Steps to Heaven: A Sgt Major Crane Novel (14 page)

As
this
looked
to
be
the
most
promising
lead
there
is
at
the
moment
,
I
intend
to
start
making
enquiries
of
likely
participants
,
in
the
hope
that
I
can
attend
one
of
the
meetings
and
find
out
what
is
going
on
.
It
seems
this
Zechariah
stays
in
the
shadows
,
but
maybe
I
can
throw
some
light
on
his
secrets
.

Don’t
worry
,
Sergeant
Major
,
I
promise
to
keep
you
posted
!

Chapter Twenty-One

“Bloody idiot,” was DI Anderson’s reaction to Padre Symonds’s missive that Crane had printed out and brought to the local police station. Anderson pushed the paper back across his desk towards Crane.

“That
may be so, Derek, but this information opens up our missing person’s enquiry to encompass Aldershot and the surrounding area. Hence your involvement,” Crane said. Fed up with sitting, which was making him feel impotent, Crane stood up and leaned against the wall.

Crane
and Anderson had a good working relationship, although they only had irregular contact. The local constabulary do not patrol on an army garrison and equally the RMP don’t patrol outside the garrison. This means that from time to time joint operations and liaison are required, especially for crimes that will be tried in a civil court. Crane and Anderson had worked hard at fostering mutual respect for each other’s expertise and local boundaries.

“Have
you had any problems with this church in the past?” said Crane, looking at Anderson who, as always, was dishevelled. Crane knew that he looked little better himself, with his own suit crumpled and dusty from this morning’s encounter with the church floor.

“Not
really,” shrugged Derek. “Only the usual local stuff. Sometimes they have very large gatherings and the police are on hand to watch the traffic, make sure no one parks outside on the double yellow lines, that sort of thing. But nothing you could call trouble. After all it’s a church not a brothel or illegal drinking club, Crane,” he smiled.

“I
know, I know, but it’s the only real lead we have,” replied Crane, sitting back down. “I’m sure the Padre’s disappearance must have something to do with this church. He talks about a shadowy figure and secret meetings. I can only think that this is the person who felt that the Padre was nosing around too much; ergo he was a danger to this unknown preacher. As a result, he has either kidnapped or killed the Padre.” Crane played with his scar.

“And
your only evidence of this is the Padre’s memo on his memory stick?” asked Anderson lifting his hands from his desk in an unbelieving gesture.

“Gut
feeling, intuition, call it what you will. But looking at the broader picture, the other murder suicides, the other local evangelical churches, it seems obvious to me.” Crane had just spent the last 20 minutes or so filling in the background of the investigation for Anderson. Whilst the police officer had been sympathetic regarding the murder of three children, he had little to offer. Anderson had not been involved with the investigation in Aldershot, apart from his initial contact with the Solomon murder scene and subsequent attendance at the inquest, where a verdict of murder was recorded for the two victims and suicide for Solomon Crooks. He was therefore surprised to learn about the other two murder/suicides in Catterick and Colchester.

“Can’t
you get a warrant and search the church premises?”

“No
one’s going to authorise a search warrant on this evidence, Crane. But what I will do is go and see this Church Elder, interview him and ask him politely if we can have a look around. Okay?”

“Tonight?”

“Tonight, Crane, now go home.”

Smiling,
Crane thanked Anderson, who promised to phone Crane’s mobile as soon as he had any news.

***

Someone else making arrangements was Staff Sergeant Jones. As Crane entered his office, straight from his visit to Aldershot Police Station, Jones was organising a sweep of the large, wooded, military owned land and disused buildings located opposite the garrison on the other side of the Farnborough Road. Near to Farnborough airport and adjacent to large playing fields, the area also doubled as a local beauty spot populated by dog walkers and those who just wanted to enjoy being out of doors. The small empty roads and tracks were also popular with the local driving schools and no one was ever sure whether it was the learner drivers trying to avoid the marching troops or the other way round. Because of the large numbers of soldiers constantly in the area, Crane knew that a search wouldn’t cause any raised eyebrows and whispers into the wrong ears, bringing unwanted press interest.

“No
sign of him yet then?”

“No
sorry,” replied Jones. “But we’re doing all we can, searching the local military areas.”

“I
know, Jones.” Crane sank into the only other chair in the office, which was small and uncomfortable. “Jesus, this bloody chair, can’t you change it Jones? I’m sure you could find a better one in a skip!”

