The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 8*

The weekend had seemingly gone by in a flash, although they would both admit it was also a successful one. Hank had dropped Sam off at the office for a few hours on Saturday where he had printed off a list of names and addresses they were expecting Anthony Drummond to visit. He had also arranged a few other notes that he thought may come in useful while trailing him. Hank, meanwhile, had gotten him a few houseplants and one or two other items he figured may give him some favor when Beverly arrived the following weekend. A lazy day on Sunday had appeared to be just what the doctor ordered and they were both up bright and early raring to go on Monday morning. They got into the car and headed straight out to the address registered for Anthony Drummond.

"Wow, nice place," Hank said as Sam parked.

"Yeah, a little too nice maybe?" Sam pondered as he looked around the outside of the rather massive and impressive property.

"I was thinking the same even for someone who owns his own company," Hank told him as he frowned, his eyes scanning the place.

"Oh, trust me, the figures are nothing to shout about," Sam told him. "Even with both incomings, Mr. Drummond still earns less than I do and there's no way I could afford a place like this."

"Hm, rich wife?" Hank suggested, trying to figure out the means to afford this.

"Don’t think so, I've got the figures here," Sam replied, stretching over his shoulder to grab a file from the back seat. "Fairly modest earnings from what I remember though." Hank scribbled something down in his notepad while Sam rummaged through the file he had just retrieved.

"Oh hold on," Hank said, putting his hand out in front of Sam. "Looks like we’re on," he nodded towards the house where Anthony Drummond had just exited and got into one of the vans on his driveway with the words with Apex Cleaning LTD on its side. He pulled out of the driveway and Sam and Hank followed him as he drove through the town, eventually stopping at an office block. Drummond then went around to the back of the van, collected some tools and equipment before walking off towards the offices. Hank made a note of this in his pad making sure to record the time of arrival before reaching down to withdraw a thermos filled with coffee from his bag. They both sat back in their seats watching and waiting.

It was just over two hours later when Drummond re-emerged. They both looked on as he returned his tools into the van and got back into the driver’s side. Strangely, the van itself remained stationary for another fifteen minutes before pulling away again, all of which was again carefully noted and recorded in Hank’s pad. Once again, they followed as the van made its way through the traffic pulling into an industrial estate and parking up outside a factory, and Hank was making a note of everything. Approximately an hour later Hank’s cell phone rang.

"Hello? Oh captain Beesley," Hank answered, putting his phone into loudspeaker mode. “What can I do for you?”

"Are you with Sam?" came the quick response.

"Yes sir, we’re trailing a potential suspect, trying to build up some details of his daily routine," Sam answered.

"Good, I'm glad I got you both. I'm afraid that's going to have to wait for another time. A body has been discovered in a hotel room down by the seafront. I'm on my way over to the scene now. I'll text you the details and see you over there." The captain then hung up. A few seconds later both cell phones went off as Sam and Hank both received the same text message, the name and address of the hotel. They put the details into the GPS and followed the directions given.

Shortly afterward the car turned left onto a street lined with cafes and hotels, the sea clearly visible on the right. Up ahead they could see a mass of flashing blue lights telling them they were in the right place. Sam drove up to the hotel and they both got out of the car making their way towards the cordoned-off section. Captain Beesley spotted them and made his way over.

"Sorry to drag you away guys but this murder looks like it’s unrelated I'm afraid," he said apologetically. "The victim has been stabbed and there's no, erm, you know," he said waving his hand over his chest. The guys nodded, slowly turned around, and headed back to the car.

"I guess Brookes has got her murder case after all," Sam sighed.

"Maybe," Hank answered. "This could be out of their jurisdiction though, we're a fair way out of the town, and there could well be another precinct nearer to here."

"Possibly yeah. I was kind of hoping it might get them off our backs for a bit," Sam said, as he unlocked the door but did not open it.

Hank laughed a little. "You're joking, right? We can't get any help from them now. Imagine how bad it would be if they actually had a murder case to investigate."

"Oh yeah," Sam agreed. "To be honest, I'd given up any hope of actually getting any help from them. I just thought that if they had something to get stuck into they might actually leave us alone."

Hank nodded, he got exactly what Sam was saying. "I know what you mean but to be fair, apart from the first couple of days, they pretty much have left us alone."

"What I do know," Sam said opening the car door, "Is that today we walked away from our only possible lead for nothing." Hank paused for a moment, thinking about what Sam had just said. Once more, he had gotten in the car and pulled away, putting in the address for the station to head back there. The guys needed to pick up from where they left off on Friday.