The Accidental Warrior Read online

  “Okay, but what about Nick Lacey?”

  “He’s disappeared, it’s quite the mystery,” said Kate’s father.

  Kate’s head was spinning, she wasn’t sure what Cyrus was asking of her. Was he hinting that she would have to own up to her presence at the scene of Professor Grey’s death? And her intervention at the university? But she trusted Cyrus, so would be guided by him. She made the call.

  “Derek, it’s Kate Squires. Can I come and see you? It’s urgent.”

  “Yes, I’m in my office. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes and no. Do you mind if I fill you in when I get there? I’ll be about forty minutes.”

  “That’s fine. See you then.”

  When Kate arrived, she found a subdued Derek sitting at his desk, surrounded by piles of papers.

  “Hi Kate, good to see you again, come in.” Derek stood up and offered his hand.

  “Thank you, and you. What are you up to?”

  “I’m sitting here feeling sorry for myself, hoping against hope that Harriet is still alive.”

  “Derek…”

  “I know she’s strong and resourceful, but… I can’t get her out of my mind; it’s been a very long time since I’ve had such strong feelings for anyone.”

  “Derek…”

  “I feel lost without her around. I just want to see her again.”

  “Derek…”

  “I feel helpless. For possibly the first time in my life, I’m at a loss as to what to do next.”

  “Derek, listen, will you, please.”

  “I keep having the same nightmare over and over…”

  “Derek!” shouted Kate. “Harriet is alive.”

  “She is? She is?” he said jumping to his feet.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, thank God, but how do you know and is she okay?”

  “Because I was with her. It’s a long story, she’s injured and needs urgent medical attention.”

  “Will she be alright? What are her injuries? Can I see her?”

  “Yes, I sincerely hope she will. I don’t know the full extent of her injuries and please don’t go off the deep end but she’s been flown out of the country for her own safety. Please trust me when I say she is receiving the best possible care, but it’s just not safe for her here.”

  “Really? What’s been going on?”

  “It’s a long and complicated story, but the UK is unsafe for her right now.”

  “I’ve so many questions… Where was she? Who had her?”

  “We found her at a place called Highfield Hall in Surrey. Cleo had her.”

  “Oh, my god. Cleo Morris?”

  Kate nodded.

  “Did she hurt her?”

  “I’m afraid she suffered terribly at Cleo’s hands.”

  Before Derek could ask any more, his phone sounded.

  “I see… yes, Sir … yes, I understand… no Sir, it’s not a problem… yes, thank you.”

  “Is everything alright?”

  “Yes, it seems we are to work together once more. That was the Chief Constable. I understand that not only will you be able to provide a different perspective to this investigation, but you may be able to help us to move it forward. Welcome to the team.”

  “Thank you. I promise I will do everything in my power to help.”

  “I believe you. Now I need to get my head together and decide on a plan, but before I do, I must ask: do you know the whereabouts of Cleo Morris?”

  “When we left she was unconscious and trapped in her Range Rover, on the Highfield Estate. I called the emergency services, but you may wish to ensure she doesn’t slip away.”

  “Exactly.”

  Kate listened while Derek contacted Surrey Police. He spoke to a Superintendent Channing. It appeared Cleo was still trapped in her vehicle. The two Senior Officers arranged to meet at the scene later that afternoon.

  As Derek put the phone down a man with long side-burns, wearing a crumpled grey suit, sidled into the office.

  “Mike, I’d like you to meet Kate Squires, she’s going to be helping us with our enquiries.” Derek winked at Kate.

  “What the fuck?”

  Kate stepped forward and held out her hand. Mike hesitated for a moment before taking it.

  “Mike, its fine, it’s been sanctioned by the Chief Constable.”

  “Okay,” said Mike slowly, but Kate didn’t think he sounded too convinced.

  “More importantly she’s brought fantastic news. Harriet’s alive.”

  “Really? Oh, thank God. Is she okay? When can I see her?”

  “She’s injured but receiving treatment and being kept safe. It may be a while until she is well enough to be seen, but Kate will ensure she’s well looked after.”

  It didn’t take Derek and Mike long to assemble a small team of detectives and Scenes of Crime Officers, including Harriet’s admirer DS Paul Jones. Kate was not keen on returning to Surrey but remained silent. Within a couple of hours they were on the road. They arrived just in time to see the badly injured occupant of a white Range Rover being placed on a stretcher. Paramedics had fought hard to stabilise her, but Cleo remained in a critical condition.

  While Derek went in search of Superintendent Channing, the rest of the team made their way into the hallway of the big house to wait for him. A short time later they climbed the imposing main staircase towards the attic rooms. As they ascended Kate was struck by the vastness of the house. Enormous landings to the left and right, lofty ceilings, intricate plaster stucco. Having said that, considerable portions of the house were dilapidated. Gaping holes in the roof had caused significant water damage.

