Free Buried in the Past by Bill Kitson

upstairs,’ he told the team leader. ‘Let me know the results of your search as soon as possible.’

chapter six
    When they returned to the CID suite, Viv told them that the file on Ray Perry would be delivered by courier the following morning.
    ‘What do you want me to do?’ Clara asked.
    ‘Get Viv to help you find out everything you can about our murder victim.’
    It wasn’t long before Clara reported back. ‘Here’s what we know about Graham Nattrass, although to be honest, it isn’t much. I phoned around the motor dealers and found out he worked for the BMW dealers in Netherdale. I should have tried them first, given the car Nattrass owned. I’m due to see their MD later. Viv went and took an official statement from the neighbour. So far, he hasn’t been able to contact the other tenants. Apparently, one of them works away and is only home at weekends; some sort of salesman. The other flat’s occupied by a married couple. Our old lady said she saw them loading their car with suitcases last Saturday, so if they’re on holiday, we’ll have to wait for them to return, which is a nuisance because they’ll probably have forgotten anything they might have seen or heard. She’s a bit of a nosey neighbour, if you hadn’t already guessed.’
    ‘Without them, our job would be a lot harder. Anything else?’
    ‘I remembered seeing a cheque book amongst the debris at the flat, so I got Viv to ring the local branch of the bank. He got hold of the manager who was a bit reluctant to talk at first, but Viv managed to persuade him by keeping the questions fairly general. In the end he confirmed that Nattrass had a healthy balance in his current account, and what he called a “substantial amount” on deposit.’
    ‘That was good work. What made you think of it?’
    ‘I was trying to work out possible motives, and wondered if the murder was a punishment beating gone wrong. From a bookmaker, a casino or a moneylender, perhaps, but the bank scotched that idea.’
    ‘Nevertheless it was smart thinking. And you may still be right. About the punishment, I mean. It could be for some other reason we haven’t got to grips with yet. On the whole, though, I’m more inclined to believe the killer was looking for something he thought Nattrass had. Either that, or he could tell him where it was. Remember the torture marks on the body? Mexican Pete has confirmed that they were made by a cigarette, by the way.’
     
    At the station next morning, Jack Binns handed Nash a large packet. ‘Delivered by courier twenty minutes ago,’ he explained.
    Clara was already in the office and proffered a freshly typed report. ‘Any news?’ he asked.
    ‘A bit, from yesterday, for what it’s worth. Nattrass’s boss told me he was a good technician. That’s what they’re known as these days, apparently. The man nearly fainted when I used the word mechanic. Having established that there were no complaints about him on the work front, I check Nattrass’s details. Strangely enough, there was no next of kin listed on his employment form. I asked if he knew much about Nattrass’s personal life. He laughed and said, “What personal life?” When I asked what he meant, he told me Nattrass was a computer nerd, who spent all his spare time glued to his laptop.’
    Nash frowned. ‘There was no sign of a laptop or a PC at the flat.’
    ‘That’s what I thought. I asked him if he knew what Nattrass was interested in. He seemed to think that recently, he’d been trying to find out something about his family history, but he couldn’t be sure. He let me have a look in Nattrass’s locker. I thought I might get some clue from what was inside, but I drew a blank. Only a spare change of work clothes and a pair of reasonably new trainers.’
    Nash was still thinking about the missing computer. ‘Did he know if Nattrass had a printer? Because I’ve just remembered, in amongst all the debris at the flat there was a load of blank copier