On A Dark Sea (The DCI Dani Bevan Detective Novels Book 2) (9 page)

Chapter Seventeen

T
he car hadn’t returned, as far as Bill could tell. He tried to ring DCI Bevan at her office to give her the registration number to run a check, but was told she was out of the country on an investigation. He and Joy assumed it must be related to a new lead in the Maisie Riddell case. Bill wondered if she’d gone to Norway, as that was where the father now lived. There’d certainly been no more mention of the girl on the news. Soon she would become just another forgotten teenage runaway, unless the police found a body, of course.

              Over breakfast, Bill recalled another detective that Bevan had often talked about, he had to look after his daughters and remained in Glasgow if his colleagues were following a lead which took them out of town. He knew Andy Calder would be with his boss, but he considered giving this Sergeant Boag a try. Once he’d filled the dishwasher, Bill retrieved the Pitt Street number and called the switchboard once again. This time, he was transferred to the Serious Crime Division. It was Phil Boag himself who answered. The Detective Sergeant appeared to have heard of Bill and he patiently listened to his account of the mysterious car parked opposite their house overnight.

              ‘Do you have any reason to believe someone might wish to cause you or your wife harm?’

              Bill hesitated for a moment. ‘Well, I’ve been doing a little digging into the Stonehaven murder case. DCI Bevan may have mentioned that I have an interest in it. Perhaps my actions have been noted by somebody.’

              Phil sighed. ‘If you give me the registration of the car I’ll run it through the system. My guess is it could be the eastern division. If you’ve been poking around their case you might find you’ve been put on a suspect list. It would be a good idea for me to have a word with them anyway, so they don’t waste time and money on surveillance. I’m sure DCI Bevan has already told you this, Bill, but you really must steer clear of police matters.’

              ‘She did say something to that effect, yes. Could you just let me know what you manage to find out about the vehicle, Sergeant Boag? Then I promise that will be an end to it.’

*

Dieter Karlsen was waiting for the Scottish detectives when they returned to their hotel. He asked if they would like to have a drink with him in the bar. They chose a semi-circular booth by the tall windows, beyond which was nothing but blackness.

              ‘How was Aron?’ Dieter enquired, eyeing Dani over the top of his beer.

              ‘He wasn’t overjoyed about having to discuss the incident again, but he was very helpful. He seems like a decent guy.’

              ‘Aron has always been a very good boss to Sofie. She admires him and feels privileged to play a part in his work.’

              Andy polished off his bottle of lager and stood up. ‘I’m going to my room, Ma’am. I promised to call Carol before eight.’

              ‘Of course,’ Dani responded quickly. ‘I’ll see you at breakfast.’

              When Andy had gone, the Norwegian asked, ‘is your husband a policeman too?’

              Dani smiled. ‘I’m not married. I have a partner who is also a detective, but the situation is complicated. We don’t get to see one another very often.’

              Dieter nodded. ‘It is always complicated for us. Sofie doesn’t always understand my job and she feels I don’t show enough interest in hers.’

              ‘Do you have children?’ Dani took a sip of her mineral water, trying to assess the man’s mood.

              ‘Yes. Our son is fourteen. His name is Christof.’ Dieter ran a hand down his thigh. ‘I apologise for not mentioning the Holm case sooner. Magda had said we should, but I felt it wasn’t connected to the Riddells.’

              ‘I think you’re probably right,’ was all Dani replied, not wishing to sour relations with their Norwegian hosts. They would get nowhere with the investigation without the assistance of the local bureau.

              ‘You suggested that your wife had received threats before. Do you know which groups sent them to her?’

              Dieter threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat. ‘We have received some at home, but not for at least a year. I have them all tested for fingerprints and handwriting. We’ve never been able to find out who sent them.’

              ‘It seems strange, as Holm told us his research will mean there is no need to drill in the Arctic. I would have thought his department would be heroes to the environmentalists.’

              Dieter grimaced. ‘Groups like Greenpeace and Save the Oceans understand the complexities of the situation. The smaller pressure groups simply get hold of a list of names and addresses and fire out hate mail. The internet has been a Godsend to them. Before now, we had never seen these people as a threat, just an irritant. I’m still not sure they are.’

              Dani edged forward, as an idea came to her. ‘Was your wife at the restaurant on the night that Aron Holm was attacked?’

              ‘Yes, she was. We interviewed everyone who’d attended the meal. Nobody saw what happened after Aron left.’

              Bevan nodded, slowly considering this. ‘Could I take a look at the statements in the morning? Perhaps Magda would translate them for me?’

