Fallen Angel Read online

  I grinned. Sure, I had a few bumps and bruises and more trouble to sort out, but I had a full belly and my two best friends. It wasn’t such a bad start to the day.

  ***

  ‘So Crowley’s office got burgled,’ Kennedy said. He stroked his pointy chin as he mused on that. ‘What does that mean?’

  Vance shrugged carelessly. ‘Don’t know. Could just be a burglar, Hugh, it doesn’t have to be connected to the case.’ He eyed the man across the desk from him. ‘That’s what my money’s on.’

  ‘True.’ Kennedy nodded slowly. ‘Why would someone break into their office?’

  Vance suppressed a sigh. ‘Like I say, it’s probably just a burglary. Doesn’t appear anything was taken, so it’s a big nothing anyway.’

  Kennedy stopped nodding and sat, staring at something on the wall of his office. Vance pointedly checked his watch. The morning briefing was over and he had things to do.

  ‘Hmm,’ Kennedy said.

  Vance felt his impatience starting to grow. ‘Sounds like he got a decent towelling too,’ he said with a chuckle, ‘so it’s not all bad.’

  Kennedy managed what might have been a smile, his small rodent-like teeth showing themselves. Alongside the flecks of dandruff dusting the shoulders of his ill-fitting grey suit, Vance reflected that Kennedy was not exactly a commanding figure. It was a wonder that he’d sired children.

  ‘That’s true,’ Kennedy agreed. ‘A scene examination was done for the alleged assault, I take it?’

  ‘A basic one, yeah. CIB weren’t called to it.’

  ‘And did they find the weapon that was supposedly used?’

  ‘No.’

  Kennedy smiled a little more. ‘So aside from Crowley’s word there’s no actual evidence of an assault.’

  ‘Well nobody saw it, if that’s you mean.’ Vance checked himself. ‘Although his wife apparently saw the guy running and then found Crowley injured.’

  ‘Is that so?’ Kennedy turned his gaze from the wall to Vance, managing to make eye contact for a second before settling on his chest. ‘It sounds to me like he just fell off the fence and hurt himself, and wants to cover up his incompetence with a ridiculous story.’

  Vance couldn’t hide his surprise. He could see where Kennedy was going with this. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.

  ‘You want me to recode it?’

  Kennedy gave him a look that Vance was supposed to convey the message without voicing it. It was hard to tell. ‘We don’t need unnecessary stats clocking up,’ the DI said.

  Vance took that as a yes, and recognised that Kennedy was covering his own backside. If there was any blowback from it Kennedy could deny all knowledge. Stats made the world go round at the DI’s level, but he was smart enough to distance himself from any fiddling of those stats.

  ‘Right,’ Vance said, getting to his feet. ‘I’ll get busy then.’

  ‘Good man.’ Kennedy turned back to his computer to do whatever it was that Detective Inspectors filled their time with. ‘You do what you do.’

  Vance smirked to himself as he walked out the door. The first he would be doing was making a note on the direction Kennedy had given him. The DI wasn’t the only one who knew how to cover his backside.

  He rounded the corner to head towards the Major Crime office, colliding with Gardner as he did so.

  ‘Sorry boss,’ she blurted, ‘I was looking for you.’ She was flushed and looked harassed.

  Vance frowned. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Just had a call on your line from a lawyer,’ she said, ‘the lawyer that Manning used. The fat guy.’

  ‘Evans.’

  ‘Yeah, him.’

  He rolled his hand to hurry her up. ‘Get to the point.’

  ‘We may have a problem.’

  Vance frowned harder. That was all he was needed. ‘In what way?’

  Gardner looked apologetic. ‘He says they found hidden cameras in the victim’s apartment.’

  ‘They did what?’ Vance exploded. A detective approaching down the hallway turned round and went back the other way. ‘How did they even get in there?’

  Gardner cringed. ‘That’s what I asked him. He says they’ve got the permission of her father. In fact he’s hired them to solve the murder.’

  Vance’s face went blotchy. ‘We can tell ‘im who killed her – that idiot boyfriend of hers!’

  ‘The lawyer says the cameras have been exhibited properly and he wants them to be picked up by us and forensically examined. He believes that whoever put them in there is likely to be the offender.’

