The Death Pictures (44 page)

‘Well, your honour, you’ll see that a mobile features prominently in Picture One. It’s that which I believe is the key to solving the riddle. In the pictures there are lots of places and people and numbers, which could seem to be a clue, but I think they’re all false leads. They’re what magicians call misdirection, distractions from where you should really be looking. I believe the only clue you actually need is the prints. The numbers of the prints in fact. You can see them in the corners of this set of reproductions.’

Judge Lawless leaned over, peered down at the pictures.

In the cells below the courthouse, Lewis Kiddey was growing increasingly nervous. There wasn’t a fingernail left he hadn’t bitten down. It was well past ten o’clock. He should have been taken up to the court by now, should be in the witness box telling his story.

The police, warders, security guards, his fellow remand prisoners, no one had believed him. Over the past six months of torment, no one had believed a word. They’d all smiled and nodded understandingly. Yes, yes, that’s right, you’re innocent. We’re all innocent in here mate. We’re all wrongly accused, the victims of evil and intricate conspiracies.

The difference though was he truly was such a victim. Six months of his life, rotting away in prison, accused of the most serious crime in the land. The only compensation was that they’d allowed him to carry on painting, and his incarceration had freed something in his spirit, made his work more vibrant, poignant, filled with despair. The colours and shapes beseeched. It had given his pictures a soul.

If he ever got out of here, his prison paintings would cause a sensation amongst the critics. He knew it. That was how he consoled himself, lying in his wrongful cell at night. The thoughts of the exhibition he would stage, full of the pictures he’d painted in jail, the admiring faces, the acclaim, the telling and re-telling of his story. Interviews, papers, television and radio, all would flock to him when he was freed. If he was freed...

What was he talking about? He would get out, of course he would. He was an innocent man. He wanted to be there in court, in the witness box, telling the jury he was innocent. It was down to them, twelve of his peers, his fate in their hands. If no one else had believed him, surely they would. Surely. They had to.

Dan stood back and watched as Judge Lawless used his mobile phone to work through the code. It was way past ten now, but on the couple of occasions the officious clerk had knocked on the door to remind him, the Judge had waved her dismissively away. Dan couldn’t resist turning a smile on her.

The Judge had almost finished, and Dan stood silently by. It was the only way to convince him, to let him see it for himself. He checked the penultimate picture, print 3/4, three presses of the number four key, wrote down an ‘I’. Then the final picture, print 1/3, one press of number three. Judge Lawless wrote down the last letter, a ‘D’. Then he stood back and read the words he’d written. All in capitals, as if to emphasise their importance, it was as though they shouted out from the paper.

I FRAMED KID

Lawless stared at the words for a moment, then stalked slowly back to his desk and sat down. He looked up at Dan and Adam as they stood, waiting silently, expectant. Dan felt his heart pounding again, was sure the judge could hear it in the quiet of his chambers. What would he say? Did he believe it? Did he think it was significant? How could he possibly not? He shifted his feet on the thick carpet, waited. Beside him, Adam waited too.

‘I am going to adjourn the trial until this afternoon,’ said Lawless calmly. Not a word of thanks, Dan noted. ‘Mr Breen, I trust that will give you enough time to re-interview Mrs McCluskey? That would seem the most obvious way forward.’

‘Yes sir,’ replied Adam. ‘She’s in court. I’ll go and see her now.’

‘Will you rejoin me here to tell me what you find, please? Then I will decide how we shall proceed.’ He paused, stared at both of them. ‘If indeed we proceed at all.’

Dan thought he saw it in Abi’s face when they walked up to her in the court’s waiting area and Adam asked for a chat in one of the private rooms. He thought he could see the realisation. No fear, just understanding, and was there some relief? He thought he could see her let something go, as if breathing out a secret that she’d held uncomfortably inside for long months. She followed them without a word.

Dan closed the door behind them. She sat down at the table, Adam opposite her. He stayed standing at the door, was only watching now. This part was up to Adam. But it was to him she turned and asked her question.

‘You’ve got it, haven’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Dan said gently. ‘I’ve got it.’

