Taste of Blood

Chapter Ten

Eddie was late arriving home and Jane was already changed and ready to go to her parents’. He had completely forgotten the now obligatory once-a-month dinner with her parents and didn’t look happy about going. But instead of being annoyed, Jane decided that if she went alone she could be home earlier than usual, as her father always had some small job he needed Eddie to deal with.

‘Listen, if I take a quick shower, I’ll come with you.’

‘No, don’t worry about it; besides, you’ve had a long day. I doubt very much it was as tedious as the day I’ve had, but you crash out and I’ll see you later.’

Mrs Tennison had made a stew and apple pie. As always, she lit up when she saw Jane, while her husband was disappointed at Eddie’s absence, as he had wanted help in fitting a security alarm. During dinner Jane was asked whether there had been any decision on a wedding date, and she told them that at the moment they were just focusing on selling her house and finding a bigger property.

‘That seems a shame. You’ve only just got it all finished. Is Eddie’s business doing well enough to share in the cost of buying a new place?’ Jane’s father asked.

‘Well, because of all the work he’s done, I’ll get a very good price. He has a small sort of studio apartment that he wants to sell, and he’s interested in looking at a property that will need fixing up.’

‘So would that mean you would have to live there while the work is carried out?’

‘Yes, Mum. I’m stalling a bit because it took such a long time with all the refurbishments.’

‘Eddie did an excellent job,’ her father said, repeating how impressed they had been when they had last visited.

‘Did you read about Prince Andrew’s engagement?’ Jane’s mother asked.

‘Yes. Eddie’s mum has been to all the royal weddings. I mean, she’s not invited, just part of the crowd.’

Her mother shook her head. ‘You wouldn’t get me standing there in the rain waving a flag; better to just watch it on TV. I’ll always remember Prince Charles and Lady Di’s wedding, that was a really wonderful occasion. So will you be having a church wedding, one with all the trimmings?’

‘I doubt it, Mum... it’ll probably be a registry office and then lunch, nothing fancy. But as I said before, we haven’t even discussed a date yet.’

‘I would say that Eddie’s intention of getting a bigger property means you’re thinking about starting a family?’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Mum!’

‘Well, dear, the longer you leave it the harder it might be. I mean, Pam had her two shortly after she was married. Theirs was a lovely ceremony, and she looked so beautiful. Her dress set Daddy and I back considerably — cost a fortune. And then there was the buffet lunch...’

Her father leaned over the table to pat Jane’s hand.

‘You mustn’t worry about the expense, Jane. Whatever you decide, we’ll be paying. That hotel we used for Pam was very good and quite reasonable.’

Mrs Tennison laughed. ‘We’ve been waiting so long, I’ll need to buy a new hat.’

By the time Jane felt she could leave without them being disappointed, she was exhausted. When she got home Eddie was sound asleep, so she undressed in the bathroom, changed into her nightdress and crept into bed next to him. The evening’s conversation about their wedding date had irritated her, especially her mother talking about them starting a family. Jane found it difficult to even think about, but she knew she would have to sit down with Eddie and talk things through.

It was just after eight on Saturday morning when Jane woke up. She could hear the radio on downstairs blaring out pop music. Eddie appeared to be unable to do anything without the radio being turned on, and all his workmen were the same. When they had been working at the house, there were different stations playing in every room.

Jane dressed in an old tracksuit and slippers and headed downstairs. Eddie was cooking bacon, sausages and tomatoes in a frying pan. There was another pan with simmering baked beans and a smaller frying pan for the eggs. When Eddie cooked, he seemed to be able to use virtually every pan they owned.

‘Morning, my darling one,’ he beamed. ‘I was going to bring you breakfast on a tray. Would you like some fried bread as well?’

‘No, that all looks good. I’ll put some bread in the toaster and set the table.’

‘How were your parents?’

‘Fine. As I expected, Dad had a job for you. He wants to fit a security alarm system.’

