Dead of Winter

Chapter 18

It was five p.m. when Carter and Ebony drove into a broad well-maintained car park. The snow had been cleared and piled into the corners. Perfectly even-sized pine trees bordered the car park. They looked as if they’d been ordered from a catalogue and arrived fully grown. There were a few cars in the staff and consultants’ section, half a dozen more in the patients’ ample parking area.

‘Not like your NHS car parks. What did Robbo say this place specializes in, Ebb?’

‘It’s a general private hospital, Sarge. You can come here if you need a facelift or bypass surgery, but the Mansfield Group is best known for private cosmetic work.’

They walked across to the entrance, up the steps and through two sets of glass doors. The lady on the reception desk had Ivy Morell on her name badge.

‘Ivy. Beautiful name.’ Carter smiled at her and showed his warrant card. She blushed like a schoolgirl. ‘You mind telling Mr Martingale we’re here to see him please, Ivy?’

She showed them through to a waiting area where Nikki, Martingale’s PA, greeted them. She was perfectly groomed, her hair swept back into a sleek chignon. Carter was captivated. She was not interested. Ebony watched amused as she realized that Carter had a thing for ice maidens.

‘Mr Martingale will see you now.’

Ebony watched her as she hovered in the doorway. She didn’t take her eyes from her boss. There was only one man she cared about. Carter would be disappointed.

‘Thank you for seeing us, sir.’

Martingale’s office was dark walnut and heavy leather. His desk was in front of a wall of windows with integral louvred blinds, adjusted to allow the right amount of sunlight into the room. A single orchid was just beginning to flower pale pink. He sat back in his Italian leather chair and swivelled it slightly back and forth as he watched them enter. He had a handsome, lightly tanned face which was creased with deep laughter lines, and thick salt and pepper hair. His cuffs were rolled up and he wore a platinum sports Rolex on his wrist, its blue face bright against the silver hairs on his arm. He had the look of a man between rounds of golf.

‘I am happy to help. Please sit down. I must apologize, though. .’ Martingale smiled. ‘I have a full list today in theatre and a patient being prepped at the moment so I can give you ten minutes. What is it about?’

‘I appreciate that. . we won’t keep you long. . we just thought we should update you on recent events that have relevance to your daughter’s case.’

Martingale pressed a button: ‘Hold all my calls and stall theatre for me please.’ He turned back to Carter. ‘Please do go on. I’ve waited a long time for news about my daughter’s case. Did you find fresh evidence?’

‘We have a connection to it. The body of a woman and an infant have been found murdered at a house north of London.’

‘Is the woman connected to Chrissie in some way?’

‘We don’t know yet: we haven’t been able to identify her. We are not sure whether she’s from the UK. She could possibly be a trafficked victim brought over here to work in the clubs.’

‘So what is it that connects her to my daughter’s murder?’

‘We found a fingerprint that matches one from Rose Cottage. It’s early days but it means that whoever killed your daughter is here in London.’

‘And still killing.’

‘Yes.’

Martingale sat deep in thought.

‘I appreciate it’s a shock, sir; a reminder of what happened; but it’s also a chance for us to catch them this time.’

‘I hope so. What do you want me to do?’

‘We just need to ask you some questions. We want to take a fresh look at events thirteen years ago. Reading the notes isn’t the same as getting it from the horse’s mouth. . as it were. .’

‘Is the case being reopened? Did Chief Superintendent Davidson send you?’

‘No, sir. Chief Superintendent Davidson didn’t send us. I am in charge of re-examining the facts surrounding the case but we are not re-opening it at this time. He believes we will get the best results from solving the current case. I just wanted to make sure you were kept informed from the beginning.’

‘Okay. . well. . thank you. Tell Davidson I will be only too pleased to help.’

‘That’s very kind. I just want to go over a few things with you. Did you then or in the last thirteen years ever think that you might have stumbled on a reason why Chrissie was murdered?’

‘No. I will never understand it. She was a young woman beginning a career that she’d studied hard for. She had a new baby; she’d just started on life’s journey. I could not and I cannot think of a reason why someone would kill her.’

‘What about her baby son Adam — he survived Rose Cottage and the attack. Do you ever see your grandson?’

‘Unfortunately not. I would have loved to have him live with me but my daughter and I were not on the best of terms at the time of her death.’

‘Where is Adam now?’

While Carter asked the questions Ebony looked out of the window. She watched a taxi turn into the car park and head round to the back of the hospital out of view.

‘I can’t help you there, I’m sorry. I don’t know.’

‘But you must have some contact of some kind.’

‘I am sent an update every year and I pay into a fund for his schooling and his welfare. He will always be well provided for. I hope that one day he will ask to see me and get to know me.’

‘How did that happen?’ Ebony asked, speaking for the first time. ‘Did Christine make a will saying he wasn’t to live with you?’

