A Dark Shadow Falls (6 page)

              ‘Much better thanks. It wasn’t anything serious, but these things make you reassess life a bit. Without Jo and Amit, London felt pretty empty.’ James sipped his coffee. Dani thought his expression was philosophical. ‘How’s your American friend?’ He suddenly added.

              The question took Bevan by surprise. ‘Actually, I’ve not seen him for a while. The distance wasn’t really working for us.’ Dani felt her cheeks burn.

              ‘I see.’ James placed his cup carefully into its saucer, keeping his eyes fixed on the pattern made by the drips of coffee staining the sides. ‘I was skiing with a girlfriend of mine this week. We’ve been seeing each other for several months. This was the first time we’d been away together. Isn’t it odd that when I returned there was a message from you on my answer machine?’ He slowly raised his gaze.

              ‘Shit. My timing’s always been bloody awful.’

              Fortunately, James saw the funny side. ‘Well, we did say we wanted to remain friends. This is probably our chance.’

              ‘I’d like that very much. I’m learning to appreciate the truly decent people I’ve got in my life right now. I’ve not always been the best at doing that in the past. If I didn’t treat you very well when we met before, I’m sorry.’

              James looked genuinely surprised. ‘No apology required.’ He narrowed his dark eyes. ‘Is everything okay, Dani?’

              ‘Sure, it’s fine. We should definitely keep in touch this time though, that’s all.’

*

Joy Hutchison was smiling as she laid out their best china tea-set on a tray. She filled the pot and placed it in the centre, carrying the whole thing out to the living room, where their unexpected guest was making herself comfortable on one of the armchairs.

              ‘I could do us all a round of sandwiches whilst I’m at it?’ The woman happily declared.

              ‘No Joy, this is absolutely fine for me, thank you.’ DCI Bevan leant forward to pour out a cupful.

              ‘To what do we owe this pleasure?’ Bill asked with a grin, pleased to see his old friend again.

              ‘I’m still supposed to be on leave, actually. I went to Colonsay for a week to stay with Dad, but now I’m looking into a cold case for a colleague. It brought me to Edinburgh.’

              ‘Well, I’m very glad it did. Louise and the boys have only just returned to Glenrothes. We’ve had a houseful ourselves these past few days.’

              ‘Are the family keeping well?’ Dani put the dainty cup to her lips, savouring the refreshingly aromatic scent of the tea.

              ‘The boys are full of beans, as always,’ Joy supplied. ‘But Fergus is working long hours at the moment. Louise fancied a break and some help with the children.’

              Dani recalled that Fergus Keene worked for an insurance company. She wondered why his job would require particularly long hours, but then reflected how all companies were putting the squeeze on their employees these days. ‘I suppose they must be a handful at that age,’ she commented instead.

              ‘Yes, but such a tonic to us.’ Joy settled down on the sofa next to her husband.

              Bill shuffled forward. ‘Have your department heard about this spate of burglaries we’ve had here in Falkirk?’

              Dani shook her head. ‘I’m afraid we have enough of those in Glasgow to keep us busy.’

              ‘The most recent was at Rita’s place,’ Bill explained.

              Dani sat up straight in surprise, immediately feeling guilty for being so flippant. She thought about the kind old lady she’d interviewed once. ‘Is Rita okay?’

              Bill nodded. ‘She was at her daughter’s house when it happened. It’s extremely unsettling, nonetheless. A number of valuable items were stolen but some notable pieces were not. The nature of the items they chose not to disturb led me to believe the burglars may have a military connection of some kind.’ He recounted the fact that Christopher’s photograph had not been damaged when the house was ransacked.

              Dani had learnt to take Bill Hutchison’s observations seriously. The man had excellent instincts. ‘I’ll mention this to the investigating team. It’s probably the central division who are handling it. Make sure you keep this place well locked up when you go out.’ Dani eyed the couple with concern.

              ‘Don’t worry. We had an alarm fitted after the incident with Richard Erskine.’ Bill paused before saying, ‘is it the Fisher case which brings you to Edinburgh?’