‘And he knows?’ Abi asked, turning her head towards Adam.

‘Yes, he knows. He knows everything.’

‘Then it’s all over, isn’t it? The trial, the riddle, all of it. All over.’

‘I think so.’

She studied him for a minute and Dan wondered what she would do. Then she released an unexpected smile.

‘I’m glad in a way, I think,’ Abi said, her voice faltering. ‘I was never comfortable with it. It was Joseph’s idea and he made me promise to follow it all through. It was his last wish and I had to be loyal to him for that. I hope you’ll understand.’ She gazed at him, her eyes misty. She was somewhere else, Dan thought. With Joseph perhaps? ‘I’m glad it’s all over now,’ she added. ‘Really, I am glad.’

He nodded, felt for her, returned the smile.

‘I thought so. That was what I suspected.’

‘Yes.’ Another pause as she sat, looking at him. ‘Joseph said he thought you might get it. He reckoned your mind worked in a similar way to his and you might understand what he was trying to do. But he hoped the riddle would run for a while. He liked you very much you know.’

‘I didn’t, but thank you.’ Dan suddenly felt flushed with an inexplicable pride. ‘I thought he was a remarkable man too. And it did run, didn’t it? I have to say, it was brilliant. The riddle, the whole plan. Whatever anyone might think of the morals involved, it was brilliant and almost perfect. And it ran for nearly the whole of the course you had planned, I think? Just a couple of days short?’

There were tears forming in her eyes now, a tightening of her face, but she was still in control. Just, Dan thought, only just. He could almost see the memories of Joseph surrounding her.

Abi’s voice trembled. ‘You guessed that too? About the verdict and what would happen afterwards?’

Dan nodded. ‘Yes, I think so. Were you going to reveal the whole story a day or two after the verdict? That would be my guess.’

She flicked at a stray hair, rubbed her eyes. ‘Yes, you’re quite right. When the jury came back with their guilty verdict, I was to give Kid one night in prison. To think and despair, to feel his loss. Joseph said it would be just the same feeling he’d inflicted on Joanna. I was to tell the police the next day. And I would have.’

She nodded hard to emphasise the point, dislodging a tear from her eye. It slid a silvery trail down her flushed cheek. ‘I would have. He’s suffered enough. I hope he’s learnt the lesson Joseph wanted to teach him now. That it’s a terrible thing to take something precious away from someone, particularly someone you’ve cared about.’

Adam had been watching, listening carefully. ‘Take it from the beginning,’ he said gently, making Abi turn to him. ‘I’m only a policeman and not privy to the leaps of creative insight that you and Joseph and Dan seem to go in for. Just tell me all that’s happened.’

She took a deep breath, tried to compose herself. But the tears were gathering force and she struggled to find the words.

‘Joseph never forgave Kid, did he?’ prompted Dan. ‘He saw Kid and Joanna as the son and daughter he never had. Despite Kid’s faults… even to the extent of him sometimes hitting Joanna…’

Abi said nothing, just shut her eyes as though trying to hide from the words.

‘Don’t worry, we don’t need to go back over that,’ Dan continued. ‘So, Joseph doted on them, and when Kid broke Joanna’s heart – and I’m guessing possibly even worse, destroyed her creative spirit – I’d say he was enraged and inconsolable. A dangerous mix. I know you both helped Joanna as much as you could. I imagine that time with her, seeing her suffering, ingrained Joseph’s bitterness and feeling of betrayal about Kid. It made him more determined still to teach him a lesson?’

Abi nodded again. ‘Yes, that’s right,’ she said hoarsely. ‘Joseph couldn’t have children. It was just one of those things. He used to say it was the way of the world. That he’d been given some great gifts, so it was only fair there was something he shouldn’t be able to do. I think it was his way of coping. He managed to hide the pain, but I knew it was there.’

Adam checked his watch. Time was slipping on. Dan knew what he was thinking. He could sense Judge Lawless waiting, no doubt impatiently.

‘What happened when Kid left Joanna?’ asked Dan.

