BEFORE LEAVING FOR Carmarthen, Lambert drove Ellis and Jones to Cockett Police Station where the incident room was situated. Detective Chief Superintendent Marden had driven over from HQ at Bridgend, and they found him waiting for them, perched on the corner of a desk, reading from an open folder.
Sitting at one of the desks, typing information into a computer, was DS Roger Hazel, and Lambert guessed he would be office manager, responsible for running the incident room. Hazel looked up briefly and caught his eye, and Lambert acknowledged him with a wave. Hazel was a sallow-complexioned man, thirty-five years old, with cropped dark hair, and a face of enormous gravity which belied his pleasing manner and sense of humour. He was good at his job, thorough and detailed in all his inputted information, and Lambert was pleased he’d been recruited to run the incident room.
Marden gave it a beat to finish what he was reading before standing, tucking the folder under his arm. He was an imposing man, six foot four and muscular, as if he pumped iron regularly, with a broad face, and a large hooked nose and thin lips, and eyes that shone like buttons. Whenever Lambert stared into his hawk-like face, he almost expected to find Marden had talons instead of hands.
‘Harry,’ Marden began, ‘according to police in Carmarthen the murder sounds like a carbon copy of the one on the marina. I suggest you get over there right away – traffic’s really bad – and you’ll be met by Sergeant Mark Sweet. But before you dash off, give me a brief account of the marina homicide and the witness you brought in for questioning.’
DC Jones interrupted and suggested she get details of Jarvis Thomas’s criminal record. Marden nodded his approval, and while she sat at one of the computers and logged on, Lambert told him about the Sun story, suggesting that someone could be targeting paedophiles, and gave him a quick rundown on the Mayfield interview.
‘And what’s your opinion of this Mayfield character?’
‘I don’t think he killed Titmus. OK, he lied to us, but I think that’s because of his sex offences – offences which he and the victim were in all likelihood still committing. He gives the impression he’s running scared, knowing he could be next in line.’
Marden turned towards Ellis. ‘And is that your impression, Sergeant?’
‘Absolutely, sir. I think he fears for his life. With good reason.’
Like a bird of prey seeking its quarry, Marden’s eyes settled on Lambert. ‘So now you’ve let him go back to his boat on the marina, knowing there’s a killer on the loose.’
‘I was going to suggest, sir,’ Lambert said after an awkward pause, ‘that a patrol car cruises the marina at intervals.’
The door of the incident room burst open and DC Wallace marched in, breathless and looking slightly dishevelled from his afternoon of knocking on doors.
‘Where have you been?’ Lambert grumbled.
Wallace gave him a self-satisfied smile. ‘I think I got a result. One of the women in the flats is a real nosy type, and she says she saw the victim spending a lot of time with another bloke. It sounds like it was the bloke who found the body. And these two men often spent time on each other’s boats.’
Lambert was about to tell Wallace they already knew that, when Marden cut in. ‘Well done, Constable. Good work.’
The chief superintendent started to leave, then turned at the doorway and addressed Lambert. ‘I’ll sort out the patrol car for you.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Lambert mumbled grudgingly, but felt like saying, ‘Big of you.’
‘This’ll hit the nationals tomorrow. It’s going to be a big story. I’m afraid your weekend’s up the spout – all of you. Hope none of you have any plans for tomorrow. If someone is targeting all the paedophiles listed in the Sun, we need to act fast on this. I know some of you might think of this as wild justice, and they might well deserve to die, but we can’t let anarchy and vigilantism take over. The law must be upheld.’
He swept out, leaving Lambert wondering why the chief super could never make a clean exit, and always had to make a speech from the doorway, usually stating the obvious.
‘And there’s me thinking I could go after the sex offenders with a machete,’ he said.
DS Hazel snorted and said, ‘Unusual weapon, that. Any machete murders and you’ll be first to come up on a profile, Harry.’
Lambert smiled as he turned towards Hazel. ‘Good to have you running the office for us, Roger.’
