There had been a few other developments of which many members of the team were still unaware. DC Mason had spent considerable time gathering information on the history of the pub and the people who had lived and worked there. He now shared what he had uncovered with the rest of the team. Alex passed the focus on to him.
‘The Black Lion belongs to a man named Clive Beckett. There’s been a dispute over land ownership and freehold which has been going on for the last four years. The pub’s a listed building, so application for demolition was refused. The nature of the listing means no restoration work can be undertaken either.’
‘Makes sense,’ one of the team said sarcastically. ‘So the building’s just left in that state?’
‘Yep. Stupid, right? Clive Beckett seems to be something of a businessman, by all accounts. The turnover at the Lion was small fry. Seems he was happy to just let the place go after a while.’
‘He been contacted yet?’ asked Alex.
‘No. He moved to Australia a few years back. I’ve contacted his company, spoken to one of his employees. Left a message for him to get back to us as soon as possible.’
‘Family?’
‘One son and an ex-wife who both still live in South Wales. They were divorced years ago.’
‘How long has the place been empty?’ one of the other DCs asked.
‘About five years,’ Dan told him.
‘Would either Clive Beckett’s son or ex-wife still have access to the pub?’ Alex queried. ‘We need to speak to them, find out when they last went to the place. We need to find out exactly who’s had access, particularly during the past few weeks. By all accounts, there’s been no legal reason why anyone should have been inside the building. There was no work going on there, no surveys being done.’
Was there a link between this building and the parks? Someone who had reason to be in the grounds of each?
‘Did Beckett and his family live in the pub?’ It was the first time Chloe had spoken up since the meeting began.
‘No,’ Dan answered. ‘Clive Beckett and his wife lived in Lisvane at the time. He owned a few different pubs around South Wales, all of which were sold during the divorce. He employed managers to run them, but the recession meant they all took a hit by the looks of it.’
‘Do we have contact details for his ex?’ Alex asked.
Dan nodded.
She was impressed. DC Mason, though with them only a short time, was already proving to be invaluable when it came to research. He worked quickly and he was thorough. There had been a time not so long ago when Chloe had been the same – in fact, Alex had considered that Chloe Lane and Daniel Mason together would be a partnership worth having on board any investigation – but her younger colleague’s focus had since slipped and she seemed permanently distracted.
Despite her feelings of loyalty to the young woman, Alex knew Harry had been right about his emphasis on focus. They couldn’t afford anyone on the team to be anything but fully committed to these cases, and to finding out who murdered these girls and left their bodies in the water.
‘I’ll contact Beckett’s ex-wife once we’re done here,’ Alex told Dan. ‘Let’s focus on what we know about both women. Sarah’s body being found has changed everything. The pathologist reckons her body was in the water for no more than two days, meaning Connor Price couldn’t have put her there. He was in custody at the time.’
‘Doesn’t mean he hasn’t been involved.’
‘True. There’s still the possibility we’re looking at two people working together. We know that Lola’s blood was found at The Black Lion. We also now know that the second sample isn’t a match with Connor or Sarah, but as you rightly say, it doesn’t necessarily prove Connor’s innocence. Some of the men from the support group attended by Connor, Lola and Sarah are due in for testing today. Quite frankly, the longer this goes on, the more I’m beginning to doubt Connor Price’s involvement. Yes, he’d been having an affair with Sarah, but there’s no evidence of any romantic or sexual link with Lola. There’s no doubt that the same man, or men, is responsible for both women’s murders. These aren’t crimes of passion – they’re premeditated, calculated. We’re looking for someone thorough, someone clever, someone who knew both women and had access to Bute Park and to Cosmeston Lakes. CCTV footage from cameras at the entrance to Bute Park on Boulevard de Nantes has picked up a white van. It’s not the most helpful footage – the plate blurs out on a close-up. 8.45 p.m. on the twelfth of January. It’s a Ford Transit – no other identifying features, obviously. That would make our lives far too easy. I’d like you two to chase up any calls that have come in during the past twelve hours,’ Alex said, addressing a couple of officers sitting to Chloe’s left. ‘Let’s see if we can glean anything useful amongst the time-wasters. Any questions?’
‘Why water?’
Alex looked to Chloe.
‘Why is he putting his victims in water?’
It was something Alex had pondered on her return to the station earlier that day. ‘I’ve wondered the same. But without any further clues as to who this man is, it’s almost impossible to say. It was clear today that less of an attempt had been made to sink Sarah’s body than had been made with Lola.’ Alex paused. Talking about these young women as though they were nothing more than corpses made her nauseous. She always tried to attach each victim to a partner, to parents, to friends, tried to imagine herself at such a loss.
‘Something from his past perhaps?’ Chloe suggested.
Alex nodded. ‘Likely. We need to find out more, and as soon as we can.’
‘The other women from the support group, should we be keeping an eye out for them?’
Something else that had crossed Alex’s mind. She wished they had the resources to ensure that every other woman who had attended the group had security until this man was identified and locked up, but that kind of service was far beyond their means. ‘At the moment, the only other woman we know for certain who was attending the group regularly is Rachel Jones. Tim Cole is supposed to be getting back to us today with the other names. We’ve already spoken with Rachel and she’s aware she’s to remain vigilant. Let’s be careful not to scaremonger though, OK?’
Her words were received with nods.
‘Right. Let’s get to work then.’
DC Mason handed her a note with the name and contact number of Clive Beckett’s ex-wife. As she took it from him and commended him for being so thorough, Alex watched Chloe slink from the room without acknowledging her colleagues.
What was the matter with her? She’d been like it all day, barely speaking to Alex in the car both to and from Cosmeston Lakes that morning. She found it difficult to believe that all this was over the brief clash of words – barely enough to describe as an argument – that they’d had in the car the previous evening. Alex went out into the corridor, but Chloe was already gone. She was about to head to her own office when Superintendent Blake called her into his.