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Chapter 17
Turney felt as if he were emerging from a crystalline state. It was as though he had been frozen to preserve his body until a cure could be found for his disease. Well the disease had been shortlived and the cure miraculous: he was free.
He hadn’t faced the possibility of defeat. He had no idea what would happen to him if he was forced to spend years inside prison. He had thought about it. He had known it was more than likely to come and often he had thought it would be a peaceful place. But now there was so much to do and now he had the chance to complete his task.
He went back to the flat. She had left, naturally she had left but he would find her. It wasn’t so much her rejection; it was more the treachery of it. Lovers – especially women – should be loyal. Why else did the law prevent wives from giving evidence against their husbands? And they would have been married had he got rid of Clarissa. No, it was clear that she had been in the wrong to give him up and his freedom did not make it right. And then there was Kevin. Men should stick together, everyone knew that. No, it was clear that Kevin had been in the wrong too. Clarissa was unfinished business and he hated to leave a task undone. ‘Stick at it’ isn’t that what his father always said?
He would be watched, of course, so he would take his time. The police had to do their job and he felt no animosity towards Anderson. He wasn’t the brightest of men but he didn’t hold that against him. American cops were no better. No, he would leave Anderson alone as long as Anderson left him alone.
First, he had to look after the money side. He needed to buy time and he had no job. There was an officer on duty outside Clarissa’s house, so he forced a window at the back. Inside he found the key to the side door. The back way over the fence that he had used before would come in useful again.
Bits of jewellery, video and Hi Fi equipment he could carry over the fence so he took whatever was portable. He knew she wouldn’t be back in time to notice the loss until it was too late. It was a treasure chest that he could raid intermittently for some time. Her laptop was still there and so were the PC, carpets, original paintings and he supposed much else that was saleable. Given time he could manoeuvre much of it over fences and on to the street.
He knew where she had gone and he knew where Anderson lived. For a day or two he would hang around outside, so he could be seen. That should keep the great detective busy for a while. Kevin would be the first. Would he have run already? He thought not. Kevin would know that he could trace him and that he would be persistent. He would stay where he was and hope that whatever precautions he took would work.
Building sites were good places for ’accidents‘. Kevin’s flat would by now have all sorts of security devices fitted but building sites were different. He allowed Clarissa a week of looking at him through Anderson’s top floor window before taking the train to Watford.
It was a surprise to Anderson that, of the two women, Amanda held herself together best. Clarissa refused to move from his apartment and couldn’t sleep without pills once Turney began to stand outside. The doctor had left him in charge of her medication and Clarissa accepted that with surprising docility. They both knew she was hanging on desperately. He knew he had to do something even if it wasn’t strictly legal and he was forced to have a word to a uniformed sergeant.
But Turney disappeared from the front of the flats before the any action could be taken. It had been a long shot anyway. They couldn’t have done much to Turney even if they had arrested him and taken him down to the station. Anderson knew he shouldn’t have involved others in the force but he was becoming desperate. Soon he would have to decide how desperate. His respect for ’law and order’ had taken a battering. If the authorities couldn’t protect the innocent citizen then he would have to take the law into his own hands. It was not a phrase that he had any liking for. ‘Taking the law into one’s own hands’ had been a recipe for corruption in the force. Was that the way he was going?
Amanda Clayden was back living with Lesley Rathbone. Fielding had been to see her and reported to Anderson that she was being careful. But Anderson wondered just how careful that was and whether it was careful enough. He thought he had some idea now of Turney’s mind. Most murderers want to get away with it. This was what protected their potential victims but he saw Turney as being different. Consequences didn’t seem to matter to him. He might wish to keep his freedom but it didn’t seem to Anderson that it was this that was most important to him. He was probably reconciled to being in prison at some time.
Anderson imagined that he would be inexorable in carrying out unfinished business. His thoughts constantly harked back to the meeting with the CPS. If the law couldn’t stop him then someone must.
A tour around the town for one morning was enough to find Kevin. He had expected to have to return another day but his chance came earlier than expected. While the crew went off-site for a break he got in through a wire fence at the back and climbed to the top floor. He had seen Kevin up there and he knew that’s where he would be: they both enjoyed the exhilaration of leaning out over nothingness and balancing on foot-wide girders. There were nets but, as usual, there were holes and no one had tested them. A little push and he would be over and he would make sure there were no witnesses, then it would be one man’s word against another if it didn’t work.
Turney could see that Kevin was being cautious as the crew came back on site. He looked around him and allowed others to climb before him. Turney hid in a cupboard and waited. He left the cupboard door ajar so he could see something of what was going on. The opportunity came sooner than he had a right to expect. Kevin was calling down for more bricks when Turney placed his hand on his back. The man turned but it was too late. Turney was pleased that Kevin had seen him before falling.
The men took time down at ground level checking for life and then covering the body and calling for an ambulance. Turney was away before the police came.
In one way Kevin’s death was a comfort to Anderson, although he wouldn’t tell Clarissa about Turney’s attack. There was no evidence, so, yet again, no way of arresting Turney; he hadn’t even threatened the man. But, each time he acted, there was a chance. A chance that he would make a mistake. Anderson took Fielding and Comben to Watford. Maybe they could find something. The local police had been thorough but the only result was a possible charge against the builders for an unsafe site. No one had caught even a glimpse of Turney. It looked as though twenty-four hour surveillance of the man was the only way to catch him and they couldn’t afford that.
Kearney was sympathetic. If the three of them wanted to, they could take their holidays early and see what they could do. So they took turns outside Amanda’s and Anderson’s flats. There was no point in trying to stay with Turney. He had too many ways of leaving his flat without being seen. And then he disappeared entirely.