The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 30*

After a long and arduous morning reviewing footage from several cameras, and several different angles, the guys finally began to make their way back to the station. Although it had felt like an endless and monotonous task, it had also been a positive one. Most importantly, they had obtained a reasonably clear image of the driver, something that they could use to do a cross-check on the police database. Although they didn't know exactly where he had come from, they did know which direction he had arrived in and the same could be said for when he had left their sights. They weren't aware of exactly where he was heading but again, they at least knew the direction he was going in, so they had at least a small part of his routine mapped out. The one curious thing they had discovered, though, was the company he had visited while they were watching from the cafe. They had done a quick check on it and found out that it was not a company that was registered with A.T.D cleaners at all so that most certainly needed investigating further.

Shortly after getting back to the office, Hank scanned the image into the computer and set the search underway. "Ok, that's done," he told his partner. "If we have ever had any dealings with this guy before, we will know who he is by the end of the day." They then both set about finding out more details about 'Coleway and Balmont', the company they had witnessed him visit. Sam, who had contacted them to discuss any cleaning contracts, was seemingly hitting another dead end. While Hank, who was looking into the company and what sort of services they provided, was in the process of discovering exactly why.

"No luck here," Sam sighed. "Apparently they don't have a contract for the cleaning, they look after it themselves." Hank saw the fed-up look on his partner's face and had to smile.

"Yeah, they probably would do that," he responded. "To quote the tag line on their own website, which says, 'suppliers of industrial chemicals and equipment for the cleaning trades'."

Sam closed his eyes and groaned at that. "So, in other words, he was just picking up some supplies to restock the van with?"

"My guess," Hank nodded. "However, that in itself is kind of odd don't you think? I mean, why would you trust a contractor to get all your equipment for you?"

Sam gave him a wry smile almost returning the compliment from a few seconds ago. "Unless of course Drummond had already ordered the stuff on his account and whoever this guy is was just there to collect it?"

Now it was Hank's turn to grimace. "God damn it," he yelled angrily, making his way over to his coffee machine. "So, in other words, other than driving a sign-written van, we have absolutely nothing suspicious about this guy to go on?"

"Erm, no," Sam confirmed. "And still no matches from the computer either," he paused for a moment before adding, "so unless this thing," he pointed at the computer searching for a match on the image they had retrieved from the City Department of Transport, "comes up with a match in the next fifteen minutes or so, then we're going to be stuck and back to contacting the F.B.I again." They were both looking fed up now.

"Unfortunately, I think we might be anyway," Hank replied, retaking his seat once more. "We are saying that this guy is working either for or maybe even with, Drummond. But we've got no idea in what sort of capacity. There could be a chance he might also be involved in the other case. So, even if we do find out who he is, we still need to check to see if we're OK to pursue him."

Sam paused for a moment to ponder Hank's suggestion. "Yeah, you're right," he finally uttered. "Well, I suppose there's no point in waiting for the computer to finish then. I may as well go and see the captain and pass on what we have."

Hank nodded in agreement. "The sooner we ask the question, the sooner we might get some answers," he added thoughtfully but looked rather dejected at the same time.

Sam hadn't been gone for long but returned with a satisfied smile on his face, suggesting that this had been a much more successful trip. "All done," he told Hank. "The captain is on the phone to agent Masters right now, so fingers crossed he'll be in touch soon."

"Nice one," Hank answered. Neither of them really wanted to go down that route but they had to admit that now that the wheels were in motion, it had felt like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

"Ah, the computers finished," Sam smiled. Unfortunately, the smile didn't last long. "Damn it. No matches found," he added. It wasn't a great surprise but was disappointing, nonetheless.

Shortly after, captain Beesley appeared. "All sorted guys, agent Masters will be in on Monday morning to go over a few things with you," he told them. At the same time, there was another knock at the door and detective Sarah Brookes entered the office.

"Oh, captain here's that flyer we promised you," she said handing captain Beesley a small piece of paper. "And one for you guys too," she added handing Sam another one. "Sorry, it's short notice. We tried to find you earlier but....,"

"Sorry," Sam interjected, "we were following up on a lead."

"No worries," Sarah told him. "Listen we're all having a bit of a get-together tonight. One of the guys down in the evidence room is turning fifty over the weekend so we're having a little celebration if you're interested?"

"Sounds good to me," Hank chirped up. "Could do with a bit of a laugh"

"Yeah, me too, count us in," Sam added.

"Great, I'll see you all tonight then," Detective Brookes added before disappearing again.

"See, told you they were a friendly bunch," Captain Beesley beamed before making his own retreat. Sam and Hank both sat back in their chairs and smiled at each other, remembering exactly what had happened the last time they went out with the others.