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“No idea,” said Gardener. “We could always put out a warrant for his arrest. He’d certainly have one then.”
A little levity helped brighten the team’s spirits.
“Benson? You mentioned Sean Rydell earlier. You were looking into Fisher’s accident. Have you found a connection?”
“I know that Sean Rydell was Frank Fisher’s business partner. Apparently, Fisher was rendered disabled because of an accident at the yard where they operated. The case went to court, which was probably down to some friendly persuasion from our infamous taxi-driver. Fisher won compensation. Sean Rydell committed suicide.
“I’ve been at the Crown Court in Leeds most of the afternoon. The woman in the archive office was very helpful. She’s going to print out all the notes for tomorrow morning. I’m going back when they open.”
“Well done. As soon as you have everything let us know.”
They were still unable to connect all the dots, thought Gardener, but things were beginning to fall into place nicely. The news on Sally Summerby definitely helped. He had not trusted her on the very first meeting, but he couldn’t let it cloud his thoughts tonight. He still had a lot more ground to cover.
“Dave. Sealing wax?”
“I’ve found a place in Rugby called The Celtic Shop. They sell all sorts of stuff, including wax gun kits, and they advertise it all on the Net. They have contracts with builders’ merchants nationally, some of which are in the LS postcode.”
“What’s in a wax gun kit?”
“Lots of different coloured wax, a gun, and a number of syringes. Could be just what we’re looking for.”
“Get on to the company first thing in the morning, see if you can get all the invoices for the last six months. Find out which merchants are stocking it, and then contact them, see if you can narrow it down further.”
“Will do, sir.”
Gardener made more notes. As he turned back to address the team, another knock on the door interrupted the meeting. The desk sergeant entered and held up some paperwork.
“Sir, we have a couple of witness statements here that make interesting reading. A Brian Rutter who lives on Willow Approach, round the corner from the television studios, reckons he saw a motorbike with a weird shaped trailer on the back, sometime in the early hours of the morning.”
“What time, and which way was it going?”
“About two o’clock, heading towards the abbey. Reason he thought it odd was because he’d convinced himself he could see a wheel sticking out the back, and maybe, just maybe, a foot poking out from underneath the canvas. But he’d had a bit to drink, so he couldn’t be too sure.”
“And the other?”
“Yes. Second one – Alan Wilton of Rothwell – definitely saw the contraption outside the bus stop near the abbey, parked up an hour later around three o’clock. He thought it was odd, but he couldn’t see anybody about, and he was in a rush to get home. He’d been away for a week on business in the Czech Republic, and his plane had recently landed. All he wanted to do was get home.”
“Okay, something more to go on. I want both of those witnesses contacted tomorrow morning. Visit them, talk to them – see if you can get more. And there are speed cameras and CCTV on those roads, so I want every scrap of footage on this. A motorbike with a weird trailer won’t be hard to spot.”
He turned to the board once more. “Mess” was not the word he would use. It resembled a minefield where several of them had gone off. Gardener pulled a file off a nearby chair and spread out its contents on the table in front of him.
“These are a couple of emails sent to a private detective by the name of Vincent Baines, reputedly from someone identifying himself as The Man in Black. In these, there appears to be a somewhat mild threat on the detective’s life. Personally, I think he’s in more danger if he ends up meeting Sean again.”
“Aren’t we all?” said Thornton.
“Some more than others,” added Reilly.
“We’re not sure, but we think they come from a man called Raymond Allen.”
“I’ve heard that name before,” said Bob Anderson.
“Well, maybe you and Frank could check it out for us. Raymond Allen has earned himself the nickname The Pudsey Poisoner. He escaped from Rampton a few weeks back, and no one has seen him since. From what I can work out, he seems to have it in for Vincent Baines because he feels Baines was responsible for him being sent down.
“The main reason I want him checking out is because in these emails he makes reference to the double murder in Batley, and has left a number of other cryptic clues that put him in the frame.”
“How do you mean?” asked Thornton.
“He’s claiming that the murders we’re investigating are parallel to something that happened way back in time, that history is repeating itself with these crimes. He informed Baines that the number of the year the first crime was committed added up to twenty. Baines was adamant that it was the first case he got caught up in. The year was 1982. Ironic that it should turn out that way, but Baines was wrong. Fitz has confirmed that Nicola Stapleton’s crime scene was identical to the murder of a woman named Hannah Brooke in Batley in 1865, which also adds up to twenty. And get this, it appears to have happened in exactly the same place.”
