Stalker

Chapter Twenty-One

Half an hour later, Beth and Matt stood on the doorstep of Derek’s semi-detached house, waiting for someone to answer the bell.

‘Perhaps Mrs Flint has gone out,’ Beth said, stepping back to look at the upper windows. All the downstairs windows were covered by net curtains. There was no sign of movement. ‘Weird that he hasn’t installed CCTV here in his own home, don’t you think?’

‘Given his track record for it malfunctioning he’s probably done himself a favour.’ Matt laughed. He lifted the letterbox and peered in. ‘Someone is in, I can hear a television. Hello! Anyone there?’ he shouted. ‘Police!’

‘Matt!’ Beth admonished. ‘You’ll scare her.’

‘It’s worked though,’ he said, still looking through the open letterbox. ‘She’s on her way. I can see a pair of stout legs.’ He straightened, releasing the flap with a sharp clang.

A few seconds later a safety chain could be heard sliding into place and then the door opened a few inches. A middle-aged woman with a pale complexion, grey eyes and a severe expression looked at them through the gap. ‘What do you want?’ she demanded sternly.

‘Mrs Flint?’ Beth asked.

‘Yes. Who are you?’

‘DC Beth Mayes.’ She held her ID card to the gap. ‘And this is DC Matt Davis.’ He flashed his ID card. ‘Can we come in and have a chat please?’

‘Is it about Derek?’

‘In a way, yes.’

‘What’s he done now?’ she asked, releasing the chain.

‘Nothing, as far as I know,’ Beth replied, taken aback that this had been her first thought. The reaction of most mothers to having the police suddenly arrive would have been – What’s happened? Has there been an accident? Is Derek all right? Not, ‘what’s he done wrong?’

‘Come in before the neighbours see you,’ she said, ushering them into the hall. ‘They don’t miss a thing here.’

With her short grey hair, plain clothes and stern features, she reminded Beth of an old-style retired headmistress.

‘What made you think Derek had done something wrong?’ Matt asked as they followed her down the short hall and into the living room.

‘Because of the last time,’ she said bluntly. Picking up the remote control she silenced the television. ‘But you’re the police, you should know that.’

‘You mean the break-in at the garage seven years ago?’ Beth asked.

‘No, that was a misunderstanding.’ She hesitated, clearly struggling to choose the correct words. ‘The other thing,’ she said awkwardly. ‘You know, with that man. He hasn’t done it again, has he?’

‘Not as far as we know,’ Matt said.

‘Good. I’m glad he learnt his lesson. What do you want then?’

Beth flashed Matt a look. With an obviously homophobic mother it was hardly surprising Derek had resorted to a relationship in a public toilet, for it was doubtful he could ever bring anyone home. ‘Can we sit down?’ she asked.

Mrs Flint nodded towards the two-seater sofa as she sat in the armchair directly in front of the television, the cushions having moulded to her shape. Beth glanced around. It was a drab room at the back of the house, with faded furniture and little natural light. Only the television was newish. A cold room, isolating, that hadn’t seen much fun and laughter, she thought.

‘Derek has been helping us with an investigation into a spate of burglaries in the area,’ Beth said. ‘We saw your son at his office but he said he mainly worked from home. We were hoping to catch him in.’

‘Not at this time of day, you won’t. He’s out working. But that would explain why he’s been in such a bad mood recently.’

‘Oh yes?’ Beth asked, encouragingly.

‘Derek takes his work very seriously and personally. He can’t stand it when he hears about people being taken advantage of and robbed. That’s why he puts in so much time. He tries to protect people. He doesn’t talk to me about his worries but I know when something has gone wrong. He’s like a bear with a sore head.’

‘Very commendable he’s so conscientious,’ Matt said.

‘There’s just the two of you living here?’ Beth asked.

‘Yes, his father left when Derek was in his teens. He took it badly but there was little I could do. Derek hasn’t done anything wrong, has he?’

‘No,’ Beth said. ‘Not as far as we know.’

‘He won’t be back until this evening and it’s no good phoning his mobile. He switches it off while he’s working. He’s very strict about that.’

‘A man with principles,’ Matt said with an edge of sarcasm, and Beth threw him another look.

‘Very much so,’ Mrs Flint said. ‘Derek has traditional values and principles and detests much of what goes on in society today. That’s why he’s so good at his job.’

