Against a Dark Sky (14 page)

Chapter Thirty One

B
evan wasn’t certain she wanted to speak with Andy Calder right now, so she headed straight back to her office, leaving the men to do their work. She was happy to indulge in constructive debate with her officers, but there was something about Andy’s demeanour in briefings at the moment which bordered on defiance. Dani wasn’t entirely sure what had got into him. 

              As soon as the door was closed, Bevan rang the number of the incident room in Crieff for an update. The fire had got hold very quickly and the heat was intense. The ground floor of the property had been virtually incinerated. There appeared to have been a room upstairs used by Sheldon as a study, where some of the items were undamaged. Dani just hoped they might yet be able to salvage something useful out of the debris.

              Ronnie Sheldon had died from asphyxiation, as a result of inhaling poisonous fumes. His lungs and respiratory system had also suffered burns due to the heat of the smoke he’d breathed in. Mercifully, Ronnie would have been unconscious or dead by the time the fire itself reached his room. The pathologist was in no doubt that the act should be treated as murder. The accelerant used was so powerful it created an inferno that killed in a matter of minutes.

              Dani thought through the implications of this. The arsonist had shown no consideration whatsoever for the life of Ronnie Sheldon. There was no way this could be viewed as a crime of passion. It was pre-meditated and utterly cruel. It many respects, it was quite unlike the murders of Joanna Endicott and Daniel Goff. She wasn’t sure why, but Dani got the feeling that this killing was in some way more personal. In this case, the murderer had set out to completely obliterate Sheldon and everything he held dear. The police unit in Crieff were examining Ronnie’s arrest record and trying to eliminate the criminals he’d put away over the years as potential suspects. All lines of inquiry at this stage were valid. Dani suddenly had the sense that she should find Bill and Joy Hutchison. Bevan suspected the news of Sheldon’s death was going to hit them hard.

              She pulled on her rain jacket and headed out in the direction of the Carraig Hotel. Dark grey clouds were making the town gloomy, even though it was only mid-morning. Bevan entered the foyer and glanced about her. Bill and Joy were sitting, rigidly, on the sofa opposite the reception desk. They were both wearing waterproof jackets zipped up to the neck, even though it was very warm in there.

              Bill stood up stiffly as she approached. ‘I wanted to come and see you,’ he announced, but I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome.’

              ‘Let’s find somewhere quiet where we can talk.’

              The residents’ lounge was deserted. They chose a group of seats positioned behind a bookcase and Dani ordered morning coffee. ‘Have you seen the news?’ She asked.

              ‘Yes,’ Joy replied shakily. ‘We haven’t known what to do with ourselves since we found out.’

              ‘Did you speak with Ronnie, before…,’ Bill’s words trailed away.

              ‘Only very briefly, I’m sorry. I was due to meet up with him this afternoon. Look, Bill,’ Dani leaned forward and lowered her voice. ‘Did you mention to anyone that you’d asked me to get in contact with Ronnie?’

              Bill considered this for a moment. ‘Not directly, but Joy and I were discussing it here in the hotel, last evening at dinner. The dining room was very full and noisy. I cannot imagine us being overheard. How about you, Detective Chief Inspector, did
you
inform anyone of your plans?’

              Another detective might have taken exception to the impertinence of this question, but Dani was beginning to become accustomed to Bill’s manner. ‘I informed DC Calder, but I never announced it to the entire team. I was waiting to see if it resulted in a proper lead.’

              Joy began to wring her hands, her brow furrowing in concern. ‘What does it mean, DCI Bevan? Why would somebody want to kill poor Ronnie?’

              Bill sat bolt upright and looked at his wife. ‘Perhaps that’s what your dream meant. It wasn’t telling us to
contact
Ronnie Sheldon at all. It was a
warning
that his life was in imminent danger.’

              ‘Hold on,’ Dani said sternly. ‘We need to stay rational about this. Somebody must have got wind of the fact I was about to interview Sheldon regarding the Ardyle case. They then set out to make sure this wouldn’t be possible. Unless the event is entirely unconnected, and Ronnie was killed for another reason.’

              Bill raised his eyebrows at this. ‘I don’t believe that’s terribly likely, is it?’

              ‘We’ve
got
to keep an open mind,’ Dani replied with emphasis, trying to ensure she didn’t get sucked into adopting the Hutchisons’ world view without question. ‘For the time being, I’d like you both to stay here in Ardyle. If there’s somebody out there who doesn’t want the past raking up again then you two might be potential targets. Keep your heads down and stay out of risky situations.’

