Hell to Pay Read online

  A silence filled the incident room as the team stared at the photographs.

  ‘The hospital has confirmed they’ve had to remove the driver’s spleen, and I’m told he also has a broken leg and will require further surgery to pin that in due course. They’re keeping him in the induced coma to try and reduce the swelling to his head wound – looks like he banged his skull against the window of the car when it rolled down the embankment.’

  ‘What are his chances?’ said Kay.

  ‘Grim, but as soon as we get confirmation from the hospital he’s conscious, we’ll be making arrangements to formally interview him.’

  A murmur swept through the incident room. It would make their jobs harder if they couldn’t question the driver, and although none of them wished him ill health, they also wanted to see justice served for the man’s victim.

  The DI waited until their voices had quietened. ‘Carys – has anything come up on the Police National Computer about the car registration?’

  She shook her head. ‘There’s nothing that looks like a connection, guv, but some of the records on the database from the Driver Vehicle and Licencing Agency are a mess, so I’ve put in a request to them. It doesn’t appear to be a hire car, though. Hopefully I’ll get some clarifying information from them soon.’

  ‘All right. In the meantime, fingerprints were taken from the driver, but we’ve drawn a blank,’ said Sharp. ‘He doesn’t appear in our system. He had no wallet or identification on him, and none were found in the car. Two mobile phones were located in the car, however, and those have been passed to Andy Grey’s digital forensics team at headquarters. We would’ve brought them into evidence here, but they were crushed in the accident, and we needed Grey’s expertise to extract what information we could from them. Harriet’s team found another phone amongst the undergrowth that had the female victim’s fingerprints on it. Grey confirmed fifteen minutes ago that the last call made on one of the phones in the car was made to the victim’s phone.’

  ‘But why would he be calling her?’ said Barnes. ‘He knows where she is – in the boot of his car.’

  ‘Maybe she’s known to him and he called her before killing her?’ said Kay.

  ‘Or it was a hit and run?’ said Gavin. He shook his head. ‘No, that doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘What about the woman? Any information about her?’ asked a female police constable on the fringe of the small group, her pen poised.

  ‘None. Again, her fingerprints have been taken, but she doesn’t show up in the system, Debbie,’ said Sharp. ‘So, can you circulate the prints to our colleagues in Sussex, Essex and the Met to start off with to see if they have anything for us? Widen the search if they don’t. Lucas Anderson is planning to do the post mortem tomorrow morning, so we’ll have to wait to see if that turns up anything to help us by way of dental records and the like.’

  ‘Will do, guv.’

  Debbie West regularly supported the major crimes unit, and Sharp always sought her presence from the uniform staff at the station if she was available.

  Diligent and one of the most talented users of the HOLMES2 database the team relied upon to manage any investigation, Debbie exuded a degree of calm amongst the often fraught team dynamics.

  Sharp’s attention returned to the detectives. ‘While Debbie’s following up the fingerprints angle, Carys – you and Gavin start working with Missing Persons to see if our victim turns up on those databases. Harriet emailed some photographs from last night’s scene, so you can use those. Again, widen your search if she doesn’t show up in Kent.’

  ‘Will do.’

  ‘While Carys is dealing with the DVLA, we need to trace where that car’s been,’ said Sharp. ‘Gavin – get on to the ANPR. Have them trace the car from its last known point on the M20 to its starting point. Tie it in with local CCTV and see if we can pinpoint the driver’s movements.’

  ‘Guv.’

  ‘Carys – speak to uniform. As soon as Gavin has a starting point, we’re going to need their help. Could be industrial, could be residential but it’s going to take manpower. I’ll speak to DCI Larch about the budget.’

  ‘Kay, Barnes – the minute we have an identification for the driver, check the database to see if we have a note of him in the system and any known acquaintances. No doubt we’ll be paying some of them a visit over the coming days, so I’d like to have an update on where we can find them. In the meantime, you can help Gavin by going through the local CCTV footage when we get it.’

