He called Julie. She answered on the third ring.
‘What’s going on, Charlie?’ she said, her voice in a whisper. ‘Andy doesn’t like me being worried about you, but I am.’
‘It’s been an eventful day, and I don’t think it’s going to lay off just yet,’ he said. ‘I need you to get Sheldon Brown to call me.’
‘I can’t just go calling inspectors.’
‘I thought you wanted me to come in.’
‘I do, but only to make it easier for yourself. And anyway, the rumours are that Sheldon Brown has been taken off the case. DI Williams from FMIT is running the show now. He’s walking round the station like it’s beneath him.’
‘No, it has to be Sheldon Brown,’ Charlie said. ‘We haven’t always got on, but he’s straight and I trust him. I don’t know Williams.’
She sighed and then said, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
Charlie was about to hang up when she said, ‘Look after yourself, Charlie. I don’t know what’s gone wrong today, but I still care about you.’
He would have laughed on a different day. Instead, he thanked her and put the phone down.
As he went to grab his car keys, he saw something on the desk. He was sure it hadn’t been there before. A small videotape. He remembered something clattering on the desk when he had put the Abbott file down.
There was a connection between Billy Privett’s video and the Abbott file, because Amelia had made calls straight after making it, and now a videotape had fallen out.
Charlie scrambled in the drawer again, looking for the video camera. He fumbled with the tape and then found the button that would make it play. He rewound it to the beginning and pulled out the screen at the side. As the tape scrolled forward, Billy Privett appeared on the small screen. He was sitting in a chair and looking nervous, messing with the jewellery on his wrist.
Charlie punched the air. This was it.
He turned off the camera and put it into the pocket in his jacket. He took the file too, along with Donia’s application, grabbed the car keys and headed for the door.
Ted’s eyes were fixed on the road as Sheldon drove them towards Oulton. Sheldon hadn’t said much since he had been into the police station in Penwortham, but he was in a rush, screeching his car around the tights bends lined by stone walls, the long slope towards Oulton visible ahead as a long line of orange lights.
‘Do you know what is the hardest thing about losing Alice?’ Ted said.
Sheldon looked at him briefly, and then turned back to the road. ‘The thought that her killer is still out there?’
Ted shook his head. ‘No. It’s the way it hits when you are not expecting it, and so you feel like you can never live your life. I’ve tried to channel my anger, because it felt like I could control it that way, even start to rationalise it, because I know that being angry won’t bring Alice back. So it’s not that.’ He let out a long sigh and swallowed. ‘You think you are dealing with it, and then you see something, and you forget for a moment that she is dead, and so when it comes back at you, it feels like the hurt has never gone away.’
‘What like?’
‘Stupid things. A trailer for a film, some fluffy chick-flick, and the first thought you have is that Alice would like that, but then you remember that she can’t, and it seems so unfair, because everyone else’s kids will queue up for it, and Alice never will. Or a dress that would make her look pretty, or a book she might like. We tried to go on holiday, and we went to a lovely place in the south of France. The sunflowers were out and everywhere had charm and sunshine, but all we could think about was that Alice would have loved it.’
Sheldon didn’t respond, there was no point, and so they drove in silence for a few miles until Sheldon said, ‘I need to go to the station in Oulton.’
‘I’m coming with you.’
Sheldon shook his head. ‘You’re too well known. They’ll spot you and throw you out.’
‘They might do that to you.’
‘No, they won’t,’ Sheldon said, and he clenched his jaw.
Ted stayed silent for a few minutes and watched the flash of the houses past the windscreen. As Sheldon started on the long climb to Oulton, he said, ‘So what do I do?’
‘You go home until I get there.’
‘What will you do if you find out something crucial?’ When Sheldon glanced at him, Ted added, ‘Do you tell the police, or me?’
Sheldon thought about that, and then said, ‘I don’t know.’
Ted frowned. ‘So it’s all one-way. I tell you what I know and then you shut me out.’
‘It’s not like that.’
‘It seems like it is.’
‘I’m still a police officer, Ted. I’m sorry about that, but I do still have to do the right thing. I can promise you one thing though.’
‘Go on.’
