Remember Me Page 4
They walk along the side of the house to the garage. There is a border with hollyhocks and poppies in full bloom on its side. The garage is locked but when they look through the door windows, they see a new-looking black Mercedes and an older-looking Land Rover. There is space left for an additional car.
‘Eric Warner had two cars registered to his name, and the red one is likely to be hers’, Ford says.
‘Since both of his cars seem to be here, how did he get to Tersel Woods from here?‘ Greene asks.
They walk back to their car. When they pass Estelle’s little red Audi, Terry put his hand on the hood.
‘It’s still a bit warm, sir. So, I guess she did come back today? ‘
‘We’ll have to get it confirmed. Get on with Penzance ferries to the Scillies. Do they still have those private planes flying there? Probably have to check with them too. Find out if her mother really lives on Tresco. Isn’t it an Abbey?’
The officers get in the car, and Terry starts driving back.
‘She is a looker, that one, sir, those eyes, you could drown in them! And that hair.’
‘Let’s get back to the office and start checking on how their marriage was. It’s a bit odd that she didn’t talk with her husband for more than a week, don’t you think? Maybe they had a fight and she left to go see her mother? We have to find out who his GP is, so we can find out about any health issues. ‘
They drive the rest of the way in silence.
Greene goes to report their progress to the Chief Inspector Bill Mullan. Ford goes back to the office to log into his computer to find out more about Penzance ferries.
Jimmy Carter, The Abbey Chronicle
Late in the afternoon, Jimmy calls Terence Ford to find out if they have found out who the dead man was. Terence Ford gives him the name and confirms that the next of kin has been informed, but doesn’t tell him anything else. Terry stresses that it’s an ongoing inquiry. The only other thing Terry shares is that the coroner’s inquest is going to be held the following week.
Since he now has a name, Jimmy starts making inquiries about the dead man, scouring local archives and searches the internet. The trouble is, there isn’t very much to find out. Jimmy checks The Abbey Chronicle back issues and archives about Eric Warner and finds out a short notice written by his former colleague who had interviewed Warner among others in the VIP tent at the local golf tournament last October. His colleague had asked about the golf course expansion and plans on investing in the golf course. According to the short exchange recorded in the article, Warner didn’t say anything about the golf course and there wasn’t even a photo of him. What he had said was that he and his wife had moved to the area to get out of London, and they looked forward to raising a family here. Unfortunately, with a name like Eric Warner, finding anything specific about him on the internet wasn’t going to be easy, since there are so many with the same name.
Mike Kings, Jimmy’s editor, stops by Jimmy’s desk. As soon as Jimmy tells him the name of the dead man, King wants an obituary in the paper, claiming Eric Warner was an important newcomer to Faukon Abbey. He recalls hearing something about some rich guy and his wife buying a period property on the outskirts of the town.
‘Find out his address and if his wife is there and go talk to her. Didn’t this Warner have connections to the golf course and the castle?’ Mike asks Jimmy.
‘Could be, not sure’, Jimmy says. ‘The contact I had about the golf course issue mentioned they were going to have new investors to fund the expansion. He didn’t mention any names; it was apparently very hush-hush, but there is a big public presentation coming up in a month or so.’
‘Isn’t there some opposition against the planned expansion?’ Mike asks.
‘Exactly, there have been some environmental groups claiming an expansion of the golf course could cause increasing amounts of pesticides to pollute the groundwater and flow to the lake killing fish and wildlife.’
‘How big an expansion are we talking about here? The lake is at least two miles if not more away from the golf course. Have you talked with those environmentalists? Where are they getting their info about the expansion? How do they know how big it is going to be?’
‘I’ve talked with a couple of them, but they are not saying much about their sources.’
‘That is very odd. Wouldn’t it benefit them if we could publish the plans and they could have their say about it? You have to get on top of this! It seems there’s a big issue brewing. And if this Warner was a big investor and he’s ended up dead, now that could be very interesting indeed. What do the police say?’