  ‘Got it.’

  ‘Right.’ Sharp checked his watch. ‘We’ll have another briefing at five o’clock. Let’s see what we’ve managed to pull together by then.’

  Chapter Four

  Kay wandered over to the water cooler and filled up two white plastic cups before joining the small group around the whiteboard at the far end of the incident room.

  The winter sun had dipped below the horizon over an hour ago, the sky turning from pale grey to black within minutes.

  Kay checked her watch. She’d forgotten to eat, and hoped the final briefing of the day would be short.

  ‘Here you go,’ she said, and handed one of the cups to Barnes.

  ‘Thanks.’

  Supervisors for the team responsible for reviewing the ANPR and CCTV images were present, as well as a number of administrative staff from headquarters who were tasked with liaising with the uniformed officers.

  Kay yawned, the packed incident room quickly becoming stuffy due to a combination of temperamental central heating and lack of ventilation. She and the rest of the team had been running on coffee and adrenalin all day, and despite her best efforts, exhaustion was beginning to seep in.

  Sharp blew a loud single-note whistle to bring the numerous muted conversations to a halt, and everyone turned their attention to the front of the room where he stood.

  ‘Thank you. Debbie – can you dim the lights, and I’ll take you through the images we’ve got from the cameras.’ He hit a remote switch, and an aerial view of Maidstone appeared on the wall beside him, the projector’s light catching the shoulder of his jacket as he moved to one side. ‘My thanks to our uniformed colleagues who have worked all day to pull this together for us. We’ll start with the crash site and work backwards. As you can see from the image here, we’ve got a lot of area to cover.’

  Kay fought down the tiredness, knowing she had to stay focused. Whoever the driver was, she wouldn’t relax until he was convicted and put away for a very long time.

  The ambient light in the room dipped and wavered as Sharp switched to the next image.

  ‘This was taken as the vehicle passed below the bridge under the railway,’ he said, and continued to change the images as he commentated, using a laser pointer to trace the details. ‘The driver left Maidstone via the A229 to join the motorway. Prior to that, we have CCTV placing him here.’

  His audience leaned forward as one.

  On the screen was a grainy image of the vehicle passing along an empty street, but only the front grille of the car showed.

  ‘Where’s that, guv?’ said Gavin.

  ‘Wheeler Street. Runs off Holland Road. Unfortunately, the contractors responsible for maintaining the CCTV cameras along there haven’t been keeping to their schedule, and we’re missing at least twenty minutes.’ He flicked to the next image. ‘At present, we have no idea where the vehicle was between this prior known position here on the A26 to where we’ve spotted it in Wheeler Street.’

  ‘That’s enough time to kill and hide a body in the car,’ mused Kay.

  ‘If that’s where he killed her, yes. Part of uniform’s remit tomorrow morning will be to speak to business owners along Wheeler Street and Holland Road to see if anyone’s got some camera footage to help us. If they have, we’ll try to fill in the gaps using the information to hand.’

  Despite Sharp’s optimism, Kay could hear the underlying frustration. It was a long and laborious task and in the meantime, they’d be treading water waiting for the re
sults.

  ‘Moving backwards,’ said Sharp, ‘we have the car pinpointed at a roundabout at Mereworth. He disappears then, again due to lack of camera coverage, and we pick him up here, on the outskirts of Tonbridge – his starting point.’

  A darkened street appeared, its kerbs lined with a variety of cars outside tightly packed terraced houses.

  ‘We’ll have teams of uniformed officers mobilised in the morning to assist with door to door enquiries in Tonbridge,’ said Sharp. ‘The first team will be out early to try to catch as many people as possible before work or school commitments. A second team will set out at six o’clock to go to those houses we get no response from during the morning session. All statements will be entered onto the system by the administrative staff at headquarters as they come in from the teams in the field. Kay, Carys – as soon as we have confirmation from the door to door enquiries which house that vehicle belongs to, I want you to do the formal search at the property. I’ll get the necessary warrants authorised, but it means you’re going to have to join the team in Tonbridge tomorrow morning so you can act immediately. We’ll get Barnes or Gavin to get the search warrant to you. Might be a good idea for you to tag along with uniform, speak to the neighbours to give yourselves a head start.’

