Deadly Fury (Detective Jane Phillips Book 12), page 21
Neil stared back defiantly.
‘Right now,’ she repeated.
‘I’ll do it,’ said Neil. ‘But I want my protest noted.’
Jones shook his head. ‘I think you’ve been watching too much Law and Order, mate.’
A few minutes later they arrived outside flat 17, which was located on the third floor of the building.
As Phillips and Jones pulled on latex gloves, Neil unlocked the door and let them in.
‘Wait here,’ she said. ‘We may need you.’
Inside, the small flat was quite unremarkable. Aside from the strong stench of stale tobacco, it appeared to be well maintained, clean and tidy. The small open-plan kitchen connected to an equally compact living-room space, which featured an old armchair and matching sofa but, quite unusually, no TV. Moving through to the only bedroom, they were presented with an equally sparse space comprising of a well-made double bed complete with a bedside table.
‘It’s almost as if he’s never been here,’ said Jones.
‘Yeah.’ Phillips moved across to the bedside table and pulled open the top drawer. ‘Well, well, well.’ She bent forward to get a closer look at the contents. ‘Will you look at this.’
Jones stepped to her shoulder. ‘What is it?’
Reaching inside, Phillips fished out something that resembled an oversized wristwatch. ‘If I’m not mistaken, this would be Albert Stone’s location tag.’
‘Which is supposed to be locked around his ankle twenty-four seven.’
‘Yeah, it bloody well is.’
‘Sodding G-SEC,’ said Jones. ‘I’ve heard this has been happening quite a bit since they took on the government contract for tagging. Cheap Chinese manufacturing that can be tampered with if you know your way round a toolbox.’
Phillips examined the ankle bracelet for a moment before marching back out of the flat to find Neil had remained standing in the hallway as instructed. ‘Do you guys keep a log of visitors for the residents?’
He nodded. ‘The visitors book. We make a note of everyone who comes into the building based on who they say they are when they buzz through for access.’
‘And where’s the log kept?’
‘In the office.’
‘Show me.’
A few minutes later and now inside the inner sanctum of the support team office, Phillips watched on as Neil riffled through a thick A4 notepad in search of the most recent entries. Once he’d found what he was looking for, he passed it across. ‘This is today’s log, and it works backwards into previous days and weeks.’
Phillips scanned the entries for today, then turned to Jones. ‘It says here Albert received a visitor at 10.30 this morning. Someone called Lina.’
‘Shorthand for Paulina?’ asked Jones.
‘It has to be.’ She turned her attention back to Neil. ‘Can you access the CCTV cameras on the front of the building from here?’
‘Yeah. It’s in a shared folder on the central drive.’
‘We need to try to figure out who this Lina person is who came to see Albert.’
Neil took one of the seats on a bank of desks connected to the longest wall of the office, and after taking a few seconds to log in to the middle computer of three identical PCs, went in search of the timeframe they were looking for. It took a couple of minutes for him to find it. Clicking on the file now, black-and-white footage suddenly appeared on the screen.
Phillips and Jones moved to stand on either side of his shoulders as the video played.
After watching for a short time without seeing anyone entering or leaving the building, Phillips suggested he fast-forward.
Neil followed the instruction, and a second or two later the footage played out at three times the speed.
As the timestamp reached 10.37 a.m., a woman walked into the shot. ‘Stop it there,’ demanded Phillips, her pulse quickening as she stared at the screen. ‘Gotcha!’
Standing in the middle of the frozen shot was Paula Thomas.
‘So she was here,’ said Jones.
Phillips nodded. ‘Let the video play, will you? So we can see what happens next.’
Neil once again acquiesced, and as the footage rolled on, Paula could be seen entering the building for just a few minutes before leaving soon after with Albert following closely behind.
‘What are you two up to?’ muttered Phillips as the video continued to play.
Five more minutes passed before Albert could be seen walking back into the building alone.
‘So where’s Paula?’ Jones asked.
‘That’s the million-dollar question.’ Phillips placed a hand on Neil’s shoulder. ‘Is there any way to know what time he left the building after this?’
‘We keep a log of when the residents come in, and when they go out.’ Neil reached across the bank of desks and pulled across another A4 pad. Once again, he took a moment to find the latest entries before presenting it to Phillips. ‘Says here he left around 4 p.m.’
‘You have a log?’ she asked, yanking the book out of his hands. ‘Why didn’t you tell us this when we first arrived?’
Neil swallowed hard, evidently aware of his error. ‘Sorry, I never thought.’
Phillips examined the entry, which had been made by the duty warden going by the name of John G. ‘Is there any chance Albert would have told this John G where he was going?’
Neil shrugged. ‘Depends if the office door was open when he left, and also what John was doing at the time. If he wasn’t busy and free to talk, then maybe.’
‘Can you call John for us and ask?’
‘I can do, but he’s off shift now for a few days. I don’t think he’ll be very happy about it.’
‘Well, considering how urgent this is.’ She glared at him now. ‘And given the fact we’ve already wasted enough time, I really don’t care how he feels. So do us all a favour and call him, will you?’
