Chapter 40
It was a case of all hands on deck, as the former merchant navy officer Gerry Heffernan put it. They had to find Jim Baker fast. And they really needed to put some effort into locating Aphrodite Benson too.
‘Aphrodite, goddess of love,’ said Wesley as he pored over the list with Rob.
‘June, Della’s business partner, said there was an Aphrodite and an Apollo in Tim Fontescue-Burns’s Casa Mirabilis commune.
She said a couple of the tenants from Ethelred Bingley’s day left, but Aphrodite stayed on.
She probably shared Tim’s philosophy of life.
Whereas Carlo Lanzani and Jim Baker . . . ’
‘Probably didn’t. There’s no sign of an Aphrodite Benson on any official records, so the name might have been made up.’
Wesley had already come to this conclusion.
‘I’ve searched through police records for anyone using that alias,’ Rob continued. ‘No luck. Either they kept their nose clean or they committed offences using other aliases.’
‘Good work, Rob. Keep looking.’
But Rob had more to say. ‘Then there’s this Fiorenza, who found Tim Fontescue-Burns’s body and decorated it with flowers to mess up any evidence of foul play. We haven’t found her yet.’
Rachel had been listening in to the conversation.
‘As a matter of fact, I think I might have. I’ve been trawling through records, and a Pauline Mansfield was arrested after taking part in a demonstration against animal cruelty outside a laboratory in Cambridge last year.
She initially gave her middle name as Fiorenza, but it was later found to be Florence. ’
‘Well done,’ said Wesley with a wide grin.
‘I’ve contacted her and she’s agreed to a video call.
Said she’d do anything to clear Timothy’s name, even talk to the pigs, as she so delicately put it.
It sounds as though she was in love with him.
And from the way she spoke about him, I suspect she’s never really got over his death.
’ She checked the time. ‘I’ve scheduled the call for half an hour’s time.
Might be best if I speak to her one to one. ’
Wesley agreed. The presence of more police officers listening in would probably make the woman less likely to share anything important.
He tapped into his computer, wanting to find out more about Dale Gadson and his zoo. It wasn’t long before he came across something surprising; something that made him sit up and read it twice. He called over one of the DCs assigned to the case and asked him to do some digging.
Gerry emerged from his office and called for silence before addressing the incident room.
‘So you all know that Jim Baker and a Carlo Lanzani used to live in Sycamore House when it was owned by Ethelred Bingley and called St Julian’s.
Lanzani. Sound familiar?’ An image of the strange mythical beast, a blown-up photograph of the picture found in Sue Potter’s cottage, had been pinned in the middle of the huge noticeboard that dominated the far end of the room.
‘OK, I’ve been told Lanzani is a perfectly normal Italian surname, but I think it’s a bit too much of a coincidence, don’t you? ’
There was a murmur of agreement and a nodding of heads.
‘We need to identify this Lanzani character as a matter of urgency. And we need Jim Baker brought in as soon as possible. All patrols are on the lookout for him, so he can’t hide for ever.’
Once Gerry had finished addressing the team, he asked Rachel to keep him up to date on what Fiorenza had to say for herself, asking her to find out all she could about the elusive Aphrodite and Apollo.
Then he asked Wesley to join him in his office.
They really needed to go over the case to get things straight in their minds.
Gerry flopped down on his swivel chair, which creaked under his weight. For a second Wesley was afraid it might collapse, but his fears were unfounded. Gerry made himself comfortable, pushed his heap of paperwork to one side and picked up a pen and a scrap of paper for his notes.
‘One. Why was Sue Potter killed? Are we ruling out the theory that Suzy Porter was the real target?’
Wesley shrugged. ‘Probably. Although I keep thinking of that note and picture.’ He closed his eyes, trying to recall the words he’d memorised.
‘ “The Lanzani is a cruel beast who attacks any animal not of its own kind. Not even the bold lion is safe from its implacable hatred.” Nobody has ever hinted that Sue Potter was cruel or capable of implacable hatred. Suzy Porter, on the other hand, seems to be almost universally disliked. Beryl Richmond, who sent those emails, can’t be the only person who has reason to hate her. ’
‘But has she any link with Aleric Donnal? Like Sue Potter, he seemed to be a harmless individual, so I’m wondering whether he was killed because of something he knew or witnessed.
And what about Jim Baker and that zoo? Why kill Dale Gadson?
And what did Gadson want to tell us? Was he killed to stop him talking?
’ Gerry put his head in his hands. Then he looked up, his eyes filled with despair.
‘I feel we’re no closer to solving the case than we were on day one. I’m losing my touch, Wes.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Wesley quickly. ‘Jim Baker’s on the loose and he has to be our number one suspect. If he was living at St Julian’s around the time Aleric Donnal died, he’s either the killer or he knows something.’
‘You’re right, Wes. He argued with Sue Potter and he was at the zoo the morning Dale Gadson was killed. Maybe it was Baker that Gadson wanted to talk to us about.’
‘What about the lanzani connection; the medieval beasts?’
‘You’ve seen that art Baker does. It’s full of weird animals. He might as well have daubed “Hello, I’m the murderer” over the hideous things. No, Wes, I don’t think we need to look any further.’
The DCI sat back, satisfied, like a man who’d just enjoyed a good meal. Wesley knew he might be right about Jim Baker, but he still had a niggling feeling that there was something they were missing.
‘Dale Gadson told us that he took over the running of the zoo when his father died.’
‘What about it?’
‘I’ve looked online for any mention of the place, and it turns out there was a tragedy there in 2011. Carla Gadson, aged seventeen, died in February that year. She was cleaning out the tiger’s cage when she was attacked and mauled to death.’
Gerry sat forward. ‘Just like someone wanted us to think Dale had been. What relation was Carla to Dale?’
‘She might have been his sister? Or a cousin? Shouldn’t be hard to find out.
The report says that Carla was helping out at the zoo because the owner, Jacob Gadson, wanted to save money by not employing outsiders.
At first her death was thought to be a terrible accident.
Then a suicide note was found, and the inquest concluded that she’d let the tiger in on purpose. ’
Gerry shuddered. ‘Suicide by tiger. Strange way to choose to go.’
‘I’ve asked one of the DCs to check it out. It wasn’t considered suspicious at the time.’
‘I don’t see how it’s relevant to this case, Wes. We mustn’t let ourselves get sidetracked.’
‘Even so, I’d like to see the inquest report for myself.
Dale Gadson and Jim Baker were friends. We’re assuming Baker only met Dale when he moved into his grandmother’s bungalow, but did their friendship go back further?
Maybe as far as 2011? Could Baker have been there when Carla Gadson died?
Might he have been responsible in some way, and he disposed of Dale before he could tell us what he knew? ’
‘OK. Check it out. At least this one can’t have anything to do with your mate Neil’s dig.’
Wesley was about to say he wouldn’t be too sure about that, but he stayed silent.
Then the phone on his desk rang, and his uncertainty turned to excitement.
Jim Baker had been found. And he was being brought in.