Damaged Goods

By Lady Anne-Marie Berry

When Detective Inspector Ray Graham an attractive divorcee in his late thirties look out of his office window on a dreary, wet spring morning he is feeling disillusioned with his job. His side-kick Detective Sergeant Lisa Cambridge, a six foot tall lesbian who is good looking, intelligent and has a heart of gold, even if she is quite often out-spoken and slightly uncouth, does her best to cheer him up and give him friendly advice.

The office phone rings and they both embark on a case not only shocking and at times gruesome, but also a fortnight that will put their professional relationship and personal friendship to the test. A book to become absorbed in, true to life, full of real characters to relate to. Sometimes sad, sometimes with humour and sometimes with disgust. It is hoped that the reader will enjoy getting to know these characters as well as becoming intrigued with the mystery that they are investigating.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Mar 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524677985

Lady Anne-Marie Berry

Lady Anne-Marie Berry lives in Spain with her husband who is a successful singer. She has had a varied and somewhat diverse career training as a nurse when leaving school, then going on to spend 30 years in the world of show business working as a dancer/comedienne/singer and musician. After years of performing herself she re-trained as a stage technician providing sound and lighting for many popular artists and shows in the Spanish holiday resort of Benidorm. She has 2 adult sons and recently became a very proud grandmother. At the age of 54 and still eager for new challenges she is now a qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist and EFT Practitioner and runs a successful clinic in Spain. As well as spending many happy hours writing not only more Graham and Cambridge novels, but also a series of children’s books.

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© 2017 Lady Anne-Marie Berry. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/14/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7799-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7798-5 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

The story is fictitious, and any resemblance to any living person is purely coincidental.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Three

The Past

The Present

Epilogue

About The Author

To the Memory of Ray Reula

To my husband Andy, without whose support

I couldn´t have done this, and of course the bacon & egg sandwiches!

Thank You.

PREFACE

T  here is a well-known phrase that says Everyone has a book in them

I always knew that I did, what I didn’t know was the pure enjoyment I would find in actually writing it. It became an almost magical experience for me as through my imagination my characters grew and became real to me. Please don’t think I now spend my days talking to imaginary friends! What I do know now is how much pleasure can be derived from visualising a story as it unfolds and from becoming lost within the world of that story as it is written then read. I have always been an avid reader myself, but to now see my own words in print brings with it not only a great sense of achievement and pride, but the realisation of a dream.

The Graham and Cambridge series of stories are written for people to enjoy and maybe associate with some of the characters or story lines, although I have to stress these are all works of fiction. The books are intended as a good holiday read, a book to become wrapped up in when chilling out, or just to relax and enjoy.

My thanks go to my parents for their support and encouragement and the friends who have assisted with their comments and thoughts.

So please, read, get to know D.I. Ray Graham and D.S. Lisa Cambridge and their colleagues, but most importantly of all, enjoy.

The Author.

CHAPTER ONE

Monday April 13th

BRISTOL 2009

D .I. Ray Graham looked gloomily out of his office window, the sky was grey and heavy with rain clouds, most of the blossom had blown off the trees that were in the small court yard of the police station and it was now littered with their wet petals, mixed with cigarette butts and bits of litter that the strong winds had blown over the wall. Why? he thought Whenever I go abroad at Easter does it rain and the UK has a heat wave, yet the one year I stay here they have the wettest Easter on record, that’s just typical of my luck.