‘Yeah. OK,’ replied Neil before picking up the landline phone located on the desk. And after taking a second to scan the contact list on the wall, he keyed in the number for John G.
As the phone began to ring, Phillips leant forward and flicked on the speaker function. ‘Now we can all hear.’
‘There had better be a fucking fire, Neil!’ came the camp and acidic tone on the other end of the line as it was answered.
‘Sorry to call you off shift, John, but the police are here, and they’ve been asking questions about Albert Stone.’
Phillips stepped forward now. ‘John, Detective Chief Inspector Phillips from the Major Crimes Unit.’
‘Oh. Hello,’ he replied, his tone instantly warmer.
‘We urgently need to track down Albert Stone, who you logged out of the scheme around four o’clock today. I don’t suppose he told you where he was going, did he?’
‘Not exactly, no. But he did ask me to google a Metrolink timetable for him.’
‘He was planning on using the tram?’
‘Yeah. Wanted times from Piccadilly out to Radcliffe. I gave him a few options, and he left.’
‘What the hell is in Radcliffe?’ said Jones under his breath.
Phillips continued, ‘I don’t suppose he told you why he wanted to go there, did he?’
‘I did ask, as it seemed a strange place to be going, but he just said he was meeting an old friend.’
‘Male or female?’
‘He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask, to be honest.’
‘Did he say anything else that might give us an idea of where he might be going?’
‘No. Nothing. Sorry,’ said John. ‘Is he in trouble?’
‘That’s what we’re trying to find out,’ she replied. ‘Listen, we won’t take up any more of your time. Thanks for your help, John.’
‘No bother,’ he replied.
Leaning forward, she ended the call, then turned her attention to Jones. ‘Looks like we’re going to Radcliffe, then.’
Soon after, as they jumped into the squad car and Jones fired the engine, her phone began to ring through the centre console. It was Entwistle. ‘Whistler, what have you got?’
‘I’ve been checking ANPR, boss, and I’ve been able to track the VW Polo from around 10 a.m. this morning when it registered on a camera on the main road that runs adjacent to Harry Gregg House.’
‘We’ve just been looking at CCTV footage of Paula meeting with Albert,’ said Phillips. ‘Where did she go after that?’
‘It was flagged on Moorside Road in Irlam just after midday.’
‘Maybe she was going home?’ ventured Jones.
‘Yeah, and if she was, it looks like we just missed her.’
Entwistle continued, ‘The most recent entry was on the A665, Radcliffe New Road.’
‘Radcliffe?’ Phillips asked.
‘Is that important, boss?’
‘Albert left the scheme at around four, and we believe he was heading towards Radcliffe. Has the car been spotted anywhere since?’
‘No. Like I say, the camera on Radcliffe New Road was the most recent entry. I can check the logs again in the next half an hour once they’re updated and see if it was picked up anywhere else.’
‘Do that, and let us know if anything changes. And while you’re at it, get an alert put out on the car Paula’s driving. I want every uniformed team in the city looking for it.’
‘Will do.’
‘In the meantime we’re going to head over to Radcliffe ourselves. You never know, we might get lucky and spot one of them.’
‘Well, good luck with that, boss. It’s a big place.’
‘I’m not familiar with it,’ she replied. ‘What’s out that way?’
‘Quite a lot of houses and a decent-sized retail park, from memory. If you give me a second, I’ll google it and see.’
Phillips and Jones sat in silence for a short time as they waited for him to return to the call.
‘Looks like there’s a large ASDA, a Lidl, a Dunelm, and a McDonald’s,’ he said eventually. ‘Right on the edge of the River Irwell.’
‘And how far away is the Metrolink station from there?’
There was silence on the other end again as Entwistle went in search of the answer. ‘About ten minutes on foot if you take the main road – or fifteen if you go via the Outwood Trail.’
‘Outwood?’ Phillips flinched. ‘Is that anywhere near Outwood Viaduct?’
‘Hang on a sec.’ He paused. ‘Yeah, looks like the trail runs parallel to the viaduct.’
‘Shit.’ Phillips locked eyes with Jones. ‘Price told me Albert abused most of his victims at Outwood Viaduct. She has to be meeting him there.’
Jones didn’t need telling twice as he slammed the car into gear, and a second later they screeched away from the kerb.
About ten minutes from Radcliffe retail park, Entwistle’s name appeared on the centre console once more as another call came through.
‘A uniform team have spotted her car in the car park just outside the ASDA, guv.’
‘Is she in it?’
‘No. Apparently not,’ he replied. ‘What do you want them to do?’
‘Keep an eye on it from a distance, but under no circumstances should they approach her. I don’t want her spooked. If she comes back to it, they need to tell us immediately. We’ll liaise with them as soon as we arrive in about ten minutes.’
‘I’ll let them know.’
‘Thanks, Whistler.’ Phillips rang off.
‘What do you think she’s planning?’ asked Jones.
‘I honestly have no idea, but given the fact she’s potentially meeting him at the scene of his crimes, my guts telling me whatever it is, it ain’t good.’
‘Yeah. I get the same feeling.’
