Between Two Thieves Page 14

  “I’ll bring it in. You can have it now, if you want,” said Dan.

  “DI Hogarth says not to bother. He’s already on his way.”

  Dan knew full well that wasn’t all Hogarth had said. DS Simmons was too polite to repeat the rest.

  Dan hung up the call.

  “Get your tin hats on,” he said. Eva glanced up from her laptop where she was busily scanning The Record’s latest reports on the spate of Uber deaths.

  “Tin hats?” she said.

  “Hogarth’s coming to collect his dues: the tin and the tablets.”

  “Oh...” said Eva.

  Ten minutes later, the front door shuddered open and the bell on the wall announced their visitor with a long shrill ring. Hogarth slammed the door behind him and raised a pointing finger at Dan.

  “What the hell do you think you’re playing at? You took evidence from a crime scene, man! And unlike the great unwashed out there, you don’t have any excuse, or any right to claim ignorance. I know what you were thinking. You thought that was part of your client’s missing loot. It doesn’t wash with me either way. You had an obligation to inform us as soon as you saw it.”

  “I saw it,” said Dan. “But I didn’t know what it was, or how it was related until after I picked it up.”

  Dan’s tone was calm, his voice even, but everyone in the room knew he was playing fast and loose with the truth. Eva closed her laptop and sipped the dregs of her coffee.

  “Afternoon, Inspector,” she said. “Your investigation must be taking shape by now.”

  “And you’re not much better, Miss Roberts. You certainly knew to call me. That was what we agreed.”

  “The items had barely been in our possession longer than half an hour when we called you. And here you are,” she said.

  Hogarth jabbed his finger at her but said no more, saving his anger for Dan. He looked back at Dan and his face returned to a healthy shade of puce.

  “You damn well should have left it where it was. Crime Scene and forensics have set up around that body, and if not for you, they would have had an uncontaminated crime scene and probably a very easy collar. There would have been prints on that tin, and now the only prints we’ll find on it are yours.”

  “Contaminated the crime scene? Us?” said Dan. “Half of the town contaminated your crime scene before I did. There were treasure hunters and desperadoes all over the place, marching in packs like jackals. You never had a clean crime scene in the first place.

  “But you still took it.”

  “They weren’t found on the body. They were near it. I made a judgment call that it was safe to borrow them.”

  “Borrow them?!” said Hogarth.

  “Maybe I made the wrong call,” said Dan with a shrug, “It happens. Don’t tell me you’ve never made the wrong call, because I’ve seen you at work.”

  “Don’t you dare push your bloody luck with me, Bradley. You’ve given me about three reasons why I could nick you here and now. Including perverting the course of justice. Don’t think you’d like to hear those words in court again, would you, eh?”

  “Steady on, Inspector,” said Eva “We called you to ensure you got the evidence – and the information as well.”

  “Information?” said Hogarth. He took a breath.

  Eva nodded and stood up from her desk. She held up an empty coffee cup as a symbol and a peace offering. “Coffee, Inspector?”

  “You’ll need more than coffee to win me around after this incident.”

  “Coffee is a start,” said Eva.

  Hogarth fell silent and looked around the office, as if he was suddenly aware of his outburst. Eva received the hint and looked at Mark and Joanne.

  “You two... we need to talk to the inspector. Would you mind taking a break?”

  Joanne didn’t look impressed, but she quickly gathered her things. “Come on, Mark.”

  “Thank you,” said Eva. As soon as Mark and Joanne had left the office, Hogarth walked to the empty reception desk and took hold of Mark’s chair. He spun it round to face Eva, plonked himself down on it and dragged himself towards her with his feet.

  “When our Crime Scene Manager hears about this, he’s going to have someone’s guts for garters. And this time it won’t be mine,” said Hogarth.

  Dan sighed. “He’ll get over it.”

  Hogarth shook his head. “Okay then. Information. So what have you got? And after these shenanigans it had better be information, and not more bloody questions. There’s a dead body on that beach with a severely battered face, and you can bet The Record will be milking this one for a week. Which means I’ll be under the cosh from day one.”