‘I’ll do it next time we see them. I have some good news, though!’

Eddie began to serve up the breakfast, waving a spatula at a zip-up bag.

‘Take a look inside. It was a good deal. He wants most of the furniture I’ve got, apart from my TV, which I can set up in the bedroom.’

Jane unzipped the bag. It was full of cash, bundled up with rubber bands.

‘Good God, Eddie, how much is in here?’

‘Ten grand. It’ll be really useful for buying equipment for work. And there’s a couple of possible houses we can look at tomorrow.’

‘Isn’t it illegal?’

Eddie put down her plate, grinning.

‘Listen, the amount of tax and VAT added on everything really pisses me off.’

‘So where did he get all this cash from?’

He sat down opposite her, unscrewing the tomato ketchup.

‘Like I just said, it was a really good deal. If I had put it on with an estate agent, they would have taken their cut.’

Jane took a deep breath as he tucked into his breakfast.

‘You know, Eddie, I think you sometimes forget that I am a police officer. It may well be a good deal, but you are taking a bit of a risk legally.’

‘Rubbish! Anyway, the less you know about it, the better. If you like any of those houses, we can call this afternoon to arrange a viewing. Two of them are up for auction and if we’re interested, we’ll really need to have a good look inside for any problems, wet or dry rot, roofing, brickwork, et cetera. And at the same time check out any building restrictions.’

Jane started to eat but quickly found she wasn’t hungry. It felt as if Eddie was putting pressure on her when she hadn’t even made a decision yet about selling her house. She physically jumped when there was suddenly a loud ringing noise. Eddie opened the bag, taking out his mobile phone.

‘Hi Caroline, what’s up?’

Jane listened as he ended the call and then went and used the telephone in the hall. She could only catch part of the conversation, but from his tone of voice it sounded important. After a moment he hurried back into the kitchen.

‘I have to go... Mum needs me to take her to hospital... she’s fallen and thinks she’s broken her arm. Dad is out on a job and she can’t get hold of him.’

Eddie stopped by the table, picked up some toast and forked his bacon and sausage in between the slices to make a sandwich. He then gulped down his coffee.

‘I’ll get over there and ring you as soon as I know what is happening. I’ll take my mobile with me, so if you need me or if Dad tries to make contact I’ll have it with me.’

Jane hurried after Eddie as he fetched his coat and car keys. He gave her a quick kiss before dashing out.

Jane returned to the kitchen, tipping most of his leftover breakfast, as well as her own, into the bin. She then set about washing up all the pots and pans.

It was after eleven and Jane had still not heard from Eddie. She had changed the bedsheets, run the washing machine, hoovered, dusted and also emptied the dishwasher.

The zip-up bag sat on the floor by the kitchen table. Jane opened it and picked up one of the bundles of ten-pound notes. They were all well used, and she quickly stuffed them back into the bag, not liking them even being in the house. She zipped up the bag and took it out into the hall and put it into the understairs cupboard. She then returned to the kitchen to look at the property details Eddie had left. They were cut out from various local newspapers and clipped together. There was also a leaflet with the auction dates and times, and some had been underlined in pencil.

It was almost twelve when the phone rang with a message from the mobile centre. Mr Myers was at St Mary’s Hospital in the A&E department, it was nothing too serious and he would call later.

Eddie eventually called to say that his mother had broken her right wrist. They had been at the hospital virtually all day waiting for X-rays and then for her wrist to be put in a cast. His dad had returned home, but Eddie had decided to stay over as his dad needed to finish off the job on Sunday and wanted his help.

Jane made no mention of having looked over the property details. She decided to have an early night and the following morning she drove to the new car wash that had opened at her local garage. After the car had been cleaned, she did a food shop and marinated two steaks for their dinner. It was after seven when Eddie returned, and Jane had just opened a bottle of wine.

‘I found this on the path outside the front door...’ Eddie held up the medium’s card with a grin. ‘Do you need some help with an investigation?’

