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“You might well wonder by the time we’ve finished. Anyway, I want you to identify the last customer, the top ten regular customers, and anyone purchasing items connected to the inquiry. By the time we’ve finished it should look as if the shop has been run on computers.”
“Any news about what was in the envelopes near the victim?” asked Thornton.
“No, but I’ve told SOCO I want them as soon as possible. I’m hoping we can see them before you lot leave here.”
Gardener turned his attention to Paul Benson. Despite only being twenty-three, Benson had been with Gardener for six months, and was proving to be an asset, not the least of which because his girlfriend, Natasha, was a legal secretary.
“I’d like you to head the team conducting a house-to-house of Bramfield. I want a list of all the locksmiths and tradesmen in the area, and get someone to talk to all of them. Have they used the shop recently? Have they bought anything connected to the inquiry, or done jobs for anyone that they might think is connected?
“Patrick, I’d like you to join Paul Benson and his team, but before you do, Sean will give you the registration of a fancy black car that was seen early this morning in Bramfield. Find out who it belongs to and pay them a visit. See what they were up to so early. Could be nothing, all very innocent, but I want to know.”
Patrick Edwards was the junior member of his squad: a twenty-one-year-old fresh-faced constable who had an earring in one ear that no one was pleased about. Gardener felt that he would make good one day.
Gardener turned to Thornton and Anderson. “Can you two start looking into Alex Wilson’s life? You know the drill, find out everything you can about him.
“Hopefully, we’ll build up a victimology of Alex Wilson. Find out who his friends and family are, if he has any. We’ll check his computer and bank accounts as well, if he has any of those, and we’ll look at pre-convictions.
“Whilst you lot go about your actions, Sean and I are going to interview Albert Armitage and Jackie Pollard. I think Pollard most definitely will be a known offender. We picked him up at the scene of the crime a little after four o’clock this morning. He looked as if he’d been there quite a while, but he claims he hadn’t. It’s a safe bet his prints will be all over everything. He’s also a known drug dealer. We’ll interview him after we’ve spoken to Armitage.”
Gardener turned to Maurice Cragg and introduced him to the rest of team.
“Maurice is local to the town and the station and has been here all his life. Make good use of him. He probably knows everything there is to know about everyone. In other words, Maurice is your local human search engine. He might even let you call him Craggle.”
That raised a laugh, which pleased Gardener. So far, there had been very little to smile about. He felt as if he’d put in a full day already, and they hadn’t yet reached lunchtime.
“And Maurice, in my absence, will you please look after the ANACAPA chart? Sean and I have a lot to get through today, and I’d appreciate it if I could entrust that task to you.”
“Be my pleasure, Mr Gardener,” replied the desk sergeant, who seemed to be really enjoying himself, as if the unusual incident had brightened up his life and given him a purpose.
A knock on the door interrupted the meeting. Cragg opened it, and Gardener recognized one of the SOCOs. He held out four clear, sealed packets.
“Mr Fenton, sir, said you needed these as soon as possible.”
Gardener thanked the officer before he left. Inside two of the clear wallets were the white envelopes that had been pinned to the wall close to Alex Wilson.
Gardener didn’t know whether to feel pleased or not. They might mean a boatload of extra work before they had even started. The problem might then be the amount of men he would be allowed to work on his other tasks.
He asked for his team to come up to the board as he opened the envelopes and pinned their contents to it.
It was Sean Reilly who spoke first. “That one’s easy enough, boss. It’s a tarot card. I think it’s The Fool.”
Gardener sighed. The investigation had now taken a wrong turn, not that there was ever a right one.
“Okay, we’ll talk about that later. And the other?” he asked.
No one spoke. Expressions remained blank.
The card was oblong, approximately three inches by two, and featured a character by the name of Inspector Catcher. He was wearing a trilby, was clean-shaven, and what could be seen of his hair was dark. He stood with a stance of authority, and wore a long plain overcoat. He was holding his arm out, and in his hand, he held an ID card. A little balloon from his mouth said ‘You’re Nicked!’
Gardener showed his team the reverse side of the card, which had one word in the centre, ‘Murder’ in a fancy font, with an hourglass underneath and a patent number.
It was plain to see that no one had a clue what the card was, or what the hell it belonged to.
Chapter Fourteen
After his team had left, Gardener realized it would not be an easy case to crack. But then, were any of them?
Reilly was in the corner of the room on his mobile. Gardener asked Cragg if he could arrange another round of tea for them both. As Cragg returned with the tray, Reilly concluded his conversation and flipped the phone shut.
