Their Lost Daughters (DI Jackman & DS Evans #2)(63)
*
Max, as expected, was not happy, but Rosie was immediately on the phone to her new clubbing buddy, Will, and arranging to meet him.
‘He loves his brother, and he’ll be just as glad as us to see the drinking club closed down.’ She looked at Jackman. ‘I trust him, he’s a nice kid, and I think he’ll forgive me for lying to him. I’m sure he’ll help us.’
‘Since there’s no way to stop this happening, I’ll go with Rosie this time,’ said Max. ‘And don’t worry, I’ll make a real effort with my appearance to blend in.’
‘Then we watch for the texts. It won’t be for a few days, but as soon as we get the message, we’ll go in.’
‘And if Cade’s there, we hit the place with every officer we can spare,’ added Marie grimly. ‘In the meantime, I’ll organise the photo evidence with Ted.’
‘This sounds more like the sergeant we all know and love,’ said Jackman.
‘Frankly, sir, if we do take Cade down, I’ll be dressing up and dancing on the table.’
*
As he closed the door behind him, Gary suddenly realised just how much he hated Chief Superintendent Cade. The man had been around for so long he’d learned to live with him, like a disability or a terrible illness. Cade’s rank and the powerful men that he mixed with, made him seem untouchable. Gary had thought things would never change. But now they had the chance to finally bring him down.
Gary went to his desk and switched on the computer. If he got this right — and he knew exactly how to go about it — he could right an awful lot of wrongs.
A determined smile spread across his face. He was very glad he’d come to work with DI Jackman in Saltern-le-Fen.
*
Jackman hoped he was doing the right thing. Risking his own job was one thing, but allowing others to do the same was quite another. He looked anxiously at Marie. ‘Do you trust Ted Watchman?’
Marie nodded vigorously. ‘I do.’
‘Then go find him. See what is needed for that photo comparison, and tell him we need total discretion. This cannot get back to anyone, here or anywhere else. Okay?’
Marie nodded again and left the room.
Jackman turned to Max and Charlie. ‘Could you two gather up as many free hands as you can from CID? We need to compare this list against missing persons and unsolved cases.’ He handed Max the paper Rory Wilkinson had given him. ‘We have clothing, first names and partial dates of birth, so we need to start identifying the victims as quickly as possible. Tell them I want their findings as soon as they have them. And, Max, you are to concentrate on a young woman who had a severely deformed lower leg and foot. We believe she was the first to die, maybe twenty years ago.’ He paused for breath.
‘And, Charlie, please ask Clive to contact whoever is on duty at Benedict Broome’s house to find me a sample of Elizabeth Sewell’s handwriting. Now I have the unenviable task of grovelling to the super about using that psychologist. And I think she’ll like that idea about as much as an ice-water enema.’
As Jackman walked to the lifts he glanced at his watch. The FMO at Harlan Marsh had promised to ring as soon as Micah Lee was fit for interview, and he hadn’t. Knowing what he now knew, Jackman wondered if the hold-up had something to do with Cade. He still found it hard to understand why he would risk so much — a high-powered job with untold fringe benefits and a bloody good pension — just to watch a few teenagers groping each other in the dark. It was all too much to take on board, especially when he had a psychopathic killer, thirteen murder victims, as well as suspects to interview. Suddenly Jackman stopped short.
Christ! Had he sent Micah Lee to Harlan Marsh, right into the tender care of a man who knew all about him?
With a dry mouth he hurried towards the super’s office. This case was taking them into very dangerous waters indeed, and it was up to him to steer them through to safety. He just hoped he was up to it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Gary had a satisfied smile on his lips. With no hesitation, Toni had picked out Cade from the ten mugshots he showed her. As Gary walked back towards his old Suzuki, another car was drawing up at the Clarksons’ house.
‘Ethan Barley! What brings you to this young lady’s door?’ Gary greeted the young man.
Ethan grinned broadly. ‘Got back together with Toni.’
‘Yuk!’ From the passenger seat, Nick Barley was pulling a face at his brother.
‘Don’t you approve?’ Gary asked with a smile.
‘Ah, it’s okay I suppose. Maybe it’ll keep him off my back.’
Ethan told his brother to stay put, he’d only be a few minutes, then he loped up the path towards the house. Gary took a long look at Nick and decided to take a gamble. ‘Do me a favour, son?’
Nick looked suspicious.
‘I just wondered if you recognised anyone on this.’
Gary had been very careful. He had reproduced a close-up picture of James Cade from a police magazine. He had copied it and cropped out all trace of a uniform, so that Cade looked like any other civilian. Then he had taken nine photos of random individuals from old cases, added them to the “rogue’s gallery” and produced a perfect ID sheet.
‘Anyone you know?’
Nick looked closely. ‘Just one. That git there. But he never looked that tidy.’