The Body in the Boot: The first 'Mac' Maguire mystery (16 page)

‘We were on our way to see him last night when we got the call about Stelios Andreou. What did he say?’ Dan asked.

‘Not much. He was obviously still in shock. I asked him if he could shed some more light on the situation around Matyas getting his contract cancelled. I wondered if his ex-wife had perhaps confided in him about it but it was all news to him. I asked him where he was last night. I know we have a suspect but you never know. Anyway he said he was running a seminar at the University the night before, there were drinks afterwards and he stayed at a hotel in Luton. This was confirmed by some of the people we interviewed and by the hotel.’

‘Good work team,’ Dan said as he looked at his watch. ‘Okay I have to go and tell the boss what we’ve found so far. He’s planning on holding a press conference in just over half an hour.’

Mac looked at his watch. It was coming up to twenty to six. The Detective Chief Superintendent was obviously timing the conference so it would get prime coverage on the live news bulletins. 

‘Tell him not to mention our man’s real name or even that we have a clue about it,’ Mac said. ‘We’re not totally sure of it yet anyway and if our man hasn’t left the country yet he soon will if he thinks we’re getting too close. For all we know he might have a stack of fake passports and with such a forgettable face I’m not sure he’d have much trouble getting away.’

‘Don’t worry I’ll make sure he keeps it generic, you know ‘making progress’, ‘solid leads’ and all that. You all might as well all call it a day. We’ll meet up again tomorrow at eight and be on time it’s likely to be an eventful day.’

None of the team made a move to go.

‘Coffee anyone?’ Mary asked.

They all put their hands up. Buddy volunteered to help her.

‘I take it everyone’s staying to see the press conference?’ Mac asked Tommy.

‘Yeah, might as well. We’ve all got bits of paperwork to catch up on anyway. So what do you think so far?’

‘It’s been a good, solid investigation so far. I think we’ve found out quite a lot about our man and I wouldn’t be surprised if we had him in a few days.’

‘A few days? You really think we might be that close?’

‘Once you get a few pieces of information they often snowball quite quickly. We know his name, we think, and we have his photo. We can start doing some serious work now.’

Tommy gave Mac a little smile.

‘It would be great to think we could get him off the streets, us, this team.’

Mary and Buddy returned with the refreshments and they all settled down at their desks for a few minutes. Mac was happy to sit quietly and let the day’s events rattle around his mind. At six Adil turned the TV on to the BBC News. A few minutes later the announcer said that they were going to Luton for a breaking news story. Adil turned the sound up and the team gathered around.

The Detective Chief Superintendent stood at the microphone with Dan by his side.

‘I know there has been a lot of interest in this case nationally, especially because of the brutal murder of such well known and well liked academic as Professor Ferguson.’  

What about the five girls and the taxi driver? Mac thought. He should at least mention them.

He didn’t.

‘The investigation has been excellently run by DI Dan Carter here,’ the DCS said gesturing towards Dan, ‘and, although it is early days, Dan and his team have uncovered some vital information about a suspect and have identified that he may also be involved in other crimes. In order to secure his capture as soon as possible I can tell you that he goes under the name of Matyas Kiss-Toth but his real name is likely to be Oleksandr Shevchenko and I have a photograph that will shortly be distributed to you all.’

At this point the photo appeared on the screen and all the team groaned. Mac turned away from the screen in disappointment and didn’t catch the rest of the conference.

‘Going Mac?’ Tommy asked.

‘Might as well. After that we’ll be bloody lucky if we ever see our man again. Are we in tomorrow?’

‘As far as I know. I’m not sure Dan knows what a weekend is anyway.’

Mac rang Tim from the car park and apologised for not being able to make it to the pub. Tim, being the good friend he was and knowing how up and down Mac could be with his health problems, took it with a good heart. He was just too tired, in too much pain and more than a little disappointed.

Saturday 10
th
January

The alarm woke him at six thirty. Mac opened his eyes and felt wide awake. He’d had a good night’s sleep. He manoeuvred himself into a sitting up position and then slowly stood up. He smiled at the absence of any severe pain and said a little prayer of thanks.

He pulled the curtains back and looked out into the garden. It was still dark and rain was spotting the window glass. He showered and shaved and was in a good mood until he remembered the press conference from the evening before. It still left a sour taste in his mouth. He went over it in his head while he made coffee and filled his travel mug. He’d had his run-ins over the years with the ‘lot upstairs’ as his old boss used to call them and it never failed to amaze him how little knowledge of real police work some of them had.

He wondered how Dan felt about it. No doubt he’d find out soon enough.

He had to drive fairly slowly and keep the wipers on the fastest setting as the rain pelted hard against the windscreen. He wondered which way the investigation would go now. Of course the cat was out of the bag with regard to their suspect but, trying to look on the bright side, he supposed that it might also get them more information to work with.

Mac arrived early in the incident room but he wasn’t the first. Dan sat there staring at the white board, hands clasped behind his head, deep in thought.

‘You’re in early today. Making sure you beat me to it?’ Mac joshed.

