THIRTY-EIGHT
Police constable Whiley’s home was a three-bed semi-detached house built in the Fifties. A tidy porch jutted out from the property with a colourless dried flower arrangement as decoration.
The day had been dry and the front garden bore the sight and smell of the first grass cut of the year.
Kim suspected Mrs Whiley was putting her husband’s free time to good use. Training for his forthcoming retirement.
‘Good to get out though, eh?’ Bryant said, knocking on the door.
Kim nodded her agreement. The incident with Barry had produced a small forest of paperwork which had kept them busy for most of the day.
The door was opened by a woman dressed in navy cotton trousers and a sweatshirt. A few damp blades of grass clung to the hem of her slacks. Maybe she hadn’t been training her husband after all.
Her face was round and pleasant, framed by a greying hazel bob that fell an inch below her ears.
‘May I help you?’
‘Detective Sergeant Bryant. Detective Inspector Stone. May we speak to your husband?’
Her expression altered slightly.
‘He’s on holiday.’
Bryant didn’t miss a beat.
‘It’s just a couple of questions to do with a case …’
‘Barbara … let them in,’ Whiley’s voice called from the end of the hallway.
Kim entered and headed towards Whiley’s position at the back of the house. A second sitting room was positioned next to the galley kitchen. The room was small but uncluttered, a single chair facing the window with a matching two-seater separating the room from the kitchen.
She and Bryant both sat at the same time. It was a snug fit.
‘You haven’t told her you’re on suspension?’ Bryant asked as soon as Whiley closed the adjoining door.
Whiley shook his head and sat on the single seat. ‘No point. I don’t want to worry her.’
He removed his reading glasses and placed them on a small table to the left of his chair.
‘Barbara’s worked as a cleaner for forty-two years. She’s counting the days until I retire. The mortgage is paid and my pension, together with a bit we’ve put aside, should see us okay.’
‘How long can you keep this story going?’ Bryant asked.
‘Dunno. I’m hoping the force will realise soon that it had nothing to do with me. It’s not like I could have stopped him.’
Kim marvelled at his calm demeanour. Whiley was far more concerned about the repercussions from his wife than the outcome of the disciplinary hearing.
Bryant sat forward as the door opened.
Barbara stepped inside. ‘Tea … coffee …?’
Bryant shook his head.
‘White coffee, no sugar, please,’ Kim said. Whiley would want his wife occupied while this conversation took place.
She felt for this officer. He’d offered his whole working life to the police force and his retirement was in jeopardy because of the actions of someone else.
Barbara left the adjoining door open. Whiley stood to close it. A shadow passed the doorway.
‘Ha, young lady, you’re not going out like that,’ Whiley said, looking the figure up and down.
Kim craned her neck to see a girl about eighteen years of age coming down the stairs. Her skirt was tight and black and barely the width of a tea towel. Black stockings, a leather jacket and one earlobe enlarged by a central ring completed the look.
Kim had seen worse and from the murderous look of disgust the girl offered her father, so had she.
The girl said nothing to Whiley, mumbled something to her mother and left through the front door.
Whiley sighed before closing the door and sitting in the single seat.
Kim marvelled at the knowledge that out there on the streets of the Black Country Whiley commanded respect and obedience. As an officer of the law, he was a figure of immediate authority. In his own home he lied to his wife and had no control over his daughter.
‘So, we need to know more about the night you visited the Dunn house,’ Kim said, moving the conversation along.
He wrinkled his nose. ‘Nothing to tell, really. Just a routine domestic.’
Kim waited for more. Nothing came.
‘There was someone else involved and we need …’
‘What do you mean by someone else?’ Whiley asked, sitting forward.
‘In the basement. When Dunn abused Daisy.’
He let out a whistle. ‘Jeesus.’
Bryant slid forward on the sofa. ‘If you could just talk us through the night two months ago when you visited the Dunn household. We’ve already spoken to Jenks. He told us they’d been arguing about some teacher. Can you tell us any more?’
Whiley looked up to the ceiling as Barbara entered with a mug of coffee for Kim. She nodded her thanks before Barbara exited the room and closed the door.
‘We got the call at tea time or thereabouts. Jenks was driving. He knew where it was and got us there within a few minutes. I know Dunn was still shouting when we arrived.’
‘Did you take him into the kitchen?’
‘Yeah, normal practice,’ he said, defensively.
‘Of course,’ Bryant said. ‘Did he say anything while you were in there?’
‘Just raging about this teacher who’d tried to say something wasn’t right with Daisy. I could empathise with the bloke. We were told our Laura had learning difficulties and it was a load of rubbish. Some of these teachers get a bit too involved in people’s business. So, I just calmed him down, told him I agreed with him.’
‘Jenks said Mrs Dunn was on the phone when you arrived?’ Bryant asked.
‘Yeah, don’t know who she was talking to. Jenks dealt with her and the kids until I brought Dunn back into the room.’
‘Jenks mentioned a look from Daisy. He said he thought she was trying to tell him something. Did you notice anything?’
Whiley rolled his eyes. ‘He’s imagining it. I was the one who sent them off to bed and I didn’t see any look.’ He smiled, indulgently. ‘He’s a kid, thinks he sees things everywhere. The girls were a bit nervous ’cos of the shouting but nothing out of the ordinary.’
Kim stood. They were learning nothing.
Bryant followed suit. ‘Well, if anything else comes to mind …’
‘You know, I’ve just remembered something. The reason Dunn was so agitated. It was ’cos the teacher had come to the house. Yeah, that was it. He was angry ’cos the teacher had brought the girls home.’
Once outside, Kim turned to Bryant.
‘Dawson interviewed the teacher during the investigation, right?’
‘Of course.’
‘Well, I think she’s worth another shot,’ Kim said, feeling her spirits lift.
They had learned something, after all.
Kim already knew that Wendy was not the person in the basement but if the teacher had managed to voice her concerns on that first visit, had the woman covered for her husband? And if so, did she know the identity of the person who was in the room?
It was a question that needed to be answered.
THIRTY-NINE
Kim parked the car and sat for a moment, bracing herself against the wind that rocked her vehicle from side to side.
From her first day of training, Kim had firmly believed that people should pay for crimes they committed. During her career, any unsolved case was like an open wound in her skin. She didn’t believe in extenuating circumstances. It was black and white; you pay for what you do.
She knew that Bryant thought she was crazy for suspecting Doctor Thorne of any involvement in the murder of Allan Harris, and in part she had to agree with him, but the events with Barry Grant would not compute in her mind.
For herself there would be no enquiry, as it was felt she had taken all ‘reasonably practicable steps to ensure a positive outcome’. Basically, the idea of erecting garden gazebos had saved both her ass and Barry’s. Finding Amelia hadn’t hurt her case either.