Chapter 14 Commander Brand’s Funeral
It was a grim affair and it was raining! Wragg wasn’t the only one wearing medals, quite a few officers were wearing war medals, allowed at certain ceremonies and funerals. Many police officers had over 10 medals having been in the last war and had joined the police force straight from the service they were in. Chief Superintendent Wragg didn’t feel out of place with just five medals, albeit one of them being the George Medal which somehow no one noticed.
He had come into the office early at 7:30 am, carrying his best uniform on a hanger in a plastic cover and placed it in his office wardrobe. He didn’t want to wear his best uniform first thing as he had a certain amount of work to do that was important to the running of the office agenda, and also the cleaners tended to miss shelves and desktops from dusting and polishing. It was a bright day with not a cloud in the sky, but come half ten the rain came down in stair-rods.
After the funeral, a celebration of Brand’s life was held at the local golf club where sandwiches, pizza’s, curried lamb and rice, followed by apple turnover and custard,
tea, coffee and beer were served.
Wragg and his two sergeants managed to get back to New Scotland Yard
by 3 PM. The rest followed shortly afterwards. No one felt like working, having stood in the rain for half an hour while part of the service was conducted over the grave and some officers were a little worse for wear having chosen beer for their comfort drink. It wasn’t up to Wragg to point the finger at those who had gone over the mark with the drinking. Circumstances only known to them had been a private and secret excuse, having spent more than five years under the jurisdiction of Commander Brand. There was a rumour at the funeral that he was a bully and many police officers were chastised in front of their mates as his methods of keeping a tight ship was to embarrass his men into being what he wanted them to be and any crew member who didn’t toe the line had to accept the consequences.
Chapter 15 Meeting the Enemy
It was a Thursday morning when police constables Dodd and Lodge were allowed to go home after spending a night at the hospital for observation, having received minor injuries falling off their motorbikes after being hit by a vehicle travelling on the wrong side of the road. They were both to report for duty the following Monday at 8am. It was by chance that they shared the same ward, and a bed next to each other and were able to converse. Dodd explained about his sister who was murdered and was hoping that Lodge would help him find the killer. Dodd didn’t want to do this on an official basis through the police force even though he had all resources at his fingertips. He didn’t want this person to have just a prison sentence, he wanted to exact the same fate on her killer – he had murder in mind. Lodge was uneasy about the whole prospect, but after Dodd had explained that no-one would ever find out and that he himself would be the executioner, Lodge agreed to go along with the idea. It was just as well as Lodge would be on Dodd’s hit list sooner than later.
* * *
Roger Grey couldn’t believe his luck having followed two new recruits of the police force and finding them in the local pub. Sitting close to their table he overheard their conversation on an interesting subject; the word murder kept cropping up. It was the one who was doing all the talking who finished by saying, ‘If only I had some clues to who it was.’ Roger Grey’s perceptive left ear gathered in this piece of news and he had a shrewd idea who it was who had murdered his sister, but it needed it to be confirmed and it seemed a good idea at this moment to introduce himself to them.
‘Excuse me but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.’ The scraping of chair legs was heard as both men stood up and backed away from their table and this man. Startled looks of horror were on their faces at being found out through their conversation which wasn’t part of a policeman’s social standing during a convivial evening at the local pub. Roger calmly put his right hand up and then down and placed his forefinger against his lips and made a shushing noise.
‘Perhaps, Gentlemen we should sit down. Everyone is looking at us!’
Dodd, Lodge and Grey resumed their seats and Lodge remarked to take the sting out of their actions ‘Don’t do that again I felt a tingle of electricity go through my body.’ Lodge laughed and pointed a finger towards his friend and said to the other persons sitting around them in a louder than usual voice – ‘Party tricks!’
Everyone in the room went back to their own conversations and the three men sat down.
Roger Grey explained that he thought the killer of Dodd’s sister was an assassin hired by Guy Arnold.
‘Shouldn’t we go after him?’
‘No!’
‘Why not?’ said Dodd.
‘Because of one good reason.’
‘What good reason?’
‘She was not the intended victim. It’s all very complicated.’
‘Doesn’t sound all that complicated.’ said Dodd. ‘We could torture this Guy Arnold into revealing the man’s name,’
‘He doesn’t know his name, everything was done by a box number in a newspaper and the very minute that box number has been used it is scrapped and a new number is placed with someone else who has a message to send privately, that’s why. Anyway Samantha was Guy’s girlfriend, it was his wife he was trying to get rid of.’
‘How do you know all this?’
‘I happened to be parked in the same road where Samantha lived and I saw the dark shape of a man leave the house with someone else who looked as if they were drunk. I waited until they had driven off and entered the house and I heard someone upstairs moaning and it was Guy Arnold and he was stark naked and tied to the bedposts hands and feet. I heard a police siren and left the premises just in time.’
The only word that escaped from Dodd’s lips was, ‘Oh!’
Roger explained, ‘It was at Samantha’s funeral when Guy named his wife in a short Eulogy and I believe he had been got at by the police who had set a trap for someone, but no-one came, not even the family or you for that matter.’
‘I was unable as I was committed to finish my training in London.’
‘You could have asked for compassionate leave.’
‘No! I couldn’t as it would mean starting my training all over again. Besides this way is better as Chief Superintendent Wragg hasn’t recognised that I am Samantha’s brother.’ All of this was a load of codswallop as Raymond Dodd wasn’t even a policeman at the time of Samantha’s passing.
* * *
Roger Grey wasn’t in the habit of revealing his identity to anyone, especially when he himself had committed murder and he was determined to carry on his crusade. I suppose on reflection he could have blackmailed them all in giving back his money, but murder was more fun and in his innovative way each victim he faced had to be silenced permanently because they would be able to point the finger at him as the one who was the killer. He wasn’t sure about Dodd and Lodge – whether he was prepared to trust them. For now they were more useful to him alive than dead, but there might come a time when trust would wear thin and he would have to deal with them the same way as the Steal & Company directors. Obviously he wasn’t going to own up to the killings to these two policemen who might think it might be a feather in their caps if they could identify the serial killer.
* * *
Raymond Dodd and Sam Lodge silently sipped their drinks and it was Dodd who broke their silent thoughts.
‘I really don’t know whether we can trust this chap, he seems to know all about how Samantha was murdered and for all we know he could have been the killer.’
‘I don’t think so. He wouldn’t have identified himself to us just like that. We could have arrested him on the spot and he probably knew that.’ said Lodge,
‘Perhaps you’re right, he took a bit of a gamble though. I think we will have to do a bit of killing ourselves, although the idea is a bit distasteful and against the grain.’
‘Who have you in mind?’
‘Jameson and Brook, our fellow motorcyclists and it must look like a road traffic accident.’