Page 20 of The Truth Will Out (DI Sam Cobbs #18)

“Yes, that’s right. I’m DI Sam Cobbs, and this is my partner, DS Bob Jones. Would it be possible to speak with you in private?”

“That sounds ominous. Come through. Have you been offered a drink?”

“We have. We’re fine at the moment.”

She led the way up the corridor into a larger-than-average room.

“I’m using our boss’s office today. He’s not shown up for work, and there was a lot of work that needed to be dealt with on his desk.

It was easier to do it in here rather than ferry it all to my office across the way.

Please, take a seat. What can I do for you today? ”

Sam and Bob sat.

“Umm… it’s to do with your boss that we’ve come here today. ”

Mrs Kilner frowned and sat upright in the executive chair. “Oh, can I ask what you mean by that?”

“Have you tried to contact him?”

“Yes, I’ve been trying on and off all morning. Why? Don’t tell me something has happened to him? Damn, that thought never even crossed my mind. Is he okay? Should I call his wife? I know they’re separated, but I’m sure she’d want to know if he’s been in an accident.”

Sam raised a hand to stop her from asking anything else. “Sorry to interrupt you. Mr Weller wasn’t in any accident.”

Mrs Kilner flopped back in her chair, relieved. “Thank goodness. So, where is he then, and why haven’t I been able to contact him all morning?”

“I’m afraid Mr Weller’s body was found this morning at a construction site.”

She sprang forward in her seat and shook her head. “He what? I can’t believe I heard that right. He’s dead?”

“That’s correct. I can’t go into details as to how he died. What I need to know is why he was at the site. Do you know?”

“Me? How would I know?”

“Can you tell me if he was due to meet anyone at the location last night?”

“No. We rarely visit the locations once the planning application has been successful. What stage is the development in? Can you tell me?”

“The builders are on site. It’s at the industrial unit on the other side of town.”

“If it’s the one I’m thinking about, there should be no reason he would have been there. I can check for you if you’ll give me a moment.”

“If you wouldn’t mind, thank you.”

She booted up the computer, which thankfully didn’t take long to come to life, and typed in the information. “Here it is. Yes, it was all signed off on our part, and that should have been the end of our involvement. Oh my, I wonder what he was doing there. ”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. Can you tell us when you last saw him?”

“He was still in the office when the rest of us left at five-thirty last night. I dropped in here to ask him if he was going to be long. He assured me he had some paperwork to finish and that he’d be leaving within the next fifteen minutes.

My colleagues and I left him to it. Gone are the days I offer to stay behind and help out. ”

Sam frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I’ve offered to assist him several times in the past, only to be told that he didn’t need my help. I’m the same with everyone, eager to assist them if it makes their lives easier. That’s what people do when they’re part of a team, isn’t it?”

“Yes, you’re right. But he always turned down your offer to lend a hand. Did he say why?”

“Just that he preferred to do things on his own.”

“Did he stay behind a lot?”

Mrs Kilner nodded slowly. “Now that you mention it, yes, he did, more so than anyone else in the department.”

“Isn’t that what bosses tend to do in general, though?”

“They might do elsewhere, but not around here, not in my experience. Damn, I still can’t believe he’s dead and that this could be work-related.”

“Sorry if I gave you that impression. As yet, we don’t know if that’s a fact or not. Our investigation is still in the preliminary stages. One thing that has come to our attention is a possible link to Pendle House.”

“Wow, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. I believe Stephen was the officer who assisted the developer in obtaining the correct planning permission, back in the day.”

“I don’t suppose you can let us have a look at the file, can you?”

“I’m sorry, not without a warrant. As you can appreciate, the files are treated as confidential.”

Sam smiled. “It was worth a try. Maybe you can tell us what time Stephen left last night, then? I’m assuming you have an alarm system here that is set every night. ”

Mrs Kilner lifted a finger and nodded. “Of course. I can get that information for you.” She pounded the keyboard and turned the screen to face Sam and Bob. “This is the information for this week, and for last night in particular. He left at precisely six forty-three and set the alarm behind him.”

“Perhaps you can tell us if he had any meetings planned for after work?”

“I don’t think so. He had quite a busy schedule yesterday as it was.”

“Can you check for us?”

