It turned out to be a fully furnished three-bedroomed house, and after the tour and confirming the back bedroom would give him a good view so he could track the comings and goings from the O’Connor residence, he agreed to rent the property for the six-month period, telling the lady it was for one of his employees.
They agreed to meet at her office at 2 p.m., and sort out all the paperwork. He could collect a set of keys so ‘his employee’ could move in without delay.
After sorting out the paperwork, Roger set off to his next appointment. He had seen a small second-hand van being advertised on the local buy and sell website at a small garage.
The silver VW Transporter on offer was in good condition and previously owned by a company which he presumed had gone bankrupt. It still had their name sign written on the side: Ravendale Couriers.
The garage said they could remove the signs and deliver the van within a couple of days. Roger told them he needed the van quickly and he could arrange for the signwriting to be removed. He said he would buy the vehicle if they could deliver it later that day to his engineering business address and hand the keys over at reception. He arranged a bank-to-bank money transfer for the £3,000 asking price and phoned his secretary Wendy, for her to arrange the insurance and tax of the vehicle.
Chapter Seventeen
UNDERCOVER
Having the vehicle would allow Roger to drive round and people would think he was making deliveries.
No one would take much notice of a courier vehicle and might expect to see them darting about from one place to another. It would enable Roger to get a sense of what Kevin O’Connor was up to.
Roger could hardly ask the police what information they had on Kevin O’Connor or what to expect from the man, so it would take a lot of time and work to build up the information Roger needed. The sooner he started the better.
That night, he would stay in his own house and get an early start. Then, the following evening he would move into his new home at Cheney Way.
When he left the house at six the next morning, it was too early for the local bakers to be open, so Roger made a stop at the Shell garage that was open twenty-four hours and picked up a couple of sandwiches and soft drinks. It could be the evening before he had a chance to get something to eat.
Just after 6.30 a.m., Roger parked his van on Fen Road, close to the Two Oaks Caravan Park and with a view of the O’Connor’s’ driveway so he could see any vehicle coming or going.
For the next hour, he watched as various vehicles passed by from the various caravan sites, most of them Transit-size vehicles with company logos for trades such as tarmacing, landscaping and gardening services.
At 7.30 he saw a Transit van drive out of Kevin O’Connor’s driveway. On the side of the van, he saw the name ‘KC Landscaping Services’. The van drove off, and Roger followed at a discreet distance. The vehicle drove across town to the more affluent area of Cherrywood where Roger’s house was. Finally, he saw the vehicle stop outside a house on Luard Road. These were very sought-after houses close to the town centre and Fenner’s Cricket Ground. It was obvious Kevin was there to undertake or quote for landscaping work.
Roger watched and after ten minutes, saw Kevin and his son Tyson emerge from the house and unlock the ladder attached to the roof of the Transit van and go back to the house.
An hour and a half later the two men re-emerged. They had what looked like three bags full of tree branches cut into pieces and then proceeded to put the ladder back on the roof. Roger watched as an old lady came out of the front door and handed Kevin an envelope, which he opened and seemed to be counting. He couldn’t see the note denominations, but it looked to be a fair amount of money, especially if it was for less than the two hours they had been there.
Roger followed the Transit out to a country lane where it suddenly stopped in a layby. As Roger pulled in to a farm drive to avoid being seen, he watched as Kevin and Tyson unloaded the three bags of tree cuttings into a ditch, oobviously to avoid having to take it to the local council tip and paying the fee they charge for commercial users.
The Transit moved off, and Roger followed them again. On two occasions, due to traffic, he nearly lost them and on one of these occasions had to jump an amber traffic light. He knew he couldn’t continue to follow them in this way.
The next house they stopped at was in the area of Trumpington, and once again it was a reasonably large detached house. The same thing happened with the ladder being unlocked and less than two hours later, the two men emerging from the house. This time all Roger saw was Kevin stuffing a brown envelope into his back pocket as he walked to the driver’s side of the Transit.
Roger managed to follow without losing them as they headed back to Fen Road. He parked up in the same place he had occupied first thing that morning.
An hour later, Roger noticed a large black 4x4 BMW coming out of the O’Connor driveway. Once again he followed the vehicle, keeping a discreet distance until it indicated and turned into the car park of the Lion and Lamb pub. Roger drove past
