The Fourth Friend (DI Jackman & DS Evans #3)(64)

Marie leaned closer to Robbie, elbows on her desk. ‘Jackman and I had come to the same conclusion. When you mentioned someone asking Ponytail — Ralph Doolan — to help him, then the only person I could possibly think of would be Tom Holland. Who else knew him?’

‘My thoughts too. But I didn’t want to talk in front of Carter. Not after the last time.’ He looked apprehensive. ‘Actually I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think Carter should be here at all.’

‘Well, we have our reasons for keeping him close.’

Robbie nodded. ‘Can I get permission to go back to Holland Cottage?’

‘Why?’

‘I want to go through all their personal stuff. Letters, diaries, calendars, computers, the lot.’

Robbie was obviously on exactly the same track as she was. The discovery that Suzanne might have been abusive meant husband Tom was suspect number one. ‘A lot of it is in the evidence storage facility. It was taken and bagged and tagged after her disappearance, but go ahead. See what you can find, and I’ll call evidence storage and tell them to allow you access, okay?’

‘Thanks, Sarge.’ He started to get up, then sat back down again. ‘One thing that doesn’t conform to the usual abusive pattern is that Suzanne seemed to be okay about Tom spending time with his mates. Carter says they spent a lot of hours working on that old boat, but she didn’t object.’

Marie frowned. ‘I couldn’t really say. I don’t know too much about that kind of behaviour.’

‘Sadly, I do. I had an old friend who got involved with a controlling woman, and it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. Hence I read up on it. The thing is, they usually isolate their partner, keeping them apart from friends and family, and then poisoning their minds so that they actually become hostile towards them.’ He scratched his chin. ‘Suzanne didn’t do that.’

‘Don’t these things escalate? Maybe she hadn’t reached that stage yet? Or, maybe she liked to let him out somewhere safe, like with buddy Carter on the Eva May, because she was busy with other things.’

‘Like going back to her old ways?’

‘Bet ya!’

‘Good point.’ Robbie stood up. ‘Don’t tell Carter where I’m going, will you?’

‘No intention.’

‘I’ll report back to you.’

‘Do that.’

*

Carter left Jackman’s office. He had done everything he could to soothe his boss’s troubled mind, though it had been difficult to concentrate when he was almost choking on the acrid stench. Tom had stood like a statue, staring out of the window.

He went into his own office and pulled the door to as far as he dare without actually closing it.

He didn’t like the way this investigation was going. More than anyone else, he wanted a result, but he could see which way the wind was blowing, and he was sure they had got it all wrong.

He sat down and tried to think how he could pull the investigation back onto the right track.

First, he had to speak to Max. He needed to know the outcome of the visit to Ralphie. The corners of his mouth turned down in distaste. Ralph was one of the most unpleasant men he had ever met. He was most certainly a voyeur, and possibly a predator too, although he’d never dug up any proof, and he sure had tried. He was telling the truth when he said he barely knew the man, but the first time he saw him, nosing around his half-sister, he knew that Ralph was a pervert. Even his lovely mate, Tom, suspected him of having unwholesome needs. He pitied the nurses in that hospital, and hoped that Ralph’s personal nurse was either male, or tough as boot leather.

Somewhere along the way he had forgotten to ask Max if he had checked out Ralph’s alibi. Though wherever he said he was, and with whom, it would have been a lie. Ralphie had probably been fingering someone’s washing line. Or, of course, he could have been busy murdering his half-sister because she’d put out for every man in Saltern apart from him.

Carter smiled. Now there was a thought.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Max entered Jackman’s office just before the shift was ending. ‘Charlie called, sir, so I spoke to the Humberside boys. They caught the hit-and-run car on CCTV earlier today, and they’ve pulled the driver. Turns out it was the father of a kid that Ponytail has been getting up close and personal with. The dad had warned him off, but later found him in the garden of their bungalow with a hi-spec camera. Since it was two in the morning and he was outside his daughter’s bedroom, he didn’t react too well. Ralphie ran for it, but Dad took him out, using a pretty heavy SUV crossover. So, nothing to do with us, sir.’

Jackman had expected something along those lines. A degenerate like that rarely got away with it for too long, even if the punishment was meted out by someone outside the law.

‘And his alibi?’

‘His friend seems to have gone AWOL, sir. Can’t track him down at all. I’m wondering if he ever existed, or if Ralph was just giving us the runaround to keep us busy.’

‘Most likely. So, how did it go? Did he give you any reason to suspect that he had been at Suzanne’s that night?’

‘Well, I’d checked the PNC and his profile was not on the National DNA Database, so I took a sample while we were there. He tried to object, told me I needed his written permission, but I explained really nicely that we have every right to take a non-intimate sample because it was necessary for investigating a serious crime. And that was that. At least we can see if he’s on Prof Wilkinson’s list from the crime scene.’