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Gary’s eyes were full of tears, and the football had now moved into his throat.
“What do you mean, phone me last night... did everything you could?”
The nurse returned with the water. Ross put it on the table near the bed.
“I’m so sorry, Gary, but your mother passed away last night.”
Chapter Forty-eight
Back at the incident room, Gardener sensed mixed emotions. His team was busy. Some were reading through the files that Cragg had managed to find. Others were updating the ANACAPA chart and making telephone calls.
He felt an air of excitement. He also realized how tired his men were. Despite the fact that it had not been a long investigation in so far as man-hours were concerned, it had felt like it. The days had been exhausting, and they had been made to fight for every piece of information.
He drew everyone’s attention, informing his officers of what he and Reilly had been told by Simon Walker.
“Sinclair invented the game?” asked Bob Anderson, when Gardener had finished.
“He did more than that,” said Reilly. “According to Walker, he spent his entire life – apart from school hours – in that place. He even got himself involved in some of the commercial games.”
“What kind of a mind puts together a game as complicated as that at nine years old?” Thornton asked.
“What I’d like to know is why,” said Gardener. “At that age, most of us are playing football, or hide and seek.”
“Or watching the telly,” said Reilly. “Given the timescale. It was the early Seventies.”
“Or playing board games,” added Anderson.
Gardener smiled at the irony, and then continued. “Walker showed us a copy of the game, with the cards that we have here on the chart. Told us a bit about how it worked, before dropping the bombshell.
“After we left Walker, we went across to the Foundation, but Sinclair was nowhere to be found. They were trying to raise him. Apparently they lost a patient last night. We also tried his home, but he wasn’t there either.”
“So, what are we going to do?” asked Paul Benson.
“Continue with the files. Let’s find every piece of evidence we can, make a water-tight case. Sean and I will concentrate on trying to locate him, and then pick him up for questioning.”
Cragg raised his hand. “I have some information about Adam’s death that might help.”
“Go on,” said Gardener.
“According to witness statements, Adam Sinclair was chased through the town by two people that were never identified. Alex Wilson was fingered, but no one was prepared to state that on oath. The two that chased him had been seen earlier at the crossroads of Bridge Street and Park Street, outside the station gates. It’s a bit of a local haunt for drugs.
“Adam had been walking home from a party, texting his girlfriend. Maybe the two drug dealers thought he was filming them. Anyway, whatever they thought, they chased Adam and caught him, finally cornering him in the alley on Market Street leading to the indoor market.
“Later that same night, Lance Hobson was seen in and around the town. The next thing we know, Adam’s body was found doused in alcohol and wrapped in a blanket, either to make it look as if he was a down-and-out, or a drunk. One of the market traders found him around five o’clock in the morning.
“Estimated time of death was between midnight and two o’clock. The post-mortem revealed he’d been given a massive dose of drugs, a lethal cocktail from which he would never recover.”
Gardener sighed. Lance Hobson again. Where the hell was that man?
“It’s highly likely then that Hobson and Wilson had been involved in Adam’s death?”
“Yes, but it was never proven,” replied Cragg. “No one was prepared to testify against them. We
simply didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute. And even if we had, chances are, Ronson would have got them off.”
“But that wouldn’t matter to Sinclair, would it now?” said Reilly. “He didn’t need to know whether we could prove it or not. He had enough evidence, as far as he was concerned.”
“He must have carried out his own investigations,” said Gardener. “What happened to Adam’s phone? If he was texting his girlfriend, he must have had it with him. So where did it end up?”