Ray Graham was thirty eight years old and up until a year ago he thought he had life all sorted, he’d never done anything particularly outstanding with his career but with dogged determination he’d worked his way up to Detective Inspector. By the age of thirty seven, he had a reasonably sized three bedroomed detached house in a nice part of the city, two daughters aged eleven and thirteen who seemed happy and did well at school, although they had now reached the age when Dad was just a taxi to and from dance classes and the swimming pool and who obviously was really old and past it because he didn’t know what Glee was and wouldn’t let them watch half of the programmes on TV that all their friends did, and of course he thought Facebook was a waste of time and came out with sayings like, You should be in the garden playing not glued to a computer! He had been married for fifteen years to Georgina, who had decided to take a part time job in human resources at the local supermarket because the girls were now older and more independent. Georgina he had to admit, had looked after herself over the years, she’d kept her figure, had joined the gym and although he thought that maybe she dressed more like his daughters than was becoming an Inspector’s wife she still looked good. True, he had never made that much comment about his feelings for her but he had assumed that she knew, their sex life had trailed off to high days and holidays in recent years but he’d been busy with work and had accepted that the girls kept her busy and he just thought that this was what happened when you’d been married for years. That is why it had hit him like a bolt out of the blue when one Saturday morning she’d sat at their kitchen table and over toast and coffee had informed him that she didn’t love him anymore, that she felt their relationship was going nowhere, that he didn’t make her feel like a woman anymore and that by the way she’d been having an affair with Steve from accounts who was hot and going places and had moved with the times and was four years younger than her!

So they had divorced, at first Ray had been angry, but as much with himself as with Georgina, he hadn’t read the signs, some detective! But it was more hurt pride than anything and he had soon realised that he wasn’t actually in love with Georgina anymore and hadn’t been for a very long time, they’d grown apart as they’d grown older, it was not living under the same roof as his daughters that hurt Ray more, that, and finding out that Steve was taking them swimming and dancing most of the time instead of Ray.

Don’t worry Dad, Steve doesn’t mind and it gives you more time for work Sasha had said the last time he’d rang and been told his services were not required. He still saw them every other weekend for a Macdonald’s and trip round town spending ‘Dad pocket money’ but he wasn’t that stupid that he didn’t know the time was coming soon when these trips would be less frequent, and that although they’d always love their Dad, they would see him more as a distant figurehead and money lender than a daily feature in their lives. That hurt more and he’d started to resent his job for coming between him and his family, although he knew, if he was truly honest that the simple fact was he hadn’t put the effort in with Georgina that he maybe should have, because he didn’t have the feelings in him to make him want to.

He’d had a pretty amicable divorce he supposed all things considered. If any divorce could be amicable; he’d agreed to sign over the house (which only had £17,000 owing on the mortgage) to Georgina in return for her agreeing to sign and relinquish any claim on his police pension, which, as his accountant and solicitor had pointed out, was for the best in the long term. He hadn’t bought himself anywhere else but rented a pleasant two bedroomed flat by the water front, which he’d got at a very favourable rent due to the fact his elderly landlady was eternally grateful to him for recovering her dead husband’s war medals in a burglary case that he’d worked on. He’d even managed to start a savings account, down to the fact that Georgina had not gone for the kill with maintenance payments and because of his low housing costs. This was something many of his divorced colleagues were very envious of.

There hadn’t been any one else for him, a couple of nights out with a friend of his sister, but it hadn’t amounted to anything, and a drunken fumble with a D.S. from Gloucester at a staff Christmas do, but that was about it. His current D.S. Lisa, a six foot lesbian who treated him more like her big brother than her boss, told him on many occasions in her less than subtle way,

For a bloke your age you’re quite cute! If I was straight I wouldn’t kick you out of bed!

And when he’d actually looked in the mirror he supposed she wasn’t that bad a judge after all. He still had a pretty athletic body, he was six two, and down to Romany ancestors, even in the constant damp cold climate of the UK he had a mild all year round tan. His dark hair was showing signs of grey just at the temples but even cut short it was wavy so these didn’t show much, he had very intense dark brown eyes and albeit a somewhat rugged look, more befitting a rugby player than a detective inspector, but he wasn’t a ‘minger’ as his daughters would say! But Ray didn´t go in for one night stands, and the truth was he hadn’t found anyone else because he hadn’t met anyone who had interested him enough to get to know them better, hence he’d thrown himself into the job but now as he looked out of the window he was beginning to realise that even that wasn’t holding his attention and inspiring him like it used to.