‘Whatever I tell the police, I’ll tell you too, and so we can both look at it. You never know, we might beat them to it.’
Ted nodded and then he smiled. He seemed happy with that.
Charlie checked around as he got onto the fire escape outside his office. He couldn’t see anyone watching, but the onset of night had turned the alley behind into shadows. He was looking out for blue lights as well, not just threats in the dark, and he needed to move quickly but quietly.
Despite his efforts, his footsteps clanged on the metal and echoed between the buildings. He had the John Abbott file hidden in his suit, and as he got to the yard, he paused, waiting for the rush of an attacker, his breath held. There was no one, just the light cast by the kitchen of the takeaway and chatter in Turkish he couldn’t understand drifting through an open window.
The rear gate clicked open. Patrick’s Corsa was still there. There was nothing unusual in the alley, but there were gateways all along, small dark spaces that would hide someone, and they could block him in.
He climbed into the car quickly. He hadn’t locked it, and so he sat there for a moment and checked his mirror, waiting for the shadow of someone to appear from the back seat, a growing threat blocking out the rear window. He turned around slowly, just to look in the back seat, and then let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was empty.
There was a bang on the bonnet, and so he whirled around quickly, his eyes wide, teeth bared. It was a cat, making its way to the floor from an alley wall. Charlie closed his eyes to let his heart rate calm down, and then turned the ignition key, the engine loud as he pulled away. He relaxed when he got onto the street, where he was in control of where he went next.
He drove away from the town centre, turning down side streets and through estates to make sure he wasn’t being followed. His phone vibrated in his pocket and so he stopped in a parking bay outside an off-licence. He didn’t want to get pulled into a cell just because he had used a phone when driving.
It was a text from Julie.
I did some ringing around
, and then there were some numbers highlighted in blue. He called the number, and Sheldon’s familiar measured tones came through.
‘Brown.’
No introductions. This man was used to being in charge.
‘This is Charlie Barker,’ he said.
Sheldon didn’t respond at first, until eventually he said, ‘What can I do for you, Mr Barker?’
It sounded like Sheldon was in a car. Charlie could hear the whoosh of passing traffic.
‘I’ve got some information for you, about the Billy Privett case,’ Charlie said.
‘I’m listening.’
‘No, I need to show you.’
‘How do I know it’s important?’
‘Dare you take the risk?’
A pause, and then, ‘I’m going to the station. Meet me there.’
‘No, I can’t go there.’
Sheldon was silent for a while, and then he said, ‘Okay, go to Ted Kenyon’s house. We won’t be long.’ He gave Charlie the address before his phone went silent.
Charlie drove quickly towards Oulton town centre, and then dropped away on one of the country roads towards Ted Kenyon’s house. The street was quiet when Charlie pulled up. The sodium orange of the streetlights curved away ahead and he couldn’t see anyone on the pavement. There had been no cars behind him.
As he closed the car door, he thought that Ted’s house looked like there was no one in. Some of the lights were on, but the curtains were open, and all Charlie could see were walls and furniture. But then there was the rumble of an engine. Charlie tensed and wondered if it was the people who had been in Donia’s flat, guessing his next move, but as it got closer, he recognised Ted Kenyon in the passenger seat.
As Ted and Sheldon climbed out, Ted said, ‘Mr Barker, I was sorry to hear about Miss Diaz.’
Charlie nodded his thanks. ‘It doesn’t compare to your loss.’
Ted started the walk up his drive, Sheldon with him. Charlie took it as an invitation to follow, and when Ted opened the door and stepped aside to let Charlie walk in, he was surprised at how quiet it seemed.
‘Is this some kind of trap?’ Charlie said.
‘What do you mean?’
Charlie nodded towards Sheldon, who was walking into the living room. ‘Inspector Brown told me to come here. I’m wondering if it was the right thing to do.’
‘It’s no trap,’ Ted said. ‘Can I get you a drink?’
Charlie sighed and nodded. ‘Just make it strong,’ he said, and then followed Sheldon into the living room. They stared at each other, neither saying anything, until Ted came back into the room and passed him a glass. The amber fluid and the oak smells were warm and comforting. A single malt. He took a sip. It was good.
