Bad Moon Rising (#1 - D.I. Paolo Storey Crime Series) (24 page)

Paolo sighed. “Poor kids, but at least we know that Matthew landed in a good home within a year. What happened to Sean?”

“He went into various foster homes until he was ten, but no formal adoption. It seems that he was a disruptive kid as he grew up. He was passed from pillar to post, no one keeping him for more than a few months at a time. He was blamed for burning down the last foster home he was in, but there was never any proof he was guilty. Although he did boast about it afterwards, but that might just have been trying to gain extra street cred with the gang he ran around with.”

Paolo nodded. “Sounds like the type of thing a boy in that position would do.”

“Burn a house down, sir, or claim he’d done it even if he hadn’t?”

“Either, both, it doesn’t really matter which. What does matter is that he was clearly a troubled youth. What happened to him after the arson, if it was arson?”

Dave looked back at the file. “No one was prepared to take him in after that. He spent the next six years in the Catholic orphanage and then-”

“Catholic orphanage?”

“Yes, sir. Apparently the mother was Catholic and begged the social services to respect her religion when they placed her boys. Why do you ask?”

“I was surprised, that’s all. Carry on with your tale.”

“Okay, he left the orphanage at sixteen and completely dropped off the radar of social services and anyone else who might have taken an interest in him. Liverpool has been able to pick up his scent again by checking the unemployment records. He’s been out of work for years, signing on as regular as clockwork until ten months ago when he disappeared and hasn’t drawn any money since. He never returned to the flat he shared with his girlfriend, but as they’d had a flaming row the night before she simply assumed he’d left her for good. Apparently they’d broken up quite a few times before and she was glad to see the back of him. She bundled all his stuff into a black bag and shoved it under the stairs.”

Paolo grinned. “That sounds encouraging. Let’s hope there’s lots of lovely DNA on a comb or toothbrush to match with our killer’s.”

“The bag was collected yesterday, sir. If there’s anything to test, it will be treated as urgent. Liverpool have promised us the results as soon as they get them.”

“So, he disappeared around the time his natural mother was killed. Do you know if there was any contact between them?”

Dave shook his head. “Liverpool weren’t able to establish whether or not Sean had tracked her down, but the ex-girlfriend says that he was trying to find her.” Dave grinned. “You’ll love this next bit. She told the inspector up there that Sean had decided to trace his family after he saw Matthew Roberts on television. She says he was astounded by how alike they were and was convinced they must be related. Apparently he went mad over the idea. Wanted to know everything about his past.”

The phone rang and Paolo looked at the caller display. Holding up his hand to ask Dave to wait a moment before continuing, he flipped the phone open.

“Barbara, hi, I’m in the middle of something really important. Can I call you back in about half an hour or so?”

“Sure thing, Paolo, there’s no urgency. Well, there is, but not for me.”

“Sounds intriguing. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

He shut the phone and nodded for Dave to go on.

“The girlfriend says that up to that point he’d never been interested in knowing anything about his background, but once he’d seen Matthew he started going on about what a great life the two of them could have, that’s Sean and her, not Sean and Matthew, if he was really related to someone rich and famous. She doesn’t know exactly what he meant by that because he went AWOL soon after. Maybe he was planning to blackmail Matthew, you know the type of thing, pay me x amount and I won’t tell the redtops that your mother was a whore and your brother an out of work loser.”

“Good theory, Dave, but we don’t know if he found out who his mother was. If he hadn’t, then he might not have known for sure that Matthew was his brother. All he’d have been certain of was that he looked like Matthew.”

“Yes, sir, but the mother was killed within a couple of weeks of Sean spotting Matthew on the television. It certainly looks like he traced her.”

Paolo nodded. “Okay, fair enough, but then why kill her? What would have made him strangle her when they’d only just met again?”