‘Nothing much yet, they only just found out who he was, thanks to the picture we published on Saturday. When he was found in Tersel Woods he didn’t have any identification on him, not even a mobile phone.’
‘Who doesn’t have a mobile phone these days? Someone must have taken it. This is getting very interesting indeed. There’s definitely something fishy going on here. Go and interview the widow, and find out if the Lloyds bank knows anything about him. They are big investors in the golf course and the manager there, Crane, is a member, so he likely knows something. Head out there before they close for the day.
‘Not sure if Colin Crane knows anything. When I talked with him last week, he didn’t give me any answers at all about the expansion, claimed he was just a member and that he didn’t know anything.’
‘Well that was before someone died, so try again. I’m sure you can get some answers from him. Most likely the widow knows about it too. And talk more with your sources in the police. Is there going to be an inquest?’
‘Police said there is going to be an inquest but didn’t say when. Apparently, the coroner needs to decide the time. I’ll talk to Crane again. Are you sure it’s not too early to call the widow?’
‘Sooner the better, you’ll get a more authentic reaction, call her today. Why didn’t she report her husband was missing? He was missing for more than a week. Something fishy is going on here.’
‘Ok, I’ll get on with it.’
Jimmy finds the address and phone number for the Warners’ residence and calls. Nobody answers so he leaves a message about wanting to get some details confirmed for the obituary in his paper. He leaves his phone number.
He takes his notebook and jacket and walks out to the bank. Nice and sunny day again, only a few clouds. Once he gets there, he’s told, he’ll have to wait a few moments before Mr. Crane is available to talk with him. When the previous visitor leaves, Colin Crane, a pudgy short man in his early sixties with a curly fringe of grey hair with a bald top and a nose too large for his face waves his hand to Jimmy to come into his office. The bank manager is wearing a dark suit and a white shirt with a dark green tie. Jimmy on the other hand tries to emulate what he claims is a “typical journalist look:” a pair of chinos and a shirt, no tie. At least his clothes are clean. But he does look very casual, especially in comparison with Colin Crane.
Once they sit down, Jimmy tells him about the death of Eric Warner.
‘I know,’ Crane says, ‘I saw the picture in The Chronicle. I identified him to the police.’
‘Oh really? I bet the police appreciated that. They had apparently been trying to find out who he is for a week and not getting anywhere with it.’
‘Oh yes, they were very grateful.’ Crane smiles and leans back in his chair, crossing his hands over his well-rounded midline. ‘What can I do for you, Jimmy?’
‘What a terrible thing to happen – he was quite young, wasn’t he? Was he a customer here? Did you know him well?’ asks Jimmy. ‘Mike wants me to write an obituary in The Chronicle so anything you can tell me about him would be appreciated’.
‘This is all off the record?’ Crane asks.
‘But of course,’ Jimmy responds, ‘I am only looking for some background information.’
‘Alright then. Warner and his wife bought a house on Mulberry Hill – maybe you know that one, it’s called Elm House –about eight months or s
o ago. It is a lovely period property, early Victorian, but fully modernized inside about ten years ago. A fair bit of land too, about three acres. Pity the conservatory was demolished when they built the new garage. Well, it had to be done since the great elm fell on it in the bad storm we had a few years back, remember that one?’
‘Oh yeah, that was a whopper of a storm for sure, caused plenty of damage. Have you been there since they bought the house? Do you know his wife? Do they have any kids? Do you know what he did for living?’
‘Oh no, they are very private. I met him on the golf course a few times, he’s a pretty decent golfer, handicap well below 10, I think. I have not played with him. I do not know his wife, only met her once, nice woman with enormous eyes. Don’t know anything about children, I don’t recall hearing if they had any. I think he used to be a solicitor in London, but I’m not sure about that.’
‘A solicitor? So I guess he didn’t need any help with real estate contracts then?’
‘Not sure, he didn’t mention anything about that.’
