“She was in the passenger seat, DI Shorter. We were on our way home from a rehearsal at our amateur dramatic society, which meets in Aberfoyle. The rehearsal finished later than usual, as our run started the next day. There were several scenes which needed ironing out. Preparations had been intense.” The man rubbed his bald pate. “It’s one of the reasons we didn’t know about the murder that took place that night. Sheila and I have been performing on stage pretty much every day since.”
“But you heard my appeal on the radio, directed at drivers who were on the Cleland road that night?”
“Aye, the radio was on as we drove home from an extremely well received matinee performance. Our last, as it happens.”
Shorter was getting tired of the man’s elaborations. “Could you simply tell me what happened during the drive home on the 16th November, Mr Dunleavy?”
“Of course, Inspector. Rehearsals ended at 11.30pm. Sheila and I left promptly, driving out of Aberfoyle and onto the Duke’s Pass. It must have taken us about thirty-five minutes to reach the Cleland road, perhaps a little longer. We had the lights on full-beam, as the road is noticeably winding in sections and it was a dark night. Abruptly, Sheila noticed the lights of another car approaching around a bend. She exclaimed at how fast it was going. When it reached us, I genuinely thought the car would strike us head on.”
“Did you see the driver? What make it was?”
“I’m afraid not. The lights were dazzling. I automatically swerved to the left. That’s when I felt our car hit something.”
“It wasn’t the approaching vehicle?”
“No, despite the alarming speed of the car, it somehow swept past us and carried on, heading in a northerly direction. Sheila had felt the bump too, so I pulled over a little further up the track, where there was a small grass verge.”
“Did you go back to see what you might have hit?”
Dunleavy nodded vehemently. “It was impossible to see what damage there was to the car, it was far too dark, but I left the car lights on and walked back to the point where the road curved and I’d swerved to avoid the oncoming vehicle.”
“And you found nothing there?”
“It was dark, as I said. But we searched amongst the bushes nonetheless. To be honest, I thought we’d struck a deer. Sheila suggested we’d only glanced off the animal and it had galloped on up the hill. This seemed the only possible explanation. So, we returned to the car and drove home.”
Shorter looked again at the dent in the front fender. It was deep. The collision must have been significant. He couldn’t imagine it was a glancing impact. “What made you decided to contact the police now?”
“Well, your appeal was for anyone out on the Cleland Road that night between 11pm and 1am to come forward. Sheila and I were there, and we had an odd experience. I thought perhaps the other car we encountered was some sort of get-away vehicle.”
Shorter nodded tolerantly. “I’ll need a signed statement from you and your wife.”
“Of course, Inspector.”
“It would also be helpful if you could show me on a map, exactly where this incident occurred?”
“Not a problem, we know that stretch of road well.”
“Good. I appreciate you coming forward.” Shorter moved towards his unmarked car before turning back for a moment. “What was the production, by the way. If you don’t mind me asking?”
Dunleavy looked surprised at the question, but also pleased the detective had shown an interest. “Bonny and Clyde,” he replied proudly.
Shorter had climbed back behind the wheel and driven away before he let out a laugh.
*
Ravi Stevens was driving. Tony Shorter was in the passenger seat, growing increasingly frustrated.
“I thought I knew this stretch of road like the back of my hand, but it turns out pretty much every bend looks exactly the same.” The DI shook out the map on his lap, as if the action might help.
“We’re looking for a sharp curve, followed by a verge up on the left-hand side,” Ravi repeated, for his own benefit rather than his boss’s.
The day was cold, but bright. Visibility was good. Tony saw no reason why they couldn’t locate the position where the Dunleavys had their prang. Ravi kept on driving, as slowly as he could get away with, until they were almost at the turning for the track leading to the McGills’ cottage.
“I can see the McGill place from here. It’s just visible above the hedgerows,” Ravi stated.