Jane recalled tossing the card onto the passenger seat of her car and assumed it fell out when she brought in the food shopping.

During dinner Eddie explained how his mother had tripped over the hoover and fallen, breaking a small bone in her right wrist. He said she was in a lot of pain but most of her distress was down to her worrying about not being able to cook or clean.

‘I don’t know if you knew, but Mum has a few clients she does housecleaning for, so she won’t be able to do her job for a few weeks. So she was in a bit of a state.’

‘I didn’t know.’

‘Yeah, some of her clients she’s been going to for years, so she got all upset about letting them down. I stayed over as Dad’s not much help around the house. I made some shepherd’s pie and took some stuff out of their freezer so she doesn’t have to cook for him.’

She nodded. ‘I put your cash in the cupboard under the stairs, by the way.’

‘Thanks. So how come you got this card from the medium? Do you believe in all that stuff?’

‘No, I don’t, the woman who gave it to me works at the care home I visited. She and her husband used to live in the big house in Clarendon Court before they sold it to the present owners. She’s been waiting to hear from her son who left before they sold, but he’s never made contact. So, she’s been seeing this medium.’

‘What care home?’

‘Oh, it’s a case I had to go and check out. It was just coincidence really, and she’s now using her maiden name, so I didn’t make the connection until I was having coffee with her.’

Eddie picked up his plate and took it to the sink. She liked the fact that he now actually rinsed it before placing it into the dishwasher.

‘Did you have a look over the houses that are up for auction?’

‘Yes, I noticed you had ringed a few of them. Will we have time to view them now?’

‘Plenty of time. I think I’ll just go over to my old place and get the TV and a few clothes I’ve still got there.’

‘Tonight?’

‘Yeah. Like I told you, he’s buying all my furniture, so he’ll be moving in tomorrow. I want to give it a bit of a clean, check out all the electric and gas meters.’

‘Fine, whatever.’

‘Do you want to come with me?’

‘Not really. Let me clear up here, and then I’m going to wash my hair.’

Eddie left shortly afterwards, and after cleaning the pans and putting the dishwasher on, Jane went upstairs. She was annoyed at herself for not discussing her misgivings about buying another property. She got into her pyjamas and dried her hair. It was after midnight and Eddie still wasn’t back, so she got into bed, turned off her bedside light and went to sleep.

The alarm jolted her awake. When she came to, she was a bit confused to see Eddie had not come home. She flopped back onto her pillow and it took a while to get herself out of bed and ready to leave for the station. There was no message on the answerphone, so she called Eddie’s mobile to check if everything was all right, leaving a message with the operator. She then drove to the station.

Jane made out a report from the care home to be filed, then had a quick breakfast in the canteen before heading to the boardroom for the Monday-morning briefing. Jane noticed that Stanley was missing and that he was obviously going to be late. DCI Hutton entered the boardroom, ready for the early start, and Jane listened to updates on the various cases for half an hour, the officers keeping their details as brief as possible. There were house burglaries, domestic violence incidents and there was a drug dealer’s arrest. Hutton made notes and raised a few queries, but nothing of great importance seemed to have happened over the weekend. DC Burrows reported on the arrests of the teenagers in connection with the petrol station: two had been released but the eldest one was still in a cell waiting to be interviewed later that morning.

The boardroom door banged open and Stanley marched in, waving a large manila envelope. He looked dishevelled and unshaven and barged his way between two officers, slamming the envelope down on the table in front of Hutton.

‘So do you want an update on my visit to Eric Donaldson?’

Before Hutton could reply, Stanley angrily snatched up the envelope and waved it in front of her.

‘The poor bastard gassed himself and his dog. I feel fucking responsible for their deaths because I walked out on him — and right now I feel that I should walk out of here.’

Hutton pushed her chair back and stood up.

‘Detective Inspector Stanley, I think we need to discuss this in the privacy of my office. Thank you for your attendance, everyone.’

