Missing in Malmö: The third Inspector Anita Sundström mystery (Inspector Anita Sundström mysteries) (22 page)

‘Meet all sorts of people in that job, I should imagine,’ chimed in Ash, who had lit up the moment he took his seat next to Anita on the lime-green dralon sofa. Being surrounded by tobacco smoke made her fidgety. She just wanted to get on and find out what they could. This was not the time for small talk, but she could see that Vanessa liked the detective sergeant and was relaxing. She would have to let Ash lead the questioning.

‘Oh, yes. Fascinating. But not as interesting as some of the people you’ve come across, I’m sure,’ she giggled knowingly.

‘They certainly don’t smell as nice as your customers, and their idea of a facial is usually rearranging your nose. But that’s when I was working in Newcastle. They’re easier to handle in Cumbria.’ Vanessa gave an unladylike honking laugh.

‘I love the Geordies, don’t you? I was no stranger to Newcastle in the late Seventies. Used to get the train across and go to Scamps. On Waterloo Street. Goodness, there were some wild nights. Sorry,’ she said smiling sweetly at Ash, ‘can I get you something to drink? A cup of tea or maybe something stronger? I know it’s a bit early, but it’s my day off.’

‘I could murder a cuppa, please, Mrs Ridley.’

‘It’s Vanessa.’ Turning to Anita. ‘And you?’

‘The same would be fine.’

Anita was impressed at how easily Ash ingratiated himself with these women and had them eating out of his hand. She couldn’t see any of her male colleagues doing the same. Ash was able to turn on the empathy, so she was sure that if Vanessa knew anything, she would tell him.

Five minutes later, Vanessa returned with a tray with three bone china tea cups and saucers, and a plate with neatly arranged assorted biscuits.

‘I’m amazed you can do police work with them glasses,’ Vanessa remarked as she looked over the top of her tilted tea cup after taking her first sip. Ash couldn’t hide his smile. ‘Don’t they get in the way? You see, I have contact lenses. No one notices.’ As if to prove the point she stared widely at Anita.

‘I don’t have a problem. It helps me see whether I’m dealing with good people, bad people, or just stupid people.’

‘Let’s get down to business, Vanessa,’ Ash put in quickly before international co-operation vanished.

Anita’s retort had totally passed over Vanessa’s head. She turned her attention to Ash. Her flirty beam was a signal for him to proceed.

‘Graeme Todd visited you in the summer. What was the purpose of his visit?’

‘Carol. He was trying to find Carol. It was something to do with an old aunt of Carol’s who had died and left some money. I didn’t quite understand the ins and outs. I think he mentioned the Treasury.’

‘This is Carol Ridley? He was your late husband’s cousin?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you knew Carol through your husband?’

‘No. I knew Carol before I ever met John. I was at school with Carol. Best friends. Truth be told,’ she leant towards Ash confidentially, ‘I had the hots for Michael. Carol’s brother. Then the poor sod killed himself on his bike.’ She took a contemplative sip of her tea. ‘That’s probably why I ended up with John. He had a look of Michael, but without the sense of fun. I don’t think John ever approved of Michael. And he certainly didn’t approve of Carol. She was a bit of a goer.’ She gave Anita a sideways glance. ‘She probably doesn’t know what that means.’

‘It means she liked to fuck.’

Despite her bronzed complexion, Vanessa blanched, and she was temporarily lost for words.

Again Ash intervened quickly. ‘You used to knock around with Carol. Did she go on your trips to Newcastle?’

Vanessa still sounded stunned when she mouthed, ‘Yes.’

‘And did Carol marry?’ Ash prompted.

She regained her composure. ‘That caused a rumpus, that did. That’s where she met Nicky. Newcastle. Scamps.’

‘Why the rumpus?’

‘Well, Mr Ridley, the butcher, didn’t like Nicky. To be honest, he didn’t like his kids having a good time. Methodist family. Went a bit funny after Michael’s death. Seemed to blame Carol, though it had nothing to do with her. He got more disapproving and she got wilder. Nicky was the last straw. I don’t think they ever spoke after her engagement. Carol moved over to Newcastle and moved in with Nicky. I was the only one from Carlisle at the wedding. There were only four of us at the registry office. Carol, Nicky, a friend of his and me. Went to the Gosforth Park Hotel afterwards. Real champagne. I’d never had it before.’ She pulled a face. ‘And precious little since. My John wasn’t a boozer.’

‘Why was Nicky the last straw?’

