If true, this was a new and depressing sidelight on the murder victim. Every police force has its bad apples. How galling if Harry Tasker, hailed everywhere as the brave victim of the sniper, had been rotten to the core.
‘Let me try and get this clear,’ Diamond said as if he wasn’t used to plumbing depths like this. ‘You’re saying some of his fellow officers suspected he was using his official position to solicit bribes.’
The last word was too strong for Stillman. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as that. Like I said, it was only talk. There wasn’t any proof.’
‘Didn’t anyone investigate while he was alive?’
‘It never got that serious. I mean, it could have been nothing more than turning a blind eye to under-age drinking in return for an occasional pint.’
‘Equally it could have been taking backhanders from drug dealers.’
‘Or nothing at all, Mr. Diamond. It could be just innuendo. I’m uncomfortable with this.’
‘So am I. Let’s continue.’ For the present, he chose to say nothing about someone of sergeant rank who knew of the gossip and failed to act on it. ‘We’ll turn to the events of last Sunday morning. You were on patrol in your car when the all-units call came that there was a shooting in Walcot Street. Is that right?’
Stillman’s voice showed he was relieved to move on, even at the cost of having his own conduct examined. ‘I was keeping an eye on a group of youths in Corn Street. It didn’t take me long to answer the shout. I wasn’t the first, but I was at the scene before the first ambulance.’
‘You were alone in the car?’
The spasm of blinking afflicted him again. ‘Er, that’s correct.’
‘Didn’t you have an oppo?’
‘I did not.’
‘That’s the norm on patrol. Why were you alone?’
‘My partner had to finish early. A domestic problem. I’m experienced. I can cope with most situations.’
‘Who was he?’
‘My partner? I’d rather not say.’
‘You’re not getting the option, sergeant.’
He shook his head.
‘The name,’ Diamond said.
Stillman fingered the back of his neck. ‘He’s a good guy. We’ve done a lot together. I really don’t want to drop him in it. It has no bearing on what happened after.’
‘I can easily find out.’
He sighed. ‘His name is Charlie Hunt. He was with me most of the night. We did the usual Saturday night stuff around the clubs and pubs. After the nightclubs emptied it went quiet like it always does. The thing is, Charlie’s a married man and his wife is disabled. She has one of those horrible wasting diseases. She needs a lot of attention and doesn’t like being alone in the house at night. I dropped him off somewhere near and I was aiming to finish the turn alone.’
‘Have you done this before?’
He shrugged. ‘It’s not right, I know, guv, but can you overlook it on this occasion?’
‘I’ll still need to speak to him.’
‘Why?’
‘To verify what you just told me. It’s for your benefit. You see, until and unless Ken Lockton comes out of his coma, there’s no corroboration for your version of events.’
Stillman said after a long pause, ‘Don’t you believe me?’
‘You’re an authorised firearms officer. Is that correct?’
More frantic blinking. ‘You don’t seriously think I’m the sniper?’
‘I have a duty to keep an open mind about everyone, even a serving officer with a blameless record.’
Abruptly the eyes opened wide in a horrified stare. ‘I couldn’t have shot him. I was in Corn Street when it happened.’
‘And because you were alone, I’ve only got your word for it. Any other patrol officer attending the scene would have someone to back his version of events.’
Stillman shook his head, apparently in disbelief.
‘From what you told me the morning of the shooting, Ken Lockton saw you at the scene in Walcot Street and told you to drive him up to the Paragon.’
‘That was after he worked out where the shots came from. He was the duty inspector that night so he became the SIO. He knew me quite well.’
‘Why did he need the car? Why not use the steps?’
‘I, em, can’t say.’
‘But you have a theory.’
A sigh. ‘What difference does my opinion make?’
‘Come off it, sergeant. You’re uniquely placed to say what was going on.’
‘Well, I got the idea Ken felt important. He wanted to be driven. He and I were sergeants together for quite some time before he got promoted.’
‘He was lording it over you?’
‘I wouldn’t put it in those terms. There was more to it. I think he wanted company in case the sniper was still up there in the garden.’
‘Sensible. But then you say he sent you away.’
‘That was after we found the gun and decided the sniper might be coming back for it.’
‘Two of you would have been better at making the arrest.’
‘Yes, but Ken wanted the car moved away from the front of the house. It would have alerted the sniper.’
‘True.’
‘And he made it very clear to me that I wasn’t to come back’
‘Why was that?’
‘He thought he could make the arrest on his own.’
‘Big mistake,’ Diamond said. ‘Do you think the sniper was hiding in the garden all the time?’
‘That’s possible. You saw the height of those weeds.’
For all his jumpiness, Stillman had been pretty convincing. His nervousness at the beginning could have been down to fear of being found out after he gave his partner unofficial time off.
‘Let’s fast forward,’ Diamond said. ‘You slept in the car for a couple of hours and then woke up and found out about Lockton being clobbered and taken to hospital. Must have been a hairy moment for you.’
‘Extremely.’
‘You did the right thing reporting to me and telling all. If I remember correctly, I advised you to go home and get some proper sleep. Is that what you did?’
He nodded.
‘So you weren’t among the AFOs who were present in Becky Addy Wood the same day?’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘Or on the night shift?’
‘No.’
‘Don’t get me wrong,’ Diamond said in his bull-in-a-china-shop mode, ‘but doesn’t the training of an AFO include some orienteering and living rough?’
The man may have been punch drunk by this stage. He showed no sign of alarm. ‘It does, but I’ve never had cause to put any of that into practice in real life.’
‘I should hope not, because the sniper is an expert at both.’
Now Stillman blushed deeply. A blush is not necessarily proof of guilt, Diamond knew. It could have been caused by the sergeant’s realisation that he was firmly in the frame.
DC Paul Gilbert came into the incident room as wide-eyed as if he’d spotted the Loch Ness monster in the Roman Bath. ‘Guess what the boss is up to.’
It was mid-afternoon and most of the team were present, collating information and dealing with witness statements.
Everyone looked up. Not enough had been happening in CID since that uncomfortable meeting yesterday. They’d not seen much of Peter Diamond. They wouldn’t have admitted it, but some were actually missing him.
Halliwell spoke first. ‘Fill us in, then.’
‘He’s downstairs with that sergeant who fell asleep in his car.’
‘Steve Stillman? What’s so special about that?’ John Leaman asked.
‘Using interview room 2?’ Gilbert said, refusing to be downed. ‘The word from Jenny in the control room is that he was waiting in the yard to meet Stillman’s patrol car when he came off duty. They went in looking as if World War III had broken out, both of them.’
‘Going over his story again, I expect,’ Leaman said.
Halliwell said in support, ‘It’s no big deal, using an interview room to talk to a fellow officer. My guess is he didn’t want us to hear about it in case we get the idea he’s picking us off one by one. It would have looked bad if he’d come up here with Stillman in tow.’
‘He’s made up his mind the sniper is in-house,’ Gilbert said.
‘He’d better think again, then,’ Ingeborg said from her side of the room. ‘In-house he is not. The report has come in from forensics. It’s on my screen now. The guy living rough in the woods is definitely the sniper.’