The Night Hawks Read online

  And what about the badge? Is it the same one Alan White was wearing or did all the Hawks sport this insignia? If so, did this mean that the intruder was a Night Hawk? That includes Paul Noakes, of course. Also Neil Topham and Troy Evans. Was it one of these men who ransacked the doctor’s office?

  So many questions and, by the time he reaches King’s Lynn, Nelson hasn’t found any answers. Tanya and Tony are in the briefing room, both busy at their computers. Jo’s door is shut and Nelson can hear the murmur of her voice on the phone. Is she on the phone to head office, planning to get rid of Nelson and all the other dinosaurs? But this is no time to get paranoid. Nelson slides into his office and switches on his computer. Leah – God bless her – brings him a coffee. He clicks through various boring admin emails and is just sinking into a torpor when Judy knocks on his door.

  ‘Hi, boss,’ she says. ‘I went to see Bryan Walker. You know, the Night Hawk who knew Linda Noakes.’

  ‘Oh yes?’ Nelson cheers up immediately. ‘Get anything interesting?’

  ‘He did say one interesting thing. Apparently, Linda was very quiet and reserved and didn’t talk about her family much, but she once said that Chloe had an unsuitable boyfriend.’

  ‘Neil Topham?’

  ‘Maybe. Linda said that he was possessive. That sounds a bit like a man with a younger girlfriend. Topham’s married but that might not stop him being jealous about Chloe.’

  ‘We should talk to this Neil again,’ says Nelson. ‘He was there at both deaths. And Tanya said that he seemed nervous.’

  ‘Tanya would make anyone nervous,’ says Judy. ‘But I think we should talk to him. And I’ve been thinking about Chloe Noakes’s finances. I rang a Lynn estate agency on the off-chance and Chloe put her flat on the market three months ago. She’s just withdrawn it.’

  ‘Good work,’ says Nelson. ‘I’ve been visiting our favourite farmhouse.’

  ‘Black Dog Farm? Why?’

  Nelson tells her about the break-in and about the sudden appearance of the dog.

  ‘That dog knew Paul Noakes,’ he says. ‘I’m sure of it. You can tell a dog with their master. Bruno’s the same with me. He’s a one-man dog.’ He tries not to sound too smug about it.

  ‘That’s like Thing with Cathbad,’ says Judy. ‘Do you think Paul’s been looking after this dog then? Does that mean he was helping his father?’

  ‘I think it’s a definite possibility,’ says Nelson. ‘I think he might have been using the boat too.’

  ‘To dispose of Jem Taylor’s body?’

  ‘Possibly. Look what else I found.’ Nelson shows Judy the picture of the hawk badge.

  ‘I saw Alan wearing a badge like this once,’ he says. ‘Do you think all the Night Hawks have them?’

  ‘Maybe,’ says Judy. ‘I don’t think I noticed any when I did the interviews after Alan’s murder and I talked to all the Night Hawks. It seems a bit odd to have found it at the scene. It’s not the sort of thing that would drop off by accident. Was it some sort of message, do you think?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ says Nelson. ‘We’ll have to see if there are any prints on it.’

  He glances at his computer. An email has popped up on his screen. Forensic Report No. C580. Classified. It’s the final report from Black Dog Farm. Nelson beckons to Judy to read it with him. He scrolls through, conscious of the fact that she probably reads faster than him. Most of the information he knows already. But then he stops at the section headed ‘Fingerprint evidence’.

  Fingerprints taken from Item K1 (gun) were examined and compared to those of family members. Two sets of prints were found on the gun.

  Dr Douglas Noakes

  Dr Chloe Noakes

  ‘Chloe’s prints are on the gun,’ says Judy, seconds before he gets there.

  ‘Yes,’ says Nelson. ‘It’s time to talk to Dr Chloe Noakes again.’

  Chapter 30

  There’s not enough evidence to arrest Chloe but Nelson decides to interview her under caution. He asks Tanya and Tony to bring her in later that afternoon. He toys with the idea of sending a squad car to the university to pick up David Brown but decides – regretfully – that this would be unnecessarily provocative. Instead, he makes a call.

  ‘David Brown.’

