Imposture (DI Gardener 6)

Chapter Fifty-eight

Reilly brought the pool car to a halt inside the gates, parking up behind the other vehicles.

Gardener jumped out and studied them. He glanced at the white Overfinch and strolled over, staring into the interior from the smashed passenger door window. There were fragments of glass across the seats, the dashboard, and the carpet, all of which were covered in white dust from the airbags. A baseball bat laid on the back seat.

“What’s happening?” said Reilly.

“This is obviously the vehicle that killed David Hunter. No wonder it was never seen again.”

Gardener glanced at the industrial unit when he heard footsteps behind him. Two men in their early sixties approached. One was tall and thin with grey hair and glasses; the other short, fat and bald, but no glasses.

“Are you the police?” asked the thin man.

“Yes,” replied Gardener.

“It was me that called you,” he said, offering his hand. Gardener saw no reason not to shake it. “Sam Coulthard. I called you about this place. This is my mate, Brian. We work over the road at Transmech.”

“Thank you,” said Gardener, “but it’s probably a good idea if you two observe from the other side of the gate.”

“Oh we’re not stopping,” said Brian, smiling, “crime scene and all that. We’ve just come to tell you we saw another bloke walking into the place a few minutes back.”

“Did you recognise him?” asked Reilly.

“Yes. He used to work here but I don’t know his name.”

Gardener figured that it must have been Anthony Palmer. “Well thank you for letting us know. We’ll take it from here.”

Gardener turned and walked toward the unit, giving neither of them a chance to elaborate. As he reached the glass-fronted office he heard more cars pulling into the compound.

The rest of his team had arrived. One parked up near the pool car, and the other two blocked the gate. Everyone alighted and trotted over.

“What do you know?” said Rawson.

“Nothing… yet,” said Reilly.

“We were about to have a look round when those two came to let us know what’s been happening.”

“Has something?” asked Colin Sharp.

“Yes,” said Gardener, “apparently Anthony Palmer is here. Or so we believe.”

“What, here? In this building?” asked Longstaff.

“We think it’s him,” said Reilly.

Rawson glanced around, peering at the upstairs windows.

As Gardener studied the side of the building he noticed the small metal door next to the large roller shutter door was ajar.

“Right,” said Gardener. “I have no idea what’s happening in there, if anything is. We need to split up and cover the building equally, blocking any and all exits. Colin and Dave, I’d like you two round the back, see if you can find a way in.

“Bob and Frank, can you two cover that side door and make sure no one leaves? Paul, Patrick, Sarah and Julie, can you come with us through the front entrance?”

“Have Ant and Dec said anything else about the place?” asked Frank Thornton. “Have they seen anyone else?”

“No. They said they’d seen someone walk in but that’s all,” said Gardener.

“So no one’s seen Roger?” asked Bob Anderson.