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‘I’m going to have you, Pewe. You are going to really regret this.’
‘I don’t appreciate the tone of your voice, Roy.’
‘And I don’t appreciate SOCO officers crawling all over my home with a search warrant. You fucking stop them right now.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Pewe said, getting a little more courageous after realizing Grace was not going to hit him. ‘But following my interview with your late wife’s parents, I’m not comfortable that every aspect of your wife’s disappearance has been investigated as thoroughly as it should have been at the time.’
He smiled in conclusion, and Grace did not think he had ever hated anyone in all his life as much as he hated Cassian Pewe at this moment.
‘Really? Just what did her parents say to you that’s so new?’
‘Her father had quite a bit to say.’
‘Did he tell you his father was in the RAF during the war?’
‘Yes, actually, he did,’ Pewe said.
‘Did he tell you about any of the bombing sorties his father went on?’
‘In some detail. Fascinating. He sounds a character. He flew on some of the Dambusters missions. Extraordinary man.’
‘Sandy’s father is an extraordinary man,’ Grace confirmed. ‘He is a complete fantasist. His father was never in 617 Squadron – the Dambusters squadron. And he was an aircraft fitter, not a gu
Pewe was silent for a second, looking slightly uncomfortable. Grace stormed back out, crossed the corridor and marched straight into the Chief Superintendent’s office. He stood in front of Sker-ritt’s desk until his boss had finished a call and then said, ‘Jack, I need to talk to you.’
Skerritt ushered him to a chair. ‘How was New York?’
‘Good,’ he said. ‘Got some good information – I’ll circulate a report. I’ve literally just got back.’
‘Your Operation Dingo team seems to be making some headway. I see there’s a big operation going on today.’
‘Yes, there is.’
‘Are you letting DI Mantle run with it, or are you taking back command?’
‘I think today we’re going to need everyone,’ Grace said. ‘It’s going to depend on the geography to some extent who else we involve.’
Skerritt nodded. ‘So, what did you want to talk about?’
‘Detective Superintendent Pewe,’ he said.
‘Wasn’t my choice to bring him here,’ Skerritt said, giving Grace a knowing look.
‘I realize that.’ He was aware that Skerritt disliked the man almost as much as he did.
‘So what’s the problem?’
Grace told him.
When he had finished, Jack Skerritt shook his head incredulously. ‘I can’t believe he did this behind your back. It’s one thing to have an open investigation, and that can be a healthy thing, sometimes. But I don’t like the way this is being handled at all. Not one bit. How long has Sandy been missing now?’
‘Getting on for nine and half years.’
Skerritt thought for a moment, then looked at his watch. ‘Are you going to your briefing meeting?’
‘Yes.’
‘Tell you what I’ll do, I’ll speak to him now. Come and see me straight after your meeting.’
Grace thanked him, and Skerritt picked up the phone as he was leaving the office.
115
At 9.15 Abby drove the black Honda diesel off-roader she had rented last night, on Ricky’s very specific instructions, up the hill towards Sussex House. Her stomach felt as if it was full of hot needles, and she was shaking.
Taking deep, steady breaths, she tried her hardest to keep calm and not let another panic attack come on. She was on the verge of one, she knew. She had that slightly disembodied feeling that was always the precursor.
It was ironic, she thought, that Southern Deposit Security was less than half a mile away from the building she was headed to now.
She pulled the car up as instructed, in front of the massive green, steel gate and put the handbrake on. Sitting on the passenger seat was the plastic groceries bag she had put her mother’s medications in yesterday. Also inside it was a Jiffy bag. Her suitcase was back in her room at the hotel.
Gle
‘You OK?’ he asked.
She nodded bleakly.
He put a protective arm around her shoulder. ‘You’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘I think you are a strong lady. We’ll get your mum back safely. And we’ll get your stamps too. He thinks he’s chosen a smart place, but he hasn’t. It’s dumb.’
‘Why do you say that?’
Ushering her through a door into a bare stairwell, he said, ‘He’s chosen the place to frighten you. That’s his priority, but it shouldn’t be. You’re frightened enough, so he doesn’t need to ratchet things up. He’s not thinking this through. He’s not doing it the way I’d do it.’
‘What if he sees any of you?’ she asked, walking along a corridor, struggling to keep pace with him.
‘He won’t. Not unless we have to show ourselves. We’ll only do that if we start to think you are in danger.’
‘He will kill her,’ she said. ‘He’s that spiteful. If anything goes wrong, he’d do it for the hell of it.’
‘We understand that. You have the stamps?’
She lifted up the carrier bag to show him.
‘Didn’t want to risk leaving them in your car in a police station?’ He gri
116
Cassian Pewe was already seated at the conference table in Jack Skerritt’s office when Grace returned after the briefing meeting. The two men avoided eye contact.
The Chief Superintendent gestured for Grace to sit down, then he said, ‘Roy, Cassian tells me that he realizes he made an error of judgement by setting in motion what he did at your house. The team there has been instructed to leave.’
Grace shot Pewe a glance. The man was steadfastly staring at the table, like a scolded child. He did not look as if he regretted anything.
‘He explained that he was doing it to help you,’ Skerritt went on.
‘To help me?’
‘He said that he feels there is an unhealthy amount of i
Pewe nodded reluctantly. ‘Yes – er – sir.’
‘He says he felt that if he could prove, one hundred per cent, that you had nothing to do with her disappearance, it would end that once and for all.’
‘I’ve never heard any i
‘With respect, Roy,’ Pewe said, ‘quite a few people think that the original investigation was a rushed job and that you had a hand in bringing it to a premature stop. They are asking why.’
‘Name one of them?’
‘That wouldn’t be fair on them. All I’m trying to do is to revisit the evidence, using the best modern techniques and technology we have, in order to totally exonerate you.’
Grace had to bite his tongue; he could not believe the man’s arrogance. But this wasn’t the moment to start a slanging match. He needed to get away from here in a few minutes and into position for Abby Dawson’s rendezvous, which had been set for 10.30.
‘Jack, can we come back to this later? I’m not at all happy about it, but I have to get going.’
‘Actually, I was thinking it might be a good idea if Cassian came with you, in your car. He could be invaluable to your team in the current situation.’ He turned to Pewe. ‘I’m correct, aren’t I, Cassian, that you are an experienced hostage negotiator?’
‘I am, yes.’
Grace could hardly believe his ears. God help any poor sodding hostage who ends up with Pewe negotiating for him, he thought.