Barry Maitiland - Spider Trap

building industry. A builder, I think.’

Kathy met them in the corridor as they were leaving the station. Martin started at seeing her, then recovered and gave a cautious smile. Vexx, at his shoulder, glowered.

‘Do you have a moment, Mr Connell?’ she asked.

He glanced at Vexx, then reached into his pocket for his keys. ‘All right. Do you want to wait for me in the car, Teddy, while I have quick word with DS Kolla here?’

Vexx took the keys and shouldered past Kathy with a casual roll to his stride. Kathy showed Martin into an unoccupied interview room. They didn’t sit down. Kathy folded her arms.

‘You’re very trusting,’ she said, ‘giving your keys to a bastard like that. He’s probably driving your car back to your home right now, to steal your Georgian silver and rape your lovely wife.’

‘Don’t be like that, Kathy.’

‘He drove a six-inch nail into a kid’s head because I tried to talk to the lad,who never told me a thing.It’s amazing the boy isn’t dead.’

Seeing how angry she was, Connell replied carefully, trying to sound calm and reasonable.‘They can’t prove that.’

‘I know, I was watching. Interesting that you put it like that, Martin. Interesting that you don’t say he’s innocent, because of course you know he’s not.’

‘He’s innocent until proven guilty.’

‘I don’t know how you can do it, how you can live with yourself.’

He seemed about to frame a response, then simply shook his head and said wearily,‘Is that all you wanted to say?’

‘Not all, no. I wondered if Tom Reeves had been in touch with you.’

Martin looked alarmed.‘Christ, no. Has he spoken to you?’

‘No. I just wondered, that’s all.’

‘Well, when you do see him make sure he understands that nothing happened between us and he must keep his trap shut. That’s the last thing I . . . either of us needs right now.’

‘Don’t worry, Martin,’ Kathy said softly. ‘We’re innocent, remember? Until proven guilty.’ She walked out of the room.

As she paced down the corridor her phone rang. She opened it and heard Brock’s voice.

‘Kathy, what can you tell me about that builder friend of Michael Grant’s?’

Kathy led the way across the mud towards the hut where she’d met Wayne Ferguson before. The site looked different now, with steel framing erected on the concrete slab. The site manager was standing talking to a man with a roll of drawings. He waved when he saw them and came over.

Kathy introduced Brock.‘Look, Mr Ferguson-’

‘Wayne, please.You’re lucky to catch me-it’s St Patrick’s Day. I should be down the pub.’

Kathy thought his joviality exaggerated. ‘Wayne, we thought you could help us get in touch with Michael Grant.’

‘Did you now? What gave you that idea, I wonder?’

‘He’s not staying at your cottage?’

His mouth dropped open, then he frowned and examined the toe of his boot while he thought. ‘Michael needs a bit of peace and quiet right now. He wouldn’t thank me for answering that question.’

‘We’re in much the same boat,’Brock said.‘I’ve been suspended, and Tom Reeves who was helping him will probably be kicked out of the force.We need to talk to each other,see what can be salvaged, if anything.’

‘I felt pretty bad changing my story about seeing those two Roach boys in the Cat that night. I felt I’d let Michael down, and offering him the cottage was the least I could do.’

‘Why not give him a ring and let me talk to him?’

‘No, I can’t do that.’ He saw Brock about to argue and raised his hand.‘I mean, it’s not possible. There’s no phone.’

‘Where is it?’

‘North Wales, in the hills above the Vale of Clwyd. I don’t even know if they got there okay. It’s probably still snowbound.’

‘Can you give me directions?’

Ferguson shrugged and reached for a pad of paper. ‘Sure, I guess it’s okay. It’s not easy to find. I’ll draw a map.’

He and Brock bent over the diagram for a while, discussing A and B road numbers, and Kathy picked up a few placenames- Mold, Ruthin and, more obscurely, Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd. It wasn’t a part of the country she knew. ‘When you get to the village you’ll see the church spire on the right and the shop beyond it. Take the next turn on the left, it’s easy to miss, and start to climb the hill, here . . .’

Beyond the window men were working on top of the frame, setting out the metal roof sheeting against a heavy sky.

‘All right, I think I’ve got it,Wayne, thanks.’ Brock straightened, pocketing the map.‘How long will it take to get there?’

‘Four, five hours, depending on the traffic. I wouldn’t try finding it in the dark, not if it’s been snowing.’

They returned to the car and Brock checked his watch.

‘You’re not thinking of going today?’ Kathy asked.

‘No, I don’t think so, and in any case, I think we know most of the story now.’ He told her what Abigail had told him. ‘Victim number three was Michael’s brother,that’s what made it so personal with Roach.But I’d like to hear what else Michael knows about the killing of those three men. There may be something that could still help us, which he couldn’t talk about before without revealing his own story. Maybe at the weekend, I might take a trip up there.’

‘Sounds nice, if the weather holds out.’

At eight that evening,Kathy was curled up on her sofa reading the book that Tom had given her.She was conscious of the rain spattering against the window and debating whether to put on a thicker jumper when her phone rang. It was the duty officer at Scotland Yard. A woman had rung wanting to speak to her. She had seemed distraught. She gave her name as Maureen Reeves.

Kathy rang the number and was answered straight away.‘Yes?’

‘Hello, is that Maureen?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m Kathy Kolla, Maureen. I understand you were trying to reach me.’

‘Oh, yes, thank you for ringing back.’ She spoke in a hesitant rush, veering between panic and apology.‘I wondered . . . is Tom with you?’

‘No.’

‘Only, he was supposed to collect Amy over two hours ago, and he hasn’t appeared. He’s not answering his phone. It isn’t like him, you see, to forget Amy. He’d have let me know. I was due to go out an hour ago …’

‘I haven’t seen him at all this week, Maureen, or even spoken to him.’

‘Oh …I thought …He’s been so down,you see.What happened, well, it was devastating, wasn’t it? So public and humiliating. I know things haven’t been going well for him during the last couple of years, but I’ve never heard him sound so, well, shell-shocked. I’ve tried the obvious people, but nobody’s heard from him. I’m worried.’

‘Yes.’ Kathy was becoming concerned as she listened. ‘When did you last hear from him?’

‘Yesterday lunchtime, on the phone. He sounded very flat, but he confirmed about tonight. I’d been worried that I couldn’t reach him and he explained he wasn’t answering the phone because the press had his numbers. He wanted to make sure they weren’t hanging around my house. He said he was looking forward to seeing Amy. He’d called once before this week to speak to her. He was worried about what people might be saying to her at school.’

‘All right. Something probably delayed him, Maureen, but I’ll start looking. Tell me who you’ve contacted.’ She jotted down the list of names-mutual friends,several workmates,a doctor.‘Okay, now I’ll give you my mobile number so you can reach me as soon as you hear anything.’

She rang off, pushing down her anxiety, trying to clear her head. She began with the accident and emergency number, and while she waited for a result used her mobile to make calls to everyone she could think of-Nicole, Bren, Dot. By the time she rang Brock she’d had a negative result from A amp;E as well as all the others.