British English language and spelling. In some stories the processes or facts may be incorrect, it's only a story and in my world that's how it happened. A warning to those who steal stories to use on YouTube channels, I am watching and will hit you with a copyright claim. This story is a repost from when I was on here under a different username.
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Payback
Payback can be deadly.
As a police officer with thirty years of service I can lay claim to seeing a lot of strange things, none much stranger than the story I am about to re-tell.
I am Detective Inspector Ray Miller, this case happened just before I retired.
It was late one evening and three of us were sitting going through case files looking at updates, we used to do this from time to time in case we missed anything. We were discussing a recent case of an unknown man found floating in the river Thames, we still had no idea who he was and where he was killed before being thrown in the water.
"Sir, Sergeant Berry is asking for you at this address. He said something about three dead men."
I thanked the constable and headed off to the address with a member of my team, a constable stood by the door as we approached.
"It's upstairs Sir, second room on the right."
The house was empty with no furniture or carpets in any of the rooms. "Derek, find out who owns this house." I asked my companion, Detective Sergeant Derek Cairns.
The Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO) was standing in the upstairs doorway. "Evening Ray. Got a really strange one for you tonight." We entered the room to find three men all naked, each man was tied down, spread eagle like a starfish. There was a slightly stale smell in the room.
"Oh great, triple killing. Just what I need! What can you tell me Sid?" I asked SOCO.
"Three males all in their early thirties, each one tied and gagged with duct tape. Apart from that not much. There are no visible signs of any injury, but clearly all three are dead."
"Poisoned or killed somewhere else?" I asked.
"Could be poisoning. I estimate they all died about twelve to fifteen hours ago, how they died is a mystery at the moment. Hopefully the autopsy will reveal something."
"Any idea who they are?"
"Nope, none at all. There are no clothes or anything here with ID, just three dead bodies in an empty house."
"Okay bag them up and let's see if the autopsy throws any light on the cause of death."
"Sir, I have the property owner down here." My colleague called upstairs.
I made my way downstairs, a small built man was talking to DS Cairns. "This man, Mr Gerald Price owns the property sir. He says it's been empty for just over a month after the last tenant moved out."
The man shuffled about nervously as he looked at me. "The last tenant was an old lady, she kept cats and had health issues, her family put her in a retirement home. The furniture and carpets were ridden with fleas, so I disposed of everything, that was two weeks ago. I was going to get the house in order and rent it out again. I came here earlier to make a list of things that tradesmen need to do."
"So nobody was living here and you have the keys, am I right?"
"Yes I have a set of keys. The letting agent has the other."
"Are there any other keys that you know of Mr Price? It doesn't look like anyone broke the door down to get in."
"None that I know of Inspector."
I told Mr Price that he would get access to the house when we had finished our investigation, I knew it would be quick as there was nothing that gave us any leads. The rope used to tie the men was widely sold in lots of DIY stores, as was the duct tape. Ds Cairns and I returned to the Police station. The rest of our shift was uneventful.
A few days later we found out the identities of the men. James Cartwright aged 35, Neil Barnes aged 35 and David Wallis aged 34. All three men worked for the same company, Foster Consulting.
***
The company owner Bryan Foster was shocked, he could think of no reason why the men had been killed. We spoke to several colleagues who said pretty much the same. As I left the company offices the receptionist said she needed to talk to me, but not here. We arranged to meet in a coffee shop some distance away that evening. I saw her sitting alone at the back of the coffee shop when I entered.
"I'm sorry to drag you over here but I didn't want to talk in the office."
"That's okay Miss?"
"Andrews, Debby Andrews. Inspector, I know a lot of people lied to you earlier today, particularly Mr Foster the owner. Those three men have been employed by him for almost five years. It was common knowledge that all of them were having an affair with their line manager, Karen Lennister. Foster didn't tell you because he was sleeping with her as well. Karen quit just over a year ago to be a stay at home mum after her husband got promoted, I guess they didn't need her salary anymore."
"So you think Karen Lennister might have done this?" I asked.
"No I don't. I think it might have been her husband. I know he found out about her sleeping with Foster, I am not sure if he knew about the other three men. The company lost several accounts, as a result some people were let go. Mostly junior staff and several managers. Karen slept with all three men if their targets were met each month, as a result she slept with Foster to earn a decent bonus every year."
What Debby Andrews told me was interesting, I was curious as to why Foster had lied to me earlier in the day, and I said so.
"He probably doesn't want his wife finding out. If she hears of this she will divorce him, they have four kids and a nice big house. A divorce would cripple him financially." Debby replied.
I thanked Miss Andrews for her time and left to go back to the police station, as it was late I decided to go straight home for the night. I got a message to call in and see the Medical Examiner in the morning.
***
"Morning Sid, what do you have for me?"
