Хилари Боннер - Wheel of Fire

Saslow joined in, asking questions neither officer really wanted or needed to know the answer to, or in some cases already did, about Sir John’s behaviour, the nurse who died in the fire, and any other employees.

In fact, by then neither of them could wait to leave Martha Kivel and put the next stage of their investigation into operation. The suddenly executed absence of Jack Kivel from his home made him a far more viable suspect. Either that, or there had been a huge coincidence. And David Vogel, in common with most serving police officers, did not believe in coincidences.

‘Right, Saslow, we need to find Jack Kivel soonest, get his phone pinged straight away, make sure he doesn’t disappear on us,’ he said, once they were outside.

‘You think Martha’s probably already calling him to tell him about our visit, don’t you?’ said Saslow.

‘You’re damned right I do,’ said Vogel.

‘So does that mean she’s in on it, assuming we’re right about Jack?’

‘That he’s at the very least a cold-blooded murderer, and probably some kind of trained assassin?’ queried Vogel. ‘It seems that he may have the military credentials. Fairbrother too. As for Martha, I don’t damned well know. But I’m taking no chances. Get onto district HQ in Taunton. I want surveillance on this cottage right through the night and into tomorrow, until I say so. And then get hold of Micky Palmer. And Polly Jenkins. I need them both back in. Tonight.’

‘Right, boss,’ replied Saslow.

‘I’m going to call Nobby Clarke,’ Vogel continued. ‘Seems likely Kivel’s still in her patch. And I’d very much like the full details of Freddie Fairbrother’s activities, as monitored by her boys and girls before he gave them the slip, on my desk by the time I get back.’

‘Yes, boss,’ said Saslow, who was beginning to look and behave rather more like her old self.

Kivel picked up Freddie without incident, in the genuine black cab he’d hailed as soon as he’d finished so effectively diverting DC Parker. He asked the driver to take them to Victoria Station. There he led Freddie to the Hertz office and hired a car using his own credit card and driving licence. Nobody was looking for Jack Kivel. As far as Jack knew. Not yet anyway.

They were just about to drive away, in a suitably inconspicuous grey Toyota Prius, when Jack’s mobile rang. It was Martha. She had called as soon as Vogel and Saslow left Moorview Cottage, just as Vogel had predicted she would.

‘All right, maid,’ said Jack by way of greeting.

As well as the use of West Country vernacular, Freddie noticed a subtle change in Kivel’s voice, his regional accent just a little stronger, his diction less pronounced.

Jack Kivel’s facial expression changed too as he listened to his wife. For the first time since he had met up with him that day, Freddie could see that Kivel was anxious. He didn’t sound it, though, when he spoke again to his wife.

‘Oh, don’t fret, maid,’ he said. ‘It’ll be some nonsense or other. Nothing to worry about, for sure. Look, I’ll be back in the morning.’

He listened again. ‘No. They ’aven’t phoned me. Not yet anyway. There, that proves it, doesn’t it? Nothing important.’

He exchanged a few more pleasantries with Martha and ended the call, at first without comment.

‘What’s happened?’ asked Freddie nervously. ‘I can tell something’s happened.’

‘It appears the police are taking an interest in my activities,’ said Jack.

‘What does that mean? What happens now?’

‘I’m not entirely sure,’ said Jack. ‘But we both know someone who will know exactly what to do, don’t we?’

Freddie sincerely hoped so.

Jack put his phone in his pocket, and removed a second, pay-as-you go phone to make a call. He quickly related the crux of his conversation with Martha.

‘Look, there’s nothing to incriminate you, is there?’ came the response, soothingly. ‘Nobody can prove anything.’

‘No, I suppose not,’ said Jack. ‘But the police do seem to be closing in a bit.’

‘They’ve still got no idea. I can’t see any reason why the plan shouldn’t go ahead. Although, I may need to disappear off the radar for a bit. As long as they don’t find me, we’re all pretty much OK. We do need Freddie on side, though. How does he seem?’

Kivel glanced sideways. ‘Not one hundred per cent.’

‘No, I thought not. He’s always needed constant guidance and reassurance, that one. You must get him to me as quickly as possible.’

‘Well, we’ve just picked up a fresh hire car. We’re more or less on our way.’

‘Not here,’ came the swift reply. ‘Let me think a minute.’

There was a brief pause. Then he gave another destination, and suggested a time.

‘I’ll have made arrangements for my disappearance by then. But, don’t worry, I’ll sort Freddie out first. He’s going to be my puppet. I just have to make sure he’s prepared to jump when I pull his strings.’

‘OK,’ said Kivel. ‘See you there.’

‘And don’t forget to ditch your other phone. They’ll be putting a track on it, for sure.’

‘I won’t,’ said Kivel.

Freddie, of course, could only hear one side of the conversation. But he got the gist. And he was, by now, a very frightened man. However, he knew he was in far too deep to do anything other than go along with whatever the new plan might be.

Vogel asked Saslow to drive straight to Kenneth Steele House. On the way he went over the day’s events again and again in his mind; the shock of Bella Fairbrother’s death, and the almost equally great shock of suspecting that Jack Kivel might be responsible for it.

‘I can’t believe we all missed the possible significance of the military connection,’ he commented to Saslow. ‘It’s not like Micky Palmer, that’s for sure.’

‘Well, we simply didn’t know about Jack Kivel, it isn’t something that ever came up, and he and his background have no Internet presence at all,’ replied the DC reasonably. ‘Also, as far as Sir John’s military career is concerned, there was nothing to flag it. Eton then Sandhurst and the army seem just so predictable for the kind of young man he must have been when he joined up.’

Like Vogel, and presumably Micky, she had known that much about Sir John, it was part of his Wikipedia entry for a start, but not considered it important.

‘I mean, in his sort of family it’s the obvious alternative to Oxford or Cambridge, isn’t it?’ Saslow continued. ‘Often for the not so bright. Although every indication is that Sir John was a very bright man indeed.’

‘Yes, perhaps too bright,’ responded Vogel. ‘Too much of a maverick anyway. And overconfident, probably. We know he played the banking game pretty fast and loose, and that the Fairbrother ship is lying in very troubled waters. Yet his daughter seemed to believe that without him at the helm it would be an even bigger ask to steer it back on course.’

‘She was prepared to take the job on, though, wasn’t she, boss?’ commented Saslow. ‘Almost eager.’

‘Yes, in spite of having walked out of the bank a year or so previously following a row with her father,’ Vogel mused. ‘Or allegedly.’

He was still thoughtful when they arrived at Kenneth Steele. Micky Palmer hurried towards the DI as soon as he and Saslow entered the incident room.

‘Boss, the tech boys have been on. They got a fix on Kivel’s phone. Somewhere around London Victoria Station.’

Vogel whistled long and low. Victoria Station. From there Kivel could be heading almost anywhere, home or abroad.

‘Just the one fix?’ he queried, already pretty sure what the reply would be.