  “You had PCSOs on site,” said Eva.

  “Because of the treasure hunters,” said Hogarth.

  Eva nodded. “The PCSOs were barely able to protect the body from the vultures on the beach. It’s likely if Dan hadn’t taken those items someone else would have done and you wouldn’t have them at all.”

  “So you were both helping me out, only I never realised. Show me how lucky I am.”

  “Here,” said Dan, laying the silver case carefully on his desk.

  “We think it’s a Victorian snuff tin,” said Eva, “but it hasn’t been used for that purpose in a very long time.”

  Hogarth’s chin crumpled in thought. He stared at it, then leaned over the top, squinting to look at the detail.

  “And you found this on the body?” said Hogarth.

  “Beside it, like I said,” said Dan.

  “Whatever. But it was with the body?” said Hogarth.

  “Yes, it was,” said Eva.

  “And?”

  Eva moved close to the desk and Hogarth looked up. She pointed an unpainted nail at the fine details on top of the case.

  “Do you see the crucifix at the centre of the design?” she said.

  “Yes,” said Hogarth. “And?”

  “This tin is what you might call Victorian Christian paraphernalia. It’s silver. A Christian keepsake, for an old time snuff taker.”

  Hogarth folded his arms and waited for the next detail to be imparted. But there were no more words. Instead, Eva gave Dan a look, and his eyes widened a little with the equivalent of a shrug. Hogarth read their nuanced looks but couldn’t fathom the meaning. Dan sighed and pulled out the little clingfilm bundle from his jeans pocket. He laid the half-unwrapped tablets beside the tin and one spilled out, rolling to settle right in front of Hogarth’s nose.

  “An Uber, Mr Bradley? I always knew you were a bit of a rogue, but I never had you down as an Uber man.”

  “That’s because I’m not..”

  “Wait. Don’t tell me. You found these on the sand too. Right next to the dead body with the caved in head.”

  “You’re smarter than you look,” said Dan.

  “I’m twice as smart as you think you are, Bradley,” said Hogarth. “But I’d still like to hear whatever theory you’ve come up with. It’s always good to find a starting point.”

  “Then your starting point is this, Inspector,” said Eva. “This tin belongs to Carl Renton.”

  “What? Because of the cross?” said Hogarth. “I know the man is a committed Christian, but that’s still a bit of a leap in the dark isn’t it?”

  “It’s not a leap in the dark. Renton was seen using this tin. He didn’t keep snuff in it. He used to keep handwritten Bible quotes in there. When he saw someone in need of a lift, he would take one out and give it to them. Like a kind of lucky dip of Bible quotes.”

  Hogarth hesitated. “How do you know all that?”

  “Carl Renton used to visit our client, Aaron Clancy’s son. He’s a bit of a confused rebel-rebel type, just a teenager really, but the father hasn’t got much of a relationship with him. I guess Carl Renton saw the boy as another lost soul who needed saving.”

  Hogarth nodded. “People like that are always trying to save the bloody world. Do they stop to think what happens when everyone’s saved? What then? We all sit down together, e
at humus, wear sandals and sing Kumbaya? You know as well as I do, there’s people in this town who don’t want saving. They’d punch you in the face for trying.

  “That’s not the way Carl Renton saw it,” said Eva.

  Hogarth rubbed his chin. “No. I suppose not.”

  “What?” she said.

  “You spoke of him in the past tense. Why, Miss Roberts. What else do you think you know?”

  “Only what you see here,” said Dan. “Your dead man Norman Peters had Carl Renton’s Bible quote tin and three Uber pills when he died. Read into that what you like.”

  “You admit that you took evidence then?” said Hogarth.

  “No. I only meant it’s reasonable to assume they were his.”

  “Very reasonable,” said Hogarth, sounding less sure.

  “It’s very unlikely that Norman Peters would have been able to buy that tin from Mr Renton. And it’s even more unlikely he would have given it to Peters. It had special meaning for him, and all we know about Norman Peters is that he was a market trader who sold cheap, garish fashion – and that he worked with other market traders Clive Grace and Tom Pink.”

