The Disciple (7 page)

‘Yes, sorry. Stolen bikes and soft drugs not your thing, I suppose. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your names?’

‘I’m DCI Hudson, Miss Harvey-Ellis, this is DS Grant. Nice place you’ve got here.’

‘It keeps the rain off. And I’m Theresa Brook, okay, but I prefer Terri.’

‘Brook. Of course,’ said Hudson, exchanging a glance with Grant.

Terri escorted them through the entrance portico into an enormous modern kitchen and through into an even bigger conservatory, furnished with sturdy cream sofas. She gestured for them to sit, then at a coffee pot and poured for both officers when they nodded.

‘Where’s your mother, Miss Brook?’ asked Grant.

She looked a little sheepish and raised melancholy eyes to Hudson. ‘Call me Terri. I’m afraid I owe you an apology, Chief Inspector. Mum’s asleep. She’s still not up to it. She’s been sedated. I’m sorry. Perhaps if you came back later…’

Hudson paused for a few moments, then smiled in sympathy. ‘Please don’t apologise, Terri. We quite understand.’ Grant raised an eyebrow at her superior. He wasn’t usually so understanding when suspects tried to mess him around.

A pause from Terri. Then, ‘I’m sorry you’ve had a wasted journey.’

‘Terri, do you think I could have a glass of water?’ asked Hudson.

‘Of course.’ She left to fetch the water after a brief pause.

‘Guv?’ said Grant once Terri was out of earshot.

‘I think we should take a run at Terri while she’s on her own.’

‘She’s only seventeen; she should have a parent with her.’

‘How much less awkward would it be without her mother present? Christ, we’re talking about an affair between Terri and her mum’s husband.’

‘I know but I’d feel a lot…’

Terri returned with a glass of water and handed it to Hudson, who took a token sip before placing it on the table.

‘Terri. Perhaps
you
can help us with some things,’ said Hudson in an easy manner.

‘I … I don’t know what I can tell you.’

‘We just need some background, really,’ said Grant.

‘For instance, can you tell us about any enemies your father might have had?’ asked Hudson.

‘Enemies? What’s that got to do with him drowning?’ Grant and Hudson said nothing. ‘Are you implying Tony was murdered?’

‘We’re not implying anything, Terri…’

‘You are, aren’t you?’ Terri was incredulous, disbelieving. She seemed to be shaking. Hudson and Grant studied her carefully and couldn’t detect any artifice.

‘At the moment we’re looking at all angles,’ said Grant.

‘Then you’re making a mistake. Tony was a popular guy. Everybody liked him. Everybody. I can’t believe anyone would want to murder him.’ She stared into the distance and Grant fancied a sliver of doubt deformed her features for a second.

‘Nobody had a grudge or wished to harm him in any way? Think back. We could be talking about a couple of years ago.’

Terri shook her head, now unable to meet their gaze. ‘No one, I’m telling you.’

‘We’ll come back to that one,’ said Hudson quietly. ‘Do you know where your stepfather was staying in Brighton the night before he died?’ Again Terri shook her head. Hudson hunched down over his notebook as if checking a detail. ‘It was in a hotel in Waterloo Street. The Duchess. Bit of a pigsty actually. Not really your stepfather’s sort of place I would’ve said. Do you know it?’

He looked back up at her as she shook her head. Her colour was darkening slightly, but otherwise she retained her composure.

‘Any idea why he might check into that hotel under a false name?’ asked Grant. ‘Gordon Hall.’ She continued to look at Terri. ‘Actually the register says Mr and Mrs Gordon Hall. Did you know your stepfather had a lady friend?’

Terri’s lips were becoming tighter and tighter and the ability to speak had deserted her. She shook her head again.

Hudson had some sympathy but he also knew that the more he tightened the screw, the more detailed the confession when it came. ‘You see what he did there. That’s a play on the name of his company, you know. Hall Gordon Public Relations,’ he pointed out helpfully.

‘Any idea who Mrs Hall might have been?’ asked Grant.

‘No!’ croaked Terri, clearing her throat. ‘Can I have one of those cigarettes please?’

