The Lottery Ticket (12 page)

Sandra knew it would be pointless say no.

As she had not seen him since leaving the house on Monday morning, she had no idea whether he was in or not. She did not have time to go searching for him first thing in the mornings. Her main concern was to see the girls were fed and watered before leaving for school and to get herself ready for work.

It had not dawned on her that the van wasn’t out the front and so told the officer to go in. She could not wait any longer otherwise she would be late for one of her house calls. As Williams walked in she pulled the door closed.

Williams glanced behind him as the door slammed shut and found himself in the hallway. He chose the door to his right assuming this was the front room in which he was expecting to find White.

As he scanned the room it was obvious it was empty, so closing that door he began to search through each of the other rooms on the ground floor. When he realised that White was not downstairs he systematically inspected the rooms upstairs. No sign of the infamous Roger White in this house, he concluded.

Strange as it might have seemed Mrs White must have thought Roger was at home as she left Williams in the house as she when to work. Not the action of a person trying to avoid the police, thought Williams.

This made the second part of William’s task much easier. He would look for an item of White’s clothing and take it back to Sergeant Davis. In the front bedroom he found a jacket hanging in the wardrobe and decided that this would do. Even though the request seemed strange to him he knew better than to question the reason for the order given by his superior.

On leaving Whites house he slammed the front door and checked it had locked. The thought that both Davis and White’s wife had expected him to be at home Williams began to wonder where he might be. As he drove back to the station he was trying to remember if White’s van had been parked outside his house. He was pretty certain it was not.

Reporting back to Sergeant Davis what had happened on his visit and handing over the coat, he was even more mystified by the reaction of Davis. It seemed that he no longer had the sense of urgency to catch the illusive Roger White. He was however pleased with the jacket and asked if Mrs White might discover it missing. Williams pointed out that the Whites did not share wardrobes and that in the messy state of Mr White’s wardrobe it was unlikely that even he would not be sure it was missing.

“Good work, Ifor”, Davis complimented. “While I finish off some paperwork pop down and get a car. I want to pay the Campbell’s a visit”.

Williams knew the break-in at the Campbell’s was still in progress and that Sergeant Davis had not handed over the file as an unsolved crime.

Once Williams had left the office Davis snatched at one of the buttons of Whites jacket and in so doing ripped an L shape around the now missing bottom button. Perfect, he told himself as he pocketed the button. He did not discard the jacket but carefully hid it behind the filing cabinet behind his desk. He was certain it would not be found even by the cleaners as he was sure they never cleaned properly.

He slid into the awaiting car and just smiled to himself. Vengeance will soon be mine he thought to himself. Before leaving the office he had given the Campbell’s a ring to tell them of his surprise visit. They assured him that they would be at home when he called.

Some few minutes later the unmarked police car parked outside the Campbell’s house. Davis did not want Williams to know what he was about to get up to and so instructed him to wait in the car. The less Williams knew the better, thought Davis.

After a few seconds his knock on the door was answered by Jennifer Campbell. She invited Keith into the front room and offered tea. While the tea was being made David came in from the back garden. Both men shook hands and sat opposite each other.

David started the conversation by asking what was being done about their winning lottery ticket as they knew from the numbers they always picked that they had had the winning ticket.

“I would like to say we have found the thieves who took your goods, but as you know the investigation is still ongoing and so there are some things I can tell you and some pieces of evidence that need more work on”, Davis informed the reticent David.

Jennifer returned with a tray of teas and placed them on the table pointing to the one for Davis. She sat next to David waiting for the revelation of the Sergeant’s visit. Their fidgeting was made all the more agitated by Davis’s slow tasting of the drink.

He went on to tell them of the arrest of the three gang members, Mick Harper, Pete and Bert as they broke into a warehouse and that they were almost certain that these had taken part in the numerous break-ins in the area. He went on to inform them that no items had yet been recovered and that all three deny any involvement in the break-ins.

He could not tell them where the winning ticket had gone but that this was an investigation that was ongoing and thus he could only inform them that they were pretty certain a forth member of the gang was still at large. He did give them some hope that it would not be long before this person would be caught.

A little bit of small talk continued around the need for tighter security and the steps the Campbell’s had taken to avoid being victims again.

“Just before I go I wonder if I might have another look in your garden once more. Would you mind”? Davis Asked.

“Help yourself, but I doubt you will find anything now, I’ve virtually dug up most of it”, replied David.

That was all the encouragement Davis needed. He rose from the chair and followed the Campbell’s to the back door.

“Here, use my wellies”, David said pointing to the three quarter length boots standing to attention by the back door.

Davis slipped them on and made his way to the bottom of the garden close to the now repaired fence. He spent some time just sweeping the area with his eyes and then bent down with his back half turned to the watching eyes from the kitchen window.

This is going to be so easy, he thought to himself. He took the jacket button with some of the material still attached out of his pocket and rubbed it in the newly dug soil. He then slipped it in the plastic sleeve that he had bought for the purpose and began a slow walk back to the house, making sure he kept his eyes down as if still looking for something.

He slipped off the boots and stepped inside the back door.

“Did you find anything”? came the broken duet from the Campbell’s.

Sergeant Davis decided to play along with the farce for a bit.

“I found this button close to where you had been digging, but I guess it probably belongs to you”, he suggested.

He held up the plastic bag with the offending object. He expected and received the answer he was looking for. They had no clothing that matched the button and so Davis took them through the forensic examination it would be subjected to. If it is from one of the buglers it would be a step closer to their capture he encouraged.

