Lisa Stone: Stalker

‘We’re taking him in for questioning, right?’ Matt confirmed.

‘Yes.’ She followed him up the path.

He pressed the doorbell but no one answered. He pressed again. Still no answer and none of the windows were open. The front door of the house on the right opened and a woman came out.

‘They’re all at work,’ she said. ‘Mrs Mellows is usually back first.’

‘Thank you. When will that be, do you know?’ Beth asked.

She looked at her wristwatch. ‘In about half an hour, usually around six. Then her husband comes in around six-thirty. No telling when her kids will be back now they’re older.’

‘Thank you, that’s very helpful,’ Beth said. ‘You know the family well, do you?’

‘No, not really. Only to say hello, but I see them coming and going, like I do most in this street. Did you want anything in particular?’

‘It’s just routine. Thank you anyway,’ Beth said. She and Matt returned down the path and to the car.

‘Mrs Flint’s not the only one with nosy neighbours,’ Matt remarked as they got in.

‘And doesn’t it make our lives easier! We might have just gone away. Now we can wait for Paul’s mother to come home and tell us where he is.’

‘May as well put the time to good use,’ Matt said, retrieving the laptop from the rear seat.

‘I’m impressed.’ Beth stifled a yawn. ‘To be honest I’m knackered. It’s been a long week and it’s not over with yet.’

Matt studied the screen of the laptop. ‘He’s set up an email account,’ he said presently. ‘Let’s take a look at who he’s been emailing.’ Beth watched as he clicked on the email icon. There was nothing in the sent box but a dozen or so emails in his inbox, only some of them read. Matt began opening and closing them.

‘Anything of interest?’ Beth asked after a moment. She was looking through the windscreen for any sign of Mrs Mellow’s return.

‘Not so far. A notification from his energy supplier that the direct debit will be taken from his account within the next few days. Another is confirmation of the direct debit he set up for the new mobile phone. Then a product of interest email from Amazon. More junk mail.’ A pause then: ‘Bloody hell, Beth! Hide your eyes!’

Beth immediately looked at the screen. ‘Struth! That’s a bit graphic,’ she said. ‘Naked men sodomizing each other.’

Matt read out the writing beneath the photograph: ‘“Local man, Derek Flint, pleaded guilty in court today to the charge of gross indecency after a member of the public reported him and another man to the police.” The writing seems to be an excerpt from a newspaper article from nine years ago but with a different picture.’

‘Who sent the email – Paul? Given we know he’s been blackmailing Flint he’d be my first guess.’

‘No, it’s from an organization called Watching You , whoever they are. It’s not asking for payment.’

‘I’d put money on Paul being behind it though,’ Beth said. ‘It’s easy enough to set up an anonymous email account. Digital forensics should be able to trace the sender but there’s no one else been blackmailing Flint as far as we know.’

‘I wonder if receiving this email has anything to do with Flint suddenly taking off?’ Matt said, looking at the other emails. ‘This is the last one he read, all the others are unopened.’

‘It’s possible.’ Beth paused and looked sombrely at Matt. ‘I hope Flint hasn’t done something daft.’

‘What, like suicide you mean?’

She nodded. ‘It would explain why he’s missing. Perhaps he hasn’t jumped bail and done a runner; perhaps his body is lying somewhere, as yet undiscovered.’

‘I’m not sure,’ Matt said doubtfully. ‘This is old news. He must have realized it couldn’t do him much harm now.’

‘Who knows what went through his mind. He’s pretty screwed up and doesn’t have friends who can support him through a difficult time. I can’t imagine he confided in his mother. Perhaps the pressure built up. He’s being investigated by us and Paul ups the blackmail and it all becomes too much.’

‘You could be right, I suppose, but I’m not convinced.’ Matt looked up through the windscreen. ‘Isn’t that Mrs Mellows coming down the road?’

‘Yes.’

Matt tucked the laptop under the passenger seat and followed Beth out.

‘Mrs Mellows,’ she called, catching up with her on the garden path.

‘Oh, hello. You were here before.’

‘That’s right. DC Beth Mayes and DC Matt Davis.’

‘If it’s Paul you’ve come to see, he’s not home, and I’m not expecting him until much later.’

‘It was,’ Beth said. ‘Does Paul have a job then?’

‘Yes, then he’s meeting up with friends later, so it’s likely he won’t be back until well after midnight.’

‘I don’t suppose you know where he is now?’

‘Not when he’s out with his mates, no,’ she said with a caustic smile. ‘He’s a bit old to be telling his mother.’

‘And when he’s working?’ Matt asked. ‘Where’s that?’

‘On Cranberry estate. Maintenance. It gave me great pleasure telling that Derek Flint Paul was working again after the way he treated him.’

‘You’ve seen Derek Flint?’ Beth asked, astonished.

‘Yes, he came here on Wednesday morning. Quite early on; I was getting ready for work but Paul had already left. I don’t know what Flint wanted, but Paul seemed to think he might come round and had left the address of where he could be found.’

‘I don’t suppose you remember it?’ Beth asked.

Mrs Mellows thought for a moment. ‘Bushmead Close. But I should think he’s finished work for today.’

‘Has Paul mentioned what Derek Flint wanted with him?’ Matt asked.

‘No. But I didn’t ask. I’ve never liked that bloke and after hearing on the local news what he’d been up to, it rather confirmed I was right not to trust him.’

‘Do you have Paul’s new mobile number?’ Beth asked. ‘The one we have is no longer in use.’

‘He lost his phone and bought a new one. Come inside while I find the number.’

They followed her into the hall, then waited as she retrieved her mobile from her handbag and scrolled down the list of contacts. She read out Paul’s number as Matt made a note. ‘Thank you.’

‘I’ll tell Paul you were here then.’

Beth thanked her and they left. In the car Matt immediately tried Paul’s mobile number but it went through to his voicemail and he didn’t leave a message.

‘That would have been too easy,’ Beth said. ‘It seems we’ve got two choices: sit here all night until Paul returns or drop Flint’s laptop off so forensics have it over the weekend. Then pick up Paul first thing on Monday.’

‘Definitely the second option,’ Matt said. ‘It’s not likely to make any difference, and Flint might have reappeared by then, saving us an awful lot of work.’

‘Agreed.’

Derek supposed there came a point when a hostage gave up all hope and resigned themselves to certain death. The news sometimes featured people who’d been taken hostage in lawless and war-torn countries, and previously other than feeling some sympathy for the family as they made an emotional plea for their loved one’s safe return, he’d never given much thought to the actual captive, and how they must be preparing for death. Now he had first-hand experience and it was terrifying.

Possibly if you were religious, and believed you were going to a better place, then death didn’t hold the same horror. Although it was the actual dying he found more frightening than death itself. But try as he might, he couldn’t summon the belief he needed to ask God to help him through it, and knew that when the time came he wouldn’t be brave, but would scream and cry like a baby.