Playing With Trouble
Chapter 5
UCOS team find out some new truths and a reason for why Vinny was killed. I've decided on adding an extra storyline for Strickland and Sandra for the next few chapters, a hint of romance - now that would be telling, the man is a legend, well, second behind Brian. Esther finally drives Brian round the bend when she introduces him to Twitter but it proves to be valuable and useful.
A big thanks to smallhobbit for beta reading this latest chapter.
After deciding on phoning Alan Wright's home phone number and asking him to come in to UCOS the next morning , Brian sat at home. As he sat at the round table he was unable to eat Esther's steaming hot freshly cooked paella, even thought it was a recipe she picked from a cookbook she'd bought in Spain, made with vegetables, seafood and white rice. He appreciated her patience and understanding as he tapped on his laptop, not daring to touch the spoon that lay by the two plates.
"Brian, you are going to eat at least some of that aren't you love. I spent a couple of hours preparing it in the kitchen." Esther sighed, as she stood in her apron and oven gloves, a hand placed on her waist and with a shake of the head, which wasn't noticed by her husband. He sat still and was too preoccupied with the laptop, trying to do another Internet search and becoming more unsuccessful at each try. Alan had looked altogether too suspicious. It was confusing as to why the police hadn't recorded any evidence of previous questioning. Alan's dad was friends with the well known Detective Sergeant, Billy Jones in 1984/1985. However their friendship hadn't broken up when Billy was arrested by his own officers under suspicion of corruption and taking bribes and Alan himself got into criminal ways, taking his bitterness out on the victims of arson and burglaries within the community where he lived.
"I will love...I will.. Just this case is hanging over me all the time... Don't wanna let Thomas down ... probably thinks I'm not bothered about helping him." Sadness filled his thoughts, he didn't want to feel this bad nor uncaring about his old school friend. They hadn't been in touch for so many years and now with this looming in his brain and taking over his positive thoughts, he knew Thomas must have cared a great deal about his younger brother. He was always standing up for him when they were all in primary school together; they were good brothers, only Thomas had got himself expelled twice for starting fights with bullies, he'd tended to deny he was a bully himself, not liking the use of the word when he was referred to as one in the headteacher's office.
"Brian for once...put that away... Go on it later, after 9pm..besides there's not much on the telly later or for the next few nights." Taking off her oven gloves, she took the laptop from him and placed it inside the computer backpack behind the couch. He complied, tucking into the meal, taking a mouthful of rice and seafood on his spoon and eating it slowly, digesting it before he gave his verdict.
"Mmm, its delicious love... should cook it more often..." giving two thumbs of appreciation.
"Oh by the way I was thinking we should go away again this year...What do you think?...Me, I fancy visiting New York...Plus I think you'd like it there, seeing as you watch CSI New York every time it comes on telly.'' Esther said, as she curled up on the sofa behind the table. She thought he would be bound to agree, he always enjoyed watching and talking about the setting of that particular television show.
"Oh, not another bloody holiday... We only visited Barcelona last year......Gerry mentioned he fancies his chances of winning the Lottery, even talked about visiting Las Vegas..." Brian finished his paella, slumping backwards in his chair. He couldn't eat anymore, he was too full up. He desperately wanted to have another search on his computer after what he and Gerry had discovered earlier in the day about Alan Wright. Apparently he used Twitter to communicate with some of the other criminals who were well known to both UCOS and the London Metropolitan Police. Something didn't look right at all with this and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
"I thought you liked Barcelona...You seemed to enjoy the scenery and you especially enjoyed the hot weather and the sandy beaches from what I remember and now you don't seem bothered about going to New York...Brian Lane you can be one proper moody husband.." Sometimes Esther felt her husband should have at least two holidays a year. He was really in need of one as he always got himself so worked up and now was delving too personally into the current case the UCOS team were reinvestigating. Despite his protests and negative signals she didn't care, she would go and book them a week in New York when she visited the travel agent's tomorrow.
"I do... Spain's the best place to visit during the summertime..I'd like to go again, but when things at work become less chaotic" Brian moaned. He was trying to get himself on Twitter, unable to successfully type in a username or password, frustration getting the better of him.
"Brian, I think you need a password to login to them Twitter and Facebook sites...'ere let me try a name for you to type in." She leaned over his shoulder, pressing against it, thinking quickly she typed 'Butterfly
"What? I think that username really suits you; besides you are an intelligent man anyway.. Don't sulk...Oh, look it
At around 10pm, he decided on calling it a night but he would try again sometime tomorrow. He began to realise that maybe it was a clever idea, as he had thought in the beginning. He'd heard of Twitter before but he hadn't actually quite got what it was about.
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Gerry made himself a morning brew, as he was the first to arrive in the UCOS office. It'd been a tiring night for him; his second date never showed up, she had stood him up and he was left disappointed and depressed about it. He prayed that the others wouldn't start teasing the hell out of him. No hangover for him on this glorious bright sunny morning all over London. He'd become attached to listening to the Sat Nav lady in his car, her voice was sexy he had noted, it cheered him strangely enough.
