The Cold Hand of Malice (31 page)

Molly got back in her car and sat there, fingers drumming on the steering wheel as she thought about that. She had no social life. That had come to a full stop when Craig had walked out three years ago, unable to understand why she would not give up her career while he continued on with his. Not that she hadn’t had offers since then, some of them from quite nice blokes, but they were usually coppers, and she didn’t want to go through that experience again.

She would have to think about that, she told herself as she started the car and headed for home. The sun was still shining, and the air was warmer than it had been for a long time, but somehow the prospect of spending the rest of the day on her own had lost its appeal.

Twenty-Seven

Monday, March 23

Ormside and Molly were talking earnestly when Paget walked in, and one glance at the whiteboards told him that something had been added since he’d last looked at them. ‘Looks as if someone has been busy,’ he remarked as he read the notes. ‘What’s all this about dogs and Peggy Goodwin?’

‘Dogs and Peggy Goodwin?’ Tregalles echoed the chief inspector’s words as he came through the door carrying a mug of steaming coffee. ‘Sounds interesting.’

‘I think Forsythe had best tell you herself,’ the sergeant said. ‘Go ahead, Molly.’

With only the occasional glance at the notes she had written up on Saturday, Molly related the conversation she’d had with Mrs Johnson almost verbatim, ending with: ‘So I stopped in at the animal clinic on Chapel Road on my way home, and I spoke to a veterinarian there who said he couldn’t be absolutely certain, but he felt that it would be possible for two dogs from the same litter to have the same DNA. They would have to be identical twins, which he says is rare, but, as with humans, it does happen occasionally.

‘Which made me wonder if it was possible that we have the wrong dog,’ she concluded. ‘It would also explain the presence of the other dog hairs found at the scene of the burglaries, and if Peggy
was
in love with Holbrook, as her mother said, isn’t it possible that he played on that to get her to help him rid himself of Laura, while secretly carrying on with Susan? In fact, perhaps he and Susan planned this together? She had every reason to hate her sister. But when Peggy realized how she’d been used, she turned on Simon and killed him at a time when she knew Susan would be blamed.’

‘What about the burglaries leading up to the killing of Laura?’ Tregalles asked. ‘Who did those? Somehow I can’t see Simon vandalizing houses.’

‘I can see Peggy doing it though,’ Molly said, ‘and I think I know how she might have chosen the houses for each burglary.’

Suddenly, she had the full attention of all three men, and she almost wished she hadn’t spoken. Two sergeants and a DCI all waiting for her to speak? ‘It . . . it’s only a theory,’ she said hesitantly. ‘I mean I could be completely wrong, but—’

‘Go on then, Molly,’ Ormside said quietly. ‘Theory or not, let’s hear it.’

‘Well, I was thinking about it last night, and I remembered a conversation I overheard in Mrs Johnson’s shop. A woman was buying a card to take to the christening of her granddaughter, and she mentioned that she and her husband were going up to Chester next weekend. Later, I remembered that Peggy usually works in the shop on Saturdays, so she must hear similar stories from people who are buying cards or chocolates to take as gifts when they are going away. All she would have to do is encourage them to talk and she would know when the house would be empty. We could ask the people whose houses were broken into if they were in the gift shop on a Saturday before they left, and if they talked about where they were going. If it
was
Peggy who was doing the burglaries, it would explain the different types of dog hair in the houses, because her mother told me that Peggy helps with the grooming of the dogs when she comes round on Saturdays. We would have to check which dogs were in her mother’s care and when, of course, but that shouldn’t be too hard.’

The three men exchanged glances. It was Ormside who broke the silence. ‘It would explain how the houses were selected,’ he said. ‘But do you really think Goodwin’s got the sort of nerve it would take to break into someone’s house and do all that damage?’

‘I really don’t know,’ said Molly, ‘although I think she is a very determined woman. But I have to admit, all the rest of the evidence does point to Susan Chase, who could be just as determined.’

‘So it’s a case of take your pick,’ Tregalles said.

