Authors: M A Comley
Tags: #police procedural, #police, #detective, #british detective, #Thriller, #Crime, #murder, #Suspense, #rape
His eyes blazed with fury. “You
believe
we
have something to do with Kathy’s death, the same
way you accused us—or
me
—of killing Gemma? You’re bloody
insane, woman. What proof do you have?”
Sally held up her hands. “Whoa,
now hold fire on bombarding me with accusations, Colin. All I’ve
asked you to do is accompany us to the station for questioning. My
reasoning behind that request is so that we can question you
separately. Hopefully, that would help to prove your innocence.
However, your overreaction is doing nothing but filling me with
suspicion. Perhaps you have something to hide and are worried that
you’ll buckle during questioning?”
“No, you’re wrong. I have
nothing to hide, Inspector. Everything has to be cloak and dagger
all the time with you, doesn’t it?”
“Nothing of the sort. As I’ve
already stated, we need to question you separately.” She glanced at
her watch. “We’re wasting time. If it’s all the same to you, I’d
like to get the questioning completed by the end of today. Shall we
go?”
Colin scoffed. “You’re
incredible. You haven’t even asked if we have an alibi for the time
the incident occurred. Is my brother being pulled in, too? My
mother, what about her? She was at the scene, according to what you
told us.” Frustrated, he threw his arms up in the air.
“My husband does have a point,
Inspector,” Leona said, her eyes pleading with Sally.
“He does. But then, so do I.
Okay, put it this way, if neither of you have anything to hide,
then what’s the harm in humouring me?”
“Because it encroaches on our
basic human rights, for one thing,” Colin bit back. He pointed at
Sally. “Here’s a novel suggestion: There are two of you and two of
us. Why don’t you question us here, in different rooms? How’s
that?” He looked up at the clock on the wall. “I have to be at work
in forty-five minutes, so I don’t have time to drive all the way to
the station and get to work before my shift begins.”
Sally turned to look at Jack.
“Is that all right with you, Sergeant?” She knew he didn’t enjoy
questioning suspects.
Jack nodded. “If that’s how you
want to play it, boss.”
“I’m a reasonable person, Mr.
Whiting. This time, I will do as you’ve requested. I’ll question
your wife while Jack questions you. Fair enough?”
“Fine by me. Go easy on Leona,
though. She’s had a shock and has been under a lot of personal
pressure lately.” He touched the back of Leona’s hand and lovingly
pecked her on the cheek.
“I will; don’t worry. We’ll
take the lounge, okay?” Sally smiled at Leona and led the way back
through the house. Sally closed the door once Leona had entered the
lounge. Leona sat on the sofa while Sally settled into the
armchair, her notebook and pen ready for action.
“Can you tell me where you were
between five and six yesterday evening, Leona?”
She thought over the question
for only a second before she replied, “Here. Around that time, I
was preparing dinner for a friend of mine.”
“I’ll need the name and contact
details for that friend before I leave. And your husband? Where was
he?”
“Of course. Colin had already
left for work. That was around four forty-five, I believe.”
“I see. Can you tell me when
you last visited Kathy and Mark’s home?”
“About a month ago. You’re
testing my memory there, Inspector. Yes, a month to five weeks ago.
We haven’t really been getting on since the news came out about
Gemma’s baby…”
“That must have come as a huge
shock to you.”
“It did. But Colin and I have
worked through our differences and successfully come out the other
side, unscathed and eager to get on with starting a family of our
own.” At the mention of starting a family, Leona’s face lit up.
“How are things going with the
fertility programme?” Sally asked, softening towards the woman.
“Slowly. It all takes time.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’ll only be a few months
before they tell us we’re expecting our first child. I’m trying to
keep my enthusiasm restrained. I’ve had to deal with far too many
disappointments since we started trying for a baby.”
“I understand. It’s always
better to err on the side of caution in these matters. Were you
aware that Kathy was pregnant?”
Leona’s eyes widened in
surprise, and her hand swept over her face. “No! Oh God, how
dreadful.” Then she gasped as if realising the enormity of the
situation. “Gemma was pregnant when she lost her life, too. How
devastating for Mark to have to deal with yet two more funerals in
such a short space of time.”