Hutton walked out of the boardroom as everyone else began to collect their notebooks and return to their desks with a lot of raised eyebrows and shocked expressions. Jane went straight over to Stanley, who was standing with his fists clenched at his sides.

‘Shall I get you a cup of tea?’

‘The poor bugger... he needed a social worker. What was I supposed to do? Christ, Jane, he warned me that he would only let his dog go over his dead body. He wedged tea towels under the kitchen and backdoors, turned the gas rings on and lay down beside the stove.’

Jane patted his arm. In all the years she had known Stanley — and they had been through some major investigations together — she had never seen him so emotionally affected by a case. By now the boardroom had emptied and Stanley had taken out a grubby handkerchief to wipe his eyes.

‘Detective Inspector Stanley?’ Dora Phillips, the head of the civilian staff, who ran the typing pool, stood at the open door. ‘DCI Hutton is in her office.’

Stanley looked at Jane and in a low voice said Hutton could go and fuck herself, but Jane gave him a hug and told him to calm down, saying that she would bring him in a cup of tea.

‘Thank you, Miss Phillips, there is no need for you to wait.’

The door swung closed as Stanley blew his nose, then stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket.

‘I’m bloody through with this shit. I can’t take any more of it. I’m going to tell her to stuff this place right up her tight arse.’

‘Come on, Stanley, calm down. Just remember your pension and don’t blow it. I’m feeling pretty pissed off as well. I spent the entire day at a care home supposedly checking an assault charge against one of the staff. Turned out it had all been sorted and Hutton already knew, so it was a completely wasted day.’

He shook his head. ‘I’ll need a bloody care home if I have to keep working here for much longer. The truth is, that dog scared the pants off me. I’ve never liked those big German shepherds. My kids have a crazy little dog, which is about all I can handle.’

Jane smiled. He was calming down now. She walked out of the boardroom to go to the canteen to get him a cup of tea. Stanley headed to Hutton’s office.

Stanley had returned to his desk when Jane reappeared with his tea. He leaned over and said quietly that the headmistress had apologised to him.

DCI Hutton came out of her office half an hour later, gesturing for both Jane and Stanley to join her.

‘I have just been told that Martin Boon has come out of his coma and has been moved from the intensive care unit into a private room. I think we should give it a couple of days before interviewing him, but we do need to get this situation sorted as soon as possible.’

Stanley waited until Hutton had returned to her office before shrugging.

‘So, what does she expect us to do in the meantime?’

‘How about lunch?’

They sat at a table in the corner of the canteen with lunch on their trays. Jane told Stanley about the coincidence of meeting Miss Martinez, who turned out to be Victor Hoffman’s Mexican wife.

‘How come she’s still living here and not in Mexico?’

‘It was kind of sad. Her son left for Mexico and sent her a postcard to say he would be coming home, but she never heard from him again. She said she purposely stayed close to Clarendon Court, and Mrs Caplan told me she had called there to check whether her son had made contact. In fact, it was Alice Caplan that gave me her address, but as she is now using her maiden name, I didn’t make the connection. There were photographs of her son and he is really stunning. His biological father was Ethiopian and died when he was very young, but Victor Hoffman adopted him when he married Miss Martinez. She said that her son and Victor had not got along.’

‘What about the sale of the courtyard to the Larssons?’

‘Oh yes, I asked her about that. She said that it was her husband who organised it. Apparently, they rarely, if ever, used the courtyard and she also said it was in very poor condition.’

‘So how come she’s still living here? It’s been years.’

Jane shrugged, sipping her coffee.

‘I can only presume she is hoping her son will contact her. I mean, she can’t be earning much at the care home. I was driving out and saw her waiting at the bus stop, so I offered her a lift. That’s how I discovered she was previously married to Victor Hoffman, when she invited me in for a coffee. I think something went on with her son. I’m not sure about the date, but the Larssons’ daughter died around about the same time as they were selling the house. They were having a relationship and she got pregnant.’

