Текст книги "Jessica Daniel: Locked In / Vigilante / The Woman in Black"

Автор книги: Kerry Wilkinson

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Текущая страница: 44 (всего у книги 60 страниц)

‘Glad you could make it,’ she said.

Jessica hugged her. ‘Good to see you, Caz.’

Caroline Morrison pulled the door open the whole way and invited Jessica in. She had long dark hair and olive-coloured skin. Her appearance had barely changed in the sixteen or seventeen years Jessica had known her. She was wearing a short flowery white dress and Jessica felt under-dressed in her work suit.

‘I’ve not had much time to clear up,’ Caroline said. ‘I’ve been cooking us tea.’

The flat looked pretty clean to Jessica. Certainly if this counted as messy, it didn’t say much for her own apartment. The two had lived together for around ten years and it had always been Caroline who kept the place tidy. Jessica walked through the hallway into the main living room. It had large bay windows looking out over the Quays and the whole scene looked gorgeous on a sunny day like it was that day.

Caroline opened up the sliding door which led onto a balcony. ‘You can sit out if you want? I’m just in the kitchen. Tom will be home soon.’

‘Nah, I’ll come and annoy you.’

Caroline giggled and the two women walked through into a separate open-plan kitchen. Everything was spotless and, even though she had seen it before, Jessica couldn’t help but be impressed. When they had first moved in together it was to a flat far smaller than this one. They had carried on living with each other not because of any financial necessity but just because they liked each other’s company. Caroline had a successful advertising career and could have moved into her own place whenever she wanted. She had been planning on moving in with Randall before Jessica discovered his true nature and it was only after that incident that they went their separate ways.

They hadn’t had any sort of argument but had become different people. It was hard to meet without remembering what had happened. They gradually went from seeing each other every day, to meeting once a week, to talking on the phone, to swapping text messages. Before long those had dried up but, after over a year of almost no contact, Caroline had called to say she was getting married and asking if Jessica would be a bridesmaid.

It was a shock to Jessica given she didn’t even know her friend was in a relationship but, from there, they had gradually come to know each other again. A lot of the back-and-forth had initially been wedding-related but Jessica was pleased they were beginning to talk about things as mates again. Neither of them had ever spoken about Randall and Jessica had no plans to do so. She had only met Caroline’s fiancé Thomas once before and that was brief, so tonight her friend had invited her around to get together properly.

‘How is Tom?’ Jessica asked.

‘Same old. He says he’s excited about the wedding but you never really know with blokes, do you? He’s started writing a book in his spare time.’

‘What is it he does again?’

‘He works in television production just over the water. He’s only got a five-minute walk to work. All right for some, isn’t it?’ Jessica thought about her own commute and couldn’t disagree. Before she could say anything, Caroline continued, ‘What about you? Are you helping to find that MP’s wife that’s been all over the news?’

‘No, I’m on something else at the moment.’

Caroline made a ‘hmm’ sound as she started to stir something in a saucepan that was simmering on the hob. ‘Have you got a bloke on the go yet?’

Jessica didn’t want to dwell on the issue. ‘Not at the moment, I’m too busy working.’

Her friend glanced up from the saucepan, smiling. ‘Come on, there must’ve been somebody?’

Jessica let out an involuntary sigh. ‘There was this guy Adam but it didn’t work out.’

‘That’s a shame. What happened?’

‘Not much, just work things.’

A few years ago, Jessica wouldn’t have hesitated to tell her friend everything but she didn’t feel comfortable opening up yet, given their distance. The reason she and Adam had split was entirely down to her. She had been working on a case and made some terrible assumptions and mistakes. Her paranoia had got on top of her and she asked Adam to break the law for her. He had done it but at the expense of their relationship. Losing him and trying to reconcile the way she acted was something that had stayed with her in the seven months or so since. Every now and then she would get a text message out of the blue and hope it was him but he hadn’t contacted her since and she had to respect his wishes.

Before Caroline could ask any further questions there was the sound of the front door opening and a man’s voice saying, ‘Hello’. Caroline called out, ‘In here’ and her fiancé walked into the kitchen.

‘Hey, hon,’ he said.

‘All right?’ Caroline replied.

‘I was talking to your bridesmaid,’ he said with a wink.

Jessica had first been introduced to him by his full name, Thomas Bateman. While the two women were both in their early thirties, Tom was in his early forties. The only thing that gave away his age was his greying hair. He was fit and athletic with a grin that made him look years younger. Caroline had always gone for younger men and this was the first time Jessica had known her go out with anyone older.

He leant in and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Nice to meet you again, Jessica,’ he said.