Vanessa pursed her lips and a smile of reminiscence crossed her tanned face. ‘Nicky was beautiful. Mad as a hatter, of course. But so charming. He could charm the birds off the trees. He liked the good things in life. But he was only an art student and couldn’t afford them. That’s when he started to go bad. Thieving. Selling drugs. Didn’t touch them himself, but with all those students around Newcastle, there was a big market for that type of thing. He was doing so well, he dropped out of university. I didn’t see much of them after their marriage, though I kept in touch with Carol for a while. She was over there and I was in Carlisle. She got into different things. Like Nicky’s plinky-plonky jazz stuff. Music with no tune. What’s that all about? Nicky was nuts on that rubbish. Obsessed. I was more into Elton John. ABBA, of course.’ She flashed her perfume-counter smile at Anita. ‘Your lot. I’ve seen
Mamma Mia
three times at the theatre and seven times at the cinema. I’ve got the DVD too. They give you tunes.’

‘And then?’ encouraged Ash, who could see that Vanessa was only too happy to go off at tangents. Goodness knows what her customers had to put up with.

‘Anyway, my social life changed and I started going out with John. We got married and eventually we moved down here.’

‘What was Carol’s married name?’

‘Pew. She became Carol Pew.’

Anita noticed Ash tense.

‘Pugh? P U G H?’

‘No, P E W.’

Ash went quiet. Then he nodded his head at Anita. He obviously wanted her to carry on.

‘Do you know what happened to Carol and Nicky?’ Anita asked.

‘Nothing good. I don’t know what he was up to, but I heard they split up. He left the country for some reason. Escaping the law, no doubt. I think Carol got a divorce. Then she disappeared.’

‘But you heard from her again?’

‘That’s right. I got a postcard out of the blue. It was weird. From Sweden of all places.’

‘Do you still have it?’

Vanessa shook her head gravely. ‘Sorry. Gave it to Graeme Todd.’

Anita felt deflated. She glanced at Ash, who seemed to be consumed by his own thoughts. Anita couldn’t help being annoyed. He should be more involved.

‘What did Carol say on the postcard?’

‘That she was fine. Starting a new life there. Not to worry about her. That was it. No address or anything, so I couldn’t get back to her. Maybe that’s the way she wanted it. Maybe she was just embarrassed by the whole Nicky thing. Fresh start. I don’t mean to be rude, but why the hell would you want to live in Sweden?’

‘We’ve got ABBA.’

‘Fair point, but I wouldn’t want to sit in a snowdrift for nine months of the year.’

Anita couldn’t be bothered to contradict her.

‘Can you remember what the card was of? The picture.’

‘I can, actually. A whole lot of old stones. I thought it was a strange thing to send.’

‘Old stones?’

‘Yeah. Just sticking out of the ground.’

‘In a circle?’ Anita’s mind was quickly indexing all the ancient stone circles which were well-known enough to be on a postcard.

‘No, it wasn’t in a circle.’ Vanessa pondered for a moment. ‘I know. It was like a boat.’

Anita felt that little tingle of excitement in the pit of her stomach that she got when she stumbled across something really significant in a case.

‘I know exactly where that is.’

CHAPTER 32

Anita and Ash were sitting on a bench in the park on Fort Royal Hill overlooking Worcester Cathedral. The dark clouds were thickening and the Malvern Hills had disappeared in a bank of rain that seemed to be heading across the plain towards the city. They were on part of the site of the Battle of Worcester of 1651, in which Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians defeated a young Charles II and his Scottish allies during the English Civil War. Anita was also in a fighting mood by the time they had left Vanessa Ridley’s home. Why had Ash gone AWOL half way through their interview?

‘At least we know the area that Carol Ridley, sorry Pew, lives in. It all fits with Graeme Todd going to Skåne. The stone ship is a place called Ales Stenar.’

Ash didn’t answer.

‘I suppose it’s our equivalent of Stonehenge, but not as old and a lot smaller. There must be about sixty upright stones that are arranged like a Viking ship on a flat-topped hill overlooking the Baltic. It was some place of worship and sacrifice.’ Still no reaction. ‘The point is,’ she said tetchily, ‘it’s near a place called Ystad. And that’s where Graeme Todd was last seen alive.’

Ash pulled out his packet of cigarettes. He silently offered it to Anita. She huffily refused. He slowly took one out himself and popped it in his mouth, but didn’t attempt to get out his lighter.

‘At least we got that out of her.’ Anita couldn’t keep the increasing irritation out of her voice.