  ‘Guv.’

  ‘I’ll have Harriet and her team on standby to conduct a forensic search.’

  Kay nodded, but didn’t respond. If it transpired the woman had been murdered at the property, the whole place would be locked down immediately while the crime scene investigation unit worked their way through the building.

  Sharp switched off the projector, and tossed the laser pointer onto the desk next to him as the lights were switched back on.

  ‘Right. See you tomorrow, everyone. Don’t be late.’

  Chapter Five

  Kay emitted a sigh as she extracted herself from the car, the late night and subsequent early morning start finally catching up with her.

  Adam, her partner, had parked his four-wheel-drive on the gravel driveway rather than in the garage outside the house he’d inherited from a grateful elderly client, and she had to squeeze between the two vehicles to get to the front door.

  She noticed the back of the four-wheel-drive was open, so she changed her mind and sidled down the side of the vehicle until she reached the garage, and then made her way through to the kitchen via an internal door.

  Adam was crouched on the floor with his back to her, a boxlike wooden structure on the floor beside him. He glanced over his shoulder as she shut the door behind her.

  ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘I thought I heard your car on the driveway.’

  He straightened, and Kay tilted her face up to his before he kissed her.

  She lowered her gaze to the balsa wood structure. ‘What is it this time?’

  He grinned. ‘Something you’ll really like. Cute and fluffy.’

  He ran a hand through his unruly black hair, his eyes sparkling.

  Kay peered around him, and realised the box was in fact a small hutch with an enclosed area at one end, and a wire mesh covering the other half. Adam had spread newspaper out under the open end.

  Adam moved to the kitchen bench and rummaged in a plastic carrier bag, before turning back with two ceramic bowls in his hands. He handed one to Kay.

  ‘Do you want to fill that one up with water? It’s too cold to leave them outside, but they should be okay in here.’

  Kay dumped her handbag on the draining board, and ran the cold tap until the bowl was three quarters full, wondering what he’d brought home.

  As one of the town’s more prominent veterinary surgeons, Adam had a habit of bringing his work home with him – literally. She’d had a few months’ respite since they’d last played host to one of his patients – a Great Dane who whelped a healthy litter of puppies in the same space the hutch now took up. The worst guest had been a snake that had escaped, and which had achieved legendary status amongst Adam’s colleagues.

  It hadn’t been offered a repeat visit.

  She crouched down next to Adam as he lifted a hatch built into the wire mesh section of the hutch and took the bowl from her before placing it in the far corner away from them.

  He added the second bowl, into which he had tipped a mixture of seeds and grain.

  Kay rested on her haunches, and waited.

  ‘I think they’re still getting used to the new surroundings,’ said Adam. ‘They’re quite friendly, once they get used to you. ‘

  Kay opened her mouth to ask him who “they” were, but fell silent when a nose appeared from the enclosed section of the hutch and sniffed the air.

  A sandy coloured guinea pig then bustled from the gloom and made its way across the newspaper towards the water bowl, quickly followed by a black and white smaller guinea pig that hovered around its companion before sniffing at the food.

  ‘What are they called?’

  ‘Bonnie and Clyde,’ said Adam and walked over to the refrigerator before pulling out a half full bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

  Kay snorted, then stood up as Adam wandered back to her and handed her a wineglass. ‘How come they’re here?’

  Adam used his wineglass to point at the bigger of the two cavies, the sandy coloured one. ‘Clyde’s got a skin infection, and it can be contagious so the family didn’t want their other guinea pigs to catch it. They’ve got eight in total. Bonnie’s always shared a hutch with him, so we’re keeping her in for observation for a few days, just in case. Clyde’s got some ointment that’ll need applying twice a day, but I figured as they fit the remit of “cute and fluffy”, you wouldn’t mind looking after them while I’m away? The clinic’s packed – no room at the inn for them, I’m afraid.’