The office door flew open and in walked Lisa Cambridge with a doughnut in one hand and two cafe lattes in the other, she put one down on his desk.

What’s up? Weather getting you down? You look fed up she asked through a mouthful of doughnut.

Oh you’re such a lady! Thanks, it’s nothing really, I’m just bored, if I was half the copper the chief wants me to be, I’d have finished those monthly crime stats he wants and done your quarterly assessment and be out clearing up the wave of joy riders from the Kenston Estate, but instead I’m sitting here wishing I was somewhere in the sun, and getting pissed off at the mess in the yard Ray told her.

Lisa plonked herself on the edge of his desk and looked at him, she was really very fond of her boss, he didn’t treat her as a menial like her previous D.I. had, he didn’t give her all the paperwork and mundane jobs, they worked together; and he had never made nasty or prejudiced jibes about her sexuality, he’d even given her a cuddle when her previous girlfriend had jilted her very publicly in the local pub. He was open about her being lesbian and didn’t shy away from it as though she had a disease like so many did, and for this Lisa was grateful and respected him. She also knew he was good at his job and understood his frustrations as to the nanny state way that the modern day police force was becoming a point with which she agreed.

Lisa was quite tall for a woman, but she carried her height with grace and ease, she had a slim athletic build and short brown hair that flicked out. She wore dark rimmed designer glasses that suited her dark eyes and framed her attractive face.

You need a woman or a hobby or maybe both, look I don’t mean to sound patronising but what have you got outside of these four walls? Lisa said.

I’ve got Sasha and Kiera replied Ray.

Yes, but they’re growing up, and parental obligation is not giving you anything to live for is it? Lisa asked.

I love the girls, I’d do anything for them, it isn’t obligation, I enjoy being with them. True I don’t always understand them, but we have a good time together Ray insisted.

Yes once a fortnight, but you need something for you, a reason, a purpose and I don’t mean the job, I mean outside of that. If you don’t you’ll grow old before you know it and when you retire what will you have then? The girls will be grown up and all you’ll have is the four walls of your flat instead of these said Lisa looking around at Ray´s office.

Keep going, and on your way out hand me a rope to hang myself with, you know sometimes Sergeant, you nearly overstep the mark Ray smiled as he said it though, he knew beneath the less than tactful exterior that Lisa was fond of him and meant well, and if he was truly honest he also knew that what she was saying was true. He hadn’t got anything in his life that really made him tick, he was bored with his work, not that he wanted a spate of crime or anything bad to happen, but these days it seemed he spent more time filling in mindless forms than using his brain to solve anything, and it did get lonely opening a door to an empty flat every night. Sure he went down the pub for a drink with the lads and played the odd game of darts, but you could hardly class that as a hobby.

Ray stood up and turned the rod on the office blinds and closed them, the daylight coming through the cream material gave the illusion that it could be a bright spring day outside, not the drab miserable one that it really was.

Maybe I’m just suffering from S.A.D. seasonal affective disorder. Tell you what I’ll book a holiday in the tropics online tonight and then you can have a fortnight of peace without my miserable mug to look at. Come on let’s get these stats finished, and then if you’re a very good little lesbian I’ll take you for lunch at that wine bar down Bridge Street, the one with the cute little waitress you’ve been eyeing up for the last two weeks Ray said to Lisa as he turned to face her.

Lisa pulled a face and stuck two fingers up at him, then laughed and went to her desk and pulled the keyboard tray out to start work.

Before she’d even typed a word the phone on her desk rang, it was the internal phone and she knew it would more than likely be from the desk sergeant John down in the front lobby. She picked it up, C.I.D. how can I help? Please tell me you’re ringing to tell me I’ve won the lottery and to ask if I want publicity or just the cheque! she said flippantly, as she listened however her expression changed to a more serious one, Ok tell him we’re on our way give me the details and address John will you? she started to scribble on the pad in front of her on the desk. Ray looked over, a puzzled frown on his face.

