The Reckoning Read Free

settled. It explains why he kept himself to himself.’
    ‘And the security he had on his office.’ I frowned. ‘So they’ve got kids, and he’s a convicted sex offender, but Mrs Tremlett was happy to have him in the family home?’
    ‘Apparently so. We can ask her about that. Wouldn’t be the first wife to be in denial about what she’d married.’
    ‘If this all happened in Kent, did anyone in the local area know about his conviction?’
    ‘Something else to ask her about, but Lambeth CID say not. He was on the register. No record of anyone making enquiries about him, though.’
    The sex-offenders’ register wasn’t open to general access, though a recent law made it possible for members of the public to check whether individuals were listed on it, and for what. But they had to be suspicious to begin with. The ordinary punter in the street didn’t seem to realise that, for the most part, the sex offenders who are really dangerous are the ones you would never, ever suspect.
    ‘What about Mr Palmer?’
    ‘Mr Palmer is different. He was a known paedophile. Last October he was released from prison after serving a seven-year stretch for raping two little girls. Against the advice of his probation officer, he went back to Brixton, to the house where he had lived when the abuse took place. Not unexpectedly, the local community didn’t put out a welcome mat for him. He reported a campaign of harassment ranging from name-calling to a paper bag full of dogshit that was dropped through his letterbox. They’d set fire to it first, so when he went to put out the flames by stamping on it, he got it all over himself.’
    ‘That old trick.’
    ‘He should have known better,’ Derwent agreed. ‘He had trouble with graffiti – scum out, kiddyfiddler lives here, that kind of thing – and the locals wouldn’t speak to him or serve him in shops.’
    ‘Why did he want to come back?’
    ‘I spoke to his probation officer just before we left the nick. The house was his mother’s. She died while he was inside, so it was vacant when he got out. He needed somewhere to stay and a rent-free home was appealing. His sister wouldn’t have him living with her. She’s got kids herself. Palmer swore he was innocent and the sister says she believed him, but you wouldn’t take the chance, would you?’
    ‘Not if there was any alternative.’ Nothing that I’d heard so far sounded like good news. ‘So there are a million suspects and when we ask around no one is going to have seen or heard anything.’
    ‘That’s about right.’
    ‘Brilliant.’ I looked at him, curious. ‘This is shaping up to be a nightmare case. You don’t seem too worried.’
    ‘It’s win-win, isn’t it? If I solve it, I get the credit for clearing up a double-murder. If I don’t …’ He shrugged. ‘No one much cares about the victims, do they? No one is going to be demanding paedophiles should be better protected.’
    ‘Cynical.’
    ‘Realistic. Anyway, don’t worry about it, sweetheart. We’ll work it out together. I’ll make sure you’re not left out at the prize-giving.’
    I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. Fantastic. Another copper who was going to talk down to me just because I was female. Sweetheart my arse .
    Derwent was still talking, oblivious. ‘According to the boss, this is an important case and needs sensitive handling. That’s why he assigned you to work on it with me, which makes some sort of sense. The last thing I need is one of those hairy-arsed DCs from the team clumping around offending the families by saying the wrong thing.’
    ‘I’ll do my best to avoid that,’ I said stiffly.
    ‘That’s the thing. You don’t have to say anything at all. Just stand back, look pretty, and let me do all the work.’ Derwent squinted out through the windscreen and I was glad that he didn’t look in my direction, because the expression on my face was nothing short of murderous. ‘This should be an easy gig for you. Just