Frozen Grave (30 page)

‘Do you recognize all the names on this list?’ Carter asked, watching Ellerman, who was scanning the list of names as if looking to see who might be missing.

Petron answered first: ‘I think my client needs time to look through this list thoroughly. He can’t be expected to make a snap decision.’

‘Sure. Okay. He can do that. For now, let’s go back to Gillian Forth, the woman you said you didn’t know, but then changed your mind. The woman you say you weren’t in a
relationship with.’ Carter tapped his finger on the third page of the letter. ‘It says here that you were seeing her for eighteen months and you met on a dating site called Love Uniform
Dating. Is that correct?’

‘It could be. I can’t remember exactly. I haven’t seen her in a while. I told you.’

‘When was the last time you saw her?’

‘I think it was about six months ago, last summer. I called in when I was working in the area.’

‘So, you haven’t seen her in six months? You’re sure about that?’

‘To the best of my knowledge. I might be slightly out. It’s been a while anyway.’

‘Did you keep in touch in any way? Did you phone or email her?’

‘No.’

‘So when I look at Gillian’s phone records, I won’t find any recent activity between the two of you?’

‘We phone each other sometimes. We text “hello”. We exchange the odd message, that’s all.’

‘What kind of messages were sent between you?’

He shrugged. ‘The usual.’

‘And that is?’

‘Sometimes just a hello, how are you? Other times a bit more racy.’

‘Racy? What kind of thing would you say in your message?’

‘I don’t know, for God’s sake! Things like: “I’m feeling horny, would love to be shagging you right now.” That kind of thing. The type of sex messaging that
everyone sends these days.’

‘Do they? I don’t. Do you, DC Willis?’

‘No, sir,’ she answered.

‘Okay, well, I’m sorry your lives are so dull.’ Ellerman kept his eyes on Willis as he answered, sitting back in his chair and smiling sarcastically. ‘But other people
besides Met officers then.’

‘Would you send sexually explicit messages to women you had never had sex with?’

‘Probably not.’

‘Yes or no?’

‘I would if I anticipated having sex with them but I wouldn’t just message a stranger with something explicit.’

‘So you knew Gillian Forth in a sexual way, an intimate way.’

‘I told you I did.’

‘No, you said it wasn’t intimate.’

‘It was physically intimate, not emotionally. I’ve already told you – it wasn’t a serious relationship. I am a married man who enjoys the company of women besides my
wife. It isn’t a crime.’

‘It was serious enough for you to text her every day.’

‘I didn’t text her every day. I told you, it was a casual relationship. She knew it was never going to go anywhere.’

‘Not according to her friends; she felt she was in a relationship that would definitely lead somewhere.’ Ellerman shook his head. He didn’t answer. ‘What can you tell me
about Gillian, Mr Ellerman?’

‘She was just a normal sort. Not a lot more I can tell you really.’

‘A normal sort? Normal for you? Did she typify the women you go for?’ Ellerman didn’t answer. He shrugged.

‘She was professional, hard-working, career-minded. She was a strong character just like Olivia Grantham. Is that your type?’

‘I don’t have a type.’

‘Yes, you do – they have to be willing to part with a lot of money.’

‘I resent that accusation. I am always truthful.’

Carter could see that the lawyer was about to step in and stop the interview. Carter smiled and offered Ellerman something to drink.

‘How often did you see Gillian, do you think?’ Carter resumed his questioning.

‘Sometimes once a week, sometimes not for a fortnight. Whenever I had business down her way.’

‘Eighteen months is a long time to maintain a relationship.’

‘It is easier when you don’t see someone often. It was a casual relationship, as I said.’

‘And you think she viewed it that way?’

‘Yes, I think she did.’

‘Can I just stress, Mr Ellerman, we have ordered Gillian Forth’s phone records and we will see the truth.’

‘I have nothing to hide.’

‘So you told her all about the other women?’

‘No. That is my business.’

‘She didn’t know about the other women?’

‘No, not as far as I know.’

‘None of these women knew about each other until they got this letter, is that right?’

‘I can’t answer that.’

‘But they weren’t supposed to know about one another?’