  The smallest of the old servants’ quarters was tucked in a corner of the topmost hallway. Three steps led to a solid wooden door; there were various bolts on the outside and a large key in the metal lock. They entered the grim little room.

  Paul Jones set to work. Less than an hour later he called out to the others.

  “Well, I can confirm she was kept in this room. I now need to work out what happened in here.” Further investigation revealed traces of Harriet’s blood all over the room.

  Mike had been studying Harriet’s graffiti wall.

  “Boss, come and look at this.” He beckoned Derek across. Mike was pointing to an image on the wall. Derek took out his glasses to examine it closer. From where she was standing Kate could see it was a letter and five numbers, encircled by some sort of bird.

  “What do you think this means?” Derek was scrutinising the wall.

  “I’m not entirely sure.” Mike pulled a face. He appeared to be thinking.

  “You beauty!” he suddenly shouted. Taking his mobile from his pocket, he made a call.

  “Trevor, its Mike. I need a quick favour. Can you access the HOLMES database for operation Eagle and put in the following number E61715, then ring me back and tell me what it is?”

  Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and waited expectantly for Mike’s mobile to ring. It didn’t take long.

  “Mike. Trev. It’s an orange exercise book containing numerous handwritten number sequences. It was found amongst Troy Manning’s papers, but it’s missing from the store.”

  “Missing, you say? Who booked it onto the HOLMES system?”

  “That would have been Detective Sergeant Harriet Lacey.”

  “Okay, thanks so much, mate.”

  Mike turned to the others. “I think Harriet left us a message. I took a guess that the E on the wall stood for Eagle, but to help me, she had helpfully drawn one. Trev has just confirmed that this number relates to an exhibit, an orange note book belonging to Troy Manning. Why would a notepad of numbers have caused such a stir? Unless the numbers are code? What if the book contains the names of his high-profile clients? It seems it’s missing from the exhibits store. It was Harriet who processed it, put it onto the system.”

  “Well done, Mike.” Derek walked across and patted him on the back. “We now know thanks to Steve Smith’s change of heart t
hat Jack Peters and his cronies were desperate to get their hands on it. It would make sense that they also knew Harriet was the last to handle it and they wanted to ensure its destruction. After everything that’s happened it seems logical that they went after Harriet when they couldn’t locate it in the evidence store.”

  Mike walked across to Kate. “Can we speak to Harriet on the phone? We’ve made what we think is a fucking crucial discovery.”

  “I’m really sorry Mike, but the latest is that she’s stable but still unconscious.”

  As the room fell silent Superintendent Dave Channing popped his head around the door.

  “Derek and team, we’ve found something I think you might want to see. In all my years as an officer, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Intrigued, they downed tools. In the middle of the house they came across a solid metal door with keypad access. As they entered the state of the art laboratory, it was immediately obvious why this room had generated such interest. There were more than fifty glass tanks, and each tank housed at least one live snake.

  “Oh, my God.” Mike shuddered. “We need a fucking snake expert.”

  “Already onto it,” said Supt Channing breezily. “We should have one arriving in the next half an hour.”

  Within the hour, reptile expert Dr Gina Wood appeared. A slightly plump, middle-aged lady with a severe auburn bob, wearing thick-rimmed glasses, bright red lipstick and a long flowing red skirt.

  “Good afternoon one and all,” she boomed. “I know you’re incredibly busy, so I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible. What we have here is undoubtedly a snake farm, there’s evidence of quite a black mamba breeding programme.”

  A stir went around the room.

  “The black mamba is the largest venomous snake in Africa; it usually grows to between 8.2 and 10ft in length and is thought to be the fastest snake in the world. Commonly brown, grey or khaki on its back. It’s the ink-black colouration of the inside of its mouth that gives it its name. The genus and species name is derived from the Ancient Greek words Dendroapis meaning ‘tree asp’ and Polylepis meaning ‘many scaled’. Its bite is often referred to as ‘The kiss of death’. Before anti-venom, death was certain. It has the most rapid acting venom of any snake species and can kill a person within thirty minutes.”

  “Looks like we’ve found the source of the venom then,” Mike whispered to Derek.

  “Yes, indeed.”

  After supper, Mike and Kate went in search of Derek. They found him nursing a whisky in a corner of the bar lounge at their hotel.

  “What are you up to?” asked Kate.

  “Well, I’ve been sitting here trying to link things together. I’m convinced that many of the events of the last few weeks are connected. But right now I’m struggling to see the bigger picture.”

  “Would you like some help?” asked Mike.

  “Yes, that would be great. Grab yourselves a drink; I’ve got a tab, room twenty-five…” He waited until the two had returned before continuing.

  “Right then, let’s start with the discovery of a female’s mutilated body, near Tower Bridge. It turns out the victim was an informant of DC Rebecca Wood from Operation Eagle. Rebecca is an experienced detective. The official line is that she failed to register her informant, but I don’t believe that. There will be an enquiry and Rebecca’s future in the police hangs in the balance.”