‘I’d say you got a lot of info, not that it adds up to any help with our investigation...’

‘She even gave me a card from a medium she visits in order to try to contact her son. It was funny because I tossed it onto the passenger seat in the car when I drove off without looking at it. Then Eddie found it on our doorstep because I’d brought some shopping in and must have picked it up with the bags. He asked if we were using a medium to help with our case!’ She laughed.

‘I used one in a really nasty murder investigation once,’ Stanley said. ‘She was astonishing. It freaked us all out.’

‘Well, by the time she started telling me about the medium I just wanted to leave. I was in such a hurry that I knocked over her bicycle that was propped up outside her front door.’

Jane was about to finish her coffee when she put the cup down and leaned back in her chair. ‘Oh my God...’

‘What?’

Jane ran her fingers through her hair. ‘It’s just hit me; she was showing me how her bicycle pump was broken.’

‘What are you talking about, Jane?’

‘How many times have we heard David Caplan describe the weapon he says Martin Boon was carrying? He’s repeated it over and over, that it was about fourteen inches long, black and shiny, and that he thought it was an iron bar.’

‘But what if it was just a shiny plastic bicycle pump!’ Stanley laughed.

‘Exactly! Do we know if there was a bicycle in Boon’s garage?’

Stanley stacked up their dirty plates, smiling and shaking his head.

‘Boon’s wife doesn’t drive, right? So, what if she uses a bike? I’m serious, Stanley.’

‘I’m going to get another cup of tea. In the meantime, go and talk to Bill Burrows. He’s done a search for the weapon, along with half a dozen officers. See if they can make any connection to anything in the Boons’ garage.’

Burrows was in an interview with the teenager accused of driving out of the garage without paying for petrol, so Jane had no option but to check through the records of the various searches that had taken place around the courtyard and residents’ gardens. There was a reference to a search of Martin Boon’s garage, but no mention of a bicycle.

Jane was waiting for Stanley, who had gone off to use his electric shaver and had combed his hair. He needed persuading to accompany her to inspect Mr Boon’s garage, reluctantly jumping into the passenger seat as they headed out of the station.

‘What was the medium’s name?’

‘What?’

‘On the card Miss Martinez gave you?’

‘I didn’t look. Why?’

‘Just making conversation. I never finished telling you about the woman we used on the murder case. Missing young kid, disappeared from outside his home. We’d had search parties out for days and all night, but nothing. He was there one minute and gone the next. Anyway, I think she rang the station... or someone put her in touch with us... it was a good few years ago.’

‘So what did she do?’

‘She made some drawings, insisting that the boy would be found in a wooded area with a big overhanging tree; think it was a willow tree, near water...’

‘Go on.’

‘She was right, that’s where we eventually found him. But the reason I remember it was because she was so ordinary. She didn’t want any money, and no press.’

‘I would say that the medium the ex-Mrs Hoffman is going to is probably coining it,’ Jane said. ‘She told me the medium was giving her hope that her son would be coming home.’

‘I doubt it would be the same woman; like I said, it was a long time ago.’

Jane drove through the main gates of Clarendon Court and parked alongside the Caplans’ Range Rover. ‘Just in case we get a visit from the Larssons, we’ll walk round.’

The Larssons’ garage was closed, but Martin Boon’s car was parked in the space in front of the open garage. They skirted around the car and Jane pointed to a bicycle propped up against the far wall. It was a black, rusty, straight-handled man’s bike. There was a saddle bag attached to the back of the seat. They walked in to take a closer look and Stanley bent down with a handkerchief to detach the bicycle pump that was held by two clips on the crossbar.

Stanley held it up and it was immediately obvious to both of them that this could easily be mistaken for some kind of weapon. ‘Yeah, I reckon...’ Jane made a frantic gesture and put her index finger up to her lips to indicate that they needed to be quiet.

