Bad Blood (21 page)

‘Your dad got involved with something illegal,’ Savage said. ‘We suspect it was his undoing.’

‘What?’ Vanessa spluttered through a mouthful of coke and then coughed a couple of times. ‘You’re saying …’

‘We’d like to know more about what went on at Tamar, what
still
might be going on at Tamar. You hung around there a lot, didn’t you? Messed around on the boats, sometimes went out on them? I gather you were learning the ropes, charts and tides and all that stuff. Good idea. Maybe you’ll be able to take on the business some day. Only, before you do, you might want to check that everything at Tamar is legal.’

‘Are you talking drugs?’

‘I don’t know, Vanessa, are we?’

‘This is a game, isn’t it?’ Vanessa started to shake her head. Laughed. ‘Like on TV. Good cop, bad cop, riddles and you guys talking round and round until you trip me up and I tell you something I didn’t mean to.’

‘Like what, Vanessa?’

‘No, no fucking way! Here,’ Vanessa stood up and lobbed the open can of coke at Enders who caught it the wrong way up. Cola splattered out onto the table and into Enders’ lap before he could turn the can upright. ‘Any more lovey-dovey matey stuff and I’ll say you tried to touch me. I am not opening my mouth again without an appropriate adult and a solicitor.’

She didn’t. For the next twenty minutes Vanessa sat half-turned away from them and stayed silent. First Savage, then Enders, and then both of them tried to get through to her. Nothing. They adjourned to the corridor, Savage flicking her business card down on the table in front of the girl before she left the room.

‘That worked well, ma’am.’ Enders said.

‘Very funny. I thought we were getting through to her for a moment.’

‘The tears?’

‘Bloody fools we are. I’ll get her released and break the news to Hardin.’

Savage went back into the room and told Vanessa they were going to let her off with a verbal warning. The girl shrugged her shoulders and stared at the floor. Savage left her moping and went to find the custody officer. Afterwards, a call came through for her and ten minutes later when she returned to bid Vanessa goodbye the girl had already left. A pool of cola dribbling over the edge of the tabletop had yet to be cleared up, but Savage’s business card was gone.

Riley had been dreaming of Julie Meadows. They’d spent the afternoon on the beach lazing around. A swim, a couple of drinks and then back to the hotel room to make love. He’d lain down on the bed and she’d climbed on top, easing him inside. Then she’d ridden him, the intensity increasing until she’d cried out. ‘Darius!’

He stirred. The voice wasn’t Julie’s. The tone was gruff and low. Menacing. Whoever it was spoke again.

‘Darius Riley my old mucker. Or should I say fucker, eh?’

Riley brushed the straw away from his face and sat up. A short, squat man stood in the doorway. Thick neck, bald, a scar running down past his right temple. Teeth grinning with a flash of gold. Pumpkin head.

‘Ricky Budgeon.’ Riley noted a piece of wood in Budgeon’s hand. A pickaxe handle, sans axe. He inched backwards, bringing himself to his knees.

‘That’s right my lover. Sticky Ricky Budgeon. Just can’t get rid of him, can you?’ Budgeon moved into the room, the tall man now visible behind. ‘Don’t mind Stuey, he’s in a good mood right now. Apologises for all that bad language earlier.’

‘Ricky,’ Riley said. ‘It’s been a while.’

‘Yeah. A while. Not much longer to wait though. All be over soon.’

‘Come on, Ricky. We can work something out.’

‘Hey?’ Budgeon moved into the room. ‘Work something out? You screw my girl, shaft me up the backside and you think we can work something out? Bloody comedian. Only I’m not laughing.’

‘Ricky, it wasn’t—’

‘Yes it fucking was!’ Budgeon raised the piece of wood and jumped forwards. Riley put his arm up to defend himself as Budgeon swung, and the wood smacked into his forearm, knocking him off balance. The pain jabbed up to his shoulder and he collapsed in the straw.

‘The thing is,’ Budgeon said as he stood over him, the veins bulging from his neck. He put a finger to his forehead and tapped twice. ‘I might be thick as a plank, but I’m like an elephant up here. I never, ever forget. And that means you’re history, pal. Dead. Understand?’

‘For God’s sake, Ricky. Think about what you’re doing. You kill a cop and they’ll be all over you. You’ll never get away with it.’

