‘Darling, what is it?’
‘My back,’ she said sleepily. ‘Must have slept awkwardly.’
‘That reminds me, I forgot to ask, how did it go with that new chair — weren’t you seeing someone about one?’
‘Really nice guy — he said he knows you!’
‘Oh?’
‘Played rugby against the police team once.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Ian — erm — someone. Erm — Fletcher-Price — owns a company called Posture something — Posturite.’
Grace thought for a moment. ‘Rings a faint bell.’ He kissed her again. ‘Got to dash.’
‘Busy day?’
‘Yep, I’ve got a lot to do. Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day.’
‘Try and come home early, darling. Maybe we could sit out in the garden — have a barbecue later? And don’t forget we’re going to the concert tonight.’
‘Yes, where is it again?’
‘The Hope and Ruin — Queens Road. I’ve got Kaitlynn booked.’
‘I promise I’ll do what I can.’
She took his hand and held it. ‘I know you always do what you can. Try doing something you can’t for once!’
‘And what’s that?’
‘Time with us, your family. Me.’ She turned her head and looked at the clock radio, then back at him. ‘White rabbits, white rabbits!’ she said suddenly.
‘What?’
‘It’s the first of the month!’
‘You’re right, it is.’
‘I always say it first thing, if I remember. This is the first time I’ve remembered in ages! Done it ever since I was a child — it’s meant to bring good luck.’
‘The first of May.’
She ran a finger provocatively down his stomach, over his belt and down his flies and smiled very knowingly at him. ‘The first of May. Hmmmn. Know that saying? Hooray, hooray, the first of May — outdoor bonking starts today. I think you should come home just as soon as you can, don’t you?’
He kissed her on the lips, and she put her arms round his neck. ‘I think it’s a good plan, don’t you? Bruno’s going to spend the day with Stan Tingley and I don’t think Noah’s going to bother us too much. We have the house to ourselves until this evening. I think it would be a shame to waste it.’
‘I like your thinking,’ he said.
She stroked the front of his trousers again, feeling him harden. ‘Mmmmm, Detective Superintendent, I think you’re liking it quite a lot.’
112
Sunday 1 May
At midday the conference room at the CID HQ was alive with shock and gossip as Grace informed his team of the developments. No police officer liked to hear of a colleague who had gone rogue.
Neil Fisher from the Media team had joined the briefing, to discuss the media strategy, as well as newly promoted Inspector Fiona Ashcroft from Professional Standards.
‘If anyone has doubts,’ Grace said, ‘then I’m afraid what Ray Packham has to say will, unfortunately, allay them.’ He signalled to the Digital Forensics expert to tell them his latest findings.
Packham yawned, looking exhausted. ‘Apologies,’ he said. ‘I’ve not yet been to bed. The search team recovered a pay-as-you-go mobile phone and a personal laptop from Guy’s home in the early hours of this morning, and I’ve been going through them. I’ve only had time, you’ll understand, for a cursory look, but I’m afraid what I’ve discovered already shows some damning evidence.’ He paused and took a sip from a mug of coffee.
‘The first thing is that there are a number of emails, under a Hotmail account in the name of “Greg Wilson”, to Lorna Belling — which tally with those on her laptop recovered from Shoreham Harbour. These go back approximately eighteen months.’
‘Greg Wilson?’ Norman Potting queried.
‘A false name, Norman,’ Packham replied.
‘Greg was the name of her lover she confided to her close friend, Kate Harmond, who you interviewed, Norman,’ Grace interjected.
The Detective Sergeant nodded.
‘Secondly,’ Packham continued, ‘the weekend following Lorna Belling’s death, his website history shows he looked at a number of sex sites. I’ve not had the time yet to check on them all, but the ones I’ve done so far tally exactly with the calls made on DS Exton’s work phone to sex workers.’ He looked at the team, and shrugged. ‘In my opinion that is too much to be a coincidence.’
‘He sneakily got hold of DS Exton’s phone somehow, and made these calls?’ Donald Dull said.
‘That’s the way it looks,’ Grace said.
‘What a devious bastard,’ Dull retorted.
There was a long silence.
‘Is there any other explanation, boss?’ Kevin Hall asked.
‘I’m all ears if you have one, Kevin,’ Grace replied.
Hall shook his head.
‘There’s something else the search team recovered from Guy’s home,’ Grace added, his tone grim. ‘Lorna Belling’s appointments diary for her hairdressing clients. It was still in an evidence bag, concealed under a case of wine in his garage.’
‘Stupid sod.’ Potting shook his head. ‘What a stupid sod.’
There was a long silence, finally broken by Jack Alexander.
‘Where’s DS Exton now, sir?’ he asked.
‘I saw him an hour ago. I’m happy to say that Dawn picked him up from here and has taken him home. Hopefully that is at least one good outcome from this sodding, sad mess.’
‘What will happen to Batchelor?’ Arnie Crown asked.
‘Not much!’ Potting quipped and turned to Velvet Wilde for approval.
But neither she nor any of the team was in any mood for laughter. Grace glared at the old sweat. Fond though he was of Norman Potting, there were times when he thought this dinosaur should be in a museum, not on his major enquiry team. But equally, he knew, there were other times when the man could be invaluable. As he had proved on this operation. ‘In answer to your question, Arnie,’ Grace said, ‘he will be taken to a police station outside of Sussex and Surrey — probably Hampshire again, for further questioning under caution. Following that he’ll be remanded in custody pending trial.’
‘What a stupid, bloody idiot,’ Potting murmured again, shaking his head as if bewildered by Batchelor’s actions.
Grace then read out Dr Frazer Theobald’s findings, which the pathologist had now produced in a formal report. It gave the cause of death as firstly a head injury causing a brain haemorrhage, and secondly, electrocution. He told his team that the head injury was a fatal blow from which Lorna Belling would have died, but the hair-dryer dropping in the bath had actually caused her heart to stop. Batchelor had of course been responsible for both events and the Crown Prosecution Service were looking at a charge of manslaughter in regard to Lorna, and attempted murder in respect of the police officer, Tim Weatherley.
Forty minutes later, after delegating evidence and paperwork duties, Grace thanked his team and told them to take the rest of the day off. They would meet again the following evening, at 6 p.m.
Then he went home. Despite being desperately upset about Guy, he looked forward to some time at home. May Day. A fine, sunny afternoon.
And he was on a promise...
113
Sunday 1 May
Jason Tingley dropped Bruno home shortly after 5 p.m. Roy Grace had the barbecue well alight, and cooked them all a supper of corn on the cob, chicken wings, sausages, burgers and baked potatoes, and Bruno came back for seconds.
He was pleased to see his appetite, taking it as a positive that he was feeling settled and as reasonably OK as a boy who had recently lost his mother could be. After eating, Bruno went up to his room, saying he was going to be playing another online game with Erik. Before he did so he reminded Grace of his promise to teach him shooting tactics. He told Bruno he had not forgotten.