Love You Dead

81 Wednesday 11 March

At a few minutes before 7 a.m., the security guard at the barrier of Malling House, the sprawling Sussex Police Headquarters where Major Crimes was soon going to be housed, waved to Roy Grace as he passed through.

He drove his unmarked Mondeo up the steep hill, passing the car park to his right for the Road Policing Unit and the Call Centre, and pulled up at the entrance to the visitor car park. He held his access pass up against the electronic reader and the barrier rose.

He reversed into a bay in the almost empty car park, then went into the reception area of the prefab building and exchanged pleasantries with the duty receptionist, whom he had known for years.

He sent a text to Guy Batchelor telling him to delay the morning briefing until 9 a.m., then made his way through the back entrance into the grand Queen Anne building that housed the senior staff of Sussex Police. He greeted his old friend, Acting Superintendent Steve Curry, then switching his phone to silent, went up the stairs and into Cassian Pewe’s majestic office, with its view across the trim lawn below and one of the modern housing estates of the county town of Lewes beyond.

The ACC rose from behind his large desk to greet him. Dressed in immaculate uniform, he extended a delicate hand.

‘Good to see you, Roy,’ he said. He indicated a leather chair in front of the desk.

As Grace sat down, Pewe asked, ‘Tea or coffee?’

‘Black coffee would be good, sir, thank you.’

‘I see, a heavy night?’

‘No, sir,’ he said, always aware of Pewe’s hidden agenda in every question he asked. ‘An early night, actually, but that’s hard with a young baby.’

‘Yes, of course.’ Pewe spoke into his phone, ordering the coffee, then looked across the desk at Grace. ‘How is little Noah?’

‘Getting feistier by the day — and night.’

Pewe gave him a patronizing smile. ‘And do I understand you went to Munich for a couple of days?’

‘No, sir, just the one day. Sandy has surfaced, after ten bloody years. She’d been involved in a traffic accident out there — hit by a taxi.’

Pewe avoided eye contact. ‘She’s alive?’

‘Badly injured.’

He was dying to say to Pewe, So she wasn’t buried in my back garden after all, was she? Perhaps that was why the ACC wouldn’t meet his eye.

‘Oh? I’m sorry to hear that. And where does that leave you, Roy?’

‘I’ve moved on, sir. But I had to go and see her.’

‘Of course you had to.’

‘There’ll be a lot of legalities to resolve, but that’s for another day.’

There was an awkward silence for some moments. Pewe finally broke it. ‘So, Roy — you mentioned a strategy?’

The assistant brought in the coffee and a plate of shortbread biscuits.

‘Yes.’ He sipped the scalding coffee, waited until she had left the room, closing the door behind her, then talked the ACC through it.

When he had finished, Cassian Pewe stared at him in total silence, his expression impossible to read. Then he said, ‘This is insane, Roy.’

‘It’s a risk, sir, I agree with that.’

‘Have you thought about all the different ways it could backfire on us?’

‘Yes, I have. But in my view we are dealing with a monster potentially every bit as evil as Edward Crisp. It’s looking like she might have murdered three men, and we have no way of telling, at this moment, if there are any others before Bentley she may have killed. We’re currently searching the UK and internationally for potential matches. This might be a way to flush her out.’

‘Or to get one of our officers killed?’

‘Not if we risk assess it properly, sir.’

‘You mean the way Crisp’s confinement in the Lyon jail was risk assessed?’

‘That was out of our jurisdiction.’

‘Luckily for your career, Roy. What you’re proposing now isn’t. Before you even start to go there you need the Crown Prosecution Service on board. You’re putting an awful lot on a rather shaky assumption, don’t you think?’

‘Shaky? I have a suspect who appears to be using different identities, and targets rich older men. There are three that we know of and there could be more. Her first husband died after being bitten by a venomous snake — and I accept that he was an expert who worked with these creatures, so was at a higher risk than anyone else. Her most recent fiancé skied over a cliff in France.’

‘Yes, Roy,’ Pewe interrupted him. ‘Walter Klein, a fraudster who knew the game was up. All the evidence points to suicide.’

‘With respect, sir, there is no evidence.’

‘Leaving that aside, you’re trying to link the death of a small-time burglar in Brighton with the death of her second husband in India?’

‘Second husband that we know about — I’m trying to get more on that, sir. I’ve already briefed and prepared a plan with the Force Authorizing Officer, Detective Superintendent Nick Sloan, whose job it will be to manage and supervise the operation. I’ve also made contact with Wayne Gumbrell at the Crown Prosecution Service, who’s on board. We all agree that this is the only option available at the moment to prevent this woman targeting and killing another victim. I’ll have the paperwork drawn up for you to sign as it needs y our written authority.’

‘OK, Roy, but screw this one up and I’ll have you writing out parking tickets for the rest of your career. Do I make myself clear?’

Clear as merde, Grace said, under his breath.