Left You Dead

25

There was a long silence. Finally it was broken by the ACC’s voice.

‘You’d better be right,’ Pewe retorted lamely.

Roy then ran through the lines of enquiry his team were following and gave Pewe an update. ‘So actually, sir, I hope I’m wrong,’ Grace said.

‘Meaning what exactly, Roy? You’re a homicide investigator through and through. Don’t pretend otherwise. I know you, and what you and all homicide investigators like more than anything is a good murder — what do you call it — a Gucci murder? You’re not hoping she’s alive at all, are you?’ he said snidely.

‘I am, for your reputation, sir. We need to keep the crime stats down, don’t we? To make you look good, right?’

‘I told you not to push me, Roy.’

‘Is that because you know just how far you might fall?’ Grace responded facetiously, killing the call with a broad smile.

Oh yes, he was enjoying this. He felt the way he did in the weekly Thursday-night poker games he used to attend whenever he could, with a bunch of police colleagues. The rare, incredibly exciting moments during those games when he held a pretty much invincible hand. A full house, Aces on Kings, four Aces or — something which had happened to him only once in all the years he had been playing — an unassailable Royal Flush. Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten of the same suit.

It was that Royal Flush he held now. And he was loving it.

As he re-entered the room, still smiling, his phone rang again. Certain it was Pewe, Grace rejected it and muted the phone.

He addressed the team. ‘We are finalizing the strategies for forensics, search and arrests, and establishing the key lines of enquiry which will be circulated. A crucial line of enquiry at this stage is the victimology. Speaking to Eden’s friends, work colleagues and family will be a critical part of this.’

He turned to Branson. ‘Glenn, we’ve heard Niall Paternoster’s account of dropping his wife off in the car park of Tesco Holmbush and her apparent vanishing. Despite all his supposed endeavours to contact her, as he told the officers who attended at his house this morning, and you and me subsequently, so far we have nothing to confirm that his missing wife is OK. He made a couple of comments, which I relayed to you, that gave me cause to believe all was not good between them.’

DS Exton raised a hand. ‘Boss, given the photograph’s analysis from Digital Forensics, do you think Eden Paternoster was even in the car at all yesterday afternoon?’

‘It’s a good question, Jon. My hypothesis at this point is no, his wife was never in the car. This is a cover story her husband’s made up and it all sounds very plausible — at least to him, in his mind. I think it is very possible Niall Paternoster murdered his wife sometime before Sunday afternoon. One urgent task for the Outside Enquiry Team will be contacting her employers again, Mutual Occidental in Croydon, for more information. Apparently, she has not been to work since Thursday of last week.’

He looked at Luke Stanstead. ‘Can you continue to develop the sequence of events and timeline and share it with the team?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Perhaps Paternoster hasn’t taken into account the CCTV coverage that the Tesco store has. There is clearly no evidence, from the footage or the staff interviews, that his wife was either in the car park or the store at the time he claims. All we know for certain, from the plotting of his phone, is that he drove to Parham House at the approximate times he told us, wandered around the grounds for three hours and then drove to the Tesco store before going home. There is nothing to support his assertion that his wife was with him during this time. And the evidence from Aiden Gilbert’s Digital Forensics Team indicates this. It’s my view that he is trying to mislead or misdirect us.’

There was a brief silence, broken after a short while by DC Hall. ‘The CCTV only covers limited areas, doesn’t it, boss?’

Grace nodded. ‘Yes, correct, Kevin.’

‘So she could have gone into the store without being detected?’

‘It’s possible but extremely unlikely. One of the photographs of the interior shows a camera in the aisle where the cat litter is kept.’ Grace turned and pointed at the specific photograph on the whiteboard. ‘If she’d gone in to buy cat litter, as he claims, she would have been picked up on CCTV in that aisle.’

Hall nodded.

Grace continued. ‘Another action I want is a check of the index of the Paternosters’ BMW with all ANPR cameras in Sussex, all speed and traffic light cameras, and with the Highways Authority cameras measuring traffic flow. We’ll see if there is any tally with a cell-site analysis of both of their phones.’ He made a brief note, then looked up again.

‘OK, everyone, from the evidence to date, I’m elevating Operation Lagoon from a missing person enquiry to a “no body” murder enquiry. My Policy Book will reflect my decision.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘DI Branson and I established earlier that Niall Paternoster drives a mate’s taxi mainly during unsociable hours — usually starting at midnight at weekends and 10 p.m. during the week. Let’s get that vehicle checked on the cameras, too. Velvet, team up with Polly.’ He turned to DS Potting and DS Exton. ‘Norman and Jon, I want you to go straight from this meeting and arrest Niall Paternoster on suspicion of murdering his wife. I will policy this decision and my reasons for making it, most important of which is the recovery of evidence that might be in the house. I don’t think we’ll require support from the Public Order Team — but if you meet resistance, we will deploy them. So I think we should have them standing by.’

Both officers nodded.

