‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Copeland as they made towards the front door of number 31 that had been left on the latch.
Copeland pushed the door open and gestured Ramouter inside. ‘Mrs Howe,’ she called out. ‘It’s DC Copeland.’
‘Give me a sec,’ came a disembodied voice.
A few seconds later, a petite woman with striking grey hair cut into a harsh bob, wearing purple-rimmed glasses, entered the hallway.
‘Mrs Howe, I’m DC Ramouter.’ He removed his warrant card and held it out.
‘Oh, it’s Patsy,’ she replied. She looked at his warrant card and smiled. ‘Nice picture.’
‘Mrs Howe,’ Copeland continued. ‘The footage.’
‘Of course, but you’ll have to excuse the mess,’ said Patsy. From the bottom of the stairs, she pushed aside a basket of unfolded clothes, bundles of toilet paper and a shopping bag filled with toiletries.
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Ramouter followed her upstairs.
‘Through the door on your left,’ said Patsy once they’d reached the landing.
Ramouter was momentarily stunned as he walked into the bedroom that faced the front of the house. A large telescope was pointed at the window, along with a separate camera on a tripod and on the shelves was a multitude of photography equipment and smaller telescopes.
‘What did you teach before you retired?’ he asked.
‘Astronomy,’ Patsy answered proudly. ‘I’d been teaching for thirty years and one day I decided enough is enough. Academia isn’t what it was. It’s all business.’
‘Patsy, could you show DC Ramouter what you found.’ Copeland sounded impatient.
Patsy sat down at her table and woke her computer up from sleep mode.
‘I had the telescope, which is attached to the camera, running automatically because I was hoping to catch the Draconids meteor shower. I usually close the door because I’ve got a crazy cat who likes to jump on anything that resembles a tree, but I must haveforgotten because the cat got in and the stupid thing knocked the tripod and detached the camera. So instead of my camera recording the meteor shower it caught this.’
Ramouter’s breath caught in his throat as Patsy enlarged and reorientated the video. ‘The camera cost me a fortune but it’s the absolute best,’ Patsy said quietly as the image of a star filled sky quickly fell away and was replaced with Cullen Lane.
‘What time was this?’ Ramouter asked.
The footage showed a fox on the pavement as a white man, bleeding, barefooted and wearing jeans and a short-sleeved top, ran into shot.
Patsy right clicked and brought up the video’s time stamp. ‘12.16 a.m.. That’s why I didn’t hear a thing. Our bedroom is at the back of the house.’
‘Watch,’ Copeland said. ‘There’s no sound but you don’t need it. You can feel everything.’
The man stopped in the middle of the road and the fox ran between the planters. The man leaned forward and placed his hands on his thighs as the bright strobe of car headlights quickly filled the street. He paused for a split second before turning to run as a black car came into view. The car rammed into the man. His body hit the windscreen, propelled off the bonnet and onto the road. The car skidded, the right-side tyres hitting the kerb before braking. The man rolled over onto his back and placed his arm across his chest as his legs moved slowly. The driver’s side door opened, and a person dressed all in black, their face concealed by a balaclava, ran out into the road and towards the man. Ramouter leaned closer to the screen as the man in black grabbed the arms of the man on the ground and dragged him back towards the car. He opened the rear passenger door and manoeuvred the man onto the back seat. He quickly ran around the rear of the car and got back behind the wheel. A light switched on in the upstairs window of a house two doors down on the opposite side of the road as the car drove off the kerb and quickly out of view.
‘Shit,’ Ramouter said. ‘And that footage is definitely from this morning?’
‘Absolutely,’ Patsy replied. ‘If I fast forward it, you’ll see my husband leaving for work just after six.’
‘And are you able to identify the man who—’
‘Dr Graham Ashcroft’ Patsy said, nodding. ‘My husband is a cabbie and he’s driven Graham many times. That’s definitely him.’
‘I was told the victim was found on the driveway this morning,’ said Ramouter once Patsy had closed the front door behind them.
‘He was,’ confirmed Copeland.
‘So how did he get there after he was run off the road? Did the driver dump him there or did Graham manage to get out of the car but collapsed before he could get inside and call for help?’
‘Hopefully, we’ll be able to answer those questions once we’ve received the street’s CCTV footage.’