“Indeed. Can you tell me what
Kathy and Mark’s relationship was like? Was there any cause for
concern there, do you think?”
She shook her head slowly. “I
wouldn’t like to say. As I’ve told you already, we’ve kept our
distance since Gemma’s death and the wedding. You don’t
think…?”
“Don’t think what, Leona?”
“That
Mark
did
this?”
“Well, it’s certainly something
we need to look into in light of Gemma’s case still being open. Do
you seriously think he would be capable of killing his wives?”
“I have no idea. It does seem
strange that both women have died from similar injuries and within
months of each other. Even the fact that they were both pregnant
can’t be ignored, can it?”
Sally wondered if Leona’s
comment was innocent or whether she meant to throw accusations in
her brother-in-law’s direction to relieve the heat from her and her
husband. She wondered how Jack was getting on with Colin. “Like I
say, it is something we’ll be looking into. It depends what DNA
evidence comes up at the scene.”
Leona puffed out her cheeks,
and a little breath of air escaped her lips. “Well, there’s bound
to be a lot pointing at Mark if the crime took place in his
home.”
“That’s true enough. It doesn’t
alter the fact that there was no significant evidence found to
place him at the scene of Gemma’s death. Again, let’s leave the
speculation about that to the forensic team to sift through.”
“Well, so far they haven’t done
a good job, if you don’t mind me saying, regarding Gemma’s
death.”
“They’re still working on it.
Something is bound to show up sooner or later. It always does,
usually when the investigating officer least expects it. Maybe a
telling connection will be made to Kathy’s death. Who knows at this
point? We’ll be treating the crimes as separate cases until we have
proof otherwise,” Sally added with a shrug.
“So who really is in the frame
here, Inspector? My husband and I have suitable alibis for the time
of the attack.”
“Well, at the moment, because
of the burglary aspect to Kathy’s death—”
“Burglary?”
“Yes, sorry I should have told
you that. Your mother-in-law thinks that Kathy disturbed someone in
the house.”
“So that’s why you aren’t
linking the crimes. I see. Is there anything else you need to ask
me?”
Sally slapped her notebook
shut. “No, I think we’re finished now. I appreciate you taking the
time to answer the questions, given the stress you’re under.”
Leona waved the comment away.
“My husband has a tendency to overreact at times.”
Sally smiled. “You don’t say!
If you’d like to stay in here for a few minutes, I’ll just pop next
door to see how my partner is getting on.”
“Okay.”
Sally eased the door open
quietly and cocked her ear as she tiptoed along the short hallway
to the kitchen. Everything seemed nice and calm between the two
men. She rapped her knuckles on the door and entered the room. “Are
you nearly finished?”
Jack nodded. “Just having a
chat about football, boss. I think we’re done here. Mr. Whiting has
been very amenable.”
“Glad to hear it; not about the
football part,” she said, frowning. “We’re only trying to do our
job, Colin.”
“I appreciate that, Inspector.
I’ve calmed down a lot since your arrival. My wife and I really
have nothing to hide. We’re regular folks just trying to live
normal, stress-free lives. Although that’s proving difficult to do
with our involvement in the fertility treatment, as you can
imagine.”
“So your wife has been telling
me. Stick with it; I’m sure everything will turn out for the best.
Right, Sergeant, we better get back to the station. Thank you again
for sparing us the time in your busy schedule, Colin.”
Both Colin and Jack left the
table, and then together with Sally, they made their way towards
the front door where she shook hands with Colin. “I appreciate your
cooperation.”
“I hope you find the culprit
soon, Inspector,” Colin said then closed the door.
Sally and Jack jumped in the
car before either of them spoke.
“Well, how did it go with
Leona?” Jack asked, turning in his seat to face her.
“I think we can cross her off
the suspect list. What about Colin?”
“Yeah, I’m getting the same
impression. We’ll need to verify he was at work when the incident
happened. If that turns out to be the case, then there’s little we
can do to dispute it, is there?”
“Damn, just a minute.” Sally
shot out of the car and ran back up the path to the house.
