Cath Staincliffe - Ruthless

‘Curiouser and curiouser,’ the boss said, her eyes bright. ‘Tests on items recovered from the Keane house, in a holdall in Greg Tandy’s room, namely a pair of leather gloves, bear significant amounts of gunshot residue and traces of barbecue lighter fuel.’

‘So the twins kill Kavanagh but Tandy does the double murder?’ said Rachel, excited that they might have their killer.

‘I don’t know if he did but I think we can safely say the Perry twins did not,’ Her Maj said. ‘Unless some startling new evidence crawls out of the woodwork and starts clog-dancing by the end of the day, we ship them off to prison. Janet, arrest Tandy and interview him on suspicion of the murders; Rachel, talk to his family and oversee the search.’

‘Boss,’ Rachel said, ‘what about the hospital?’

‘What?’ Godzilla barked, a weird look on her face. Something flashed across Janet’s face too.

‘Shirelle,’ Rachel said, ‘if she comes round and I’m at the Tandys’…’

‘You’re not the only rat in the alley, Rachel. If you are still tied up we send someone else. Teamwork. Hard to grasp, I know, but keep trying,’ Her Maj said in a snotty tone of voice. God knows what Rachel had done now, parted her hair the wrong way, but she was glad the meeting was almost over. Eager to get out there and get on with it.

Gloria Tandy was not best pleased that her husband was ‘assisting the police with their inquiries’.

‘What? For fuck’s sake!’ she swore. ‘What inquiries?’ She had greeted Rachel and her colleagues who would do the search with the same ill grace as before.

Rachel evaded the question. ‘You’ve not seen him then, not missed him?’

Gloria stared at her and finally said, ‘He moved out, Friday.’

‘You failed to mention that,’ Rachel said.

‘Yeah, well.’

‘Why did he leave?’

‘We weren’t getting on,’ Gloria said.

Really? Or did he need to go to ground after the killings at the warehouse? Mind you, the fact that Tandy hadn’t informed his nearest and dearest that he was down the nick just might support Gloria’s account of things.

‘What time did he leave?’

Gloria kept swinging her foot, a rhythm of restless irritation. ‘Two o’clock, around about then.’

She glanced at the quartet of officers who had accompanied Rachel. ‘What’s them lot doing?’

‘This is a warrant to search your property.’ Rachel showed her the paper. ‘Is anyone else at home?’

‘Connor’s in bed.’

‘If you could wake him and you’ll both have to wait down here with me.’

Gloria gave a bitter snort then called up the stairs. ‘Connor? Connor, get up. The police are here, they want to check the house. What for?’ She turned to Rachel. ‘You have to give a reason.’

Rachel nodded at the warrant, ‘A search for firearms and proscribed drugs.’

‘Drugs?’ she said. ‘He doesn’t touch drugs.’ No mention of weapons.

Connor came downstairs. When he saw them all in the living room he threw back his head and raised his arms, then let them drop heavily in a gesture of despair.

‘Anyone else in the house?’ Rachel checked.

Gloria gave a shake of her head. Rachel gestured for the team to go upstairs and begin looking.

‘Your husband attended a meeting at the George Inn on Sunday the sixth of May?’

‘Don’t know,’ Gloria said.

‘Free country, innit?’ Connor said.

‘Do you know if your husband had any dealings with Noel and Neil Perry?’

‘He’s been locked up since 2007.’

‘Since he came out,’ Rachel said.

‘He never,’ said Connor, ‘they’re nutters, them.’

‘Connor, shut it,’ his mother said. ‘He never told me anything,’ she said to Rachel. ‘I wouldn’t want to know anyway.’

‘Did your husband, to your knowledge, bring any weapons into the house?’

‘You want to ask me any questions like that, you’d best caution me and get a brief.’

‘He hasn’t done nothing,’ Connor said defensively, ‘it’s harassment, innit?’

‘Connor,’ Gloria warned.

Connor kicked at the kitchen table. ‘It’s all shit.’

‘Shut the fuck up,’ Gloria bawled, ‘you are doing my head in. It’s bad enough having this lot crawling all over the place without your bloody chuntering.’

Connor glowered at his mother.

The minutes ticked by and finally the police came downstairs empty-handed.

‘Would you like to wait upstairs while they search down here?’ Rachel said.

‘In the kitchen,’ Gloria said. ‘I want to see what they’re doing. They leave it like a pigsty if you don’t watch.’

The trio moved into the kitchen while the searchers began systematically checking the living room. Gloria Tandy’s phone went and she began a conversation with someone about a christening, going through the living room to wait by the front door as she did so.

Connor moved over and got a can of Coke from the fridge. He popped it open and drank, watching Rachel the whole time. Finally he said, ‘If I tell you something, you won’t say who told you?’

‘I can’t promise that,’ Rachel said. ‘Depends what it is.’

He rubbed his nose, thought for a moment. ‘You was asking about the warehouse, well, the Perry boys, they was there Friday.’

Rachel’s spine stiffened. ‘You sure?’

‘I saw them coming away over the bridge,’ he said.

‘What time?’

‘About nine.’

‘You’re sure they’d been at the warehouse?’

‘Well, they’d come up the hill from there. I seen them from my window.’ He shook his drink as if testing how much was left.

‘Why didn’t you say anything before?’ Rachel said.

‘Didn’t want to mess with them. They’re off their heads.’

‘They’ve been charged already,’ Rachel tried to reassure him, ‘they won’t be out for a long time.’

‘It could still go wrong, innit. Not even go to trial for months. Anything could happen. I ain’t no witness.’

‘Connor-’

‘What you on about?’ Gloria was back, phone in hand.

‘Nothing,’ he said quickly.

Why was he telling her now, Rachel wondered? Because the twins were in custody and he felt safer? It had been on the news: two men who have been charged with the murder of Richard Kavanagh continue to be questioned on further serious charges.

Or was it because Connor suspected his dad’s involvement and he wanted to throw the police off track? She knew Connor wouldn’t say anything else with his mother back in earshot. So instead Rachel tried Gloria. ‘Did your husband know Victor and Lydia?’

‘Who? Did he heck?’

‘Done in here,’ the man leading the search team said and Rachel and the Tandys shuffled into the living room while the police examined the kitchen and the back yard.

They found nothing.

Rachel had done the babysitting and was able to leave but whether the new information she had got was gold dust or dirt, she’d no idea. If Connor Tandy really had seen the twins coming from the warehouse on Friday at nine, did that actually help matters given it seemed evident that the twins were not responsible for the double murder? Or did it just muddy the water even more?

Janet had looked at Rachel’s interview with Greg Tandy. The guy was no comment all the way. He was an odd-looking man, doll-like, his round eyes and high eyebrows gave him a surprised look. But his repeated answer was dull and flat, stripped of any intonation.

Janet wondered if she would do any better now evidence was stacking up against him.

Greg Tandy hadn’t shaved; his jaw was dusted with back dots like pepper where his stubble was growing in. His disposable suit added to the impression Janet had of him looking like a toy, or a puppet, Andy Pandy, Thunderbirds.