pull away from Toby. Notice – Raymonds didn’t talk to her.’
‘It looks like she’s busy placating Samuel, who’s obviously had enough. Anyone else get close?’
‘No, not that I can see.’
‘Toby was scared, felt threatened. Let’s get hold of Raymonds and talk to him.’
‘Do you want me to ring him?’ asked Willis.
‘No, we’ll drive down. We need a better view of what Jeremy Forbes-Wright was to the community anyway.’ Carter studied the film again. He peered closely at the screen and paused it mid-frame, looking at the striking man. ‘Do we know his connection to Jeremy Forbes-Wright?’
‘No. We don’t know that any of the people who came up from Cornwall are directly connected. Only the man who acts as the holiday letting agent. That’s about as near as we can get. He’s called Stokes.’
‘And we need to re-examine all the CCTV footage of Toby on his walk; see if we can spot any of these mourners. The man at the museum said he heard Cornish accents yesterday. Any sign of our mysterious woman?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Any news about the snowflake suit?’
‘No signs of blood. The bag it was found in is a Tesco carrier bag – there’s a small Tesco Metro here on the other side of the park. Robbo’s looking at the CCTV now.’
‘So someone got him out of his outfit as fast as possible and into new clothes. Is there a public toilet in the park?’ asked Carter.
‘There are a few. We’ll get the CCTV.’
‘I suppose if they had a buggy waiting they could have changed him anywhere on the park, there’s a lot of tree cover. We need officers asking questions of anyone who crosses the park and see if there is any mobile phone footage that could be useful.
What were the impressions from the statements taken from the staff at the Observatory?’
‘That Toby is a loner. He is well thought of, quiet. Very keen on his work.’
‘Does he socialize at all?’
‘Yes, with his workmate Gareth Turnbill, who phoned him before the walk.’
Carter looked at his phone as it vibrated on silent on the table top. He raised his eyes to Willis as he answered the call.
‘Yes, sir?’
‘Can you talk?’ Bowie asked.
‘Go ahead.’
‘I’ve had a call from the Home Secretary regarding Jeremy Forbes-Wright. I started asking questions about his reasons for deciding not to run for the Kent constituency and was warned off. The Home Secretary said that Jeremy had debts and liked a lavish lifestyle. He wasn’t keen to relocate to Kent. He would have had to sell his house in Cornwall to do it. So he decided that wasn’t an option and withdrew his candidacy a week before he killed himself.’
‘Is this something to concern us?’
‘The phone call came pretty quickly from the Home Secretary. Even so, it may have nothing to do with Samuel’s disappearance. But he was a high-profile man, he had debts and people would assume he had money. Maybe someone’s been a bit hasty in taking Samuel before the house in Cornwall is sold.’
‘What do you want to do about it? Willis and I were thinking we should talk to the people who came up from Cornwall for the funeral. We could take a look at his house down there?’
‘Absolutely. Get it searched, low-key. I don’t want my arse roasted and I don’t want a feeding-frenzy from the press.’
‘Are you going to request more information from the Home Secretary?’ asked Carter.
‘Is the Pope a Catholic? We’ll discuss later. What time can you get to me?’
‘We have a couple of jobs to attend to, then I’ll be over.’
‘I’ll be at the bar.’ Bowie rang off.
Chapter 8
‘Okay.’ Carter drank up the last of his wine. ‘We ready to pay a visit to Toby’s workmate? We have a lot to get through this evening and the boss wants to see me.’
‘Ready.’ Willis did up her jacket, packed up her case and followed Carter outside onto the cobbled street.
‘Christ . . .’ Carter pulled up his collar and tucked his chin into his scarf as the
‘It looks like she’s busy placating Samuel, who’s obviously had enough. Anyone else get close?’
‘No, not that I can see.’
‘Toby was scared, felt threatened. Let’s get hold of Raymonds and talk to him.’
‘Do you want me to ring him?’ asked Willis.
‘No, we’ll drive down. We need a better view of what Jeremy Forbes-Wright was to the community anyway.’ Carter studied the film again. He peered closely at the screen and paused it mid-frame, looking at the striking man. ‘Do we know his connection to Jeremy Forbes-Wright?’
‘No. We don’t know that any of the people who came up from Cornwall are directly connected. Only the man who acts as the holiday letting agent. That’s about as near as we can get. He’s called Stokes.’
‘And we need to re-examine all the CCTV footage of Toby on his walk; see if we can spot any of these mourners. The man at the museum said he heard Cornish accents yesterday. Any sign of our mysterious woman?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Any news about the snowflake suit?’
‘No signs of blood. The bag it was found in is a Tesco carrier bag – there’s a small Tesco Metro here on the other side of the park. Robbo’s looking at the CCTV now.’
‘So someone got him out of his outfit as fast as possible and into new clothes. Is there a public toilet in the park?’ asked Carter.
‘There are a few. We’ll get the CCTV.’
‘I suppose if they had a buggy waiting they could have changed him anywhere on the park, there’s a lot of tree cover. We need officers asking questions of anyone who crosses the park and see if there is any mobile phone footage that could be useful.
What were the impressions from the statements taken from the staff at the Observatory?’
‘That Toby is a loner. He is well thought of, quiet. Very keen on his work.’
‘Does he socialize at all?’
‘Yes, with his workmate Gareth Turnbill, who phoned him before the walk.’
Carter looked at his phone as it vibrated on silent on the table top. He raised his eyes to Willis as he answered the call.
‘Yes, sir?’
‘Can you talk?’ Bowie asked.
‘Go ahead.’
‘I’ve had a call from the Home Secretary regarding Jeremy Forbes-Wright. I started asking questions about his reasons for deciding not to run for the Kent constituency and was warned off. The Home Secretary said that Jeremy had debts and liked a lavish lifestyle. He wasn’t keen to relocate to Kent. He would have had to sell his house in Cornwall to do it. So he decided that wasn’t an option and withdrew his candidacy a week before he killed himself.’
‘Is this something to concern us?’
‘The phone call came pretty quickly from the Home Secretary. Even so, it may have nothing to do with Samuel’s disappearance. But he was a high-profile man, he had debts and people would assume he had money. Maybe someone’s been a bit hasty in taking Samuel before the house in Cornwall is sold.’
‘What do you want to do about it? Willis and I were thinking we should talk to the people who came up from Cornwall for the funeral. We could take a look at his house down there?’
‘Absolutely. Get it searched, low-key. I don’t want my arse roasted and I don’t want a feeding-frenzy from the press.’
‘Are you going to request more information from the Home Secretary?’ asked Carter.
‘Is the Pope a Catholic? We’ll discuss later. What time can you get to me?’
‘We have a couple of jobs to attend to, then I’ll be over.’
‘I’ll be at the bar.’ Bowie rang off.
Chapter 8
‘Okay.’ Carter drank up the last of his wine. ‘We ready to pay a visit to Toby’s workmate? We have a lot to get through this evening and the boss wants to see me.’
‘Ready.’ Willis did up her jacket, packed up her case and followed Carter outside onto the cobbled street.
‘Christ . . .’ Carter pulled up his collar and tucked his chin into his scarf as the
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