Imposture (DI Gardener 6)

Although they had finally started to move, he still didn’t feel like they were any further on. Once his team was assembled, Gardener told them that he and Reilly had visited the address of James Henshaw the previous afternoon.

“Don’t tell me,” said Rawson, “it was false, probably a care home or something.”

“No, believe it or not,” said Gardener. “But James wasn’t home.”

“Who was?” asked Rawson. “And where was he?”

“That’s where it all gets complicated,” said Reilly.

“Don’t tell me,” said Sharp, “he doesn’t exist.”

“Oh, he does,” said Reilly.

Gardener took over. “We forced DCI Briggs to get us a warrant and we searched the house, took everything we could lay our hands on – which wasn’t much: the family computer and Rosie’s mobile. His wife, Rosie, said he was in Brussels on a business trip. We interrogated her, she wasn’t very happy. Judging by what she said, she’s as much in the dark about her husband’s activities as anyone else. He’s a very successful businessman going by their standard of living but she doesn’t seem to know half and a quarter of what he’s up to.”

“And she certainly doesn’t believe he was involved in any of this,” added Reilly.

“Was he in Brussels?” Sharp asked.

“Not that we found. We checked the details she had: where he was staying, where he’d left from, and when. Nothing matched up. He is most definitely not at the hotel, and he was not on the flight he was supposed to be on.”

“Bet that pleased her,” said Rawson.

“She wasn’t in the best of moods when we left,” said Reilly.

“Have you any idea where he is?” asked Benson.

“No,” said Reilly. “Here’s another good one, the wife confirmed they had a Range Rover Overfinch that had been involved in an accident, which was being repaired in a garage in Skipton. We took the details, paid the garage a visit, they’d never seen it.”

“Did she say anything about the accident, what she believed it to be?” asked Julie Longstaff.

“She only knows what her husband told her,” said Gardener, “that someone hit him at a junction in Leeds, but she wasn’t sure where.”

“And you have no idea where the vehicle really is?” asked Gates.

“No.”

“I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes when he finally shows his face,” said Sharp.

“Do you get the impression she’s in on it?” asked Rawson.

“We don’t think so,” said Gardener. “Her reactions were pretty genuine.”

“Especially when she found out he wasn’t in Brussels,” said Reilly.

“So if his car was smashed up and he went out to work every day, how did he get there?” asked Colin Sharp.

“According to Rosie he was out of the door pretty early every morning, almost always before anyone else in the house had risen. She said he was regularly picked up by the others, they took it in turns.”

“So they all had cars,” said Rawson. “Don’t suppose she knows the models, does she, or a registration?”

Gardener shook his head. “Afraid not.”

Rawson sighed. “Might have helped if she had.”

“What about the registration of the Overfinch?” asked Longstaff.

“J1 AME,” said Gardener, glancing at Patrick Edwards. “What have you found, Patrick?”