‘Of course.’ Hudson took two cigarettes from the packet,
handing one to Terri and putting one in his mouth. He lit hers then his own.

‘Whoever she is, I’m afraid it’s now almost certain she was having a sexual relationship with your stepfather. I’m sorry to have to tell you that.’

After several long drags, Terri finally broke the silence. ‘How do you know?’ she croaked.

Not,
I don’t believe it
, Grant noted. ‘We found fresh semen on his jogging pants.’

‘And traces of female DNA. The lab’s working them up now. The semen is his, obviously. The other … well, it should help when we find out who she is.’ Terri nodded dumbly, tears welling up in her eyes

‘And the girl was quite young, according to the landlord. Maybe underage,’ added Grant.

‘It must be upsetting to discover what kind of man your stepfather was,’ said Hudson.

Terri bowed her head and now began to sob. Hudson felt guilty. He remembered how his own teenage daughter regressed when the adopted habits of adulthood bit too deep.

‘This must be difficult,’ said Grant, moving to sit next to the girl to offer some comfort.

Hudson quietly pulled out the CCTV image from the car park and placed it on the table in front of Terri. She barely glanced at it but the violence of her sobbing increased, and her head sought refuge and bobbed up and down in Grant’s arms.

Eventually a measure of calm returned and Terri was able to blow her nose and wipe her eyes. ‘I loved him,’ she said simply.

‘I believe you,’ answered Hudson, resisting the urge to be judgemental. ‘Tell us what happened at the weekend.’

Terri found such a simple question difficult, embarrassed to be discussing the sex life she had hidden from the world. ‘We … were together, you know, Saturday night. We were awake … most of the night.’ She glanced up at the two detectives to see if they’d
cracked her simple code. Their expressions were unaltered. ‘Tone plays rugby … played rugby … and he wanted to go for a run. It was really early. Five o’clock.’

‘You didn’t go with him?’

‘God no! He was only going to be an hour, he said. I saw him walk to the seafront and turn towards the old pier and I never saw him again.’

Her lip began to wobble so Hudson piled in with the next question to keep her mind busy. ‘Did you see anyone else on the road?’

‘No one.’

‘Any cars pull away at the same time?’

‘Not that I noticed.’

Hudson nodded. ‘Go on.’

‘I went back to bed and woke up at about nine and Tone wasn’t back. I didn’t think anything of it. I showered and went out to get a coffee, thinking he’d be back when I got back, but he wasn’t. By half eleven I was frantic. I went for a walk along the front but I couldn’t see anything. I thought maybe he’d had an accident and was in hospital. So I packed up his stuff and took it to the car park, threw it all in the boot. I hung onto his wallet. I was going to drive the car but thought it might be better to leave it for Tone. The only problem was if I wanted to leave the car keys I couldn’t lock up. So I threw them in the boot. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. Unless someone randomly tried the door, most people would assume it was locked. Then I came home.’

‘Was your mother here when you got back?’ asked Grant.

Terri nodded.

‘How long had your affair been going on?’ asked Hudson.

Terri bit her lip, recognising the relevance of the question. ‘Not long,’ she replied.

It was an obvious lie but Hudson decided there was little to gain by challenging it. The victim wasn’t pressing charges, the criminal was dead.

‘I loved him,’ she repeated in the softest whisper.

‘This is very important, Terri,’ said Grant. ‘Who else knew you were going to be at that hotel?’

Terri stared off into space to think. She shook her head. ‘Apart from the guy at the hotel, no one.’

‘Mr Sowerby?’

‘Mr Sowerby, yes.’

‘Would Tony have told anyone?’

‘I don’t think so. Why?’ She answered her own question immediately. ‘You think someone planned this. You think someone was waiting near the hotel, to kill him.’

‘It seems likely. Does your mother know about the affair?’ asked Hudson.

She looked down. When she looked up she had more moisture in her eyes. She blinked it away and shook her head. ‘As far as you know.’

‘As far as I know,’ she echoed into her lap. She lifted her head suddenly. ‘You’re not suggesting …?’

‘Hell hath no fury like a woman losing her husband to her daughter,’ observed Hudson with more cruelty than he’d intended.

