Picture You Dead

77

Monday, 4 November

Roy Grace started the 6 p.m. briefing by handing a bunch of photocopies to Glenn Branson on his right and EJ Boutwood on his left to circulate. Crime Scene Manager Chris Gee looked like he was bursting to say something, but the Detective Superintendent signalled with a finger for him to hold fire.

After everyone around the table had a copy in front of them, Grace said, ‘What you’re looking at is a mock-up of a ring with a large stone. We sent the forensics expert at Liverpool University Hospital, Dr Colin Duncton, images of similar gash marks found behind both Charlie Porteous’s and Archie Goff’s right ears. The professor needs more time, but his initial assessment is that both contain sufficient identical features to link them, and he believes they were most likely caused by contact with a ring with a large stone cut as the one illustrated. He’s made a computer mock-up of the kind of ring, which is what you have in front of you.’

‘Christ!’ EJ said. ‘Who wears a ring like that?’

‘Someone into bling,’ Branson said. ‘Someone who likes to show off.’

‘Not you, then, Glenn?’ she ribbed him.

‘Haha.’

After studying the image intently, Potting glanced at Velvet Wilde. ‘Both Piper’s muscle men were wearing rings with big rocks, weren’t they?’

‘One red, one green,’ she confirmed.

‘Port and starboard.’ Potting turned to Grace. ‘Chief, I appreciate this is not conclusive, but in terms of matching height and weight, and now this information about the rings, Stuart Piper’s bodyguards are ticking a few boxes.’

Grace grinned. ‘Sounds like the Piper mansion could be a very happy little household, all cosied up together in the nick.’ Then he shook his head. ‘I agree with your thinking, Norman, but I don’t think we have enough yet to bring them in for questioning. As I’ve said, the information from the Audi gives us two people of similar height and weight, but we can’t extrapolate from that that they’re twins. A lot of people wear big rings – male and female. And you’re making the assumption it was a male wearing the ring, but we don’t have strong evidence for that at the moment.’

Chris Gee interrupted as if he couldn’t contain his news any longer. ‘Actually, sir, I have something that may be very helpful.’

‘Go ahead, Chris,’ he replied.

Gee held up another sheet of paper on which was a blown-up section of a fingerprint. ‘I’ve been doing some work around the partial dab recovered from a restaurant bill inside Porteous’s wallet. It was too smudged for a match to be obtained, but that was then, and this is now. Technology has moved on and while the owner of the print is still unidentifiable, the lab have discovered DNA on the bill. They’re working on it right now.’

Everyone stared at him in silent expectation.

Grace felt the beat of excitement he always got when the net was closing in on suspects. ‘When do they expect a result, Chris?’

‘I would hope within the next forty-eight hours, sir.’

He turned to Alexander. ‘I think Jack has something to add to this mix,’ he said, nodding at the DS.

‘I do, sir,’ he said, then addressed the team. ‘I was tasked with tracking Archie Goff’s movements from the time of his release from prison, which I’ve done with the assistance of Lewes Prison’s external CCTV cameras, ANPR and the CCTV network around Brighton. On the morning Goff walked free from Lewes Prison he was picked up by a Jaguar XJ6, registered to none other than Ricky Sharp – a gentleman well known to us!’

Grace smiled. ‘Good work, Jack.’

Alexander continued. ‘Sharp, assuming he was driving his car, then drove Goff to the Grand Hotel, depositing him there at approximately 10.15 a.m. At 11.05 Goff emerged and was driven in the Jag, again presumably by Sharp, to the home he shared in Hollingdean with his girlfriend, Isabella Reyzebal. After that, Sharp’s Jaguar headed back to the Southwick district of the city, where he resides.’

‘What about Goff – any vehicle registered to him or his girlfriend that could be tracked?’ Grace asked.

‘There is, sir – a Vauxhall Astra, index Alfa Victor Five-Two Uniform Yankee Romeo, was spotted, seemingly abandoned, by an alert lady walking her dogs. It was in a clearing in woods half a mile from the main entrance to Hope Manor, two days after Goff was nicked for attempting to burgle that house. She phoned it in and, guess what, the vehicle was registered to one Archie Goff! It was checked over, and then recovered to the police pound at Hickstead, where forensics went over it before releasing it for collection by Goff’s girlfriend, Isabella Reyzebal.’

‘Thank God for dog walkers!’ Exton said. ‘Would we ever solve any crime without them?’

‘God bless ’em!’ Chris Gee said. ‘I agree!’

