Condemned by R.C. Bridgestock (love books to read TXT) 📕

The investigation was continuing to bubble, and Charley was eager to keep the momentum going, and increase the pace of the enquiry again in the Incident Room.

An hour later ex-police officers from the cold-case team, Ben and Terry, sat opposite Charley and Mike in the SIO’s office. Tattie was very vocal in her observation that Ricky-Lee was conspicuous by his absence in the CID office that day, and for some reason Charley found herself defending the detective constable.

‘Ricky-Lee was with me at the graveyard earlier,’ Charley said, before going on to enlighten the men as to the recent ballistic update regarding the murder, and the evidential link they now had between the firearm known to belong to the Dixons that was used in the robbery, and the bullet found in the skull of the male victim at Crownest.

‘Also, just yesterday further evidence has come to light. The robberies that the pair were originally sought and sentenced for, have finally after all this time, been linked to the robbery at Mr Chaudry’s Convenience Store,’ added Ben.

Suddenly there was an air of expectancy in her office. ‘Okay, so we know that the Dixons are connected beyond doubt, in some way, to all the incidents, even if we can’t prove murder. What else have you got for me?’

‘Not much, unfortunately. The pair of photos are being circulated this side of the channel and beyond as you know, and since we last saw you, we’ve been mostly visiting known acquaintances,’ said Ben.

‘I assume therefore that you haven’t had much joy?’

‘I’m sure you know the format. Most told us to ‘do one!’, ma’am, followed by the proverbial door slam. Even those who owed us a favour could only suggest they’d fled the country.’

‘That’s the advantage of working alone or with a reliable other, isn’t it? No one to grass you up! Let’s cut to the chase. You might have thought that the Dixons had gone abroad, even had it suggested by their known acquaintances that this might be the case, but we have no actual evidence, have we?’

‘No,’ Terry replied, with a shake of his head.

Charley turned her computer around to show the men the two pictures on the screen. ‘Tell me this, do you know if these pictures are still a good likeness of the pair?’

Ben leaned forward, closer to the screen. ‘As far as I’m aware,’ said Ben. Charley looked at Terry to see a confirmatory nod. ‘Since then, zilch! It’s without doubt that they’ve gone to ground.’

‘Okay,’ said Charley. Her face was serious and there was authority in her voice. ‘From here on, I will be taking charge of their pursuit. The pair are our prime suspects for the murder at Crownest now we have positively linked them to the firearm. My thought is to push these images out to the media now, with the pair first and foremost being wanted for robbery, but also for elimination from an unconnected murder investigation, given that they were the tenants at Crownest during the time under investigation.’

If Mike had been less taken with the fact that Ricky-Lee had just opened Charley’s door and on seeing Ben and Terry had made a swift exit, he might have seen blank disappointment on the detectives’ faces, no doubt at the thought of being taken off the case.

But Charley, facing them with her back to the door had seen the look on the men’s faces. ‘I’d like you to work alongside us,’ she said. Her voice was positively upbeat. ‘Your knowledge of the crimes that these two have committed in the past could prove very useful to us. However, be assured I expect professionalism from you both at all times. Now, tell me is there anything else that you think we need to know before you go?’

There was a decidedly brighter look in Ben’s eyes as he turned to his colleague. ‘Actually, there is something that we think is of interest, but our boss thought it wasn’t worth pursuing.’

Charley tilted her head. ‘I’m all ears.’

‘Mr Chaudry’s nephew, a man by the name of Faisal Hussain, came up from Birmingham for the funeral. Apparently, according to a family member, he’s a would-be gangster, but a charmer, too, when it suits. We’ve done a check on him and he’s got quite a few previous for drugs… but alarmingly there is a police marker on him for violence and for suspicion of carrying a firearm. He’s not long been out of prison.’

‘Mmm… I can understand why a nephew attending his uncle’s funeral is not worthy of a visit to Birmingham, especially if he’s into the drugs scene. Be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and your focus would be on locating the offenders, but tell me, there must be more than meets the eye here for this man to be of interest to you two?’

‘Well you see, Miss Finch, the girl at the local estate agent’s in your murder case spoke of someone that would perhaps fit Hussain’s description. Apparently someone had been enquiring after the Dixons, and became annoyed when she wouldn’t confirm, or otherwise, that they were living at Crownest. According to her statement, it was Lily Pritchard at St Anne’s Church who had suggested that the estate agent might be able to help the Dixons.’

‘Glad you have been keeping up to speed,’ remarked Charley.

‘You’ve got to ask yourself why Faisal Hussain, if it was him, would be looking for the Dixons,’ questioned Mike.

‘We could only guess that he was going to confront the Dixons about the suggestion that they were involved in the robbery… By the way, have you been in touch with the Chaudry family recently?’ asked Charley.

The men nodded. ‘Yes, we are in contact with the family, mainly to reassure them that they haven’t been forgotten and that we are still on the case. They’re a nice family.’

Charley tapped her finger on her lips. ‘That’s good, that’s good.’ she said. ‘Could you make it