  Vance shook his head in exasperation. ‘Bloody lawyers,’ he growled. ‘What does he know about investigating a murder? His job is to free the bad guys we lock up. We’re not listening to him.’

  ‘Um, that’s the thing,’ Gardner said. ‘He’s given us today to pick them up or he’ll take it to the media and the IPCA.’

  The IPCA. Vance shuddered at the thought of them. The Independent Police Complaints Authority was the watchdog over police. Even though they had no enforcement powers, they could cause all sorts of problems, as he well knew.

  He thought for a minute. ‘Right,’ he said finally. ‘Get round there and do it; but just you. We keep this between ourselves, got it?’

  ‘Got it.’ Gardner nodded eagerly. The pull of a partnership with the DS was a powerful one.

  She knew what Powell would say about such an arrangement, but screw Powell. He was yesterday’s news.

  They needed to get this sorted before it derailed their case.

  ***

  Watching CCTV is a notoriously boring task for any investigator, and even though we had specific times to check, it still made my head hurt.

  I was loaded on painkillers and a couple of litres of water, which made me constantly trot to the bathroom, and still my head was throbbing.

  I froze the footage and leaned back in my chair, pressing my thumbs against my eye sockets to relieve the pressure. The buzz of the early morning action was gone and all I really wanted was to get my head down for a while.

  ‘Are you finished yet, lazy bones?’ Molly enquired from the cheap seats.

  ‘I think I’m dying.’

  ‘Of course you are; you’re a man. Um, have you heard from Liam Flynn at all?’

  ‘No.’ I sat up and blinked at her. My eyes felt raw. ‘Why?’

  ‘His payment hasn’t gone through.’ She spun round from her desk to face me. ‘He hasn’t paid us yet.’

  I scowled. The last thing I needed right now was to be chasing a client for payment, especially a grieving father.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  She gave me a disapproving look. ‘Thanks for checking, but yes, I’m sure.’

  I groaned. When a scowl doesn’t work, there’s always a groan to fall back on. ‘Great,’ I said. ‘Should I ring him or give him another day?’

  ‘Just ring him, but be nice about it.’

  I reached for my water bottle. I needed to prepare myself for this call. Mike burst in the door while I was dialling, and the look of excitement on his face gave me pause.

  ‘I heard back,’ he said, shucking off his jacket. ‘That clown was never in Special Forces, but he was in the Navy.’

  ‘Hmmm,’ I said. I put the phone down and leaned back in my chair. ‘Elucidate.’

  Mike stared at me. ‘What?’

  ‘Explain,’ I said. ‘Fill me in.’

  ‘You’re an idiot,’ he said. ‘He joined the Royal Navy as a seventeen year old. Lasted two years.’

  Mike had a smug grin as he looked from me to Molly and back again.

  ‘Ask me why he left.’

  ‘Hey Mike,’ said Molly, ‘why did Simon Beetham leave the Navy?’

  ‘Great question, Molly. Was it a) he didn’t enjoy it, b) he got wounded in action or c) he got caught peeping and peering on female sailors?’

  If I had a fringe my eyebrows would have disappeared. ‘Wow,’ I said. ‘That’s pretty good to know. I see a pattern of behav
iour right there.’

  Molly rolled her eyes. ‘Gee, you should be a detective.’

  My witty retort was interrupted by the door opening again.

  ‘Well, well, Detective Gardner,’ I said. ‘This is a dubious honour. What brings you here?’

  The visitor gave me a cold look and shut the door behind her. ‘Very funny.’

  I smiled. I have a charming smile. ‘Do any of us need a lawyer?’

  ‘Pull your head in, Mr Crowley. I’m only here because your lawyer called us.’ She pulled a face. ‘Believe me, I wouldn’t choose to be here otherwise.’

  ‘Ahh, I see.’ I nodded sagely. ‘You’re after the exhibits we found.’

  ‘So called.’

  I shrugged. ‘We like to call it evidence, but whatever.’ I got up and carried the box of exhibits to her. Each item had been secured in a separate paper bag, sealed and labelled. A photo of each item had been printed and attached to the outside of the relevant bag.

