Dying to Meet You (12 page)

If so then could her death have been a homicide
rather than suicide…?

Thirty-Three

The house on the East hill where Connell lived was one in a long curving terrace of four storey Edwardian buildings. Climbing the four flights of stairs in the boarding house Trask wished for the umpteenth time that he’d kept himself fitter, as Brian Calder ahead of him, took it all in his stride pausing occasionally to grin down at him on the next landing. It was a hot day and Trask’s blue cotton shirt was clinging to him already like sticking plaster. Brian Calder chuckled as Geoff panting stopped a moment on the third floor below him to wipe his perspiring face.

‘They could do with a lift in here. If he’s not in, Calder, I’ll do my nut.’

‘Probably still in bed. He works long late hours remember.’

The door was opened at last after persistent ringing on the bell. Connell didn’t look surprised to see the
m.

‘Good morning, officers.’ Muscular arms folded across his tanned chest he leaned casually up against the door. ‘So what do you want with me this time?’

Trask said, ‘Jerome Connell, you’re wanted down the station for questioning. Concerning the deaths of DS Linda Handley, Jude van Hoet and Ellie Cooper.’

‘You want me to accompany you to the station.’ His muscles rippled on his tanned shoulders as he shrugged. ‘I knew it was only a matter of time before you called. I’ve got a record. I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?’ he said to Calder. ‘Yeah. You came with that police bird DS Handley to the Casino. She gave me a good grilling then. That was the last time I saw her. Can’t tell you much more than that.’

‘Get dressed, Connell. We want to ask you some questions.’

Connell grinned. ‘Can’t tell you any more than you know already.
’

*

Peterson watched him taken into the interview room. ‘Did he seem worried at all Trask?’

Trask shook his head. ‘
No. He’s a crafty customer. Says he has nothing to hide.’

Farmer sat down opposite Connell and switched on recording machine.

‘DI Farmer interviewing Jerome Connell. DS Trask also present. July 25. Time eleven am precisely on July 25th.

‘DS Handley interviewed you on the 16th of July at the Orchid Club, Mr Connell. Is that correct?

Connell nodded his head slowly. ‘It is.’

‘You visited Geraldine Temple’s flat on the East hill twice before her death on the 2nd July. Was she a friend or an acquaintance?’

‘Neither. I told DS Handley that I went there on Mr Kaufman’s business. Ms Temple was an old friend of his and he liked to keep a friendly eye on her.’

‘Geraldine Temple was his one time mistress who committed suicide last month.’

Connell shrugged. ‘Like I said Mr Kaufman knew her from way back. I work for him.’

‘DS
Handley - you were seen hanging about outside her flat on the seafront.’

‘Whoever said
that is a fucking liar.’

‘Handley said herself that she thought she’d seen you in a shelter opposite her flat under the street lighting on two different occasions. Shortly before her death.’

Connell grimaced and shook his head. ‘Never - she must have needed her eyes testing.’

‘And on the night DS Handley was killed you said you had cut your hand with a knife on the bar counter slicing a lemon and went to A
&E to have it stitched.’

‘That’s right, I did. You can ask Triage in Casualty. Waited a full two hours before I was seen. A messy business. It bled quite a bit. My boss and the manager can bear evidence on that score. It was a particularly busy night.’

Connell grinned and held out his left hand.

‘Connell shows plaster on healed wound on left hand. That still gives you time to pay Handley a visit.’

He leaned back in the chair with folded arms across his chest. ‘Like I said I had a long wait in A&E before I was seen to.’ He shrugged.

‘You were on the Club premises when Jude Van Hoet was killed.’

‘I was working late. We were busy.’

‘When did you last see Jude Van Hoet on the night she was killed?’

‘Not certain. I think she went upstairs before we closed at two a.m. I’d left before Erik Kaufman came over and called you lot out.’

‘You were not working when Ellie Cooper went on her blind date with the unknown man. How did you spend your time that evening?’

‘I got some fresh air for a change and took a long walk along the sea front. I’m stuck in the Casino most evenings. So I make the most of my evenings off.’

‘You had no date with a woman that evening, Mr Connell? I would have thought that you would
have done considering your reputation as a womaniser.’

He leaned back in the chair and grinned. ‘Yeah. I’ve got nothing to hide. I spent some time on the pier. Yeah
, I chatted to the woman running the Bingo stall and I tried my hand on the rifle range. Couldn’t shoot so well because of my duff hand.’

Farmer pushed Ellie Cooper’s photograph across the table. ‘Connell is now looking at Ellie Cooper’s photograph. Do you recognize this girl?

‘Yeah…’ he shrugged. ‘I think I did see this girl on the night in question. She was hanging around the amusement arcade on the pier. Looked nervous. She was near a machine that reads your fortune in your hand. I thought at first she might want company. Well you do, don’t you when you see a girl on her own. She was wearing a pink rose pinned to her dress.’ He shook his head. ‘Now I come to think of it she looked only a kid. ’ He creased his eyes thoughtfully. ‘Her dress was blue I think. Matched her blue eyes, yeah. And I was just about to chat her up when some girls came up to her. Girls she knew. Friends of hers by the look of ‘em. Stayed chatting for a minute or so. Then she moved off - she must have met that bloke she expected to see because I didn’t see her again.

‘If that was the poor kid that was killed I feel real bad about it
.’ He paused. ‘I only wish I’d spoken to her now.’ He grinned. ‘She could have done worse. I might have kept the bastard away from her, yeah? Saved her life.’ He was thoughtful for second or so. ‘A bit young for me though.’

‘
You didn’t see anyone else approach her? Other than those girls?’

