Bad Moon Rising (#1 - D.I. Paolo Storey Crime Series) (27 page)

“Why not? If she let it happen then-”

“Because the boyfriend used to ply her with drink until she passed out. Valerie says her mother didn’t know. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t, but unless the CPS can prove she knew, there isn’t a case to answer. They may not be able to convict her of encouraging or allowing child abuse, but social services are going to make sure she gets sober before they allow Valerie back into her care.”

“So when will Valerie be coming back to school?”

“I don’t know, Katy. I don’t even know if she’ll be returning to your school. It’s possible that she’ll be placed in care outside the school catchment area. If that’s the case then she’ll go to the nearest school.”

“And it’s nothing to do with Father Gregory?”

Paolo shook his head. “Nope, nothing. No need to look so disappointed.”

“I’m not. Well, I am a bit disappointed. I still think he’s a creep. I wonder where he is.”

C
HAPTER 
T
WENTY-
O
NE

Paolo ripped Tuesday’s page off his calendar with more force than was necessary. Wednesday had come round faster than he’d have liked. If there was one thing he hated about his job it was taking part in television broadcasts. Fortunately they didn’t come up too frequently, but once Liverpool had supplied them with a useable picture of Sean Andrews, the request to the public had been organised.

He looked down at the photograph on his desk and was amazed once again at how alike the two brothers were. The only difference he could see was that Sean had the slightest sign of a harelip on the right-hand side of his mouth. It was a pity it hadn’t been on the left, as then one of the witnesses might have spotted it, but being on the driver’s right, there was no way it could have been seen from the street. But would that have made any difference? He would still have known the witnesses had described someone who looked very like Matthew Roberts, with the exception of a harelip. Would he still have looked into Matthew’s family history? Possibly not without the DNA Matthew had supplied.

Dave tapped on the door and came in.

“The chief sent a message to say they need you upstairs in ten minutes, sir.”

“Thanks, Dave. I’ve just been looking at this picture and wishing they’d found some DNA to go with it. That would have made it much neater, but I suppose we can’t have everything.”

“I know, sir. It seems the girlfriend kept the valuable stuff in case he came back for it, but ditched all the personal goods. I can’t say I blame her. I wouldn’t have held on to someone else’s toothbrush or comb, would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t. Apparently all she kept was the playstation, games and blu-rays. She donated his clothes to charity shops after a few months and binned everything else.” Paolo looked at his watch. “Okay, Dave, let’s go and get this over with.”

As they left the office Dave grinned. “Are you taking the lead, or is the chief doing the talking?”

Paolo sighed. “He wants me to do it. God knows why. I suck in front of a camera.”

They headed for the stairs leading to the conference room where the press had set up their equipment. Paolo still held a copy of Sean’s photograph. The harelip was barely noticeable, but he wondered if it had been more so when Sean was younger.

“Do you think his harelip might have been why he was passed over so many times and yet Matthew was adopted?” he asked Dave. “I’ve been trying to work out why a toddler was placed, but the baby wasn’t. It usually works the other way round, but maybe it was enough of a disfigurement to put off prospective parents.”

By this time they’d reached the next floor. Dave held open the door to the conference room to allow Paolo to go in first.

“Could be, sir. I believe people want perfection when they adopt.” He grinned. “A bit like me in my search for the perfect girlfriend.”

Paolo decided to let the comment pass. He was almost certain that Dave said it just to see what sort of reaction he got. Maybe he was developing a sense of humour at last.

They approached the long table set up with mikes and a few of the leaflets that were going to be passed out into the community. Paolo’s nerves got the better of him and his hands started shaking. He’d have to remember to keep them out of sight when he spoke into the cameras. He hoped the sudden onset of nausea didn’t show on his face. Dave moved to the side of the room. Paolo walked up to the table and sat on one of the two chairs that had been put out for them. Putting down his notes, he looked over to where Chief Constable Willows was chatting to one of the camera men. Paolo nodded to show he was ready to begin the ordeal and Willows came to sit next to him.

The cameraman signalled the countdown and then called for filming to begin. Paolo took a deep breath, trying to control his rapid heartbeat. His mouth was so dry the water in his glass looked like ambrosia, but he didn’t dare reach for a drink because his hands were shaking so much he’d be sure to spill water all over the leaflets. He coughed and began, praying that his voice wouldn’t give out on him.

“We are appealing for the public’s assistance in locating this man,” he said, raising the photograph. “His name is Sean Andrews and we believe he can help us with our enquiries into the murder of several prostitutes in the town...”

Twenty minutes later he answered the last of the questions from the journalists, feeling as though he’d run a marathon. The cameras stopped rolling and Willows rose. Paolo remained seated. He wasn’t sure if his legs would hold him.

“Well done, Paolo. You handled that very well. The leaflets and posters are already being circulated. I believe this will go out on the local news immediately. It will be on the national stations this evening. I’ve also arranged for you to brief the people at
Crimewatch
. With a bit of luck we can get this included in the next show.”

Paolo smiled. “Great, sir,” he said. “I can’t wait.”

And if you believe that you’ll believe anything, he thought. He watched as Willows did the rounds of thanking the television crew and the journalists, thinking how well the man handled these situations. Hoping that the wobble would now have left his legs, he stood up, gave a general thanks to everyone in the room and headed for the door. This type of thing had to be done, but he’d rather get on with hunting for Sean Andrews than talking about him on television.

***

Paolo put the phone down and slammed his fist against the desk. Was Sean Andrews laughing at him? It certainly felt that way. The news footage had no sooner been shown than a member of the public had found another body.

He got up and walked to the door of his office.