On this somewhat instigated positive note Davis took his leave of the Campbell’s with a promise that whatever it takes he will continue to pursue the perpetrators of this crime and keep updating them from time to time.

Back in the car Williams had fallen asleep. He guessed he must have been out for the best part of a couple of hours when the door slammed shut and made him bolt upright banging his head on the roof. He couldn’t help noticing how pleased Sergeant Davis seemed.

“You look like the cat that got the cream”, he commented in between yawns.

“Maybe I have “, replied Davis without giving away any information. “When we get back to the office I want you to take this button to the lab and see what they come up with. Then I want you to go back to the White’s house and asked, no, demand all of the clothes that “Mr Smarty Pants White”, has left at home. I suspect that as his wife was not aware of his disappearance when you tackled her this morning, I dare bet you he’s done a bunk on her too”, he went on.

The properties of the other three gang members would be searched and clothes bought in to add authenticity to the reason behind White’s clothes  being tested and of cause the Jacket with the missing button. 

Chapter 12
 

The Net Tightens
 

Sandra White was a little concerned as to why the police were taking such an interest in her husband. After all he had not been in trouble with the law since his spell in prison some five years before, or so she thought. Little things were however ticking over in her mind such as the late nights and the phone calls he made before leaving home suddenly.

She began to wonder where he had been for the past few days. Her thoughts began to question whether he had come home over the last couple of nights at all. As this question was mulling around in her head she thought back to this morning when she had let the policeman into the house on the assumption that Roger was there.

“What if he wasn’t”? She said out loud as she dusted the living room of the old ladies bungalow. She decided that before moving on to her next job she would go home and check that everything was alright and see if indeed Roger was home.

As she peddled towards home she could not stop her mind thinking of the words her mother had said when she told her that she intended to marry Roger.

“You’ll regret it my girl, he’s a bad ‘un you know. He’ll bring you nothing but trouble you mark my words”.

When she first met Roger she was smitten by him. He was always surrounded by other boys and girls almost threw themselves at him. She also knew he had had several brushes with the law. None of this deterred her from becoming his regular girlfriend. Although he seldom worked he would always have money to take her to posh restaurants and to the pictures or the weekend dances.

After they were married things began to change and his friends became more important and he would neglect her at the expense of those friends. He began to forget meaningful dates, birthdays, anniversaries and the like. He did change for the better for a while at least after the girls were born but then slipped back to his usual ways.

The stint in prison was yet another turning point in their relationships demise. It was almost as if he blamed her even though she could do nothing to save him. She knew by then that nothing that she could do would repair the massive break in their marriage. For all intense and purpose it had become a marriage of convenience. She was sure it was at his convenience as she was constantly subbing him but never being paid back when she knew he was flush.

When she reached home she saw that the car the officer had arrived in earlier was parked out the front again. “Surely he hasn’t been talking to Roger all this time”? Normally if the police were speaking to him it would be at length at the station not in his home.

Williams saw her coming up the road and gave a massive sigh of relief as he had already been waiting some time and thought that he might have an even longer wait before someone returned. He stepped out of the car and made his way to the path.

“Have you only just finished talking to Roger, Constable”, she asked, putting her previous thoughts into words.

“He wasn’t in Mrs White and so after making sure the place was secure I left soon after you let me in”, he lied.

“Why are you back”? Sandra asked in panic at the thought that Roger had been up to his old tricks.

Little was she aware that Roger had never really stopped his old tricks.

“I have been sent to pick up some items of clothing of your husband’s Mrs White”, Williams informed her.

“What do you want with his clothes? She replied.

“We would like to eliminate your husband from our inquiries into a spate of robberies in the town. We have arrested three of his known associates and we need the clothes for forensics to look at. If you wish we can get a search warrant and do it officially. This way it saves time”, he continued

“You had better come in”, Sandra said as the thought of him getting into trouble again began to sink in along with the repercussions this would have on the girls, if indeed he had broken the law. Last time he went inside the children were much younger and the pressures weren’t so great but now they were older and their peers may not be quite so restrained.

At least Julie had her friend Mandy who would help her through the worst at school. She was more concerned for the well being of her youngest daughter and what she might have to face.

Deep in her thoughts she did not hear the question that Williams had asked.

“Sorry, what did you say”? She asked as she put the key in the door.

“I said, Can you tell me where your husband was on Saturday evening?

“Well as a matter of fact he was at home that night. I know for certain that he was, because I remember I wanted to watch a program on the telly but couldn’t because he was in the room watching his beloved football or something”, she replied with some relief, thinking perhaps her previous thoughts and concerns were ill founded this time. 

“Wait there while I pop up stairs”, she ordered the constable. “Is it anything in particular that you want”? She asked.

“A couple of items will do, perhaps a coat and a pair of trousers will do, thank you”, Williams answered.

Sandra rummaged through the untidy wardrobe and found the items she needed. Williams was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting. As she handed him the items he had one more question for her.

“Do you know where your husband might be right now”? Williams inquired.

“I haven’t a clue, he comes and goes as he pleases and has done so most of our married life”, Sandra replied with venom in her voice as she thought of the life he had reduced her to. “His van is not out front so I guess he must still be out, in fact I haven’t seen the van for several days, you don’t think something has happened to him, an accident or something maybe”?

Williams assured her that he would make inquiries when he returned to the station and let her know if anything came up. He went back to his vehicle and sat and watched as Sandra White cycled off to continue her work. He wondered to himself what makes women get involved with no-hopers like White.