Destruction of Evidence (19 page)

Ignoring her question, he checked the blinds were closed before turning the light back on. ‘I hope you can’t see through those from outside.’

‘You can’t.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I tried before I knocked.’

‘Trevor is living here too.’

‘I saw him go into the pub with Tim Pryce twenty minutes ago.’

‘You were watching the yard?’

‘Yes.’ She sat down.

‘Carol…’

‘Don’t try telling me that you haven’t missed me, Pete.’ She looked up defiantly at him. ‘Because if you do, I won’t believe you.’

Trevor found the gate. It was oak, protected by close wrought iron-work, seven foot high and set in an even higher stone wall. Tim Pryce was more cautious with the security of his property than Alun Pitcher had been. But, the key code worked and Tim hadn’t been wary of giving it him, which said something for an ex-copper’s respect for the local police.

The light flashed on but Trevor didn’t need it. Tim had mentioned how bright the moon had been when he’d seen Ken Lloyd’s dog by the river. Trevor doubted it could have been any brighter than it was at that moment. He opened the latch and stepped into the lane. The stench of smoke grew even stronger bringing tears to his eyes and rawness to his throat.

Tim was right. Only a few feet of tarmac separated the back of the pub wall from the Pitcher’s yard. He closed the gate and spotted the arc of a glowing cigarette. The pin prick of light moved closer.

‘May I ask what you’re doing here, sir?’

‘Checking out the crime scene, Sergeant Howell.’ Trevor stepped out of the shadows.

‘Sorry, sir. Didn’t recognise you.’

‘You’re still on duty?’

‘We’re short on manpower. I volunteered a double shift. At the moment I’m relieving Constable Murphy so he can grab a cuppa. It’s not easy keeping the public out of an open access without a gate. The super wants the area watched round the clock until the forensic teams move out.’

‘You seem to have discovered the secret of living without sleep, Sergeant Howell.’

‘Goes with the job. And it’s not only me. All the locals want Larry Jones to go down and we’re prepared to do whatever it takes to get an airtight case that will see him put away up for life.’

Trevor wondered just how far “the locals” would go to get a life sentence for Larry Jones. He’d heard officers say “Whatever it takes” before, and seen the results in mistrials and cases thrown out because of tampered evidence. None of which had reflected well on the investigating force. He changed the subject. ‘Have many people tried to get into the yard today?’

Frank indicated a mound of flowers that had been heaped to the right of the entrance. ‘When we ran out of room on the pavement at the front of the house, the Pitchers’ friends and neighbours came to pay their respects here. Those who knew the family were no trouble, just handed the tributes over to us, but it hasn’t been easy keeping the reporters and TV news crews at bay. Some turned aggressive when Tim Pryce and the accountant’s refused to allow them access to their back windows. We intervened but the bastards kept citing free speech – and “the public’s right to know”. Then they hung around here all day filming people crying. We’ve also had a few ghouls standing and staring. A couple even asked if the bodies were still in the house, sick sods. But then, they were either from the Garth Estate or outsiders.’

Trevor reflected there was no one like a beat copper for pigeonholing people into “good” and “bad”. ‘No one else?’

‘That was enough for us to cope with in one day, sir.’

‘I’m back, Frank. Thanks for covering.’ Jim Murphy left the mobile HQ and joined them.

‘Want to come into the HQ for a cuppa, sir?’ Frank offered.

‘Has any new information come in from the public in the last few hours?’ Trevor asked Jim.

‘No, sir. It’s not for the want of people trying to help, but they can’t report what they didn’t see. We’ve still no sightings of anyone just before the fire started or when it was burning, other than Ken Lloyd’s of a person on the fire escape. And he was too far away to identify Larry Jones.’

‘The jewellery and matches we found on Larry might not be enough for a conviction of murder or even arson – only receiving stolen goods and burglary as we’ve no evidence that proves he was in the Pitchers’ house. In my opinion the super was right to send for you.’ Frank spoke as though he was the only officer in the force who agreed with Reggie Moore’s decision.

