theory about Yately and Lisle cross-dressing in secret in one of the bays on the coast and being discovered by smugglers it would sound incredible, probably because it was.
He heard the outer door open and the voices of Cantelli and Walters. Sawyer rose. But Horton knew he hadn’t finished yet. He hardened himself for what was coming, while taking great pains not to betray any outward tension.
Sawyer had reached the door before he turned. ‘How is the search for your mother going?’
‘It isn’t, sir.’ Horton held Sawyer’s unblinking gaze. The lean man’s lips twitched with the ghost of a smile. Horton’s stomach twisted. The bastard knew he’d been to see Stanley in the hospital and that he’d visited him in his apartment. The blue van sprang to mind. Had Sawyer’s officers been in that? Had they been following him or watching Stanley’s apartment? Both, apparently.
Sawyer said, ‘You can still reconsider your decision to help us find Zeus.’
Horton had refused to be used as a sacrificial lamb to lure this master criminal from his lair as Sawyer wanted.
‘It might help you to find out what happened to Jennifer.’
‘I’ll think about it.’
Sawyer didn’t reply. He opened Horton’s office door a fraction, before turning back again. ‘How do you know Russell Glenn?’
This time Horton didn’t bother to hide his surprise. He couldn’t if he had tried. ‘I don’t.’
Sawyer nodded slowly and then swept out, leaving Horton confused as to the real purpose of the man’s visit. What the hell had that been about?
Before he could formulate any kind of answer his door swung open and Bliss swept in with a worried frown on her high forehead.
‘Why was Detective Chief Superintendent Sawyer here? What did he want? Did he ask for me?’ she demanded.
‘He wanted an update on Hazleton’s death,’ Horton answered calmly, and watched her face pale. He could see the thoughts chasing around her mind, and among them were fears that Sawyer didn’t trust her and had gone to her DI to get the real story.
‘What did you tell him?’ she asked, eyeing him warily.
‘The same as I told you. We don’t believe it has any connection with a potential terrorist attack.’ Horton rose. ‘Superintendent Uckfield wants us for the briefing.’
He swept past her, catching her off guard. She seemed too preoccupied with her thoughts to order him back. She wasn’t the only one. As he made his way to the second floor and the major incident suite, with Walters and Cantelli in tow, his head spun with the implications of Sawyer’s question about Russell Glenn. It could only mean one thing. Russell Glenn must have been involved with his mother.
The incident room fell silent as Uckfield perched his large backside on the edge of one of the desks, which seemed to give a protesting creak, and asked for an update from Sergeant Trueman. Dennings and Marsden had already left for the Island. Horton fetched a drink from the water cooler. His eyes fell on the photographs on the crime board of Lisle’s sodden car and the furled up body of Hazleton in the boot. It seemed inconceivable that four days ago he’d been interviewing him about a report he’d considered a figment of the old man’s imagination. He brought his attention back to Trueman.
‘Wrayton Lettings claim that no one has had a fourth set of keys cut to Yately’s flat. There is the master, and a spare set, which the landlord’s already told us hasn’t left the office, and one set was given to Yately. We know that Yately had two keys cut from the set to give to his daughter, so he could have had more cut and given a set to someone else.’
Uckfield said, ‘Can’t see why he should. He doesn’t seem to have had any close friends and no other relatives. Unless he gave a set to his wife.’
Unlikely, thought Horton, based on what they’d seen of her and Uckfield said the same, only putting it more coarsely. ‘If he did he must be a real glutton for punishment.’
Trueman continued. ‘An officer has spoken to Margaret Yately’s employer, who you might be interested to know is Phillip Gunville, the owner of the car you saw outside her house on Tuesday evening.’
‘Consoling her in her hour of sorrow,’ muttered Horton.
‘He’s married with two school-age children. Claimed he was visiting her because he was concerned after hearing the news about her ex.’
‘Yeah, and we know
‘Gunville says he was working in the bar last Wednesday evening and after clearing up went to bed at just after midnight. His wife confirms it and that Margaret Yately was working there until half past eleven when she got her taxi home. Neither of them claims to know Arthur Lisle. We haven’t asked them about Victor Hazleton.’
Uckfield broke in. ‘Marsden will deal with that. And show them photographs of Hazleton and the dress. Dennings will also get officers showing Lisle’s photograph at the three Island ferry terminals. The main thrust of our investigation is to assume that Lisle is our killer and that revenge could be the motive, and that’s what Inspector Horton and Sergeant Cantelli will be probing when they talk to the partners and staff at Wallingford and Chandler.’ Uckfield turned to address Horton. ‘Find out all you can about Arthur Lisle and Victor Hazleton, and see if there is any link between that firm of solicitors and Colin Yately.’
‘There is,’ piped up Trueman. ‘Wallingford and Chandler handled the Yately divorce.’
Uckfield beamed. ‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’
It was a connection, thought Horton, but it was a long way from Lisle being a killer. For a start, as far as they knew, Lisle didn’t handle divorce but property conveyancing, and the timing was wrong for Yately meeting Abigail Lisle through her husband’s firm, because Yately spilt from his wife three years ago, the same time as Lisle gave up his job to nurse his sick wife, according to Rachel Salter. He refrained from saying so and denting Uckfield’s enthusiasm.
Uckfield said, ‘So what else have we got on these three men?’
Trueman answered. ‘Lisle’s GP has confirmed that Lisle wasn’t suffering from depression, in fact the last time he saw his doctor was when his wife died. He’s never mentioned anything related to having problems with his wife or family. The fingerprints Dr Clayton managed to get from Yately’s body check with the comb and pen Inspector Horton brought back from Yately’s apartment. There are other prints in the apartment which could match Lisle’s; the fingerprint bureau are checking them. They’re also checking if they match any prints found in Hazleton’s house. We won’t get anything from the forensic examination on Lisle’s garage, his boat and car for a few days. Apart from that all we know is that none of the men has been convicted of anything criminal, and they’ve all paid their taxes like good boys. We’ll start on bank and telephone records when we have them, which should be later today. I’ll also chase up the fashion expert to see if she can tell us more about the dress found on Colin Yately, but it was only sent over to her late yesterday afternoon. There’s very little forensic on it, except for evidence of sand and gravel, which is still being analysed; we might get more on that in the next couple of days.’
‘Might’s no bloody good,’ Uckfield grumbled, ‘and I want it today, not next Easter. Tell them it’s urgent.’
Horton caught Trueman’s eyes; there was nothing in his expression to betray his thoughts but Horton knew that the sergeant had already told them that, probably three times.
Swivelling to glare at Horton, Uckfield said, ‘Trueman will call Wallingford and Chandler to tell them you’re on your way.’ He hauled himself up and glanced at his watch. ‘Time for my press conference. Let’s hope the great British public can help us. DCI Bliss,
Bliss still looked too preoccupied with trying to fathom out why Sawyer would pay a special visit to one of her subordinates to protest. She left the incident room before them, no doubt on a mission to find some pretext to contact Sawyer and try to get the truth out of him. Horton knew she didn’t have a hope in hell. Dismissed, Horton, Cantelli and Walters headed back to CID where Horton asked Walters to press on with his investigation into Russell Glenn’s background, with particular emphasis on finding out where he had been between 1972 and 1978 while in the Merchant Navy, and where he had lived.
‘When I’m not answering the phone in the major incident suite,’ grumbled Walters.
‘And in CID,’ added Horton. ‘Cantelli and I are off to the Isle of Wight.’
‘Some people have all the luck.’