              The detective was taken aback, but she also knew there wasn’t much that got past Bill. ‘Why do you ask that?’

              ‘Because I read in the Scotsman that Sally Irving-Bryant is representing the father at the trial. I’ve kept a close eye on her career since my unfortunate brush with the woman. I consider her to be a net contributor to the number of dangerous criminals walking the streets of Scotland. But I also recalled that you have a connection to the Irving family.’

              Dani sighed heavily. If Bill were twenty years younger she’d snap him up for her team. ‘I’m not at liberty to discuss the details, I’m afraid.’

              Bill waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘Of course, I understand entirely.’ He tutted loudly. ‘Joy and I read all the details of the incident. What a terrible tragedy it was, the fate of that poor woman and her children. I did wonder, with all these burglaries occurring so soon after the Fishers were murdered, and being so widely reported in the press over here in the east, that the father might decide to use them as part of his defence – to suggest there was an intruder in their house that afternoon, perhaps.

              One has a great deal of time to think whilst on remand, I should imagine, and not much else to do except watch television and read the newspapers. With a clever and ruthless lawyer like Ms Irving-Bryant in my employ, I’d be tempted to come up with a similar sort of story myself - something to confuse the jury and inject an element of doubt.’

              Dani smiled thinly, thinking there wasn’t much she could say to this. Instead, she reached forward and lifted the pot, enquiring if her hosts would like a spot more tea.

Chapter 10

B
ack at her flat, Dani pulled across the file once again, setting down a glass of red wine on the table next to it. She’d passed on all the information gathered from their trip to Dalkeith both to Sally Irving-Bryant’s chambers and the local police.

              Although the DCI had done her best to ignore his theory, Bill’s comments remained firmly lodged in her mind. It might just be possible that Eric Fisher was playing them all for fools. He would know as well as anyone else that the burden of proof was on the prosecution in a murder trial. All Sally needed to do was ensure that the police couldn’t prove beyond reasonable doubt that another man
hadn’t
killed Peggy Fisher and her kids. It didn’t matter how unlikely the scenario was in reality.

              Dani downed a quarter of the glass, feeling frustrated. She’d asked central division to forward her the details of all the burglaries committed in Falkirk and the surrounding towns over the past eighteen months. Bill was right. There
had
been a marked increase in cases of breaking and entering in the area. But none of the crimes reported was overly violent in nature. In one case, a man came home from work early and interrupted the burglary. He was shoved to the floor and received a kick to the ribs before the intruder ran off.

              There were certainly no incidences in which knives were used on the householders. The scant number of witness statements simply referred to a tallish young man with an unshaven face and possibly with dark hair. Sometimes, the reports referred to a second intruder too. The descriptions of these men were vague and generic.

              The SIO seemed interested in Bill’s theory of a military connection. It sounded as if the DI in charge was rapidly running out of ideas of his own.

              Bevan finished off her wine and decided to call it a night. As she padded down the hallway to her bedroom, the phone began to ring. Dani was tempted to leave it, but something made her hook up the receiver. ‘DCI Bevan.’

              ‘Evening, Ma’am. It’s Andy here. Sorry to call you so late. I think you should switch on the TV news. We can discuss it further in the morning.’

              ‘Sure, thanks,’ Dani said warily, putting down the phone and heading into the living room. She switched on the set and notched up the volume, mesmerised by the breaking news story playing out on the screen. ‘Holy shit,’ Dani murmured quietly, dropping onto the sofa and leaning forwards to make sure she caught all of the unpleasant details.

*

Bevan and Calder were in Dundee by lunchtime. Grey clouds hung thick over the city. The DC drove them to the police headquarters on Jute Street. A steely receptionist directed the Glasgow detectives to take a lift to the second floor, where DI Gordon Alexander met the pair.

              ‘Thank you for letting us drop in on your investigation,’ DCI Bevan began, after shaking the man’s hand. The Detective Inspector was tall and broad, with a thick head of dark hair.

              ‘Not at all,’ Alexander replied in a deep, resonant voice. ‘I’d appreciate your input.’