“I’ll
try to get round to it when we’ve found the Padre. Look, it’s starting to get dark, there’s not much more you can do at the moment. You’ve already sent the information on the memory stick to Harris in Catterick and Brown in Colchester, to see if they can turn up any similar information their end. Have you updated Captain Edwards?”

“Yes,
although he was none too pleased. Losing an officer is high up on his list of things not to do. As per usual he wants everything sorted out as quickly as possible, so he can take the glory, whilst ensuring that nothing reflects badly on him. At the moment he’s busy trying to soothe the upper echelons in the Officers’ Mess, assuring them that the lads are on it and it’ll all be sorted out in double quick time. Typical,” he added running his hand through his hair, “no investigative insight from him, just an order to get it sorted!”

“Well,
no point whinging about it, Crane, you’ve been in the army long enough. You know how the system works. No luck with any evidence from the Padre’s office in the church?”

“No,
not a thing. I bet it’s the same bastard who hit me over the head that’s got the Padre. But the trouble is I’ve got no evidence to back anything up. I realise that even Anderson is working with his hands tied behind his back trying to persuade anyone to take my allegations seriously. But there must be some solid evidence somewhere tying all this together, Jones.”

“I
know, Crane, and if there is, between us all we’ll find it. Look on the bright side, at least people are listening to you since the Padre disappeared and you got hit over the head!” he laughed.

Crane
knew Jones was trying to inject an air of levity into the seriousness of the situation but couldn’t raise a smile.

“You
look done in,” Jones said. “Why don’t you go home and keep the mobile by your bed? If I hear anything at all, I’ll phone straight away. I’m on duty all night and you’ll have to be fresh to take over in the morning.”

“You’re right. I’ve got a bitch of a headache as well,” Crane admitted, as he massaged the now rather large lump on his scalp. “Perhaps a few hours sleep will help. Thanks, Jones,” and Crane left the office to go home.

Once
in the car, he phoned the SIB office to let them know where he’d be and drove down Queens Avenue towards home. He saw Billy a few cars ahead of him. As it was nearly 19:00 hours, he expected Billy to turn left at the traffic lights and go towards the garrison sports centre, where he was a frequent visitor to the gym and Olympic sized swimming pool. Keeping fit was Billy’s obsession. But it seemed that wasn’t his destination this evening, as the car continued to crawl along the avenue in the rush hour traffic, hindered every few yards by interminable sets of traffic lights. Intrigued, Crane followed Billy to the junction at the edge of the garrison with Aldershot town, rather than taking an earlier turning to cut through the back roads towards Ash where he lived. As they reached the junction, Crane saw Billy turn right towards the town centre.

Assuming
Billy was on a night out with the lads; Crane turned his mind away from his young sergeant and started looking forward to seeing Tina. But more importantly, to taking a few strong painkillers, unaware that a bad headache would be the least of his painful injuries in the not too distant future.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Crane had reason to be concerned about Billy again the next morning. His young sergeant, usually so full of life, was listless, pale and unkempt. From his open office door he could see Billy trying to concentrate on the papers in front of him, but he keeps closing his eyes, as if the effort was just too much.

Deciding
that a dressing down wasn’t the order of the day today, he got up to go out and as he passed through the office called, “Billy, you’re with me.”

“Oh,
what? Yes, sir.” Billy scrambled for his things and ran to catch up with Crane.

Once
in the car he asked, “Where are we off to boss?” whilst rubbing his hands over his face in a washing motion, as if to scrub off whatever malady was plaguing him.

“Aldershot
Police Station, to see DI Anderson. I want to talk to him face to face about his meeting with Elias.”

“Okay,
boss,” was Billy’s tired reply as his head drooped and his eyes closed.

“Billy,”
said Crane sharply.

“Sir?”
Billy jerked awake, opening his eyes wide and blinking.

“Good
night last night was it?” Crane smiled to soften the words.

“Sorry,
sir, last night?”

“Yes,
lad, last night. A night out with the boys was it, one too many beers eh?”

“Beers,
no, sir, no beers last night. Why do you ask?”

“Well,
because you look like a man with a raging hangover and I saw you drive off last night towards the town centre, so I assumed you must have had a good night out with the lads.” Crane’s patience was beginning to wear thin.

“No,
not me, sir, just a night in watching the telly.” Billy sat up straighter in the car seat, blinking repeatedly.

“Then
what’s wrong with you this morning, for God’s sake?”

“Wrong?
Nothing wrong with me. At least nothing that a strong cup of coffee won’t sort out.” Billy smiled his most engaging smile at Crane.

