Next they discover a small file marked ‘Lotto’. Reading through the various notes, it shows Dave is taking court action against one of their former colleagues, Dave says James cheated him out of the winning ticket. They also find a note which seems to prove a gentleman by the name of Tim Knox was paid £2,000 to lie and say he was there when Dave purchased the winning Lotto ticket.
They find detailed plans of where James Sheldon lives, his car registration, and what appears to be a draft copy of a suicide note, with handwritten side notes changing a couple of words, and another piece of paper with what appears to be several attempts to copy a signature in the name of James Sheldon written on it.
They also find details of the porter at the Grand Hotel and a note of how much he has been paid to open the roof door and deactivate its alarm, together with the layout from the basement car park right up to the roof.
With other notes and diagrams, they have significant evidence to connect Dave with what can now be called a murder. There is information connecting him to a Russian drug ring and the details of a man who supplies him with cannabis. There is a mobile number with a note around it attached with a rubber band with the message ‘Phone to arrange next meeting.’
DS Underwood decides it is worth trying the number to discover who it belongs to. He is pretty sure it will be an unregistered phone, so therefore untraceable, but calling is worth a try. There’s only one number stored on the phone. He dials it and a Russian voice answers.
“Hello,” DS Underwood says, “Dave Rex is ill. He’s asked me to phone to arrange the next meeting.”
The man hangs up.
DS Underwood calls a colleague at police HQ. “Check out the following mobile number for me, please. Top priority.”
The search of Mrs Rex’s apartment continues until they are satisfied there is nothing else of interest.
“So, Mrs Rex. It looks like we underestimated you. We took you for a frail old lady but the truth is you’re still razor sharp. You had an idea we’d come back, didn’t you? So you called one of your son’s associates to come and collect all the incriminating evidence, but luckily we managed to get a warrant in time. We saw him downstairs just as he was about to come in. I don’t think your son will be visiting you in the future. I think it’s more likely you’ll have to visit him. We’ll see ourselves out.”
They take away all the items found in the carrier bag as evidence.
At 8.20pm, DS Underwood walks to the cell where Dave is being held and the Officer who is accompanying him unlocks the door.
“Dave, we’ve been to your mum’s apartment and found the contents of your safe and, as you can imagine, we’ve found a great deal of evidence we weren’t aware of before. It seems you were even greedy enough to claim the four coffees purchased at each meeting at the Milton Motel as a business expense.” He didn’t tell Dave the times and dates had been supplied by Gerry Payne, owner of the motel, after he became suspicious.
“My team and I are calling it a day. We’re off down the pub now. Sorry you can’t join us. We’ll be interviewing you again tomorrow morning and I think you have a lot of questions to answer. I’ll call your solicitor and let him know.”
DS Underwood calls Dave’s solicitor, Mark Jackson, and leaves a message on his voicemail. He tells him about the search, gives some indication of the evidence they have found and informs the solicitor he will be interviewing his client at ten am sharp the following morning.
By eight thirty pm most of the detectives involved in the case are sitting in the ‘The Chequers’ having a well-deserved drink. It’s been a long but extremely rewarding day.
At nine pm Dave’s solicitor arrives at the police station. He needs to see his client. It is a matter of extreme urgency.
The front desk operative is only a civilian. He phones through to the desk sergeant and explains the situation. He agrees to bring Dave through to Interview Room number three and passes on instructions to the duty officer to bring Dave to see his solicitor.
The sergeant goes out to reception and opens the security door to allow the solicitor access and leads him along the corridor to the interview room.
After two minutes, the Duty officer appears with Dave.
“I need to speak with my client on a private matter.”
Both police officers leave the room. After a further two minutes there’s suddenly a loud noise and shouting as someone from inside bangs on the door.
“Officers, come quickly, I think my client is having a heart attack. Please hurry.”
The duty officer crouches down by the man on the floor and checks to see if there is a pulse or whether the man is still breathing.
He detects neither.
The Sergeant takes out his police phone, calls for an ambulance and then goes to assist his colleague who is attempting resuscitation. Eight minutes later the ambulance arrives and Dave is stretchered out of the rear entrance of the police station into the waiting ambulance. A police Officer accompanies Dave as the vehicle speeds off with its blue lights flashing. After a brief chat with the Officers the solicitor leaves via the front entrance and walks outside. He dials a number on his mobile.
“Yes.”
The solicitor speaks, his true accent more pronounced as he says one word. “Rotobo” (It’s done). He takes the SIM card from the phone, breaks it in half and throws it into a nearby rubbish bin.
At 9.24pm Dave is pronounced dead from a suspected heart attack.
The next morning Dave’s solicitor turns up at the agreed time of ten am. He is extremely surprised to learn of the death of his
