Photograph (Dead Reckoning series - Part 32)

Continued from Episode 31 (She's Not There)

The story so far:  Josiah's 'on the rebound' romance with the woman he thought was his old flame, Jeanette DeVille, led to him and Archibald being left for dead in the rapidly rising waters of the cellar of Evanley Hall.  Now recovering from their ordeal, Archibald has suspicions that he was served his lunch, at the local chip shop, by a heavily disguised 'Precious', Jeanette DeVille's daughter.  When Samantha and Archibald go to investigate, they find 'Precious' missing and Angelo of 'Angelo's Chippery' rather annoyed, so they call the police:

 

D.S. Stone strode out of ‘Angelo’s Chippery’ looking less than pleased.  He snapped his notebook shut and made his way over to his boss, who was leaning against a squad car, stabbing ineffectually, with his wooden fork, at something on the cardboard tray he was clutching.  All around, blue lights were flashing and police officers were milling about.

“How the hell are you supposed to eat mushy peas with one of these, eh?  Tell me that, Sergeant?” D.I. Wood seethed.

“I don’t really know, sir, I can’t say that I’ve ever tried!”

“Waste of bloody time, if you ask me” D.I. Wood tore a piece of battered fish from the morass of chips and peas and munched it, thoughtfully, “Speaking of wastes of time, you found anything in there?”

“No sir, nothing” D.S. Stone shook his head, miserably. “There’s no sign she was ever in there.  Do you want me to get the Forensics boys in?”

“You’re having a laugh, aren’t you Stoney?” D.I. Wood looked at his colleague in astonishment, “How the hell do you think I could justify the cost of that to the powers that be, eh?”

D.S. Stone looked around at the squad cars and police officers wandering here and there.

“Well, if we’re talking about cost, sir…” He gestured at the scene.

“Ah, well” D.I. Wood dragged a reluctant chip from its hiding place and devoured it, “you’ve got to put on a bit of a show, haven’t you?  People like to see we’re making an effort”

“I don’t think Mr. Angelo is too impressed.  You’re the only one to have had any fish and chips this lunchtime, and he’s moaning that you didn’t pay for them!”

“Miserable bugger!” D.I. Wood snarled, “He should be grateful.  He’ll be snived out with customers once we clear off, they’ll all want to know what’s been going on”

“So, we do nothing?”

“Not much we can do” D.I. Wood continued munching, happily, “I mean, look at what we’ve got.  Some bird wearing a face mask gets herself a job serving chips, big deal!” D.I. Wood tapped a finger to indicate one point made, “Then, after serving Lurch…”

D.S. Stone gave him a hard stare.

“Alright, alright, after serving…what’s his name?” D.I. Wood queried.

“It’s Mr. Thurble, sir, Archibald Thurble”

“Yeah, him” D.I. Wood nodded, chasing a pea around the tray, “well, any road, after serving him, she clears off.  Again, big deal!  The only other evidence we’ve got is that she’s called ‘Gemma’ and that her name may, or may not, mean ‘Precious’.  I’d like to see you take that lot to the CPS and get a conviction”

“Suspicious though, isn’t it, sir?”

“Look, I’m not saying there’s nowt in it” D.i. Wood shrugged, “maybe it was her, maybe it wasn’t, who knows?  I’m just saying, no-one’s going to thank us for wasting any more resources than we already have done, on this”

“Ms. Knight wanted a word with you” D.S. Stone pointed out.

“Who?” D.I. Wood looked puzzled, then realised, “Oh God, not her again!  Can’t you deal, Sergeant?”

“She specifically asked for you, sir”

“Bugger!” D.I. Wood said, with feeling, hurling the empty tray and chip papers into the nearby bin.

D.S. Stone made a gesture and Samantha Knight came bustling over.

“Have you got anything, Inspector?” She asked.

“Bloody indigestion, I shouldn’t wonder” D.I. Wood patted his chest and emitted a resounding burp, “Better out than in” He grinned.

“I meant about Precious” Samantha snapped, “Archie’s very concerned”

“Well, if it was her, and there’s no way of telling if it was or not, she’s long gone” D.I. Wood wiped his hands on a handkerchief and dabbed at his lips.  “Bit of a wild goose chase, really”

“So, now what?” Samantha folded her arms and gave him a hard stare.

“Well, nothing, to be honest” D.I. Wood shrugged, “if this ‘Gemma’ puts in another appearance, give us a shout and we’ll have a word, otherwise, we’re done here”

“Aren’t you going to search for her?”