Jessica smiled back. ‘Jess is fine.’

‘Oi, where’s mine?’ Caroline said with a grin of her own, patting her lips. Tom walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead.

The meal itself was terrific – as it always was when Caroline cooked. As the three of them ate on the balcony looking out at the sun reflecting off the water, Jessica remembered how good her friend’s culinary skills were. She had become so used to eating takeaways and microwaved meals and, while they sat, ate and chatted, Jessica realised how much she missed having a best friend. The sun stayed high and Caroline opened a bottle of wine that she shared with Tom. Jessica never had anything alcoholic when she was driving and turned down a glass. Caroline’s fiancé was genuinely funny and had the two women giggling frequently. Jessica found herself warming to him greatly but couldn’t help but wonder if Caroline had been drawn to him on the rebound. Ultimately she had been out of her friend’s life for too long to know for sure but it had only been two years ago their lives had been torn apart by Randall and now she was on the brink of marrying someone else.

Jessica kept her thoughts to herself, trying to relax. The sun had only just begun to dip below the building opposite when her phone rang. She looked over at her two hosts to make sure they didn’t mind her taking the call but Caroline gave her a thumbs-up.

‘Hello,’ Jessica said.

A man’s voice spoke. ‘Hi, this is Charlie Marks. I hope it’s not too late to call you?’

‘No, it’s fine. What are you after?’ She had phoned him the evening before to confirm it was his brother’s hand that had been found. She had been wary about him having her mobile number and hoped he wouldn’t be someone who constantly pestered her with how the case was going. As it was, she needn’t have worried.

‘You remember the names you gave me to look at yesterday, Lewis Barnes and January Forrester?’ Charlie said. ‘I think I’ve found a link to my brother.’

9

Jessica went directly to the Markses’ home the next morning. From where she lived in Didsbury, Charlie’s house was around ten miles away. There was little point going to the station then driving back out again, so she’d messaged Dave and Izzy to tell them she was going to be late. There was plenty for them to be working on in any case.

Her morning commute was a lot easier than usual as she was driving away from the centre rather than towards it. As she got closer to the address on Ed Marks’s file, the size of the properties noticeably grew. There were lots of houses with large imposing gates at the front to maintain privacy and all of the homes seemed to have sprawling gardens. Jessica wasn’t sure exactly where it was but there was an area locally known as ‘Millionaire’s Row’ somewhere nearby where rich locals would buy patches of land and develop their own properties. The place she was visiting wasn’t quite in that area but it wasn’t far off and the obvious wealth was astonishing.

Jessica had checked directions before leaving but didn’t own a satellite navigation system of her own. She was struggling to find the address, partly because of the large gaps between houses and partly because a lot of the properties had names instead of numbers. She pulled over to ask someone walking their dog but whoever the person was sped up and ignored her, clearly concerned about why someone with such an old vehicle would be driving in an affluent area. While she sat in her car, she tried to load a maps application on her phone but the signal was so poor, it took too long to work. In the end she continued driving before realising the Markses’ house was on the opposite side of the road from where she had been looking. She had already driven past it three times without noticing.

Around two-thirds of the properties on the road had big gates at the front but she could pull straight onto the Markses’ driveway. A large tree at the front of the garden obscured the view from the road and you could have comfortably fitted a dozen cars nose-to-tail on the drive given its length. The tarmac was flanked on both sides by long patches of grass that were turning brown and beginning to look a little overgrown. The drive was empty apart from Jessica’s car, although there was a large garage at the end of it that, from the width of the door, could have comfortably accommodated three vehicles.

Before she went to the front door, Jessica walked around the side of the garage to the back of the house. If anything, the garden at the rear stretched farther than the one at the front. The surface was also beginning to brown after a couple of weeks without rain, the bushes running along the sides needing a trim. The only other thing noticeable at the rear was that an extension was half-built at the far end of the house. Because she hadn’t been inside yet, Jessica didn’t know what it was attached to but there was already a large conservatory, so she assumed it would offer another room both upstairs and downstairs. The brickwork appeared to be finished but there were holes where windows hadn’t yet been fitted.

Jessica walked back to the front of the property. The style of bricks wasn’t of the type used for most houses. Instead the building was made of much larger stones and somehow seemed both old-fashioned and state-of-the-art at the same time. The whole place was huge and she guessed it would have at least six bedrooms given the number of upstairs windows.

After Jessica had rung the doorbell, it took almost a minute before Charlie Marks opened it. He was bare-footed and wearing what seemed to be the same shorts from a few days previously, as well as a loose-fitting white linen shirt.

‘Sergeant,’ he said, welcoming her in. ‘Did you find the place okay?’