              ‘Of course, although I’m not sure what you hope to find.’ Within an instant, the detective had shifted around the bench so that their thighs were touching. At this close proximity Dani could feel the warmth from his beery breath on her cheek.

              The movement was enough to give the DCI a warning of what was to come. She shifted her jacket onto her lap and slid away from him fractionally, stiffening her posture.

              ‘Okay, I get the message,’ he said quietly, standing up to leave. Dieter paused for a moment and then leant down to place a soft, stubbly kiss on her lips. He straightened back up and walked out of the hotel, leaving Dani totally bemused and with her heart pounding fiercely inside her chest.

Chapter Eighteen

D
ani Bevan cleared her throat as she poured out two coffees from the pot. ‘After you left last night, Dieter kind of made a pass at me.’

              Andy paused, with a spoonful of muesli poised half-way to his mouth. He rested it back in the bowl. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have left you alone with him.’

              ‘It isn’t your fault. I could handle it perfectly well. I’m only mentioning the incident at all because I thought his timing was odd.’

              ‘What do you mean?’

              ‘Well, I’d never sensed that Karlsen was attracted to me before. His approach felt a little contrived to be honest, like he was doing it for another reason entirely.’

              Andy cracked a wry smile. ‘He must have fancied you one hell of a lot to try it on while you were wearing
that
.’ He tipped his head towards Dani’s oversized roll-neck sweater.

              Bevan chuckled. ‘Cheers pal, you don’t look much better yourself.’ Andy had swapped the snowflake jumper of the previous day for one sporting festive bands of galloping reindeer. ‘I think he was attempting to divert me from this Aron Holm case. I’d just asked to see the witness statements when he started sidling up to me. I got the distinct feeling he didn’t want us to probe into it any further.’

              Andy lifted the coffee cup to his lips. ‘Then let’s make sure it’s the very first thing we do when we get to the office.’

*

If Karlsen was embarrassed about what had happened the previous evening, he showed no sign of it as the two Brits joined his investigation team that morning. Magda had already dug out the files for them. She pulled up a seat for Dani so they could examine the statements together. What Bevan immediately noticed about the transcripts was how brief they were. It didn’t take Magda long to run through the key facts whilst Dani jotted down notes.               ‘There were nine people in the restaurant on the evening that Holm was assaulted. According to these statements, he’d been acting perfectly normally throughout the meal. Holm left a little earlier than the majority of the group, although two others also departed at a similar time. This pair, a man and a woman, left through the front entrance and didn’t see Aron again. Holm exited out of a side door, which led into the street where his car was parked.

              Because of the limited evidence, we decided it was simply a random attack. Holm carried his wallet in the top pocket of his shirt. As the evening of the assault was so cold, he was wearing many layers over the top of it. His assailant hadn’t a hope of easily finding it on his person,’ Magda explained.

              ‘But the attacker never asked him for it. According to Holm, the man didn’t utter a single word. I would expect a mugger to demand money with menaces, not just beat the guy up for the heck of it.’

              Magda’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘Don’t you ever have violent attacks on the streets of Glasgow? From what we hear on the news, I believe that you certainly do.’              The detective began collecting together the papers and stuffing them angrily into the file.

              Dani knew they most definitely did have a problem with violence in Glasgow, but she also knew there was always a pattern to it - some kind of weird logic. If folk got beaten up in bar brawls, they were usually pie-eyed on booze. You might get stabbed for trying to break up a fight or threatened with a kicking in front of a cash machine. But Bevan couldn’t identify this type of circumstance in Holm’s case. That’s why it wasn’t sitting well with her. For now, there wasn’t much more she could do about it. 

              Andy strode across the room to join them. ‘I’ve managed to extract the details of the two companies vying for the Barents Oil contract. Should we pay Riddell a visit and see if we can find out some more?’

              Dani didn’t need any further encouragement to get out of the bureau. She lifted her jacket and guided Calder towards the door.

*

The detectives had borrowed a squad car to reach the Riddells’ property, which lay in the middle of a forest on the outskirts of the town. As they bumped along the stoney track, Dani was reminded of those Germanic fairy tales you got told as a child. When the property finally came into view, with its hardwood cladding and single story design, it made Dani think of Little Red Riding Hood’s cabin in the woods and was immediately glad that she lived in the centre of a bustling city.

              Dani spent a few moments examining the front of the property, noting where the pram had been left by Charlie’s wife, trying to work out where someone might have hidden themselves from view until the woman had disappeared inside. Calder rang the bell. It was Charles Riddell who answered. He looked much better than when they last saw him.

              ‘Any news on Maisie?’ The man immediately asked, before they had even stepped over the threshold. Bevan noted with a heavy-heart how the light of hope still shone brightly in his tired eyes.

