Frozen Grave

Chapter 26

Willis looked at the address she had in her hand for Ellerman.

‘Satnav says it’s on this street. I’ve got a name, not a number, guv. The house is called The Cherry Orchard.’

‘Must be extremely posh not to get a number. Look at the size of these houses.’

‘There it is, guv…’

Willis pointed across the road to a high hedge and a collection of storm-damaged trees behind. There was evidence of some recent tree surgery.

‘Someone’s been tidying up,’ Carter said.

‘We passed a van up the road.’

‘Yeah, could be – chances are, if they do one house they do a lot on the same street. We’ll go and talk to him after we talk to Ellerman. There’s one of the cars in the drive, Eb.’ Carter wound down his window to get a better look at the Range Rover. ‘Bet that costs a lot in fuel.’

‘Need to keep up appearances, I suppose, guv.’

‘Yeah, how much did Pam say Ellerman bought this house for?’

‘Four million, ten years ago.’

‘He bought right in the boom. Boom… bust… So he must have a fair mortgage on it.’

‘He remortgaged it three years ago.’

‘The car, the house, it all belongs to the time he had money – it shows he’s living off past glories.’

‘And investments in Spanish renovations.’

‘Let’s call his bluff.’ They got out of the car and walked across the road and opened the gates to the house.

Carter looked up to see Ellerman at the window. He was on the phone. He was smiling when Carter first looked but his face soured when he saw them. Carter waved. Ellerman’s face disappeared and he had answered the door before they reached it.

‘Sorry to bother you, Mr Ellerman, we just need to ask you some further questions and wanted to save you a trip to the station,’ Carter said as they stepped inside.

‘Very considerate.’ Ellerman led the way into the kitchen.

Willis looked around. It was immaculate. It looked so spartan and clean it was as if they were waiting to move in.

‘Hope we’re not disturbing you and Mrs Ellerman? I can imagine you don’t get much time to spend together,’ Carter said.

‘She’s not here.’ Ellerman held Carter’s gaze. Carter nodded thoughtfully.

‘Maybe that’s best. We don’t want to upset her unnecessarily. But then you said she know about your affairs, Mr Ellerman?’

‘That’s none of your business.’

‘It could be looked on as very much our business when one of them is murdered and it turns out she lent you money.’

Ellerman was looking flustered. His face was reddening.

‘We wondered if you could show us any more details about the company you own called Hacienda Renovations?’

‘Of course. Like what?’

‘Like a brochure. We’d love to see the kind of houses you find to renovate – before and after. That kind of thing. I’m really interested, might even be looking to invest, you never know.’

‘Okay. I can probably find something to show you. Wait here a minute.’

He left them in the kitchen and walked across the hall and into a room that Carter could see was super neat and tidy. Nothing was left out.

Ellerman reappeared with a few pages of house details from an estate agent and some architect plans.

‘I am working on this one at the moment.’

‘Very nice.’ Carter took the plans and spread them out on the pristine worktop. ‘Mind if I take a detailed look at the floor plan? It’s always interested me – renovating, building my own place. So these are the plans for this house here in the picture, is that right?’ Ellerman nodded. Carter looked at the original specifications on the estate agent’s blurb. It was written in Spanish. Carter was half-Italian. He could just about read the Spanish.

‘It says that you have a well, a bore-hole, that, by the look of it, you’re planning to cover with your dining room.’ Carter looked up. Ellerman was irritated. He gave a dismissive shrug with his shoulders and changed his mind about looking over Carter’s shoulder at the floor plan on the worktop.

‘This may not actually be the exact floor plan for this exact house. But I don’t keep the current plans here.’

‘Do you have an office outside here?’

‘No, I tend to work on my laptop anywhere I am.’

‘And that is all around the UK?’

Ellerman looked instantly caught out.

‘Yes, I travel to see clients. I wouldn’t say it’s all around the UK.’

‘South? North? This is when you’re selling your yachts, is it? Or is it when you’re asking for donations for your Hacienda fund?’

‘Okay, I’ve had enough of your questioning. I find that extremely rude.’

‘No problem. We’ll send a squad car round to pick you up and take you up to Archway for an interview.’

‘What is it you want to know? I don’t understand what you’re accusing me of.’

‘We believe you took money from Olivia Grantham to invest in a company that, as far as we can see, and judging from what you’ve shown us, doesn’t really do a lot. You can’t show me one completed project.’

‘I certainly can.’

‘Do it then.’

Ellerman gave a one-shouldered shrug and started packing up the floor plan from the worktop. ‘I don’t have the photos here.’

‘Show me what you showed Olivia Grantham to make her invest ten thousand pounds in your business. You – a man that she supposedly meets just for sex. You must have charmed her to make her do that. She wasn’t a stupid woman. She was a partner in a legal firm. Did she draw up an agreement for the loan?’

‘I’m not sure.’ Ellerman looked like a drowning man.

‘Did she say when she wanted you to pay it back?’

‘We hadn’t discussed that.’

‘I find that hard to believe. Every lawyer I’ve ever met wanted everything written down and signed for and they want to charge you an arm and a leg. Was she charging you interest?’

‘She may have wanted interest.’ Ellerman had become quite still. He stood motionless, hardly daring to breathe. ‘You obviously haven’t found any written contract between us otherwise you’d have the answers to these questions.’

‘We are going through her paperwork and her PC. I don’t doubt that we’ll find it. So now you don’t have to pay it back. Olivia is dead and you get to keep the money.’

‘Is that what you think my motive would be? A mere ten thousand pounds? That’s ridiculous.’

‘Maybe, but whoever set her up to go in that building may not have expected her to get killed. They may have aimed to just teach her a lesson, or give her the kind of thrill they thought she wanted – after all, she was a thrill seeker. Who’s to say someone didn’t just take it a step too far?’

‘Not me.’

‘Not your style, derelict buildings?’

‘No.’

Carter paused. The kitchen was still. ‘Where did you usually meet?’

‘We met in many places. I told you that before.’

‘No, you told me you’d only met her a few times. “We met in many places” sounds like more than a few.’

‘We met at her flat. We sometimes went away.’

‘Have you many investors in your Hacienda company, Mr Ellerman?’

‘A few.’

‘Women that you meet?’

He didn’t answer at first then he bristled. ‘You know I’ve been racking my brains to think where I’ve heard your voice before, Inspector, and I am pretty sure it was you who phoned me pretending to be from Naughties customer services. If that’s so – I’m not an expert in law but I know someone who is – and that is unethical to say the least.’

‘Was it a man with a cockney accent?’

‘Yes.’

‘Sorry, Mr Ellerman – you lost me there. That’s the trouble with the cockney accent – we all sound the same. Okay, thank you, Mr Ellerman. Have a good day.’

Carter turned on his heels and Willis followed. They reached the car and got in. Carter didn’t start the engine. He sat looking at Ellerman’s house.

‘I want to know every deal Ellerman has ever done.’

‘Yes, guv. But…’

‘What?’ He turned to Willis.

‘Is it because he’s a tosser or is it because he might have murdered Olivia Grantham?’

‘Point taken. I will not let my dislike of Mr Ryanair Jetsetter get in my way. Olivia Grantham must have drawn up some legal paperwork about the money she invested. We’ll find something.’

‘Hector has gone through her paperwork from her flat. There was nothing about Ellerman or Hacienda Renovations.’

‘Then we need to go into her office and see if she left it there somewhere.’

Willis’s phone rang. She looked at the caller number on her screen and declined the call.

‘Your mum?’ Carter looked across at her.

‘Yes. It’s the hospital again.’