“Stop!” Tony suddenly commanded. Bringing his hand down on the dashboard, like a fearsome driving instructor.
Ravi managed to pull the car over, nestling alongside a bramble bush. “Do you think this is it?”
Tony grunted, squeezing out of the passenger door and setting off back down the road. Ravi followed. As the road snaked to the left, the DS noticed a pair of skid marks across the tarmac.
“Do you see that, boss?” He called ahead.
Tony nodded. “Aye, this must be the point where they swerved to avoid the oncoming vehicle.”
Both detectives graduated towards the road side. They scoured the bank for signs of a collision. Ravi noted a low, stone wall ran behind the bramble hedges which lined the road. He ignored the prickles which scratched at his hands and fought his way through the tangle of branches.
“Sir, come and look at this!”
Tony trampled the hedge beneath his heavy boots. “What is it?”
“There was a dent in the bushes just over here, and when I got closer, I saw that the wall behind is missing a top layer of stones.”
“Is there any way we can get across to the field beyond?”
Ravi scanned the road. He noticed that the hedge fell away a few hundred yards further along. Without comment, the two detectives jogged to the gap in the foliage, giving each other a hand up to clamber over the boundary wall.
It wasn’t difficult to find the place they were looking for. The grass covering the field they were now standing in was heavily overgrown. At the point where the Dunleavys had felt something impact with their car just over a week before, there was a patch of that grass which had been noticeably flattened.
“This is where the stones have been dislodged,” Ravi commented, pointing to a pile of debris beneath the ancient wall.
Both men remained a few feet back, surveying the scene.
“Are you thinking what I am?” Tony said levelly.
“That the Dunleavys’ car hit something at the side of the road, but the impact was so forceful that whatever it was got thrown through the hedge, knocked off part of the wall and landed here, where the grass has been flattened?”
Tony nodded. “Yep. That was my theory too.”
“But whatever it was, why isn’t it here now?” Ravi scanned the surrounding area for anything that might have been left on the ground, or in the dense branches of the bush. There was nothing obvious.
“I suppose it fits with what Dunleavy thought had happened. If they hit a deer, which ended up landing here in the field, once it had recovered, it could have disappeared off into the hills.”
Ravi creased his face. He looked at the indentations in the grass. They weren’t really deer-sized. If he was forced to make a guess, he’d say it was more the imprint of an adult human.
As if Tony could tell what his colleague was thinking, he said, “We should get a team down here to examine the scene. If there was a body here that night. Where the hell is it now?”
Ravi turned and gazed around the valley. His eyes rested on the cottage just visible in the distance. “I’d say we’re about half a mile from the McGill property as the crow flies, perhaps a mile by road.” He turned back to his boss. “What time did the couple say this incident happened?”
Tony made eye contact, his expression serious. “It would have been about a quarter past midnight, maybe a little later.”
Ravi twisted back towards the house, the significance of this timing not lost on either detective.
Chapter 19
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Present Day
It was only the second time that Alice had been in her boss’s flat. Again, she was struck by how modest it was. She knew most of the top brass had Victorian villas overlooking Kelvingrove Park.
Dani placed a pot of coffee on the table between them, before handing Alice her herbal tea.
Ravi Stevens addressed his opposite number. “When is the baby due?”
“In a few months.” She sipped the tea gratefully, eyeing the Asian detective closely. Having read his reports from the McGill case, it was unnerving to now meet him in person.
“I’m amazed you were able to go clambering around in skips,” he said dryly.
Alice’s cheeks flushed. “Actually, I got my boyfriend to do it.”
Ravi chuckled. “Good for you.”
“I was working on a hunch, so I couldn’t request assistance.”
He leaned forward, his expression more serious. “And what a hunch it was, DI Mann. I’ve been trying to find that torch for fifteen years.”
Dani held up her hand. “Steady on, we don’t know for sure it was the torch from the McGill property that went missing on the night of the murder.”
