And now she wasn’t here to share them with. Well, there would be time for that later, if he was still in a sharing mood.
Tony got up to refill his coffee and turned on the radio as he passed it. The teeth-jarring ident of Bradfield Sound filled the room, the precursor to the news. The announcer’s voice stepped on the tail of the jingle. ‘And on the hour, all you need to know. News from Bradfield Sound, your local information station. Police have confirmed that the body found on Bickerslow Moor was that of missing teenager Seth Viner. Seth was last seen after school on Wednesday. He was supposed to be at a friend’s house for a sleepover but he never made it. Seth is the second Bradfield teen to be found dead in a remote location in the past week. Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan, the commander of the city’s Major Incident Team, spoke about these terrible murders to Bradfield Sound.’
And then that voice he knew as well as his own. ‘We believe that both Seth Viner and Daniel Morrison were murdered by the same person,’ she said, her voice carefully modulated to suggest respect for the dead as well as the urgency of her investigation. ‘Our deepest sympathy goes out to their families and friends. We’re asking everyone in Bradfield to think back very carefully over the last few days to see if you remember seeing Daniel or Seth on the days they disappeared. We need your help.’
Back to the announcer, who sounded far too chipper for his subject. ‘DCI Jordan also issued a warning to young people and their parents.’
Carol again. ‘We believe the killer may have made contact with both Seth and Daniel via a social-networking internet site. We urge young people and their parents to be vigilant. Make sure the people you are interacting with are who they say they are. And if you’ve got any doubts at all, block their contact with you and get in touch with Bradfield Police.’ She rattled off the number for the contact line.
That explained why she had taken off at the crack of dawn. A double murder inquiry didn’t leave a lot of time for sleep. Or anything else. She had her ticking clock now, just like Patterson and Ambrose. But still, he was surprised she hadn’t been in touch. OK, Blake wasn’t prepared to pay for his help. But she was his friend. She should know by now she could count on him.
So why the silence?
He didn’t have the chance to wonder for long. The doorbell rang, cutting across his brooding. To his surprise, he found Sam Evans on his doorstep, half-turned away from the door as if he wasn’t that bothered about getting an answer. Tony couldn’t help his spirits lifting. At last, a way in to whatever Carol was up to. ‘Nice to see you, Sam,’ he said, stepping back to let him walk inside.
As usual, Sam didn’t beat around the bush. He’d barely made it as far as the living room before he spoke. ‘I need your help,’ he said.
Tony shrugged. ‘I thought you lot couldn’t afford me any more.’
Sam snorted. ‘In my book, we can’t not afford you. But they’ve sent us some pillock from the National Faculty instead. Tim Parker.’ Tony couldn’t keep the dismay from his face. Sam grunted. ‘I see you know him. So you’ll know he’s a balloon. And I’m not dealing with the likes of him on this case. You know what we need most of all right now, don’t you?’
Another man might have felt intimidated by Sam’s vehemence. But Tony knew him well enough to read it as the bluster of a man who sees his dream under threat. ‘You need results,’ he said calmly, sitting down and adopting a relaxed pose. No need to let Sam see how mutual the need was. ‘You need to show James Blake that your way of doing things is the best way.’
‘Exactly. And that’s why I’m here. I need your help. I need some ideas about a line of questioning.’
‘I’m presuming Carol doesn’t know you’re here?’
Sam gave him a look. ‘DCI Jordan doesn’t have to know about it. Here’s what I know, Doc. This team is DCI Jordan’s life. Without it, she’d struggle.’ His mouth twisted in a dark smile. ‘And without DCI Jordan, you’d struggle.’ He perched on the arm of a chair like a big bird ready for the off at the first threat.
Tony couldn’t deny the discomfort Sam’s truth provoked in him. ‘So you’re appealing to my self-interest?’
Sam shrugged. ‘I’ve always found it a good place to start.’
‘Carol won’t like you sharing live case details with me.’
Sam frowned. ‘Who said anything about a live case? What I want to ask you about is a cold case.’
Tony tried to hide his disappointment. ‘You’re not working on the murdered boys?’
‘Well, yeah. Obviously. But I’ve got a cold case coming to the boil so I’m juggling, you know? And I’m struggling. Struggling and juggling. You know how it is.’
Tony couldn’t remember Sam ever acknowledging that he needed help. Given his ambition and drive, Tony reckoned he was only here today because it was off the books and eminently deniable. Still, a favour to Sam might pay off down the line. ‘Why don’t you tell me about it?’ he said.
It didn’t take long. Sam had always had the knack of pulling out the key points in an investigation and ordering them logically. ‘So you see my problem,’ he said. ‘I’ve no physical evidence of murder. And I’ve nothing apart from the computer to link Nigel Barnes to the death of his wife, his daughter and Harry Sim. Not to mention that I’ve no idea how Harry Sim fits into the picture.’ He slapped his hands on his thighs in frustration.
‘Harry Sim’s the easy part,’ Tony said, enjoying Sam’s irritated frown. ‘He’s Nigel Barnes’s get-out-of-jail-free card.’
‘What are you talking about?’
Tony settled deeper into his chair, comfortable and confident as he only ever was when he was navigating other minds. ‘If we know one thing about Nigel Barnes, it’s that he’s a planner. He figured it all out ahead of time. A meticulous man would make sure he already had his escape route in place before he started. And that’s exactly what Harry Sim was.’
Sam made a sharp sound of frustration. ‘I don’t understand. How is Harry Sim a get-out-of-jail-free card?’
‘Here’s what will happen when you confront Nigel Barnes with the discovery of the bodies in the lake. There’ll be some story about his wife leaving him and him going after her and finding the three of them dead in some sort of bizarre suicide pact. And he panicked because he thought he’d be blamed, so he got rid of the bodies. And by chance, it so happened that the disposal method he chose destroyed all forensic traces but left enough behind for
