wish them luck, fuss over them, and all the other things that mums do to embarrass their offspring on those occasions.

There were shelves of books for her to read in the house, but she found it impossible to concentrate on even the trashiest novel and so gave up trying. With not much else to do but think, she’d come up with an idea – she had no way of knowing whether it would get them anywhere, but she had to give it her best shot. The trouble was, she needed to access the Internet and that was forbidden. No matter how much she begged and pleaded, none of her warders would agree to bend the rules … until lovely Barney arrived on the doorstep.

Barney was one of the good guys, and he empathised with her plight. He was the only one who took on board her feelings of sheer helplessness, crushing guilt, and screaming frustration – and he was prepared to stick his neck out to do something to help her. He installed a sophisticated security gizmo – the workings of which went completely over Callie’s head – and set her up to use the computer online at will, without running the risk, however remote or unlikely, of being traced.

Each time she fired up the machine, she gave silent thanks to Bernard for his tutelage – at least now she knew her way around the more straightforward areas of cyberspace.

She spent endless hours scanning old news reports from the East Anglia region, searching for references to the murder of Ben Ellison in Yarmouth. She had no idea what she was looking for, but was pretty sure she’d recognise it when she found it. She figured the local press would concentrate on the more human angle of the story, rather than the investigation itself, and might perhaps drop the names of those involved on the periphery of the case – where she felt sure they would discover Balaclava Man. She accepted there was a chance she was duplicating work undertaken by David’s squad of detectives, but if nothing else, the exercise prevented her from going completely gaga.

Not all the newspapers had computerised their archives as far back as she needed to go, but several had and she skimmed through thousands of irrelevant articles. After several days, she’d found nothing. When she switched to the national press, she realised her howling error.

Elizabeth had told her Ben’s murder took place in a disused boat shed in ‘Yarmouth’, by which Callie took her to mean Great Yarmouth on the east coast of Norfolk. She’d never heard of Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. Until now.

Chapter Fifty-seven

‘Mike! It’s so good to see you – if you’d told me you were coming, I’d have baked a cake!’ She stretched to give him a peck on the cheek.

He grinned. ‘Hello, Callie. How’s it going?’

‘Oh, you know – a laugh a minute. Please tell me you’ve caught Balaclava Man and you’ve come to take me away from all this?’

The smile dulled in wattage. ‘Sorry. We’re so close I can smell it – we just have to uncover a few more facts.’

‘Like who he is? Oh … sorry, I take that back. I know you’re all doing your best. Fancy a cup of tea?’

‘Please, I’m spitting feathers – this place is a bit off the beaten track, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose that’s the idea, basically – anyone wishing to do me harm would give up halfway here, realising I’m not really worth the effort.’

‘David sends his love and apologises for not coming to see you himself. It’s manic in the office; we’re working late nearly every night.’

That made her feel so much better – not. ‘David who?’

He grabbed her hand. ‘Come on, Callie, it’s not his fault. We’re snowed under and there are a couple of people off sick.’

‘Of course it’s his fault! And define “snowed under”.’

Over cups of tea and Rich Tea biscuits, sitting on the sofa, she told him about her computer search for background on the Ellison murder.

‘I’d have made the same mistake as you with the place name,’ he admitted.

‘Ginny would have known, I bet … all those summers on the island with her family. God, I miss her so much.’

Mike put a friendly arm around her shoulder. ‘Yeah, me too, Callie, me too.’

So Mike
was
still pining for Ginny – she knew it! Some detective David was; her faith in human nature was restored.

‘Now you’re looking in the right place, have you dug up anything interesting?’

She had to admit she hadn’t, but her enthusiasm was re-ignited and she wasn’t about to give up. ‘Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time.’

Mike stayed for another couple of hours – they chatted, watched TV very briefly so he could pick up the half-time score of an international football match, and then chatted some more, a lot of the time about Ginny.

When he’d gone, she felt so deflated she didn’t think she’d ever perk up again, but she had a brilliant surprise in store. She went to her room earlier than usual, to avoid having to make polite conversation with her jailers and drifted off to sleep, lying on top of the bed. When she heard a noise outside her window, she should have been afraid, but had every faith in her guardians and didn’t think anything could possibly be wrong – it didn’t occur to her to be worried.

She got up, heading over to open the curtains and see what was happening. Nothing was wrong – the first thing she saw was Mike’s faltering grin as he swung from the drainpipe, clinging onto a plastic carrier bag. The window opened outwards and she nearly knocked him from his perch, as she made to let him in.

Once through the narrow frame, he jumped down silently onto the carpet. ‘Fancy a midnight feast?’ he asked. ‘Except it’s a while to midnight and it’s not exactly a feast – there wasn’t a great deal of choice in the nearest offie. And that was nearly six miles away!’

‘You’ll get the sack,’ she laughed, peering into the bag to see what he’d brought.

‘Nah, no one knows I’m here. I’d make a great cat burglar.’

‘Ooh! A bottle of plonk! And cheese and onion crisps, my favourite!’

‘Yeah – and I really splashed out on the Cheerios …’

She hugged him. ‘This is so great, Mike, thank you.’

‘You seemed really depressed earlier and I hated to leave you like that, so here I am, back again. We’ll have a little party, just the two of us.’

‘I don’t have a corkscrew, though.’

He produced some sort of Swiss Army knife contraption. ‘I do, and I pinched a couple of paper cups from the coffee machine at the shop.’

‘Let the feast commence, but best keep our voices down. They take it in turns to have a kip in the room next door.’

‘Oh, right,’ he sniggered and thrust his hand into the bag of crisps.

She gave him another squeeze as they sat on her bed. ‘Do you know, Mike, I don’t think I’ve ever been so pleased to see anyone in my entire life.’

He pretended to be embarrassed. ‘Aw shucks, Miss Callie.’

Chapter Fifty-eight

Two nights later, she had a date. Assuming she remained incarcerated, Mike had promised to collect her and take her out to dinner as an illicit treat, which he insisted she deserved … and who was she to disagree? All she had to do was climb down the drainpipe – boy, was she glad she’d lost weight.

Callie was ridiculously excited at the prospect of being part of the real world again, if only briefly – and with someone who could be thoroughly relied upon to watch her back. She’d have been more than happy to go to a greasy burger bar, just to taste freedom again.

Her research was abandoned due to lack of concentration, as she anticipated her temporary escape – she felt like a kid, counting down the hours and minutes to their first church hall disco. Barney was on duty that night and if he noticed she’d taken hours in the bathroom to smarten herself up, he didn’t comment. She wasn’t sure how to take that.

Right on time, Mike tapped lightly on the window. ‘Car for the escapee,’ he smiled.

‘Hi, Mike!’ she whispered. I ducked dinner and told them I’m going to do some reading, then get an early night. Err … how do I do this?’

‘Easy. Sit on the window ledge, grab onto the pipe, and slowly turn yourself around.’ He checked she had on trainers as instructed. ‘Get purchase with your soles on the brickwork and take as much weight as you can on your arms. Don’t worry I’ll keep hold of you, just in case.’

‘I’m surprised the windows don’t have sensors or something.’

‘They do – I’ve disabled them.’

She giggled. ‘Lucky you chose the right side of the law.’

‘Ha! I don’t know, I might have been a very rich crook by now.’

She was grateful she was being kept in a modern house that wasn’t built too high, though her descent took long enough. And she kept looking down, despite Mike’s badgering to the contrary. When they reached ground level, they had to dodge a series of movement-sensitive lights while making their way to the main road where Mike had parked.