“Blimey, it was a brutal murder, but I never imagined anything such as this being behind it.”
“Did you ever meet FLO Genevieve Harding?” asked Gus.
“Of course,” said Phil, “she worked in Salisbury for twenty years. A good lassie. Why?”
“Did you ever see her talking to Warren Baker?”
“The creepy forensics guy, I would hope not. Genevieve was a curvy, attractive woman who kept herself to herself. There were rumours she was seeing a married man, but I didn’t find out who he was while I still worked there.”
“A married police officer?” asked Gus.
“Who else are we going to meet, Gus? I wouldn’t have met Phyllis if she hadn’t been in the back office. When you’re both in the job, the relationship has a better chance of success, in my view. Civilians don’t understand us.”
“That’s enough background for me, Phil. You didn’t see anyone slipping that phone in their pocket, and with the many comings and goings, someone might have got away with it with no one being the wiser. We’ll keep searching. Thanks for your help. Thank Phyllis for the coffee and biscuits, won’t you? Take care, both of you.”
Phil saw Gus to the front door. Phyllis joined him on the step, and she waved at Gus as the Focus slowly pulled away from the kerb. Gus stopped in the nearest layby and studied his phone. Sarum Close, just off the A360. Twenty minutes’ drive at this time of day. Gus realised he had thirty minutes to kill before Alex would arrive. This layby was as good a spot as any to mull over what they’d learned since yesterday.
After five minutes, Gus had a thought. He called the Old Police Station office to speak to Neil Davis.
“Alright, guv,” said Neil. “Did you get lost?”
“Not a chance, Neil. I’m on familiar ground. How did you get on identifying that senior police officer?”
“Crashed and burned. I dug out the family tree for every station across the force area for the years we were interested in. It would surprise you how many names there were, guv. You remember the officers who stick around for years, like yourself, no offence. But then, officers are just passing through, people on temporary secondments, and those who retired through ill-health.”
“Skip to the bottom line, Neil,” said Gus.
“I couldn’t find anyone whose wife died of cancer during the years I checked.”
“Perhaps Serena Campbell got the dates wrong,” said Gus.
“I thought of that, guv, and extended the period by two years on either side. Perhaps Ms Campbell got the whole thing wrong, guv. The man at the parties wasn’t a senior officer.”
“Serena Campbell convinced me she was telling the truth, Neil,” said Gus. “Okay, we’ll need to grill the woman again on the matter. Why don’t you and Luke get onto that?”
“Will do, guv. Is that all?”
“Can I speak to Blessing, please?”
“Yes, guv,” said Blessing, “How can I help?”
“Have you linked the names we got from Serena Campbell with Graham Street, Blessing?”
“Kathy Mellor gave birth to a son in 1972. She named him Derek. Kathy married John Preston earlier in the same year.”
“Derek Preston, the builder, is one of Graham Street’s children? John married Kathy when she was pregnant by another man. Did he know? What a tangled web we have before us, Blessing.”
“It gets better, guv, or worse, depending on how you look at it. Sonya Tucker had a baby by Graham Street in 1968. Ralph Tucker, the tree surgeon, is another half-brother of Martyn Street.”
“Don’t tell me,” said Gus. “The third woman’s maiden name was Milligan, or she married someone of that name.”
“No guv,” said Blessing. “Maureen Glendenning had a child, name and whereabouts unknown. She may have put the baby up for adoption. Maureen disappeared soon after the birth. Nobody has seen or heard of her since 1968. She’s believed to be living in Spain.”
“Many thanks, Blessing,” said Gus. “I’m glad I spoke to you before I meet two of Graham Street’s children this afternoon. This case was strange at the beginning. Now it’s getting surreal.”
“Good hunting this afternoon, guv,” said Blessing. “Alex should reach Bemerton Heath in fifteen minutes.”
Gus ended the call and spent the next fifteen minutes revising every opinion he had of anyone connected to this case. As the clock on the dashboard ticked closer to one o’clock, Gus drove the short distance to Sarum Close. Alex had already parked outside the house where MP Builders were working. The van was a giveaway.
Gus parked the Focus and crossed the road to join Alex Hardy.
“Have you heard from Neil, Alex?” he asked.
“We spoke before I left, guv. It frustrated Neil not finding the name of the senior officer.”
“Did Blessing share her findings with the rest of you?” asked Gus.
Alex grinned.
“We could tell what Blessing was finding was dynamite, guv,” said Alex. “It was as if Ted Hastings was in the room.”
“I know what you’re on about for a change,” said Gus. “Suzie never misses an episode of Line of Duty, although I can’t imagine Blessing using the language that character does.”
“Not quite,” said Alex, “but ‘Holy Moly’ and ‘Heaven help us’ told us she’d found something juicy.”
“Theo Reeves told us Graham Street fathered children with several women. Until I heard from Blessing thirty minutes ago, I never imagined so many of them connected to the case. It has to be significant, surely?”
“Two conversations this afternoon could give us the answer to that one, guv. Shall we get Stuart Milligan out of the way first?”
Gus nodded his agreement. They walked up the driveway to where the builders had parked their van. Derek Preston sat inside, eating
