They would however substantially increase his salary.
As Chris sat in Francis’s office, he simply smiled and said thank you. He would consider it and let him know.
Then, when Francis had gone home at 5.30pm, Chris collected all of his tools and belongings and placed them into his car and driven home.
Chris went to see William Orbell but they had taken on someone else and although they would have liked Chris to come and work for them, they didn’t have any vacancies other than as a mechanic, which was way below his abilities.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Tracy Archer is starting to delve into the financial affairs of the Mitten family. So far there had been no need to dig too deep. Although most kidnappings are usually undertaken by people who know the victims, in this case their involvement had been ruled out at an early stage.
Now the thinking was there could be more to the case than originally thought and with the forty-eight-hour deadline out of the way and the girls safe, Tracy has more time to delve deeper.
Going through Francis Mitten’s bank accounts line by line, item by item she notices a couple of things that seem to tie together. First of all there is a payment to the Grantchester tennis club. And a month later, he starts making weekly payments to the Weathervane Hotel.
As a police officer, Tracy has seen it many times before. It is the classic signs of an affair. The only question is the identity of the woman, or man? You never know. Men can hide the fact they are gay and having a relationship with another man.
The easiest way is to ask Francis Mitten. At this stage it could have nothing to do with the kidnapping. So rather than go to his home and his wife find out, if it is a separate matter, no need to involve her. Tracy will go and talk to him at his office.
After that she will look into the life of Diane Mitten and then their son Gordon. Then look into the twins. Just in case. And then finally, Albert Mitten and his wife Beatrice.
If needed, the investigation will then spread out from there. After that, the twins’ agent Miles Tyler is on Tracy’s list.
If need be, she would go back through every single one of the 120 guests at the fiftieth anniversary party and then every member of staff and everyone who had ever come into contact with the family.
There are still two extremely dangerous men out there. One of them they now have a name for but the other remains a complete mystery. Tracy is determined she will find what she was looking for. Even though she is not sure what that is yet.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Tracy Archer has spent the past four days trying to find details of Chris Linwood. It appears he sold his house in Trentbridge and moved to a rented property in Liverpool. The last place she can track him living is in rented accommodation in Chester at the beginning of July last year.
After that he seems to have vanished.
She has been in contact with all the people he worked with. They all say the same. No living relatives anyone is aware of, a brilliant motor mechanic, nice guy, not many friends, no steady girlfriend, likes a drink, mainly whiskey, and is a fanatical Liverpool Football Club supporter.
Tracy has checked all the databases. No current national insurance records, his Chester address for his driving license. No car insurance on record. No mobile phones. No parking fines. No employment since leaving a car repair shop in Chester at the end of June last year.
All she has is three years ago, he spent six months in prison for fraud. He shared a cell with a Romanian called Dragos who has been identified as one of the burned bodies at the car workshop.
She has spoken to Albert Mitten who confirms Chris worked at the old workshop before Mitten & Son moved to Barford. Yes, he had a set of keys. No, when the business moved, the locks were never changed as far as he can recall.
That could explain why they used that location. Somewhere Chris knows well and had access to. If he hasn’t lived in Trentbridge for the past fifteen years, the town will have changed a lot. He won’t recognise a lot of places but he is familiar with the workshop.
Not much to go on to find out where he is now.
Tracy has an idea. It’s a slim chance. It’s not what you know but who you know. She doesn’t know the chief constable on first-name terms but nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say.
Two days later she gets the information she was hoping for. Her idea just might have paid off.
Tracy spoke to the chief constable and told him her idea. He thought it showed a lot of initiative so was prepared to play along.
He telephoned the chief constable of Merseyside Police who in turn spoke with someone he knows extremely well, enough to be on first name terms with: Tom Werner, the chairman of Liverpool Football Club.
Could he check the club’s records and find out if the name Chris or Christopher Linwood comes up. And it did. It seems he had purchased some items from the club’s mail order shop.
And they were sent to an address in Trentbridge. The first order was in August 2018 and a further purchase to the same address in March 2019.
At five o’clock in the morning, most people are sound asleep in their bed and there are not many people on the streets, which is why it’s a favourite time for a police raid.
The first thing that woke Chris Linwood from his dream was the sound of the front door of his flat being hit by something heavy. Something like a police battering ram.
It was followed by loud voices. “Armed police! Stay where you are!”
Chris had only managed to get one leg out of bed by the time