Jessica couldn’t be bothered explaining herself so just replied with: ‘Yes.’

‘I won’t waste your time. As you can see, the place is pretty big and I don’t even begin to know where to start. I’ve not touched many of my brother’s things but there’s still so much space. It looks like there are loads of Dad’s things still in boxes upstairs too. After we talked the other day, I began looking through some of the photos and items upstairs.’

The man started walking away from her as he spoke and Jessica followed. While the entranceway had white stone flooring, the staircase was wide and covered with a red carpet. The stairs looped around, ending on a landing with a choice of doors and a varnished wooden floor. It was an odd mix of apparently being finished and furnished, with other areas that hadn’t been touched in years. There were thin layers of dust on some of the surfaces and boxes stacked in a few corners.

‘I’ve not checked through all of these rooms,’ Charlie continued, pointing towards one end of the upstairs hall. ‘I’ve been sleeping in the one furthest down there because the room seemed empty.’ He turned around and pointed to the closest opening. ‘That one there is full of boxes.’

He pushed open a door and led Jessica inside. The room had large windows directly opposite the door that looked out over the back garden. A four-poster bed was on her left but unmade and had a collection of random items on it. There were more boxes pushed to the edges of the room and a dressing table with a cracked glass top.

Jessica walked to the window, peering towards the extension. ‘What’s that?’ she asked, pointing towards the structure.

Charlie had picked up something from the bed and came over to stand next to her. ‘I’ll show you if you want? It looked like Ed was having a swimming pool put in but it’s not finished for whatever reason.’

‘Why’s everything in boxes? Was he looking to sell?’

Charlie shrugged. ‘I don’t think so, although he had offered to half-sign it over, so maybe. We’ve lived here most of our lives but it’s always been a little like this. I told you before I don’t think Dad really knew what to do with it all. He spent loads of time in the garden and conservatory. Some of this stuff was still in boxes when I moved out five years ago or so. I think you just get used to living in a certain way, don’t you?’

Jessica knew that was true; she was always likely to be a little messy whatever happened to her in the future. ‘Why did you call me over?’

Charlie offered her a framed photo he had been holding. ‘Look.’

She took the object from him and turned it around. The frame was made of dark wood and the photo showed what Jessica at first thought was a football team. Something didn’t seem quite right and she quickly realised there were too many people in the photo. Even though she had no interest in sport, she knew a football team had eleven players. She then saw an oval-shaped rugby ball resting next to a trophy at the front of the picture with one row of players kneeling and another standing behind.

The people pictured all seemed to be in their teens but Jessica couldn’t recognise any of the faces. ‘What am I looking at?’ she asked.

‘Turn it over.’

Stuck to the wood on the back was a note that had been meticulously hand-written. It had the name of the rugby team and then one by one listed all of the players’ surnames. She skimmed through the list and saw the word ‘Marks’, then turned the photo back over and looked at the young man who must have been Ed. He was crouching in the front row and, now she was looking, she could see a strong resemblance to his brother. The hair was darker but he was a similar build and had the same smile.

Jessica flipped the frame back over and looked through the names for a second time. This time, her eyes were drawn to the name ‘Barnes’. She felt a tingle of excitement as she again turned the frame over. The young man she assumed must be Lewis Barnes was directly behind Ed, towering over him. She didn’t know rugby positions but was aware a team often mixed smaller lads with much larger ones.

‘How did you find this?’ she asked.

‘By accident really. It was in a box of other photos. I’d started looking through them just because . . . well, because of everything going on. There were a few of Ed and me as kids and others of Dad playing football with us and so on. I saw that one and noticed the names on the back.’

‘Did you play?’

‘No, it was never my thing. I remember him playing for a couple of seasons when he was about sixteen or seventeen. It was one of the local clubs around here. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you the name without that note, mind you.’

‘Do you know any of the other boys in the picture?’

Charlie shook his head. ‘No, I didn’t recognise the faces or names. The only reason I noticed anything was because of the writing on the back and you’d asked about a “Barnes”. I don’t know if that’s who you’re after but the last name matches.’

Jessica nodded, thinking the match was unlikely to be a coincidence. There was an awkward pause as she continued to scan the photograph and names before changing the subject. ‘What’s it like being back up here?’

Charlie smiled. ‘Different, drier for a start.’

‘It’s not usually.’

‘So I gather. I’m not sure what to do with my time to be honest. I was planning to come up and look for a job. I’ve got some savings to get me by for a while but it feels weird.’

‘Where did you work in London?’

‘The publishers were called Bennett Piper. It was a family company at some point but not by the time I got there.’

