A Genuine Mistake by Ted Tayler (miss read books txt) 📗

over one casual picture of Carl Wallace after another, and then she paused and returned to the previous photo and studied it. Gus walked around the table and stood beside her. In this photo, Carl Wallace was in his late twenties.

“That’s him,” she said. “How on earth did you find him? Who is he?”

“How certain are you that this was the man you saw outside this house six years ago?”

“I’m certain,” Rachel replied.

“You told us you had never seen him before,” said Gus.

“I hadn’t,” said Rachel. “Why, who is he?”

“His name is Carl Wallace,” said Gus. “Now, do you remember him?”

“Wallace? Is he related to Lawrence? I didn’t know Lawrence’s family. Mum didn’t mention them. Lawrence was divorced when he contacted Mum.”

“Are Lawrence and your mother still together?” asked Gus.

“I suppose so,” said Rachel. “She wasn’t happy about my reasons for moving out when I did. We’re not close anymore. Why would this man want to kill Gerry?”

“We don’t know,” said Gus. “He’s a small-time criminal. If he learned somehow from his father, that Gerry had money, perhaps he came here demanding cash. We’ll find out when we interview him.”

“Mum didn’t know about Gerry,” said Rachel. “I told her in a Christmas card that I’d met someone who was a widower with two sons, but I didn’t go into details. Mum wasn’t interested. As I said, we’re really not close. Does Carl Wallace live near Mum?”

“No, he’s abroad at present,” said Gus.

“My God,” said Rachel. “What will you do now?”

“Fly to Malaga as soon as possible,” said Gus.

“It won’t bring Gerry back, but at least we might know why he died.”

Gus thanked Rachel for her help and drove back to the office.

“What did she say, guv?” asked Lydia when Gus exited the lift.

“First things first, Lydia.”

Gus called Geoff Mercer and told him the latest news.

“A positive ID of the potential killer?” said Geoff.

“Yes, Geoff. Can we go and get him now?”

“I’ll phone ahead to alert the authorities,” said Geoff. “Vera is still here for another thirty minutes. I’ll get her to book flights to Malaga for the morning. Will that be OK?”

“If Alex says he can get the day off,” said Gus.

Alex Hardy nodded. Lydia Logan Barre sighed.

“Does that mean tonight’s bash is off, guv?” asked Neil.

“It means Alex and I will be designated drivers,” said Gus. “It’s important that we celebrate our past successes, and the rest of you can wish Alex and me luck tomorrow.”

“Rachel, guv?” asked Lydia.

“She confirmed that Carl Wallace was the man on the doorstep. They had never met. Rachel didn’t know Lawrence Wallace’s family. It’s a familiar story; mother and daughter became estranged due to the new relationship. Rachel put distance between her and Lawrence. Mum was upset by the reasons that Rachel gave her. The years rolled by, and Rachel met Gerry. Apart from informing her mother in a throwaway comment in a card that she was in a relationship, she insists that she never mentioned Gerry’s name or where they lived.”

“Her mother knew that Rachel moved to Bath, guv,” said Blessing.

“As Neil said, Rachel advertises her business everywhere,” said Lydia. “We trace people through the internet. If this Carl Wallace thought there was something worth chasing, he could soon locate her whereabouts.”

Gus’s phone rang. Vera Butler was on the line.

“Five past ten from Bristol,” she said. “I knew it was urgent. Pick up the e-tickets from Bob at Reception on your way home. Have a good weekend.”

“You too, Vera,” said Gus. “Thanks for getting that organised.”

Vera rang off. Gus breathed a sigh of relief. That didn’t sound as if Vera would be arriving at the pub later with Rick Chalmers.

“I need to collect our tickets from London Road, Alex,” said Gus. “I’ll head home a few minutes early. Can you collect me from the bungalow at seven?”

“No problem, guv,” said Alex.

Gus gathered his things and made for the lift.

“See you at nine o’clock in the Waggon & Horses,” he said. “The usual place, in the quiet bar at the rear.”

As the lift travelled to the ground floor, the others started talking.

“There doesn’t appear to be any doubt that we’ve learned who killed Gerry Hogan,” said Luke. “Are we closer to working out why?”

“I still want to know why a small-time criminal travels a hundred miles to demand money with menaces,” said Neil. “Okay, Gerry had money, but there are thousands of homes in the Home Counties that Wallace could target. It wasn’t something he normally did either. None of his arrests imply that sooner or later, he’d escalate to murder. What are we missing?”

“I don’t think we’ll get to the bottom of this until Gus and Alex interview Wallace,” said Lydia.

“I might have found something to explain Neil’s query,” said Blessing. “The last time Carl Wallace served time in prison was at HMP Leyhill in Gloucestershire. It’s only twenty-odd miles from Trowle Common. Perhaps when he came out, he didn’t return to the Guildford area. We should check those photos on Facebook for metadata, as we did on the Duncan case. I’ll ask Divya tonight. Perhaps we can discover where Wallace was in those photos. He could have been local for a short time, which explains how he knew where Hogan lived.”

“Good thinking, Blessing,” said Lydia. “We’ll tell Gus tonight when we see him. One question he needs to ask Carl Wallace is, did he fly out to Malaga from Bristol Airport shortly after May the sixth, 2012?”

“It’s five o’clock,” said Neil. “I vote we get off home, have a great night tonight, and pick this up again on Monday morning when Gus and Alex have got our man in custody. We’ll add our pieces of the jigsaw to the ones they bring back from Malaga