by Tana Collins
‘Thank you for meeting me, Jim.’
‘What have the police said?’ He looked at her flushed face and the anxiety in her eyes. His own heart started to race. He’d heard somewhere that stress was contagious and he could well believe it. He could always read Mairi like a book, well, until towards the end of their relationship, and taking one look at her now he knew she was genuinely troubled.
‘Well, I have been broken into. Perhaps not so much broken into but someone’s definitely been in my house. I think they must have got in through the bathroom window. I’m sure I locked it when I left the house but when I got back and examined the window it was ajar.’
‘Did they make a mess? Take anything?’
‘No, that’s just it. I wouldn’t have known anyone had been in the house except when I walked into the bedroom. Whoever it was left a red rose on my pillow. To be honest, it’s freaked me out.’
Carruthers leant forward. Mairi’s hand was resting on the table. He forced himself not to cover her hand with his. Once more, he kept his hands resolutely down by his side.
‘Do you think it was your student, John Campbell?’
‘I don’t know, Jim. I really don’t know. At first I didn’t think it was his style but now–’
‘What’s changed?’
‘I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t get the impression he’s a romantic. I wouldn’t have thought leaving a rose was his style but–’
Carruthers called to mind the little he knew about John Campbell. It was enough. ‘Perhaps not a romantic, but I could imagine he’s the sort of guy who would be happy to mess with your head.’
‘Yes, I think he’s probably quite a manipulative person.’
Carruthers’ eyes locked onto Mairi’s. ‘He’s been a bit more than manipulative. Your John Campbell is a nasty piece of work. Keep away from him.’
‘What do you mean? It’s a bit hard to keep away from him when I’m his tutor. And don’t call him my John Campbell.’
‘Sorry. Look, you might as well know I’ve met him.’
Mairi’s mouth dropped open and she looked aghast. ‘When?’
‘I waited outside the department for him and we had a talk.’
Incredulity turned to fury as she unleashed her temper on him. ‘Oh, for God’s sake. Why did you do that? You’ve just gone and made things ten times worse.’
‘I warned him to stay away from you outside class.’ He studied Mairi closely. It was obvious she was furious.
‘Well if he’s the one who’s been in my house then it’s not worked, has it? And anyway, since when do I need you to fight my battles for me?’
Now it was Carruthers’ turn to feel angry. Angry and hurt. ‘Well you clearly do, otherwise why did you ask to see me? I could have sent Fletcher or Watson to interview you.’
Carruthers could see two spots of colour on his ex-wife’s cheeks. Perhaps his talk with Campbell hadn’t been such a good idea after all. But then again, if he hadn’t had the chat, he’d never have known the boy was a fantasist. ‘I think you should know what John Campbell is saying about you–’
‘Well, go on. You can’t leave the conversation like that. Spit it out. What has he been saying?’
‘He’s claiming you’ve been sleeping together.’ Now it was Carruthers’ turn to go red. ‘He knows about the beauty spot on your left buttock. How would he know about that?’ As he said this he watched his ex-wife’s reactions carefully.
She was clearly speechless. Apart from the two red spots of colour on her cheeks there was a vein pulsing in her neck.
‘Is there any truth in it? You haven’t slept with him, have you?’
She picked up her briefcase and stood up. There was a glint of tears in her eyes. ‘For God’s sake, I can’t believe you’re even asking me this. I would have thought you’d know me well enough to know I would never sleep with a student. Especially him. And if I say I haven’t then I haven’t. But then again, you never did trust me, did you?’
Carruthers winced at the barbed comment. It pained him to be forced to think back to that dreadful time when he’d virtually accused Mairi of having an affair with Superintendent Alistair McGhee. Soon after that she’d left him, telling him that she could no longer live with his jealousy. He hadn’t even realised he’d been the jealous type, but he could see it now – see the fact that the marriage breakdown had been his fault. ‘I’m sorry, Mairi. Don’t go. We need to talk about Campbell. I’m afraid there’s more.’