Dave shrugged. “Maybe he was pissed off that Matthew had lived the life of luxury and been adopted while he’d been abused by the system. Maybe he blamed his mother for his shitty life. Who knows what’s going on in his mind? If he’s our man, he certainly seems to have it in for prostitutes, so that’s a clue right there to the way he’s thinking.”

Paolo sat forward and leaned on the desk. “How come Liverpool didn’t connect Sean to Catherine when she was killed?”

“There wouldn’t have been any reason for them to know about Sean, would there? I mean, if he’d only just found out who she was, there might not have been a trail to follow leading back to him. To be honest, sir, I’m not sure they investigated that deeply. The inspector I spoke to up there seemed to think that she wasn’t worth too much police time.”

Paolo sat up in surprise. “Dave, you sound like you disapprove of that attitude. Are you feeling okay?”

Dave grinned sheepishly. “I’m turning over a new leaf, sir. I’m trying to treat everyone the same. My boss told me he’d kick my arse if I didn’t.”

Paolo smiled back. “Your boss sounds like a good bloke. You should listen to him more often. Go on, what else is in that file?”

“Sadly, sir, that’s about it. We know he was tracing his mother and can only assume he found her. We know he believed he was related to Matthew Roberts, but presume he hasn’t made any contact with him. At least, Roberts hasn’t mentioned it and surely he would have done if Sean had been in touch.”

Paolo tapped his fingers on the desk. “Okay, so why hasn’t he made contact? If he felt there was a relationship what would be a good enough reason to avoid getting in touch with Matthew?”

“The only thing I can think of is that he’s waiting for the right moment.”

Paolo nodded. “Yes, it could be that, but I think there might be a more sinister reason. Our killer has made no effort to hide his face when picking up the girls he later kills. He’s operating in the town where Matthew lives and is easily identified. He’s driving a dark car, similar to the one Matthew drives. What if Sean is setting Matthew up? Leading us deliberately to think Matthew is involved. What better revenge could he have on the sibling who has it all than to destroy his life and leave him with nothing?”

Dave closed the file and stood up. “I’ll get copies of this to CC and George, sir.”

“Good work, Dave. Is there a recent photo of Sean available that we can use in a public appeal?”

Dave nodded. “Yes, sir. The ex-girlfriend is sorting some out for us. At this stage she hasn’t been told what Sean is wanted in connection with. I believe she jumped to the conclusion the police were looking for him to do with some kind of benefits fraud. Apparently Sean moonlighted in a few places while claiming unemployment.”

“She’s going to get quite a shock when she sees his picture on the news in connection with this case. I’ll tell the chief to go ahead and set up a press conference as soon as we have a good photograph to use.”

When Dave had gone Paolo picked up the phone and called Barbara.

“Hi, you wanted to ask me something?”

“Thanks for calling me back, Paolo. I want to ask you for a favour. It’s not for me as such. Well, it is for me, I suppose. Oh crap. I’m making a right mess of this. Can I explain over lunch?”

Paolo thought of all the paperwork he needed to clear up. If he spent the next three days doing nothing but filing and writing up reports he still wouldn’t have made a dent in the pile. His delay in answering was misunderstood.

“What’s wrong, Paolo? I’m not coming on to you. I just don’t want to talk over the phone or while we’re both on duty,” she said.

“Sorry, Barbara, I was just trying to reconcile spending my time going out to lunch instead of getting on with the admin tasks. Lunch just won. Where would you like to meet?”

“Great. How does the Nag and Bag sound?”

“Suspicious, that’s how it sounds. I haven’t been in there for ages, but I know you go quite often. I get the feeling there’s an ulterior motive for suggesting it. Am I right?”

Barbara laughed. “Of course you’re right, but gloating doesn’t suit you. What time will you be free?”

Paolo checked his watch. “Now’s as good a time as any. See you there in about fifteen minutes?”

***

Paolo walked into the pub trying to remember when he’d last been in there. It must have been shortly after Larry and Sharon took it over, so quite some time ago. It didn’t look as if any changes had taken place in the intervening years. Larry was behind the bar and looked surprised to see Paolo.

