The Scent of Death--A Sukey Reyholds British police procedural (8 page)

‘I suppose we could ask Freeman if he knows where he's heading for next,' said Vicky. They went back to the hotel. Most of the group had dispersed, presumably to have a rest and then prepare for dinner, but Freeman was in reception talking to Chapman. He merely shrugged when Vicky enquired about Romeo's probable destination. ‘He's not due to sing for me until my next meeting, which isn't until the beginning of May,' he said. ‘As far as I know he picks up other engagements on an ad hoc basis, but I don't normally hear from him in the meantime.'

‘Do you have his mobile number?'

‘Yes, sure – would you like me to call him?'

‘If you wouldn't mind.'

‘No problem.' Freeman took out his phone, called a number, waited a few moments and shook his head. ‘His phone's switched off,' he said. ‘I'm sorry, I really can't help.'

‘Well, thank you anyway.' Vicky moved a short distance away and took out her own phone. ‘I'm giving the DI a call to put him in the picture,' she told Sukey. ‘Stand by – he may want to talk to you as well.' After a few moments she switched off and said, ‘He wants us both back at his office right away.'

‘What about Mike and Tim?'

‘He said we should update them and leave them to catch up with as many on their list as they can,' said Sukey. ‘It will be after eight by the time we've seen the DI and I doubt if he'll expect any of us to work overtime, so with luck we'll all be able to go home at a reasonable hour.'

They found Rathbone sitting in front of his computer. ‘I've been trying to get hold of some info about this Romeo chap, but Google isn't much help. Did you happen to get the number of his van?'

‘Of course; it's in our reports, Guv,' said Vicky.

‘Which you haven't submitted yet,' he snapped.

‘Give us a chance,' Vicky pleaded. ‘We've been working our socks off and so have Tim and Mike. There are a lot of names to check off, DNA samples to deal with and notes to polish up.'

‘All right – so give me the number now.' Vicky wrote it down and he entered it in the computer. ‘All it says here is that it's a Dormobile camper van on a VW chassis, manufactured in 1979. Last registered owner was a Frederick Jones of Clapham who took it off the road eight years ago.'

‘Romeo seems to live from hand to mouth, so maybe he picked it up in a scrapyard and got a mate to fix it up for him,' Sukey suggested.

‘It's obvious he didn't bother to register it,' Rathbone pointed out. ‘He probably couldn't afford to pay tax and insurance anyway. Maybe he moves around for short distances, parks off the road and takes a chance at being picked up by the traffic department.'

‘He's obviously got away with it so far,' said Vicky. ‘So where do we go from here, Guv?'

‘We don't know in which direction he was heading, but if my surmise is correct he should be within a fairly short radius of the hotel. I'll get him located and stopped until we can question him.' He picked up his phone, punched in a number and gave the necessary instructions. ‘And now,' he said after a protracted yawn, ‘there doesn't seem much more we can do from here and it's nearly eight o'clock so we might as well go home. I'll let you know as soon as we've located him. Tell DCs Pringle and Haskins and say I'll be in touch.' He shut down the computer, stood up and put on his jacket. ‘Till tomorrow then. Good night. Turn off the light before you leave.' He marched out, slamming the door behind him.

‘Charming,' muttered Vicky. ‘At least, the boys will be happy to see us home at a reasonable time. I'll check the car in and then call Chris to tell him to rustle up something extra tasty.'

‘I'll call Harry and tell him the same,' said Sukey. ‘With luck, Romeo will have gone somewhere too obscure for traffic to locate him, which would mean we'll get tomorrow off.'

‘In your dreams!' said Vicky. ‘We'll still be on duty and something else might turn up to keep us amused. So long for now.'

When Sukey reached home she found Harry in the kitchen and the table laid for supper. ‘Something smells good.'

‘Chicken
chasseur
,' he announced, giving a stir to the steaming contents of a pan. ‘I made it for Dad and me during the week; we ate half and I froze the rest.'

‘You're a star,' she said.

‘You're only saying that because it's true.' He took her in his arms and she clung to him with her face buried in his shoulder. It suddenly dawned on her how desperately tired she was.