‘It is,’ said Paget, ‘so the sooner we start sorting it out the better. I think Forsythe’s theory is worth following up,’ he told Ormside, ‘so I want someone to start digging into Goodwin’s background. Build a profile on her; find out who her friends are, and what they have to say about her. And if this Valerie Wade is still around, let’s see what she has to say about her old school friend. However, we can’t ignore the fact that all the evidence still points to Susan Chase when it comes to the killing of Simon. Have they found anything in the flat or shop?’

Ormside shifted uncomfortably as he said, ‘Yes, well, I was coming to that, sir. We didn’t get the warrant till late in the day on Friday, and what with one thing and another, they didn’t get started until this morning. But they are there now,’ he hastened to add.

Paget eyed Ormside narrowly. ‘What, exactly, do you mean by “one thing and another”, Len?’

‘Seems that Mr Brock phoned Charlie Friday afternoon to say he didn’t see the need for people working the weekend at double time, when the work could be done just as well on Monday.’

‘And no one thought to let me know?’ Paget said.

Ormside said, ‘I didn’t know myself until this morning, and Charlie probably thought you knew already. Oh, yes, one more thing before I forget. The super’s back today and he wants to see you in his office to bring him up to date.’

‘Right,’ said Paget. ‘I’ll go up when we’ve finished here. Anything else?’

‘We’ll need a warrant to search Peggy Goodwin’s flat,’ Ormside said, ‘and one for her mother’s place as well. And we’ll need hair samples from the dogs.’

‘Except, apart from Mrs Johnson’s own dogs, Gypsy and Sam, the dogs she’s looking after now probably aren’t the ones she had there over the time period of the burglaries,’ Molly pointed out. ‘So we’ll need to get a list of every dog Mrs Johnson has taken in over the last few months.’

But Paget was shaking his head. ‘Too early for that,’ he said flatly. ‘We don’t have enough hard evidence to apply for a warrant. Let’s find out first if any of the burglary victims did visit the gift shop when Peggy was there, and if they mentioned going away. But I want it done discreetly, because some of these people may have known Peggy and her mother for a long time, and I don’t want word of our enquiries to get back to either of them. So let’s be careful about how we ask the question. And since this is your idea, Forsythe, I think you should be the one to follow it up – that is unless Sergeant Ormside has other plans for you.’

Ormside shook his head, and Molly picked up her handbag and slung it over her shoulder. ‘In that case, I’d better make a start,’ she said.

‘Before you go, it might be a good idea to check the statements of the people whose homes were vandalized in case they did mention the card shop,’ Ormside said. ‘Save yourself some time.’

Molly patted her handbag. ‘I did when I first came in this morning,’ she told him. ‘None of them mentioned the shop, so if there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.’

The grizzled sergeant looked thoughtful as he followed Molly with his eyes as she left the room. ‘I think you should be very nice to that young woman,’ he said softly to Tregalles as Paget moved away to study the boards once more.

‘Why?’ Tregalles asked suspiciously. ‘What do you know that I don’t?’

Ormside shrugged. ‘Just a thought,’ he said. ‘I won’t be around to see it, but if she goes on the way she’s going, you could be working for her one of these days.’

The flashing light on the phone told Paget that it was the direct line from Control. ‘A Mr Beaumont is asking for you, sir,’ said a female voice when he picked it up. ‘He says he is returning your call. Shall I put him through, sir?’

‘Please,’ said Paget, and a moment later exchanged introductions with Henry Beaumont.

‘I assume this has something to do with the unfortunate death of Simon Holbrook,’ Beaumont said, coming straight to the point. ‘How can I help?’

‘I have here copies of a series of emails taken from Simon Holbrook’s BlackBerry, and I would appreciate it if you could enlarge on what they seem to be telling me. Would I be right in assuming that you were negotiating some sort of amalgamation between Drexler-Davies and Holbrook Micro-Engineering?’

There was a lengthy silence from the other end before Beaumont said, ‘I’m afraid that is confidential information, Chief Inspector, and I’m not at liberty to discuss it with—’

‘Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear, Mr Beaumont,’ Paget interjected. ‘I was hoping to deal with this particular matter in an informal way rather than put you to the trouble of travelling here to answer questions and making a formal statement. And since Mr Holbrook is dead, I assumed that confidentiality would no longer be an issue. Would tomorrow be convenient?’