  Hogarth maintained a frown as he listened.

  “Grace and Pink turned up with the crowds when we found Peters’ body,” said Eva. “They came along and had a look, and both looked pig sick afterwards.”

  “They were friends, then?” said Hogarth.

  “So they said,” said Eva. “But I saw those two muttering a fair bit in the crowd afterwards. I’d like to know what they were talking about.”

  “Hmmmm,” said Hogarth.

  “Did PC Orton pass any of that on to you?” said Dan.

  Hogarth’s jaw jutted and tensed. “Not as yet. Why?”

  “We asked him to tell you about the market traders. Instead, he got a PCSO to take notes for him.”

  Hogarth looked instantly irritated again.

  “What do you make of it?” he asked.

  “As a starting point?” said Dan, with a hint of irony. Hogarth refused to bite. Dan continued. “The dead market trader doesn’t look like a junkie to me. He looked like, what did you call me? A bit of a rogue. I’ve seen plenty of junkies up close. Norman Peters wasn’t one.”

  “You said you saw him alive? When?”

  “Just this afternoon,” said Dan. “I saw him walk out in front of a bus on the Leigh Broadway. He was nearly turned into a pancake.”

  “We thought he’d had a lucky escape until we found him on the beach,” said Eva. “Turns out his luck didn’t last.”

  Hogarth frowned. “Then you’re saying he must have been killed this afternoon. In daylight hours...?”

  “It seems that way,” said Eva. “And that’s not all.”

  Hogarth’s eyes gleamed. “What?”

  “He walked out in front of that bus because someone was following him.”

  Hogarth shook his head, confused. Dan explained. “He was being followed by one of the other market men who was there later when we found the body. Specifically, a man called Clive Grace.”

  “Can you see why we wanted PC Orton to interview the man?”

  Hogarth bared his teeth. “Yes. I think I do,” he said.

  “Now maybe you’ll be glad we took the silver snuff tin,” said Dan.

  “Oh, you only did that out of self-interest, Bradley. That’s easy to see.”

  DI Hogarth stood up and, producing a tissue from his pocket, he covered his hand and picked up the silver tin and wrapped it up. He repeated the trick with the cling film and tablets. He hesitated before putting the pills into his pocket; he looked at Dan and said, “presuming you don’t want them, of course.”

  “No. You can have all the fun,” said Dan.

  “Oh, I’ll be having lots of fun without those, I can assure you. Think I might be having a little word with PC Orton when I get back to the station. Just to see what else he picked up, of course.”

  “Of course,” said Eva. Hogarth turned for the door, leaving them with a curt nod. At least he was a little friendlier than when he’d arrived.

  “There’s one thing I’d ask you to think on, Inspector,” said Eva. Hogarth turned his head. “Norman Peters was killed with Carl Renton’s tin in his pocket, and thee Uber pills, which were probably inside the tin. Carl Renton spent his whole life devoted to fighting drugs for his faith. What conclusions would you draw about his disappearance now?”

  Hogarth thrust his hands deep into his trouser pockets.

  “Maybe the same as you. But I still won’t go there yet. It’s far too early to say. The man’s not officially missing as yet.”

  “Not officially. But officially is just a word. Carl Renton has gone all the same.”

  “People aren’t always what they seem, Miss Roberts. Maybe Renton saw his chance to cash in and swiped the loot while your client was away buying some more shiny stuff over in Bahrain or whatever. Think about all of those US TV evangelists on the take. It does happen, doesn’t it? That’s the power of temptation.”

  “Carl Renton had been fighting temptation all his life.”

  “But the question is, did he win, Miss Roberts?”

  “In the end, I’m not so sure he did. But I don’t think he lost like that.”

  Hogarth caught her meaning and gave a nod.

  “If you’re right, we’ll soon find out. But I still don’t know what’s happened to your man’s treasure, do you?”

  Eva shook her head.

  “Makes you wonder about Renton, doesn’t it?”