  Gardner looked at them sourly. ‘I hope you haven’t destroyed any forensics.’

  I felt my lip curling. ‘I think you’ll find this is best practice for handling exhibits,’ I said. ‘But given your performance so far, you probably don’t.’

  She gave me daggers. I managed to stand firm.

  ‘Whoever found these will need to give a statement,’ she said.

  I let her take the box, and pointed to the large envelope inside. It had STATEMENTS written across the front of it.

  ‘They’re probably in there,’ I said. ‘That would be a clue.’

  I saw her struggling not to bite.

  ‘Someone get the door,’ she said, turning that way.

  Molly looked at her blankly. Gardner gestured impatiently with her head.

  ‘The door,’ she said.

  Molly looked at the door, then back at Gardner. ‘That’s right,’ she said, ‘it is a door. Would you like me to open it?’

  Gardner was really starting to fume now.

  ‘What’s the magic word?’ Mike piped up.

  ‘Just open the damn door,’ Gardner snarled. ‘I haven’t got time for your stupid games.’

  I put her out of our misery. ‘The word is “please”,’ I said. I opened the door and gave her a smile as she went past me. ‘Have a nice day, Sort-Of-Detective Gardner.’

  She turned to give me daggers again but the door was already closed.

  Chapter 31

  There was an unseasonal chill in the air and I wondered if an early autumn was on its way. It was Friday morning.

  Simon Beetham was up and out early for work, dressed in his usual jeans and hoodie – this one had a picture of a scantily-clad blonde riding a Harley on the front. He lugged his daypack with him across the car park towards his van, his head down as he scrolled through his Facebook updates.

  It wasn’t until he was nearly at the van that he saw me standing there, blocking access to his driver’s door.

  Beetham gave a start when he realised I was there, and looked up sharply from his phone.

  ‘Awight?’ he said hesitantly.

  ‘Yup.’ I tossed my chin at him. I had my hands in my jeans pockets, being Mr Casual. But there was nothing casual about the way I was looking at Simon. He was in the sights and he knew it.

  He stopped a couple of metres short of me. He still had his phone in his hand and I could see him churning it over, sussing out how to play me.

  ‘’scuse me,’ he said, gesturing towards the driver’s door. ‘If you don’t mind, I got to get to work.’ I didn’t move. ‘If you could just move aside…’

  I held his stare. His non-lazy eye was twitching. ‘I’ve got a better idea,’ I said.

  He watched me. His lips were tight and his bad eye was scanning far and wide.

  ‘I got to get to work,’ he said again.

  ‘It’s over, Simon,’ I said. ‘The cops know what you’ve done, we know what you’ve done…I guess it’s only a matter of time before the media knows…’

  ‘I don’ know what you’re talkin’ about,’ he said, trying for aggressive, ‘an’ I ain’t got time to be messin’ about wif your stupid riddles, so just get outta my way.’

  I remained unperturbed. ‘I’m not going anywhere, mate. This ends here and now. Either you talk to me, or you talk to the cops; your choice.’ I tossed my head towards Mike, who was standing off across the car park. ‘Or you can talk to him if you like.’

  Beetham turned and saw Mike. He took an involuntary step backwards.

  ‘I know what I’d choose,’ I said.

  He looked back at me. His good eye was going for gold now. ‘I got nothin’ to say to you. This is harassment.’

  ‘Call the cops then,’ I said. ‘I’m happy to talk to them.’ I took my phone from my pocket. ‘Or shall I do it for you?’

  ‘I din’t kill her,’ he blurted. ‘You can’t say I did that, I never did that.’

  I shrugged. ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘I’m telling you the truth! I never did that. Why would I lie?’

  That one threw me. ‘Um,’ I said slowly, ‘maybe to get away with murder? That’s a pretty big motivation.’

  ‘I din’t do it!’ He was almost shouting now and dry spit was flying from his lips.

  I held my palms up to him. ‘Take a breath. Just tell me the truth and I think we can work this out.’

  He was huffing and puffing like a cornered rat, and I got the feeling it could go either way.

  ‘Mate, you can’t deny you put the cameras and stuff in Sarah’s apartment. That’s just a given.’ He gave the slightest of nods. ‘Yeah? Can we just acknowledge that before we move on?’