‘Forget it,’ spat Terri. ‘My mother couldn’t hurt a fly.’

‘What about your father?’

‘My father?’

‘Your
real
father.’

Terri seemed momentarily nonplussed by the question. ‘He … I don’t know. I mean, of course not. Besides, he lives in Derbyshire.’

‘That’s not what we call an alibi, Miss Brook.’

‘Do you know if your father ever visited your stepfather at his place of work?’ asked Grant, as casually as possible.

Terri looked at her as if she’d been slapped. ‘I’m not sure.’ She bowed her head and cried some more.

Grant looked at her notebook. ‘Would it surprise you to hear that a couple of years ago your father, Damen Brook, Detective
Inspector Damen Brook of Derby CID, paid a visit to Tony at Hall Gordon Public Relations? This is according to Mr Gordon, the company director. During his visit he assaulted your stepfather and threatened to have him arrested for molesting his daughter. Apparently he went to great pains to humiliate your stepfather in front of his colleagues. It caused a huge stink at the firm.’

‘And your mother had to go in to assure the directors that all the allegations were groundless. Do you still say your mother knew nothing of your relationship?’ Hudson and Grant waited.

‘But she didn’t believe it,’ croaked Terri eventually, unable to look at them.

‘Well, I’m afraid she’ll have to believe it now.’

Terri looked up at them in alarm. ‘You’re not going to tell her?’

Hudson stood and motioned at Grant to follow suit. ‘Of course we’re not going to tell her, Terri. But do you honestly think this thing can stay under wraps?’

‘I think what Chief Inspector Hudson means is that sooner or later she’s going to find out.’ Grant patted Terri on the arm and made to leave. ‘And, all things considered, Terri, it would be better coming from you.’ Grant followed Hudson out but turned back at the door. ‘If it’s any consolation, according to Sowerby, you were one of many.’

Laura Grant kicked open the door, holding two coffees. Hudson, phone cradled under his chin, saw it was her and removed the hand that was holding the cigarette from behind his back.

‘Any luck, guv?’

Hudson made to answer then returned his attention to the receiver. ‘Hello. Derby HQ? This is DCI Joshua Hudson from Sussex CID. Who am I speaking to? Sergeant Hendrickson, I wonder if you can help me. I’m going to be in Derbyshire on
leave this weekend and I was wondering about looking up an old colleague, name of DI Damen Brook … well, no, I wouldn’t really say he was a friend. Like I said, he used to be a colleague, only I wouldn’t like him to find out I’d been in the neighbourhood and not looked him up. So I was wondering what shift he was on over the weekend so I could drop in … oh really? Next Monday. What a shame. Do you know where? Well, yes, he always was a bit like that, now you mention it.’ Hudson listened to the monologue at the other end of the line. Finally he was able to get a word in. ‘Well, thanks very much for your help, Sergeant.’

‘There’s one enemy DI Brook’s made,’ said Hudson, putting the phone down. A sombre expression invaded his features. He turned to Grant and took his coffee from her, taking a noisy draught. ‘Bad news.’

‘He’s got an alibi?’

Hudson stubbed out his cigarette and ran his fingers through his grey hair. ‘Far from it. He’s on two weeks’ leave until next week. There’s some book coming out about The Reaper case so he decided to get away from the hoo-hah.’

‘Where is he?’

‘No one knows. Apparently he never sees fit to tell anyone. He could be out of the country for all they know.’

‘So he could’ve been stalking Harvey-Ellis, waiting for his chance.’ Grant couldn’t conceal her excitement. ‘He’s our guy, guv. I can smell it.’

Hudson nodded. ‘Maybe.’

‘Maybe?
This was your idea, guv.’

‘I know, but I don’t like it, Laura.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve got a daughter. And if I’d found out someone … well, I wouldn’t wait a couple of years before I did something about it. If Brook was going to kill Harvey-Ellis, why didn’t he do it as soon as he found out about the affair?’

‘He assaulted him, in front of witnesses, he knew he couldn’t kill him. So he decided to wait.’

Hudson nodded. ‘Maybe. But the least he could do was have Harvey-Ellis arrested for raping his daughter. Why not take that option?’