Ross left and Sinclair sat in a chair at his desk, his head in his hands.
Chapter Twenty-six
Gardener stood facing Andrew Jackson’s office door at St. James’s Hospital. Reilly had taken a seat. They were waiting for the doctor’s answer regarding Sonia Knight’s condition. He didn’t hold out much hope.
Since leaving the railway station, everything had been a blur. The only way for the medics to transport Sonia Knight was to silence her completely with a sedative, something they were reluctant to do because they had no prior knowledge of her condition. In the end, it had been Gardener who had made the decision. Without it, they were never going to be able to do what was necessary.
Before following the ambulance, he had called out SOCO and ordered the place to be completely sealed and ripped apart, much to Giles Middleton’s utter horror.
Gardener turned to face his partner, and once again inquired about the man they had seen posting letters. “You couldn?
??t see him anywhere?”
“No, boss.”
“Can you remember anything about him?”
“Not really,” replied Reilly. “Only his clothes. A long, dark green wax jacket and black boots. Never saw his face.”
“Me neither,” replied Gardener.
It was possible he was clutching at straws. The man could have genuinely been there posting letters. But it seemed odd.
“I shot a look in both directions. Had to make a decision. I reckoned he was local, ran past our car and up to the cottages opposite. So I knocked on a few doors, annoyed some people because of the early hour, but I didn’t come across him. By that time I knew I’d made the wrong choice.”
“Wasn’t your fault, Sean. If we’d had more men, we could have split up and done a thorough search.”
Reilly stood up and joined Gardener near the door. “I took the car around the town after that, but it was obviously too late.”
“It’s not easy to drive and look at the same time, is it? He could have been anywhere by then. If he’d been down one of the side streets, you’d have had no chance anyway.”
“Are you convinced he’s our man?”
“Not really, but I can’t see why else he would be there,” replied Gardener. “It’s just too coincidental.”
“I’m inclined to agree. Perfect spot to watch us go in, and then send a signal to the victim’s phone. Once the pandemonium started, he could just do one.”
“Call me paranoid,” said Gardener, “can you remember how many cars there were when we pulled up?”
“I think so.” Reilly pulled out his pad and opened it to the page where he had registration numbers. “There were only four, these are the numbers.”
Gardener chuckled as he removed his own pad from his jacket pocket. “We’ve been working together too long.”
“Tell me about it.”
They compared notes and the vehicle details were the same.
“So, if the same amount of cars were there when we arrived and left, it’s possible that he is local.”
Reilly thought for a moment before responding. “I didn’t check the car park of the pub opposite.”
“Could be our answer.”
“They do bed and breakfast. He could be a guest.”
“Give Colin Sharp a ring, Sean. Tell him whatever he’s doing, or thinking of doing, drop it and get himself around to the pub. Question the landlord, and get a list of all guests staying there at the moment. Then call the rest of the squad and tell them to meet us at the station at nine o’clock prompt.”
Gardener popped his head around the door and glanced into the corridor. He saw empty gurneys, a nurse pushing a patient in a wheelchair, another holding a clipboard whilst talking to a matron. But there was no sign of Andrew Jackson.