Page 48

‘OK, Poe.’

Two hours later Poe stood on the steps of Kendal Magistrates’ Court. He sucked in the cold air, then wished he hadn’t when he was hit with a coughing fit. It hadn’t been a straightforward application, partly due to his insistence that the courtroom was cleared of press and the public, and partly due to the lack of solid evidence.

The middle magistrate of the three, known as the bench chair, had suspected Poe was on a fishing expedition and had asked searching questions. In the end, the persuasiveness of Owen Dent’s words won through and the chair begrudgingly signed a warrant to seize information from ANL Parcels pertaining to the murders of Howard Teasdale, Rebecca Pridmore and Amanda Simpson.

Poe’s spine stiffened as he reread the document. He was in the game now.

Chapter 30

‘Why would people get things delivered to a courier’s depot, Poe?’ Bradshaw said. ‘Why wouldn’t they get them delivered straight to their home?’

It was 7.58 a.m. and they were outside ANL Parcels, waiting for them to open. Poe could see movement inside but it was the front desk he needed. He’d seen the delivery drivers ANL employed and some of them looked as though they’d witnessed evolution happening from the start; he doubted they’d be able to identify a computer, never mind search one to find a name from two years earlier.

‘Lots of people do, Tilly,’ Poe said. ‘Some don’t like getting home deliveries in case they’re out. Things go missing, neighbours deny having signed for them. Wheelie bins get raided by drug addicts, that type of thing. Easier and safer for some to just go and collect it from the depot. And some people just don’t want sellers knowing their home address.’

At eight o’clock exactly, the front door was unlocked. Poe and Bradshaw were first through. The receptionist hadn’t even made it back to her desk.

Poe showed her his ID and asked to see the duty manager. They were asked to take a seat.

Rosie, the operations manager Poe had spoken to the last time he’d been there, approached them. She looked worried.

‘Sergeant Poe,’ she said, reaching for their o

utstretched hands, ‘what can I help you with this time?’

The last time Poe had spoken to her, he’d been checking the chain of evidence on a blood sample. He’d found her open and helpful. He hoped she’d be the same after she’d read the warrant.

She took them through to her office and asked them to wait while she checked with the CEO. ANL was a local courier firm and there was no corporate headquarters or batteries of legal departments to check with – just a woman who’d built up her business from scratch.

Rosie read the warrant out over the phone. Eventually she nodded and said, ‘Thank you, Alison.’

She touched her mouse and the ANL logo on the computer screen changed to a login screen. ‘Tell me what you need,’ she said.

An hour later Rosie provided them with a ‘collect at depot’ printout for the date stated on the warrant. Thirty-two names. Addresses all over Cumbria and south-west Scotland. Bradshaw completed a quick cross-reference and confirmed none of ANL’s names were on the list that Carroll had provided the day before.

‘And they were all collected?’ Poe asked.

Rosie nodded.

‘What ID would you need?’

‘For a missed delivery it’s either the card we leave or photo ID. For parcels delivered to the depot it’s always photo ID.’

‘Could someone claim it on their behalf?’

‘If their ID has the same surname and address then we use discretion. As long as we’re sure the person signing for the parcel is who they say they are, then we try to be helpful.’

Poe nodded and thanked her. When they got back in the car he handed the list to Bradshaw.

Reducing a list of thirty-two names down to a list of one was a job for a mathematical and analytical genius.

Chapter 31

On the way back to Herdwick Croft, Poe called Flynn and updated her.

‘And how did you get this list of names?’ she asked.

‘Don’t worry about it.’