One Bad Turn (10 page)

‘Go on then!’ Coupland said impatiently, lifting his mobile out of his pocket. He’d turned it to silent mode before going into Helen Dalton’s house. His call history showed there were several missed calls, all from Robinson. ‘Get on with it…’ he growled, turning the sound back on. ‘The Super’s on the warpath apparently, Sharon Mathers’ brother has flown up from London and arrived at the station demanding answers. Turns out he’s some hot shot lawyer, insisting on a meeting with the Super and DCI Mallender. He wants to know why we haven’t put out a public appeal yet.’ Coupland sighed, ‘We only talked about that earlier-’

‘I know,’ Ashcroft said, ‘s’not me asking though is it? And that’s not all; the brother’s claiming that we’re treating the case differently because the victim is black.’ Coupland rested his head on the steering wheel, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me, tell me you’re winding me up?’

‘Don’t shoot the messenger,’ Ashcroft countered, raising his hands, ‘It’s not my fault Curtis wants a head on a stick. He wants you back at the station. Now. Your presence is required at the meeting.’

‘I bet it is.’ Coupland muttered.

No sooner had Coupland stepped through the double doors into the station than all hell let loose. Normally the desk sergeant enjoyed a bit of banter as personnel came and went, today he was red faced and definitely in no mood for jokes. He called Coupland over as he keyed in the door code to access the staff only area, ‘You’ve got two suspects waiting in interview rooms one and two. They were brought in thirty minutes ago. We’ve got a suspected paedo taken into custody but nowhere to interview him, Custody Sergeant’s going ape - wants you to get a wriggle on, only he didn’t quite word it like that.’

‘I’m sure he didn’t,’ Coupland sighed, turning to Ashcroft, ‘You and Robinson do the honours, interview both husbands, get the names of their work colleagues and close friends, we may need to rile them a bit, see if either of them were playing away from home.’

‘Doesn’t make either of them a killer,’ Ashcroft observed.

‘No,’ Coupland conceded, ‘but it might give them a reason to want their partners dead. Find out if they knew each other, or their paths had crossed anytime recently,’ Adding, once they were out of earshot, ‘don’t let anyone pressurize you into wrapping it up quickly, only let them go when you’re good and ready, I daresay Sharon Mathers’ brother is going to be sticking around, best to get his sister’s partner processed as soon as possible - charged or eliminated, so this wise guy can go back to letting us get on with our jobs.’

Superintendent Curtis’s office was on the third floor, a hallowed enclave that Coupland had never previously been invited into. Most of his bollockings came at Inspector level, so there had never been any need for him to venture to such dizzying heights. As he climbed the stairs to the Super’s office Coupland’s mind raced as he computed all the ways possible for him to put his foot in it during the meeting. He wasn’t stupid, he hadn’t been summoned to bring a distraught relative up to speed - DCI Mallender was well briefed on the progress made on Sharon Mathers’ case. Something more was required. Her brother was obviously running rings around Curtis and the Super needed a sacrificial lamb. The only thing Coupland couldn’t second guess was what the hell Curtis was going to blame him for.

The door to Curtis’s office opened as Coupland drew near; an angry voice could be heard shouting over the Superintendent, cutting him off mid-sentence every time he tried a new approach. DCI Mallender hurried out nearly colliding with him, his frown lifting when he saw that it was Coupland.

‘Where the helluv you been?’ he hissed, closing the door behind him quickly.

‘You know where I’ve been, boss,’ Coupland answered, perplexed, ‘I was checking out why Maria Wellbeck’s mate didn’t raise the alarm when she didn’t arrive at the theatre as arranged.’

‘I know that!’ Mallender barked back, ‘but I put a call out to you half an hour ago.’

‘And I’m here,’ Coupland said, ‘what’s going on?’

Mallender looked back at the closed office door, taking several paces away from it before speaking, ‘Sharon Mathers’ brother arrived at the couple’s home just in time to see his brother-in-law get carted off for questioning.’

Coupland bristled, ‘Hardly carted, he’s co-operated every step of the way,’

‘Yeah, well, that’s not how the brother sees it. He wants to know why we haven’t put out an appeal yet.’

Coupland gave Mallender the beady eye. ‘And has anyone bothered to tell him?’

‘He’s insistent on speaking to someone at the sharp end, as he likes to put it. Now go in there and diffuse the ticking time bomb before Curtis makes it any worse.’

