Dead Of Winter (Willis/Carter #1)(88)

Carter waited for Davidson to speak. Davidson looked towards the window where the day was dark with icy rain and sleet hammered on the pane.

‘And you’re sure you have enough evidence against him to bring him in?’

‘I want to force him to give us a DNA sample. We have Tanya in the morgue. She has enough DNA left on her to convict someone. Justin de Lange has links to Digger. He’s got too much going for him now. We need to bring him in.’

‘Okay. Bring him in for questioning. No squad cars.’





Chapter 59


Ebony was on the way to the canteen when Carmichael went into his office to call her.

‘You know Exmouth Market?’

‘Yes.’

‘There’s a small café on the corner of Duncan Crescent. I’ll meet you there in forty minutes. Ebony . . . you on your own . . . no tricks now. I trust you.’

‘Carmichael’s set up a meet, Sarge.’ She had found Carter back at his desk. ‘Should we tell Davidson? He’ll put out an alert.’

Carter thought about it. ‘If he gets pulled in, we lose any help he could have given.’

‘It’s risky to ask for help from him.’

‘Yeah . . . I know, Ebb . . . but Carmichael is the closest we have to an undercover officer at the moment. Let’s give him a little longer and see if it works in our favour.’

‘I want to talk to Davidson, Sarge. I don’t feel like I can take the responsibility of it.’

‘Then you do that, Ebony. I’ll come with you.’

They stood in Davidson’s office.

‘How long have you known that he wasn’t on his farm?’

‘Not long, sir.’

‘Did he have anything to do with Sonny’s death?’

Ebony shook her head slowly. ‘We’re not sure, sir, but he could have, and now Justin de Lange isn’t answering his phone and the hospital receptionist hasn’t seen him. He’s missed two appointments.’

Davidson’s eyes went from Ebony to Carter.

‘With respect, sir, Carmichael’s got information we need. We have to work with him now. Alex Tapp is not going to be kept alive indefinitely. They must know we’re on to them.’

‘Okay.’ Davidson said. ‘So go and see Carmichael and tell him about this new development. This might make him see things differently. Tell him I will do my best to help him when this is all over. I want you to be extra careful, Ebony. You keep in contact throughout. We don’t know what’s in Carmichael’s head. If we think he had something to do with killing Sonny then we have to accept this is a man who is on a vendetta that we can’t control. The fact that we’re using him doesn’t make it any more palatable. You be careful.’

‘Yes, sir. What do you want me to tell him? How much should he know?’

‘You can tell him about the Bloodrunners. Tell him about our misgivings about Justin de Lange. Does he know where he is, Ebb? You think he has him?’

‘I don’t know what to think, sir.’

Ebony walked across to the café on the corner of the road. She bought her coffee and went over to a table where she could watch the approach.

The windows were steaming up. A small plastic Christmas tree in the corner flicked on and off.

She watched Carmichael as he crossed towards the café. He ordered a coffee and sat down opposite her. The hands that firmly held his coffee cup were still farmer’s hands but he was a million miles removed from the farm.

Ebony was digging her fingernails into her face without realizing. She saw in Carmichael’s face someone who bore little resemblance to the person she’d met at the farm. He looked frightening: his face was dark. She had a feeling of dread inside her. He was capable of anything. He was lost to reality now; more than he’d ever been, and he had that one trait that Ebony recognized in him: he didn’t care whether he lived or died. He was hanging on till the ride was over. No one to leave behind. No one to mourn for him the way he mourned for Louise and Sophie. She wondered how many times he must have contemplated suicide in those lonely nights on the farm. But there was a look of purpose in his eyes now. He had left the farm for one reason – to hunt down the people who murdered his wife and child.

‘Harding must be able to help with it,’ he said. ‘She must know who could have done this operation; who was around thirteen years ago. Who was corrupt enough or stupid enough or even ambitious enough to have done it and why.’

‘Doctor Harding has been working on it, I know. Davidson is also committed to finding out who killed your family.’

‘Why – because now it suits him? Because now he’s worried for his pension? Or because he doesn’t have any choice now? Don’t bullshit me; you’re worth more than that.’

She shook her head and held his eyes contact. ‘He says to tell you he’ll support you when this is over.’

Carmichael looked away for a few minutes; when he turned back he nodded.

‘What does he want?’

‘There is a kid missing, kidnapped.’ She got out the photos of Alex and placed it on the table in front of them. His eyes scanned them. ‘Alex Tapp, he’s fourteen, been missing several weeks now, we found his DNA in Blackdown Barn. He was the lad wearing the Arsenal shirt.’