All Passion Spent by Bergotte (read more books .txt) 📖

in her pocket and handed over her ignition keys. “Thanks for your help,” she said, as Buckley went off to find someone to help. A young mechanic came out of the garage building carrying the damaged panel. “Hello,” said Anna, “do you know Phil Dickinson as a work colleague?” “Yes, and as a mate of mine. We go to the pub together at lunchtimes.” “Does he have a drink problem?” “He drinks quite heavily sometimes. He knocked that woman down didn’t he?” “Yes, but not deliberately,” replied Anna, jokingly. The mechanic did not take it as a joke however. “He’s a bloody idiot, mad Phil.” “Why do you say that?” “I’ve been with him when he has been driving. He’d do crazy things, like pretending to drive into someone head on and then swerve away from them.” “Did he do that with pedestrians?” “Yeah, I’ve seen him do it.” “Thank you,” said Anna, “you’ve been very helpful.” When he had put the panel on the back seat of her car and had handed over the ignition keys, Anna went on her way, pleased with her afternoon’s work.

As she drove along she found herself behind two buses, full of schoolchildren. After some minutes of slow travel they both pulled into a bus stop where they allowed some of their young passengers to alight. One of the youngsters came out from behind the first bus and made as if to run across the road. She was stopped in her tracks as she ran into the side of Anna’s car and was immediately thrown to the ground. Anna got out to make sure she was all right. The girl’s mother appeared on the scene in seconds. She realised what had happened and apologised profusely to Anna. The police sergeant was quite shaken by what had occurred but she did not show it to the girl or her mother. After a few brief words she got back into her car and set off again.

How easy it is to knock someone down. Anna thought of the Fellingham incident and began to wonder. The schoolgirl had been the cause of the accident in Anna’s case. The girl had clearly run into the side of her vehicle and there was no avoiding action she could have taken. What about the Fellingham accident? She and Gerrard had assumed that Dickinson was responsible for knocking down Mrs Fellingham, principally because he was a hit and run driver, but also because he had admitted responsibility for the accident. However, it was possible that Dickinson was not responsible. He might have been in a similar situation to Anna, suddenly seeing someone in his path and unable to take avoiding action. Perhaps, in his confusion after the event he thought he was to blame. But then there was the evidence that the garage mechanic had given against Dickinson, that he deliberately pretended to target other road users, drivers and pedestrians. Where did the truth lie? She remembered reading in a daily newspaper sometime in May that a judge had sentenced a hit-and-run driver to fifteen and a half months in jail for killing a nine year old girl. Driving at sixty m.p.h. in a built-up area, he had made no attempt to slow down or avoid the girl but had ploughed straight into the girl and driven off leaving her with multiple injuries. She had died in the ambulance on the way to hospital. Anna remembered the judge’s ruling that the accident had ‘come low on the scale of criminal culpability’. With a good defence lawyer, Anna thought, Dickinson should get off fairly lightly.

Anna felt she should have gone into the office to write up her report on her visit to the garage where Mr Dickinson worked, but her minor accident had put her in a frame of mind which did not lend itself to report writing. Instead she drove straight home to her apartment in Camden Road. She liked living here. It’s quite high up, stretching along the hills that look down to the valley where the river Avon and the London A4 road runs. The neighbours had always been friendly towards her, even though they knew she was a police officer. Some had invited her to their houses for drinks and birthday celebrations. Others had sought her advice on a variety of police matters.

As she unlocked the door and climbed the stairs to the place she could call her own, one thought was uppermost in her mind; to spend a long time soaking in a warm bath. She went to bathroom and started the bath water running. She poured a concoction of sweet smelling unguents into it. The water began to foam. She went into the bedroom and slowly took off her clothes. She was very, very tired. She took her bathrobe from the back of the bedroom door and tiptoed back to the bathroom. She tested the water to make sure it was not too hot. Gradually she lowered her aching limbs into the steaming water and lay back becoming gradually, blissfully unaware of her surroundings. After a full five minutes in a semi-comatose state she was rudely awakened by the sound of the telephone in the bedroom. “Damn!” she said out loud. It was probably Gerrard wanting her to run some errand or other. Well, he would have to wait. Eventually the ringing stopped and Anna sank once more into her reverie.

Only when the bath water had cooled to such an extent that Anna felt uncomfortably cold did she finally step out of the bath on to the bathmat she had carefully laid down beforehand. She rubbed herself dry with a large towel and then put on her bathrobe. She went to the wardrobe, threw open the doors and thought carefully about what she should wear. As she did so she became rather annoyed with herself. Why was she taking so much trouble over deciding what to wear just to see Chief Inspector Gerrard? After all, he was only her boss.


CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Thursday, October 26: afternoon

At the same time that Anna was setting out for Phil Dickinson’s workplace, Gerrard was getting on a train to Bristol. He had decided to talk to the teachers at Tommy’s old school and interview Tommy’s mother if possible. When his taxicab dropped him off at the school gates Gerrard was pleasantly surprised by the look of the school buildings. He found his way to the reception area where the receptionist ushered him into an empty staff room. A few minutes later a middle-aged man in tracksuit and trainers entered and introduced himself as Mr Barnes. “The head thought it best if I see you first,” he explained, “we have a strong house system here. The pupils are registered in house groups. In my house the tutors stay with the same classes for about three years. So, I was Tommy’s house tutor for three years, when he was in year nine, ten and eleven. Consequently I got to know him very well.”

Mr Barnes sat down with Gerrard and gave him a brief history of Tommy’s scholastic career under his tutelage. It transpired that the boy had been a reasonably successful student, gaining enough GCSEs to commence a sixth form course, but sadly his time in year twelve had been cut short. His work had fallen off and Tommy had been asked to leave. Mr Barnes put this down to trouble at home. Eventually, Gerrard had the opportunity to ask the one question he had come to ask. “Was Tommy ever violent?” “No, said Barnes, “he’s as gentle as a lamb. I can’t imagine he would deliberately harm anyone. He could be thoughtless, though.” “Thank you very much,” said Gerrard, “what you have told me has been very useful.” “I’ll take you through to the Head teacher’s P.A. and she will introduce you to the Head, when he’s ready to see you.”

The P.A. showed Gerrard into the Head’s study. “Is Tommy in any serious trouble?” “I’m afraid he is,” admitted Gerrard. “He is in police custody at the moment and faces a possible murder charge. I can’t go into details but he is our chief suspect at the moment. Mr Barnes assures me that he has no history of violence at the school.” “I am sure that is true,” the Head replied. “I didn’t know him very well but he always seemed a placid sort of chap to me.” The Head showed Gerrard a C.V. that the lad had prepared during his time in the sixth form. In addition to the usual biographical material and examination results, the document recorded the work experience placements that Tommy had completed with brief job descriptions and an outline of the voluntary work he had undertaken. “This is very impressive,” commented Gerrard as he handed back the piece of paper. “This is the reference that the head of sixth form wrote for him when he left,” said the Head, handing Gerrard a second piece of paper from his file. To the Personnel Dept., Get-Ahead, Bristol
Dear Sir
I understand that Mr Thomas Mattheson has applied to you for the post of Sales Assistant at Get-Ahead. Mr Mattheson has decided to leave school before taking his ‘A’ levels. He has a good set of GCSEs, as you can see. He has been a pleasant and hardworking student in addition to being a fine sportsman and a good all-rounder. I have no hesitation in recommending him to you.
Yours sincerely
Hazel Mears (Mrs)
(Head of sixth form)
“He managed to get a job at one of the retail shops in the centre of Bristol. It was the same firm his mother worked for. She got him the job. Unfortunately, it didn’t last.”
Gerrard looked at the letter and made a mental note of its contents. Without any more ado he said goodbye to the Head and made his way out of the school.

On his way to the Get-Ahead retail shop in the Broadmead shopping centre in Bristol Gerrard stopped off for lunch. He made a brief telephone call to Mrs Bentley to arrange to meet her that afternoon. She introduced herself to him as soon as he arrived at the shop. “Good afternoon Mrs Bentley, I’m Detective Chief Inspector Gerrard from Bath and North East Somerset Constabulary. I’ve come to talk to you about your son Tommy. This is a routine matter. I’m asking for background information. I’m afraid I have to tell you that he’s in deep trouble.” “Why? What’s he done?” “He’s helping us with our inquiries into the murder of a lady in Bath last Saturday evening.”

“Oh, my God! There must be some mistake, Tommy would never do no murder,” replied Mrs Bentley firmly. “That’s why I’m here to talk to you and find out what Tommy is like. He hasn’t been charged yet. Can you tell me why he’s homeless and living on the streets?” Mrs Bentley explained the poor relationship between her son and his stepfather. “Was your husband ever violent towards your son?” “I don’t think so.” “Did you ever see your husband hit Tommy?” “Why?” “Just answer the question please.” “Yes, a couple of times.” “What made him hit your son?” “This business about wanting him to leave school.” “And what did you want.” “I want the best for Tommy, but I went along with what my husband wanted.”
“Is there any chance of him returning to your home?”
“No. He’s not welcome. Well I’d welcome him with open arms but Bill won’t. He’d say Tommy came between me and Bill.” “So he’s out on the streets as a result?” “I can’t help that can I?” “Is your husband ever violent towards you?”

“Sometimes.” “Help is available. You shouldn’t put