Behind Dead Eyes (DC Ian Bradshaw #2) - Howard Linskey Page 0,28

police don’t know if it is the same person and it is a wide stretch of land, which is why people meet there for …’

‘Sex?’

‘I was going to say privacy,’ Bell replied, ‘but yes, if you are going to have sex with someone in a car then Lonely Lane is as good a place as any.’

‘Back when I was a teenager it was known as “Shaggers’ Alley”.’

‘With some justification,’ conceded Bell. ‘The lane stretches for miles across fields between two arterial roads, with deep woods on both sides. That combination is always going to attract lovers, plus all manner of sleazy individuals. It was only when we got into the case against me that we discovered there were guys out there doing all sorts of things in the woods and fields surrounding the lane.’

‘What kind of things?’

‘Voyeurism, for starters,’ he began. ‘One guy was arrested with a camera and a zoom lens. He’d been taking photos of people having sex in their cars. They don’t know if he was a blackmailer or just an old-fashioned pervert. Most people have no idea what goes on in the woods. I certainly didn’t know. There’s been more than one rapist,’ Bell told him, ‘some have been caught and some haven’t. It’s the ones that haven’t you should be looking for.’

‘But Rebecca Holt wasn’t raped,’ Tom reminded Bell.

‘No,’ said Bell, ‘she was beaten to death by a madman,’ and he looked Tom directly in the eye.

‘Okay,’ said Tom, ‘let’s say it wasn’t you and it wasn’t a madman. Who else could it be?’

‘Her husband,’ said Bell without hesitation. ‘I’m serious. Who had the biggest motivation? If he found out about us …’

‘Perhaps,’ agreed Tom, ‘but why didn’t he kill you instead?’

‘I don’t know. Because I can fight back? Perhaps he didn’t fancy his chances against another man. Maybe he just couldn’t bear the thought of his property being handled by someone else so he had to destroy it.’

‘His property?’ repeated Tom. ‘It?’

‘That was the way he viewed her,’ said Bell.

‘She told you this?’

‘In so many words.’ And when Tom looked unconvinced Richard added, ‘She didn’t have to tell me explicitly but she mentioned things.’

‘What kind of things?’

‘He was jealous and possessive,’ said Richard.

‘Sounds like he had cause to be.’

‘Not from day one.’

‘So he drove her to it?’

‘He didn’t like her going out on her own. He didn’t want her to have friends at all. He’d complain if she dressed nice when she went somewhere without him or if she wore something too revealing when he was with her. He once told her all he wanted to do was keep her in a box. He thought that was a compliment.’

‘Okay,’ said Tom, ‘I’ll look into it.’

‘You’ll speak to her husband?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then be careful. Tell people you’re going to see him then make sure he knows you told them. I don’t want to read about you being washed up on the banks of the Tyne.’

‘That’s not going to happen.’

‘Freddie Holt is a very ruthless man who does not like to be crossed,’ said Bell. ‘He had some union problems once, a long time ago. He made them go away.’

‘How?’

‘The old-fashioned way, using big guys with pickaxe handles.’

‘How do you know this?’

‘Everybody knows it. I’m surprised you’ve not heard the stories.’

‘I’ve not,’ Tom admitted, ‘but I’ll check them out.’ And he thought for a moment. ‘If he’s the kind of man who sends men with pickaxe handles after his enemies, wouldn’t he do the same to you if he found out you were shagging his wife?’

‘I’ve thought about that. If he knew I was having sex with Rebecca behind his back he might have been tempted to break every bone in my body,’ said Bell, ‘but bones heal and this kind of punishment lasts a lifetime, quite literally.’

‘Are you actually saying he framed you?’

‘I’m saying it’s a possibility. I don’t know but it certainly suited him, didn’t it? He got rid of an unfaithful wife without having to pay her a penny in alimony and had his revenge against her lover at the same time. I’d say that was a bit of a result, wouldn’t you?’

‘Assuming he didn’t love his wife,’ said Tom.

‘It wasn’t what I would call love,’ Bell assured him.

‘Explain the dead-letter drop to me,’ said Tom. ‘Why go to all that trouble?’

‘It might sound like a lot of trouble,’ said Bell, ‘but I couldn’t phone Rebecca at her house because I never knew when her husband would be around. There are only so many times