              ‘We could do some asking around the town, see what folk can remember about the original investigation. It might not only have been Ronnie Sheldon who possessed information about the case. The locals might divulge more to us than they would the police. We lived here for a long time, Detective Chief Inspector.’

              Dani let her eyes roll up towards the ceiling. ‘Just for heaven’s sakes be careful, there’s a particularly nasty murderer out there. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating him.’

Dani made her way across the marketplace towards the Town Hall. DC Kendal sprinted down the steps to intercept her path.

              ‘Ma’am! I’ve been searching for you everywhere. I think I might have discovered something.’

              Bevan followed the eager young man inside. He led her towards a trestle table which he had transformed into his work station. A couple of tiny lap-top computers sat open before him. ‘I’ve been looking into the life Daniel Goff led when he was working abroad. I decided to try the same trick I’d used in Stirling and post messages on the Facebook pages of various colleges and universities in all the major European cities. A couple of hours ago, I got a result.’

              Dani leant over and scanned his notes.

              ‘I got a reply from my post on the home page of Estudio Toledo, which is a small language college in Madrid. It said that if information was required regarding Daniel Goff, then I should private message a specific Facebook account, which I did.’ Kendal summoned an FB page up onto the screen. A photograph of a good-looking forty-something man smiling on a deserted beach stared back at them. ‘His name is Gregory McAuliffe. He worked with Daniel Goff, teaching English at the college in Madrid, in 2004. He’s now back in the UK and lives with his wife and children in Oxford. I had a long phone conversation with him after the briefing this morning.’

              Dani pulled up a chair.

              ‘McAuliffe was newly married when he spent a year teaching in Madrid. His wife was a trainee doctor and working extremely long hours. McAuliffe had always wanted to spend time abroad, to polish up his language skills, so they both decided this was a good opportunity for him to do it. McAuliffe shared a flat in the city with Goff; the language school had arranged it for them. Greg said he found Goff quiet, clean living, and a perfectly good housemate. But then, one Friday evening, Goff persuaded Greg to come out with him for a drink. When they arrived at the bar, there were two young and very attractive Spanish girls there, who both seemed to know Goff. Greg wasn’t totally comfortable with the situation, but he spent a pleasant enough evening with them.

              After that point, Goff brought one of the girls, who was called Natalia, over to the apartment a lot. Gregory McAuliffe began a relationship with her. He knows it was stupid, but he was a long way from home and the temptation was too much. A month after it started, Goff confronted Greg in the kitchen of their flat. He produced photographs of him and Natalia together, some of which were extremely compromising. Goff asked McAuliffe for money. In total, Greg paid him several thousand pounds. He realised he’d been scammed and ended his fling with Natalia. Fairly soon afterwards, he returned to the UK, where he told his wife what happened. He knew he couldn’t allow himself to be blackmailed indefinitely.

              Greg and his first wife subsequently divorced. He is now happily married to somebody else. McAuliffe said he always felt guilty for not reporting Goff to the police, but he was embarrassed about the whole episode and wanted to leave it behind him.  When he saw my post, he felt he wanted to warn me about what Daniel was like.’

              ‘So that’s how Daniel Goff made his money. We need to speak with Philippa Graves again, as soon as possible.’

Chapter Thirty Two

P
hilippa Graves was living back at home with her parents in Brentford, West London. It looked like it was a squeeze. The small terraced house had a cramped hallway which led into a sitting room at the rear. After letting Bevan and Calder in, Mr Graves left the three of them alone in this pleasant room to talk.

              Philippa was wearing a track suit and her thin mousy hair was secured in a ponytail, as if she’d just returned from a trip to the gym. Mr Graves came in a few minutes later with a tray of teas and a plate filled with bourbon biscuits. He set it down in silence and slipped straight out.

              ‘Have you found out who attacked Amit?’ She enquired when her dad had gone.

              ‘That isn’t our case,’ Dani explained. ‘We are here to talk about Daniel.’

              Philippa looked puzzled. ‘Daniel Goff? What has he got to do with me?’

              ‘When did you first meet Mr Goff?’ Andy asked.