“Dave, CC, George, I need you in here. Now”

He went back to his desk and waited for them to arrive.

“I’ve just had a call from uniform. Another body’s been found at a fly-tipping site on the east side of town. This bastard really likes making a point about how he sees these women, doesn’t he? From what I can make out so far, he dumped the body during the night. Forensics are already on the way. Dave, you and I are heading over to where the body was found. CC, you and George go over to the district and find out who is missing. We haven’t had a missing person’s report, but someone must know who this latest victim is.” He picked up a pile of leaflets. “Take these and dish them out to the girls on the streets. They need to know to be reminded not to get into a car with this bastard.”

***

Barbara was finishing up as Paolo and Dave arrived at the scene. She looked tired and far from her usual immaculate self. Paolo wondered if she was getting enough sleep or maybe someone was keeping her up late at night. Then he wondered why he’d had that thought. It wasn’t as if he had any reason to pry into her private life. Shaking his head, he walked towards where she was waiting for him.

“Our killer strikes again, Paolo. He’s keeping the bodies for a few days after he strangles them. He’s certainly a sick bastard, that’s for sure. These girls are beaten almost to death before he finishes them off. The last one had semen on her breasts that couldn’t have been more than a few hours old when the body was found. I think this one might be the same.”

She sighed and pushed a stray hair from her face.

“You’ll call me when you know more?” Paolo asked.

Barbara smiled. “Don’t I always? Don’t hold your breath while waiting though. Yours is not the only case I’m working on.”

Paolo nodded. “I know that, but we need to put this one away.”

“Ah, but that’s your department, Paolo, not mine. I don’t think we’re going to learn anything new about him from this body. He seems to be a creature of habit.”

“What’s the estimated time of death?” Paolo asked, not really expecting an answer, but Barbara surprised him.

“Friday night some time, I would imagine. I’ll know definitely later.”

Paolo turned to Dave. “I think we need to find out where Matthew was on Friday night. The appeal to the public only went out today. On Friday he would still have felt that Matthew was in the frame – assuming he really is trying to set Matthew up. Come on, let’s go and pay another visit to Matthew Roberts.”

***

Paolo watched Matthew pacing around his office, feeling sorry for the man. From the moment they’d arrived to tell him another murder had been committed he’d been pacing up and down, unable to keep still even for a moment.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t take this is. Are you telling me that Sean Andrews is watching me?”

Paolo nodded. “It certainly seems that way, Matthew. We’ve checked back on all the dates and every murder coincides with a night when you have been home alone, and so wouldn’t have an alibi if you needed one. It looks very much as if Sean Andrews is setting you up. He looks so much like you it’s uncanny and he’s made no attempt to hide his face when picking up the girls he later kills.”

“But why? Why would he want to destroy my life? What have I ever done to him? I didn’t even know he existed until you told me about him,” he said, finally coming to rest and throwing himself down in an armchair opposite Paolo and Dave on the sofa.

“Our theory, and we could be way off base, is that he hates you because you were chosen for adoption and he wasn’t. You were given a wonderful life in comparison with his. He had a crap time growing up. From what we have found out so far, he was in and out of foster homes, in and out of care. Possibly when he realised you were his brother he resented the fact that you’d had such an easy and somewhat luxurious life. That could be why he killed your natural mother. At this stage it’s all supposition, but it seems feasible that he’s out to ruin your life to even the score.”

“And you have no idea where he is?” Matthew asked.

“Not at the moment, but he has to be close by to know when to strike. If he’s setting you up then he would need to be certain you were at home for the evening. There wouldn’t be any point if you were out at a function with loads of witnesses, which means he has to be near enough to know where you are. I think the time has come to have you under surveillance, Matthew. The most likely way for us to pick up Sean is to catch him when he’s tracking your movements.”

Matthew shook his head. “No! How many times do I have to explain to you that my clients’ privacy is paramount?”

Paolo’s sympathy evaporated. “You can tell me as many times as you like, but are you saying that the poor girls Sean beats up and then kills don’t deserve some of your concern? If we don’t catch him he’ll kill again and again, you do realise that, don’t you? We have no intention of upsetting your clients in any way. We’ll put a discreet tail on you – hell, you wouldn’t even know anyone was following you, so your clients definitely wouldn’t know.”

Matthew jumped up and towered over Paolo. “You’re missing the point. I don’t care about that. I care about your men gathering information on who comes to visit me and who they bring with them. I’m telling you now, Paolo, if you set someone to watch my movements after I’ve specifically said no, I’ll make sure you end up in front of the Police Complaints Commission. I’m sure the PCC would agree that I’m an innocent party in all this. My clients even more so. Go and do your job. Find Sean Andrews and take him in, but stay away from me and the people I represent.”

Paolo got to his feet and signalled to Dave to do the same.

“Don’t threaten me, Matthew. You know as well as I do that we aren’t trying to catch out any of your clients. We don’t need to do that. Sooner or later they do something stupid, or try one job too many and end up getting caught anyway. I can’t put a tail on you without your consent and I certainly wouldn’t give you the satisfaction of turning round and catching some poor officer who’s just doing his or her duty, so you can relax.”

Paolo took a breath to calm down. What the hell was it about Matthew that made him want to knock him flat?

“If Sean gets in touch, or you see someone who looks even remotely like you, contact me directly,” he said, passing Matthew a card. “All my phone numbers are on there. Call me any time, day or night. And do me a favour, please. Get your secretary to make up a list of any public engagements you have lined up over the next few weeks. If Sean
is
watching you then we can be fairly sure that those nights are not going to be when he goes on a killing spree.”