The chief super’s office was four times the size of Mallender’s box room with a large desk in front of the floor to ceiling window and a board room table in the centre of it with several chairs around its perimeter. It was here that Curtis was sat across from an impeccably dressed black man wearing a pinstripe three piece suit. The man was standing, leaning forward over the table, one hand planted on the table top to hold him steady, the other hand making a chopping motion each time he spoke, which at the moment was all the time. Mallender cleared his throat as he entered the room causing both men to look in his direction. Coupland stepped out from behind him smiling meekly. Curtis had never looked so pleased to see him; however it was Sharon’s brother that grabbed Coupland’s attention. The family likeness between this man and his sister was unmistakable, the same deep forehead and almond shaped eyes, high cheekbones on a slender face. He paused as Coupland walked around the table.

‘Ah, DS Coupland,’ Curtis beamed, regaining his composure a little as he beckoned him into the room like a long lost friend. Coupland did as he was told, all three men waiting while Mallender shut the door behind him. At that moment Curtis’s face fell, ‘DC Ashcroft not with you?’ he asked, looking behind Coupland then turning to Mallender as though the DCI was concealing him. ‘I didn’t realise you wanted to speak to him, Sir,’ Coupland frowned, looking at Mallender to help him out. ‘That won’t be necessary, Sir,’ Mallender trying hard but failing to keep his irritation in check. ‘As you know Mr Mathers, I am the senior investigating officer heading up the investigation into your sister’s murder. DS Coupland is my second in command, and leads a team of detectives currently out gathering information from several lines of enquiry.’ He turned to his head to address his next comment to Superintendent Curtis. ‘I really don’t think DC Ashcroft can bring anything else to this discussion.’ Ignoring the Super’s pinched expression Coupland moved towards the civilian.

‘DS Kevin Coupland,’ he said, as the lawyer stepped forward and extended a large hand in his direction.

‘Damian Mathers.’ His grip was firm. His gaze, steady, unblinking. He turned his full beam onto Coupland. ‘Have you found my sister’s killer yet?’ he demanded.

‘No.’ Coupland stared back. He’d found over the years relatives wanted him to be frank, their brains having suffered the most dreadful of shocks could only compute information in the simplest terms. Sharon’s brother might be some hot shot lawyer in the city but he was hurting, and what he wanted was for Coupland to put him out of the misery he’d found himself in.

‘I think what DS Coupland is trying to say-’ Curtis cut in, his gaze darting from Coupland to Mallender, arms flapping as though trying to smooth the tension in the room.

‘-I’m sorry for your loss, Mr Mathers,’ Coupland added, conscious of Mallender willing him to get this right. Diplomacy had never been his strong point, but honesty was. ‘From the statements we’ve gathered from Sharon’s friends and colleagues they thought very highly of her,’ Mathers visibly relaxed, nodding as he sat down in his chair. ‘By all accounts she was a strong, feisty young woman,’ Coupland continued, ‘not easily intimidated, and I think her murder has been all the more shocking for that-’

‘-under my guidance,’ Curtis cut in once more, ‘the investigation was initially treated as a Hate crime-,’

Mathers put his hand out to silence him, ‘I asked to speak to the officers working on the case because I’m not interested in your
strategic
direction,’ his tone was sharp, leaving Curtis to stare at him open mouthed. ‘Did you really need to go through his bins this morning, take his rubbish away? You even took his dirty washing.’ His eyes hadn’t blinked in all the time he spoke.

‘I agree DS Coupland is best placed to answer that,’ Curtis nodded vigorously.

Coupland squared his shoulders, one way or another he was bound to pay for witnessing the snub Curtis had suffered, ‘I’m sure you’re familiar with the process of investigation, Mr Mathers, and I know it is insensitive to call it a process but it enables us to go about our job confident that we are pursuing every relevant line of enquiry. Eliminating Sharon’s partner is part of that procedure, and no, for the record I don’t think he killed her, and the forensics taken at the scene will hopefully corroborate that, but I’m sure you would rather us work on fact, not supposition.’ He could hardly argue with that.

‘When is the forensic report due?’ Mathers asked.

‘Later today.’

‘And how far have you got with the Hate Crime angle?’ He looked sideways at Curtis as he asked this, as though he wasn’t buying into that theory either.

