Doors Without Numbers (22 page)

“What about the bike? Can it be proven that it was Thomas’ bike that hit Roberts?”

“Yes, there was tissue on it.”

Hammond felt defeated, with this evidence there would be no reason not to charge Thomas and hand it to the prosecutor. Edwards allowed the news to be digested before making his offer. “If you want I can hold it back a few hours, give us a chance to look at Robert’s house again.”

“I don’t understand, why go there again?”

There was noise in the background, Hammond recognised Galvin’s voice talking to Edwards, there were murmurs between the two men before Edwards came back onto the phone. “ Galvin and I were there yesterday, there was no post, not even junk mail. We have checked to see if the mail has been redirected but no official request has been processed. We reckon that the post is being collected by someone.”

“The house is still sealed?”

Edwards said that it was, no neighbours had entered the property. A discreet enquiry with the sister had confirmed that she had not been to the property or delegated anyone else to collect the post.

“What do you suggest Edwards?”

“Well, that’s why I am calling you Sir. What do you want us to do? Galvin and I searched the house, but we weren’t looking for evidence of any one else having been in the property. We didn’t notice if the house had been broken into since we were there the first time.”

Hammond scratched his head thinking. It wasn’t logical that there was no post in Robert’s house, he hadn’t been absent long enough for bills to be diverted, there would be some mail, even if it were only the pizza takeaway menus that were put through doors on a weekly basis.

“Ok, First look for any evidence of a forced entry, then try the neighbours, it’s possible he may have left a spare key with them for whatever reason, then call me. If necessary we can watch the house or check out any CCTV cameras situated nearby. But be discreet, If Beech finds out about this, Thomas will be booked by this evening.”

Galvin came onto the phone. “Why don’t you come out and look with us? You may see something we haven’t and no offence Sir, but time isn’t on our side.”

“Fine, I’ll meet you there in half hour.”

The mobile was tossed onto the bed as the lost sock was retrieved and pulled on. He found his car keys and was about to grab his jacket when he remembered he had left the car at the pub. Slipping the keys into his trouser pocket, he called to Jenny. He had a job for her.

The screeching fan belt of the Volkswagen camper van announced Hammond’s arrival a few doors away from Robert’s house. Hammond wasn’t a proud man, but it was easier to be dropped off unseen than have to explain why he had allowed himself to be driven in a vehicle resembling something from the Scooby Doo cartoons.

Galvin and Edwards were waiting in their car on the other side of the road, Hammond thanked Jenny and sprinted across to them, before getting into the back seat of the car.

“If we can do this without the neighbours seeing us, that would be preferable.”

Edwards greeted Hammond by offering his packet of Salt and Vinegar crisps. Hammond declined, thinking the loud munching was enough to put anyone off. DC Michael Galvin was sitting in the driver’s seat and turned around to Hammond.

“There is the possibility that someone from the media entered the house, they were seen outside a few days ago.”

“Either way, we need to see if the entry was forced.” The three men split up to look at Robert’s house. Edwards took the route towards the front door, Galvin the side window and Hammond around the back. Neither could find any clues that there had been an illegal entry into the house. Galvin produced the front key and the three detectives resumed their search inside the house.

After forty minutes, Hammond gave up. “The only explanation is that someone else had a key to the property.”

“We checked with the neighbours, Roberts had never left a key with them and no-one has ever been seen visiting.”

Edwards confirmed Galvin’s statement by nodding his head as he picked out debris from his teeth with his fingernail.

“You think that the house is being watched?”

Hammond shook his head. “Not necessarily, but whoever collects the post has been there daily since Robert’s died. We’ll have to assume they are looking for something in particular. I reckon we should bait our mystery guest, leave them something worth collecting. If that fails, we’ll check the CCTV.”

Galvin’s eyes widened. “How? Beech is never going to let us.”

