Hold Hands in the Dark (9 page)

Chapter 20

D
I Phil Boag was leading their briefing with the results of his research into Vicki Kendrick’s family.

              ‘Magnus Faulkner married Susan Lomas in the summer of 1962. Vicki was born in ’65 and Dale in ’67. There were no living grandparents except for Susan’s mother, Mauve Lomas, who died in 2008 at the age of 89. She’d been the guardian of Vicki since December 1976. They lived together on the Muirhouse estate until Vicki completed her schooling at The Monteith Academy for Girls. Then she studied at the College of Music and took digs in the city centre, where she has had her main home since the nineties.’

              ‘It must have been tough, living in a tiny council flat on the Muirhouse whilst attending such a prestigious school,’ Dani commented. ‘Vicki must have come from a very different background to her peers.’

              ‘She was a scholarship student,’ Alice added. ‘That’s just what it’s like when you get your fees waived because of a particular skill or talent. I suppose the child learns to see the situation as a fantastic opportunity rather than a burden.’

              Dani immediately wondered if Alice were speaking from experience.

              ‘Well, Vicki certainly took full advantage of that opportunity,’ Phil continued. ‘She was named Scottish Musician of the Year in 1995 and toured the world in ’96 and ’97.’

              ‘What about other family members: uncles, aunts, cousins?’ Dani counted them off on her fingers.

              ‘There were a few cousins on the Lomas side, who lived in and around Glasgow. I spoke with one of them yesterday, a lady of a similar age to Vicki. She said they saw one another every so often when Vicki still lived with her gran, but when she became successful, they didn’t hear a dickie bird. This cousin suggested she may not even attend the funeral.’

              ‘What about the Faulkners?’

              ‘Magnus had two brothers, Joe and Keith. The younger one died in the eighties and the older more recently, just a couple of years ago. He was in his late seventies. Neither had any children.’

              ‘I suppose that if Vicki had cut off her own father, mother and brother so easily she was unlikely to have maintained a link to this particular uncle.’ Dani sighed.

              ‘There was certainly no evidence of it,’ Phil replied.

              ‘How are Sergeant Sharpe and DS Calder getting on in West Kilbride?’ Alice asked.

              ‘Apparently, the Faulkners owed money to at least one local heavy before they moved to Virginia. They never told their local friends that Vicki was staying behind either.’

              ‘I expect they were worried she might get targeted by their creditors if they did,’ Alice responded.

              ‘I suppose that explains their decision to leave the country and begin a new life,’ Phil concluded.

              Dani turned to look at the evidence taped to the board. ‘Yes, but I’m struggling to see how it connects to Vicki’s murder. This crime wasn’t a theft that went wrong. Nothing valuable was taken. It may have been a revenge attack but then why now? Would you really inflict all those blows to such a delicate, defenceless woman over some money owed by her parents forty years ago?’

              ‘There has to be more to it,’ Alice asserted. ‘The grudge had to be more personal to Vicki and her brother. The forensic results suggest that this person wiped the place clean after the murder. There weren’t even any footprints in the blood - other than yours, boss - which indicates an element of professionalism and pre-planning.’

              ‘A cold and professional clean-up job, yet the murder itself was frenzied, using a knife from Vicki’s own kitchen drawer.’ Dani was silent for a moment. ‘Could we be looking at two perps?’

              ‘One who kills and another who mops up the mess, you mean?’ Alice took a step closer to the board and stared hard at the scene of crime photos.

              But Phil shook his head. ‘It would have been difficult enough to get one person in and out of that house unnoticed, never mind two. The forensics would surely have indicated more activity if there were multiple attackers. I just don’t buy it.’

              Dani nodded. ‘Yeah, I take your points Phil, but I want us to keep an open mind on this. For the time being, we need to focus on Vicki’s social life in the last few weeks. Someone must have known about a new friend she was meeting, having dinner with, was comfortable enough to invite into her home for drinks. Get back to St Mungo’s College and speak to anyone who even gave Vicki the time of day since she’s worked there.’ Dani turned to face the room. ‘Let’s keep digging. This bastard can’t be the bloody invisible man.’

*

Dani had been summoned to meet with DCS Douglas in his office. She found the man surrounded by notes and files when she entered. The DCI immediately noted the contrast to her old boss, whose desk used to be as shiny and free of clutter as a minimalist sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art. But then Nicholson hadn’t been much of a details man.

              ‘Ah, Danielle, take a seat. What’s the latest on the Kendrick case?’

              ‘Forensics have drawn a blank, but we’re hopeful about tracking down her lovers. We’ve already got several names. DS Mann has been extremely thorough.’

              ‘Dour’ Douglas narrowed his dark eyes. ‘What about DI Boag – is he not so thorough in his work?’

              ‘That’s not what I meant at all. Phil has made good progress on Kendrick’s background. It’s the kind of stuff he excels at.’

              Douglas tapped his pen on the desk. ‘But not on the fieldwork, witness interviews, scene examination etcetera?’

              It was a leading question. Dani wasn’t keen to answer it. ‘Phil was behind a desk for a long time. He isn’t the best officer I have on those areas just yet, but I’m working on it. If he’s a bit rusty in the field then that’s my responsibility.’

              ‘Only I’ve had a complaint.’ Douglas put the pen down and folded his arms.

              ‘Oh, I see.’ She wondered who the bloody hell from.

              ‘Not against Phil. The complaint was made by the CEO of Hemingway Shipyards to the new DCC. Apparently, DS Calder made a nuisance of himself when he and Boag visited the head office, demanding to re-examine the accident site and implying Hemingway was suppressing crucial health and safety information.’