Jessica tried to sound dismissive, as if only half-listening. ‘Can you give me a few minutes? I need to make a call.’

‘Sure, I’ll go downstairs. Give me a shout when you want me.’

Charlie turned around and left the room. Jessica was going to phone Izzy at the station but didn’t want the man to be around to hear her. She still wasn’t entirely ready to discount him as being a suspect, even if he was only one in her own mind and not officially. Having now seen the extent of the house, it was clear the property was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not more. If Charlie was interested in getting his hands on the place, cutting off his brother’s hand, as well as someone else’s, and getting someone to leave them in a public place seemed a very convoluted way of doing it.

Jessica took out her phone and dialled DC Diamond’s extension. She asked the constable if she had a pen handy and then read out the list of surnames from the back of the photo.

After that, she explained about the picture. ‘Can you call Vicky Barnes and ask if her son ever played rugby? Hopefully she’ll remember but, if not, we could ask her if she can identify her son in the photo. Also cross-check the surnames with anything else we might have on record. The link could be the rugby team as opposed to the college but at least there are less people to contact if we start with the sporting angle.’

‘Is there anything else?’ Izzy asked.

‘Can you get me a phone number? The Internet’s not great on my phone.’

‘Who are you after?’

‘A publishing company in London called “Bennett Piper”. Message me the number.’

Jessica hung up and looked through a few of the other items littered around the room as she waited for the number to arrive. The items in the boxes really were an assortment of junk, as if someone had gone to a car-boot sale and bought every item, then packed it all up and left it for twenty years. It did seem strange that the family had been in the house for somewhere between twenty and thirty years and were still living out of boxes. Jessica didn’t find it as odd as some might, however, as she strongly suspected she would be exactly the same if she lived in a house this big. Her bedroom would have all the clothes she needed but everything else would be untouched until required.

The alert tone sounded on her phone and she pressed the buttons to load the message. Izzy had sent her the company’s name and the number. Jessica thumbed the screen and put the phone to her ear as it rang. A secretary answered and Jessica introduced herself as a police officer, asking if she could speak to whoever was in charge. After a short wait, she ended up talking to a woman with a plummy-sounding accent.

Jessica again introduced herself but didn’t elaborate on exact reasons for her call. ‘Can I check that a Charlie Marks worked for you until recently?’

The woman didn’t hesitate. ‘Charlie? Yes, he was here for a few years. He quit a few weeks ago. It was a bit of a surprise really. He’s not in any trouble, is he?’

‘Not at all, I just wanted to check a couple of details. Did he tell you why he left?’

‘Not really, something about returning to the north. I think there may have been a family member involved but I only know that from one of the other people who work here. He didn’t elaborate when he gave his notice.’

Jessica thanked the woman for her time and then hung up, walking out of the room quietly. She wasn’t deliberately creeping but kept to the edges of the hall in an effort to avoid obviously squeaky floorboards. She looked in a couple of other rooms which were very similar to the first in terms of random items. The fourth door she tried led into what was probably Ed’s bedroom. Instead of boxes there were wardrobes that were open with clothes inside and shoes at the bottom. A four-poster bed was made and didn’t seem as if it had been slept in recently and a huge window at the front of the room looked out over the driveway.

Jessica didn’t know what she was looking for so made her way back downstairs. ‘Charlie?’

He came out from a room opposite the front door. ‘Are you sorted?’

‘Yes, I passed on the names from the back of this photo so we can look into them.’ She held up the picture of the rugby team. ‘Do you mind if I keep this for a while?’

‘No worries. Do you want to see some of my brother’s work?’

Jessica didn’t instantly clock what Charlie was asking her but then remembered he had told her his brother was an artist. She wasn’t too fussed either way but was soon glad she’d accepted. Charlie led her into a wide circular room that led out to the back garden. Lining the walls were a series of paintings she was instantly drawn to. Each one was beautifully crafted in watercolour, showing various countryside scenes.

‘They’re brilliant, aren’t they?’ Charlie sounded genuinely impressed at his brother’s work and, for the first time that day, Jessica felt something like sorrow in his voice. She guessed it was hard for him to grieve for someone he didn’t know for sure was dead and hadn’t known properly for years.

‘He was always a decent artist but I didn’t know about any of this,’ Charlie added, pointing to a scene on the wall showing a vast green field with a stone bridge crossing a stream. ‘We used to play football here when we were kids. It was converted into houses years ago but I guess he remembered it.’