They edged out from the garage. She pointed to the open window by the front door. They heard Mrs Boon’s voice first but did not hear clearly what was being said. They then heard the strident voice of Patricia Larsson.

‘You have to ask them. It’s important that you know, Ellen. I mean, was he coherent when you saw him? Does he remember everything, or has he been affected mentally? What did they tell you?’

‘That he was doing very well, and that he was out of ICU. I didn’t get to talk to him.’

‘I hope to God he’s not going to cause trouble in there. We’ve had enough, and we have to get rid of the police. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, yes, I do.’

‘OK, well, get yourself together and I’ll drive you there right now. The police will be questioning him — and you.’

Jane and Stanley made a quick move towards the front door just as it opened.

Mrs Larsson gave a startled look and then forced a smile.

‘Good heavens!’

‘Good afternoon, Mrs Larsson. We have just been told the good news that Mr Boon is no longer in a coma,’ Jane said with a smile.

‘Yes, that’s right. I am just going to drive Ellen to see him.’

‘We just wanted to know if we could be of any assistance.’

‘Everything has been taken care of, thank you so much.’

Mrs Larsson hurried past them, easing the door closed behind her. Stanley was holding the bicycle pump under his coat.

‘Jane, we need to do a quick exit and get this into an evidence bag, because as you well know this is illegal and if we did find anything on it, it couldn’t be used as evidence.’

Jane thought for a moment.

‘I’ll put a note through their door to say we’ve removed it. I’ve got a bag in the car. We could also pay a visit to Mr Caplan and show it to him, but we need to be cautious. What do you think?’

‘Well, we should show it to Mr Boon first, but as he’s unable to be interviewed, let’s extract the prints from it. It’s obviously his bicycle but we need to be certain. We can come back to show it to Mr Caplan later, or in the morning.’

Driving back to the station with the pump carefully wrapped in two evidence bags, Stanley gave Jane a sidelong glance.

‘Going back over what we overheard this afternoon, Mrs Larsson said something about hoping he was not going to cause any trouble, concerns about the police questioning him. She’s involved in it. It sounds like she’s pulling the strings. She was in the Caplans’ garden so she could have replaced the pump on the bike.’

Jane drove into the station car park and leaned over to the back seat to pick up the evidence bags containing the bicycle pump.

DC Burrows was heading towards them.

‘Afternoon. I hope you’ve had a productive day. I’ve had that punk kid and his smart-arsed solicitor driving me nuts. Thankfully DCI Hutton stepped in and wiped the floor with the pair of them.’

‘Great. Well done.’ Jane pushed past him, not wanting to waste time getting into a lengthy conversation.

‘You had three calls, and I’ve left a note on your desk,’ he called after her.

Stanley handed the bicycle pump to the forensic department, with a request for prints to be checked asap. Jane was at her desk typing up a report when Stanley joined her again.

‘Forensics are out on a job, but due back shortly.’

Jane nodded. ‘I’m making the report as brief as possible, but we need to make sure it’s all above board so we don’t get rapped over the knuckles for not getting permission. It might be crucial evidence.’

‘Fine, anything urgent from the calls?’

‘No, they’re from Eddie’s call centre passing on a message. I’ve told him not to contact me at work — it’s about some house auction.’

‘Risky business, auctions. A bloke I know bought a mews house at auction and then discovered it had no connection to gas and it would cost a fortune to get a pipeline in.’

‘Well, he’s in the business, so he should know what to look for. When we get a result on the bike pump, we’ll need fingerprints from Martin Boon, Caplan and his wife. If you’re not skiving off home yet, what about a visit to the Caplans to see how he reacts to it?’

‘Er, if you don’t mind, I’d like to head off. I was not in a good state last night after I learned about the suicide, and I got very drunk.’

‘You go, Stanley. If I don’t get a result from forensics later, I won’t hang about either. Just be in early tomorrow morning.’