‘What do you think, Stuey?’ Budgeon half turned towards the door. ‘You worried about a few country plods?’

‘Never, Ricky. Not from what I’ve seen so far.’

‘No, and neither am I.’ Budgeon prodded Riley with the lump of wood. ‘There’s a few things we need to know from you, but I’m going to leave off until tomorrow. If I get involved right now I’ll get too emotional. But don’t worry, we’ll have a chance to chat again later. And I can tell you I’m going to enjoy that very much.’

Budgeon moved away and brushed past Stuey.

‘Be seeing ya, mate,’ Stuey said, winking as he pulled the door closed. ‘Soon. Very soon.’

At a little after nine Monday morning, Savage met Hardin in the car park at Crownhill for the journey to Exeter for Savage’s Standards interview.

‘Late is not a good idea,’ he said, as Savage climbed into his car. ‘Not for this appointment.’

Hardin’s Jaguar ate up the miles between Plymouth and Exeter and all-too-soon they’d arrived at force HQ, Hardin entering the meeting first to present his evidence and personal recommendations. Savage sat in an anteroom staring at pictures of past Chief Constables and watching the clock on the wall tick its way through the minutes. After an hour or so a PA asked Savage to go in.

The room for the interview had been chosen with intimidation in mind, and Savage’s footsteps echoed as she strode across a huge empty space towards her inquisitors at the far end. They sat on the long side of a large table, their papers spread across the glossy surface, jugs of water positioned within easy reach and a plate of biscuits too. A single chair stood a few feet in front of the main table, with a small side table alongside. A glass of water stood on the side table, but no biscuits. If a sword had been resting on the main table Savage wouldn’t have been surprised because the scene resembled a military court martial, an event which Pete had once described to her.

Hardin sat at the far end of the table and he gave her a thin smile as she walked in. He wouldn’t be involved any further and unless invited he would remain silent throughout the proceedings.

‘DI Savage, please take a seat.’ The woman in the centre introduced herself as Assistant Chief Constable Maria Heldon and her two colleagues as Chief Superintendent Graham Downside and Detective Chief Inspector Ray Ford.

Heldon and Ford were with Devon and Cornwall police and based at force HQ in Exeter, Heldon being the Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for the Professional Standards Department. Downside came from the neighbouring force: Avon and Somerset. He was present to ensure the other two didn’t whitewash the tribunal. Savage didn’t think he needed to have bothered coming because Heldon had a reputation as a very tough officer. Hatchet Heldon was a moniker which had stuck, partly because of her thin face with its billhook-like nose, but also because whenever she caught a sniff of trouble she would come down hard. Loyalty to fellow officers wouldn’t stand in the way of the rulebook. The reference to her looks was unfair, because she was an attractive woman in her fifties, with high cheekbones and penetrating eyes. If you discounted the nose.

DCI Ford was cut from the same chunk of caveman rock as Davies, and Savage reckoned he’d be the only one on her side from the start. There would be a problem because she was a woman, but he’d put his prejudice to one side if he thought she was a good copper.

Downside was another matter. Clean-cut and immaculately turned out, he’d want to appear impartial to begin with, but in the end he’d go with the ACC so that news of his cooperation would filter back to his superiors in his own force.

‘At the outset,’ Heldon began, ‘we want to say that your valued role in the detection and apprehension of the killer Matthew Harrison is not in doubt. Your quick thinking at Harrison’s cottage saved a young girl’s life and your work in tracking Harrison down may well have saved other girls from a similar fate as the one which befell Kelly Donal and Simone Ashton.’

‘Thank you, ma’am.’ Savage said. ‘I only did my—’

‘However, today we are concerning ourselves only with the incident which took place not far from your house at Bovisand, just outside Plymouth. I am sure you will agree we must judge your actions that night on their own merits, without regard to your earlier heroism.’

Savage nodded.

‘Now, the PSD report found you left the scene of the car crash in which Harrison was killed before any other units arrived. That is a serious offence for a member of the public, but for a police officer it is grave.’

‘My children. I had to get back to them. Harrison had been at my house and—’

‘We are aware of the so-called extenuating circumstances you put forth in your defence, but you must surely had thought of the consequences of leaving the burning car. When the fire brigade arrived the vehicle had already exploded. Had any members of the public been around they might have been seriously injured or killed. And then there is the matter of Harrison. You said in your statement he was dead when you looked into the car, but did you check? Did you take his pulse? Did you consider removing him from the car so you could try resuscitation? You had a duty of care to him and you failed to deliver.’