After a few moments he released her and said, ‘Sit down and relax. We'll have some wine while the rice is cooking. I've brought this bottle of Pinot Grigio – it goes down a treat with chicken.' He filled two glasses, handed one to her and sat down beside her. ‘How has your day been?'

‘Tiring, interesting and frustrating,' she said. ‘We began to think we were getting somewhere and then realized that someone who we think could be an important witness had left. He's not going to be easy to trace by the looks of things.'

‘That wouldn't by any chance be the chap who calls himself Romeo and lives in an old Dormobile?'

‘You know about him?'

‘When I heard about the incident at Dallington Manor I went there early this morning to find out what was going on. A woman from the
West Country Express
mentioned she'd seen an old van parked in a lay-by and was going to have a word with the driver so I and several others went along with her. Romeo seemed perfectly willing to chat but couldn't help because he'd only just got there. Is he your missing witness?'

‘We think so. DI Rathbone has put a search call out so it will be on the news in the morning – possibly tonight. He couldn't find anything on the computer about either Romeo or the van, so …' She broke off and put her glass down. ‘I really shouldn't be telling you this, Harry. I mean, there's no reason to suppose he's done anything wrong; we just want to know if he happened to see anything.'

‘But if the chap fell into the water on Friday night he couldn't have seen anything, unless …' He thought for a moment and then said slowly, ‘Unless he was lying. Is that why your lot are so anxious to talk to him?'

‘Look Harry, if he was lying he may have a perfectly innocent reason,' said Sukey. ‘Don't think Vicky and I haven't been over all this till we're blue in the face, so please let's forget about it for now. I'm starving – the bar lunch was light years ago.'

They ate their meal and then relaxed in the sitting room with the rest of the wine and watched the news. The programme was almost over when a newsflash announced that there had been an accident on a country road, when a motor caravan had left the road on a sharp bend, overturned, rolled over and landed on its roof in a ditch. Emergency services were at the scene but no further details were given. The police were appealing for witnesses.

‘I have a nasty feeling that it's Romeo's van,' said Sukey. ‘I wonder—'

‘Whether it was a genuine accident or the van had been sabotaged,' said Harry.

‘I don't want to think that,' said Sukey. ‘It's a very old van and I don't suppose it gets proper maintenance. Or he could have had too many beers and lost control, but that seems unlikely; all he had after giving his performance was two cups of tea and some cakes. Just the same, we were surprised that he left in such a hurry.'

Harry took her empty glass and pulled her to her feet. ‘You're not to think about it any more tonight,' he said firmly. ‘What you need now is sleep.' He held her close, gently stroking her hair. ‘Do you want me to stay?'

‘Please.'

At seven o'clock next morning Sukey's mobile phone rang. DI Rathbone was on the line. ‘Romeo's pranged his van. He's dead; they haven't been able to get him out yet because the driver's door is jammed and in any case we have to get the underside of the vehicle checked to see if there's any mechanical reason why he lost control. DS Armstrong will pick you up in half an hour and I'll see the two of you at the scene in an hour.' He gave directions and ended the call.

‘It is Romeo and he's dead,' said Sukey. ‘I have to go. Vicky is picking me up. No time for a shower; I'll have a quick wash and get dressed.'

‘I'll fix some coffee and toast for you,' said Harry, who was already wide awake and reaching for his shirt.

‘Thanks love.'

Half an hour later she and Vicky were on their way to the scene of the accident. It was difficult to find, being on an unmarked country lane less than two miles from the hotel, and by the time they arrived Rathbone and DCI Leach were already there. Sukey's gorge rose at the sight of Romeo's crushed head jammed against the driver's door, the surrounding area covered in blood. She turned away, swallowing hard.

‘How awful,' she said. ‘What a dreadful thing to happen to the poor man.'

‘Forget the sentiment,' said Rathbone brusquely.

‘You are sure this is the man you wanted to interview?' said Leach.

‘Quite sure, sir,' said Vicky.

‘I understand from DI Rathbone that the reason you were anxious to see him is that you suspected him of lying about his time of arrival.'