Once again there was a long pause before Beaumont responded. ‘I must apologize, Chief Inspector,’ he said smoothly, ‘but sometimes we become overcautious in this business of ours, and we tend to treat everything as confidential. But as you say, that may no longer be a consideration in this case. What, exactly, would you like to know?’

‘Henry Beaumont has been trying to persuade Simon Holbrook to come back to work for them ever since he left Drexler-Davies, but Holbrook has always refused, insisting that he wanted to be in control of his own company. But suddenly all that changed, and it was he who approached Beaumont early to mid January saying he was prepared to consider a deal.’

Paget was in Alcott’s office, briefing him on the latest developments in the Holbrook case.

‘They had several secret meetings, and it was all but wrapped up, according to Beaumont,’ Paget continued. ‘In effect, Holbrook Micro-Engineering was to become a subsidiary of Drexler-Davies, and the reason Holbrook gave for the sudden about-face –
he
said
– was because Laura was leaving the company. He told Beaumont that he knew it would be extremely difficult to find someone with the same strengths and credibility in the marketplace that she had, and said he had neither the time nor the energy to go through all that again. He said all he wanted was to be left alone to get on with his own research without having to bother about all the things that a company like Drexler-Davies could do for him in finding markets and dealing with clients. But he still wanted some autonomy, which was why he proposed bringing his company in as a subsidiary, a separate entity, over which he would have some control at least. That way, he said, they would both benefit. Drexler-Davies would have a valuable addition to their Research and Development division, and he and his people could get on with what they did best, knowing that their products would be marketed aggressively.’

Alcott frowned. ‘Holbrook actually said that his wife would be
leaving
the firm?’ he said. ‘And he first proposed this in January?’

‘Right. Just a few days before the first burglary that we are attributing to him or to someone doing it on his behalf.’

‘How is it that we are only hearing about this deal now? Surely there must have been some buzz among the staff?’

‘Beaumont says that Holbrook wanted it kept completely secret until the deal was done. As it is, Beaumont has already assigned a new manager to come down here and take over. I asked him if that would affect any of the present staff, and he said the new manager would be bringing in a transition team, and some of the present staff could be culled during the “rationalization”, as he put it.’

‘Which is business-speak for redundancies, I take it?’ Alcott said.

‘Something like that,’ Paget agreed.

‘So what would happen to Goodwin if the deal had gone through?’

‘I asked Beaumont that, and he said they might be able to use her during the transition, and there would probably be a place for her in the new organization, but it would be nothing like the position she holds now.’

‘So, chances are Holbrook would not have told her what he was doing. But do you think she knew?’

‘I’m sure she didn’t – at least not when I first spoke to her. She was working flat out trying to keep the place together and find someone to take the place of Laura, and she was very protective of Holbrook. I think she sees the company as partly hers, and I think she would have found the prospect of abandoning the idea of remaining an independent company devastating. But if it was she rather than Susan Chase who killed Laura for him, then found out later what he intended to do with the company, it could be a powerful motive for killing him, especially if she also learned that he’d been sleeping with Susan Chase all along.’

‘Could she have found out more recently?’

‘It’s certainly possible. Holbrook carried the BlackBerry in his jacket pocket rather than on his belt, and Goodwin was always in and out of his office, so yes, it is quite possible.’

Alcott pursed his lips as he thought about that. ‘So what’s going to happen to this deal with Beaumont now that Holbrook’s dead?’ he asked.

‘It died with him,’ Paget said. ‘In fact, Beaumont told me he thought it a bit suspicious when Laura was killed, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe that Simon was involved. He said he spoke to Holbrook about it at the funeral, and Holbrook assured him that it was nothing more than a tragic and unfortunate coincidence. Now, of course, he is no longer interested in Holbrook Micro-Engineering as a company, because its main asset was Holbrook himself and the reputation he had for invention and innovation. But he’s not above picking off some of the top technicians, in fact he’s already spoken to some of them about coming to work for Drexler-Davies and, as he put it, made them an offer they’ll find hard to refuse under the circumstances.’