Hammond was past caring what Beech would or wouldn’t allow. He needed to explore all possibilities. If the investigation into Roberts’s death wasn’t thorough, his murder could easily be seen to be a motiveless crime. Hammond couldn’t risk that. If a twelve year old boy was going to be convicted of a crime, it was to be based on an investigation that handled every scrap of evidence possible. Edwards poked a finger at his colleague, “Sure he will, if a neighbour was concerned there had been a break-in.”

“But there hasn’t been one, we have just established that.” Galvin was impatient with Edwards apparent lack of attention but Hammond understood what Edwards was suggesting; if a neighbour was concerned about their security, it would be necessary to reassure them by investigating further. Even if the cause of concern originated from nothing more than a suspicion. The men left the house. Galvin and Hammond watched from the car as Edwards rang the bell of the neighbours doors before addressing himself to an elderly man who looked warily up the road as the Detective Constable spoke. Hammond laid a firm hand on Galvin’s shoulder “Galvin, I am your superior officer, you will be following my orders.”

It was with some regret that Hammond contemplated the mornings events. Not only had he behaved recklessly by attempting to tease information from a bereaved stranger online. He had just allowed a member of his team to cause deliberate concern to an elderly neighbour of a murder victim and had unburdened himself of his worries onto the shoulders of his son’s best friend whom he also now knew was emotionally vulnerable. This was not the man Hammond wanted to be but he knew he was running out of choices as far as the investigations were concerned. Part of him felt responsible for Thomas’ fate and he owed his career to Lloyd Harris so his actions, reckless though they were, had some justifiable cause. Hammond had seen a look of disappointment flash across Galvin’s face when he had allowed Edwards to behave the way he had done, but he knew the only way of identifying who was taking Robert’s post would be by baiting them to collect more post or looking through CCTV recordings taken of Dymchurch Road during the last few days. It was important that this was done as soon as possible before Thomas Taylor was charged. He hoped silently that Galvin would remain co-operative. He admired Galvin, he was enthusiastic and not arrogant like Edwards but he couldn’t trust that Galvin wouldn’t report on his underhand methods of investigation. Keeping these thoughts to himself, he accepted Galvin’s offer of a lift to where he had left his car at Charing. The journey lasted twenty minutes in which time the three men discussed how to continue their investigation. Edwards had had no luck tracing the mobile number called from Robert’s home the night before his murder.

“The mobile was switched off when I tried it, but the good news is that Robert’s had phoned this number several times in the last month, each call lasted between two to ten minutes each time. That suggests a familiarity between both parties. The bad news is that the number isn’t registered so we have no idea to whom the phone belongs.”

Galvin had attempted to search for the Mother and son whom had filed a complaint against Roberts in 2001.

“The Mother’s name was Gail Lawson. She married a second time in 2003 to Nicholas Ricci and they moved towards the Clapham area. I think they had more children but the information is pretty limited. I’ll have to delve a bit deeper. Either way, I couldn’t find anything else that suggests Roberts’ posed a threat to her son or to any other children. There have been no other reports of him behaving inappropriately, not officially anyway.”

Hammond was disappointed. It was beginning to look as if the motive behind the attack on Roberts was nothing more than Thomas losing his temper after being humiliated. However, it still didn’t explain the missing wallet. They decided to keep looking although they all felt that time was running out. As Hammond left the car, he agreed to meet them at the station later in the afternoon. Whilst he was in Charing, it may be worth checking in on Lloyd Harris. Hammond did not want to believe that Kathleen had been dishonest regarding her father’s state of mind, but it may be worth paying him an unexpected visit.

