A Killing Resurrected (35 page)

‘Then what, Sharon?' Molly asked. The friendly tone was gone. ‘What are you afraid of? Or perhaps I should say,
who
are you afraid of, Sharon? Could it be this person?' She took a mobile phone from her handbag and held it up for Sharon to see. ‘The person you rang last Saturday morning, using this phone?'

‘That's my phone! You've no right. That's got nothing to do with this.'

‘Then explain it to me, Sharon. Tell me why you rang this number. Is this the man you told me about? The one you say was fondling you during the robbery? What do you think he will say when I ask him?'

‘No!' Colour drained from Sharon's face. ‘Oh, God, Molly, you mustn't. He'll . . .' Her voice broke and tears spilled down her face as she began to sob.

‘He'll what, Sharon? Come back and finish the job? Is that what you want? Because if you don't tell me the truth, that's what could happen. You tried to blackmail him, didn't you? But why in heaven's name did you tell him where you lived?'

‘I didn't,' Sharon wailed, wincing at the word ‘blackmail'. ‘And it wasn't like that. I just asked him to help me out; tide me over like until I could get another job.'

‘Tell me exactly what you said to him,' Molly said. ‘From the beginning. What did you say when he answered the phone?'

Sharon blew her nose and brushed away the tears with the back of her hand. ‘I told him who I was and asked him if he remembered me, and I started to ask if he could help me out, but he cut me off sharp like, and said he didn't know what I was talking about. I was afraid he was going to hang up, so I reminded him about the robbery and him whispering to me. He said he didn't know anything about any robbery, but he remembered me from the parties me and Rachel used to go to, and he said he was sorry to hear I'd lost my job, and he'd like to help me for old times' sake. To tell the truth, Molly, he was so nice about it I began to wonder if I
had
got it wrong after all these years, and he wasn't the one. He sounded like he really cared and wanted to help.'

‘And he suggested that you meet?'

‘That's right. So I told him I'd meet him that night at eleven o'clock in the Green Man in Box Lane, because they stay open late. I thought it would be all right, because there would be lots of people around, but he must have found out where I lived somehow, because he came to the back door. I thought it was Vi or one of the neighbours, so I opened it, and the next thing I knew he was inside and beating the shit out of me.'

‘But you got a good look at him?'

Sharon snorted. ‘Didn't have much chance, did I?' she said. ‘He punched me in the face as soon as I opened the door. Besides, he was wearing this stocking mask thing over his face so his nose was sort of squashed and you couldn't really tell who it was, but I'm sure it was him.' Sharon winced at the memory. ‘He kept hitting me, punching me, and kicking me when I went down, and he had his hands around my neck and I couldn't breathe, and that's all I remember until I found myself in here, and that's God's truth.'

‘When was the last time you saw this man face to face? Before the other night, I mean.'

Sharon pushed out her lower lip. ‘Don't know as I've seen him since before the pub was robbed.'

‘And you didn't actually see him the night the pub was robbed, did you? So what you are telling me is that you couldn't possibly identify this man in court, right?'

Sharon seemed to shrink beneath the covers as she shook her head. ‘Suppose not if you put it that way,' she said in a small voice. ‘But it had to be him, didn't it?'

Molly sighed. ‘That may be true,' she said, ‘but that argument isn't going to fly in court. What about his voice? Did he say anything? Could you identify him by his voice or by what he said?'

Sharon shook her head. ‘Never said a word. Just sort of grunted every time he hit me, but who else could it be, for Christ's sake? It had to be him, Molly. It had to be.' Tears welled up again and spilled over.

‘I'm sorry, Sharon, but from what you've told me, there isn't a shred of hard evidence to connect this man to the one who beat you up. But tell me, how did you pick on him in the first place? Have you always known or suspected? Or did it trigger a memory when I first came to the house to question you last week?'

‘I kept thinking about it after you'd gone and suddenly it just came to me, clear as anything. I was going to tell you, honestly, but when I lost my job I thought maybe I could get some money from him. Like I said, I wasn't asking for much; just a couple of hundred to tide me over.'