Lisa hung up Better get your bucket and spade we’re off to the sea side. A bloke’s just been found dead in a caravan in Weston-Super-Mare and it looks like he didn’t die of boredom she said.

Ray tilted his head, We’re not talking a natural here then? he asked.

Doc’s there now, but he’s young and was found hand-cuffed to the bed and the caravan stunk of gas apparently John said, so I guess not Lisa replied.

Looks like I’ve got something to occupy my ageing mind now then, doesn’t it? Ray looked at Lisa and raised his eyebrows as he spoke.

I can’t believe you just said that Lisa replied as she put on her coat.

No neither can I, look I’m sorry but this sounds like police work, real police work. Come on grab your bag, we’ll go in my car, paper work can wait Ray took his coat off the back of his chair, picked up the car keys and they both headed out of the office.

They were soon on the motor-way heading south west, it hadn’t taken them long to drive from the city, rush hour had passed and for once there were no road works to hold them up. It had started to drizzle with rain, and Ray had the wipers and de-mister on.

Why do people even have caravans these days? You can never guarantee the weather he commented.

It’s big business nowadays, you can pay more for a caravan than my folks did for a house, they’re all mod now you know, central heating, double glazing, proper furniture. Lisa told him.

Yeah, but it still rains and is bloody cold most of the time, I sure as hell won’t be spending my retirement savings on a tin box in a field, if I bought anywhere it would be a nice little apartment somewhere hot with a pool, palm trees and sandy beaches Ray glanced over at Lisa as he spoke.

Let me know when you get it, I’ll come and stay for my holidays! laughed Lisa.

Shit, what are we doing? Some poor bastard’s just been found dead and we’re joking about holiday homes, I’m getting too cynical in my old age. Ray looked more sombre as he spoke this time and he turned off the windscreen wipers, the rain had stopped but the sky was still grey. You said he was hand-cuffed to the bed? Can’t be a kinky sex game gone wrong if there was gas, well I suppose it could if there was a leak, I wonder where his partner is? Surely there’d be two bodies Ray questioned.

That’s why they called us, I suppose there is a chance it’s an accident. I mean he could have cuffed himself to the bed as a joke and been waiting for his girlfriend to turn up, and if there was a leak he could have died before she got there Lisa said.

Who found the body and called us? Ray asked.

John said it was someone from the caravan park Lisa told him.

So if your theory is right, then where is the girlfriend or boyfriend for that matter? Ray raised his eye brows as he asked the question. They didn’t speak much for the remainder of the journey, Ray was lost in thought, partly about the question he had just raised and partly thinking about how he’d felt when he’d heard they had a body to investigate. He’d almost felt a thrill, not quite, but it had given him something to get his teeth into, he hadn’t gone off on an enquiry with so much enthusiasm inside of him for a long time, was that wrong? He thought to himself.

Ray turned off the motorway and headed down the road towards Weston-Super-Mare. He could remember going there on holiday as a child with his parents; candy floss and sandcastles on the beach and big fried breakfasts in the guest house they always stayed in, they’d been good times. He couldn’t ring them up and say Hey guess where your D.I. son is investigating? as they’d both been killed in a pile-up on the M6 ten years ago. The crash had been caused by a drunk driver using a mobile phone, he’d got off with a five year prison sentence and a driving ban but three people had died and many more had been injured. They’d never lived to see Ray’s promotions, or the girls growing up, or the divorce! Ray half chuckled.

What? Lisa asked.

Nothing, I was lost in thought. Where’s the caravan park then? Ray replied.

As they neared the end of their car journey little did they realise, either of them but Ray especially, that they were about to start another journey, two weeks that would change both of their lives and have effects that would be long lasting.

CHAPTER TWO

I t had started raining again, and looked quite windy outside, like Bristol. Most of the pink cherry blossom from the trees lining the road they were on had blown off, it almost looked as though a wedding had taken place with confetti left in the gutters.