Ten minutes later, Jones pulled the car into the ASDA car park and circled round until he spotted the patrol car parked up in a far corner, out of sight of most of the shoppers and facing outwards so they could see the majority of the car park.
After pulling in next to it, Phillips deployed her electric window as the officer in the passenger seat did the same.
‘Still no sign of her, ma’am,’ he said.
‘Where’s the car?’
‘Just over there. We’ve got a clear view of it.’
Phillips nodded. ‘How long have you been here?’
‘Just over twenty minutes.’
‘OK.’ Phillips passed over her business card. ‘We may have an idea where she’s headed, so we’re going to head over there and check it out. In the meantime, if you spot her, call me immediately.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Phillips continued, ‘This woman is a suspect in two homicides and may well be armed in some way, so this is a watching brief. No heroics, OK?’
‘Understood,’ said the officer.
Phillips closed her window as Jones began to reverse out of the space.
‘According to Google Maps, there’s a car park at this side of the viaduct. Let’s head over there and see if there’s any sign of her.’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ replied Jones as he manoeuvred the car towards the exit.
43
The contents of the bag were surprisingly heavy. She’d never had any reason to handle it until today; Des’s pride and joy since buying it a couple of years ago. As such, he’d kept it under lock and key in a specially made box stored in the garage, and he’d never have let her near it had he been at home. In all honesty, she’d completely forgotten it was there until this morning when she spotted the key to the lock box on his bunch of keys. A lucky coincidence or divine intervention, she wondered.
Just as she had hoped, it was mercifully dark now the winter sun had fully set, but the full moon at least allowed her to see where she was going as she moved through the shadows.
Ten minutes later, and feeling distinctly out of breath, she reached her final destination and for the first time in twenty years gazed out across Outwood Viaduct, the scene of so many of her childhood nightmares. Standing here now was suddenly incredibly triggering, making her feel sick to her stomach. Her natural instinct was to run away and hide, just as she had tried to do as a child, but to no avail. No matter where she ran, Albert would always find her. And the same was true today, even after all these years. Unless she took control of the situation, he would haunt her and Lesley for the rest of their lives.
She took a deep breath to steady herself before making her way to the spot near the edge that she figured would be the best place to activate her plan. Scanning her surroundings she felt confident she was very much alone in that moment, and after dropping the bag to ground, she crouched down and unzipped it, checking inside to make sure all was as it should be. Happy everything was ready, she stood up and waited.
It wasn’t long before the sickly smell of her father’s tobacco wafted through the night air, and she turned to see him walking awkwardly towards her, his limping gait visible in the moonlight, the rolled-up cigarette between his lips glowing in the darkness as he took another drag.
‘Hello, Lina,’ he said, exhaling smoke. ‘Nice night for it, isn’t it?’
She swallowed hard as her heart pounded in her chest.
Albert took another long drag before casting his butt end to the ground. ‘So where is she, then?’
‘Not far,’ she said, attempting to keep her voice level. ‘I’ll bring her out in a minute.’
‘This is all very cloak and dagger, isn’t it?’ He chuckled. ‘But then you always did have a flair for the dramatic.’
She didn’t respond and instead stared back at him.
‘I must admit, I was surprised when you suggested this as the location of our rendezvous.’ He flashed a wicked grin. ‘I guess this place means something to you two girls after all.’
‘I brought you here for the same reason you did all those years ago,’ she bit back. ‘Because it’s so isolated.’
‘Oh really?’ His smile was visible even in the darkness. ‘What did you have in mind?’
She had to fight the urge to vomit, listening to his vile patter. ‘Why did you do it, Albert?’
‘Do what?’
‘Rape your own daughters?’ It was the question that had plagued her her entire life, and now she was finally ready to hear the answer.
‘It wasn’t rape,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘It was lovemaking.’
‘Lovemaking?’ She found herself shaking her head. ‘You’re sick.’
‘It’s society that’s sick. Not me.’
‘And how do you work that out?’
‘Because if I were a tribesman in certain parts of the world, it would be expected – as the alpha male – that I would show love to my offspring in the way I did to you and Lesley. And as a man of distinction, a doctor no less, it would be my duty to sow my seed with as many young women in the tribe as possible.’
She was incredulous now. ‘We weren’t women, we were children.’
‘Mere semantics, Lina.’
‘Semantics?’
‘The only reason you were classed as children is because, over time, society has changed its view on what is deemed an acceptable age for procreation. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago – as recently as the reign of Queen Victoria in fact – that it was commonplace for girls in their early teens to have children with much older men. In truth, the only real crime here was that I was born into the wrong era based on the age of the women I’m attracted to.’
‘You really believe that, don’t you?’
‘It’s true. I had a lot of time to study in prison, and it’s all there in the history books.’
‘And what was all that crap this morning, then, about it being a disease, and that you’re not like that anymore?’
‘A well-rehearsed line I used on the parole board,’ he said with a smirk.
‘More lies.’
‘Plus I told you what you wanted to hear.’ He waved her away. ‘I knew you’d never let me near Lesley otherwise.’