‘Not quite.’ Martingale allowed a little frost to creep into his voice. ‘She named Louise Carmichael as her first choice of guardian in the event of her death. Failing that, Adam was to be put up for adoption.’ Martingale eased his strained expression slightly. ‘I cannot tell you how much it has troubled me that my daughter and I did not have the best of relations when she died. I thought we would have time to make up for all those lost years. I left it too late. I threw myself into my work after her mother left and, as she made it so difficult for me to see Chrissie, I gave up too easily. Her mother Maria was a troubled soul. She kept my daughter from me all those years.’

‘What was Chrissie like?’ asked Ebony.

‘She was a steady girl. She wasn’t beautiful like Maria. But Maria’s looks never brought her happiness. Looks are overrated.’ His eyes stayed on Ebony.

‘When you attended Louise and Sophie Carmichael’s funeral, Mr Martingale, did you meet Callum Carmichael then?’ asked Carter.

‘I think so. The police officer? Yes. . I did, briefly: tall, military type. I went there to pay my respects. I didn’t stay long. I felt for him. . such a tragedy. I remember he stood silent. No emotions. No feelings. In shock, I suppose.’

‘Must have been a very difficult time for you all,’ said Carter.

‘The most stressful time in my life. . terrible.’

‘Mr Martingale, did you ever think that with all your success you might have made enemies?’ Carter asked. Ebony had gone quiet.

‘It would be impossible for me to say categorically no. But I can’t see why I would have. . but people sometimes don’t understand what you’re trying to do, trying to achieve.’

‘You’ve built an empire, haven’t you? Hospitals all over the world?’

Martingale smiled, embarrassed. ‘I feel proud of what my team and I have achieved but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an empire.’

‘Do you have any other businesses apart from the Mansfield group?’

‘All my other business enterprises are connected with the hospitals.’

‘Would that be research, that kind of thing?’

Martingale was half watching Ebony as Carter asked the questions. He could see her eyes taking in every detail of the room.

‘Research? Yes.’ Martingale answered. ‘That is exactly the kind of thing.’ He smiled at Carter. ‘Sometimes it’s easier to set up a company and manage supplies and sourcing machinery, transporting goods et cetera oneself. Sometimes it’s necessary to run the whole show from start to finish to get the job done properly, wouldn’t you agree, Sergeant?’

Ebony switched her attention back to Martingale. ‘Totally.’ Carter nodded enthusiastically. ‘Is it possible to have a list of those companies you’re involved in then, sir?’ Martingale looked a little surprised at the request. ‘It’s just that we have to consider the possibility that these murderers have followed you here. We want to keep you safe.’

‘Of course. I’ll get my accountant, Justin, to prepare that for you. It will take a few days.’

‘Just a profile, an overall picture. . if you wouldn’t mind.’

His PA knocked and entered as Carter asked: ‘One last thing, sir; I appreciate you’re a very busy man. Have you ever heard of a person going by the name of Chichester?’

Martingale shook his head. ‘Sorry.’

‘What about Digger Cain or Sonny Ferguson?’

‘No, I’m sorry. I’ve never heard of those names.’

‘Mr Martingale. . I’m sorry to interrupt. The patient is deteriorating. He’s quite poorly.’

‘Okay. I’m coming. Please excuse me.’ Martingale turned to them with a professional smile. ‘It’s an emergency. One of my staff’s children is in need of an appendectomy.’ He opened a box on the desktop and took out a business card. ‘Here is my private number.’ He gave the card to Carter. ‘Please feel free to ring or call in here at any time and please keep me informed. My PA will see you out.’

Carter thanked him and they followed Nikki back past reception. ‘Sorry, Miss? I didn’t catch your surname? You worked for Mr Martingale long?’ he asked.

‘Nikki de Lange. Yes. . I have, a long time.’

‘You have a slight South African accent, don’t you?’ said Ebony.

‘Ah. . can you hear it?’

‘It’s only faint.’ Ebony tried not to stare but she wondered why anyone who looked as beautiful as Nikki de Lange ever messed up their face with surgery as she obviously had. The thing was, it had become too perfect. It was expressionless. It could have been sixteen or sixty. ‘Did you travel with him from South Africa?’ she asked, trying to stop staring.

‘Yes, I am his personal assistant. I travel with him wherever he goes.’

‘Must be like being married to the job.’ Carter looked back and smiled. Nikki de Lange had come to a halt by the hospital doors.

‘My husband doesn’t mind. He comes too. He’s Justin de Lange, Mr Martingale’s accountant.’

‘It’s a family affair,’ smiled Carter as he thanked her and shook her hand.

They walked back across the car park.

‘What did you think of Martingale?’ he asked Ebony.

‘He’s very self-absorbed; loves himself. Thinks he’s God.’

‘Controlling?’