              ‘I’m afraid not. Our team in Glasgow is working very hard to trace her whereabouts but we’ve had no response to our appeals.’

              Charlie hung his head and led them into a vast, open-plan living and kitchen area. A bank of windows faced a lawned area which ended after about a hundred feet, at a thick line of pine trees. Bevan didn’t much rate the view, it made her involuntarily shiver.

              The Riddells’ infant, Gabriel, was crawling happily along a rug in front of a wood-burning stove which was unlit. A thin woman with straight blond hair sat on the sofa in front of the child, grasping a wooden rattle in her hands.

              ‘This is my wife, Kristin, and our little boy. As you can see, he is totally unaffected by his ordeal. We, on the other hand, have been quite badly shaken up.’ Charles placed a kettle on the stove.

              The police officers sat on the sofa opposite Kristin. Dani noticed how her eyes were the most perfect sky blue.

              ‘Do you know who did this to us yet?’ She asked.

              It suddenly struck Bevan that the woman seated before them was probably most men’s idea of the epitome of beauty. She promptly shook the idea out of her head. ‘We are currently working on several leads, but we do not have a suspect.’

              Kristin sighed heavily. ‘Are we safe here? Should I take Gabe to my mother’s house?’

              ‘Has anything else happened to make you fearful?’ Calder enquired. ‘Have you seen anyone hanging around the property or received any threats?’

              ‘We would have informed you straight away if we had,’ Charlie commented, as he set down their coffee cups on a low table of typically Scandinavian design. 

              ‘I seriously doubt that this person will come near the house again,’ Bevan said in a level voice. ‘The police have been here on a regular basis since Gabriel was moved. This was an opportunist attack, I’m quite sure of it. Whoever did this won’t be back.’

              Kristin nodded and made direct eye contact with Dani. The DCI’s words seemed to have reassured her. ‘I’m glad to hear you say that. Charlie has been suggesting the same thing, but I needed to be told by someone in authority.’

              Bevan turned towards Maisie’s father. ‘We don’t believe that an environmental group is responsible for taking your son. Can you think of another party who might have reason to put pressure on you? We noticed that your company is in the process of handing out contracts to drilling companies. It must be a very competitive business.’

              Charles put a hand up to his chin and rubbed at it. ‘Yes, but the final decision has very little to do with me. These projects are part funded by the Norwegian government. The ultimate decision about which companies we use out in the Arctic has to be passed through parliament itself. I even think that there’s an EU committee who need to sign off on it, as Norway is part of some European energy consortium.’

              ‘But your recommendation must mean something?’ Calder pressed.

              ‘Yes, Emrik and I will make our preference clear in the report, although, our wishes have been ignored in the past. The politicians often have their own agendas. Barents Oil actually wants the best engineers to do the job – the ones with the spotless safety records and who treat their workers well. Not all business people are bastards. In all my time working in the oil industry, I’ve never once been blackmailed or intimidated. If I was, I would go straight to the authorities. Many lives are at stake out on those rigs, we don’t take that responsibility lightly.’

              Bevan examined the man’s face closely, she was inclined to believe him. ‘Have you ever heard of Aron Holm?’

              Charles sat up straight and looked at her in puzzlement. ‘Yes. He’s the Chief Scientific Officer over at SC. Apparently, he’s an absolute genius. In a few decades, the whole world will be running on synthetic oils. I’ve certainly read his papers on the subject.’

              ‘Do you think he’ll manage to pull it off?’ Andy asked, genuinely interested.

              ‘It might surprise you to hear that I really hope so. Holm’s processes still require crude oil, just in far smaller quantities than we currently use. The world’s oil supplies will eventually run out Detective, we need to have some kind of alternative plan up our sleeves.’

              ‘Do all of your colleagues in the oil industry feel the same way about Holm’s work? He must have ruffled a few feathers with his research,’ Bevan continued.

              Riddell shrugged his shoulders. ‘He’s dismissed as an eccentric by many of the scientists at Barents. The general opinion is that Skaldic Conglomerates are taking a gamble by funding his project; most likely it will come to nothing, but if it pays off,’ the man puffed out his cheeks. ‘Well, they’ve struck gold, haven’t they?’

              Charles led the two detectives towards the front door. ‘Hang on, wasn’t Aron Holm badly assaulted a few years back? Is that why you’re asking about him now – do you think there may be some kind of connection to what’s happening to me and my family?’

              Bevan stopped walking and turned to face him. ‘We’re just trying to examine every possible angle, Mr Riddell. If there’s any hope of tracking your daughter down and finding out who snatched your son, then I’m afraid we’re going to have to.’