CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

 

As soon as Gary saw Kate arrive, he followed her into her office and closed the door. ‘Sorry, ma’am, but I think there may be something very unpleasant going on over at Harlan Marsh.’

‘And it involves Cade?’ She almost spat the name out.

Gary sat heavily down in the chair opposite her. ‘He has taken personal command of the drinking club investigation, and he’s keeping things very close to his chest. However, my mate has been drafted into his team to help them.’

‘So does he think Cade is protecting someone?’

‘He thought so, to begin with, but now he’s really worried. Take a look at this. It’s is a scan of one of the pictures that Cade commandeered. My friend e-mailed it to me.’ He took a folded sheet of copier paper from his inside pocket, straightened it out and passed it across the desk. ‘Do you remember it? It’s where young Nic Barley is talking to two men?’

‘The one that you and Jon commented on recognising one of the men?’

Gary nodded. ‘Look closely, ma’am. This man is obscured by the shadow from the building, but I don’t think it’s one of Cade’s buddies at all, I think it is Cade.’

Even though the door was tightly closed, Gary dropped his voice lower. ‘And guess what? The original disappeared shortly after my friend procured this. And the CCTV tape met with an unfortunate accident too.’ He pointed to the picture. ‘No-one knows about this and now, ma’am, it’s the only copy.’

The DCI snatched the picture up and peered at it. ‘My God! It’s not enough to challenge him on, but I’d say you are right!’

Jon leaned over and took it from her. ‘So that’s who it reminded me of,’ he whispered. ‘The bastard!’ His face snapped up. ‘Guv, I’ve heard that there’s computer software available that could compare the shape and dimensions of the man in that picture. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just as long as part of it is complete; the programme is so sophisticated that it fills in the gaps. All we need is another photo of Cade for comparison, and we could identify him as being involved.’

‘And we have that kind of technology?’

‘We don’t, but the University does. Ted was telling me they use similar techniques of photo superimposition when they have a photograph of a missing individual and a skull to match it to.’

Kate frowned and nibbled at the inside of her cheek. ‘We’d be well outside regulations if we did that. And if we do go down that route, I can’t tell you how careful we’d have to be. Can you imagine the furore if it got out? And you could double that if we’ve got it wrong? None of us would have jobs, and that’s just for starters.’

‘The words shit and fan do spring to mind, Guv, but we have to know if a senior officer is bent.’ Jon’s brow knit itself into a furrowed mass, then he turned and looked intently at Gary. ‘You’ve worked for him; we all know he’s a slime-ball, but do you believe it’s possible that he’s mixed up in something as sick as this?’

‘Yes, Sarge.’ Gary didn’t need to think. ‘I have no proof, he’s too clever by far, but I’d stake my pension on it.’

‘So the next question that arises is, just how involved is he? On the outer edge, like getting his rocks off watching some dirty sex, or is he in much deeper?’ Kate looked as though she had been sucking lemons. ‘Although I doubt he had anything to do with the actual abductions. Surely even Cade wouldn’t sink that low?’

‘Probably not, but that kind of perverted set up is always bound to attract some-thing much nastier, like a full-blown predator.’ Jon scratched his head. ‘Although you would have thought that the organisers would have been ultra careful about who got invited to their nasty little soirees?’

Gary thought about Toni Clarkson. ‘Young Toni said that she’d been to these gatherings several times, but the man who took her on to the bogus ‘party’ was a stranger.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘This is just a thought, ma’am, but would Toni recognise Cade as one of the organisers, if we showed her his photo?’

‘We can’t do that, Gary,’ interjected Jon. ‘If anyone found out they’d throw the book at us. It would be construed as putting ideas into her head. And she’d recognise him anyway. Don’t forget he’s a friend of her father.’

‘But not as much as we originally assumed.’ added Kate. ‘I’m willing to bet that Cade is only pals with Neil Clarkson because of the money he donates to police coffers. Somehow I don’t think they socialize outside Lodge meetings. They couldn’t be more different.’ She gave a humourless little laugh. ‘And you don’t have kids, do you, Jon? Toni will have about as much interest in her father’s friends as she would a copy of the Communist Party Manifesto.’

‘So are you suggesting that we show her his photo?’ he asked.

‘It’s very risky, and we can’t do it with the parents around, but yes, I think we do.’ She gave an irritated sigh. ‘With all these deaths, we really don’t have time for this, but..,’ she shrugged. ‘…I believe that it has to be done.’

Gary felt her eyes fall on him.

‘This will be totally off the record, and you don’t have to be part of it. Your job could be in jeopardy if you’re caught.’

Gary took a deep breath and straightened up. ‘I’ll risk it, Guv. There are things that I know, or suspect about Cade that only a man who worked with him would know. I’ll go out on a limb to catch him.’