‘No, obviously not.’

‘So that’s the kind of truth that you were talking about, is it? That’s your interpretation of the truth? Must be difficult for you to know which one wrote the letter? One of
them has
obviously
done her homework.’

‘Illegally gained access to private information.’

‘You say your relationship was a casual one with Gillian Forth, but was it also a financial one?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We know that Olivia Grantham invested in your Hacienda Renovations company – did Gillian Forth also?’

He didn’t want to answer; he mumbled.

Petron looked at him. ‘You don’t have to answer.’

‘No. But I have nothing to hide. Yes, I believe Gillian did invest a sum of money in my company.’

‘That will be . . . in the company that . . .’ Carter picked up the page where Ellerman’s bogus company was exposed. ‘The company that it says in the letter
doesn’t exist.’

‘It does exist.’

‘Well, we know it’s a registered company. It has accounts that show a non-profit. It’s worth a nominal amount of one hundred pounds. Where does all the money invested
go?’

‘It goes into restoring Spanish properties. I have some accounts I can show you.’

‘I don’t need to see them. We are conducting our own searches. If necessary, we will send officers out to Spain to hunt down the truth. We won’t stop now, Mr Ellerman.
We’re very grateful to whoever sent this letter. We intend contacting each of the women and asking them all about their relationship with you. You had better prepare your wife for some
unpleasant surprises. One more question, Mr Ellerman – have you ever heard of a hostel for the homeless called Faith and Light?’

‘No, I haven’t.’

Ellerman drove home after the interview, but first, his lawyer took him for a drink. They had a lot to talk through.

‘Okay – well, thanks for going through the list of these women with me,’ said Petron. ‘I will hopefully not need to contact them. We have to see what the police come up
with. I can tell that they are just fishing at the moment. They don’t have enough to charge you with anything. They’re hoping the Spanish company, the women’s investments, will
lead them to something. They don’t want to spend money getting sidetracked with going to Spain unless they can connect it with the murders. Just sit tight and don’t answer any more
questions. Do you have alibis for the nights the women were murdered?’

‘I was either on the road or I was with a woman. I can call on them if I have to but I’d rather not.’

‘How many of those women are you actually involved with?’

‘I probably see five women regularly, another eight when I can. I haven’t seen the rest of them on that list for over a year.’

‘Jesus . . . if you don’t mind me saying so, that’s a lot of work to maintain that many relationships at once.’

‘Normally, it works like clockwork. As long as you do the same things at the same time every day then you can keep control of it. Nothing can be left to chance.’

‘It doesn’t feel . . . difficult? You don’t feel like you’re being a bastard?’

‘I’m giving the women a part of me. I’m giving them what they want. I don’t go into it thinking that it won’t work out. All of the women have meant something to
me.’

‘But you just can’t finish it, or what?’

‘I don’t want to finish it.’

‘Do you have any idea who could have written the letter?’

‘I think it must be one of the five that I see almost every week. Some of the women on the list I call in at for lunch, for the afternoon; they just wouldn’t have a chance to look at
my phone. It has to be a woman who I spend the night with. Is someone trying to frame me for the murders?’

‘Perhaps.’

‘I didn’t do it.’

‘I don’t think they’re seriously thinking that you were anywhere near, but they obviously suspect you of having organized them. It’s about the money. It’s all about
the women giving you money and ending up dead. I want you to go home and stay home. No more going around the country visiting women.’

‘I have work to do. I won’t give in to this bullshit. The women’s deaths have nothing to do with me. It’s up to the police to prove it.’

‘Well, believe me, they are going to try. These were completely innocent victims in all this, John. I won’t lie – you don’t come out of this smelling so good.’

‘I don’t know what you’re implying. I’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘Technically, maybe not. Morally? That’s a different question. I think most people would consider it wrong to go round the country using women as you go. You told me yourself that
some of them are single parents, one of them has been with you for five years. I mean – I like the odd fling, but all these women, really? And the money that they’ve parted with –
in good faith?’

‘Absolutely in good faith and I resent the implication that they’ve been conned out of money. They knew what they were getting into.’