  ‘Hallo, Mr Brown. This is DCI Nelson.’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘Could you come into the station, Mr Brown? I’ve got a few questions for you.’

  ‘I’ve told you. I’m not talking to you without a solicitor present.’

  ‘You are very welcome to bring a solicitor with you.’

  There’s a pause. Nelson says, ‘Can you make two o’clock this afternoon?’ It’s nearly midday now but this will give them time to prepare an interview strategy.

  ‘I’ve got a lecture at two.’

  ‘When are you free?’

  ‘My lecture finishes at four.’

  ‘See you at four thirty then. Bye now.’

  Nelson ends the call, aware that he’s smiling like a Bond villain.

  Ruth’s phone buzzes throughout her meeting on recruitment. When she’s finally free, she checks her missed calls. Four from David Brown. One from Cathbad. She buys a sandwich from the cafeteria and takes it to her office. Then she rings David. She’ll save Cathbad as a treat.

  ‘That Neanderthal Nelson. Do you know what he’s done?’

  Ruth does not remind David that archaeologists now think that Neanderthals had a rather sophisticated society, possibly even burying their dead with ritual, surrounded by garlands of flowers. Nor that all humans, outside Africa, have some Neanderthal DNA.

  ‘What’s he done?’

  ‘He wants to talk to me. He said to bring a lawyer.’

  ‘Gosh.’ It’s an inadequate response, she knows. She tries so hard not to swear in front of Kate that her vocabulary sometimes sounds like a 1950s children’s book.

  ‘Have you got a lawyer?’ she asks.

  ‘Someone has recommended a solicitor. Nirupa Khan.’

  Ruth has a feeling that Nelson knows – and dislikes – Nirupa.

  ‘Do you know why he wants to speak to you?’ she asks. Nelson must be acting on more than the comments she overheard yesterday. Again, she hopes that he doesn’t mention her name.

  ‘He’s trying to pin Alan’s murder on me. That’s what I think. That’s what the police are like.’

  Once, Ruth might have agreed with him but Nelson, she knows, is obsessive in his quest for justice. And he would never frame an innocent man. Is David innocent?

  ‘I’ll do my lecture,’ says David, ‘and then leave at four.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ says Ruth. She runs through workload allocations in her head. ‘I could cover for you.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ says David. ‘I think the students are looking forward to hearing what I have to say.’

  ‘Good luck,’ says Ruth.

  Just when she’s feeling friendly towards David, he has to come up with something like this. She’s so eaten up with irritation and curiosity that she almost forgets to eat her sandwich. She has completely forgotten Cathbad until he rings again, just before her two o’clock tutorial.

  ‘Ruth. Did you get my message?’

  ‘Sorry. No.’ She sees now that she has an answerphone notification.

  ‘It’s probably not a big deal but it’s about David Brown.’

  ‘Oh yes?’

  ‘I was doing my meditation class and I suddenly remembered something Alan said, when he asked me to come on the midnight dig. He said that something was worrying him, something he couldn’t tell me on the phone. I said something light-hearted about the Black Shuck and he said, “It’s not black, it’s brown.” I thought he was talking about the dog but now I think that he meant Brown with a capital B. David Brown. I think he was scared of David Brown. I saw his aura the
night that Alan was killed. It was dark and cloudy, as if he had something to hide.’

  ‘Have you told Nelson? Not about the aura but about what Alan said?’

  ‘No. Do you think I should?’

  ‘Nelson’s asked David to go into the station for questioning. He’s taking a solicitor with him.’

  ‘I was right then.’ Cathbad seems overawed at his own powers of perspicacity. ‘I knew there was something malign about that man.’

  ‘You might be right. I went on a boat trip with David on Saturday. I heard him talking to the boatman – Troy – saying something about not telling the police.’

  ‘Did you tell Nelson?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘No wonder Nelson doesn’t like him.’

  Ruth doesn’t like to ask what this means.

  ‘I think you should tell Nelson what Alan said to you,’ she says.

  ‘I will,’ says Cathbad. ‘The unconscious mind is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?’

  ‘Dr Noakes,’ says Tanya. ‘Did you ever handle your father’s gun?’

  ‘His gun?’ says Chloe. ‘No. We didn’t even know he had a handgun.’