‘I’ve never seen Joseph so angry, so hell-bent on revenge. It was frightening. He was never a violent man, but he raged about it for months. He felt betrayed by Kid, and he hurt for Jo. He was determined to teach Kid a lesson.’

‘And that’s where all this started?’ asked Adam. She nodded again, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. ‘Was the whole reconciliation thing with everyone just part of the plan to get Kid?’

Abi looked surprised. ‘No, no that wouldn’t be fair. Not fair at all. He wasn’t like that, not deceitful. He was an honest and good man who simply wanted to see justice done.’

Her voice grew stronger now, more sure. ‘He wanted to bow out with a clean conscience and no regrets, he said. But he saw a way he could do that, and with it teach Kid a lesson too. He thought of it as justice, you see. He was being just in making his peace with everyone, and in giving Kid a warning that if he didn’t live a better life in future there would be a price to pay. It was only ever going to be a warning. He didn’t want to destroy Kid, just change his ways.’

Adam scribbled some notes, the looked up and asked, ‘So what did you do? How did you set him up?’

‘It was easy, much easier than I thought it was going to be,’ Abi replied. ‘Joseph called him and told him he wanted to make his peace, to leave what had happened between him and Joanna behind. Kid responded happily. Everyone Joseph approached did. I think he knew it would be very hard to turn down an appeal from a dying man. That was part of his plan. So we had Kid round for dinner, on several occasions. During one of those, I put out a knife we’d cleaned thoroughly for any of our fingerprints, and Kid cut some bread with it. When he’d done that, both Joseph and I made sure we didn’t touch the knife again. When Kid left, we kept it, safe in a drawer, with his prints on it, until…’

Abi’s words faded. Adam was still writing, so Dan prompted her with the next question. He knew Adam well enough by now to know the detective would want to take the story chronologically.

‘And you knew from the start this was what you were going to do? Hence the Death Pictures riddle?’

‘Yes, that’s right. Joseph had borne his grudge against Kid for years. When he was diagnosed with the cancer, he had the idea immediately. He wanted to go out with a bang he said, and settle some old scores at the same time. He wanted to make his death worthwhile.’

He certainly did that, thought Dan. Revenge on an old enemy, achieve your own idea of justice, secure enormous fame for yourself, your final works and the riddle contained in them, demonstrate your cleverness, your ability to con the entire world, lots of money raised for good causes and one hell of a story. It’ll live long and be retold endlessly. Not bad for an epitaph, not bad at all.

Adam looked up from his notebook. ‘And the Death Pictures gave him an opportunity to do all that?’

Abi smiled, the pride shining through her tears.

‘Yes. He was an extraordinary man, Chief Inspector. He planned it all and predicted precisely how it would go. And he got it exactly right too, up until almost the last.’ She turned to Dan. ‘Up until you solved the riddle.’

‘Tell me about the night of his death,’ asked Adam gently. ‘What happened there?’

Abi’s face changed instantly, and Dan could see her loss. He wondered if it would ever leave her.

‘Kid was due to come round at 7.45 and he was always roughly on time.’

‘You told us 7.30?’

‘Yes. That was a lie to fit in with the plan.’

She was being truthful. Both Dan and Adam could see it, there was no need to push her.

‘So you went out with your dog at about 7.15?’ Adam said.

‘Yes. We knew Jarvis would be in the garden next door, he always was. You could set your clock by him. He was out at seven every day – just after the TV news – watering plants and pottering around. Then it was back inside at 7.20 to wash his hands and get ready for his tea at half past. So I shouted goodbye to Joseph, then waited, then said something else about some milk.’

‘To create the impression he was alive and well inside?’ asked Dan.

‘Yes.’

‘Whereas in fact..?’

Now Abi’s voice dropped. ‘Yes. He was upstairs in the bath… dying.’

She closed her eyes. Adam said nothing, waited for her to steady herself.

‘Before I left, we said our last goodbyes.’ The tears were back now, rolling down her face again and she made no attempt to stop them. ‘Then I ran the bath and he got into it. He was very weak by this stage. He didn’t have long left. I put on some gloves and got the knife with Kid’s fingerprints out, being careful not to touch the handle. Then I cut… I cut...’