Reluctantly, she sat back down again. ‘I’m sorry, Jim. I didn’t mean to bring up the past like that. It wasn’t fair of me. What else has Campbell been saying? He’s lying by the way.’ She looked away from him as she hurriedly wiped the back of her hand over her eyes.
‘I know he is.’ This time Carruthers covered her small, cold hand with his larger one. He squeezed it before she withdrew it. He was left with his hand rather awkwardly extended on the table.
‘It’s not about you. It’s about him. Mairi, did you know that before he became a student at the University of the East of Scotland he was at UEA?’
‘No. Why did he leave?’
Carruthers paused.
‘I’m not going to like the answer to this, am I?’
‘Truthfully? No. I did some digging on him. He was asked to leave. He’d assaulted a fellow student.’
‘Female?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
She covered her mouth with her hand. ‘Oh my God. How bad?’
‘He broke her collarbone. She later withdrew the charge of assault. He’s clearly violent, but in all honesty, I don’t think he’s behind Rachel Abbie’s murder. It’s not the same MO, is it?’
‘I suppose not.’ Mairi looked miserable.
‘However, I’m going to find something that gives me a chance to bring him in for questioning. Is there anything at all I can use to strengthen my case?’
She dipped her head down. ‘There is one thing, Jim. Whoever managed to get into my house and left the rose, left something else.’
She produced a plastic food bag from her briefcase. It contained a cigarette butt. ‘He was stupid enough to smoke a fag in my bedroom. I haven’t touched it. Handled it wearing gloves.’
‘I always said you’d make an excellent detective. John Campbell does smoke,’ said Carruthers, recalling how Campbell had lit up outside the department. ‘But would he be stupid enough to leave his DNA all over a cigarette butt?’
‘He’s cocky enough to, but stupid? I didn’t have him down as stupid.’
Carruthers wondered what the time was. He glanced at his watch. His life seemed to be governed by its two hands at the moment. He stood up. ‘Mairi, I’m sorry. I’ve got to go. The advice I’m going to give you is to have minimal contact with Campbell. Try to ensure you’re not alone when you leave the department and don’t ever get into a situation when you are alone with him. I’m going to do some more digging and I’ll be in touch.’ He put the plastic bag containing the cigarette butt into his trouser pocket.
Mairi stood up and, rather awkwardly, he bent his head forward and kissed her on the cheek. The warmth of her skin infused his whole body and his nerve endings quivered. As he walked out of the pub, at the very last minute, he glanced behind him. She was still looking at him.
‘Helen, can you get this sent to the lab for me? And analysed as fast as possible?’ Carruthers handed over the bag containing the cigarette butt to Helen Lennox that Mairi had found at her home. He was convinced the results would be a match for Campbell’s DNA if only they could get a copy of it. Carruthers remembered how Campbell had idly flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground the day before. Highly likely it was still there by the bench but it had started to rain as he’d walked away. He also knew that if the charges had been dropped by the young woman who had accused Campbell of assault, even if Campbell’s DNA had been taken, it would have now been destroyed. But still, you just never knew what might be on the database.
‘Jim, I’ve got something
,’ said Fletcher, walking up to Carruthers’ desk. ‘We’ve managed to unlock Rachel’s mobile. Looks like John Campbell had been pestering Rachel Abbie. There are about thirty phone calls from his mobile number and only one call from her to him. What’s the betting she called him to tell him to leave her alone? And there are literally scores of text messages from him. I’m asking for a printout of them all as Forrest told me the messages become increasingly desperate and threatening. Have we got enough to bring him in?’
Carruthers felt like punching the air. ‘We better do this by the book. I’ll speak to Sandra. Reckon we’ve got enough to bring him to the station but I want to be the one to conduct the interview. What I don’t understand is why none of Rachel’s housemates said anything?’
‘Perhaps they didn’t know.’
