Tide of Death

'Have you any idea who the men in the tower were? It's important Jane.'

After a moment's hesitation she said, 'I know one of them was a dentist. He was joking about his clients. He was into bondage. The other one was a solicitor. He liked being beaten with a cane, sad bastard.'

And that, thought Horton, described Culven exactly.

CHAPTER 15

'Dr Price thinks she's been dead about fourteen to sixteen hours,' Horton told Uckfield. The two men stepped outside. An officer catalogued their departure from the house and Horton nodded at the photographer as he entered. 'That would make it between six and eight o'clock last night.' Whilst he'd been knocking on her door! And that girl has seen him.

'Did you know she was in Portsmouth?'

Horton didn't care for the way Uckfield was eying him. Quickly he ran through the answer in his head, lie or tell the truth? There was no choice. 'Yes.'

Uckfield drew him further away from flapping ears. 'Who else knows?'

'Haven't got a clue. Jarrett, I expect.' He saw Uckfield frown.

'You know what I mean.'

'I haven't told anyone.' It wasn't a lie.

'How did you find out?'

'Does it matter?' There was no way he was going to drag Cantelli into this.

'It does if you have anything to do with this,' Uckfield snapped.

Horton tensed. 'That's twice you've accused me of being involved with a murder, Steve. What is it? Don't you trust me anymore?' He saw that he had unsettled Uckfield. The prospects of promotion were making the DCI edgy.

'It's not that.'

Horton remained silent forcing Uckfield to continue. 'You're too close to this one, Andy. I'll deal with it.'

He didn't like it but it was as he had expected. 'Then you'd better know what Jane Staveley told me.' And he relayed the information about the party in the tower organised by Alpha One. 'Lucy must have seen the killer. We've got to find out where Thurlow's boat went that night. Jarrett's boat is moored opposite Thurlow's. Jarrett told me he went out that Friday afternoon but came back before the fog rolled in. He could have seen Thurlow or at least heard the Free Spirit leave the marina.'

'You've questioned Jarrett?' Uckfield's surprise swiftly changed to anger.

Horton couldn't help that. 'He was on his boat when I went to check out where the Free Spirit was berthed.'

Should he tell the rest? How would Steve take it? It was time to find out. He couldn't hold back indefinitely and he certainly had enough for Steve to start an investigation.

He said, 'Jane also told me that someone high up was involved in framing me. It has to be either Reine or Superintendent Underwood. Neither of them stood by me.'

'Andy, do you realise what you're saying?' Uckfield looked anxious.

Horton could understand that. 'Yes. Corruption at a high level.'

'But why?'

'I don't know. Perhaps one of them likes a bit on the side or is being well paid to turn a blind eye. Steve, it has to be one of them and my money's on Reine.'

'No, I can't believe it.'

'Someone is trying to kill me. They tried to set my boat alight with me on it.'

'Bloody hell!'

'I think it was Jarrett or one of his cronies. I've been going through Culven's files. He was Jarrett's solicitor. I think Culven was money laundering for Jarrett's illegal pornography operation. We've got to investigate.'

Uckfield was looking very uncomfortable and Horton knew the reason why. Tomorrow was his promotion interview. Uckfield couldn't afford to rock the boat until after that. Horton would have let it lie until then, but he wasn't sure if Jarrett would let him live that long.

'We've got to take it higher, Steve.'

After a moment Uckfield said, 'OK, but not before I've spoken to Reg. No, listen, Andy. Let me have a quiet word in Reg's ear, sound him out. I'll take his advice.'

Horton wasn't altogether sure that talking to the chief constable was the right thing to do but on the other hand it made sense. He could authorise a full enquiry.

'When?'

'Tonight.'

'You'll have to let Melissa Thurlow go.'

'I know. Lucy's death puts her in the clear. Have you had any joy tracing this biographer?'

'Not yet.'

'Don't you think you might be barking up the wrong tree?'

'No.'

'Then get back to the station and see if you can find the bastard.'

'I could talk to the marina manager at Horsea Marina and get the names and addresses of berth holders on Thurlow's pontoon.'

'I'll apply for some extra officers first and then we'll get a team in there. You co-ordinate things back at the incident room. I'll hold a briefing at four o'clock.'

And that's it, thought Horton? Shoved aside again. He left, angry at Uckfield's attitude. A car dropped him back at the station where he found Cantelli at his desk. The sergeant's beaming face told him his family crisis was over.

'I take it Ellen has told you where she was and what was troubling her.'

'Yeah. Sorry about being late this morning but Ellen decided to leave home. I went looking for her. She didn't get very far only to Isabella's, thank the Lord.'

Horton sat down opposite Cantelli. His mind only on half of what Cantelli was saying, the other half running through the facts of the case. 'She did go to a party with Sophie and Jaz. Not the one in Hemmings Road.'

'That was worrying you?'

'Yeah, Kate Somerfield told me the kids were barely sixteen. It got me thinking. Anyway this party was in Milton. Ellen drank too much, some boy started pawing her and she didn't like it. Someone gave her ecstasy. I thought I was going to have a seizure right in the middle of Isabella's cafe when she told me. She didn't take it but slipped it into her pocket and came home and all I could do was ball her out.'

'Don't be so hard on yourself. What happened to the ecstasy?'

'She flushed it down the loo at home.'

'Best place for it.'

'Amen to that.' Cantelli said with feeling, then, 'Now tell me about Lucy. I've just heard the news.'

'She must have been dead when I was knocking on her door last night. I swear I had nothing to do with her death.'

'I know that,' Cantelli answered, dismissively. 'But who did? We've drawn a blank so far with anyone connected with Randall Simpson.'

Horton had been so sure he'd been on the right lines. Was every avenue of this blasted investigation going to end up like this — going nowhere?

'I don't suppose there's much left from Culven's car?'

'It's being examined but I wouldn't hold your breath.'

'And we still haven't traced that tender.'

Cantelli shook his head.

'OK, bring me everything we've got on the two murders, both Culven and Thurlow. I'm going to go through every statement, and don't say the computer's already done that. I want to do it. You'd better check in with the incident room and help with Lucy's murder.'

Horton wondered how Uckfield was getting on. How soon would they know he had been at the scene? What had Phil and his SOCO team discovered? When was the post mortem being conducted? It was three o'clock when he called the mortuary.

'She was strangled,' Dr Clayton told him.

'With a tie, or something similar, a piece of material anyway. Time of death about seven o'clock last night. There is no evidence of sexual intercourse or that she put up a struggle.'

'Does it fit the pattern of the other killings?'

'Apart from the sexual element, yes.'

He called the office at Horsea Marina and then headed along to the incident room. It was buzzing with activity. Officers from other stations and divisions had been drafted in. He crossed to Cantelli.

'Anything?'

'Phil Taylor says the room has been wiped clean.'

So, thought Horton, no DNA and no fingerprints. 'Where's the DCI?'