Jessica walked around the room, taking time to look at each image. She had never been able to draw herself and had no interest in the art world. Her parents had visited from Cumbria a few years previously and insisted on taking her to the Tate Gallery in Liverpool. They had spent hours but she’d been bored within minutes. All she could remember was a broken men’s urinal stuck to a wall and a basketball suspended in a box, neither of which had impressed her. Her father had jokingly called her a ‘Philistine’ because of her reaction to it all but the paintings mounted around the room genuinely impressed her.

‘They’re terrific,’ she said. ‘He’s very talented.’ She had almost said ‘was very talented’ but stopped herself.

‘Pick one,’ Charlie said. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. He never wanted to sell his work because he didn’t need the money but he frequently gave pieces away when we were younger.’

Jessica thought about the offer for a few moments. ‘No, they’re absolutely beautiful but I’m not sure it would be right. I’d have nowhere to put it anyway.’

‘Okay, well, the offer’s there if you change your mind. Did you say you wanted to see the pool?’

Jessica hadn’t said that exactly but followed Charlie out of the room in any case. He walked through a large archway down a passageway that looped back around towards the rear of the building. There was a white plastic sheet covering a doorway which he moved to one side and held open for her to walk through. Jessica slid sideways past him into the unfinished room. Sunlight streamed through the small gaps where the windows should be but all it showed was a large hole in the ground. Half of the space had been concreted, the other part under a sheet similar to the one at the door.

‘I don’t know why it was started but not finished,’ Charlie said. ‘I’ve been looking for paperwork because it’s a bit silly like this. I don’t know if someone’s been paid to finish it, or if Ed changed his mind for whatever reason.’

Jessica nodded. ‘It will be good when it’s done, especially on a day like today.’

‘I’ve got to try to get to grips with the house really. There’s so much stuff and I don’t know where anything is. If I find anything else that could relate to Ed going missing, I’ve still got your number.’

Jessica thanked Charlie for his time and the photo and walked to her car. She drove down the driveway then turned left. Before she could speed up, she saw someone in the garden of the house next door. The man looked past retirement age but was happily pushing a lawnmower up and down. Jessica parked her car and walked towards him. The wall that ran around his house was around three feet tall but the garden was landscaped to run to the top of it so she had to peer up at him.

‘Hello?’ There was no answer so Jessica climbed up onto the wall and walked across the newly cut grass towards him. ‘Hi?’ The man finally glanced up as she got closer. He seemed confused, removing a pair of earplugs and stopping the machine.

‘Can I help you?’

‘Hi, sorry. I’m Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel from Manchester’s Metropolitan CID. Can I ask how long you’ve lived here?’

The man didn’t smile. ‘Twenty-odd years. Why?’

‘I was wondering how well you knew the Marks family next door.’

‘Only in passing, people keep to themselves around here.’

‘Do you know much about the two sons?’

The man shrugged, not thinking about his answer. ‘The dark-haired one was the only one who’s been living here as far as I know but I’ve not seen him in a little while. I saw someone yesterday with blond hair but I didn’t want to be seen to be sticking my nose in so haven’t been around.’

‘Edward Marks, the younger brother with darker hair, has gone missing,’ Jessica said. ‘The older brother, Charlie, is the blond one at the property now. I don’t suppose you’ve seen anything suspicious recently, have you?’

‘No, like I said, you pretty much keep to yourself around here. You try not to stick your nose into other people’s business. Every now and then there’s a bit of banging and drilling but Edward said he was building a pool or something. It’s nice to hear the other brother’s back though. I remember them as kids, running around and booting balls into my garden. It was always the dark-haired one who’d come to my door because he said the other one was too shy.’

Jessica thanked the neighbour for his time and returned to her car. As odd as the family situation seemed, everything Charlie had told her checked out. She was naturally programmed to be suspicious but at least, on this occasion, she could put those to one side and re-focus on finding January.

She hadn’t started her engine when Izzy’s name appeared on Jessica’s phone screen. She answered as quickly as she could. ‘Hi, Iz, I’m on my way back. I’ve got the picture I gave you the names from. Did you speak to Vicky?’

‘Yes, she said immediately her son was a rugby player. She insisted she’d come in to look at the picture but I’m not sure there’s any need. That’s not why I’m calling though.’

‘What’s up?’ Jessica asked.

‘Cross-checking these rugby players’ surnames have been a nightmare. I’ve got first names for just over half of them because they went to the school too. They live all over but there’s one guy who is definitely still a local. I thought you might want to visit him?’

Jessica was again impressed at the woman’s speed and accuracy of work. ‘I’ll do it this afternoon. Is Dave with you?’

‘Yes, he’s right here moaning about how hot it is.’

‘Good, tell him to keep working. I’ll come and pick you up and we’ll visit this rugby player. I think you deserve some time out of the station.’