‘My former colleague talked with Eric Warner after they first moved here’ Jimmy says. ‘I found a short interview with him. Warner mentioned he was looking for investment opportunities. Since the biggest investment opportunity around here is surely the golf course expansion, was he investing money in it?’
‘Unfortunately I can’t tell you anything about that. If he was, it was all handled by Caroline; you have met her before, haven’t you? She is our corporate investment advisor.’
‘Oh ok, then I’ll talk with her about that, if that’s ok with you?’
‘Sure, but she’s on holiday and won’t be back for another four weeks.’ Crane smiles broadly, as he’s sure that by the time Caroline is back, the golf course story will have blown over.
‘Oh that’s too bad. Anybody else I can talk with?’
‘No, she’s the only one handling private investment portfolios. If there’s nothing else?’
‘No, I think that’s for now. I guess I can’t call Caroline?’
‘No, she’s abroad and she won’t discuss client matters on the phone anyway. Nice talking with you Jimmy, please make sure you do not quote me as a source on anything you write.’
Jimmy thanks Crane and leaves the bank. Too bad Caroline was on holiday. And it was really too bad he hadn’t known that she was the one handling the golf course issue! Why the hell didn’t Colin mention it when they had talked before? Damn. Jimmy keeps swearing to himself as he walks back to his office. And yes, of course he would have wanted to talk with her – it would have been a great excuse to get together with her again.
He had met Caroline in university. Jimmy was the editor of the student paper. They were both part of the same group back then, but were not really close. He had liked her, would have liked to get to know her better, but she was always just friendly, nothing more. She didn’t want to get attached to anybody. They lost touch after graduation, and only met by accident a few months ago when they literally ran into each other on the street in front of the Daily Cuppa Tea Room; she was coming out and he was on his way in. They had chatted for a few minutes and promised to get together soon. But that had not happened. Jimmy had called her a couple of times and asked her out, but each time she had claimed she was busy with something or other, so he’d given up.
Back in his office, Jimmy calls Warner’s home phone again, and this time Estelle Warner answers. He explains to her that he’d like to get some more information about her husband for the obituary in the local newspaper, The Abbey Chronicle. She has never heard of the paper and asks if she has to pay for it. No, he explains, it’s all part of the local news reporting. She tells him they had just moved to the area less than a year ago, that they were very happy living in Mulberry Hill. How they had remodeled the house. How she had been busy decorating the house and how they had planned to start a real family. And now it was not going to happen at all. As soon as she says that, she breaks down and starts crying into the phone. He apologizes to her for causing her distress, tries to soothe her, and asks if he can come to visit her to ensure he gets the facts correct. She says yes and they agree to meet the following afternoon.
Since he now knows Eric Warner had been a solicitor in London, he can dig up a bit more info. After a while of searching on the internet, he finds out that Warner had been a solicitor with the prestigious firm Boxton, Gillen & Smithers until about a year ago. Nothing regarding why he had left the firm. It seems there was a previous wife with children, too. Warren was a charitable guy, showing up to charity events and fun runs. Plenty of pictures of him and his wife, no pictures or info about kids. Warner and his wife Margaret had apparently divorced, about 5 years ago.
Now what about the new wife, Estelle? Who was she before she was Mrs. Warner? Jimmy loves the internet – you can find anything about anybody if you only know how to look for it. He’ll have to dig a bit deeper into the legal records to get more details, maybe call his old firm and ask for comments too. Yes, that’s what he should do. Jimmy notifies Mike about his findings and his agreement to meet with Estelle on Tuesday.
‘Now we’re talking! Good job Jimmy. Keep digging. We want to know everything there is to know about Mr. Warner. This is a big thing; a hotshot like him moves here and eight months later he drops dead, nobody knows why, and nobody misses him for a week. Make sure you write the obit tomorrow so we can get it online later tomorrow and in the Wednesday paper. We should have had it in tomorrow’s paper, but it is better we get our facts straight before we publish. We’ll publish just a short note about him tomorrow.’