There should be a brown tourist sign in a minute, I’ve been here before, a couple of years ago, when I worked for Jeff Durham, a girl had reported a rape then changed her mind, she said she didn’t want to go ahead with the complaint. That bastard Durham wanted to charge her with wasting police time! Lisa told Ray.

Sounds like him, what happened? replied Ray.

It was a strange one, I talked to her in the sales office, I was sure she had been raped, then she went to the loo and for a fag, she came back and said she didn’t want to do anything else about it, and that she was sorry she’d wasted my time. She said she guessed she was just drunk and it wasn’t rape after all! I did try to get more out of her but she just clammed right up, Durham said they should have had a proper female officer then she would have talked more, Lisa pulled a face The truth was, and I’m sure of it, something happened when she went for that fag and to the loo and that made her change her mind, I’m sure she knew her attacker and had been frightened off, I was getting somewhere with her before that, well I thought I was Lisa shook her head as she told Ray.

Weird, who did she initially say had raped her then? asked Ray.

She hadn’t, she’d said she’d been walking back from the park club building and this guy had pulled her around the back of a caravan, she told me what he did to her, it was so detailed and fuckin’ vile, he’d used a glass bottle to rape her with, then after he’d got his rocks off he’d smashed the bottle and threatened to cut her throat with it if she told anyone. She got so upset that’s why I let her go for a fag; I know, I know, I should have taken her straight to the rape suite in Bristol and let the experts handle it, but when I was first called to the park and I went into that office with her she started talking and she needed to. I didn’t want to stop her it felt like she had to tell me there and then, I didn’t know she’d change her mind and story the way she did, there was no indication she’d go chicken on me. I was going to let her come back, then ask her if she knew the guy, let her talk some more, we had built up a connection, and then I would have driven her back to Bristol and the rape suite. If I’d have gone straight in and stopped her talking till we got back to Bristol the chances are we would have found out the whole story, but then again she may have refused to go to the suite anyway. Oh I don’t know, all I do know is in Durham’s eyes I loused it up because I’m not a real woman, well I might be a dyke but I’m not stupid, I may have ballsed up the police procedure, fair enough, but there’s nothing wrong with my female intuition, the only time she lied was after she’d had that fag break. Lisa took a deep breath and sighed, There it is, follow that sign it’s a couple of hundred yards on the right she pointed to a brown tourist road sign and Ray turned the car and followed her directions.

A minute later they were driving up a long entrance road, it was lined with old pine trees, trees that had obviously been there long before caravans and tourists. At the end of the road there was a smart looking cabin and a freshly painted red and white barrier with an elderly security guard in a green and gold uniform by it. The barrier was raised and as they drove up Lisa held her warrant card to the window. The security guard tipped his forehead as if in salute and said Morning Sir, Madam, just go right in, they’re waiting for you in the sales suite, your men are already here, terrible business this, terrible and he pointed to another building across from the car park behind the entrance barrier, already two squad cars and an ambulance were there.

I bet this is the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to him Lisa said as she smiled an acknowledgment to the man.

Now who’s being cynical? Ray replied.

They parked their car by the squad cars and got out and went into the building that the gate man had described as the sales suite. It had a nautical look to it, very modern with round port-hole type windows edged in gold, it was painted a brilliant white on the outside, and the walls inside reflected that, but they were hung with large gold edged modern frames with photos in them of families by caravans and log cabins, with beach and mountain views. Some of the frames had worded advertisements in them extolling the virtues of owning a caravan and being a part of their exclusive club. The floor to the sales suite was a pale wood laminate with large hard wearing bright green mats fixed to it.

Also in the suite were several large comfy looking bright purple sofas and an area with children’s toys and small plastic tables and chairs, there was an area with a coffee machine and a counter with cakes and biscuits wrapped in plastic on it and a receptionist with dark blonde hair, she was slim and attractive and wore the same style green and gold uniform as the gate man. She was busy with a pile of envelopes that she was putting flyers into, but as they came through the door she looked up, as she did so her eyes met Lisa’s.