  ‘Yeah.’ He nodded again.

  ‘Good man,’ I said. ‘Thanks for that. So we know you were in the Royal Navy, and we know you got booted out for peeping on the girls, right?’

  He hung his head and said nothing.

  ‘And obviously you were never in the Special Forces, right? So that’s another given.’

  His head bobbed enough to confirm I was right. Gone was the pushiness, and all that remained was a sad little deviant.

  ‘So there are a whole lot of lies and bits and pieces floating out there that we can just clean up,’ I continued. ‘But the big thing we need to clarify, for her family as much as anything, is did you kill Sarah?’

  He looked up sharply again. ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘I did not kill her.’ He licked his lips, and glanced over again to make sure Mike had kept his distance. ‘I did not do that. Yeah I put the cameras in her place, I know it was wrong. I know that.’ He shook his head. ‘I got a problem, you know? I can’t help it.’

  I wanted very much to punch him in the face. He was no victim. But right now I needed him to keep talking.

  ‘You’ve gotta admit, you’re a pretty good suspect for that, eh.’

  He nodded again. ‘I know. But I didn’t do it.’

  I spread my hands. ‘Who else is there? We know it wasn’t Mike, and if it wasn’t you…’

  Beetham hesitated, weighing it all up. ‘What’s in it for me?’

  I frowned, unsure of his angle. ‘Did you miss the bit about you being the best suspect for the murder?’

  ‘I can give you something,’ he said quickly, his tongue darting out to his lips. ‘But you gotta do something for me.’

  I gave him a cold look. ‘Don’t jerk my chain, Beetham.’

  He gave a sly smirk, which made me want to smack it right off his face. ‘You’ll want what I have,’ he said.

  ‘I’m listening.’

  Chapter 32

  The interview room at the Mount Wellington police station was a standard cream and grey box with a DVD unit against one wall and a table bolted to the floor in the centre.

  Powell opened the door and ushered us in. Molly and I took two seats, and Liam Flynn sat on Molly’s other side. Jessie Partridge closed the door behind us and took a seat across the table from us, beside Powell.

  Mount Wellington station was a good choice
for this meeting. It was well away from the area CIB office at Glen Innes and even further away from the Major Crime base at Central. Aside from a few uniformed staff we’d seen on the way in nobody else knew we were there.

  ‘Thanks for coming in,’ Powell said, putting a folder down on the table. ‘We need to have a chat about the investigation, because we have some concerns about how you’re all involved in it.’

  ‘Okay,’ I said cautiously. ‘Do we need a lawyer?’

  ‘That’s entirely up to you, Mr Crowley. Just so we’re all on the same page, I’ll give you all your rights and we can go from there.’

  He read the rights to us and we all listened. I looked at Molly and Flynn. ‘I’m okay,’ I said. ‘You guys happy to talk?’

  They both agreed.

  ‘I don’t really see what this is about, Detective,’ Flynn said. ‘I hired these people to investigate my daughter’s death because the police seemed to be running round without a clue.’

  ‘We have a signed contract,’ I agreed. ‘Although I don’t think we’ve actually been paid yet, have we Mol?’

  ‘Is this the right time?’ she said. ‘Really?’

  I looked past her to Flynn. ‘Liam?’

  ‘My apologies,’ he said, holding his hands up defensively. ‘I’ll get right on it after this. I have had a lot on my mind, you know.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I said.

  Flynn looked back to Powell. ‘And I understand you’ve arrested up one of the neighbours?’

  ‘We have,’ Powell confirmed. ‘He’s in custody right now.’

  ‘Then why are we here?’ Flynn persisted.

  ‘Like he said,’ Jessie replied, ‘we have a few concerns and some information we would like to share with you.’

  ‘We’re satisfied that the neighbour, Simon Beetham, installed covert cameras in Sarah’s apartment,’ Powell said. ‘He’s an electrician by trade and has been a peeping tom-style pervert for a long time.’

  Flynn muttered an oath and clenched his fists on the table.

  ‘He was particularly fixated on Sarah. As part of his offending he also installed covert cameras in Mike Manning’s place.’

  ‘Wow,’ I said, ‘that’s pretty bold.’