‘We’ll then see if we get anywhere interviewing him lawyered up.’ He turned to Gee. ‘Chris, I’d like you to attend as Crime Scene Manager.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘I want you to draw up the forensic strategy. I need your team to look for any signs of bloodstains and cleaned-up blood. Have them look through all Niall Paternoster’s clothes.’ He turned and pointed at the photograph of him in Tesco yesterday. ‘Especially look for the clothing he was wearing yesterday, on the day he claimed she disappeared. Take anything you can find of hers — toothbrush, hairbrush, diary, the usual stuff — anything that might have her prints or DNA, for lab analysis. As we are treating the entire property as a crime scene, we all know the drill. It’s possible he might have killed Eden some days earlier, so organize a sidescan sonar search of anywhere that looks recently screeded, particularly the garden. Lorna, can you pick that up?’

‘Yes, boss,’ she said. ‘My POLSA colleague, Sergeant Barbara Onoufriou, can start work in the house, garden and any searches arising from our presence there.’

Grace turned back to Gee. ‘Chris, one thing in particular I want you to look for is evidence of any missing bedding, in particular a duvet or duvet cover.’

Gee nodded, making another note.

‘Worried Mrs Paternoster might be out of her comfort zone, chief?’ Potting quipped.

It brought a few grins. Grace smiled at the DS. ‘Norman, I know you’ve tended to favour divorce in the past, but just supposing you decided to murder your wife, what would you have in your house that you’d utilize to carry her body out of your home and into your car, to take her to a deposition site?’

Potting thought for a moment. ‘I don’t know, boss — maybe a tarpaulin or a roll of spare carpet — or perhaps plastic sheeting?’

‘OK,’ Grace said. ‘Do you have any of those things in your home, Norman?’

He shook his head. ‘No.’

‘Exactly. What you do probably have is a duvet. Right?’

‘Yes,’ he replied hesitantly.

‘Duvet covers or curtains are the favoured items for a person who murders their partner to wrap the body in. They don’t like to see their dead lover’s face looking at them.’

Kevin Hall chipped in. ‘You’ve got to remember, boss, Norman’s a farmer’s son — he’s used to sleeping on straw.’

Grace grinned, then said, ‘Chris, look at the beds for any missing duvets, and the closets and airing cupboard for anything like a pillowslip with no duvet cover — they tend to come in sets. And check the curtains.’

Gee nodded.

‘Jack, can you contact the duty Inspector to set in motion a rota of scene guards?’

‘I have that on my list,’ replied Alexander, who was noting down all the actions.

‘Good stuff.’ Grace went on, turning back to Gee. ‘I noticed when DI Branson and I interviewed Paternoster that he was wearing an Apple Watch and a Fitbit. Arrange for those to be taken off him and sent to Digital Forensics when he’s booked in to the custody block.’

‘Absolutely, sir.’

Turning to DC Soper, he said, ‘As I requested, Louise, seize the BMW and have Collision Investigations examine its satnav and computer, and collate that with what the ANPRs show — they should reveal where it has been during the past two weeks. We may be looking for possible deposition sites for Eden’s body.’

‘Will do, boss.’

He turned to Emily Denyer. ‘I need you to find out everything about the couple’s finances. Any insurance policies on her life, anything that might indicate her husband having something to gain from her death.’

Then he briefed his Outside Enquiry Teams. ‘Go and talk to all the Paternosters’ immediate neighbours. See what they know about the couple — and, crucially, when any of them might have seen Eden. Maybe some of them had security cameras outside their houses. We need to establish the last confirmed sighting of her. We also need to check the CCTV in and around the stores at the Holmbush Centre. With the new information we have received regarding their phones, I want checks to be made at Parham House for both last Saturday and yesterday to see if there is any record of the Paternosters being there on either or both days. They are closed now but it needs to be done first thing in the morning.’

They all nodded.

He then dealt with the intelligence requirement, including database checks, family history and social networking activity, and asked DS Stratford to draw up the strategy, before turning to DS Alexander.

‘Jack, also get the team, when checking Parham House for both weekends, to look for any evidence they may have such as CCTV, ticket registration, visitor books, credit card receipts — see what that throws up.’

He finally addressed Stanstead again. ‘Luke, collate what the Intelligence Cell finds on both Niall Paternoster and Eden — any past criminal activity by either of them and as much background as you can get.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Grace made some notes, then looked up. ‘Any questions?’

Norman Potting raised a hand. ‘Chief, one thing we haven’t covered is the possibility of Eden Paternoster having an affair.’

‘Good point, Norman,’ Grace said. And nearly added, Especially coming from a man with your track record. ‘If that is the case, hopefully we’ll learn something from the interviews with her family and friends from our Outside Enquiry Teams.’ He looked around. ‘Any more questions?’

There were none.

‘OK, I will attend for the arrest. We’ll all meet back here at 8.30 a.m. tomorrow for reports on initial findings. Good luck, everyone.’

As the team filed out, several of them making space for Luke Stanstead to propel his wheelchair, Grace made further entries in his Policy Book. Then he checked his phone. There was a text from Cassian Pewe.

He hesitated before replying. Just a small — tiny — victory that he knew would piss the ACC off even more.

To Grace’s slight disappointment, Cassian Pewe didn’t rise to the bait. Almost instantly, the ACC texted back a lame,

He didn’t bother to reply, turning his focus to the evening ahead. An arrest and a raid. He hated to admit Pewe was right in what he had said about homicide investigators liking nothing more than a Gucci murder case. This sure felt like one, and he was on fire.