As Hammond collected his box file from the restaurant office, he was aware of a look of respect by the manager. At first he wondered if it were due to the generous tip he had left but his thoughts were quickly corrected by the other man who made it no secret that he had admired Hammonds choice of dinner guest the previous evening. Despite his slight annoyance at the manager’s lack of discretion, Hammond found himself blushing as Kathleen was mentioned. He was reminded again of his cowardly behaviour towards her and it embarrassed him enough to make a hasty exit from the restaurant as he made his way to the car. As Hammond opened the driver’s door he was surprised by the musty smell that greeted him. Instinctively he looked up towards the side of the Restaurant building looking for the air vents that could explain the smell but he couldn’t see any. He shrugged dismissively and proposed that the smell had been caused by the damp air as the car had been left stationary. The car throbbed in response to the turned ignition, he allowed the engine to idle as he quickly texted a message on his mobile to Paul telling him he intended to call him later that evening. He hoped that Paul wouldn’t be waiting for another call like last time. He missed talking to his son and wanted to make an effort to enjoy a real conversation with him. The reply beeped several seconds later. It took Hammond several seconds to translate Pauls’ reply which used numbers to abbreviate words but he understood Paul would expect his call at eight in the evening. There was a hint of sarcasm in his son’s reply, Paul was probably amused by his Father making an appointment to talk to him, but it satisfied Hammond enough to put the car into gear and exit the car park.

Neither Lloyd or Kathleen Harris were at home when Hammond called there but he felt partly relieved. He wasn’t sure how he would face Kathleen after his rejection of her advances the previous evening and he would have been embarrassed if Harris had sensed the discomfort between them. Harris would not have allowed such a situation to pass by without comment. At the same time, Hammond wanted to see for himself how his former colleague was coping with his illness. Every time he had seen him, Lloyd Harris had behaved quite capably, yet Kathleen would have had no reason to exaggerate. The inconsistency didn’t make sense to Hammond, and the detective within him wanted to find the answers. Instead he resigned himself to trying later and called Edwards telling him he would be there within the hour. He hung up and instinctively patted the box file lying on the passenger seat beside him. The sooner he had answered Harris’ enquiry the better.

The Philadelphia Orchestra had soothed Hammond’s mind into a still focus as he headed towards the motorway, The pitch and lows of the Adagio Strings lifted his spirits and eased his responsibilities momentarily until he heard a clunking noise from somewhere underneath him. He switched off the radio and tilted his head towards the floor of the car in an attempt to decipher the cause of the noise which was beginning to cause him alarm. But the noise had gone. Checking his rear view mirror, he was satisfied that he had not driven over an obstacle in the road and increased the radio’s volume as he merged with the motorway traffic. Occasionally his right hand lifted with the swell in the music and then lowered gently back onto the steering wheel as he allowed the music to caress him. His attention was drawn momentarily to the rear number plate of the car travelling in front of him. It was obviously a bespoke registration; LUV 31Y. He studied it for several seconds before it dawned on him that the numbers represented similar looking letters. It reminded him of the text messages Paul had sent. Hammond guessed it was known as text language but he personally found it easier to write full English, perhaps it was his age. As he pulled into the middle lane a thought struck him suddenly. A thought so profound he laughed at his stupidity at not realising it before. He knew who Cherry13 was. He slapped his hand back onto the steering wheel with a triumphant gesture. A black BMW shot past him at terrifying speed on the overtaking lane, startling him out of his moment of jubilation. Annoyed, Hammond cursed the reckless driver hoping that they would be caught by a traffic patrol further along but then, as soon as he had made the wish, he regretted it. Seeing a traffic police car parked on the side of the hard shoulder, the black BMW suddenly slammed the brakes and swerved in front of Hammond’s car. As Hammond punched his foot down onto the break, he realised too late that the car wasn’t responding. A tide of sickness overwhelmed him as he predicted what was about to happen. Instinctively, he allowed his body to go limp and helplessly waited for the blackness that engulfed him.

The bright lights hurt his eyes. He couldn’t see anything but blobs that moved in and out of focus and occasionally made mumbling noises. He tried to lift a hand to cover his eyes but instead felt a wave of pain that overtook his senses and sent him back into the blackness.

The threat was particularly vicious. It was more terrifying than anything he had ever sensed in his life, he tried to run but found his legs were paralysed. He found himself wanting to scream but no sound came from him. There were lights flashing around him, he squeezed his eyes closed to block out the luminosity that threatened to burn his mind but even with his eyelids sealed he knew the light would enter his head, it would eradicate all his thoughts and memories. He screamed silently, knowing that he could not be helped, that no one would rescue him.