At last Ash took out his lighter, flicked it on and drew on his cigarette. His gaze was fixed on the cathedral tower as his exhalation of smoke whorled in its direction. ‘We got a lot more than that, Inspector.’

Anita stared at him in surprise. They’d established the name of the husband and Vanessa’s youthful friendship with Carol, but what else was there?

‘It’s not Carol that struck a chord, but her husband.’

‘Pew. As in the church pew.’

‘Nicky Pew.’

‘You know of him?’

‘Oh, yes. He was involved in a famous case back in the North East.’

‘Were you on it?’

‘No. Just before my time. A year before I joined Northumbria Police. But people were still full of the tale.’

‘I think I will have a cigarette. Then you’d better tell me.’

They were both smoking when Ash started.

‘Nicky Pew was a flash local villain. Very charming and very dangerous, just as Vanessa said back there. Lived the high life in Darras Hall. That’s a posh ghetto outside Newcastle, near the airport. He did all sorts of things, but well-planned robberies were his
forte
. He had a gang who carried out the raids. The clever bit was that he never did a job on his home turf. So the local cops never had a reason to pick him up. Police all over the country were chasing shadows. He did a job in Essex when I was down there. A fancy jeweller’s in Chelmsford. But no one could ever prove it or find evidence. His house was searched a number of times; and those of his associates. Never found anything. He was too smart. Behind the bonhomie, he was ruthless. Apparently, one of his gang fell foul of him and disappeared. They reckon the bloke is somewhere out in the North Sea.’

Ash took out a second cigarette before continuing. The sky was now almost black above the cathedral.

‘Then he broke his criminal pattern and pulled off a local job. A consortium of jewellers was buying a large consignment of diamonds from Amsterdam dealers. They were to be brought in by ship to North Shields and handed over to a representative of the consortium. It took place at night so as not to attract attention. Anyhow, Nicky Pew somehow got wind of it and must have thought it was too good an opportunity to miss. But something went wrong on the night and a security guard got shot.’

‘So he was now a murderer.’

Ash gave a grim smile. ‘Well, at least a murder that could be proved. Of course, he had to get out. Fled the country.’

Big, fat raindrops began to plop. Ash looked up. ‘Better get back.’

They stood up and made their way as quickly as possible to his Honda. By the time they reached the car, they were both soaked. As they sat inside, the rain streamed down the windscreen and the view in front of them was obscured. Anita took her glasses off and began to wipe them dry.

‘You should take them off more often,’ Ash commented.

She ignored him and put them back on firmly. ‘So, you think that Graeme Todd tracked down Nicky Pew through Carol?’

‘Not that simple.’

‘Why?’

‘Nicky Pew died in 1994.’

Ash brought over a pint for himself and an orange juice for Anita. They were in a pub on London Road. Ash had said that he was buggered if he was going to drive all the way back in the torrential rain. Anita knew it was just an excuse to have a drink. She was quite happy to comply, as they had a lot to absorb after their chat with Vanessa Ridley.

‘Thank you,’ Anita said as he put her drink down on the stained beer mat.

‘My pleasure, Inspector.’

‘It’s Anita. You can call me Anita.’

He gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. ‘That’s better. I didn’t want to upset a female colleague, especially a visitor to our shores. And it’s Kevin.’

They virtually had the bar to themselves, as the rain was keeping customers away. Just one regular, who had obviously been in position long before the heavens opened.

‘Why did you go quiet in there?’

‘Well, because Nicky Pew’s name came up. I knew it rang a bell.’

‘That wasn’t all, though.’

Ash screwed up his eyes as he faced Anita across the table. ‘You’re not just a pretty face. A very pretty face, if that’s not an unacceptable thing to say to a female officer.’

‘It is. Back home you’d be halfway to a gender appropriateness course by now.’ She grimaced. ‘But, as you’ve just bought me a drink and I’ve taken one of your cigarettes, I’ll let it pass.’

Ash pushed his seat back from the table and stretched wearily. He settled back before he spoke. His voice was quiet. ‘The other thing. There was a detective who made his name on the Pew case. It’s not one that I want anything to do with, but we’ve no choice.’

Anita looked at Ash enquiringly. ‘Roller?’

‘’Fraid so.’

‘Well, you’ve got to be totally professional about it. Put your feelings aside.’

Ash toyed with his pint glass. ‘If I’d found someone else since... you know, Leanne, it might be different. But no one has come along.’ Then he snorted. ‘Pathetic, isn’t it?’