Jones spread his hands in a gesture of bafflement. ‘We’re as confused as you, Dr Jackson. For all we know, the bag has always been in Lieutenant Acland’s possession.’
She studied him for a moment. ‘No,’ she said with sudden conviction. ‘You wouldn’t know it existed but for Charles. First he told you Chalky had taken it . . . then he left it for me to find. Why would he keep drawing attention to it if it ties him to Harry Peel?’
‘Smoke and mirrors,’ said Beale, echoing his boss’s earlier statement. ‘Unless you noticed the bag yourself last Friday – which you say you didn’t – we’ve only Charles’s word that it was ever in your boot. He’s accused both Ben and Chalky of handling it, but the only way we’ll know if he was telling the truth is if we find their fingerprints or DNA on any of the objects. If we
It was Jackson’s turn to look sceptical. ‘If that’s the way your mind works, I’m not surprised he wanted me to turn the stuff in. He didn’t have to do it at all . . . He could have dumped the lot and walked away from the responsibility.’ She searched their faces. ‘Why tempt fate if he’s guilty? It doesn’t make sense.’
‘He enjoys taking risks,’ said Jones thoughtfully. ‘He’s obsessed with chance, feels there should be meaning in random events.’
‘You would be, too, if you’d lost your eye, your career and your crew in an indiscriminate explosion that was aimed at the first vehicle that passed a particular point,’ said Jackson bluntly. ‘He understands malign fate extremely well . . . probably because he’s suffered quite a lot of it in the last few months.’
Jones eyed her curiously. ‘Why have you changed your mind, Doctor? You looked close to washing your hands of Charles earlier . . . and DC Khan said you were blowing a gasket when he spoke to you on the phone.’
‘The wonders of modern technology,’ she said, opening her phone again and scrolling through her menu before turning the screen to the superintendent. ‘This isn’t Chalky. The face is too thin . . . and the beard and hair too grey. I’d describe this man as a goatee-wearing professor type. Chalky was more of a grizzly bear . . . wild beard with a square, heavy-featured face. I’ve told DC Khan I’ll confirm it formally by looking at the body later, but I guarantee this isn’t the man I saw in the alleyway.’
‘It was dark,’ Jones reminded her.
‘He was a passenger in my car for twenty minutes. Even if I hadn’t had a good look at him when he climbed in beside me, I had a clear view of his profile during the journey. Chalky’s nose was broken. This guy’s isn’t.’
Ahmed Khan had already passed this information to Jones. ‘I hadn’t realized you were so worried about what the lieutenant might have done to Chalky,’ he murmured. ‘You obviously think Charles is capable of violence.’
Jackson tucked the mobile into her pocket. ‘I know he is,’ she said matter-of-factly. ‘I saw what he did to you at the station, and to Rashid in the pub . . . but he didn’t kill either of you, and the only weapons he used were his hands.’ She placed a meaty elbow on the top of the pillar box and stared towards her car. ‘Why are you so interested in the stun gun?’
‘For the same reason you gave. That particular model packs a million volts. Anyone touched by it would be unable to defend himself for two or three minutes . . . possibly longer. They’re illegal in this country, so it must have been smuggled in from abroad . . . which may well rule out Ben and Chalky.’
‘Meaning it’s Charles’s?’
‘It’s a possibility. He’s laying claim to something in that bag that he thought would worry you . . . and the first thing you nominated was the stun gun. You said you’d be very suspicious of a man who used an electric pulse to subdue a woman in order to rape her.’
Jackson shifted her attention back to the superintendent. ‘Are you suggesting Charles would do that?’
Jones shrugged. ‘You tell me, Doctor. All I know is, he has a real problem talking about the last time he saw Ms Morley . . . and that was shortly after he returned from a training exercise in the Middle East. It wouldn’t be hard to hide a stun gun in a kitbag.’
*
Jackson wasn’t amused to be informed by DI Beale a few minutes later that her car would have to be towed to a laboratory for examination under controlled conditions. He talked apologetically about contamination. ‘Two of the people who might have handled the bag have travelled in your car – Chalky and the lieutenant – so we need to be very precise about the location of DNA evidence. We also need to look for fibres in the boot. If we find a match with the bag, it will go some way to substantiating Charles’s claim that Chalky took it.’ ‘Only some way?’ ‘He could have put it there himself when you came into the pub.’ ‘And taken it
*
Chalky opened a bloodshot eye and blinked into the beam of the torch that was shining in his face. ‘You’d better not be who I think you are. I
‘Two-timing bitches!’ The corporal raised his voice. ‘You
Avril spoke from the doorway. ‘Seems to me it’s us who’s done you the favour. A bit of shoplifting, you said . . . no harm done. So how come we get served with a search warrant, eh? And how come there’s four more of these bozos downstairs guarding the exits. What you been up to, Chalky?’
He covered his face with his arm to block out the light. ‘Took the word of a bloody officer,’ he said. ‘Arrogant bastard! Should have known he couldn’t be trusted.’
*
‘I’m afraid we need to impose on your time a little longer,’ said the superintendent as he and Jackson stood side by side, watching her BMW disappear down the road on the back of a recovery vehicle. ‘Chalky – or a man we believe to be Chalky – was picked up ten minutes ago from a squat in Bread Street. It would be helpful if you could identify him for us.’ ‘The ladies’ squat? How come they let you in?’ ‘They didn’t fancy the alternative,’ Jones told her with a small laugh. ‘Given the choice between handing over the man tonight or having every inch of their property