‘I’ve done an ANPR trace on the Astra,’ Alexander continued. ‘It didn’t ping any cameras until the day after Goff’s release from prison, so it may have been parked up. Then over the days following his release – I have the exact dates and times – it twice pinged cameras close to the Kiplings’ house in Mackie Crescent. I’m guessing that the Kiplings’ house was his destination, but on each occasion he didn’t ping any further cameras. Other venues in that vicinity he might have visited are the Miller and Carter pub and the Elizabethan Cottage Tandoori.’

‘For a takeaway, Jack?’ Potting quizzed. ‘That’s kind of his style, isn’t it? He likes to take away.’ He chortled at his own thin joke.

Alexander, looking down at his notes, continued without reacting. ‘The last journey the Astra made before Archie Goff was found dead was into central Brighton. The CCTV team in the Control Room have done a brilliant job of mapping his journey, down the London Road to one of the car parks behind Churchill Square at around 10.30 on Saturday morning. He was also picked up by two cameras on foot heading down into the Lanes, and returning to the car park just after 11.15, seemingly holding a carrier bag, but they can’t identify any shop or brand label on the bag. That’s the last sighting of him alive.’

‘And the Astra, Jack?’ Grace asked.

‘It’s still in the car park, sir. An attendant located it for us.’

Grace made a note. ‘So that’s possibly where he was seized,’ he said.

Alexander nodded. ‘Seems likely, sir.’

‘Kidnapped and bundled into a vehicle?’ Grace suggested. ‘By offenders who either followed him in or were lying in wait for him. Most likely is they followed him in – unless it was a prearranged rendezvous.’

‘I’ve requested Associated Car Parks let us have copies of all CCTV cameras in that car park from 9 a.m. that morning until midday, to see if we can spot any vehicles that arrived before or with him and left soon after,’ Alexander said. ‘But there’s a delay thanks to their GDPR policy.’

‘Really?’ Grace sighed.

‘Afraid so, sir,’ Alexander replied. General Data Protection Regulations had recently become, in Roy Grace’s view, yet another obstacle put in the way of police crime-fighting efforts.

‘So they’re not allowed to give us information that could help us arrest a murderer,’ Norman Potting said. ‘Because that might invade his privacy?’

‘Right, let’s focus, everyone,’ Grace said, restoring order. ‘Jack, how long before the ACP deign to hand over the footage? Tell them this is a major crime investigation and should be GDPR exempt.’

‘It’s with their lawyers now, sir, who know the urgency. I’m hoping for a call at any moment.’

‘OK, let’s wait to see what we get from the cameras.’ He looked at Potting and then Wilde. ‘You went to see Daniel Hegarty, how did that go?’

Potting glanced at Wilde who indicated for him to respond. ‘He’s quite the geezer, chief.’

‘And joker,’ Wilde added.

Potting concurred. ‘He claims not to have any knowledge of Archie Goff, although personally I find that hard to believe, since they both come from crime families on the Moulsecoomb estate where they grew up at around the same time. Be that as it may, he came up with a name that could be very significant for us – Robert Kilgore.’

‘The name that Interpol told you is associated with Stuart Piper in international art dealings?’ Grace questioned.

‘The very same,’ Potting said. ‘It was very clear to both DC Wilde and myself that Hegarty is not a member of the Robert Kilgore fan club.’

‘What made you think that?’ Grace quizzed.

‘Just the way he spoke about him, sir,’ Wilde said.

Potting looked in his notebook on the table surface in front of him. ‘You might like to listen to this, sir, and everyone.’ He read from his notes.

‘I’ve not dealt with Piper directly, but there is a gentleman you might want to talk to. He’s an American, based here, name of Robert Kilgore. Nasty piece of work; you might find it helpful to have a word with him. These were Hegarty’s words. Then Velvet asked Hegarty where might we find him.’

Potting continued to read from his notes, ‘I believe he’s employed by Mr Piper. But I’d be grateful if you didn’t mention I told you that.’

‘Very interesting,’ Grace said. He tried, but failed, to hold a grin back. ‘We’ll call it useful information for now, Norman, but not admissible evidence.’

‘Fair play, gov. I should have got him to sign the notes.’

Grace looked around his team. ‘Anyone else have any information? If not, we’ll reconvene at 8.30 a.m. tomorrow. I’ve a meeting with the ACC at 10 a.m. to update her, followed by a press conference on Archie Goff’s murder, so please do your best, Jack, to get the car park CCTV released well before then. I’m also hoping for a report from our financial investigator by tomorrow morning; I’ve excused her from this briefing to work on it. And we’ll get more from Dr Duncton. Have a good evening, everyone.’