‘If you’re absolutely sure? Toni really liked you. In the hospital she trusted you more than anyone, so you talk to her, and in private, remember?’ She paused. ‘And I don’t think it’s the right time to tell her about Emily, unless she asks. I’ll leave that decision to you.’

Gary gave a curt nod. ‘I’ll play it by ear, ma’am. But could I say something before I go?’

‘Of course.’

Gary took a deep breath. ‘All this photo stuff is fine. Of course we must follow it up. And I have no doubt that we could prove its Cade.’ He paused, knowing how much Jon would be against this idea. ‘But in the end he’ll wriggle out. God knows how, but he’ll do it. I think we have to catch him red-handed. We need to go back undercover, to another one of those illegal parties, and arrest him in situ.’

No-one spoke immediately then Kate drew in a long breath. ‘Get the other two in here.’

‘But, ma’am..?’ Concern shone in Jon Summerhill’s eyes.

‘Get Rosie and Scott. This is a decision for the team to make. Not me, not you Jon, but all of us.’

It didn’t take long. Maybe fifteen minutes, and in the end, Jon was out-voted. Rosie made a call to her new clubbing buddy Will, and said that she was going out to meet him. ‘He loves his brother, and he’ll be as glad as us to see the drinking club closed down.’ She looked earnestly at Kate. ‘I trust him, he’s a nice kid, and I think he’ll forgive me for lying to him. I’m sure he’ll help us.’

‘And I’ll go with Rosie this time.’ said Scott purposefully. ‘It’s against my religion, but as it’s in such a good cause, I’ll slum it too.’

‘Then we watch for the texts. It won’t be for a few days, but when we get the message, we’ll go in.’

‘And if Cade’s there, we hit the place with every officer we can spare.’ added Jon grimly. ‘And in the meantime, I’ll organise the photo evidence with Ted.’

‘This sounds more like the sergeant that we know and love.’ said Kate.

‘Frankly, ma’am, in retrospect, if it means we take Cade down; then I’ll dress up in a rah-rah skirt myself and dance on a table.’

Kate smiled; Jon was really warming to the idea.

 

As he closed the door behind him, Gary felt a curious emotion take hold of him. He had never realised before exactly how much he hated Chief Superintendent Cade. The man had been around for so long, he was like a resident evil; something you learned to live with like a disability or a terrible illness. Because of his rank and his ‘popularity’ with the social high flyers, you felt powerless. You think things will never change. And now they had the chance to change everything. With careful planning, the untouchable Cade could be brought down.

Gary went to his desk and switched on the computer. If he got this right, and he knew exactly how to go about it, he could be instrumental in righting an awful lot of wrongs.

A determined smile spread across his face. He was very glad he’d come to work with DCI Reynard in Saltfleet.

 

Kate prayed that she was doing the right thing. Risking her job was one thing, but allowing others to do the same was different all together. She looked anxiously at Jon. ‘Do you trust Ted Watchman?’

‘I do.’ Jon nodded, to add weight to his statement.

‘Then go find him. See what is needed for that photo comparison, and tell him we need total caution regarding who works on this. It cannot get back to anyone here or anywhere else, okay?’

Jon nodded again, murmured a swift thank you, and left the room.

Kate turned to Scott. ‘Could you get together as many free hands as you can from the other teams? We need to compare this list against missing persons and unsolved cases,’ She handed him the paper given to her by Tommy Thorne. ‘We have clothing, first names and dates of birth, so we need to start identifying the victims as quickly as possible. Tell them I want their findings as soon as they have them. And Scotty, you to concentrate on a teenager called Fleur. We believe she was the first death, maybe twenty years ago, so you can work out the rough time of her disappearance from that.’ She paused for breath. ‘Oh, and ask Clive to contact whoever is on duty at Benedict Broome’s house to find me a sample of Elizabeth Sewell’s handwriting. Now, I have the unenviable task of grovelling to the Super about using a psychologist that Prickles suggested we bring in. And I think she’ll like that idea about as much as an ice-water enema.’

As Kate walked to the lifts she glanced at her watch. The FMO at Harlan Marsh had promised to ring as soon as it was possible for her to interview Micah Lee, and he hadn’t. Knowing what she now knew, she wondered if the hold up was anything to do with Cade. She still found it hard to get her head around the fact that he would risk so much; a high powered job with untold fringe benefits and a bloody good pension, just to watch a few teenagers groping each other in the dark? It was all too much to take on board, especially when she had a psychopathic killer, thirteen murder victims, and suspects to interview. She felt a shiver of apprehension and stopped short.

Dear Lord, had she sent Micah Lee to Harlan Marsh, and into the tender care of a man who knew all about him?

Her mouth dried as she hurried towards the Super’s office. This case was taking them into very dangerous waters indeed, and it was up to her to steer them through to safety. She just prayed that she was up to it.