‘Far enough for me to be certain that’s not what happened here,’ Coupland blew out his cheeks, ‘don’t get me wrong, there are hundreds of nutters out there no doubt buoyed up by that old footage of members of the royal family making Nazi salutes going viral, but there’ve been no local incidents leading up to Sharon’s murder and that’s what normally happens in most cases. We’ve not found any link to lead us to what’s happened to your sister and I don’t think we will.’

‘Do you think we should make an appeal to the press now?’

Coupland paused. It had been Mallender’s call to hold fire with the press appeal until both partners had been checked out and eliminated. Coupland had wanted the appeal to go out anyway but it made no odds now, not worth airing their difference of opinion in front of Mallender’s boss. He glanced at the DCI. ‘Now preliminary investigations are almost complete it would be appropriate to run an appeal,’ he answered. The brother looked satisfied, turning his attention to Curtis. ‘How soon can this be arranged?’

Curtis nodded toward Mallender who glanced at the clock on the wall above Coupland’s head. ‘We can still make the evening news if we get a march on,’ he said, ‘but we do need to be mindful of a second investigation we’re undertaking. DS Coupland was being tactful but I have reservations about how we do this.’

‘Another murder?’ Mathers asked sharply.

Mallender nodded.

‘Another black woman?’

‘Another woman, but Caucasian this time.’

‘You said this time; do you think these murders are related?’

Mallender shook his head, ‘It’s far too early to say.’

Mathers looked at him sceptically, ‘More procedures to follow?’

Mallender bristled, but said nothing.

‘We have to follow standard procedures so we’re not accused of missing something by some fancy lawyer further down the line,’ Coupland chimed, ignoring warning looks from Mallender and Curtis, ‘and no, at this moment in time there’s no evidence to suggest that’s what’s happened.’

‘But I think you have to make the public aware,’ Mathers persisted, ‘how does the other family feel?’

Maria Wellbeck’s family were still wrapped up in their bubble of grief, it was unlikely the murder that had occurred two days before had even registered. ‘I think we need to be careful of not getting ahead of ourselves,’ said Mallender, ‘they’re still in a state of shock.’

‘But the public has a right to know.’ The lawyer was getting fired up again; he would be unlikely to concede a second time. Coupland looked at Mallender, positioning himself so that Curtis was no longer in his eye line. ‘I can promise you we will consider it,’ he said, ‘but if we are to make this 6pm deadline we really need to get moving.’ He got to his feet along with the DCI, waiting for Mathers, then Curtis to nod before retreating from the room.

‘I think he has a point,’ Coupland ventured as they hurried along the corridor, ‘it is entirely possible that two men in the same town had chosen to murder their partners during the same week but without forensics there isn’t a single shred of evidence to back up that theory. Besides, I’ve not seen anything to say their grief isn’t genuine. Sir?’

Mallender stopped, dragging a hand through his normally impeccable hair. He turned to look at Coupland, who had come to a halt beside him. Mallender’s jaw was clenched, Coupland was asking him to make a decision, the repercussions of which could leave a skid mark on his career. Coupland bowed his head toward Mallender as if to say ‘It’s your call.’ The DCI nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’ he said, grim faced.

*

6pm, Press appeal, Salford Precinct station.

The press had assembled like a pack of hyenas at feeding time. As yet the information in the public domain was that Sharon Mathers’ body had been found two days before and it was easy enough to let them draw their own conclusions as to the purpose of the press call. They had no idea that Maria Wellbeck’s body had been found beneath the footbridge at Salford Crescent station. Reporters for the two main local papers had been circling the cordon put around the railway station when her body had been found but had so far been fobbed off with the idea that there were no suspicious circumstances, a death had occurred through natural causes. Tragic, but nothing sinister. During the afternoon both women’s partners had been interviewed under caution by DCs Ashcroft and Robinson, and there had been a tense wait for the forensic report before the men were told they could go home. The forensic reports for each investigation cleared both of them. No DNA had been collected from the defence wounds on Sharon Mathers, she’d been fending her killer off, rather than attacking him. Some of the fibres found on her and Maria Wellbeck’s clothing didn’t match samples of fibres taken from the home they shared with their partners, or vice versa, for that matter, yet the same trace of clothing could be found at both murder scenes. A breakthrough at last. The same person was involved in both murders.