  Chloe seems superficially calm despite being left in the waiting room for a judicious half hour before being ushered into an interview room and faced with two detectives and a tape recorder. Nelson, watching through the two-way mirror, sees Chloe raise a paper cup of water to her lips with a hand that seems remarkably steady. Of course, you need steady hands to be a doctor. Or to fire a gun.

  ‘Your prints were on the gun found beside your father’s body,’ says Tanya.

  Nelson watches as Chloe takes another sip of water. Playing for time, he thinks.

  ‘When did you last visit your parents?’

  ‘About two months ago.’

  ‘Was that when you asked your father to guarantee your remortgage payments?’ says Tanya.

  Chloe gives her an icy glance. ‘Probably.’

  ‘Must be tough being a GP today,’ says Tony. ‘Are you a partner in your practice?’

  It’s well done. Tony sounds genuinely sympathetic. Subtly Chloe shifts her weight away from Tanya and towards him.

  ‘Yes, I’m a partner,’ she says.

  ‘So you’re personally liable for any losses,’ says Tanya. ‘Especially if the practice isn’t doing too well.’

  ‘The practice is doing fine, thanks,’ says Chloe.

  ‘Did you ask your father for a loan?’ says Tanya. ‘Did he say no?’

  ‘He agreed to be a guarantor,’ says Chloe.

  ‘Must have been hard, asking him for help,’ says Tony. ‘My parents are pretty strict. I’m still scared of them, even as an adult.’

  Nelson doesn’t believe this is true. Tony’s mother still knits him sweaters. It seems to work though because Chloe seems to relax slightly.

  ‘You didn’t get on with your dad, did you?’ says Tanya.

  Chloe stiffens immediately. ‘No,’ she says. ‘But I didn’t kill him.’

  It’s too early for this to be out in the open. Chloe is taking charge of the situation. Nelson stands up to relieve his frustration. There’s a knock on the door.

  It’s Tom Henty. ‘Nirupa Khan and a client to see you, DCI Nelson.’

  Nelson groans inwardly.

  ‘What grounds have you got for asking to see my client?’ says Nirupa Khan. She’s small and slight but so, Nelson often thinks, is a piranha fish.

  ‘Mr Brown,’ says Judy. ‘Did you visit Cambridge ­Bioresearch on Monday the sixteenth of September?’

  ‘You don’t have to answer,’ Nirupa tells David.

  Judy says, for the tape, ‘I’m showing Mr Brown a photocopy of a page from the visitors’ book at Cambridge Bioresearch. Is that your handwriting, Mr Brown?’

  David says nothing. Nelson adds, ‘There’s plenty of CCTV at the company. We can easily call it in.’

  ‘OK,’ says David. ‘I was there.’

  ‘Want to tell us why?’ says Nelson.

  David sighs again. ‘I’m interested in their work. I’m sure you know, DCI Nelson, that my academic speciality is the Bronze Age.’

  This is said in a very nasty tone. Nelson says nothing. He can never remember whether the Bronze Age comes before or after the Iron Age.

  ‘How is that relevant?’ says Judy.

  ‘It’s my theory that, when the Beaker people invaded Britain, they brought with them a deadly virus that wiped out the native population. I wanted to talk to a scientist about this theory, so I made an appointment to see Dr Noakes.’

  ‘Was he helpful?’ asks Judy.

  ‘Yes,’ says David. ‘He knew a great deal about viruses and how they spread.’

  ‘Were you aware that Dr Noakes was conducting illegal drugs trials?’ says Nelson.

  ‘What? No.’

  ‘Were you involved in those trials?’

  ‘Categorically not.’

  ‘Then what was the information that you asked Troy Evans to withhold from the police?’

  For the first time, David looks shaken. ‘Ruth told you,’ he says. ‘She told you that. She must have overheard on the boat.’

  Nelson says nothing. He feels uncomfortable enough about using the information acquired from Ruth.

  ‘What was the secret you wanted Troy to keep?’ says Judy.

  ‘No comment,’ says David.

  In the end, they have to let David Brown go. They’ve nothing on him apart from a perfectly legal visit to a research company and a slightly suspicious conversation, relayed at second hand. Nelson reflects grimly that all today has achieved is to give David a burning sense of grievance which might be fanned by Nirupa Khan into a full-on complaint. Jo would love that, he thinks. It would give her the chance to mention the R word again. ‘Policing has changed since your day, Nelson. You can’t go around intimidating people. Perhaps it’s time to think about . . .’

