Chapter 43

Baxter rings me with the latest news. Tim Bale has absconded from Leyhill prison.

“It says he’s absconded with another prisoner,” Baxter says. “Someone picked them up in a van right outside the jail. I looked up what ‘abscond’ means. It’s an escape where they didn’t climb over a wall or dig a tunnel or bolt-cut a lock or break out of a secure vehicle or sneak past any officers watching them. They just walked out. Because Leyhill is a D-Cat prison.”

“I’m sure Tim thinks his reasons are worth it,” I say, “but he was in a low-security facility because they trusted him. When they catch him, he’ll be punished by going into a much worse place with hardened criminals. Why did he do it?”

“I’ve been reading about him, Tiggy. He’s maintained his innocence right from the beginning. He says he didn’t do that break-in. In one news post they said he was at home making designs on his computer but when the forensic scientist found his saliva on the smashed mug, the police stopped investigating his alibi.”

“That makes sense. They had their incontrovertible proof.”

“But what if they made a mistake? What if Tim-Tim really didn’t do it?”

“He also says he didn’t know the owners of the property,” I say, “so how did his saliva get on their mug?”

“The forensic team made a mistake with the DNA. I’ve been reading up on mistakes and they happen.”

“Did it say which forensic lab did the analysis?”

“Frensci,” he says. “It’s a clever name but how do you say it? It looks like Fren-see. Or is it Frens-eye to go with ‘i’ in ‘science’?”

“I don’t know. But that’s Helena Loxton’s lab. They have a reputation for never making mistakes. They get the cases no-one else can solve.”

“That’s the trouble. No-one believes Tim-Tim. I want to believe him but how do you say the DNA analysis from the best lab in the country is wrong. You can’t. It’s so hopeless!”

“Does the report say where they think Tim’s gone?” I ask.

I can guess but I hope I’m wrong.

“Devon. Both of them. It says the other bloke has contacts in Plymouth and they know about Tim-Tim’s contacts in Exeter. So the two of them can get on the M5, just up the road from Leyhill, and drive all the way south to Taunton, keep going to Exeter and drop Tim-Tim off, then the other guy keeps going to Plymouth. The police don’t even have the van’s number plate. A white van. Good luck with stopping every white van on the M5.”

“It’s probably why they absconded together. Share the cost of petrol and drop Tim off on the way.”

“I’m worried about him, Tiggy. They’ll be watching the place where he used to live. Where will he go? And what if they have to use force to arrest him? He might get … hurt.”

Tim probably doesn’t know what a loyal friend he’s made in Baxter. It’s the power of art to connect these two young neurodiverse males. Jack’s study could have wonderful outcomes if it’s not shut down after this.

“Well, it sounds like they planned it,” I say, “so he’ll have a safe place to hide out.”

With Fletch or Zaylee? And what’s he going to do then?

“Then what?” Baxter says, reading my thoughts. “What’s it called when you’re on the run from the police?”

“A fugitive.”

“Like, he’s a marked man. Did he just get totally urinated-off with prison? Or does he think if he’s outside he can prove his innocence?”

We don’t know the answer to any of these questions and I hope Baxter will be able to focus on other things. After we hang up, my fingers wander to the search bar on my laptop.

Tim Bale’s DNA was discovered by Frensci after the first lab couldn’t find any incriminating samples in the mountain of broken household goods. It was clear the home invader had worn gloves but could Helena Loxton’s team nail the offender with something everyone else had missed?

I decide I’ve got nothing to lose by emailing my new nemesis Tremayne Templeton.

Hi Tremayne

Daring to ask you another question with the greatest respect. Nothing to do with Alex Loxton or Milton Faulks.

Home invader Tim Bale is in the news after he absconded from Leyhill this week.

Was there anything unusual about his case that you’re able to share?

For example, Helena’s team was incredibly lucky to find the saliva sample nailing Tim – a guy already on the police database. Do you have inside gossip on how that was achieved?

Also a random fun fact: did you know that the letters in Tim Bale’s name spell a kind of drum? Timbale.

Your nemesis,

Tiggy Jones

Piper Halliday is narrowing down the suspects who could have set up a tripwire to ‘accidentally’ kill Kelly Field. The mystery is brimming with red herrings and I’m confident readers won’t pick the culprit. Mainly because I don’t know who it is yet. All I do know is it’s not the low-key nerd who looks like I’ve tried to hide him in plain sight. That’s a trick used by a well-known TV inspector. It’s always the quiet one who turns up in the first fifteen minutes of the episode. I hate that I know that. It spoils the surprise at the end.

The timing of Calista Faulks’ message is interesting. And she’s even unblocked my number to send it.

I’ve been doing some digging and I’ve found something. A surprise to me. You’ll have to come up to London to hear it but I think it will be worth the trip. CF.

Tremayne must be having a quiet day in his chambers.

TJ,

I knew you wouldn’t be deterred by my rebuke but of course I meant every word. And my ‘cease and desist’ warning still stands. Don’t push me.

Your penchant for delving into Helena’s cases is tending towards the tedious. But I’ll indulge you this time.

The Tim Bale case was extremely challenging because of the quantity of smashed material. Even the dead tropical fish had to be autopsied. I hope he doesn’t have your home address. He’s a demon.

Helena had to find a way to sort the thousands of shards collected from the kitchen floor, without a team of trainee forensic monkeys working 24 hours a day for a year. This is the gold standard in running a private lab and her clients know it. She got her trusted team to select just the lips from any cups amongst all the shards. Like the edges of a jigsaw puzzle, she said, easy to sort them from the rest because of the straight smooth edge. There was saliva on one of them. And the perpetrator was in the system.

If you’ll meet me for that cocktail, I’ll have more to share.

Until then, ciao.

TT

Ciao? Is that passé or is that just because I’m Australian? I send a thank you email, ignoring the invitation. Then I wonder about meeting up with him – in a public place – if I decide to go to London to hear Calista’s discovery.

Thinking about Tim’s case and Zaylee’s surveillance photo, why would someone turn on the chandelier in the living room of Number 24 in the middle of the day? I look at my watch. It’s about the same time of day when that photo was taken.

I ring Baxter. “How about a spot of ground-truthing? I thought we could check out the location of Zaylee’s surveillance camera and consider something my father said about that photo.”

“Yes!”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“Don’t forget the pooch!”

The polka-dot PI?

As if!