‘Yeah, that’s the bit that I can see Detective Inspector Carter is not buying. The women must have been promised something in exchange for the money. What they obviously got is
nothing. Added to that, two have ended up dead.’

Carter and Willis returned to the Dark Side after the interview was over. Carter was bristling.

‘What did you think? Was he telling the truth?’ They talked as they walked back down the corridor and caught the lift back up to the third floor.

‘No, guv. He was as shifty as it’s possible to be. He is arrogant enough to think he can get away with anything. You could see his mind churning, trying to decide what to admit to
and what not to. It’s a good job we didn’t tell him we had the letter before the interview.’

‘Yeah. The letter was a surprise and a half. We are going to get some flak for that. Petron will lodge a complaint. He’s a difficult lawyer to work with. He knows how we think; he
likes to try and be a step ahead.’

‘Do you think we should make it a priority to find out who sent it, guv? If Ellerman is a killer then he’ll go after them. Harding could be at risk.’

‘Warn her to be vigilant. But I think he’d have to be very sure first and we know it’s not Harding. Plus, she hasn’t invested any money in his company.’

‘Do we know it wasn’t Harding who wrote the letter, guv?’

He looked at her and shook his head incredulously. ‘Willis – you have to start trusting someone. You can’t live your whole life thinking that everyone is a liar. What happened
when you went back to see your mum?’

‘I have my dad’s name and his picture. I know a bit about him but not a lot.’

‘Enough to trace him though, I expect.’

‘Maybe.’

‘What, you haven’t started yet?’

‘No. I’m thinking about it. Plus, it’s a busy time here at work.’

‘It’s always a busy time. And you know – you should think about taking that holiday. Make it to the Caribbean and go and find him.’

‘He may be over here.’

‘Exactly. Start looking.’

‘I’m not sure I want to feed my mother the hope that she’s looking for.’

‘She has a plan?’

‘Oh, yes, and she must be getting careless because she told me it. She thinks that if she wanted, if she
really
wanted it, then she could get out of there. My father is just to
feed her ego. Give her hope, as she calls it. She hopes to use him, the same way as she uses everyone. It’s still all about her. She shows no remorse for anything she’s done.’

They walked into Robbo’s office.

‘Robbo? I got your message; what’s up?’

‘Has Harding had a reply from the message she sent the Dogger?’

‘No, not yet.’

‘We checked the messages she’s exchanged over the last year. The ones where the words “I’ll be waiting” were used is basically the Dogger and one other. We’re
still tracing that one other. By the way – Toffee’s friends and protégés? We found Spike – dead in a doorway. Martine was seen at the railway station but she’s
not been seen again. Mason still hasn’t been seen since his encounter with Willis in the garage. And Lolly, we know, is dead.’

‘What happened to Spike?’

‘Stabbed.’

‘Any witnesses?’

‘None. What do you want to do about the letter and the list of women? My feeling is that we might be getting sidetracked, concentrating too much on them?’

‘I don’t believe we are,’ replied Carter. ‘Harding was attacked; she’s on the list.’

‘But Gillian Forth was also murdered in a completely different manner and she lives over a hundred miles from the hostel.’

‘But, Ellerman connects them all,’ said Carter. ‘We need to check out his alibis more thoroughly now. We still need to talk to the core of women he sees regularly.’

Carter turned back to Willis, who was signing in to a spare PC on Hector’s desk. ‘Ring Scott, Willis, and get him to go and see Megan Penarth – that’s his neck of the
woods – and we’ll go and see Lisa Tompkins, the gym manager in Brighton.’

‘Megan Penarth?’

‘Yes, come in.’

Tucker could feel himself being looked over as he walked past her.

She closed the door behind him.

‘Sorry to disturb you,’ he said, wiping his feet thoroughly on the doormat.

‘That’s okay. I like being disturbed. Otherwise my day is only punctuated by the postman coming and the rising and setting of the sun, the noise when the wind changes
direction.’

He looked at her with slight wonderment. Her looks were distinctive. Now as she reached her mid-fifties her hair was streaked with a seam of silver in a black mane. He wasn’t sure whether
he found her beautiful or strange.