‘Keeps me out of the rain.’
Turning back towards Wallace, Lambert thought he detected a strong peppermint smell on his breath, and suspected the detective constable of having spent some of his foot-slogging inquiry time in the pub. But now that smoking was banned in public, it was more difficult to tell if someone had been for one or two drinks. So short of actually catching Wallace skiving off, Lambert couldn’t actually prove it. Instead, he thought he’d wipe that smug look off the young detective’s face.
‘Sorry, Kevin, but we already knew about the relationship between the two men from the marina. I hope you haven’t wasted the entire afternoon.’
The sting showed in Wallace’s eyes briefly, and then he bounced back. ‘Oh, I think it’s been far from wasted, sir. Know what else this nosy neighbour told me? She’s got a balcony that looks out over the yacht basin, just about where the victim’s boat was moored. She’s an insomniac and she often sits out at night on the balcony. She wraps herself in a blanket when it’s chilly. On several occasions she saw the victim leaving his boat about one o’clock in the morning and return about an hour or so later.’
‘Was this on foot?’
‘When he returned, it was in a car. She thought, because of the restricted parking, he probably collected it from a car park nearby and drove to wherever he was going. And when he returned, he came back and left it on yellow lines because it was in the middle of the night, shifting it first thing in the morning. But here’s a peculiar thing she noticed: about three weeks ago he went out and came back around half two, and she could have sworn another car was following his.’
Lambert was suddenly alert. ‘Did she tell you what gave her that impression?’
‘As he was parking his car near where his boat was moored, she saw the other car ease quietly to a stop the other side of the marina and switch off its lights. She felt someone was inside the darkness of the car watching him, seeing where he was going. Then, as soon as he’d disappeared below in his boat, the other car switched its lights and engine on, reversed, and went off the way it came.’
‘Did she manage to see what sort of car it was?’
‘It was too dark and too far away. She couldn’t even make out the colour.’
‘What about the type of car? Four-by-four, saloon, hatchback?’
‘She thinks it could have been a medium-size saloon car but can’t be certain.’
Lambert tugged his lower lip thoughtfully with thumb and finger. ‘Hmm. Thank you, Kevin. Now that is interesting. So what about last night? Did she see anything from her balcony then?’
Wallace shook his head. ‘Last night she was staying at her sister’s in Cardiff. Didn’t get back until just before the police arrived at the scene earlier today.’
‘That was a bit thoughtless of her. If she’d stayed at home we’d have our killer in the cells by now.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Wallace said.
‘I was being ironic, Kevin.’
Kevin tugged at his moustache and stared at the floor. Feeling guilty, Lambert said, ‘But well done for the info about the car. Very useful.’ Then he told them about his meeting with McNeil outside the victim’s house.
‘You think he could have followed Titmus from his house, to find out where he was going?’ Ellis asked.
‘It’s distinctly possible. And McNeil struck me as an angry vigilante with too much time on his hands.’ Lambert checked his watch again. ‘Here’s what I’d like you and Kevin to do. Go and interview McNeil, see what you can find out about him. I didn’t tell him about the murder so you’ll be able to see if it comes as a genuine surprise.’
‘Unless he hears about it on the six o’clock news,’ Ellis said.
Lambert frowned thoughtfully. ‘I almost wish I’d told him now. But at the moment, because of what we’ve recently learnt from both Mayfield and Kevin’s witness at the marina, McNeil would appear to be top suspect. Debbie and I will be on our way to the crime scene at Carmarthen. And, unless we have any other sensational incidents tonight, we meet here at eight o’clock sharp tomorrow. It’ll have to be a brief meeting because I have to be at Cardiff for the post mortem by ten.’
‘Both post mortems, probably,’ Ellis said.
Lambert pulled a face. ‘Oh, I can’t wait!’
As they were leaving, he told DC Jones to bring the criminal records on the three sex offenders with her, so that she could read to him while he drove them over to Carmarthen.
‘Every so often I like a nice horror story,’ he said.