‘Oh, Sharon,' Molly said sadly, ‘did it not occur to you that you were dealing with a man who may have been responsible for at least two brutal murders, and possibly more than that?'

Shock widened Sharon's eyes. ‘Oh, God!' she breathed. ‘I never thought of that. I was just thinking of the night when they robbed the pub.'

‘Seems to me there was a lot you didn't think about,' said Molly grimly, ‘but it's too late to do anything about that now.'

Sharon struggled to sit upright in bed. ‘But you have to arrest him' she said earnestly. ‘I know it was him. For Christ's sake, Molly, I need protection; he could come after me again. I mean if Al could get in here past everyone, so can he. For God's sake, Molly, help me. Please, please help me . . . You can't leave me here like this.'

‘All right, all right,' said Molly wearily. The pretence had gone on long enough. ‘You aren't alone, Sharon. Constable Borden is outside. I told her to stay out there until I was finished here. She'll be staying with you, so you can settle down. But you are not out of the woods yourself, you know. You've withheld vital evidence, you lied about who attacked you, you had us arrest your husband for something you knew he didn't do, and you attempted to blackmail someone, and that's an offence regardless of what that person may or may not have done.'

Molly moved towards the door. ‘So think about that,' she said quietly, ‘and if you remember
anything
that might help us put this man away, for heaven's sake tell us at once.'

Outside in the hallway, WPC Borden quickly snuffed out the cigarette cupped in her hand. ‘I heard that,' she said quietly. ‘Do you really know who this bloke is?'

Molly nodded. ‘But proving it is something else. Sharon may be sure she knows who attacked her, and I'm sure she's right, but unless Forensic comes up with something more than they have so far, we have no case.'

On her return to Charter Lane, Molly sought out Tregalles, and the two of them sat down to compare notes. ‘It had to be Chadwell who attacked her,' Molly concluded. ‘I mean she told the man who she was, and it wouldn't be all that hard for him to find out where she lived. And since Chadwell was also one of the people Roger Corbett rang not long before he was killed, it suggests to me that Sharon is right, and he was one of the gang responsible for the robberies and the killing of George Taylor and Emily Bergman.'

Tregalles agreed. ‘And I think Roger Corbett was also part of that gang,' he said. ‘David Taylor told me that Corbett had been going great guns in university until shortly after he went back in September that year, and then he suddenly dropped out and left Broadminster. Taylor said Corbett had changed when he returned a couple of years later. So much so that he'd wondered if Corbett might be seriously ill.

‘I think Corbett was there when the killings took place. He may not have done the actual killing himself, but I think it affected him, and the guilt was so great he couldn't handle it. Then, when the case came up again, and Paget questioned him, he came close to cracking. He panicked, and started calling for help. Unfortunately, instead of help, someone decided they couldn't take the risk of him folding under pressure, so they killed him.

‘And right now, it looks to me as if that someone could be John Chadwell, except he couldn't have killed Corbett himself, because he was only gone from home for roughly half an hour. Chadwell told me he didn't leave home until half past five, and the barman at the Unicorn remembers Chadwell coming in to look for Corbett about an hour after the man had left, so it looks as if Chadwell can be ruled out. But that's not to say he didn't have someone else do it.

‘The trouble is,' the Sergeant continued as he pocketed his notebook and stood up, ‘all we really have against the man is Mrs Jessop's word, and after having her husband charged with beating her up, then changing her story and saying it was Chadwell, her word is worthless, so let's have another go at Chadwell and see what he was to say for himself.'

‘Mr Chadwell?' The girl at the desk looked at the clock then back at Tregalles. ‘Sorry,' she said, ‘but you've just missed him. He always goes for his lunch at half twelve. But he'll be back at half past one. Very punctual is Mr Chadwell.'

‘Do you know where he has his lunch?'

‘Probably feeding the ducks by the pond in the park,' the girl said with a nod in the direction of Mortimer Park on the far side of the building. ‘But he doesn't like to be disturbed while he's having his lunch,' she added hastily when Tregalles thanked her and began to move away.

‘Wouldn't dream of it,' Tregalles assured her solemnly as he and Molly made for the door.