‘Duty of care?’ Savage shook her head, not quite believing what she was hearing. ‘For God’s sake he was a bloody serial killer. He’d killed two young girls and brutally raped a third. If we hadn’t turned up at his cottage he would have killed her too. After he escaped from the cottage he broke into my house and attempted to kidnap my daughter. If he’d succeeded he would have raped and murdered her as well.’

‘As I said, we are aware of the extenuating circumstances and we—’

‘Extenuating fucking circumstances?’ Savage said, aware she was losing control of herself. ‘You make them sound like something I need to put down in a form somewhere, tick a couple of boxes alongside and sign my name at the bottom. The case involved abduction, rape and serial murder. Real-world policing you don’t appear to know a thing about.’

‘Charlotte?’ Hardin. Concerned. Right hand twitching on the table as if he needed his mouse. ‘I think ACC Heldon is just trying to cover all the angles. To ensure there’s nothing that has been left out. Do you understand what I am saying?’

‘Thank you, Conrad,’ Heldon said. ‘We want to be positive the threads are all tied up, to make sure there are no issues which might come back to bite us in the future.’

‘What could come back to bite us? Do you think anybody cares Harrison died in that car crash? Don’t you remember the headlines afterwards?’

Heldon turned to Ford. ‘Ray?’

‘If I recall, the best one was the
Sun
’s “Better Fried Than Tried” banner,’ Ford said, the beginning of a smile indicating he, at least, was being won over by Savage’s performance. ‘They were just echoing the public’s reaction though. I think there was some concern that had Harrison lived he would have been able to get away with pleading diminished responsibility on account of the abuse he suffered as a child.’

‘That’s as maybe,’ Heldon said, ‘but we are not here to pander to the mores of the masses, we are here to uphold the law. If we followed the guidance of the popular press we would allow vigilantes to roam the streets. The consequence of which would be sex offenders swinging from every lamp post.’

‘And that would be anarchy.’ Downside spoke for the first time. ‘Don’t you agree, DI Savage?’

Before Savage had time to answer, Heldon was bringing up a previous incident, citing it to show this was not the first time she had acted irresponsibly.

‘You arrived at a scene where DI Phillip Davies was in command. Armed officers were covering a property and you entered, despite DI Davies telling you not to.’ A smile spread across Heldon’s face, glee evident. ‘I can only assume you like disregarding the rules, but I can tell you if you do so again I will kick you down the ranks so
fucking
fast you will wish you were wearing a parachute.’ She turned to Downside. ‘Anything else?’

‘I think I would like to hear DI Savage tell us in a few words about the crash. Just so we can hear the account from her own mouth.’

‘I submitted a written statement,’ Savage said. ‘I spent hours being interviewed. Everything is in—’

‘Nevertheless …’

Savage sighed. ‘OK. Harrison was at my house. He had overpowered Stefan – he is my childminder – and when I entered the house he overpowered me too. He tried to kidnap my daughter, but I was able to get free and he drove off. I followed him in my car. It was night-time and Harrison didn’t know the roads around my place. After a few miles he came to the bottom of a hill where there was a humpback bridge. His vehicle flipped upside down. I went to see if I could get him out of the car but he was already dead. I assumed he had broken his neck. Part of the car was on fire and I saw he had a can of petrol in the back. I retreated to a safe distance and the car exploded. After that all I wanted to do was get back to my children.’

‘But he might not have been dead,’ Heldon said. ‘The pathologist didn’t have much to go on because Harrison’s body was so badly burnt, but the post-mortem concluded he hadn’t broken his neck. In fact there were no broken bones at all. The airbag had protected him from serious skeletal injury. The pathologist said if it hadn’t been for your statement there would be no way of concluding anything other than that Harrison burnt to death. If he
was
alive, then his death was something you should have tried to prevent.’

Savage said nothing. The three officers across the table stared at her. Hardin was looking at the ceiling.

‘DI Savage, I want you to think carefully before you answer my next question.’ Heldon leaned forwards and placed both hands flat on the table. ‘Are you sure Matthew Harrison was dead when you left the scene of the crash?’