Where There's A Will

Chapter Thirty-Five

The investigation into the festival robbery and hit-and-run was far from over; it was a relief to Stone, however, to be able to charge Jerry Logan and have him recalled for a breach of his license, to await trial in prison. It was an important first step. Now, they had to find the car, which was likely to provide them with the evidence they needed to prove Ben Logan was his brother's partner in the robbery.

Ashford, he believed, was the brothers' alibi, but the CPS weren't willing to charge him, and so he was released, after being interviewed in case he could or would provide any useful information.

With those two interviews out of the way, and the robbery case advanced, Stone was now on his way to speak to the Keatings' maid, Gabby Johnson, in the hopes of making progress in the kidnapping. Grey had been eager to come with him and be a part of this interview, but Stone had instead assigned him to help DC Reid check out the former employees of Griffin Games.

Stone found Burke already at his destination when he pulled up outside of Johnson's house. "How did it go with Julia Harris and the chauffeur?" he asked, joining his partner. He didn't suppose Burke had learned much, if he had he would have called in with the information, but there was always a chance.

Burke shook his head. "Neither of them could tell me anything we didn't already know. In both cases, it was all over with too quickly, apparently, for them to take in too much in the way of details. In Julia's case, all she saw was masked faces and gloved hands, though she was able to tell me, after a bit of pushing, that she saw white wrists above the gloves of the man who reached into the Bentley for Alice."

"Not all that helpful," Stone remarked; he hadn't expected much, so he wasn't disappointed, though he had been hopeful. "But it does tell us that at least one member of the trio is Caucasian, that's better than nothing."

He turned away from his partner then, and made his way up the path to Gabby Johnson's front door.

"Hello, inspector," Gabby Johnson said, showing no surprise at finding the police on her doorstep. "I wondered when you'd come to see me."

"May we come in, Miss Johnson?" Stone asked, wondering if there was any significance to the fact that she had been expecting him. "We have some questions we'd like to ask you."

Gabby stepped aside to let the two detectives enter, and then closed the door once they were inside so she could guide them into the living room. When they got there, they found that she wasn't alone – her companion was a man in his late twenties, whom Stone assumed was her boyfriend.

"Mr Manning?" Stone asked.

A nod answered the question. "That's me; who're you, and what d'you want?"

"DI Stone, this is my partner, DS Burke, we're here to ask some questions of your girlfriend, and of you since you're here. Now, I'm sure Miss Johnson has told you that her employer's daughter, Alice Keating, was kidnapped yesterday afternoon on her way home from school."

Manning frowned, an angry look on his face. "And because of my record, and Gabby's, you've decided I must be responsible. Let me tell you, you're dead wrong. I didn't kidnap that girl yesterday, and I didn't kidnap that boy four years ago."

Stone looked sceptical, as did his partner. "The jury believed you were guilty," he said. "And I took a look at the case file; the evidence was against you, you were seen putting the boy into your car, as was Miss Johnson, and he was found in the flat the two of you shared at the time."

"I didn't kidnap him – Josh is my son."

"The file says nothing about that."

"Well it should. I told the police what the situation was, and both my solicitor and my barrister explained it to the jury. They weren't int'rested, though, not after my bitch of an ex finished with her lies." Manning made no attempt to conceal how much he hated his ex. "We were broken up by the time Josh was born, and she never put my name on the birth certificate. When he was five, Lucy agreed to let me see Josh, and to have him from time to time, usually one weekend a month. We had an argument that Friday, and after I collected Josh she called the police and said he'd been kidnapped; she didn't mention my name, just let the police identify me and arrest me.

"It didn't matter what I said, or what my solicitor said, it didn't even matter that Josh's teacher was willing to testify that I'd been collecting Josh regularly, or that he spent one weekend a month with me. All that mattered to the cops, and to the court, was that I wasn't recognised officially as Josh's dad and didn't have formal visitation rights."

As Gabby reached out to take her boyfriend's arm, Stone looked at his partner. He wasn't sure what to make of Manning's story – Manning was convincing, but the coincidence of two people with convictions for kidnapping being connected with the Keating family at the time of Alice Keating being kidnapped was one he couldn't ignore.

"Can you tell us where you were yesterday afternoon, between three and half past?" he asked of Manning.

It was several long seconds before Manning answered. "I was with my probation officer," he said once he succeeded in getting his temper under control. "I had a three o'clock appointment; I got there, musta been 'bout ten to, and she saw me 'bout ten past. I was there until about twenty to four, then I went for a coffee, while I looked through the job section – finding a job ain't been easy. I'm sure you can find plenty of people who can confirm where I was, including two police officers and three probation officers; they all saw me waiting for my appointment, not to mention at least half a dozen others at the probation offices – of course, they're crims, like I am now, so I don't suppose their words count for much."

"Rowan," Gabby tried to calm her boyfriend.

Stone could hardly blame Manning for being bitter, especially if what he had said was true. "We'll check what you've told us, Mr Manning," he said. "It shouldn't take us long to confirm your alibi, but until we do, don't leave town." He turned his attention to Gabby then.