They found Chadwell sitting on a bench under the trees at the edge of the pond, surrounded by squabbling ducks vying for position as he tossed out chunks of bread. He had the bench to himself, and he was clearly annoyed when the two detectives shooed away some of the birds and sat down beside him.

‘Very pleasant out here,' Tregalles said amiably as he sat back and took in the scene. ‘Enjoy feeding the ducks, do you?'

‘I did,' Chadwell said pointedly, ‘and I prefer their company to yours, if you don't mind.'

‘Oh, but we do mind, Mr Chadwell,' Tregalles told him. ‘I don't think you've met my colleague, Detective Constable Forsythe, have you?' he continued as Molly held up her warrant card for inspection. ‘But she has a few questions for you.'

‘Then I suggest she make an appointment and let me get on with my lunch,' Chadwell said roughly without so much as turning his head to look at Molly or the proffered card. Hunched forward, he reached into a paper bag and tossed out a handful of bread to the impatient birds.

‘On the other hand,' Tregalles said, ‘if you don't wish to cooperate with us here, we could do this down at Charter Lane. It's your choice, Mr Chadwell, but I can assure you it will be one or the other.'

Chadwell grunted. ‘So what is it this time?' he demanded. ‘More silly questions about how tall I am or what sort of car I drive?'

With a nod from Tregalles, it was Molly who answered. ‘You received a phone call at nine forty-two last Saturday morning,' she said. ‘A call from a woman who identified herself as an old acquaintance of yours, and she asked you for money. Isn't that right, Mr Chadwell?'

The man sat back on the bench and turned to look at Molly for the first time. ‘Monitoring my phone calls, now, are you?' he asked, then turned to Tregalles. ‘Isn't that illegal, Sergeant?'

‘Mobile phone calls are recorded, as I'm sure you know,' said Molly. ‘What exactly did the woman say, and what did she want?'

Chadwell snorted. ‘You just said it yourself,' he said. ‘She wanted money. In fact it is she you should be talking to, because she tried to blackmail me with some outlandish story about a robbery. Claimed she knew I was one of a gang, and if I didn't pay up she was going to go to the police with the information. Never heard such a load of rubbish in my life.'

‘I take it you're telling us that you were
not
a member of the gang who robbed the pub back then?' said Molly.

‘Of course I wasn't,' Chadwell snapped impatiently.

‘So why do you think she picked on you? She must have had a reason.'

‘Oh, for God's sake, how the hell should I know?' Chadwell said irritably. ‘Why don't you go and ask her?' He shook the last of the bread out of the bag and tossed it to the birds. ‘It was such a pitiful attempt at blackmail,' he continued in a slightly less belligerent tone, ‘because I recognized who she was almost from the start. I couldn't remember her name, but she gave herself away almost immediately, and I remembered she was the daughter of the landlord of the Rose and Crown, and a girl I knew briefly back in my university days. Saucy little thing she was then; turned up at just about every party we ever had. Feed her a few drinks and she was yours for the night. Used to come with another girl; can't remember her name, but she was a nice kid, completely out of her depth. Never did know what happened to either of them.'

‘What was your reaction to her demands?'

Chadwell looked surprised. ‘Same as yours would be, I expect, if someone phoned you out of the blue and accused you of something like that,' he said. ‘I was mad as hell! At least I was until I realized who she was, and that she had to be pretty desperate to try a stupid stunt like that. I mean it was such a pitiful attempt that I couldn't take her seriously. She never was particularly bright when I knew her, but then we weren't exactly looking for brains in those days. So I was curious to find out how desperate she was for money, and see what she was prepared to do for me if I did decide to help her out. So I said I would meet her in the Green Man Saturday night at eleven o'clock, but she never came. Got cold feet, I expect. I waited half an hour past the time, then went home. Haven't heard from her since.'

‘Was that your suggestion or hers? The Green Man, I mean.'

‘It was hers.'

‘And what would you have done if she had shown up?'

‘I honestly don't know. As I said, I was curious. I suppose it would have depended on what she had to say when she got there. Anyway, how did you get on to this? Get caught trying it on someone else, did she?'