It raised a slight smile from Dan.

‘Couldn’t sleep, things just going around and around in my mind so I thought I might as well come in. Did you see it yesterday?’

Mac didn’t have to ask what. He nodded.

‘Bloody disaster wasn’t it? Christ you tell them one thing and they go and say another. Too much pressure he said, he had to give the press something. I’d have given them, and him, a good kick up the arse if I had my way. Oh well, now it’s out there we might at least learn a bit more about our man, who is probably sunning himself on a beach in Timbuktu, if they have any beaches that is.’

‘I’ve been thinking the same,’ Mac replied.

‘About the beach in Timbuktu?’

Mac smiled, ‘No about getting more information. You never know it might all work out for the best.’

‘We’ll see,’ Dan said without much conviction. ‘Fancy some breakfast?’

‘I thought you’d never ask.’

On the way to the canteen they bumped into Tommy who joined them. Mac took a bite from his sausage and egg sandwich and felt immediately better. Police food could be very comforting Mac had found, he supposed it needed to be considering what they did.

‘So what’s the plan of action for today?’ Mac asked.

‘As soon as Martin comes in we’ll see if anything’s come in overnight, otherwise, if I’m honest I’m not really sure. We’ll see what ideas the team come up with. To be honest as it’s a Saturday we might knock off at lunch if nothing comes up…’ 

At that moment Dan’s phone rang.

Dan said ‘yes’ three times and then wrote something down.

He then said, ‘We’ll be right there.’

Dan ended the call. Mac could see that Dan was both excited and puzzled.

‘Looks like they’ve found our man.’

‘Where?’ Mac and Tommy asked in unison.

‘On the Ashridge Estate, near Berkhamstead in Hertfordshire. He’s dead. Come on,’ Dan ordered.

Mac still had half a sandwich left. He wrapped it in a paper napkin and took it with him.

Dan made a call as they returned to the incident room. Martin had just arrived and, when he’d finished on the phone, Dan had a few words with him.

He then turned to Mac and Tommy, ‘Let’s go, this can’t wait’

‘I’ve let the boss know and I’ve asked Martin to give me a ring if he hears anything new. I’ve also asked him to get Adil to find the team something to do while we’re away.’

Mac and Tommy followed Dan to the car park.

‘Anyone know anything about Ashridge?’ Dan asked as they took the road towards Dunstable.

‘Yes,’ Mac replied. ‘It’s a big estate, about five thousand acres if I remember right, owned by the National Trust. People go there for the forest walks, really nice in the summer. Kids like it there too.’

He took his sandwich out of his pocket and gave it a big bite. He suddenly remembered that he used to go there on the odd Sunday with Bridget when the weather was good. It had been one of the few things they did without Nora. Nora stayed at home and worked in the garden and on the Sunday dinner while Mac and Bridget wandered under the leafy canopy of the forest walks they liked the most. It was something Bridget had really liked doing until she reached the age of ten or so when she’d started preferring the company of her friends. Mac had been really sorry about that.

He realised now that those walks, holding Bridget’s little hand in his while she warbled on about this and that, were some of the happiest moments of his life. What was it Nora had said as Bridget was getting older and more independent?

‘
We know they need to grow up but isn’t it a pity you can’t keep a small version of them as well.’

‘Big place then, funny I’ve never even heard of it before,’ Dan said breaking Mac’s reverie.

‘Did they say exactly where they found him?’ Mac asked.

‘Yes, a place called Thunderdell Wood. What a name, eh!’

‘Actually in the wood?’

‘No on the road. They said that some walkers noticed the car parked there at around seven this morning. God, you’d think that at this time of the year and in this weather people would just stay in bed on a Saturday morning. Anyway the car’s engine was running and they saw the driver slumped over the steering wheel but it was the pipe running from the exhaust into the car that gave the game away.’

‘He killed himself?’ Tommy exclaimed.

‘No-one’s saying that yet but from what they told me it certainly looks like suicide.’

Even without seeing the circumstances of Matyas’ death Mac had his doubts. He’d pictured Matyas as one of those people who will always blame others before themselves, normally not good candidates for self-immolation. Mac decided to keep such thoughts to himself for now.

The day was lightening up now and the rain had stopped. Once past Dunstable they were in the countryside and a thin winter sun appeared over the horizon gently lighting up the green fields. They approached Ashridge from a direction that was unfamiliar to Mac but soon he got his bearings when he saw the tall monument down the bottom of a side road. That was where the visitor centre and main car park was situated.

Dan carried on and then turned left past an ancient chequer-board patterned house and up a narrow road. About four hundred yards further on a silver coloured BMW was parked on the side of the road cordoned off by yellow tape bearing the message ‘Crime scene - do not cross’. Mac noticed that the car was parked in a passing place, leaving plenty of room for another car to get by.

On the far side of the car an ambulance was parked with its back doors open and two paramedics sitting, legs dangling, as they observed the scene. Four uniformed officers were in attendance along with two men in white coveralls, one was examining the car for prints and the other taking photographs from various angles.