Once the whisky had filtered down to where it would do most good, Charlie got a good look at Sheldon, and was surprised by his appearance. His clothes hung from him and there was a film of sweat on his forehead.
‘Can we talk openly?’ Charlie said to Sheldon, glancing towards Ted Kenyon, unsure about what he could discuss in front of him. When Ted didn’t leave the room, and Sheldon let him stay, Charlie guessed that there was no problem.
‘You sounded scared on the phone,’ Sheldon said.
‘My business partner is dead.’
‘Not your friend?’ Sheldon said.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You worked together. Even if you didn’t socialise, she must have been your friend too.’
‘Why the hell does that matter?’ Charlie said, getting impatient.
Sheldon shrugged. ‘I just thought it might matter to her, to be missed.’
‘Whatever I call her, she is dead, and we both know that whoever killed her also murdered Billy Privett.’ Charlie looked up at Ted. ‘I’m sorry for being drunk last night, but I meant what I said, that I’ve never heard anything from Amelia that Billy admitted killing Alice.’
‘So what information have you got?’ Ted said, not giving away his emotions.
Charlie pulled out the John Abbott file from under his jacket.
‘Two days before Billy died, he made a video. I think whoever killed Billy did so because of the video, because the person who made the video with him, Amelia, has been killed too. They came into my office and took all the copies of the disc.’
‘How do you know this?’ Sheldon said.
‘Because Amelia sent copies of the footage to the police, to the press, and also to Mr Kenyon here.’ Charlie turned to him. ‘Did you get a copy?’
Ted shook his head.
‘No, I didn’t think so. There had been a burglary the night before, and so my secretary was late sorting out all the post. I think they stole the lot of them. They got lucky.’
‘So what was on it?’ Sheldon said.
‘My guess is it’s Billy telling his story. The instructions to Amelia were to post it out if he died.’
‘So what’s that?’ Sheldon said, and pointed at the file in Charlie’s hand.
‘Part of the puzzle, but you can provide this part.’ Charlie held up the file. ‘Amelia made three calls to the same number after that video was made, and she billed this file for the calls. There were another three calls made on this file after Billy had been found.’
‘So that makes a connection, does it?’ Sheldon said.
‘It does in my mind, because this file finished four months ago. Why would Amelia start calling someone in connection with this file after Billy has made a video?’
Sheldon held out his hand for the file.
‘I’ve not finished,’ Charlie said. He reached in and pulled out the bill. ‘This file is a criminal file. So why has she sent the bill to the police?’ He passed over the piece of paper and let him take in its contents. ‘Why were the police settling bills for petty criminals? I’ve never heard of that before.’
Sheldon eased out a crick in his neck as he took in the bill, and Charlie could tell that he didn’t know the answer.
‘What is the file about?’ Ted said.
‘Some wannabe anarchist,’ Charlie said. ‘His mother died and left him money and a house, and so he got a conscience about all the poor people in the world and painted slogans on buildings in the town centre. Political rants. So why were the police so interested in him that they would settle his legal bills for him?’
Sheldon looked at Charlie, and then at the piece of paper again. ‘I don’t know,’ he said.
‘Why don’t you go find out?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s the file,’ Charlie said. ‘Take it. And find out who are the two men in suits who visited Amelia at the office and who broke into my apartment.’
Sheldon reached out for the file and then turned it over in his hand, as if he could find out the answers without opening it.
‘What about you?’ Sheldon said eventually.
‘I’ll wait for you to come back,’ Charlie said. When Sheldon glanced at Ted, as if to seek his approval, Charlie added, ‘I’ve had a rough day. I just need to have a rest.’
Ted nodded at Sheldon, who returned a thank you and headed for the door.
As the sound of Sheldon’s engine grew faint along the street, Ted said, ‘What’s really going on?’
Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out the video camera, the connection leads hanging from it.
‘I don’t know how much time I’ve got, because I’m a target now, and I’m worried about a young woman who came to the firm this week. I don’t know if she is on the killer’s side, but I know that I wanted to help you last night, and I still do.’ He held up the camera. ‘This is the tape.’