‘No, it’s nothing to do with that,’ Jane assured him. ‘We are trying to find out who the previous owner of flat 40 Edgar House was. The current resident, a Mrs. Clarke, said that your company dealt with the sale, which was about six months ago.’
‘I don’t recall dealing with that property myself — mind you, we do so many it’s hard to remember them all.’
‘Could you look in the file?’ Teflon asked.
‘Yes, of course. Hang on and I’ll nip and get it.’
As they waited Jane looked at the pictures of the two- and three-bedroom properties for sale on the office walls.
‘Are you thinking of moving, or just browsing?’ Teflon asked.
‘Bit of both, actually, but I don’t fancy Wanstead.’
‘Snaresbrook and Wood Green are just up the road. A mate of mine lives in one of the police accommodation flats in Snaresbrook and says it’s a nice area.’
‘Found it, officers... Julie Lane dealt with the sale but she’s on maternity leave just now.’
Petty held up the file, then invited them to take a seat at his desk.
‘Do you mind taking notes?’ Jane asked Teflon, who got his pocket notebook and pen out of his coat.
Petty opened the file and took out the paperwork, then flicked through it before removing a page.
‘Here we go — the previous owner of flat forty was a Mrs. Elizabeth Smith. It says here she died of cancer and her son, whom I assume inherited her estate, sold the premises to the Clarkes for just under fifteen thousand pounds.’
‘Do you have the son’s details?’ Teflon asked.
‘Mr. Graham Smith, flat 40 Edgar House.’
‘Is there any other address shown for him?’ Jane asked.
‘No, looks like he lived with his mother. There’s a contact phone number if that’s of any use.’
‘Yes please,’ Teflon said.
‘01-808-3503... Wanstead’s on the 989 exchange, so that’s not a local number.’
‘Do you have any previous history of the premises prior to Mrs. Smith buying it?’ Jane asked.
‘Only that it was owned by the local housing association when Mrs. Smith lived in it, and then she bought it from them. I know the manager of the association, so I can make a quick call and ask him to check his files.’
‘Thank you, Mr. Petty, that would be very helpful,’ Jane said.
Jane spoke quietly to Teflon as Petty called the association manager.
‘The neighbor on one side of flat forty said Mrs. Smith lived alone and a man in his mid- to late forties sometimes visited her. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but with what we know now it would be worth revisiting her to get a description of him.’
Teflon agreed and suggested they go to nearby Edgar House when they’d finished speaking to Mr. Petty.
Petty put the phone down and looked at the notes he’d made of the conversation.
‘Mrs. Smith had lived in the flat for a number of years and the association knew Mrs. Thatcher was going to introduce the government’s “right to buy” scheme. They decided to test the waters and offered some long-standing residents the opportunity to buy their flats at a reasonable price — Mrs. Smith being one of them. Her son paid just over ten and a half thousand pounds for it.’
Teflon whistled. ‘That was a nice quick profit.’
‘How did he pay?’ Jane asked, wondering if they could locate him through a bank account.
‘Cash.’
‘All of it?’ Jane and Teflon asked in unison.
‘Yes.’
‘How did Mrs. Clarke pay him?’
‘I don’t know, the final exchange was dealt with by solicitors and they won’t divulge that sort of information.’
‘One last thing, Mr. Petty... Do you know how many keys were given to Mrs. Clarke for the flat?’
He looked at the paperwork. ‘Two flat door keys and one garage key.’
‘Thanks for your assistance, Mr. Petty, you’ve been very helpful.’ Jane smiled. ‘Could I have Julie Lane’s contact details, please? I may need to speak to her.’
‘Certainly. Is Mr. Smith involved in some sort of fraud?’
‘We think so, and we’d be grateful if you could keep what we’ve spoken about to yourself,’ Teflon said.
‘Of course — my lips are sealed,’ he said, handing over Julie Lane’s details.
‘One more thing: do you sell property in Snaresbrook and Wood Green?’ Jane asked.
‘Yes, and beyond. Is there a particular premise or name you’re interested in?’ he asked, thinking it was crime-related.
‘It’s a personal question. I live in a one-bedroom flat in Marylebone and was thinking of looking for a house in those kind of areas — two, maybe three bedrooms with a garden.’
Petty looked pleased he finally had a potential customer on his hands.
‘Please sit down and I’ll show you what we’ve got.’
‘Unfortunately, I’ve got another appointment to go to. Could I take some brochures with me?’
Petty quickly went through some filing cabinets and removed a number of sales brochures, which he put in a folder and handed to Jane.
‘If you’d like to view any let me know and I’ll make sure it’s arranged for a time that’s convenient for you. We can help as well in selling your flat and I’ll halve our normal fees, as we do for all police officers we deal with.’
Jane nodded her thanks and they left.
‘That long shot sounds like it was worth it — you thinking Mrs. Smith’s son might have the other key?’ Teflon asked as they walked to the car.
‘Could be, but if he’s got rid of it there’s no way I can prove he used it to lock or unlock the garage before the fire.’
‘It’s still worth making some more discreet enquiries about him. Sounds like he’s crooked if he can stump up ten and a half K cash for a flat.’
‘I totally agree. Can I borrow your pocket notebook please? I want to ring Cam and ask him to make enquiries with the Post Office and trace the owner and address for that 808 number Mr. Petty gave us.’
He handed Jane his pocket notebook and she used a public phone booth to call Cam.
‘I’ll get straight on it and let you know the result when you next call in or return to the office.’
‘How’s the Wilson twins enquiry progressing?’
‘I’ve got the details of two children’s homes in Tottenham and was just about to ring one of them.’
‘Good — I’ll expect the results to be typed up by the time I get back!’
‘What now?’ Frank Braun asked when he saw the Colonel and Baxter at his front door.
‘We just need to ask a few questions about your car,’ the Colonel said.
He folded his arms. ‘I’ve told you everything there is to know about the Cortina.’
‘Actually, it’s the BMW we’re interested in—’
‘My wife’s out in it with the kids doing the shopping. I can assure you it’s not on false plates or stolen, and it’s insured and registered,’ he said bluntly.
‘We’d like to see the documents,’ Bax said.
‘For Christ’s sake, please have the decency to tell me what’s going on as right now I’m beginning to feel really pissed off!’
Bax looked at the Colonel, who nodded.
‘We’re interested in who you bought the BMW from and how much you paid for it,’ Bax said.
‘An authorized dealer in Essex. It was two years old then and I paid a fair price for it.’
‘We spoke to Paul Lawrence and he told us about your thirty-grand win on the pools. Did you use the money to buy the car?’ the Colonel asked.
‘Sure, and to buy this house — I can show you all the relevant documents to prove everything is legit.’
‘Yes please,’ the Colonel replied.
‘Fine. Give me a moment and I’ll dig them out.’ He left the room.