DI Eden Gold and DS Tracy Archer walked up to the sixth step and knocked on the door of the large mobile home. The police officers had been told to remain in their cars.
The door was opened by Mrs O’Connor. “What do you want?”
“Hello, Mrs O’Connor. We’d like a word with your husband.”
She folded her arms. “He’s not here.”
“I suspect he is. I can come back with extra men and turn the place over, but neither of us wants that, do we? So how about you let us in and we speak with him.”
A voice came from inside. “Let them in, Sadie.”
The detectives climbed the two final steps and were careful to wipe their feet on the mat.
“That’s not enough. Take your shoes off,” said Sadie. It wasn’t a request.
The interior was immaculate. Family photos were much in evidence and little in the way of clutter.
Kevin O’Connor indicated the sofa where the two detectives could sit. “What can I do for you?” came the terse reply.
“We’d like to ask you a few questions about your whereabouts earlier today.”
“I’ve been here all day. Ask the wife.”
“That’s funny because we have a report and eye witness that places you on Pickstone High Street at around 5.20 this afternoon.”
“The witness description fits you: five foot eight tall with greasy black hair, blue jeans, white Nike trainers, a Manchester United t-shirt and a small scar under the left eye.”
“Naw. I told you. I’ve been here all day. Never moved.”
“Do you own a Ford Kuga 4x4 registration number VU62 LOX?”
“No. A BMW. You can’t miss it. Parked right outside.”
“Okay, Mr O’Connor. As I said, we have an eye witness to the incident. We’ll need you to accompany us to the police station.”
“Not me. The football’s on the telly. I’m going nowhere.”
“At the moment I’m simply asking you to accompany us. But if you prefer I can arrest you. Then we’ll need to send in the boys with big boots to turn over every inch of the place. Who knows what we’ll find hidden away. By the way. You haven’t asked what all this is about. You’re not curious? Most people would be.”
“Not me. Keep myself to myself.”
“So what’s it to be Mr O’Connor? Will you come for a friendly chat or do I send it the boys with size eleven boots to trample over everything and upset your wife.”
The DI walked out of the house with Kevin O’Connor and over to the nearest police car.
He spoke to the uniformed police officers. “Thanks for the back-up. We’re on our way now. No need for you to hang around.”
Chapter Ten
WILL GLEESON - WITNESS
Back on Pickstone High Street, the ambulance had taken away the two young hit and run victims to the mortuary, and the police forensic team had moved in.
The police had cordoned off the road, and the four members of the forensics team were carefully going over every inch of the 4x4 vehicle, taking samples and checking every surface for clues to help identify the driver.
Two police officers were going from shop to shop, checking to see if there were any CCTV recordings covering where the incident had taken place or the possibility they might help identify the driver leaving the scene.
Unfortunately, budget cuts meant the council CCTV system that covered the high street in Pickstone had been under repair for the past three weeks, and no footage was available.
The forensics team spent time examining the 4x4 as much as they could. Then it was arranged for a vehicle recovery truck to load the 4x4 and cover it, under supervision of a member of the forensics team and take it to the police examination garage where forensics could spend more time going over the vehicle millimetre by millimetre in the hope of finding DNA, fingerprints or fibres to prove who was driving at the time of the fatal incident.
Kevin O’Connor was taken to the police station for questioning. He was asked to surrender the clothes he was wearing and also asked to attend an identity parade at Trentbridge police station and had been picked out immediately by the witness Will Gleeson.
Kevin was arrested and charged with Death by Dangerous Driving. He was let out on bail to appear at the magistrate’s court to decide where the case would be heard.
His lawyer would try to have the case heard in a magistrates court where the penalties were lower. However, the prosecution was pushing for the matter to be held at Crown Court.
At the initial hearing, the magistrate felt the matter was grave enough it should be heard by the Crown Court. A date was set for Monday the 1st of October.
With the witness statement and all the evidence building up, the prosecution was confident of a conviction.
Chapter Eleven
MONEY PROBLEMS
Will Gleeson had been watching the evening news. One of the main stories was about his bank, the TSB. It appeared the bank, in its wisdom, had decided to change its IT system and it had all gone wrong.
He listened as the reporter outside the bank’s HQ went over the story:
“It has been several weeks since the IT switchover that has caused a crisis at the bank.
But there still appear to be online payment problems for frustrated TSB customers.
Some current account customers and some business clients are still facing problems making internet or app payments. The bank said experts from computing giant IBM, called in during the first week of the fiasco, would remain ‘for as long as it takes’ to fix the errors. It has not estimated how long it will be until services return to normal.
The ongoing problems come in a week when some customers have reported fraudsters emptying their accounts. In addition, some customers who have switched away from the bank have reported receiving letters suggesting they have died.
According to a spokesperson for the bank it is ‘working around the clock’ to fix the problems.
Social media has gone crazy with people saying they are worried