‘Do you help him with the paperwork for his business?’ Beth asked.

‘Good heavens no! He wouldn’t trust me with that. It’s confidential. When he’s working he locks his bedroom door. I’m only allowed in during the day to leave his clean laundry on his bed.’

‘So when he works from home it’s from his bedroom?’ Matt asked. ‘Not down here?’

‘That’s right. I have the television on and he doesn’t like watching the soaps like I do. And anyway, he couldn’t fit all that equipment down here. He has the largest bedroom and I have the second.’

‘I noticed you don’t have any CCTV here yourself?’ Beth asked.

‘No. I wouldn’t like to keep seeing myself on the monitor.’

‘You could just have an alarm without cameras,’ Matt suggested.

‘Derek says we won’t be burgled, we’ve got nothing to steal, and anyway I’m in all day.’

‘You don’t go out much then?’ Beth asked.

Mrs Flint shook her head. ‘Only to see my sister a couple of times a year.’

The sadness and darkness in the room seemed to grow deeper. Heaven forbid that I ever end up like this, Beth thought. It was depressing. Mrs Flint could only have been in her mid sixties – no age – but looked and acted much, much older.

‘So Derek’s room isn’t locked now?’ she asked.

‘No, not during the day when he’s out.’

‘Would it be possible to take a quick look?’

‘There’s not much to see. All the computers are off when he’s out.’

‘Even so it might be helpful,’ Beth said, aware they were on thin ice. They had no reason to be in the house, let alone search Derek’s bedroom. She saw Mrs Flint hesitate before she hauled herself to her feet.

‘But he hasn’t done anything wrong?’ she asked again.

‘He’s just been helping us with our enquiries,’ Matt said relying on the euphemism.

Mrs Flint went first into the hall and taking the handrail began up the stairs, one step at a time. Clearly not in the best of health, she made hard work of climbing and had to stand on the landing for a moment to catch her breath. ‘Derek’s a good boy,’ she said; ‘just a bit odd.’

‘Odd?’ Matt asked. ‘In what respect?’

‘All of this,’ she said, placing her hand on the door handle to his room. ‘He never goes down the pub like normal men. It’s all work, work, work. Occasionally he goes out on his motorbike, but that’s it, really. Don’t touch anything, will you?’ She opened the door.

Matt stepped in first and whistled. ‘It looks like mission control in here!’

‘What does he want with all those monitors?’ Beth asked as she followed Matt in.

‘They’re for his work,’ Mrs Flint said as if it was obvious.

‘But why four monitors and so large?’

‘I don’t know. You’d have to ask him that.’

The room was meticulously tidy; Mrs Flint had been right when she’d said there was nothing to see. The single bed with two pillows was neatly made, no clothes or shoes had been left out. All the drawers were closed and there was no paperwork – no letters or notes lying on any of the surfaces. The workstation was clear except for the monitors, keypad and printer. The computer unit standing beneath the desk showed no signs of life, only the Internet hub was showing a continuous blue light.

‘If I didn’t know better I’d say he’d been expecting us,’ Matt said quietly to Beth. Trying a couple of the desk drawers he found them locked.

‘He always leaves it like this,’ Mrs Flint said. ‘What are you looking for?’

‘Nothing in particular,’ Matt said. He opened the wardrobe door, the only door that wasn’t locked.

‘I don’t think you should do that when Derek isn’t here,’ she said. ‘He won’t like it.’

Matt moved aside some clothes and Beth saw Mrs Flint growing anxious. ‘Come on, Matt,’ she said. Then to Mrs Flint, ‘Thank you, we’ll be off now.’ She began to the door.

‘You need to come back when Derek is here,’ Mrs Flint said, waiting for Matt to close the wardrobe before she left the room.

‘Yes, we’ll do that,’ Beth said. Matt closed the door and they returned downstairs.

‘Thank you for your time,’ Beth said as they arrived in the hall.

‘I’ll tell Derek you were here. If you need to see him again tell him in advance so he can be in.’

‘We’ll do that,’ Matt said, and let them out. ‘You could almost feel sorry for Flint,’ he said, as the front door closed firmly behind them. ‘Not exactly character building when your own mother calls you odd.’

‘Agreed. But how odd is he?’

Matt shrugged. ‘Perhaps he just takes his work too seriously like she said?’

‘Perhaps,’ Beth replied thoughtfully.