Dead Like You

for Roy Grace, they got on well.
    Tony Case then raised a second finger. ‘Anyone who comes down here – workmen, cleaners, anyone like that – is escorted all the time.’
    ‘OK, but there must be some occasions when they would be left alone – and could rummage through files.’
    Case looked dubious. ‘Not in a place as sensitive as this evidence store, no.’
    Grace nodded. He used to know his way around here blindfolded, but the new team had rearranged the filing. Case opened the door and they went in. Wall-to-ceiling red-painted cages, all with padlocks, stretched into the distance. On the shelves behind them were red and green crates stacked with files, and sealed evidence bags.
    ‘Anything in particular you want to see?’
    ‘Yes, the files on the Shoe Man.’ Although Grace had summary files in his office, all the actual evidence was kept securely in here.
    Case walked along several yards, then stopped, selected a key from a bunch dangling from his belt and opened a padlock. Then he pulled open the cage door.
    ‘I know this one,’ he said, ‘because it’s currently being accessed by your team.’
    Grace nodded. ‘Do you remember Detective Superintendent Cassian Pewe, who was here last autumn?’
    Case gave him a bemused look. ‘Yeah, don’t think I’ll forget him in a hurry. Treated me like his personal lackey. Tried to get me hanging pictures in his office for him. Nothing bad happened to him, I hope. Like he didn’t fall off another cliff and this time didn’t have you around to save him.’
    Grace grinned. Saving Pewe’s life had turned out to be the least popular thing he’d ever done.
    ‘Unfortunately not.’
    ‘Can’t understand why you didn’t get a bravery medal for what you did, Roy.’
    ‘I can.’ Grace smiled. ‘I’d only have got it if I’d let him fall.’
    ‘Don’t worry. He’s a shit. Know what they say about shit?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Shit always falls, eventually, from its own weight.’

76
    Wednesday 14 January
    Thirty minutes later, Grace sat down in front of ACC Peter Rigg’s vast desk at Malling House, the Sussex Police headquarters. It was 4 p.m.
    ‘So, Roy, you wanted to see me. Do you have some good news on the Shoe Man?’
    ‘Possibly, sir.’ Grace gave him a general update and told him he hoped to have more for him after the evening briefing at 6.30 p.m. Then he went on: ‘I have a rather delicate situation that I want to run by you.’
    ‘Go ahead.’
    Grace gave him the background on Cassian Pewe and what had happened during the brief time he had been with Sussex CID. Then he went on to outline his current concerns about the man.
    Rigg listened intently, making occasional notes. When Grace had finished he said, ‘So, let me get this clear. Detective Superintendent Pewe was in the right places to be a potential suspect during the Shoe Man’s original attacks back in 1997?’
    ‘It would appear so, sir.’
    ‘And again, during these past two weeks, his movements might fit with the current attacks?’
    ‘I’ve asked him to account for his whereabouts at the times of these three recent attacks, yes, sir.’
    ‘And you think Detective Superintendent Pewe could be the person who took the pages from the file that could contain crucial evidence?’
    ‘Pewe was one of only a handful of people with access to that file.’
    ‘Could he be responsible for these past and present leaks to the press, in your view?’
    ‘It’s quite possible,’ Grace said.
    ‘Why? What’s in it for him to do that?’
    ‘To embarrass us? Perhaps me in particular?’
    ‘But why?’
    ‘I can see it quite clearly now, sir. If he could make me look incompetent by undermining me in various ways, he might get me transferred out of CID HQ – and safely away from the cold-case files which could incriminate him.’
    ‘Is that just theory, or do you have anything concrete?’
    ‘At the moment it’s just theory. But it fits.’ He shrugged. ‘I just hope I’m not letting the past history cloud my judgement.’
    The ACC looked at him. He had a wise face. Then he gave Roy a kindly smile. ‘You mustn’t let this get personal, you know.’
    ‘I want to avoid that at all costs, sir.’
    ‘I know your experiences with him were less than satisfactory – and that you put yourself at enormous personal risk in saving him, which has been noted – but he is a very widely respected officer. It’s never good to make enemies. Know that old proverb?’
    Grace thought he seemed