‘As there’s nothing new I’ll forgo the tea, Sergeant Howell, and take a look around the yard and fire escape.’

‘Want to get the feel of the place, sir?’

‘Yes,’ Trevor conceded.

‘Want me to come with you, sir?’

‘Thank you, it would be useful to have the viewpoint of a local who knows the area.’ Trevor approached the back of the house, looked around and went to the building where Larry Jones had been found.

‘Bastard picked a good place to sleep it off. Even with the doors off it’s not easy to see inside in daytime. Night time it’s impossible,’ Frank peered into the dark interior as if he wanted to prove what he’d said.

Trevor stepped inside and exchanged the stench of smoke for something more unpleasant. ‘You’d either have to lose your sense of smell or be desperate to hide to go inside.’

‘The place honks,’ Frank concurred.

‘Is there a sewage problem or is it being used as a lavatory?’

‘There’s no sewage pipes or manholes inside. I watched forensic check it out this morning.’

‘Someone mentioned that a vagrant broke into the pub and the accountant’s. Do they congregate around here?’ Trevor asked.

‘The one who broke in was old Mitch and that was a long time back, sir. We’ve a few hopeless homeless cases in the town. Mainly addicts and drunks but we’ve had no complaints about them hanging round here. They mostly congregate around the old bus station. If Alun or Tim had seen them in the lane they would have chased them away.’

‘Then why this stink?’ Trevor demanded.

‘I don’t know,’ Frank admitted.

‘It might be worth finding out who has been using this place as a toilet and how long it’s been going on.’ Glad to step away from the building and into the yard, Trevor went to the fire escape and began climbing, stopping every few steps to check the view of the surroundings. When he reached the kitchen floor, he walked along the balcony and stared down towards the river. On the far side a black dog was racing around moon-silvered fields.

‘Ken’s been out fishing every night since the fire. His wife has put him in the doghouse for sure,’ Frank stood alongside him.

‘I gather she disapproves.’

‘Of everything Ken enjoys.’ Frank looked sideways at Trevor. ‘The whole town is upset about what’s happened to Alun and his family, but Ken’s devastated. He and Alun were close.’

‘I heard.’ Trevor left the balcony and continued to climb. Passing the balcony on the next floor he carried on until he reached attic level. ‘This is the part of the fire escape Ken Lloyd saw someone on after the fire had broken out, isn’t it?’

‘He said he saw someone descending from the attic stairway to the next level down.’

‘But the first firemen, you, and Tim Pryce saw no one when you arrived.’

‘That’s right. Tim was in the yard when I turned up. Minutes later the officers on the fire tender arrived and sent us out front to Main Street.’

‘Tim’s already told me he saw no one else here. Did you see anyone in the street on your way from the station?’

‘Dr Edwards, he lives at the end of Main Street in the old Manor. He came out after hearing the explosion. He thought his professional services would be needed.’

‘Tim said the fire officers sent you to the front of the house for safety reasons.’

‘It was bedlam here. The back of the house was ablaze, the yard full of smoke, windows were shattering, glass splinters raining down.’

‘Yet Larry Jones slept through it all?’

‘He must have,’ Frank countered.

‘Don’t you think that’s odd?’

‘Not when you consider how drunk he was.’

‘Some might think he was too drunk to murder anyone.’

‘I’ve seen the photographs of the bodies of the Pitchers, sir, and with all due respect to your rank, I think someone would have to be drunk to do something like that to another human being.’

Sensing he would get nowhere if he suggested Larry might not have acted alone – or might even be innocent – Trevor changed the subject. ‘So, when you, Tim and the fire officers arrived none of you thought to check the buildings in the yard.’

