‘What’s the verdict on Fabron?’ Tim asked after Juliet had seen the Frenchman and his solicitor out.
‘I think he’s probably telling the truth about the wallet. I’m sure he has plenty to hide – he strikes me as being quite shifty and he’s brighter than I first thought. He certainly knows how to press his solicitor’s buttons. But my instinct is to believe his story about how he found Smythe and that he didn’t take the wallet. He’s probably scared we’re going to find out other details about his life: stuff that we’re not actually interested in.’
‘If Smythe’s killer kept his wallet, that may be our first real lead. Robbery seems an unlikely motive, though. How much was Smythe likely to have had on him when he was just out for a few drinks?’
‘I agree. And I’ve talked with Katrin now. She says that the Smythe killing bears some resemblance to the murder of a gay man in the USA more than twenty years ago. I’ve asked her to find out if his wallet was stolen. If it was, Smythe’s wallet may have been taken in emulation.’
‘The copycat notion again? It’s intriguing! But copycat or not, the wallet still exists somewhere.’
‘Unless the killer’s destroyed it.’
‘You’re right; but I’ve got a feeling we may be after a trophy hunter.’
‘Interesting. If it’s true, that could be the link between the murders that we’re looking for. Katrin’s theory is that we’re dealing with a copycat killer who keeps on copying different murderers, making him hard to catch because he doesn’t use the same MO twice. If he collects trophies, that could be his Achilles heel.’
‘It’s an idea that’s worth pursuing. Can you keep in touch with Katrin about it?’
‘Of course. But isn’t Martha Johnson the priority at the moment?’
‘We’re doing everything we can to trace her. She lives in a terrace in Sleaford. The local cops have broken into the house but there was no sign of a disturbance. Her father came to meet them there, but he wasn’t much help, either: he couldn’t say whether anything had been stolen – he was actually quite uninformed about everything, as if he had no close contact with her – but it looks as if the place is just as she left it yesterday, even down to the crockery in the sink. Her handbag and mobile aren’t there. We can’t trace the mobile: it’s not giving a signal. But the search didn’t yield much. The uniforms have interviewed her neighbours: no one seems to have seen her for a day or two. She hasn’t been into the college this week, either. As you know, we’ve sent out messages on the media asking her or anyone who knows her whereabouts to contact us. But her scooter is missing.’
‘Has Jack Fovargue been involved in any of this?’
‘Not so far. I’m not sure how to play that. I think that officially we’re not supposed to know that he’s having an affair with Martha. It’s tricky because Thornton doesn’t want us to do anything to compromise his relationship with Susie. God knows how he thinks we’re going to protect Fovargue’s privacy: the media are bound to get hold of the story sooner or later.’
‘We can’t allow that to impede the search. And I’m convinced her disappearance has something to do with Silverdale Farm. It’s obvious that neither Susie Fovargue nor Josh Marriott likes her, for a start: Susie probably because she knows about the affair already. I think we need to interview both of them again.’
Ricky MacFadyen had been listening. He butted in suddenly.
‘You ought not to go there alone. I’ve checked out Marriott now and, as we suspected, he’s got form. He was convicted of GBH – admittedly when he was much younger – and served three and a half years of a five-year sentence. He’s also done time for receiving stolen goods. Only a year, but the judge clearly thought it was the tip of the iceberg – that he was into something much bigger. There just wasn’t sufficient proof.’
‘Who did he assault?’
‘His ex-wife and her boyfriend. Nearly killed the boyfriend, apparently. The sentence would have been tougher if his lawyer hadn’t made a good case for provocation.’
‘What about the stolen goods? What kinds of goods?’
‘Whole ragbag of stuff, apparently. The linking factor was that it was all stolen to order. The prosecution thought he must have been co-ordinating quite a sophisticated network of people to spirit the stuff away and then redistribute it. He was caught by chance when his van broke down on the motorway. The cop who went to help him recognised that some of the items he was carrying had been listed on police stolen goods reports. One or two of his immediate accomplices were also prosecuted, but, as I said, he was suspected of being in charge of a much bigger outfit.’
‘Wow!’ said Tim. ‘How long ago?’
‘He was released from Lincoln Jail twelve years ago.’
‘Find out what he did after that. Who he worked for, where he lived, anything you can dig out about him, especially after he started working for Fovargue. And where he lives now.’
‘Wouldn’t it be quicker just to ask him?’ said Juliet. ‘He hasn’t absconded, as far as we know. And are you saying that he’s a suspect? Of what? Martha’s abduction? Her murder? Or maybe that he’s an all-purpose perpetrator of all the crimes we’re investigating? It would be convenient if we found out that he was responsible for the vehicle thefts, too!’
Tim grinned. Juliet had nailed the reason for his optimism: but his suspicions sounded absurd when she put them into words.
‘Too convenient, I agree! But there’s no guarantee that he’ll tell us the truth and, if he is mixed up either in Martha’s disappearance or the vehicle thefts, I’d rather not alert him that we’re on to him.’
‘Okay, but he’ll already know we’re investigating her disappearance; also that we know he’s one of the people who saw her last. He won’t be surprised that we want to question him. We can ask him directly how long he’s worked for Fovargue and where he lives now. We can verify what he tells us later if we need to.’
‘Perhaps you’re right,’ said Tim. ‘But what Ricky says is true: you can’t go there alone. I’m coming with you.’