Ravi twisted to face his host. “Have we had any news back from forensics yet?”
Dani shook her head. “It will be another few days, at least.”
Alice sighed. “I don’t imagine they’ll find anything to prove it came from Richard McGill’s cottage, not after all this time.”
“Did you speak to Mark Vogel? Did he give you an explanation as to why it was there, in his bag?” Ravi’s words were eager.
Alice nodded. “I went to the house the next day, with the briefcase and papers. I handed them to him without the torch. He seemed shocked and disappointed to find there wasn’t anything else with them. I asked what else he was hoping to retrieve.”
“And? What did he say?”
“He muttered something about his late mother’s wedding ring, which had no monetary value, but was sentimental. He said the thief must have taken it anyway.”
“Were you convinced by that?”
“Not really, then Andy mentioned the torch. That was when the blood drained from Vogel’s face. I could almost see the mechanisms in his brain ticking over. He knew I was aware he was a witness in the McGill murder, and probably knew the details of the case.”
“So, he came up with a plausible explanation,” Dani said.
“Yes, Vogel claimed he kept the torch in the car, in case he had a breakdown. He said he’d used it to check the pressure in his tyres a few days before the robbery and must have put it back in his briefcase. He’d forgotten it was there.” Alice raised her eyebrows.
“Well, he couldn’t deny it was his, the man’s fingerprints will be all over it,” Dani added.
Ravi put down his cup with a clatter. “But what does it mean? Why does Mark Vogel have the torch after all these years?”
Alice shook her head. “I’ve been thinking of nothing else these last twenty-four hours. If it’s the torch that Richard gave to his murderer that night, then Vogel must have been involved with the killers. But then, why keep it for all these years? It implicates him in the crime.”
Ravi polished off his drink. “I’m going to request that the Fiscal re-opens the investigation. I need to get Mark Vogel back in an interview room.”
Dani sighed heavily. “I understand your sense of urgency, Ravi, but I’ve got a bad feeling we won’t have enough forensic evidence to prove the torch was used in the murder of Richard McGill.”
Ravi looked momentarily downcast. He abruptly raised his head. “We must show it to Holly! If the torch belonged to Richard, she may recognise it.” The DI was on his feet.
“Yes,” Dani replied. “That’s a good idea.” She rested her hand on his arm. “Please don’t get your hopes up. On its own, the torch doesn’t prove very much. We really need to wait for the results from the lab.”
But Ravi was already pulling his jacket on and heading for the door. With a fresh piece of evidence turning up after all these years, not much was going to hold the DI back.
*
Holly Kilpatrick was in the front garden of her parents’ house, lopping branches off an unruly honeysuckle bush when Ravi’s car pulled up.
She dropped the shears and approached the detectives as they climbed out of the unmarked vehicle. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. Has something happened?”
“Shall we go and talk inside?” Dani suggested kindly. “It may be nothing.”
Holly led them up the stone steps and into the house. “I’ll need a minute to wash up,” she muttered, ducking into a downstairs bathroom.
The detectives settled themselves in the sitting room. When Holly returned, she had made an attempt to tidy her hair, but the grubby gardening clothes were still in place. She gave Ravi a questioning look.
He leant forward, his elbows resting on his knees and described the events which led to Alice Mann’s discovery of the torch in Mark Vogel’s briefcase.
Holly’s face was pale. “Can I see it?” She whispered.
Dani reached into her bag, removing an object wrapped in plastic. “We found no prints on it, except for those of Vogel and the detectives who retrieved it.”
Holly put out her hand for it. “Can I take it out of its wrapping?” She asked tentatively.
Dani nodded. “We’ve performed all the tests we can on it. The only course open to us now is if you can provide confirmation that this is the torch you kept at the cottage when your husband was killed.”
Holly examined it closely. “I recall DI Shorter asking lots of questions about it, but in all honesty, I knew we had one, but didn’t have any memory of what the thing looked like. I hadn’t even known Richard had put it in that drawer. I wouldn’t have known where to find it.”
