Jack Slater - No Way Home

He tilted his head. ‘Yes. When he was spotted he did a runner, and when they caught him, he was carrying a knife.’

‘A knife?’

Annie picked up on this and stood back, staring up at him, big-eyed.

‘He was working on a fair. I expect he needed it. Tool of the trade, like a farmer or gardener. But when he fought them off, they cuffed him and found it.’

‘He fought them off? This gets worse by the second.’

‘He was in Plymouth, remember. We don’t know how long he’s been there. It could be he doesn’t know we’re not planning to charge him in the Rosie Whitlock case.’

‘Hmm.’ She seemed to relax at least a little. ‘So, you’ve got to get Colin to arrange things, to get him transferred?’

He shrugged. ‘I can’t do it, can I? I’m his dad. How would that look to anyone that didn’t know the history?’

‘OK. So, what are you waiting for?’ She nodded at the phone, which was still in his hand. ‘Get onto him.’

‘It’s nearly eleven. He’ll be in bed, I’d have thought.’

‘So? He’ll understand. He’s Tommy’s godfather, for Christ’s sake. Come on. Either ring him or give me the phone and I will.’

‘Give me a chance, woman.’ He lifted the phone, thumbed in the number from memory and held it to his ear.

It rang twice, then was picked up. ‘Hello?’ Colin sounded groggy. He had been asleep.

‘Colin, it’s Pete. Sorry to wake you, but I need a favour.’

*

Five minutes passed. Then ten. The phone was still silent. None of them was going to sleep until they heard.

‘Who wants a cup of tea?’ Pete suggested.

‘Yes, please,’ said a red-eyed Annie.

Louise nodded.

‘OK.’ Pete headed for the kitchen, put the kettle on and fetched out the mugs. He was pouring boiling water over the sugar and teabags when the phone finally rang. He put down the kettle and headed for the living room.

‘Colin?’ he heard Louise ask.

Silence. He stepped into the room and she held the phone out to him, her expression blank.

He took it from her. ‘Hello?’

‘Pete? Bob again. I’m afraid we need you, mate.’

Shit! Now, of all times?

‘A body’s been found, corner of Pennsylvania Road and Argyll Road.’

‘Eh?’ Pete frowned. ‘I was only up there an hour ago with Jim and the team. What happened?’

‘Dunno. Doesn’t look like it’s linked, though.’

Pete shook his head. He couldn’t believe it was merely coincidence. He stared at Louise. The expression on her face said more than a thousand words. How could he leave her here, now, with things as they were? OK, Annie would be with her, but… He felt as desperate as she was to hear back from Colin, to know what was happening with Tommy. She was fully aware that they wouldn’t be allowed to see him tonight, but they both – all , he thought, thinking of Annie – needed to know how he was faring, at least. And her emotional state was still delicate. It was barely any time at all since she’d got her head straight after Tommy’s disappearance. How would she cope on her own, now he’d been found?

‘Pete?’ Bob’s voice came over the phone. ‘You still there?’

Bob knew the score. If anyone else could have taken the call, he’d have gone to them first. And Pete was duty SIO tonight. He sighed. ‘Yes. OK, I’m on the way.’

CHAPTER THREE

Pete saw the flashing blue lights through the trees from a couple of hundred yards away. When he reached the junction, he could see the cluster of police cars, an ambulance and a couple of other vehicles, tape stretched across the end of the side road and a small cluster of onlookers standing around idly.

Hadn’t they got better places to be, at this time of night? He stopped the car and climbed out, making sure to lock it as he stepped forward, raising his warrant card to one of the uniformed officers guarding the tape.

The blue and white plastic ribbon was raised for him to step under. He headed for the lamps and the white protective windbreak across the grass to his left. He could see the shape of a car and more uniformed police. A generator rumbled close by. Pete passed the ambulance crew as they were leaving the scene. He nodded, drawing a response from one of them. Closer to the windbreak, which had been erected to mask the view from the public rather than for its nominal purpose, he could see a white-overalled figure working over a body which had been laid out on a tarp.

Having recognised the car back on Pennsylvania Road, he didn’t need to see the man’s face to know who it was.

‘Evening, Doc. How’s it going?’

Tony Chambers looked up from what he was doing. ‘Peter. You’ve drawn the short straw again?’

‘Apparently. What can you tell me so far?’

‘We have a quite vicious attack, clearly aimed at being fatal. The victim was killed with a short, sharp blade – possibly a scalpel or utility knife – and some considerable force. The carotid and the jugular were severed as well as the windpipe. There are traces of inflammation around the eyes and nose which suggest the use of pepper spray prior to the knife attack. You can still smell it when you get close enough. The victim’s ID is in the car.’

Pete grimaced. ‘Sounds messy.’ He looked up at the vehicle. No need to ask if the victim was the driver or the passenger. The blood sprayed across the inside of the glass made it obvious.

‘Any idea when?’

‘Rigor hasn’t set in yet, so less than four hours. Body temperature suggests closer to one or two.’

‘OK.’ He looked up and around. ‘Who found him?’

*

‘Where is he?’

It was past one in the morning. Pete had been out more than two hours. His eyes were sore, his head fuzzy. He was exhausted. How did Louise not look as knackered as he felt?

But she didn’t. She’d met him at the door, blocking his way with her body as if unwilling to let him in until he gave her the answers she wanted.

At least now they were in the hall, the front door closed behind him. Pete kept his voice low, not wanting to disturb Annie, who he hoped was asleep.

‘For now, he’s still in Plymouth. Colin’s arranging his transfer but they won’t do it until morning and, even then, he won’t be coming home for a while. He’ll have to go for assessment, be interviewed and so on. And the knife charge won’t just go away. He’d be bailed if he wasn’t a flight risk, but given his recent history…’ He shrugged, hands spreading.

Her gaze locked on his. ‘We’ll be able to visit him, though?’

He raised a hand, indicating she should go through to the sitting room. Following her in, he closed the door behind them.

Tommy would be transferred from the custody of Plymouth nick to that of Exeter, where someone other than Pete – probably Colin Underhill – would interview him. Then he would be transferred again, to a secure youth residential facility where he would be assessed before any further decisions were made about his future.

‘My guess is, the best we can hope is that he gets transferred to Archways from Heavitree Road. Once they’ve settled him in we’ll have visitation rights, the same as any other parents. Except, of course, I won’t. Not with the case outstanding.’

She rubbed at her forehead, eyes closing, then fixing intensely on Pete once more. ‘I need to see him, Pete. Talk to him. Know he’s going to be OK.’

‘I know. Me, too.’ But Pete knew how the system worked. Tommy was involved in a case that he’d worked – a case that was yet to go to trial, thought the date was fast approaching. He wouldn’t be allowed to see him, in case of a conflict of interest. ‘But at least you’ll be able to in a day or two. And he’ll be as safe there as he would be anywhere. Those places are designed for it.’