‘Why wouldn’t they, though? Surely she’d have told Will? And if he knew about it, he would have told us. It doesn’t make sense.’
‘I can’t answer that but you’re right. It’s a bit of a mystery.’
‘I think we need to talk to Will again. But we also need to formally interview John Campbell.’
Fletcher smiled. ‘Knew you’d say that.’
‘When we do get him in for interview, I want you to take Gayle and go to his student accommodation. Interview the other students who live with him. Find out what he’s like and what his housemates think of him. Have a dig about if you can. I’m going to put in for a search warrant. I want you to search his room. And do it thoroughly.’
Fletcher put on a face of mock outrage. ‘Do I ever search a room any other way? You think he’s done it?’
‘At the moment he’s our best bet. He’s got previous for assault on a female student; he not only knew one of the victims, but had been sending her threatening messages, and on top of that he’s been pestering one of his philosophy lecturers.’
‘Oh, is this Mairi you’re talking about? That would explain why she was so jumpy when I was interviewing her. It’s interesting that she told you but she didn’t want to tell me. I’d tread carefully there if I were you.’
Carruthers ignored that comment. ‘Apparently, she meant to say something to you but I think she was in too much of a shock at Rachel Abbie’s murder. I would really like to get hold of Campbell’s mobile and see if he’s been sending Serena Davis any messages.’
‘Easiest thing is if we ask Serena.’
Carruthers nodded. ‘Well, let’s talk to Campbell first. He’s lied to us about how well he knew Rachel Abbie. I want him in for interview.’
Carruthers pulled up outside John Campbell’s residence. A young man was just coming out of the front door. As luck would have it, it was Campbell himself. Carruthers got out of the car smartly, locked it with a beep of his car key and strode over to the student.
‘Christ, what is it now? This is tantamount to police harassment.’
Carruthers ignored that. ‘I’d like to ask you if you’re willing to provide a DNA sample?’
Campbell stopped short. ‘Why would you want that?’
‘We want to be able to rule you out of our investigation.’
‘I don’t have to give you one, do I?’
‘No. But it would look much better for you if you complied with our request and did it voluntarily. Castletown’s not a huge place and we’ll be taking everyone’s in due course. Then you won’t have an option. Much better if you cooperate with us now.’ Carruthers waited with bated breath, interested to see how Campbell would respond.
‘No.’
‘You’re refusing?’
‘I am.’
‘Well, in that case I’m going to invite you down to the station for questioning.’
Campbell started walking away. ‘You’ve got to be joking.’
‘Let’s just say you’ve become a person of interest.’ Carruthers matched his stride to that of the younger man. ‘You’ve got previous form for violence against women; you’re currently harassing your philosophy lecturer and the IT department have just managed to unlock the mobile of Rachel Abbie and what do you think they’ve found? Dozens of threatening texts from you. That, in my books, makes you our number one suspect.’
Carruthers was standing opposite DCI Sandra McTavish in his old office. Since he’d last set foot in it, she’d brought in a couple of enormous potted plants which were either side of the window. When had she had the time to do that, he wondered?
‘I’ve put Campbell in interview room one, Sandra. Thought he could sweat for a bit.’
‘I certainly agree that we have enough to bring him in and question him, but I don’t want you to conduct the interview, Jim. I’ll do it myself. He’s been asked if he wants a solicitor present and he’s declined. I’m curious as to the reason why.’
Carruthers opened his mouth, but before he had a chance to say anything his new boss silenced him with a hand. Her voice was gentler, quieter, but it’s what she said that cut deep. ‘You have a conflict of interest, Jim.’
Was that a pitying look she gave him? God, he hoped not. For all that he was a police officer he’d never been great at reading women.
‘I understand this John Campbell has threatened your ex-wife, Mairi Beattie. That, in my books, makes it a conflict of interest.’