“Where?” D.I. Wood looked around him, “Any ideas?  ‘Cause I certainly wouldn’t know where to start!  If people kept decent records…” He nodded toward the chip shop, “or any bloody records, for that matter, we might have a chance, but, without any evidence, there’s nothing we can do!”

“So, what do I tell Archie?”

“I’d tell him to give fish and chips a miss, for a start” D.I. Wood smirked, climbing into his car, “Come along Sergeant, we haven’t got all day”

“No sir,” D.S. Stone walked around the car, “Sorry miss!” He smiled, weakly, at Samantha, who turned on her heel and marched off.

* * * *

Back at the Merkin-under-Heathwood Police Station, D.S. Stone was talking animatedly, with another police officer, in the open-plan outer office.  He patted the other man’s shoulder, nodded and, with a manilla folder and his tablet under his arm, made his way into D.I. Wood’s inner sanctum, where the man himself was engrossed in his Caribbean holiday brochures.

“We’ve got something more on that ‘suspicious’ in the reservoir, sir” He announced on entry.

“Please tell me that it’s all a cock-up, he died of natural causes, and we can all go home” D.I. Wood suggested, without looking up from his brochure.

“’Fraid not, sir” D.S. Stone shook his head, sadly, “I’ve just been talking to one of the Chester lads, he’s kindly been down and identified the body…”

“So, we know who he is?”

“Well, not really sir, no” D.S. Stone admitted, reluctantly, “All we do know is that he called himself ‘Jimmy’ and he lived on the streets, mostly.  Fetched up in Chester about a year ago” D.S. Stone consulted his file, “never caused any trouble, they spoke to him once or twice, tried to get him into a hostel, but he wasn’t having any of it…”

“Fat lot of bloody use that is, then” D.I. Wood said, moodily.

“At least we know, for sure, where he came from.” D.S. Stone pointed out, “but it gets better” He grinned.

“Go on, tell me we know who did him in”

“Not exactly, sir, but there’s a possible connection I thought you might find interesting”

“Go on!” D.I. Wood put his chin on his hand and looked at his Sergeant with studied disinterest.

“The lad from Chester brought us a bit of CCTV footage he thought we might like to see” D.S. Stone flipped open his tablet, pressed a key or two, and spun the screen around to show his boss.

“What am I looking at?”

“As far as they know, this is the last recorded sighting of ‘Jimmy’ in Chester before he rocked up here” D.S. Stone explained, “now, watch this” D.S. Stone pressed another key and the CCTV footage began to play.

In the grainy picture, it was possible to see the hunched-up figure of, what could be, a young man, sitting with his back against a wall, outside a shop.  He was dressed in a tatty, rather ripped, bomber jacket and jeans.  A baseball cap with, what appeared to be, a few coins, was placed in front of him.  Shoppers were walking past him, most making a careful detour around the cap.

“He’s going to struggle to get a pint out of that lot, tight-fisted bastards!” D.I. Wood observed.

“Yes, but watch what happens next, sir”

A girl, wearing a cloak and a shawl around her head, walked along but, instead of avoiding the begging man, made a bee-line for him.  She bent over and seemed to be in earnest conversation with him.  At no time could you see her face.

“So?  Could be anyone!” D.I. Wood commented, “Could be Little Red Riding Hood for all I know!”

“Yes, she seems to have a good idea where the CCTV cameras are” D.S. Stone nodded, “but, just wait a minute”

The conversation seemed to have ended.  The girl in the cloak and shawl appeared to be helping ‘Jimmy’ to his feet, and then she looked to her left, and it was just possible to see her face in profile.

“Ring any bells, sir?” D.S. Stone raised an eyebrow.

“Not to be honest, no” D.I. Wood shook his head.

D.S. Stone tapped a few more keys.  Now the frozen still from the Chester video was side-by-side with a still from Merkin High Street.

“I reckon it looks like her from that jewellery job.  The one that Mrs. Knight identified as Precious DeVille, from this very photo.  If it is her, then it means…”

“Oh God!” D.I. Wood covered his face with his hands and sighed, deeply, “it means that this ‘Jimmy’s’ death and the attempted murder of Lurch and his boss, are probably linked, doesn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so, sir” D.S. Stone nodded, with a satisfied smile on his face.

You can find a lot more from Josiah and Archibald, including the prequel novel to this series, in The Undertakers collection.

Now read Part 33