The office had been left in a tip late last night. He'd been last to finish up after Sandra and Jack had left to go and have drinks at the pub, and Brian had cycled off like Chris Hoy in an Olympic cycling event. Gerry thought his friend could be a good challenger for him in a bike race. He chuckled at the thought.
"Morning, Gerry... what time did you leave last night? Sandra and I couldn't help worrying" Jack said.
"Why?" Gerry stood while sipping his hot cup of coffee, inhaling the rich smell of coffee granules.
"That you didn't look yourself yesterday and that you were quiet when we arrived back... feeling any better?"
"Oh you know me... I don't allow colds or dizziness to keep me off from work" He said reassuringly. Gerry knew nothing could keep him away from work, choosing to spend his lunchtime checking in on Emily, even though she kept telling him not to and that he probably enjoyed distracting everyone from working.
"So what time are we expecting Alan Wright in for questioning?...Sandra seems so convinced he has something to hide, especially as the original investigation didn't point him out as a potential suspect in all of this" Jack hoped they might finally get some truths from this Alan and that the crafty bugger wouldn't tease or deny everything they said to him.
"Do you wanna a brew, kettle's still hot in the kitchen?" Gerry offered politely, but Jack declined, choosing to drink a cup of tea or coffee at lunchtime instead. "Just having a look through these case files and I've noticed that Douglas has been done for another assault. Did he happen to mention it to you and Sandra yesterday?"
"No he didn't...He made himself out to be the innocent victim in this.. I'll show her the file as soon as she arrives." Jack sighed, making a promise to see what she thought. He could hide the fact that he didn't look too pleased that Douglas had spun a lie. He sat down on his chair and got straight on with writing up the last notes from his notepad, whilst waiting for their Detective Superintendent, putting his glasses on to read some of the smaller written words.
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Sandra felt herself becoming too obsessed with this case. Maybe Robert Strickland was right that she needed some time off. She should take herself away for a few days somewhere in the UK. She'd always wanted to visit Wales, perhaps Snowdonia or Cardiff. She found herself wrapped up in too much work and had always wished for some younger man to come along and whisk her off her feet, romantically, after all Valentine's Day was only in a couple of days time. For once she decided to go to a speed dating evening, maybe Robert might come too, she wasn't too sure whether he and his ex girlfriend were still talking.
Her mobile phone vibrated to the tune of Life on Mars. She immediately grabbed it, clicking on the bluetooth connection that was installed in the driver's seat and answered it.
"Hello Sandra, it
"We're still struggling enough as it is...I'm gonna tell him myself... oh, by the way, just to let you know I'm stuck in morning traffic.. I'll probably be about another 15 minutes or so... Shouldn't take long... some poxy road worker is showing a bit too much from his back." She found herself staring, trying to avert her eyes, some men had the nerve to presume that they needn't wear trousers and chose to strut around in blue shorts. She shuddered in horror, almost losing concentration on her driving. However she did enjoy the company of younger handsome men; the team didn't mind seeing her flirt when a younger detective entered UCOS.
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"Hi I'm Alan Wright. I was phoned yesterday by Sandra Pullman about coming in to answer some questions over a re-opened murder case."
He stood nervously with his hands in his pockets, looking towards Jack and Gerry. Brian was still sat with his cycling gear on, cycling helmet placed on his desk, covering a pile of folders. Sandra had arrived five minutes before and was busy sorting out her desk. She glanced out of her office window and had seen the new arrival waiting by the main entrance, standing on the spot. From his body language it had been easy to spot that he suffered with OCD, moving objects nearby and rubbing his jacket sleeve in order to wipe away some smudge marks.