              ‘I’ll have a word with him.’

              Douglas put a hand up. ‘No, don’t do that. Decent detectives always have to piss somebody off. If you and Calder hadn’t ruffled any feathers last year, we’d still have an evil serial killer on the loose cosying up to half the top brass at Police Scotland.’

              Dani nodded, she couldn’t argue with that.

              ‘No, what worried me was the praise that the CEO heaped on DI Boag. Apparently, he was affable, cooperative and didn’t ask any questions Hemingway objected to. In other words, no fucking use whatsoever as a chief investigating officer.’

              Dani’s eyes darted back and forth but she said nothing.

              ‘So what are we looking at here, Danielle? A senior detective who is in the pocket of one of the most influential businessmen in Glasgow, or one who is simply not up to the job?’

              The DCI squirmed in her seat.

              ‘Come on then, which is it to be?’

Chapter 21

‘I
thought Alice was investigating this angle, Ma’am?’ Phil asked pleasantly, as they entered the impressive foyer of St Mungo’s College of Music. ‘She’s a superb interviewer.’

              ‘I’ve asked her to concentrate on the appointment diaries and list of ex-lovers that Kenneth Rachmann provided us with. I think it’s a crucial line of inquiry.’

              Dani introduced herself at the reception desk. The principal had provided them with an office on the ground floor to operate from. They would be interviewing all of Vicki’s work colleagues and students in turn.

              ‘I want you to ask the questions, Phil,’ she said pointedly, as they settled behind the desk. ‘I’ll chip in if I feel I need to. If you sense a witness may be lying, don’t hesitate to push them further. It doesn’t matter if we upset people, a woman is dead.’

              ‘What’s this?’ Phil asked in a jokey tone, ‘back to training college?’

              ‘Let’s just get through these interviews,’ Dani replied, ‘and then we can have a proper talk.’

              Most of the colleagues they spoke with knew Vicki Kendrick in a purely professional capacity. A handful of the women also went to the musician’s house for dinner parties maybe once a month at most. They all stressed that Vicki was often away on tour, which meant maintaining regular contact with her was difficult.

              Kendrick’s students had obviously held her in high regard. A couple were in tears for most of the interview. She’d been an inspiration to many young Scottish musicians, it seemed.

              None of Kendrick’s girlfriends knew of any recent lovers. The last one they mentioned was a man called Alain Mercier who she met in Paris in 2011. Dani recognised this name from Rachmann’s list. Apparently, he’d come over to Glasgow and stayed with Vicki at her flat on several occasions. But the relationship had fizzled out by the start of 2013.

              Dani let Phil drive them back to Pitt Street.

              ‘None of those relationships seemed to have been particularly serious,’ Phil added. ‘Even the friendships.’

              ‘No, and we certainly aren’t any closer to finding out who she would have invited over her threshold last Thursday evening. Let in through the back door, perhaps.’ Dani sighed heavily and glanced out of the passenger window. ‘This was a person she wanted to keep secret from the world.’

              Phil cleared his throat. ‘Ma’am, what did you mean when you said we’d talk properly later? Am I in some kind of trouble?’

              Dani twisted round in her seat. ‘DCS Douglas gave me a grilling yesterday. He wanted to know why you were so soft on Raymond Hemingway during the Tony McRae investigation. He wanted to know if you were taking bribes or are simply incompetent.’

              Phil gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles had gone white. ‘Who grassed me up to Douglas? Was it Andy?’

              ‘No, Hemingway is a golfing pal of the new DCC. He waxed lyrical to him about how gentle and caring you’d been. That made Douglas immediately suspicious. He’s seeing corruption everywhere after the Suter case. I was forced to say I believed it was the latter, but that I would take you under my wing and give you some intensive training in the field. I said the buck stopped with me because you were my man. I think I’ve bought you three months of probation. But if this is going to work I’m going to need you to tell me the truth.’

              ‘What do you mean,
tell you the truth
?’

              ‘Andy did a check on your bank account.’

              Phil bumped the car up onto a layby without indicating and slammed to a halt. ‘
He did what?’

              ‘He didn’t understand why you were treading so carefully with Hemingway either. It crossed his mind you may have taken some kind of incentive. Then he saw the money in your account.’

              ‘The £5,000.’

              ‘Yeah.’ Dani was feeling less sure of herself.

              ‘How long have we worked together?’

              ‘Ten years.’ Dani could tell that Phil was shaking with anger. ‘I just thought that with your circumstances being changed, you might be under increased pressure at home…,’

              ‘And since I lied about my affair with Fiona, you’ve never really trusted me. Isn’t that the truth?’

              Dani blinked several times. ‘Yes, that’s probably right.’

              ‘Despite swotting away for my Inspector exams and jumping through every hoop I’m given, it’s still Andy who’s the bloody golden boy.’

              Dani said nothing, a horrible knot forming in her stomach.

              ‘That money was from Charles Riddell. It’s for Maisie’s first year at Glasgow University. It covers her rent and food. It’s a lot of cash, but that’s what it costs these days. My Sorcha has a student loan for all that, but then her mother and I work for the public sector and can’t afford to support her. We aren’t all oil company hot-shots like Charles. Who, as we know from our investigation a few years back, likes to deal in cash. He deposited the money at the West Princes Street branch himself, when he was over for a conference. But if you don’t believe me, just give him a call. I’m sure he’d be overjoyed to hear from you again.’ Phil’s tone was dripping with bitterness and cold irony.

              Dani put her hand on his arm. He flinched. ‘I’m sorry, Phil. I’ve been a complete idiot and I’m sorry.’