  “This all sounds like a bit of a smoke screen to me. I think it’s far more likely that the informant hit a nerve. I’m happy to look at this, if you’d like?” said Mike.

  “Have you got the time? You’ll need to tread carefully,” said Derek.

  “Yes.”

  “What else has happened?” asked Kate.

  “Nick Lacey disappeared, which occurred within a week of Harriet’s abduction. It remains a mystery: his phone, his wallet, and his passport were all found on the kitchen table. His car, in a station car park about twenty miles away. There have been no sightings of him and his bank account hasn’t been touched. It feels like a suicide, but there is no note and no body.” Derek got to his feet and stretched before continuing.

  “CCTV footage from the back yard shows him turning left onto the high street, and heading in the direction of the north of the town. We picked him up again in Windsor Street, then Alexander Avenue, but after that nothing. Alexander Avenue is not far from his home address. Best guess is that he went home briefly, before driving to the train station and leaving his car. The CCTV at the station shows him parking the car at five forty-five p.m. After that he disappears. There is no evidence that he caught a train.”

  “I see,” said Kate. She had decided in that moment not to reveal that she already knew about Nick. It would just lead to awkward questions.

  “Nick and I were in my office reviewing CCTV footage of Jack’s death, when Nick made his excuses and left, he never returned,” said Derek.

  “Jack Peters is dead?” exclaimed Kate.

  “Yes, I’ll talk about that in more detail in a minute,” said Derek.

  “I’m sure you’ve already thought of this but is it possible Nick saw something on the Cell footage that caused him to take flight?” asked Kate.

  “No, that didn’t cross my mind, I thought it had to be something to do with the conversation we’d been having about Harriet’s disappearance. As soon as we get back to the station that CCTV footage will be a priority. Good thinking Kate.”

  “It’s been my experience that most of what you need to know is usually hidden from view on phones and laptops. Have you looked at them?”

  “I wasn’t aware he had a laptop. I don’t recall seeing one and we certainly didn’t find one at his address, nor in his office,” said Derek.

  “I’d be stunned if there isn’t one somewhere. What about his phone? What did that yield?”

  “Nothing of note, but I will ask them back at Chapel to make a concerted effort to find his laptop. Let’s move on for now.”

  Kate hesitated. She was unsure whether now was a good time to offer her assistance with any laptop that might come to light. She decided it could wait.

  “Then we have the murder of Jack Peters in the holding cells of the Magistrates Court.” Derek looked straight at Kate.

  “It has to be linked. I’d be really interested in seeing the footage. Does it show the moment he was killed?” asked Kate.

  “It’s not obvious how he died, to be honest. We’d only just started to look at it when Nick disappeared. It’s a priority to get back to it though.” Derek drained his glass.

  CHAPTER 30

  Kate could not fault the way she was being treated. Derek Wynn and Mike Taylor were nothing but open, there’d been no hint of mistrust. Though still uneasy in her new role, she had to admit that she was beginning to enjoy the challenge.

  Next morning Kate, Mike and Derek drove back to the incident room, arriving late morning. That afternoon, Mike burst into Derek’s office with Kate in tow.

  “Afternoon, boss; do me a favour and ask Kate what she does for a living.” Mike was grinning.

  “So, Kate, what do you do for a living?”

  Laughing, she replied, “I run a small computer network security company with a friend. I think this might be Nick Lacey’s laptop.” She handed it to Derek.

  “Really? How come?”

  “Because it transpires it was Nick Lacey who first showed you the CCTV. He brought the laptop to your office. Mike later picked it up assuming it was yours.”

  “And you know that how?” asked Derek.

  “I took the liberty of taking a quick look.”

  “And?” Derek was on the edge of his seat.

  “There are numerous recently deleted files. With your permission, my team would be happy to look at restoring these.”

  “I’d appreciate that, thank you, it would be especially useful as we still don’t know who we can trust.”

  “So, there’s a good chance that we could soon have actions coming out of this?” asked Mike
.

  “Based on previous experience, I’d say there is a very good chance that its contents will prove illuminating,” said Kate.

  “Good work, both of you. Now let’s have another look at the CCTV.” Derek opened the laptop.

  The footage clearly showed Jack Peters being returned to his cell following the remand application. Flanked by two security personnel, a male and a female, he could be seen resisting re-entry to the cell. As the male blocked the doorway, the female officer took Jack’s arm. She could be seen saying something in his ear. At first Jack looked relieved but then his facial expression changed. Derek froze the image.

  “Does anyone else think the guard looks hateful?” said Kate.

  “She certainly doesn’t look too friendly.” Mike put his glasses on and took a closer look at the screen.

  “I’d go further, there’s almost a malicious look to her.” Derek pressed play again.