The Death Messenger (Matthew Ryan Book 2)(46)

‘Fraser was clocked,’ Ryan whispered under his breath. ‘He ran past our crime scene?’

‘Looks like it. Unfortunately, none of the cameras are trained on the lock-up, so we have some homework still to do. At around ten past eleven, he left his mother’s house, ran up Pier Road past Tynemouth Priory, seen here and here by joggers he knew.’ She was using her forefinger to indicate specific points on the map. ‘Along Sea Banks and on past King Edwards Bay. A webcam caught him on Longsands Beach on his way home to High Spencer Street in Whitley Bay.’

‘Good job!’ O’Neil patted her on the shoulder.

‘Not my doing,’ she said.

‘Well, pass on my thanks to the incident room,’ O’Neil said. ‘And after the briefing, get yourself away. You need a break. You’re no use to me burnt out.’

Ryan eyed O’Neil as they retook their seats. A class act, she always gave credit where it was due and always valued her staff. She was no pushover when it came to sharing bad news either, dealing with the bereaved with sensitivity and patience. She never backed down if she thought she was right and yet was the first to admit when she was wrong. You knew where you were with her. Integrity, discretion and fair-mindedness were characteristics he valued above all else, traits she shared with his former boss Jack Fenwick.

‘I’m not finished yet,’ Grace said. ‘The incident team are cross-referencing CCTV footage to see if we can identify a vehicle that was on the Fish Quay in the early hours and in Whitley Bay between eleven ten and midday, which is the Home Office pathologist’s best guess on time of death. Now for the really good news.’

‘She always saves the best ’til last,’ Ryan said.

O’Neil waited with bated breath.

‘I got an email from a probationer whose beat is the Fish Quay,’ Grace continued. ‘He happens to share his duty patch with a young lass called Gloria. She was in a bit of a state and on the batter.’ She looked at O’Neil. ‘In case you are in any doubt – you being a posh girl – that doesn’t mean she works in a fish shop, Eloise. It means she’s on the game.’

‘You should do stand-up.’ O’Neil was enjoying the camaraderie.

‘So,’ Grace said, ‘when the probationer enquired further, she told him she was picked up in the small hours of Sunday morning by a guy called Stevie – sorry, that’s all I’ve got. Well not quite, I’m coming to that. Anyway, she was taken to a doss-house and dropped back at the Fish Quay around six-thirtyish.’

Grace paused deliberately, allowing the information to sink in. She could see her colleagues’ minds working. It didn’t take long for them to make the jump.

‘She couldn’t be more specific on timing?’ There was hope in O’Neil’s question.

‘’Fraid not. She was pretty tanked up.’

‘Damn. She might’ve seen Fraser. He’d be arriving about then.’

‘My thoughts exactly, but she did see something?’ Grace raised a smile. ‘After she got out of the car, Gloria went for a wander to beg a smoke from one of the other working girls. When she returned seconds later, she noticed that Stevie’s vehicle was still parked where she got out. Suddenly he came tearing out of a lock-up across the road like he’d seen a ghost. He got in his vehicle and drove off at speed. The tosser almost ran her down.’

‘He saw the body.’ Ryan wasn’t asking, he was telling. ‘That explains the scuff marks the CSIs found near the entrance.’

‘There is another scenario,’ Grace suggested. ‘He walked in on the murder taking place.’

O’Neil was shaking her head. ‘He wouldn’t be alive to tell the tale.’

‘We don’t know that he is.’ Ryan eyeballed her. ‘They would hardly kill Fraser and let Gloria’s punter go—’

‘Unless they couldn’t catch him,’ Grace said in support of O’Neil.

‘If they came out after him, Gloria would surely have seen them. They wouldn’t think twice about offing a prostitute, would they?’ Ryan said. ‘Especially if she’d had a skinful.’

‘Which suggests her punter saw the body rather than the offence taking place.’

‘What do we know about this guy?’

‘He’s a regular, a nasty piece of work, up one minute, down the next.’ Grace lifted a hand. ‘No pun intended. Gloria never knows what mood he’ll turn up in but, he normally pays well, especially if he wants extras.’ She grimaced. ‘Don’t ask, Ryan. Eloise won’t want to hear it any more than I did. Anyway, Gloria was skint, so she took a chance and went with him, daft cow, even though a couple of weeks ago he broke her nose.’ Grace took a breath. ‘This is where it gets interesting. In return for her trouble, Gloria nicked his watch. That’s what Saturday night was all about. He wanted his property back. After screwing her brains out, he searched her bag. Fortunately, she didn’t have the watch on her. Unfortunately, he gave her another clout. The bastard says he’ll be there every week until she returns the watch or repays the debt in other ways.’

‘Then we’ll be around Saturday night to lock him up,’ Ryan said. ‘Assuming we haven’t already found him.’

‘It gets better.’ The detectives exchanged an excited look as Grace peered at the email on her computer screen. ‘The watch has the initials SFW engraved on the rear of the casing with the inscription: 40 Today! One very clever probationer has retained it in evidence, get this, “in case it comes in useful”.’