Colin opened the door with a
worried expression on his face. “Did you forget something,
Inspector?”
“Yes. Your wife was going to
supply me with her friend’s details, the lady who came to dinner
last night while you were at work.”
“Ah, yes, just a second.” He
disappeared and returned with a piece of paper bearing the woman’s
name, address, and phone number.
Sally waved it and ran back to
the car. “Thank you.” She threw the note at Jack when she settled
behind the steering wheel. “Okay, let’s see what the others have
come up with.”
Stuart and Jordan were just
getting out of their vehicle when Sally pulled into the car park.
“Anything?” she asked hopefully.
Stuart shook his head.
“Nothing. No one saw any sign of strangers lurking. The neighbour
next door did hear a woman scream but chose to ignore it.”
“Like you do,” she replied
sarcastically.
The four of them continued into
the station and up the stairs to the incident room. Sally
immediately went to the whiteboard and began jotting down notes of
what the team had acquired, which amounted to very little.
“Jack, will you ring Leona’s
friend to check her alibi, please? Stuart, ring the bakery where
Colin works to see if he was on duty at the time the incident
occurred last night. Jordan, will you do the same with the
butcher’s where Mark works? Thanks, guys. I’ll be in the office,
going over the files. I have a niggling doubt we’re missing
something vital here.”
Thirty minutes passed before
her partner popped his head round the door to her office. “Just to
inform you that everyone’s alibi checked out, adding to our
frustration.”
“Grr… not what I wanted to
hear. Come in, take a seat for a second.”
He threw his weary frame into
the chair. “How about you? Did you manage to find the clue that has
been bugging you?”
“Nope. It’s here somewhere. It
has
to be. I’m going to take the file home with me this
evening.”
“What about Mark? You think we
should haul his arse in for questioning?”
“I’m going to have to run that
particular scenario past the chief before I leave. We’re buggered
on that front if his alibi checks out.”
“Maybe someone is just keen to
cover his back at the butcher’s.” He shrugged. “I don’t know; I’m
just throwing it out there.”
“I doubt they clock in and out
at a butcher’s like they do at a supermarket, so there’s a
possibility your suggestion is plausible. Ugh… it’s all so
frustrating. Two pregnant wives, two deaths. A lot of planning
could have gone into this. It would be easy for Mark to bung
someone a fifty to cover for him, wouldn’t it?” she asked.
“We’ve certainly seen every
trick in the book played out over the years. Why should his alibi
be discounted? He’s
got
to be in pole position to be our
main suspect after dismissing Colin and Leona from our enquiries,
hasn’t he?”
She inhaled a large breath and
reclined in her chair. “I have to agree with you. I wonder if SOCO
asked him for his clothes.”
“What he was wearing last
night? Not sure that would help any. If this crime has been
seriously thought out, one of the major points would be for him to
cover his tracks where the deceased’s blood is concerned,
right?”
“You’re right. It would be
natural for the husband to cradle his dying wife, transferring any
blood onto his own clothes in the process, either intentionally or
unintentionally. But then, look at the state of the room, the blood
spatter. Evidence of that would show up on his clothes, wouldn’t
it?” Sally picked up the phone and dialled the forensic department.
“Hello. Is Simon available for a quick chat? It’s DI Parker.”
“He’s just finishing a PM now.
I’ll let him know you’re waiting.”
“Thanks.”
Both Sally and Jack drummed
their fingers on the desk while waiting for the pathologist to
answer the call.
“Hello, Inspector, again.”
“Sorry to trouble you. It is
important, I promise. When the SOCO team were at the Whiting house
today, did they ask the hubby for his clothes?”
Jack mouthed something at
her.
She covered the mouthpiece to
the phone and asked, “What?”
Jack leaned forward. “And the
mother’s and daughter’s clothes, while they’re at it.”
“Actually, my partner has just
raised a fair point. Add the mother’s and daughter’s clothes to
that question, too.”
“Let me check the list of
evidence they left on my desk. Hold the line.”
Sally rolled her eyes up to the
ceiling as she waited.
“Umm… no, they didn’t. I’ll be
having a word with them about that. Want me to send someone back
out there to get them?”