‘Nah
, look the place was pretty crowded out. It’s always popular with the visitors and teenagers. You can miss someone there easily amongst that lot. He must have chosen it as a meeting place because of that.’

The officers glanced at one another.

‘Like you said she would have been a bit young for you, Mr Connell, wouldn’t she? How old are you? Twenty eight/ twenty nine or thereabouts?’

‘You know exactly how old I am. Twenty eight and what age was she? Seventeen?’

‘Your record, Mr Connell, also tells us that you were put into care as a baby. You were adopted.’

‘No comment.’

‘But you lost your adoptive mother soon afterwards. She was killed in a hit and run accident and you went back into care again. Moved through ten foster homes in all. In other words, you had a difficult childhood, Mr Connell.’

He stared out Farmer sullenly and said, ‘No comment.’

‘No different from lots of children, Mr Connell.’

‘Yeah, okay I did. Have a rough deal
.’ He leaned over the table. ‘That’s right. Sure I did. I’ve made no secret of it. But you can’t hold me responsible for that, can you? And you can’t pin these murders on me either. I don’t get my kicks killing my girlfriends.’ He leant back in his chair and grinned at them. ‘I’m not the bastard you want. You’d better hurry up and find him before he kills any more young women here in Harling.’

Thirty-Four

What Angela had mentioned had set Mel wondering if Geraldine’s death had been the root cause of the deaths that followed. First of all, why Linda? Was it because like Geraldine Temple she was a Cancer star sign or was it simply because she knew something she shouldn’t that concerned the older woman’s death? Did she work out that it wasn’t a suicide?

Had Geraldine been an irritating burr in the Kaufman’s life style? Freddie could have seized on her weakness and her illness to get rid of her.
But somehow this didn’t fit in with Freddie’s character. He surely would have dealt with her as soon as she’d presented a problem. He wouldn’t have waited so long.

Mel wondered if Brian Calder might be able to give her some ideas.
When she got him on the phone he was as surprised as she’d expected him to be.

‘Look. I know this might sound strange to you
, especially as the case is closed, but could you tell me what conclusions you came to personally when you and Linda had to deal with Geraldine Temple’s suicide, DC Calder? Are you quite sure that a letter wasn’t overlooked? Could someone have been there before you came perhaps and removed it? Who actually found her and reported her death to you?’

‘Are you trying to make a story out of it for your paper, Ms Goring? It was her neighbour next door who has a key. She was worried because Ms Temple was quieter than normal she said. Didn’t put on the morning radio news as usual. She checked on her
, found her and phoned us.’

‘Did the neighbour know about the young man who called on her? A stranger I was told rang her doorbell the day before. There was an argument between them I understand.’

‘She didn’t mention it. And there is nothing more I can really say about it. She was a lonely woman, a heavy drinker, took drugs for the pain and was terminally ill. End of story.’

‘Well, perhaps, thanks anyway
.’

Thirty-Five

Erik Kaufman tended to his orchids but he was seeing his darling Jude’s face in every flower. He had the funeral to arrange and face now that the inquest was over. There had been another killing. A young girl, a teenager this time. If Freddie had had Jude killed would he have been responsible for her as well? It simply didn’t add up.

He also had Geraldine Temple on his mind. He recalled the attractive woman that Geraldine had once been. His lovely Gerry who had lighted up his life till the accident when they had both been injured and their lives so bitterly blighted ten years ago.
He remembered that she had accused Freddie of instigating the damage to the oil feed. He’d thought she was crazy with pain and fear, her face and neck had been badly scarred by the flying glass and her left leg damaged which put paid to her theatre career.

He had tried to make up for it although he couldn’t stop her from
getting hooked on drugs and booze. Now Jude had gone too and he wanted to hit back. And Freddie was the nearest person he felt he could blame.

Possibly the cops had Freddie in their sights already. They were going to find who killed their police officer and must know that there had been plenty of agro between Freddie and Linda Handley. She had tried to question one of the young women, a Croatian girl, he’d brought into the country illegally, when she got away out on the streets. Wanted her to speak out in court against his brother.

Their lawyer had sorted it and the Croatian girl had in the end refused to speak but DS Handley had made a big fuss and Freddie was forced to be more careful. That was only three weeks ago.

Freddie was a loose cannon.
He could bring all the Kaufman businesses into disrepute. Eric felt now that he had to give the police something to keep them sweet. He could stand losing the business but he didn’t want to be forever reminded of Jude’s death which he knew he would be every time he saw Freddie in the future.

Thirty-Six

Farmer stood beside Peterson and the other police officers by Linda Handley’s grave side. It was held not that far away from Geraldine Temple’s grave and the Vicar Hugh Temple was officiating.

The wreaths of flowers were many and bright and beautiful. Linda had been so popular and
had helped in a local youth club and with the homeless. How could anyone have wanted to kill her?

‘Don’t like
funerals - Ellie Cooper’s will be next I suppose,’ Farmer commented joining up with Mel walking back down the path to the cars. ‘I expect Kaufman will be seeing to Jude Van Hoet’s. I still can’t believe that all this has happened so quickly. Only just over a week or so.’

‘Are you still thinking that they’re responsible for Geraldine’s death?’

‘I don’t think that Freddie Kaufman is responsible for these Cancer star sign deaths. Even though he might have had a real motive for Linda’s killing. He believed she was interfering in the Kaufman’s sex trade not long ago.’ He turned his head to study her determined profile. ‘And are you still determined to go ahead with this crazy idea to draw out the killer by wearing that pendant. I’m not going to let you do it without trying to change your mind.’

They had reached the police car where Calder stood talking to Trask and Peterson. ‘Can I cadge a lift?’ he said quickly to her. ‘I want to talk some more.’

It sounded urgent. ‘Okay, my car’s down there.’