Buried Secrets: The Freeman Files Series: Book 11 by Ted Tayler (highly recommended books txt) 📗

“We’re assuming that Alan Duncan wasn’t keeping one or more of these colleagues’ identities hidden from his parents by using nicknames,” said Blessing.

“I hadn’t given that a thought,” said Alex.

“I think we should bear it in mind in the future,” said Blessing. “Bob Duncan wasn’t the only person to mention that Alan’s underwater campaigns were top-secret. I believe it was Maddy who used the term hush-hush.”

“Blessing’s right to advise caution,” said Gus, “Alan divulged little information about his naval career to anyone. Not to his family, his friends, or his work colleagues. Much like Maddy Telfer, he preferred to distance himself from his past. When we discover the reason for that, I hope we’ll be closer to finding his killer.”

“We’ve got interviews to schedule, guv,” said Lydia. “How do we prioritise them?”

“I thought Blessing had done that for us already,” said Alex, “but I suppose that’s naïve. Bryan Tarbuck only appeared in one photo, the one taken in Cape Town. The others at the top of the list were Alan’s best mates and could be shocked to learn of his murder ten years ago. Bob and Maddy didn’t know this pocket diary was available to them to notify ex-colleagues of his death, remember.”

“Let me explain the photos underneath the main section,” said Blessing. “Elizabeth Duncan allowed me to borrow these after I spoke with her this morning. Maybe Alan didn’t send these to his parents. Perhaps he brought them home when he left the Navy, and Elizabeth discovered them one day when cleaning his old room. You can see that Keith Smith, Craig Anderson, and Freddie Watts appear to have gone on separate day trips with Alan. There are no helpful details written on the backs, and the locations aren’t immediately evident. You will recognise Alan Duncan in the photo taken in Moscow. Again, there’s no sign of who took the picture. Perhaps it was one of the other three close friends, and the background in one of those snaps is a less popular part of Moscow. That leaves the last photograph.”

“He’s smartly dressed and mid to late twenties,” said Gus. “What nationality would you say, Alex?”

“Our man looks European, guv, but how far East I wouldn’t hazard a guess. I reckon I know someone who could help, guv.”

“Go on,” said Gus, “we certainly need it.”

“It will give you an extra gold star in the ACC’s book,” said Alex. “When I was working in the Hub on the Burnside saga, Divya, one of the techies at London Road was a great help. Rather than tie up Blessing’s time searching the metadata on these photographs, we should utilise the Hub’s resources and get them doing the legwork. It could help fill in the gaps in our knowledge.”

Gus recalled the ACC stressing how useful a facility the Hub could be to the Crime Review Team when he first approached him. But Gus preferred the traditional methods that had served him well in his career. He liked to think he wasn’t too old to learn new tricks; it just took him longer than it used to, which meant he continued to do things his way. They might take longer, but he knew they worked.

“That’s a great idea, Alex,” said Gus. “Why don’t you contact the Hub, speak to Divya, to see if she’s willing, and then ask her manager if we can utilise her skills on a quick project.”

“Leave that with me, guv,” said Alex. “Lydia can take you through her conversation with Anna Phillips while I’m doing that. I’ll fill you in on her husband, Wayne when you’re free.”

“Fair enough,” said Gus, “but before we move on, what does this second collection of photos suggest? I want to hear your opinion. Lydia?”

“Nice try, guv,” said Lydia. “Before I started working with you, if I’d just read the murder file and these photos popped up, I’d wonder whether that local rag had a point and Alan Duncan was gay. We need to speak to Smudger, Andy, and Lofty to see whether they have a similar casual photo of Alan that they took at the same time. Something to mark the occasion. We can ask about the nature of their relationship, but they can refuse to answer. It’s none of our business. I won’t pass an opinion until I’ve met the men involved, or at least read their stories in the Freeman Files.”

“What do you think, Blessing?” asked Gus.

“I’m with Lydia, guv,” said Blessing. “We don’t know when, or where Alan and his pals took these snaps. We haven’t even considered why. Lydia’s right, until we get both sides of the story, we can’t tell.”

“That’s the trouble, isn’t it, guv?” asked Alex. “We’re looking at a photograph that Alan Duncan valued enough not only to take but to keep for years. I’ve got several similar photos at home. I have a photo of the guys I trained with on the motorcycle pursuit course, with our bikes. I’ve kept a picture taken on the day I got discharged from hospital, with the surgeon who operated on my legs and several nursing staff. You’re questioning why Alan held onto photos of individuals. We’re comfortable with the idea of his hanging onto the group images. As soon as everyone else goes away and it’s one person, we join dots. Would we have done that if the person in the photo was a young woman?”

The team mulled over Alex’s words.

He picked up the phone and contacted the Hub.

“Maybe I’m overthinking things, guv,” sighed Blessing. “Ever since you handed us the murder file, you’ve insisted that Maddy and Alan had secrets buried in their past. We have gone over every scrap of evidence available to DCI Banks over a hundred times, without producing a positive result. So, as these new pieces of information came through, I looked at them with suspicion.”

“Why these