‘Given the severity of the fire all the fire officers were concerned about was controlling it. They knew another tender was on its way. They’d spoken to the officer in charge and asked him to tackle the blaze from Main Street. They were also concerned about the safety of the residents of Main Street which is why they asked me to evacuate the area.’

‘Who reached here first, you or Tim Pryce?’

‘Tim was here when I arrived.’

‘What time was that?’

‘3.12.’

‘You’re very precise.’

‘Call came into the station at 3.03 am. I alerted everyone on duty and directed them to the front of Main Street, ordered Jim Murphy to call in everyone else then ran down here. I glanced at the time when I arrived.’

‘And the first fire tender?’

‘Arrived a couple of minutes after me at 3.14. It will be on the timeline.’

Trevor walked up to the attic floor and gazed at the view. ‘I understand why the Pitchers built the balconies. This was quite a house.’

‘Alun made the best of it, although it was Lee’s idea to add balconies to the fire escape. I think he wanted some privacy. Understandable in someone his age still living with his parents. He rarely bothered with the front door, always used to walk up and down here. I often saw him climbing up when I was on night patrol.’

‘Foot patrol?’ Trevor checked.

‘In a town this size, not likely, but when you drive into the centre from the bridge end you get a good view of the back of these houses. Anyone climbing the fire escape or sitting out on one of these balconies is in plain view. I’ve often seen Lee here in summer in the early hours.’

‘With anyone?’ Trevor turned and studied the door that led into the attic.

Frank thought for a moment and more or less repeated what Tim had said. ‘Every time I saw one of the two older Pitcher boys they had a girl with them and rarely the same one twice. With Michael it was always Alison, but the older two …’ He smiled wryly. ‘Every man in town envied their power to attract. If only it was as simple as the advertisements would have us believe. Wear the right aftershave and it can happen to you.’ There was envy in Frank’s voice.’

‘So Lee played the field?’

‘And James. You know what youngsters are like these days. My sons were the same when they were single. They’d fit four girls into twenty-four hours if they could. In my day it was one at a time and none of this experimenting with sex.’

Trevor deftly steered the conversation back on track. ‘There are only two chairs on this attic balcony. Was Lee usually with a female or male friend?’

‘Both, but generally men in the early hours. It’s a pleasant place to sit with a mate and have a few drinks after the pubs close. If a woman was with him, chances were they’d be inside and in bed.’

‘Could Lee have annoyed someone’s partner?’

‘There’s no way Larry Jones moved in the same circles as Lee Pitcher if that’s what you’re thinking.’ Frank gazed at Trevor. ‘Surely you’re not looking for someone else. The jewellery tells us that Larry Jones killed the Pitchers. All we need is a few more pieces of evidence. My gut tells me it’s there, waiting for us somewhere in the house. I’m sure of it.’

‘If it is, the forensic teams will find it.’

‘They seem to know what they’re doing,’ Frank agreed grudgingly. ‘I just wish they’d hurry up about it.’

‘You married, Sergeant Howell?’ Trevor asked as they began the long descent.

‘Twice. Never again. My first wife left me over twenty years ago with two boys under three and moved in with a plumber from Carmarthen. If my mother hadn’t taken us in I don’t know how I’d have managed. I swore I’d never get caught again but five years later I met another girl. I thought we were happy but after twelve years she went out on a hen night and met an Australian. A month later she took our two girls and went to Oz. That was three years ago. I’ve seen the kids once since. I flew out there but my missus and her new bloke, made it clear they didn’t want me around.’

‘What about your daughters?’

‘They barely remembered me. I managed to swap my flight and came home early,’

‘I’m sorry.’ Trevor was; before Lyn his personal life had been a disaster. They reached the yard. ‘See you at the changeover briefing in the morning?’

‘As it’ll be the tail end of my double shift I’ll be there. Super’s put everyone on twelve-hour shifts until further notice.’

‘If hard work counts we’ll get the breakthrough we need, Sergeant Howell.’

‘Call me Frank, guv, we don’t go in much for titles around here.’