              The woman crossed her legs and her eyes darted to and fro. ‘He came to Jo’s flat just over a year ago. They’d hooked up for the occasional drink since he’d been living in London. After that we met at parties.’  

              ‘And when did you and Goff decide on the plan to extort money from Amit Batra?’

              Philippa flinched. ‘What do you mean?’

              ‘Well, the idea was that you would begin a relationship with Batra. Goff would take incriminating photographs of the two of you together, and then he would threaten to show them to Tanisha Batra if Amit didn’t pay him. Or have we got that wrong, Ms Graves?’ Andy kept his expression steely.

              Philippa sat very still. Tears began to fill her large eyes and gradually escape onto her cheeks. ‘Things hadn’t got that far.’

              ‘Then tell us how far they
had
got,’ Dani demanded, her voice perfectly level and devoid of sympathy.

              ‘Jo threw a party at the flat about three months ago. It was just a few drinks and nibbles. Daniel Goff was there and James had brought Amit along with him. Towards the end of the evening, Dan sidled up to me and made a joke about Amit obviously fancying me. I laughed it off. But the next time he visited the flat, Dan came to my room and knocked on the door. Jo had clearly told him that I was struggling to find work and was obliged to be flexible with my rent. He sat on the edge of my bed and asked me if I wanted to make some money. Dan said it would be easy for me. He would handle all the difficult stuff – the transactions and things.’

              ‘All you needed to do was seduce Amit Batra,’ Bevan stated.

              Philippa nodded. ‘He was already fairly keen. Life was very difficult for him at home. I genuinely liked Amit. The plan was that Dan would take the photos whilst we were staying in Scotland. It seemed like the perfect opportunity.’

              ‘Had Daniel Goff confronted Amit with any photographs before you set out for Ben Lomond?’

              ‘No, I really don’t think so. The only shots Dan had by that stage were of Amit and me out together in restaurants, canoodling a bit. We planned to get some really incriminating ones whilst we were at the bothy. We’d not had the chance by then.’ Philippa suddenly looked confused. ‘But Amit did behave differently after he was rescued. He wasn’t acting the same way with me as he had done before. Perhaps Dan did tell him something on that mountain, or showed him what was on his camera. It’s impossible to know what went on when they were stuck up there on the hillside, lost and frightened. I’m just not sure any longer.’

              ‘Did Joanna Endicott know about your blackmail scheme before the holiday to Scotland?’

              ‘No, she didn’t. I’m certain Daniel wouldn’t have told her. He respected Jo, you see. Dan wouldn’t have wanted her to know that’s how he made his money.’ Philippa looked sheepish and hung her head. ‘I didn’t really tell Jo about me and Amit either. I don’t know why I said that. I suppose I wanted to show that she and I had been close. It wasn’t only James bloody Irving who’d been her friend.’

              Dani sat forward. ‘Were James Irving and Joanna Endicott ever involved in a sexual relationship?’

              Philippa glanced up again. She seemed surprised by the question. ‘I wouldn’t have said so. If they were then they never used our flat. Jo didn’t treat the men she slept with very well, but she and James really got on. They were good mates.’

              ‘We’ll have to pass this information on to the Metropolitan Police team in charge of Amit Batra’s murder inquiry,’ Dani said.

              ‘I had nothing to do with Amit’s death – I swear. I was here at Mum and Dad’s on the night he was killed. My brother was at home too. I wouldn’t have hurt him, or Dan. What’s going to happen to me now, DCI Bevan?’ Philippa looked suddenly like a lost child.

              ‘I’ll have a word with the CPS. All you are guilty of right now is the intent to commit blackmail. I don’t expect there’s enough evidence to charge you. All I’m interested in is who murdered Daniel Goff, Joanna Endicott and Amit Batra, so if you can think of anything else that may be of use to us, call me straight away.’

              Philippa took Dani’s card. She appeared a little more relaxed.

              Bevan glanced at her surroundings. ‘Your parents have a nice home here, Philippa. Stay with them for a while and get yourself sorted out. Maybe teaching isn’t the right career for you, but something else will be. Steer clear of people offering you easy money. Crime is crime. There isn’t a more sanitised version of it. It’s a dangerous business and people get hurt. You’ve been incredibly lucky to come out of this alive.’

              Philippa started to cry again. ‘I’m sorry, Detective Chief Inspector,’ she sobbed. ‘
Please
don’t tell my mum and dad. I promise I’ll never do anything like this again.’