“Good God, what brings you in here? I didn’t think pubs were your scene.”

He held his hand out and Paolo shook it.

“I’m meeting a friend for lunch. She tells me Sharon makes the best pub food for miles around.”

Larry nodded and grinned. “Sharon’s a good cook, but I hadn’t realised her fame had spread far and wide.”

The door opened. Barbara came in and walked to the bar.

“Hi, Paolo. Thanks for coming. Shall we sit over there,” she said, pointing to a corner table.

“What am I, invisible?” Larry said as Barbara went to walk away.

She turned back. “Hello, Larry.”

Paolo could hear the anger in her tone and wished he’d said no to the lunch invite. Barbara’s greeting couldn’t have been colder if she’d been standing on an iceberg.

Larry must have picked up on it as well because there was a decidedly acid note in his voice as he addressed Paolo.

“Ah, now I know who you’re meeting. The raving about Sharon’s cooking makes more sense. Barbara is Sharon’s number one fan. Isn’t that right, Barbara? Although I don’t think everything Barbara believes about Sharon is necessarily true.”

Barbara slowly looked Larry up and down. Her nose twitched as if the scent of the sewers had wafted through the room. Then she smiled and shook her head. Paolo was pleased she’d never smiled at him in that way. If Larry had been in any doubt before about Barbara’s view of him, she couldn’t have made it any clearer.

“There are some things I know which I wish weren’t true, but there isn’t much I can do about it. Speaking of Sharon, how is she? I haven’t seen her around for ages. Last I heard she’d had yet another accident. Can I go through to the kitchen and say hi?”

Larry glared at Barbara. “Not just now, Barbara. It’s our busiest time of the day, but I’ll be sure to tell her you were asking after her.”

Barbara nodded. “You do that.” She turned to Paolo. “Shall we go and sit down? I’m famished.”

Paolo followed her rapidly, retreating back to the table she’d pointed out earlier. It was as far from the bar as it was possible to be. He stood for a moment, watching her as she removed her coat and slung it on one of the chairs. She dragged out another chair and sat down, glaring in Larry’s direction. Paolo waited until she finally looked away before saying anything.

“Well, this is going to be an interesting lunch. Is it safe for me to sit next to you?”

Barbara forced a laugh. “Yes, of course it is. I might want to stab
him
with the cutlery, but you’re relatively safe.”

Paolo dropped into the seat opposite. “Only relatively? What do I have to do to ensure complete safety? I take it that’s why I’m here? It’s not for the joy of my company, but because you want me to speak to Larry about his violence?”

Barbara nodded. “Paolo, you didn’t see what he did to her last time. If you had-”

“If I had I’d have arrested him for it, but I didn’t see it, Barbara. Legally, I can’t do anything. You know that as well as I do.”

She kicked his shin hard, letting fly with her booted foot under the table. Before he could ask her what the hell she was playing at, he heard Larry’s voice and understood.

“Have you two decided what you’d like to eat?”

“Paolo,” Barbara said, “I know the food here. Have the bobotie, you’ll love it.”

“Sounds weird, what is it?”

“It’s a South African Cape Malay dish. Trust me, it’s wonderful.”

Paolo agreed to try it out. As soon as Larry was out of earshot, Paolo turned to Barbara.

“As I was saying...”

“Paolo, I know you can’t do anything legally. I’m not stupid. But you could speak to Larry as an old acquaintance though, couldn’t you? Isn’t there something you could say that would make him think twice before he hits her again?”

“Like what? You’re being naive, Barbara. Do you think just because I went to school with Larry that he’ll listen to anything I have to say? He didn’t listen to me then, so it’s not likely he will now.”

“Paolo, please, won’t you at least try? I haven’t seen Sharon recently because Larry won’t let me anywhere near her. She’d not answering her phone and she’s never seen in here. I’m scared for her. You know how domestic violence escalates. I’m sure you’ve seen enough of it. Please, drop a threat or something.”