‘That's right, sir,' said Vicky. ‘It was Sukey who spotted the fact that the ground under his van was wet, indicating that he had arrived some time during Friday night while it was still raining instead of yesterday morning as he told the paparazzi. We've been wondering why he lied about it and that's why we wanted to talk to him.'

‘Do you think, sir,' Sukey said, ‘that if we could contact the last known owner of the van, Frederick Jones of Clapham, he could remember what he did with it after he took it off the road? If he sold it to a scrap dealer we might be able to trace it and maybe find out who did any repairs and what he did with it after that.'

‘It was a long time ago so it's a long shot, but worth a try,' said Leach. ‘See to that, will you Greg? Have you spotted something?' he added, seeing that Rathbone was staring at the underside of the van.

‘Look there, sir. It doesn't take an expert to see that the pipe carrying the brake fluid has come away. The question is, has it just worked loose of its own accord or has it been tampered with?'

Leach studied the pipe for a moment. ‘You're right. I'll get our experts to carry out a special check. Meanwhile, this road must be kept closed. I take it diversion signs have been set up?' he said to a uniformed officer who was standing a short distance away.

The man saluted. ‘Yes, sir.'

D
CI Leach returned to his car and drove away. Before going to his own car, Rathbone said, ‘Vicky, you and Sukey might as well go to the hotel and break the news to the people there. Keep a particular eye open for reactions – most of them will probably be genuine shock-horror, but if you suspect that it's a bit of play-acting on someone's part make sure you question them very closely about their movements. Then carry on working through the remaining names on your list; I've already instructed Mike and Tim to do the same. And don't forget the DNA samples,' he added with one hand on the driver's door.

‘Of course we won't, Guv,' said Vicky. ‘As if we would,' she added scornfully as he drove away. ‘Why does he have to keep treating us like a pair of rookies?'

‘He's enjoying his taste of power,' said Sukey. ‘If he hadn't been a policeman he'd have made a good schoolteacher. Right, let's go back to the manor and tell everyone what's happened to Romeo. They'll obviously be full of questions, but we can shelter behind our usual excuse for not giving details.'

‘It's going to be a while before we get any DNA results,' said Vicky as she clipped on her seat belt. ‘So we still have no idea who smoked that cigarette. Right, you've got the directions – can you get us back to civilization?'

They reached Dallington Manor just as Freeman and his group were finishing their breakfast. Some were already on their way to the Orchard Room; Freeman was at the reception desk discussing arrangements for lunch with Chapman.

‘Good morning,' said Freeman. ‘I suppose you still have a few more people to interview, but you must have spoken to nearly everyone. Is something wrong?' he added, seeing their unusually serious expressions.

‘I'm afraid there is,' said Vicky. ‘There's been an accident to Romeo's van – it went off the road on a bend and ended up on its roof in a ditch.'

‘Good heavens!' Freeman exclaimed. ‘However did it happen? Is he badly hurt?'

‘I'm sorry to have to tell you he's dead,' said Vicky. ‘He's trapped against the driver's door and there will have to be a detailed examination of the van before we can get him out and take him to the morgue. A post-mortem will we hope reveal the exact cause of death.'

‘Do you think he might have had a heart attack?' asked Chapman.

‘It is of course possible,' said Sukey. ‘Do you have any reason to think he might have had a health problem, Mr Freeman? Or did he perhaps hint that he had something on his mind that might have made him lose his concentration?'

Freeman shook his head. He had a bewildered expression and made vague gestures in the air, as if unable to grasp the situation. ‘Far from it,' he said. ‘Whenever I've seen him he's always been full of energy and
joie de vivre
– never seemed to have a care in the world.' He compressed his mouth and put his hands over his eyes. ‘Poor Romeo; such a wonderful talent wasted – I can't take it in.'

‘We've been instructed to inform everyone ourselves,' said Vicky. ‘Perhaps you'd call your staff together, Mr Chapman, but please don't say why.'

‘Yes, I'll do that right away; I'll ask them to meet you here,' said Chapman, who appeared equally shocked.