‘Forensics got here quick,’ Dan observed as he parked the car behind the BMW.

A uniformed officer came over and Dan introduced himself, then Mac and Tommy.

‘I’m Inspector Rigby. All I can tell you at the moment is that two walkers, Ben and Eleanor Travers-Smythe came across the car at around seven-oh-five this morning. They called 999 straight away and we were on the scene at seven eighteen. We turned off the engine and opened the passenger side door allowing the fumes to dissipate. We ascertained that the driver was dead at seven twenty one. He felt cold to the touch so he’d probably been dead for a quite a while. We shut the door again and called in forensics, I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you at the moment.’

‘What made you certain that he was the man we were looking for?’ Dan asked.

‘One of my officers noticed the resemblance. We were certain when we pulled his photo up on our phones. It’s him alright.’

‘Have you checked the car registration yet?’ Mac asked.

The inspector took out his notebook.

‘Yes, it’s registered to a Mr. Mark Brody whose address is in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. We’ve checked and it’s not been reported stolen.’

‘It probably will be soon. Thanks, Inspector Reid. I’ll just need a quick word with the forensics boys.’

Dan walked over to the car and started talking to one of the men in coveralls.

‘Have you had many instances of people doing this before in this area?’ Mac asked the Inspector.

‘None to my knowledge. I’ve only come across a couple of cases like this in my time and both of those were in their own garages.’

‘Isn’t it harder to do now most cars have catalytic converters?’ Tommy asked.

‘In the cases I mentioned both cars were fitted with converters but they still managed to kill themselves. They were both males in their fifties and had drunk the equivalent of a bottle of spirits so they were probably already unconscious even before the carbon monoxide got to work, just takes a little longer I guess.’

Dan came back.

‘They’ll let us know when they’re finished. Anything else you can tell us while we’re waiting?’

‘Well the car must have been here before eleven last night,’ the Inspector said.

Dan looked impressed.

‘How can you tell that?’

‘It was dry all day yesterday until the rain started around eleven. The road is dry underneath the car.’

‘Bloody well noticed,’ Dan said, complimenting the Inspector. ‘Anything else?’

‘He left what looks like a suicide note but it was on the floor on the driver’s side so I wasn’t able to read it.’

‘Any alcohol?’ Mac asked.

‘Not as far as I could see. Might be something in the boot though, we didn’t look in there. I’ve had my men comb the woods here just in case he threw anything, like an empty bottle perhaps, but we found nothing.’

‘What’s down that end of the road?’ Mac asked.

‘Just some storage buildings that belong to the golf club. It’s a cul-de-sac, the road ends there,’ the Inspector replied.

‘I remember there being a big house somewhere nearby. What’s that used for?’

‘Oh, you must mean the Conference Centre,’ the Inspector replied. ‘It’s no more than ten minutes walk from here. Just walk down the road and turn right down the grass track.’

Mac turned to Dan.

‘We’ll have to check it out.’

‘Let’s wait and see what forensics have found first,’ Dan replied.

They didn’t have to wait long. A few minutes later one of the forensics team ambled over.

‘Hi, I’m Andy Smith.’

Dan introduced Mac and Tommy. Like most forensics people Andy didn’t offer to shake hands.

‘Did you find anything we should know about?’ Dan asked.

‘Well there was a note, not signed, but that probably doesn’t mean much in this computer age.’

Andy produced a plastic bag inside which was a single piece of A4 paper.

Dan read the note out loud.

‘
So many lives I’ve taken.  I’ve been blind but I see clearly now, I see my sins for what they are and I can no longer live with them.   I know I will only kill again, it’s in my nature. So just one more death.  My own
.’

‘How bloody convenient,’ Dan added with more than a hint of sarcasm.

‘I take it that you think he took his own life?’ Mac asked.

‘That’s what it looks like. There were no signs of violence that we could see. The prints on the hose and the piece of gaffer tape that was used to seal the window only seem to have one set of prints on them, the victim’s. ’

Mac looked at the hose. It had once belonged to a vacuum cleaner. The nozzle end had been jammed into the exhaust while the other end was held in place by the driver’s side window. The hose was very taut.

‘What about the hose?’ Mac asked.

‘Yes, it seems to be a little short for the purpose but I guess he could have gotten in via the passenger door and climbed over into the driver’s seat.’

‘Did you find any footprints or car tracks?’ Dan asked.

Andy shook his head.

‘Nothing nearby but then again it had been very dry for quite a few days and it looks like the rain arrived after the suicide, or whatever it was, took place. If there had been any prints they were probably washed away.’

‘Anything in the boot?’ Mac asked hopefully.

‘Absolutely nothing which is interesting in itself I would have thought.’

Mac thought so too.

‘Is it possible that someone could have staged this to look like a suicide?’ Mac asked.

Andy turned to look at the car and said, ‘Yes, that’s always a possibility but we’ve found nothing definite yet that would support that theory. From what I’ve seen so far I’d go for suicide, keep it simple and all that.’