Paula knocked her coffee cup as she brought her hand to her mouth in shock at the news.
‘Not Lisa, who I met?’
‘Yes, she died the night before last whilst she was out running. She fell off the edge of a cliff. We don’t know if she was pushed or whether she fell, but she is dead and there will be an investigation into her death.
After Paula went back to work, she phoned Megan from the back room; Megan was out – she phoned Emily. Emily was between lessons.
‘They say three of the women on the list are dead – including Lisa. She died Saturday night – possibly murdered. They say to stay away from JJ and they asked me if I wanted to press charges. I don’t know what to think. I’m worried I’m in danger.’
‘They’re just trying to scare you into pressing charges against him. They want to get him for fraud, I expect. They need us to do that. Don’t tell them anything. They are out to get him. Let’s get our money back first. There’s an awful lot of women on that list – three dead is not a lot.’
‘Poor Lisa.’
‘Yes, poor Lisa. We need to stick together, Paula.’
‘Are we still going to meet at Megan’s house?’
‘Yes, as soon as we can – we need to get it over with.’
Chapter 51
The police officers drove back to London in two cars and Ebony left Carter and Tucker at Carter’s flat. Tucker was staying the night there. Cabrina opened the door and invited her in for some supper. Willis declined. It was late.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Carter and Tucker talked deep into the night as they finished off a bottle of whisky. Carter was suffering the most when they walked into Robbo’s office the next morning.
‘Come in, Tucker. How does it feel to be back?’ Robbo stood and shook Tucker’s hand as he walked into the office.
‘It feels… interesting.’ Tucker smiled. He shook hands with Pam and Hector. He smiled at Willis, who was already in the office.
‘Okay, well, let’s get this meeting started,’ said Carter. ‘Robbo, can you talk us through the timeline of events?’
He drew up a chair for Tucker and one for himself. Hector stopped working at his PC, to join in the meeting.
Robbo wheeled his whiteboard forward, took a marker and drew three circles, each linked to the other, then put a name in each:
‘All three women were having a sexual relationship with JJ Ellerman. All killed in different ways. So far, the only lead we have is the homeless man, Toffee, who is currently in an induced coma. We know Toffee had money on him and we know he witnessed the attack on Olivia Grantham because he said so.’
‘So do we think Ellerman has a connection to Toffee? Why did he choose him for the mission?’ asked Tucker.
‘We’ve looked into Toffee’s past. He was a highflyer but he has no connection to Ellerman’s past or the people in it.’
‘Someone was watching him, watching 22 Parade Street, and singled Toffee out as someone they could do business with,’ said Carter.
‘They must have talked to him first. They must have trusted him,’ Tucker added.
‘Or known his weakness. Drink is what he lives for,’ said Willis.
‘But he liked to be seen as something of an intellectual in his lucid moments,’ said Carter. ‘He knew he was brighter than your average rough sleeper. If I had to choose someone to lure Olivia Grantham to her death, I’d probably have chosen someone trustworthy, someone who sounded right for the job.’
‘So did someone pick him specifically? Does the area count then? They could have had a connection to the area,’ said Tucker. ‘Or to the hostel… Faith and Light? What do we know about it?’
‘Run by a man called Simon Smith.’
‘What do we know about him?’
‘Rich kid, who went off the rails and whose parents are stinking wealthy but like to throw the odd charitable crust the peasants’ way – they seem to be using their son as a kind of experiment. He comes out of rehab and, instead of giving him a cushy number running one of their many other businesses like holiday complexes in Sardinia or glamping holidays in Italy, they make him run a homeless shelter in the East End. Can a parent really want to set their own kid up to fail?’ Instinctively, Carter looked across at Willis.
‘Does Simon Smith have any connection to Olivia Grantham or JJ Ellerman?’ asked Tucker.
‘I’m looking into it now,’ answered Pam. ‘But not so far.’
‘If Ellerman has paid someone or is our murderer, what is the motive?’ asked Tucker.
‘Money,’ answered Carter. ‘He has claimed to be buying Spanish property for renovation and he gets the women to invest. They wise up and ask for their money back.’ He passed Tucker a photo of Ellerman with a yacht behind him. ‘Why do these women find Ellerman so attractive? I don’t get it.’ Carter shook his head. ‘These women could do so much better than him – he’s just an ageing bullshitter who likes to flash the cash and sponges off women when it dries up.’
‘So far, the only thing we know for certain that these women have in common is JJ Ellerman,’ said Robbo.
‘We don’t know if they knew one another.’
‘No. But it’s unlikely,’ said Carter. ‘Pam?’
‘Yes. I have talked to all of the women now and, out of every one on the list, only Dr Harding says she knew one of the others and that was Olivia Grantham. None of the others were on that sex site. I can’t see how they would have met.’
‘Unless through Ellerman,’ said Tucker.
‘We have requested phone records for the dead women. They should be through to us soon and then we’ll be able to answer that,’ replied Robbo.
‘I still don’t understand how Ellerman manages to con all these women,’ said Carter.
‘Because he’s good at giving them what they want,’ said Tucker. ‘He researches them before he meets them. After all, he knows exactly what they’re looking for from the dating sites. He just becomes that.’
‘Plus, he keeps them hanging on,’ Pam chipped in. ‘If your whole relationship is based on a once-a-week meeting, of course it can last for a year or more because you’re never going to get to the point where it’s boring or where it’s confrontational.’ Tucker studied the photos of Ellerman.
Pam continued: ‘He makes it clear from the start that he is married, so none of the women can complain about that.’
‘And he uses his son as a con,’ said Tucker. ‘His dead son.’
‘Yeah…’ said Carter. ‘That’s macabre. To keep your son alive just so that you can cheat women into bed and out of money.’
‘Ruthless, inhuman and a life built on lies – not easy to juggle so many balls in the air without dropping the lot,’ said Tucker.
‘I agree. It’s an indication of someone who can step outside social and moral normalities without flinching,’ said Robbo. ‘We know he’s an accomplished liar. He’s a dangerous man. It’s hard to know what would mean anything to him.’
‘His wife,’ said Carter. ‘Whatever bubble he exists in, she’s in the same one. All this is for her as well as him. Keeping up appearances, maintaining that massive house for just the two of them. If they sold that, they could start again somewhere, but that would signal a defeat, a failure.’
‘Plus,’ added Pam, ‘the mortgage, the remortgage – they won’t come out with a lot. But what kind of woman stays in that situation, knowing that her husband is a complete charlatan?’
‘Willis and I went to see her and she seemed almost numb, depressed. She is one of those people who’s built a wall around herself.’ Willis nodded her agreement.