Syn (The Merseyside Crime Series Book 2) by Malcolm Hollingdrake (best authors to read TXT) 📕

state. A female police officer was with her. Skeeter made her way directly to try to calm the situation.

On seeing Skeeter, Nicola stood. She looked broken.

‘His mother rang me. Is it true, and if so, what are you doing about it?’

Skeeter looked at the other officer and they both ushered Nicola to a seat.

‘What do you know about yesterday’s events? I want you to think of everything he might have said or done. Take a deep breath and concentrate. Right now, we need you calm and functioning. You might hold the vital clue we need to find Carlos.’

Although Skeeter received the call regarding the incoming CCTV, she redirected it. She spoke to Tony, her tone brisk. He soon switched on and linked the large interactive screen in the Incident Room to the recently sent file. The wonders of technology. The collected officers watched the edited footage.

‘He’s heading here towards the Sir Henry. Kasum, get onto the pub. I want all CCTV from last night. They’ll send it directly so check it and stay until you have confirmation it’s been sent. Emphasise the urgency.’

They continued to watch as Briggs crossed Lord Street. Kasum sidled from the room. Briggs’s face was turned towards the camera positioned to focus down the street. The time and date were clearly marked at the corner of the images. The next frames showed him walking with another man towards Silcock’s Funland and the pier, an area bristling with cameras. Those had already been collected and edited and they had produced a number of clear facial images of both men.

‘We have a direct match for the guy who attended the party. If you check the rear view, he has the same balding area to the crown.’

Mason, leaning on one of the side walls, requested that the film be paused. ‘We need the best image we have, enhanced if at all possible, to accompany the one we have put out of Briggs. There’s little point in watching more if we know the area where they were last seen on camera. We’re wasting precious time, people. Neither man looks stressed, nor under threat. That could have changed. Let’s find them and fast!’

Tony checked the notes. ‘Last seen heading towards the entrance of Scarisbrick Avenue. No other sightings as yet but they’re still looking. We can assume they might have got a lift from there.’

Mason smiled at Tony. ‘We can make a calculated guess. Lucy, contact the local taxi companies. What time did we have them walking from The Gallopers? Check to see if anyone picked up two men in that area after.’ He looked at Tony.

Tony slid the marker back to the point on the video. ‘10.17, sir.’

‘We’ll presume they met no one else. They either had a taxi ordered or telephoned for one. Describe them. No, hold on. Can we send a screen shot, Tony?’ Mason looked inquisitively hoping for a positive response and smiled when Tony nodded.

Within seconds the shot was stored on file and referenced. He scribbled the reference number and handed it to Lucy. Control would put the calls out immediately, attaching the images to the companies’ websites. They, in turn, would pass it on to their drivers or contract drivers. If they were working late, they might not pick the message up immediately.

The female police officer placed a glass of water in front of Nicola.

‘He’d gone out for lunch. He was late leaving. When he left he seemed so down. I could have cried for him. However, when he got back, he seemed like a different person. He was brighter and more positive.’ She sipped the water and moved the tissue to her eyes. ‘He was quite excited and certainly different from when he left.’

‘Do you know why there was such a change in his mood?’

‘No. He didn’t come over to chat like I expected. He went to his treatment room. He waved and shouted that he’d forgotten to contact someone but didn’t say who. Within a few minutes, his client arrived. Luckily, she was a little late, and Carlos came out straight away. I don’t think he made the call after all.’

‘Does he have a girlfriend or boyfriend he might have met up with?’

She shook her head. ‘If he did, we’d have all known about it believe you me. He would readily talk about some of his past dalliances. They would make you blush, believe me.’

‘Explain.’

‘He used to be very carefree. You could say a bit too easy if you get my meaning. It was not good for him and certainly not good for his work. I nearly sacked him on a couple of occasions when he seemed to arrive here as if he’d just left someone’s bed. Carla saved him really. She worked with him and gave him the guidance he needed. Many lads his age would have rebelled but he seemed to heed her advice. It was she who got him onto the straight and narrow. That’s why the name – Carlos. He worshipped her.’

Skeeter immediately wondered if they were looking for one of those past partners, but then, why kill three people, both male and female? Why kill at all? ‘Did the saying, the mantra, have anything to do with Carlos?’

She witnessed an immediate improvement in Nicola and a smile brushed her lips. ‘We’ve just had the saying added to the wall of his treatment ro—’ her voice trailed off thoughtfully and a puzzled look appeared on her face. ‘When we were doing it, my partner and Carlos, that is, they moved the furniture. The room used to be Carla’s as you know. It was then he found a notebook, a red one. He told Jim he’d been looking for it for ages. Now that I come to think about it, I remember seeing Carla with a small, red book.’

‘Could it be the same one? Could that be why he wanted to call someone do you think? Is it still at the salon?’

Nicola spread her hands suggesting