Ravi felt his heart sink. “Vogel told us he used that torch recently to check his tyre pressures, but the technicians at the lab found the batteries inside had leaked out some years ago, fusing the casing shut. It’s unusable now. He must have been lying.”
Holly glanced at him. “This could easily have been the torch Richard had bought when we moved to the house. He went to the DIY superstore in Aberfoyle. He got all the basic stuff – like a torch, a tool kit and a hammer. He said we would need them, being so remote. There would be times when we’d have to fix things for ourselves.”
“Thanks Ms Kilpatrick,” Dani said. “That will help us identify the origin of the torch.”
Ravi had widened his dark eyes, looking eager again. “The type of batteries the techs found inside hadn’t been sold in the UK since 2005. We know the torch is from the right era to be your husband’s.”
Dani cleared her throat theatrically. “We can’t lead Ms Kilpatrick to identify the exhibit, DI Stevens. Then her testimony will be useless if this goes to court.”
Holly’s eyes were glistening. “I really want to help, of course I do. This is the first proper lead we’ve had in over a decade. But I don’t remember it, I just don’t!”
Ravi slid along the sofa and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. We can still work the evidence the technicians gave us. The important thing is that Mark Vogel had the torch in his possession. It’s got to be significant.”
Holly shook her head in confusion. “Why would Mark have it? I can’t make any sense of it.”
Dani took over the questioning. “I know it will be tough, but can you describe what happened again for us, how the torch came to leave the property that night?”
Holly sighed deeply, closing her eyes tightly. “We’d finished eating the main course. The wine glasses were on the table and I cleared the plates onto the work surface by the sink. The dessert needed bringing out and I was about to fill the coffee machine. Anna had just joined me and offered to help when the knock came.” Her body went rigid.
Ravi squeezed her shoulder gently. “Go on.”
“Richard said something like, “who the hell is that, at nearly
midnight?” Mark suggested some motorists might be lost. Then Richard went out to answer it. The whole thing lasted only minutes. He came back moments later, muttering that ‘he’ needed a torch. Richard went to the dresser to fetch it and then back into the hall. I don’t think even a couple of seconds passed before the shot came.”
“When you went out to see what had happened, did you notice the torch in the doorway or having been dropped on the threshold?” Dani pressed.
Holly shook her head. “All I saw was Richard on the floor, and the blood. So much blood. The door was still open and there was a bitterly cold breeze coming in. Mark came out of the kitchen moments later. The first thing he did was check outside to see if Richard’s killer was in sight.”
Ravi glanced at Dani. “That could have been his chance.”
Holly turned her damp eyes on him. “No, he certainly didn’t have it in his hand when he came back inside. That was when he tried to pull me off Richard, told me we needed to call the police. I tried to fight him off, angry that it was Richard who answered the door and not him. I wasn’t being very rational, I’m afraid.”
“What was Anna Vogel doing during this time?” Dani asked flatly.
Holly shrugged. “She was in the kitchen throughout. But to be honest, I was pretty hysterical. I can’t be completely sure what Anna was doing.”
Ravi frowned. “By the time Colin Bell and I interviewed the Vogels, they certainly didn’t have the torch in their possession.”
Holly was breathing heavily through the tears that had started to fall. “What was even the point of the torch!? What possible purpose did it serve? Why does it matter now?”
Dani answered this. “The killer knocked at the door of the cottage, but he couldn’t be certain Richard McGill would answer, so he didn’t have the gun drawn. When he knew it was McGill, he asked for a torch – something you might plausibly need if you were lost at night. Whilst he was gone, the killer raised his weapon and stood back, out of the light of the doorway. Your husband was a big, strong man, the killer needed to be sure to take him by surprise. When your husband returned, he let off the shot almost immediately, then slipped away, into the darkness.”
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