  And, to make matters worse, Cathbad has just rung with a lunatic theory about David Brown and the Black Shuck. ‘Thanks, Cathbad,’ said Nelson, ‘let me know if anything else comes to you when you’re meditating.’

  ‘I will,’ said Cathbad, not seeming to notice the sarcasm.

  Now the team are gathered in the briefing room. The names are all up on the board: Chloe Noakes, Paul Noakes, Alan White, Neil Topham, Troy Evans, David Brown.

  ‘So, what do we think about Chloe Noakes?’ says Nelson.

  They have released Chloe too. She now knows that she’s a ‘person of interest’ in their inquiry, which might make her panic and confess, but Nelson doubts it somehow. Unless they can prove that she was in the farmhouse on the night her parents died, they can’t charge her with anything.

  ‘She’s hiding something,’ says Tanya.

  ‘I agree,’ says Nelson. ‘But what?’

  ‘I think she was in the house when her parents were killed,’ says Tanya. ‘Her prints were on the gun and she doesn’t have an alibi.’

  ‘We shouldn’t forget David Brown,’ says Nelson. ‘He’s also obviously hiding something too. Remember what he said to Troy Evans. And Brown visited Cambridge Bioresearch. That’s suspicious, in my book. I don’t buy all that crap about research into the Bronze Age.’

  ‘But there’s no link between Chloe and David,’ objects Judy. ‘I think we should look at Neil Topham. He could still be having an affair with Chloe. Maybe they did it together.’

  ‘It’s more likely to be Paul and Chloe,’ says Tanya. ‘And Paul’s obviously a more frequent visitor to the house than he let on originally.’

  ‘Maybe,’ says Judy. ‘Paul and Chloe do seem very close, very protective of each other. Chloe didn’t want Paul to know about her affair with Neil.’

  ‘Paul has clearly been feeding the dog,’ says Nelson. ‘The dog that both siblings swore didn’t exist.’
/>   ‘“Dad hated all animals.” That’s what Chloe said to me,’ says Tanya. ‘So why would they be secretly keeping a dog?’

  ‘To keep people away,’ says Tony. ‘Maybe that’s why their father made such a thing about the legend of the Black Shuck, changing the house’s name and everything. Having a big black dog running around stopped anyone from getting too close.’

  ‘Because Douglas Noakes was doing human experiments in that creepy surgery,’ says Judy.

  ‘Chloe was in financial difficulties,’ says Tanya. ‘She put her flat on the market. That was a motive to kill her parents. Now she and Paul have the farm and shares in the business.’

  ‘And revenge on their parents,’ says Judy.

  ‘It’s a good theory,’ says Nelson. And he means it. The team are working well together. ‘We just have to prove it.’

  Nelson drives home in a thoughtful frame of mind. He senses that they are close to a solution but, without more evidence, they can’t charge anyone. He hates this situation, when it seems as if the perpetrator is going to get away with it. It goes against all his instincts as a policeman. The famous instincts which, as he keeps telling Jo, are worth his inflated salary.

  The traffic has stopped again. Nelson grinds his teeth. He’d love to put his siren on but thinks this would not go down well with Jo, if she got to hear about it. Instead he twists and turns through the backstreets of Lynn, trying to avoid the main roads. He has his radio switched on and can hear the crackly instructions issuing from control. A broken-down car on the London Road, drunk driver arrested on Wootton Road, a break-in on North End Lane. Hang on, North End Lane is the road leading to the accursed Black Dog Farm. Two break-ins in one day? That’s more than coincidence. He performs a multi-point turn and heads in the direction of Sheringham. Now he can legitimately put his siren on, and he enjoys the sensation of actually doing something, of making ground, zigzagging in and out of the gridlocked traffic, shooting through red lights. It’s dark by the time that he reaches the outskirts of Sheringham. Nearly October now. Soon it will be November – Katie’s birthday and his own – and then Christmas and his mum coming to stay. Well, no time to think of any of that now. Nelson presses his foot down on the accelerator.