              The DI led them towards an area divided off with boards displaying a selection of crime scene photos. There were lists of evidence already gathered scrawled onto flip charts. A small group of detectives looked up as Dani and Andy approached, a couple of them muttering their greetings.

              ‘The victim was called Morna Susan Murphy. She was 37 years old and lived on the Invergowrie Estate, which is situated at the foot of the Law.’ Alexander pointed to a non-descript area on a map.

              ‘It was her husband who found her?’ Andy put in.

              ‘Aye. Lyle Murphy returned home from his job at the local council at roughly 7pm on the evening before last. The house was in darkness. At first, he thought his wife was out. Then Mr Murphy noticed that the kitchen door had been forced open and the living room ransacked. When he ventured upstairs, he discovered his wife’s body in the bedroom.’ The DI gestured towards a photograph showing a woman lying on her front on a double bed, the back of her light blouse soaked in blood.

              ‘Do you have the preliminary
post mortem
results yet?’ Dani enquired.

              ‘Morna was stabbed eighteen times in the back. We assume she was fleeing her assailant at the time of the attack. The murder weapon was found dumped in the garden. It was a knife from the block in the kitchen. The pathologist thinks the woman died about an hour and a half before her husband discovered the body.’

              ‘So has Mr Murphy got an alibi?’ Andy stared closely at a photograph of Lyle and Morna together at what appeared to be a christening. They were a good looking couple.

              ‘Lyle Murphy was in a council meeting when his wife was killed.’

              ‘It doesn’t mean he didn’t pay someone else to kill Morna,’ Dani added. ‘Were there any witnesses to the break-in?’

              DI Alexander furrowed his brow. ‘Not so far. We’ve questioned all the neighbours. One chap, who lives across the road, saw a dark van parked up on the street that day. He’d not seen it before so was suspicious. He thinks it was gone by six pm. But you know what these modern estates are like – everyone is out at work during the day and the roads are jam-packed with parked cars by late afternoon because the driveways are too small to accommodate all the vehicles. So no one notices a damn thing.’

              ‘Had Morna been at work that day?’ Dani gazed at her image. A pretty face framed with long, straight blond hair stared back at the detective. Bevan was immediately put in mind of Peggy Fisher.

              ‘Yes. Morna worked at a hotel in the city centre. She was on the reception desk. Her boss said she left the premises at just after five. By our calculations, the woman would have reached home by half past at the latest.’

              ‘She was killed not long after getting home,’ Dani commented. ‘I wonder if he was already in the house, waiting.’

              Gordon Alexander’s face became grim. ‘We think that is entirely possible. Whether she disturbed the burglary when she arrived back, or the man had targeted Morna specifically, I’m not sure. There was no sign of sexual assault. But the murder definitely took place in the bedroom. There are contrary indications here.’

              ‘I agree,’ Dani declared. ‘There’s more to this than a simple house-breaking gone awry. I’m certain of that.’

Chapter 11

T
he two detectives sat side-by-side on a small sofa in the bar area of the budget chain hotel they were staying in. Dani was funding this trip herself.

              Andy had been quiet for a while, slowly sipping from his bottle of European lager. Finally, he broke the silence. ‘The murder of Morna Murphy was frenzied, just like the knife attacks on Peggy and Callum Fisher.’

              ‘Exactly,’ Dani continued. ‘It was as if the victims had angered this man in some way.’

              ‘Callum could have riled him up by fighting back.’ Andy swigged the last few dregs from the bottle.

              ‘But are there any other similarities in the two cases?’ Dani looked directly at her colleague. ‘This scenario here in Dundee is a classic burglary. The TV was missing and a significant number of valuables. You’d expect to find anger and aggression exhibited in a situation of domestic homicide – it isn’t out of place in the Fisher case.’

              ‘But it’s out of place in the Murphy murder,’ Andy chipped in, used to this kind of interplay with his boss. ‘Unless we’re talking about a gang of young burglars off their heads on drugs, then all bets are off. There’s no knowing how they might react to somebody coming home and disturbing them in the act.’