She opened another file, and Sam watched her eyebrows shoot up into her fringe.

“This is interesting.”

Sam shuffled forward to the edge of her seat and squinted at the screen. “What am I looking at?”

“Here.” Mrs Kilner pointed at the relevant information. “It states that he had a meeting with ‘I’ at seven-thirty.”

Sam and Bob glanced at each other.

“But it doesn’t tell us where the meeting was due to take place,” Sam said.

“No, that’s all it says.”

“I… Any idea who that could be?”

Mrs Kilner flicked back a few pages to the weekly schedule on the screen. “I can’t see anything here. For all we know, it could be anyone.”

“It’s a start and helps us understand that he met someone last night, possibly connected with work, if it was entered on his work schedule.”

“So it would seem. I’m sorry I can’t be of any more help. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Knowing he’s met someone and that person more than likely killed him.”

“I agree. Has anyone visited him lately who didn’t fit well with you or your staff in the office?”

“I don’t understand your question, sorry.”

“Has someone visited the department and had an argument with Stephen, or did you notice if he seemed awkward during or just after a visit?”

“Nothing that I can recall. I’m telling you, all this has come as a total shock to me. He was a strange man. I’m not the only one to think that. None of the staff ever felt as though they could relax in his presence.”

“That’s interesting to know. You think he was open to taking backhanders?”

“God, I hope not. I don’t think so, but who can tell these days? We often get accused of it if decisions don’t go the public’s way.”

“I can imagine. Okay, I can’t think of anything else right now. I’ll go back to the station and get the warrant ordered.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help in that respect.”

“Don’t worry, I quite understand. If you wouldn’t mind asking around to see if any of your team noticed anything out of the ordinary with Mr Wellen in recent months, I’d appreciate it.”

“Of course.” She stood and held the door open for them. “Fingers crossed you find out who did this to our boss soon.” She showed them back to the reception area.

Sam and Bob left the building.

Sam paused outside to suck in a lungful of air. “Well, that was a waste of time, wasn’t it?”

“Do you think there was anything suspicious in what she told us?”

“I’m not getting that impression, are you?”

“No. I wondered if I had missed something, so I thought I’d better check.”

“I don’t think so. Right, let’s get back to the station.” During the journey back, Sam’s head was full of questions, some more obvious than others, which went a long way to up her frustration levels. “I can’t put it off any longer,” she said as she drew into her parking space.

“Huh? I’m not with you. What are you talking about?”

She stared at the brick wall of the station ahead of her, still gripping the steering wheel tightly. “I need to see what Rhys knows about Pendle House. ”

“That’ll make an interesting conversation over dinner this evening. I wouldn’t mind being a fly on the wall for that.”

She faced him and replied, “No, I don’t think I should put it off any longer. I’m going to call him and see if he’ll either come to the station or meet me somewhere for a coffee.”

“Ah, that makes sense. I would have thought neutral ground would be better; otherwise, you’re going to put the wind up him by requesting that he meets you here, at the station.”

“Possibly. I’ll weigh up the pros and cons over the next half an hour. It might be wiser to leave it until we’ve seen if the rest of the team have found anything else in that file during our absence.”

“I agree. God, I don’t envy you having to tackle your partner about something that happened in his past.”

“I can’t say I’m relishing it. That’s why I’ve put it off for so long.”

After the other team members arrived, Sam checked with them.

Although they had discovered further details about Pendle, none of them had spotted anything else regarding Rhys, which came as a relief to Sam.

However, it didn’t alter the fact that she needed to see him and delve a little deeper.

She left Bob to deal with the request for the warrant while she went through to her office to make the call in private.

She paused to look at the view of the hills on the way to her desk.

It usually helped to alleviate any anger within her, but not this time.

Once she’d settled into her chair and she had the phone in her hand, beads of sweat broke out above her upper lip.

Bugger, how do I word this? I’ve barely spoken to him in the last twenty-four hours, and now here I am, about to summon him to the station. No, I can’t do it. It’s going to have to be somewhere else.

After drawing in a couple of deep breaths and letting them out slowly to calm her nerves, she made the call. Rhys’s secretary answered the phone promptly, much quicker than she’d anticipated.

“Oh, hi, Brenda. It’s Sam. I don’t suppose Rhys is free at the moment, is he? ”