How the hell does she know about that? Who would have told her? Certainly not Fletcher or Watson. Surely Dougie Harris was too caught up worrying about his ill wife. It had to be that weasel Willie Brown. He remembered the way the man had been smirking when he’d told Carruthers he’d had the DI’s ex-wife on the phone.
He looked at the pursed lips of McTavish and this time had no problem reading her body language. And she was right. It had become personal. He was itching to have a go at Campbell and wipe the smirk off his face. He tried a different tack. ‘I’ve dispatched Fletcher to Campbell’s residence. The search warrant got fast-tracked.’
‘Good. Bingham will be pleased to see you’ve gone through the right channels.’
Carruthers wondered how much Superintendent Bingham had told McTavish about his previous unorthodox methods. Whatever he had said, McTavish should surely know he wasn’t unprofessional enough to jeopardise any case that they might be able to build against Campbell. He bit his lip. He looked up to see McTavish watching him.
She was looking him straight in the eye. ‘You don’t think he did it, though. Do you?’
Carruthers let out a sigh and shook his head. ‘Well, I have no doubt he’s threatened both Mairi and Rachel. We have his texts on Rachel’s phone to prove it. He’s clearly got previous form for violence towards women. I also think he’s a fantasist.’ As he said that he thought of Campbell’s claim that he had slept with his ex-wife.
McTavish’s voice was insistent. ‘But you don’t think he’s a murderer.’
He expelled a quick breath and raised his eyebrows. ‘I can’t see it. Look, I know you think I’m too close to the case, but Mairi is my ex-wife and there’s been no contact for several years. I would really like to be the one to conduct the interview.’
‘I’m sorry Jim, I can’t allow you to do that. Anyway,’ she twisted her wedding ring around her finger, ‘I’d quite like to have a crack at him myself. I think being interviewed by a woman will bring a different dynamic to it, especially if he has an issue with “the fairer sex”. If he has a problem with women, as I suspect he might, he may just give himself away.’
Carruthers didn’t like it but he could see the logic in his DCI’s thinking. She stood up, grabbed a file and her mobile and walked towards the office door. He followed her out of the office, shutting the door behind him. She threw her next comment over her shoulder at him as she walked towards the interview room, Carruthers hot on her heels. ‘If it helps, you can listen in to the interview.’
Oh, I intend to, thought Carruthers. I want to watch Campbell’s every move.
Chapter 17
‘Do you know why you’re at the station, Mr Campbell?’ Carruthers watched intently through the glass as DCI Sandra McTavish star
ted her interview.
Campbell sat back on his chair, hands behind his head. ‘No idea.’
First lie, thought Carruthers, disgusted.
Campbell’s chin jutted out in an arrogant fashion. ‘Am I being arrested?’
McTavish crossed her legs. ‘No. You’re not being arrested. You are merely helping us with our enquiries.’
The student looked McTavish up and down. ‘Nice legs.’
Frowning, McTavish uncrossed her legs and placed them under the chair. She sat bolt upright.
Carruthers watched, fascinated. Just how would she conduct this interview?
She shuffled her notes. ‘Now–’
Carruthers saw Campbell smile. What did he have to smile about?
‘I want to make a complaint.’
‘What?’
‘Against Inspector Jim Carruthers.’
‘What on earth for?’
‘Harassment. And I want it on file.’
Carruthers, clenching his fists, turned away from the glass. ‘Fuck,’ adding under his breath, ‘little prick.’
If McTavish was blindsided by Campbell, she didn’t show it.
‘All in good time, John. Your complaint will go through the proper channels. And if Inspector Carruthers has been hassling you then I can assure you it will be dealt with properly through the Police Ombudsman. First, let’s talk about the reason you’re in the interview room.’ She dug into her handbag and brought out a black mobile phone, which she slid across the table towards him.
Campbell shrugged. Carruthers watched him through the glass. It was pretty obvious Campbell was one of these guys that liked to be in control, even of a police interview. He wondered how the student would behave if he lost all semblance of control.