Gravel sauntered into the operations room after a surprisingly satisfying lunch in the police canteen, watered, fed, feeling comfortable in his own skin and very much at home in the investigative world he knew so well. The enquiry wasn’t progressing as quickly as he would wish, but it was progressing, and for now he’d have to be satisfied with that.
He looked directly at Kesey as he slowly approached his cluttered desk, and felt a sharp stab of regret for times so recently passed. So much was familiar, unaltered, the world kept turning, and yet so much had changed. Rankin was gone. He wasn’t coming back. And this slip of a girl was there in his place. Sitting in what should rightly be his seat, oblivious to the man she’d replaced. A man she’d never been fortunate enough to meet. Nothing was for ever. Not in this world, as he’d observed more times than he cared to recall. Oh well, such was life. He shouldn’t hold it against the girl. It wasn’t her fault. He just had to get his head down and get on with it.
‘Hello, Laura, a coffee would be appreciated, if you’re in the mood to make one.’
She looked up from her paperwork and nodded. ‘Yeah, I could do with a break from this lot.’
‘There you go, boss. Are you sure about the five sugars? It seems a tad excessive, don’t you think?’
He scratched his nose and smiled. ‘If I want to be nagged half to death by a woman, I’ll get married again, thank you very much.’
‘Okay, it’s your funeral.’
Grav sat back in his seat with his feet resting on his desktop and accepted the hot drink gratefully. ‘So what did Edward Green want? Sandra told me he’s had a chat with you. Anything interesting?’
‘The statement’s on your desk somewhere, boss. Among all the other stuff. I thought you’d want to read it yourself.’
He glanced at the piles of paper and sighed. ‘Just run me through it in your own words, love. I think that’s probably best.’
She spent the next few minutes succinctly outlining the relevant information as Grav sipped his coffee and looked on.
‘Is that it?’
‘Yeah.’
‘A woman, who’d have thought it? Was he sure? Could it have been some bloke dressed in women’s clothes?’
She shook her head before speaking. ‘He seemed pretty certain to me, boss. He told me he could see her breasts under her coat.’
‘Well, if anyone would spot her tits, it’s that slimy git. He’s always been a bit of a hands-on merchant where the women are concerned. My wife used to say he made her skin crawl.’
‘Really? He seemed all right to me.’
‘Wait until you get to know him a little better, love. Particularly if he’s had a drink or two. You’ll find out.’
‘I’ll keep it in mind.’
‘So, there’s no way he could come up with a better description? Something we could work with?’
‘No, I pushed him on it, but it’s exactly as I told you. That’s as good as it gets.’
He took another swig of coffee. ‘I guess anything’s got to be better than nothing. Not that our mystery woman’s necessarily got anything to do with the case.’
‘You’ve got to admit it’s strange though. A woman dumping something in the river in the early hours. It might be worth considering another press release. You know, something asking whoever it was to come forward so we can eliminate her from our enquiries. That sort of thing.’
Grav drained his mug and nodded. ‘Yeah, I was thinking much the same thing myself. It can’t do any harm… and Green couldn’t come up with the details of this car he claimed to see? I’ve heard better descriptions.’
‘It was a hatchback, like I said, but that’s about it. If he could have told me, he would have. He wasn’t being deliberately vague. I’m certain of that.’
‘I may give him a ring myself. You know, to see if he’s remembered anything more.’
‘Why would you do that? Don’t you trust me to do my job?’
He lowered his feet to the floor. ‘Of course I do, love. It’s just my way.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Have a look at the CCTV for the night. There’s no cameras in the immediate vicinity, but you may spot the vehicle in the general area. It could be a game changer.’
‘Oh, you trust me to do that then?’
‘Talk about bloody sensitive.’
‘I’ll get on to it as soon as we’re done.’
‘Did I mention I had a chat with my contact at the Met?’
‘No, you didn’t.’
‘They sent someone over to interview Taylor in prison. An experienced DS, from what I was told. He got the distinct impression that he knew nothing of the murder before the visit.’
‘That doesn’t necessarily mean that Griffiths wasn’t killed as a result of the contract. It could be Taylor just hadn’t been informed yet.’
‘Yeah, I know what you’re saying, but it makes it less likely from what I can see. And we’ve got this second unidentified victim. Where the fuck does he fit in? I’m beginning to think the Taylor connection is something of a red herring. Griffiths had a lot of potential enemies. Maybe Green’s statement is more on the mark. She was putting something in the river. Why not a head?’
‘I guess you could be right.’
‘I had a quick word with Jane’s DS over at child protection. They’ve checked all possible leads on Griffiths’ laptop for a third time for me, but there’s still nothing relating to any local kids. They’re looking for one final time at my insistence before going through the rest of the photos etcetera, but I’m not holding my breath.’
She raised her mug to her mouth and nodded. ‘Makes sense. I’m glad it’s them not me.’
‘Me too, love. That seems to be becoming something of a theme.’
‘Yeah.’
‘They’ve got Griffiths marked down as a prolific offender. He trawled various chatrooms and the like, looking for kids who meet his victim profile. He was in active contact with at least nine children in various parts of the country during the weeks prior to his death. He’d even arranged to meet a boy of ten in the Bristol area, but nothing local that they can find. Maybe one or more of the photos will tell us something.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Do we know who the boy is?’
‘Yeah, Griffiths was exchanging messages with him right up to the approximate time of his death. It was the usual grooming shit: probing questions, manipulative promises, the sending of sexual images, encouraging him to do likewise. And then he arranged to meet him. He arranged to go to the boy’s house when he was home alone. They messaged each other on the day before he planned the meeting, and then the messages stop dead. He didn’t send the address.’
‘So what happened?’
‘The local police had a chat with the parents for me. They went away on a last-minute trip to London just at the right time. Talk about a lucky break. Another twenty-four hours and the boy would have been another of Griffiths’ victims. Bet that came as something of a shock. Most people seem blissfully unaware of the risks posed by these people.’
‘But no local children? I’m no expert, but that seems highly unlikely to me.’
‘Yeah, I thought much the same thing myself. Ease of offending and all that, but like I said, child protection have checked and checked again. They’re sick of hearing my voice. And the computer girl said much the same thing fairly insistently when I suggested she may have missed something. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, Laura. Why would Harrington lie to me? He had nothing to gain… unless he was telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. Maybe he just wanted to get me off his back and avoid a beating. That wasn’t my impression though. My gut’s usually pretty reliable when it comes to this stuff. Do you think Griffiths could have had a second computer we don’t know about?’
‘His missus didn’t think so, but she may not know about it if he had.’
‘Remind me, did you search his mother’s place? He spent a lot of time there.’
She frowned. ‘I should have. I really should have. I was going to, but then I found the laptop, you know what I’m saying.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up, love. Hindsight tends to make things look a lot clearer than they were at the time.’
‘Well, sensitivity and understanding, no less. That was unexpected.’
He laughed. ‘I’m the very definition of a new man.’
‘So, what do you want me to do first, the search of the mother’s place or the CCTV?’
‘Tell whoever’s free to get themselves over to Griffiths’ mother’s place, and make a start on the CCTV yourself. It could be crucial. The quicker we see if there’s anyone of interest, the happier I’ll be.’
‘Will do, boss.’
She pushed her empty mug aside and met his eyes. ‘Is there anything else, or shall I crack on?’
He smiled again, more warmly this time, and picked up the top file from the pile on his desk. ‘Yeah, we’re done for now, love. Let me know if you come up with anything useful. No peace for the wicked, eh, whatever the fuck that means.’