Buried (DC Jack Warr #1) - Lynda La Plante Page 0,32
have simply chosen a name she liked – she did exactly the same with the horses in the Grand National.
He checked his notes on the three remaining women from The Grange. He considered Ester’s opinion of Connie as a woman who’d never had an original thought in her life and he wondered . . .
He called Laura. ‘Do me another favour, please?’
‘ “Hi, Laura. How are you?” ’ she interrupted sarcastically, then quickly added, ‘Go on.’
‘Connie Stephens. Can you see if there’s a B & B in Taunton called The Grange?’
Jack could hear Laura tap-tapping away on her keyboard. She spoke the words as she typed them, which was a habit of hers that he hated.
‘Oh, by the way,’ she said as she waited for the search results to show up, ‘Arnie Fisher died in 2012 from AIDS. And Tony Fisher’s in Pentonville for manslaughter. He’s got four years left.’ Then more tap-tapping.
Before Jack could thank Laura for her help, he heard Ridley’s distant voice at the other end of the phone.
‘How are the Fishers connected to our murder victim at Rose Cottage?’
Leaving Laura to stumble her way through a half-remembered response about the Fishers’ connection to Dolly Rawlins, Jack leapt off the sea wall, binned his fish and chips and grabbed the first person he came across.
‘Where would I find a taxi, please?’
‘Ryde train station’s your nearest taxi rank ‒ an hour’s walk that way. But John at the post office sometimes . . .’
Jack raced towards the post office, phone clamped to his ear.
Ridley was asking about B & Bs in Taunton.
‘Jack had a hunch that Connie’s B & B in Taunton might be called The Grange, so I’m seeing what’s registered and cross-referencing . . .’ Jack heard her tapping the keyboard.
Ridley interrupted her. ‘Why’s Jack got you doing it? Is that him?’
There was a muffled sound as he snatched Laura’s mobile.
‘Jack?’ Ridley boomed before realising that he was shouting. ‘Jack,’ he said more quietly, ‘when you get back, I want a full debrief in my office.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Jack, trying not to sound out of breath.
Should he explain to Ridley about the importance of buying his dying dad a prime fillet steak for the last time and hope he cared enough to be lenient? Or should he stick to the lie he’d planned about helping the Port Authorities with an invented disruptive passenger? Would Ridley believe he was a dutiful policeman? In reality, this thought process only took one second, and before he could begin his lie, Ridley cut in.
‘You running? Where are you?’
Jack braced himself for a bollocking.
‘Um . . .’ he began, but Ridley interrupted him again.
‘Hang on, Jack. Laura says there is a “Grange B & B” in Taunton with the registered owner showing as Connie Stephens. How did you get to that?’
‘It was something Ester said about Connie never having an original thought in her life, sir.’
Jack could hear a change of tone. ‘Well done. I’ll see you when you get back later. What time do you expect that to be?’
Jack looked at the post office up ahead. Maybe he’d be lucky.
‘Public transport’s a bit of a pain, sir, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.’
*
Ridley handed Laura back her mobile.
‘That boy thinks I was born yesterday,’ he mumbled. Then louder, ‘Right, you lot! Let’s face front for a minute, please.’ Ridley’s team turned towards him. He picked up a whiteboard marker and wrote underneath the photo of Connie Stephens, The Grange B & B, Taunton.
‘Missing Persons is an arduous task, so thank you all for your hard work so far. Our murder victim is in there somewhere, he has to be, so keep at it. Laura, what do we know about the kids’ home Dolly Rawlins was planning?’
‘It’s legit, sir. There’s a paper trail of loan applications, building inspections and quotes, legal documents from social services, and a background check on Dolly Rawlins. The prison warder at Holloway gave her a glowing report, saying she was a model prisoner who helped guide the young mums. Rawlins frequently talked about opening a kids’ home when she was inside. Half her wing wanted her to take their kids on till they got out.’
‘Right, so it seems The Grange women weren’t in Aylesbury under false pretences. Anik?’
‘ “Sheila” isn’t Danny Green. As of last night, Danny’s in lock-up downstairs for flashing at a girls’ hockey team. So the word “pervert” painted on the wall probably does relate to him and not “Sheila”.’
‘And Jack’s on about the Fisher brothers. Why?’ Ridley turned to Laura.