“Mm,
well, the coffee’s a good idea. Anything’s better than that crap at the police station,” said Crane as he pulled into the drive through lane of Burger King and ordered two strong black coffees.

Deciding
to pull into the small car park in front of the fast food store instead of driving on, Crane took a coffee from the small cardboard tray Billy was holding and said, “Come on, let’s get some fresh air.”

The
combination of fresh air and coffee seemed to bring Billy round and the coffee and nicotine helped Crane calm down, meaning that both men were in better shape when they met Anderson.

Unfortunately
the DI had little to offer from his interview with the Church Elder. He told them that Elias said he was troubled to hear of the Padre’s disappearance, citing him as a close colleague and that he seemed happy to show Anderson around the church.

“So
what’s the place like?” asked Crane.

“Well,
being the old cinema, it’s on two levels, with the ground floor and then the old stalls above. It’s quite ornate and looks like it’s been cleaned and restored a little by the church volunteers. Some of the seating has obviously seen better days, but it’s clear a good effort has been made to make it clean and welcoming.”

“Did
Elias show you everywhere?”

“I’d
say not. I suspect that Elias only showed me the public rooms. I think there are a number of back room areas as well. You know behind the old screen. But without a search warrant, there’s nothing I could do about it.”

“Anything
else?”

“Anything
else? What do you mean?” asked Anderson rifling through his papers as though he had forgotten something, but wasn’t sure what.

“Any
other avenues of investigation that might help us find the Padre?”

“Oh,
yes, sorry. Well, he’s been logged as a missing person. The lads on the beat and in the cars have been issued with his description and details of his car and told to keep an eye out. We’re taking it very seriously, Crane, and will do everything we can. The top brass are obviously aware of what’s going on and anxious to co-operate with the military as much as possible. We’re all concerned for the Padre’s safety and will do everything we can to help find him.”

***

Crane and Billy returned to the office, with Crane turning his head this way and that as he drove down Queen’s Avenue, hoping to catch sight of the Padre out for his morning constitutional, even though he knew he wouldn’t. After a briefing with Captain Edwards that provided no new insights, Crane sat exhausted in his chair in his office, trying to massage away the headache that still plagued him from yesterday.

Crane
looked up at a tentative knock on his door. “Kim? Do you want to see me?”

“Please,
sir, if it’s convenient.”

“Of
course, come in and sit down. Any news for me?”

“No,
not really, sir, just something that’s bothering me.”

“Yes?”

“Well, sir, it’s Billy, sorry Staff Sergeant Williams...” she tailed off, crossing and then uncrossing her legs.

“It’s
okay, Kim. Stop looking as though you think you’re telling tales out of school. What’s the matter?”

“Well,
I know you’ve noticed he seemed a bit odd at the moment, a bit vague and not quite with it. I’m really concerned that…”

“That
what, Kim?” Crane had to prompt her again.

“Well,
this may sound a bit stupid, but I’m wondering if he’s disobeyed your order and started going to that church. Or maybe he was already going.”

“What,
to Jesus is King?”

“Yes,
sir, I know how strongly he felt about wanting to infiltrate it. Maybe he decided to go out on his own. Oh I don’t know, I’ve got no evidence, it’s just a feeling.” By this time Kim was fidgeting with her hands. Kim doesn’t fidget, so Crane knew it must have taken courage for her to speak out.

“Okay,
fair enough,” he responded nodding slowly. “In that case, why don’t you follow him in your car tonight? I think it would be less obvious you rather than me. Let’s see where he goes. But don’t do anything stupid, Kim, just follow him, ring me on my mobile and then go home. If he does go to the church on no account are you to try and follow him in there. Understood?”

“Understood,
sir,” said Kim, a smile breaking through the worry.

Crane
pondered Kim’s concerns for a while after she had left. Surely Billy wouldn’t have been so stupid to have disobeyed a direct order? But then again, Crane had done that himself in the past, mostly to good effect. The trick was not to get caught and then talk your way out of it when you came up with results. But there was definitely something wrong with Billy at the moment and Crane was glad Kim shared her suspicions.

For
the rest of the day he had little opportunity to dwell on the problem of Billy. There was still no sign of the Padre and Jones was extending the search to other areas of military land including Longmoor in Farnborough and also Ash Ranges.

As
a result, by the end of the day he had forgotten about the tail on Billy. It was only when Billy was leaving the office and he saw Kim quickly gather her things and nod conspiratorially at him, that he remembered. Deciding to stay on at the office, he paced around the open plan area, holding his mobile in his hand.