  ‘That’s fine – it’ll be nice to have some company while you’re gone. At least they won’t steal the television remote when I’m not looking.’

  He rolled his eyes. ‘I have no doubt that, by the time I’m out that front door, you’ll have them both on the sofa with you every night. Don’t spoil them, all right? They’re on a special diet.’

  She stuck her tongue out at him then ducked out of the way as he tried to grab her arm, laughing. ‘I’m going to get changed. I’ll be back down in a minute.’

  ‘I was going to do something simple like pasta tonight – suit you?’

  ‘Fantastic, thanks.’

  She put down her wineglass before picking up her handbag and making her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the master bedroom at the back of the house.

  Below, she could hear the deep tones of Adam’s voice as he tried to coax the guinea pigs to eat some food, and smiled as she changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and sorted out a load of laundry.

  He was right – she’d enjoy looking after the furry creatures while he was away.

  He’d been looking forward to the conference in Aberdeen since booking his ticket nearly five months ago; the event would give him the chance to mingle with his peers, something he rarely had the chance to do outside of his usual circle of contacts and she knew he was keen to soak up the knowledge he’d be surrounded by. The fact that the event included a weekend as well meant there would be plenty of opportunities to network over informal meetings rather than amongst the throng of the scheduled seminars.

  Gathering up the pile of dark clothing she’d sorted, she went back down to the kitchen and loaded the washing machine before picking up her wineglass once more, the aroma of garlic and onion heating in a pan filling the air.

  While Adam busied himself preparing their dinner, she crouched down to the hutch once more and wiggled her finger through the mesh.

  The smaller of the two guinea pigs, Bonnie, pattered across the newspaper and touched her nose to Kay’s finger, before turning back to the food.

  ‘They’re cute.’

  ‘I knew you’d like them.’ Adam took a sip of pasta sauce from a wooden spoon, then added more salt and began to stir once more. ‘If you give them a handful of that special food before you go
to work in the mornings, they’ll be fine all day as long as they’ve got plenty of water. They can have any vegetable scraps as well. I grabbed a stack of newspapers from the clinic, so you shouldn’t run out.’ He pointed at the pile of papers he’d left on the worktop nearest the back door, then winked. ‘Just remember we have to give them back.’

  Kay laughed. ‘I know. Don’t worry – I’ve got my hands full at work at the moment. I don’t have time for a full-time pet.’

  Adam raised an eyebrow, and she proceeded to tell him what she could about her late-night excursion to the M20 and her early start that morning.

  ‘And no-one knows who she is?’

  Kay shook her head as she watched him serve their dinner. ‘No. I’ll find out though. I’ll find out why he did this to her.’

  ‘You usually do.’

  Chapter Six

  Due to the residents’ vehicles already lining the narrow street of terraced houses, Kay ended up parking the pool car a quarter of a mile away from where the incident van had been set up the next morning.

  She and Carys elected to take a roundabout route back to where teams of uniformed officers were going from house to house, trying to locate the exact address for the injured driver. They were already hearing feedback over the radio that the neighbours appeared to keep to themselves and, so far, there had been no news they could act upon.

  A chill breeze buffeted Kay’s hair as they turned the corner into the street where the vehicle had been last seen on CCTV, and she bowed her head against the onslaught.

  ‘Bloody road’s designed like a wind tunnel,’ said Carys, buttoning her jacket.

  Kay murmured her agreement, but her attention was taken by the houses to either side of where they walked.

  In front of most, a shallow paved area split the property from the pavement they walked. Some had been enclosed with a low brick wall or hedge to give the residents a modicum of privacy from the street and had been decorated with small collections of potted plants. Others lay bare, exposing cracked concrete and weeds that seemed to dominate the footpath to the houses’ front doors.