For a split second the expression on her face froze, so did Lisa’s, Lisa then smiled at her and walked forwards.

You must be from Bristol, I’ll show you through to the G.M’s office our local policeman is waiting in there for you, said the receptionist, her words and body language told Lisa what she really was saying, which was Yes you remember me, and what happened two years ago but please don’t say a word, please you have to forget it. Lisa slowly blinked her eyes as if to say I understand don’t worry and together with Ray they followed her through the door to the general manager’s office.

They were shown through the door behind the reception area, it led into an open plan office space, there were several hexagonal work stations with Perspex screens dividing them up into individual desk areas, three of these had people working at them on telephones, the others were empty with an assortment of papers on them, there was a large desk at one end of the office at which sat a woman with her head bent over a computer, behind her on the wall was a large white board covered in red and blue writing, obviously sales statistics, then there were several other desks with an assortment of staff, some in the now familiar green and gold uniform and some in suits, men and women doing various things, some on computers, others putting brochures in large envelopes, and some writing. It looked a hive of activity, yet they all looked towards the door as Ray and Lisa entered.

Hey, here you go C.S.I. are here, case’ll be sewn up by tonight laughed one man, he was tall and didn’t wear the green and gold uniform of most of the office staff, he was in a suit with a pale pink tie and grey shirt, he looked to be in his mid-thirties and from his general demeanour he was obviously a very confident individual. Confident bordering on arse-hole thought Lisa to herself.

Shut up Mark murmured one of the women at the hexagonal work station. Ray and Lisa went through into the general manager’s office, as they entered he stood up, he was a small man in a tweed jacket and brown trousers, he looked more like a farmer than the head of a caravan park, he stretched out his hand, Officers, pleased to meet you, what can I say? This is awful, we’ve never had anything like this happen before, I’m sure it can be cleared up quickly. I’m presuming it´s some terrible sex game gone wrong, not even a customer of ours, I don’t know what he was doing at night in that van, all maintenance staff should be off park by ten, they only get brought in for emergencies, the night watch can usually handle most things he spoke fast and was sweating, this had obviously caused him a lot more stress than he was trying to show.

Thank you Mr...Er....... said Ray shaking the general manager’s hand which was also clammy and sweating.

Sorry, Neil, Neil Harding answered the general manager, he looked like he was going to say more but Ray didn’t give him the chance.

Mr. Harding, what I would like to do before I speak at length with you or any of your staff is to see the caravan and body for myself please, if you could let me go with the officer here please I’ll come back and talk properly with you after that, and if you could make sure that none of your employees leave before we’ve spoken with them, I would be grateful. Ray spoke in a pleasant but firm manner and as he did so he indicated towards the constable standing by the desk.

It would also be very helpful if you could get us a list of all the people on the park, staff and guests if that is possible, please said Lisa.

I’ll do my best but over half of these caravans are privately owned so we don’t have details of all the people in them, a lot of our owners have friends and family who come down or they sub-let privately, but I’ll get Karen on to it immediately replied Neil, indicating the receptionist as Karen. He obviously didn’t know of her connection with Lisa.

Thank you, shall we go P.C. Standing replied Ray who’d already been made aware of the local officer’s name.

They returned to the reception area the same way that they’d entered and left through the main doors into the wind and rain of the car-park.

Do you want to drive with me, sir? asked Terry Standing, the uniformed officer, heading to open the squad car.

No, I’ll follow in mine we’ve got our stuff in there. Lead on Ray told him.

Ray and Lisa got back in the car and followed Terry through the caravan park.

The G.M. wants us to find this an accident, doesn’t he? said Lisa as they drove through the maze of small roads through the park. The roads navigated through different named areas of grass and shrubs on which stood large static caravans.

Murder would not be good for business, mind you, they say all publicity is good publicity answered Ray. They had followed the squad car to an area named ‘Woodlands’, it was appropriate, you could barely see the caravans there for trees which were mostly conifers and their thick branches and leaves practically hid the caravans from the road,