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He pulled up in front of the unmarked Police car parked outside Sperry’s on the High Street. Sandy was standing on the pavement waiting for him.
“Where’s Taff, Sandeep?” Thurstan asked as he drew his jacket around himself. “That wind’s bloody nippy, isn’t it?”
Sandy smiled from within his faux fur-lined hood. “It is a bit, Boss. You should get yourself one of these,” he replied as he patted the front of his padded jacket. “Taffy’s inside. I’ll mind the motors.” With that, he walked to the entrance door and called to the man behind the counter. “This is the Boss. Ok for him to go through?” The man beckoned him in. “First door on the right.”
He found Taffy in the small office, sat at a battered table filling in his Police pocket notebook. “Hello Boss,” Taffy said folding up the PNB and returning it to his jacket. “I’ve downloaded what we need, but grab a seat and I’ll show you what it is.” Thurstan pulled up the only other chair in the office as Taffy prepared the playback.
“Right, we were doing some house visits and it wasn’t looking good until we found this place in South Drive, just around the corner from the scene, only a minute’s walk away. No one around there had any CCTV but this guy’s had some anti-social behaviour issues with local bucks. He’s from Manchester, you know what they’re like, calling him ‘the Mancs’ and throwing eggs at his windows, so he had it installed. Watch this. According to the clock, it’s twenty-three forty yesterday.”
The screen showed a darkened street lit only by sparse sodium light. After several seconds, headlights lit up the road as a car turned right and drove directly towards the camera. “It’s come out of North Drive, and from the junction, it’s only about a hundred metres to Sandown Lane. From there the scene’s within fifty metres, I’d say. All this is happening in the road just behind us.” He indicated over his back with his thumb.
The vehicle followed the road around, passing in front of the camera at a 90-degree angle. The house security lighting suddenly came on, illuminating it briefly before it disappeared from view.
“Now I know you can’t see the occupants clearly, but the driver is wearing a light coloured top or jacket and I’d say that’s a Ford Focus. I think it’s silver. On top of that, if we play it back ... to here, you can see the front offside headlamp is misaligned slightly.” He let the footage run until the security light came on, then said: “And in case you were wondering, it was the cat. Just there.” He pointed to a small object caught entering the driveway. “The whole point of this, Boss, is what’s on the next one taken here.”
The screen kicked into life again to show a view of the inside of the shop. Visible through the front window, the pavement and part of the roadway. After several seconds, the bonnet and headlights of a car came into view as it halted next to the kerb outside. The headlight on the driver’s side was noticeably misaligned. A figure walked past the bonnet and into the shop. The man was wearing dark clothing and his woolly hat and beard had the effect of making him look eastern European or of Middle East origin. Once at the counter, he glanced upwards adjusting his position so that for the rest of his transaction he stood side on with his back mostly towards the camera.
On exiting the shop he turned left, towards the car and out of view. Seconds later the headlights came on again and the car drove off, heading into the city. The driver, seen briefly, was wearing a light coloured top or jacket.
“Well, what do you think, Boss? Taffy asked. “The clock says twenty-three forty-five, which fits in with the previous footage. We have the headlight, it’s a Ford Focus and I’m pretty sure it’s silver and there’s the driver’s clothing. It’s the same car. It’s got to be!”
Thurstan stood up, placed his chair back where he’d found it and patted Taffy on the shoulder. “Good work Taff,” he grinned. “Incidentally, what on earth led you here?”
Taffy looked a bit sheepish.“Well, to be honest, Boss, I was a bit peckish and this is one of my regular eating places. I know the owner fairly well now. He asked me if I was working on the murder. One thing led to another and he mentioned his new CCTV and did I want to have a look. Well, I thought it would be foolish not to and here we are.”
“Good stuff,” Thurstan patted his arm again. “What did you have?”
“What?” Taff was momentarily perplexed. “Oh! I had a chicken kebab.”
“Any good?” Thurstan asked.
“It was lush, Boss. Always is, that’s why I come here,” Taffy responded with a grin.
Leaving the office they thanked the owner and wandered out onto the pavement where they joined Sandy.
“Well done, Sandeep. Good day’s work,” Thurstan said. “Listen, both of you, you’re probably not aware but the SB descended upon us this morning and have taken this job over. I don’t know exactly why, but I think we can all guess. They don’t know about this stuff and that’s the way I want it to stay, at least for the time being. Don’t mention it to anyone, apart from DS Drayton. The less anyone in the office knows then the better it is for them. Ok?”
Sandy and Taff looked at each other, nodded, then as one replied, “OK, Boss.”
They stood in silence as the DCI looked up and down the street. “What about these other premises?” he said eventually.
Sandy shook his head. “No CCTV, Boss. Inside only, and they weren’t open, of course. That one over there ...” He pointed to a building across the road. “Only had it fitted this morning whilst we were here and that one,” he pointed to a shop further along the street, “is a dummy.”
Thurstan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Ok, I’ll take the downloads and you two do whatever it is you need to do and I’ll see you back at the office when you’re finished.”
Back in his car, he sat with the engine running and the heater on full blast. When he’d warmed up sufficiently he turned on the car radio and manoeuvred into the city-bound traffic. The local news was reporting a serious assault in the south end, the arrest of a man and woman as they attempted to abduct a 10-year-old boy from a street in nearby Bootle and the fact that it was going to be a warmer day tomorrow.