All possible suspects were sure to look as if they might be liars, shifty eyed or talking nonsense, she couldn't put a finger on it, she thought, as she approached Alan and asked him to follow her to the interview rooms with Brian slowly walking far behind, exchanging unimpressed glances. He had found some possibly vital and definitely interesting clues on Twitter. On the touch screen mobile phone that he
's marvellous food this, Esther... You should cook this more often and I like the vegetables you've added..I am glad we went to Spain. They have got the most exotic and delicious food there, better than most of the grub we get 'ere ...Promise to cook this another night and we might invite Gerry over to see what he thinks..." He smiled, allowing the taste to fill his stomach. He was attempting to forget about work just for tonight. He didn't want to depress his wife with details of how this reinvestigation case was currently progressing, she was a saint for coping with his violent mood swings all these years, especially when he came up with a solution or a possible clue for solving a case.' as a password and 'IamGenius 'as Username. He huffed in annoyance.'s accepted it." Brian raised a sudden smile, proud that she had managed to register him on Twitter. "Just don't be on this all night...I've heard a lot of celebrities regularly tweet on there," she warned. She didn't really mind as long as he found out some useful leads. Following Alan Wright wouldn't be easy, but all Brian needed to know was whether Alan had gloated about any past events, any serious crimes he had committed in the 1980's, to give a hint of who killed Vinny Baxter. A couple of seconds later she left the room to go and find a book to read, the night was still young, it was only about 8.45pm.' messages, it felt like an intrusion into their private lives. Clicking on the name, a search bought up 12 Alan Wrights. From what he had seen of the man's appearance and description in the evidence file booklet Gerry found, this Alan Wright was in his early fifties, brown short cropped hair, dressed like a businessman, of clean appearance, only one arrest in the past five years for assault. Unfortunately he was questioned and released from the Police station the morning after. He matched a similar picture with the one he seen earlier in the day. "Blimey," Brian saw some familiar names that he remembered from years ago, including some criminals who he'd put behind bars.'s Brian... just telling you that Strickland's come by the office and wants to see you when you arrive. It's about the Vinny Baxter re-investigation case... he said he's only giving us three more days to solve the case."'d borrowed from Esther, one message read:
"Alright Barry my old friend how have you've been these last thirty years..'aven't seen you since the day of Vinny's death... Daft idiot getting in the way... well we did warn him didn't we...give me a buzz anytime soon"
"Brian what is it?" He showed her the message from the mobile. "You shouldn
"I know I should haven't, but it proved useful..perhaps he's given the game away. Let
"You do know why we've asked you to come in?" Sandra started, acknowledging Alan's cold stares. Something definitely didn
"Yes I do...You gonna charge me then?" He joked sarcastically, sitting forward instead of leaning back against the chair, his pale hands laying flat on the table.
"Not just yet. Not till we determine whether you're actually messing us around. So Alan, how did you and Vinny get along? Were you good friends at school? Did you ever fight at any point?"
"We may have had the odd disagreement or two...I never bullied him....my friends bullied him when his brother got suspended... poor bugger didn't fight back...never had friends himself... was on his own when the other kids sat in the school canteen... I fought more with his brother, up to the point I was dared to chuck a brick through their window... Proved to be a big mistake" He blew a puff of air, hair cornered upwards like a quiff, eyes refusing to look away, he was proving himself not to be at all shy, occasionally staring at Sandra, who wasn't liking his creepy stares.
"Listen Alan...I'm going to show you something on my mobile. Do you deny this or will you cooperate with our questioning?" Brian took out the mobile phone from his trouser pocket, placing it in the middle of the table, pointing at the message.
"So is that you who typed it or someone pretending to be you? You and Barry Higgins were best friends."
"Alright, I did type it, only as a joke.. I didn't mean any offense by it... I did see Vinny that day but never in a million years would I kill 'im. Me and Barry loved football and we really hated football related violence and anyone who participated in it. Did them no favours... I do remember walking away from the Home exit, turning around I caught a glimpse of a man running away... looked like he had blood on his trousers...sorry, I can't be precise"
"You've certainly got a good memory of that day. Why weren't you questioned in the original enquires, because everyone else was?"
"I dunno. Billy kept visiting the house... him and Dad kept exchanging money between themselves... it looked a bit fishy...at the time he said that Billy had won the money in the Bookies...Mum said something else. She reckoned Dad might have been involved with the Freemasons. Done the odd jobs for them now and again..." sadness was overwhelming in Alan's emotional voice. He felt he should have done something about it, stopped his Dad from making too many mistakes in his career. "He told dad that if i ever found myself in trouble he'd do his best to prevent me from getting arrested for any crimes"
"So what do you reckon Brian?" Sandra pouted her bottom lip leaning forward, with her hands grasped together.
"Christ, if only CCTV was created years before, we'd have an image of the guy...Erm, Alan do you think you can draw a description of him from what you've told us" Brian asked
"Of course... Like I said I'm not a violent man... I'd never bludgeon anyone to death with a heavy object." He closed his eyes tight, trying to remember in flashback the tall man. Then he started sketching an exact description image, it didn't make sense at first, the face was unrecognisable. After he completed it, he displayed it face up for them to observe.
"That looks like Douglas... Bugger it is" Brian's glasses cornered from his nose.
"Can i say something... All i could make out was that he looked like any typical French geezer paying a visit to London...like i said me and my friend Barry caught of this geezer legging it down the road... then we bumped into 'im' when we'd ate our fish and chips in Central London... gave us money to keep shut... I refused..cause i don't take money of strangers"
"I think we're done here you're free to go but we made need you to come back depending on any further developments in this reinvestigation" Brian showed him to the door and allowed him to leave soon afterwards.
"Brian it was nice of you even though you shouldn't have gone digging too much, reading messages, but I'm glad you found something even if didn't come to anything...I've still got to put up with what Strickland might suggest." She felt tired, having been up until the early hours of the morning. "We just see what he has to say for himself first before we start debating what to do next,,,Invite him down to London for questioning" Brian hinted, shrugging his shoulders and reading another message.
End of Chapter