Tuesday 20th of May
The Abbey Chronicle, page 8
Eric Warner identified - Found dead in Tersel Woods
The unknown man found in Tersel Woods a week ago, on May 12th, has now been identified as Eric Warner of Elm House on Mulberry Hill. His next of kin has been informed. As he lacked any form of identification when he was found, the detectives of Dartmoor Constabulary in Faukon Abbey identified him earlier this week thanks to information they received from this paper’s readers.
The Dartmoor Constabulary wishes to thank the readers for their help.
DI Peter Greene and DC Terry Ford
Estelle is brought into the mortuary. She breaks down completely when the pathology assistant uncovers the dead man’s face.
‘It’s Eric,’ she cries, ‘Oh my God, he can’t be dead! What am I going to do without him?’
She latches on to DC Ford. Terry holds her and she nearly vanishes in his arms. The look on his face betrays his mixed feelings – he has a beautiful woman in his arms, crying her eyes out, and yet she could be a suspect. He tries to gently disentangle himself from her and half-carries-half-walks her into the adjoining room to sit her down. Estelle keeps crying. Greene sits down on her other side and takes her hand.
Terry goes to get some tea. Estelle takes a few sips and tries to wipe her eyes. The officers give her a few minutes to calm down. She’s still sobbing.
‘Mrs. Warner, let’s get you home now. We do have a few more question we’d like to ask but we can do that later,’ Greene says.
‘Thank you,’ she mumbles.
They walk her to the Panda car which takes her home. Greene and Ford drive back to their office.
‘She does cry a lot doesn’t she?’ Greene says. ‘Makes you wonder if all of it really is for real?’
‘Why not, sir? They have only been married for a few years, and he wasn’t old or in bad health. He shouldn’t have dropped dead like that.’
‘Not sure why, but it seems to me it’s just a bit more show than real, or maybe I’m just turning old and cynical. Did you check if she really was in the Scillies last week?’ asks Greene.
‘Yes, sir. I contacted the ferries in Penzance, no ticket with her name. I then checked the airplanes flying there from Newquay and Exeter. She had taken the flight from Exeter to St. Mary’s two weeks ago and returned on the first flight on Monday. The only way to get to Tresco is with
one of the small boats from Hugh Town on St Mary’s, and they don’t keep any records of passenger names – you just buy a ticket and hop on a boat.’
‘And her mother really lives there, on Tresco?’
‘Yes she does, been there for the past fifteen years. She’s the plant curator there.’
‘A plant curator? What does that mean? Is that a real job?’
‘Apparently she lives and works in the Tresco Abbey Gardens. Not entirely clear on what a Plant curator does though – I guess it’s like a fancy name for the head gardener? Like calling a bin man a sanitary technician.’
‘Could be, but I don’t think we need to involve her, at least not yet – not unless something else comes up. Can you check Warner’s financial situation, get their bank records, see if they’re as well-off as it seems? That house must have cost a pretty penny. I still think it’s a bit odd that she didn’t even talk with him on the phone for a week since, as you pointed out, they’ve only been married a short time’.
‘Yes sir. I have put in a request for access to that information.’
‘Good. Once we know that, we can go and see her again. In the meantime, we still have to find out what he was doing in Tersel Woods and what killed him. Have you heard anything from Slater yet? About the toxicology results?’
‘No sir, I’ll contact him.’
‘Better leave it, he tends to get edgy. Let’s give him another day or two. We won’t assume it’s a murder yet.’
Jimmy Carter, The Abbey Chronicle
Jimmy calls the Boxton, Gillen & Smithers law firm about Eric. Talks first with a secretary there who doesn’t tell him anything, directs him to the firm’s clerk. The clerk, Mr. Gibbens, had not heard about the demise of Eric Warner. Jimmy decides not to tell everything he knows and only shares that it apparently was a sudden death. He’d just like to get some info for the obituary. Mr. Gibbens sounds very shocked and asks if it was a car accident. Jimmy says that he doesn’t have more details as of yet.