  “Missing persons, thieves, and murder. That combination makes me think all kinds of things, Inspector.”

  “Join the club,” said Hogarth. He opened the glass front door to find Mark and Joanne hanging around like urchins on the street outside. Eva called Hogarth back once more. He poked his head in the door.

  “Have you heard back on the cause of death yet?” she asked.

  Hogarth shook his head. “Too early. But having his head smashed in might have had something to do with it.”

  “But there was no stab wound? No obvious cause.”

  “No. But the verdict will come soon enough. If you hear anything else, remember to share. Just like we agreed, eh?”

  Eva nodded. “That’s a two-way street.”

  Hogarth gave Eva a grim smile and shut the door behind him.

  “He’s such a nice guy,” said Dan. “I’ve missed him.”

  “I think he loves you too,” said Eva.

  “So what’s next?”

  “Hogarth was playing it cool about Renton going missing, but he’s too smart for that,” said Eva. “He sees what we see.”

  “Which is?”

  “It’s not definite. Either he fled with Clancy’s special things and went against everything he stood for, or...”

  “Or he became a victim because he got in the way once too often.”

  “I’d say.”

  “Which means?”

  “Which means we need to...” Eva’s mobile phone started buzzing. She paused, pulled the phone from her bag and checked the screen. Her face flickered and she thumbed the call reject button. “...which means we need to go and have a word with Joe. From what we know already, Renton was at the Clancy’s house not long before those things went missing. Hard as it seems, we can’t treat him with kid gloves forever. The police certainly won’t.”

  “Fine then,” said Dan. “We’ll speak to Joe Clancy.” His eyes dipped to Eva’s phone. “You ever gonna answer that call, by the way?”

  “What? Now’s not really the time, is it?”

  But put on the spot, Eva looked awkward.

  “You should just call her, Eva. Get it over with,” said Dan.

  “Call who?” said Mark.

  “Oh. No one. Just an old friend. She says she needs my help,” said Eva.

  “Then that’s a good reason to call,” said Dan. “It could mean another paying case. We could do with the business.”

  “It could mean any number of things
,” said Eva. “Including some I may not like.”

  “She’s asking for your help. Since when do you turn down a request for help?”

  Eva sighed. “This might have to be an exception.”

  “Do yourself a favour. Call her. It’ll only eat at you otherwise – you know I’m right.”

  “Not now,” said Eva, rising from her chair. “Come on. Let’s go and see if young Mr Clancy is accepting visitors yet.”

  “I should go with you. I know him best,” said Mark.

  “Not this time, Mark. You should both go home. We can start again fresh tomorrow.”

  Mark looked at Joanne and she nodded her head.

  “Come on, Mark. I can take a hint.”

  Eva smiled at them. “See you tomorrow.”

  Dan watched them go. He picked up his leather jacket from habit more than any need. It was after hours, but the day was still warm and bright.

  “Why did you send them home? Mark might be right. We could use him.”

  “Sometimes the hired help aren’t always good for getting things done. Besides, if I am going to call my old friend Lauren, the last thing I want is Joanne listening in. You know how much of a snoop she is.”

  “That I do. But she’s gone now. So call her,” said Dan.

  Eva picked up her jacket and bag. She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. But if I’m calling, you’re driving.”

  Dan picked up the keys to his blue Chrysler Crossfire and Eva locked the door behind them.

  They got into the two-seater and slammed the doors. Dan gunned the engine as Eva looked at her phone and hesitated. “You shouldn’t put it off any longer. Even if you don’t want to help her, you need to give her a chance to get help elsewhere.”

  “She didn’t give me any chance at all, Dan. She dropped me like a dead weight.”

  Eva didn’t like the sound of her own self-pitying words and it showed. Dan shot her a look across the driver’s seat.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll call her. But this isn’t going to be easy for me.”

  “It probably wasn’t for her.”

  Eva hit the ‘return call’ button and her phone started to dial. The Egomobile dived down the hill from Southchuch library and Dan’s old boxing club. By the time they reached the foot of the hill, the call connected.