Terry Napier’s brother Cal had gone to ground. The Fiesta was found at an address near Gloucester. The house belonged to his sister. She claimed it had been there since he’d gone inside. It was up for sale on Auto Trader. She pulled up the website on her phone to prove it. But the officer who had called on her noticed that the ad had been posted in the days after Alistair Moreton’s death. She had no idea where Cal was. She hadn’t seen him in weeks. But the county lines team were confident he and his partner would show up fairly soon on their normal stomping grounds, plying their trade. A couple of days later they were duly in custody in Gloucester and arrangements were made to transport them to the MCU. Animal control had also seized a pit bull terrier belonging to Cal when they arrested him at a tattoo saloon. He was very unhappy as it was midway through the inking session. As soon as Warner heard about this, he demanded a meeting in Carson’s office. Ottey decided to tag along for good measure.
‘Do you mind telling me exactly what’s going on?’ he began by asking Cross.
‘You’ve called a meeting and we’re here,’ Cross replied. ‘That is evidently what is going on.’
‘Why do you have two men in custody?’
‘I don’t.’
‘What?’
‘They haven’t arrived yet,’ Ottey intervened.
‘Why are they on their way here?’ Warner persisted.
‘I want to interview them,’ Cross replied.
‘How many times do I have to say this? We have our man and he’s been charged,’ said Warner.
‘Who are these men, George?’ Carson asked.
‘Cal Napier and Filip Gallinis,’ he replied.
‘And why have you brought them in?’
‘For questioning.’
‘With reference to what?’ Carson asked patiently.
‘The Moreton murder case.’
Warner sighed and shook his head, exasperated. He looked at Carson.
‘This is my case which, for the umpteenth time, is closed.’
‘It’s actually the unit’s case,’ Carson pointed out.
‘A case in which I am the SIO.’
‘Correct,’ replied Carson.
‘So why are you allowing this to happen?’ Warner enquired as if it was such an obvious question, it almost didn’t need asking. He was wrong.
‘What, exactly?’ Carson asked.
‘Letting him interview further suspects. He’s trying to undermine my case. Why, I have no idea.’
‘I’m not sure that’s entirely true, is it, DS Ottey?’ he asked Josie, obviously in the hope that she had a better answer than he.
‘He’s gathering evidence, sir. These two men appear to have cuckooed the victim and lived in his house right up until his death,’ she said.
‘So what?’ asked Warner.
‘Seriously?’ she said. ‘Is that a serious question?’
‘We have our killer.’
‘And these men could be material witnesses.’
‘To what?’ Warner challenged her.
‘Well, we won’t know till we interview them. They could be witnesses to Cotterell’s behaviour prior to the killing. You can’t honestly tell me that if you have the right culprit, you’re not interested in what two men, living with the victim, might have seen that could be pertinent to your prosecution? I mean, can you?’ Ottey said.
Warner had no answer to this.
‘I want in on the interview,’ he said finally.
‘Not a problem,’ replied Carson. Cross looked up in surprise at this. ‘Chain of command, George. Any questions?’
‘Yes, I have two,’ said Cross. He turned to Warner. ‘Why are you so concerned about your case being undermined? It would indicate a lack of confidence on your part. If you’re that convinced you have the right man, my investigations can only help your case, surely. Unless of course you’re not. Also, wouldn’t you rather your case be undermined if you have the wrong man?’
‘I don’t. I’m not wrong.’
‘Perhaps you’re more worried about your being undermined than the actual case. May I leave?’
‘You may,’ replied Carson.
Cross and Ottey left. Warner turned back to Carson.
‘Do you know the first thing Cross does just before he closes a case? Drives everyone mad,’ Carson said. ‘Before he lets me go to the CPS and before the suspect is charged he does his damnedest to undermine his own case. He tries to find out if the suspect has an alibi even though he or she hasn’t been able to provide one. And on more than one occasion he’s discovered we’ve charged the wrong man.’
‘So now you’re saying I’ve charged the wrong man?’
‘I’m not saying anything of the kind. You’re just not listening, Bobby. He does this all the time. Even to himself. It’s nothing to do with you. It wouldn’t surprise me if the two men he has in custody add strength to your case. You never know, is all I’m saying.’