‘Yes, but I guess you have to be a bossy type if you’re a surgeon.’ She glanced across at Carter as they walked. ‘He’ll tell Davidson we came to see him.’

‘I know. But what can Davidson say, Ebb? This was just a friendly visit, wasn’t it? Only polite to keep him informed. Did you see his watch. . big money, Ebb. He’s slick.’

‘Definitely.’

‘Expensive threads. Smooth finish. Bit of a Don Juan, don’t you think?’

She looked across at Carter. ‘Who?’

Carter looked back surprised for a few seconds. Then laughed. ‘Don’t you know your classics? Casanova: sophisticated. Ladies’ man.’

‘Yeah. . probably. He doesn’t look like a man who ever does things spontaneously. Never flustered, always calm.’

‘That’s the key to him maybe. We’ll push him for that list later on today and we’ll get Robbo onto it. Martingale’s got to have an Achilles heel, everyone does. It might be money or women. . yeah. . he looks like a man who could be driven by pleasure — what do you think, Ebb?’

‘His PA definitely loves him. I get the feeling she was hovering outside the door waiting to rescue him from us.’

‘From our questions? Something she didn’t want him to talk about?’

‘Not so much the questions as the intrusion into his world. Memories maybe about his daughter dying. It’s got to be hard for him to hear it gone over again. Whatever it was, she couldn’t wait to get rid of us.’

‘Not us, Ebb.’ Carter looked across at her and winked. ‘Couldn’t keep her eyes off me.’

Ebony rolled her eyes skyward and exhaled loudly. ‘Yeah right.’

‘See, Ebb. . have to have a backup plan in case Cabrina ditches me for good. I reckon we would make a lovely couple.’

‘She’s too old for you, Sarge.’

‘What? Ebb, are we talking about the same woman? She’s about thirty-five and she’s definitely interested in me.’

‘She’s had so much work done on her face: Botox, fillers. She couldn’t look interested if she tried.’

Carter stopped walking and looked across at Ebony’s poker face and laughed. ‘You might be right, Ebb. Let’s head back to Blackdown Barn, and see if it can tell us anything new.’ They got settled in the car, Carter at the wheel. ‘Have you got the gardener’s number? I want him to be available when Sandford goes down there.’

Carter drove out of the car park while Ebony found Marty Reedman’s card in a side pocket of her bag and phoned him. She could hear the sound of cars passing as he answered.

‘Sorry. . caught you at a bad moment?’ she asked. ‘It’s Detective Willis here, we met at Rose Cottage.’

‘Of course I remember you — I don’t get to meet many detectives. I can talk. . just working on a garden in town, sorry if it’s noisy.’

‘I wanted to ask you more about the section of gatepost you rebuilt.’

‘Go on.’

‘When did you come to the cottage? How soon after the murders happened?’

‘I came back from holiday, as I said. I was working on one of the gardens nearby. I saw the police there and told them who I was. I offered to help. They asked me if there was anything different in the garden: anything there that shouldn’t be, or not there that should. I said “no” but when the officer went back inside the house I realized the gatepost wasn’t right. When I took a closer look at the damage I saw a small square of material, blood-soaked. When the officer came back I told him what I’d found and showed it to him.’

‘What happened then? Did you get asked to make a statement?’

‘No. That was the last I heard about it. I was told by the owners that the police had finished; I could go back and would I do something about the gatepost? So I did. I rebuilt it as close to the original as I could.’

‘Did you use the exact same stone again to rebuild it?’

‘Most of it, yes, and what I didn’t use I kept. You’ll find it to the right of the front door at the cottage. I thought I might reuse it somewhere else. But I haven’t done so yet.’

‘Thanks, that’s really helpful. I’ll find out what happened to it. I’ll be in touch.’

‘Glad to help. . I was going to ask. . if you need any more help. . if you need to ask me anything else. . we could talk over coffee or a drink?’

‘Um. . yes. Thanks. It’s possible. Shall I call you if I need more help?’

He laughed. ‘If that’s what you want then that’s good. I appreciate you’re busy at the moment but can I use this number to text you now — in a few days — and see when you’re free?’

‘Of course. . good idea. . bye for now.’ Ebony glanced across at Carter who was looking back and forth from her to the road and grinning.

‘What was that?’

She shook her head. ‘Just the gardener, Sarge.’ She gathered her thoughts quickly. ‘He says the original stone is still there, what he didn’t use to rebuild the gatepost he left by the side of the front door. He also says that he told the officer at the scene about a piece of evidence he found by the gatepost: a piece of bloodstained material. I’ve looked through the list of evidence, Sarge, and I didn’t find it listed.’

‘Okay. Ring Robbo and get him to make sure all the exhibits from the Carmichael case are brought back from the warehouse. Also, ask him if there were any vehicles reported damaged by officers attending the scene that day. And tell him to chase up the ambulance driver who picked up baby Adam. Someone would have had to report damage to their vehicle.’