‘Mrs Lansdowne, I want to express our condolences on behalf of the whole department and assure you that we’re doing everything we can to find who was involved in your husband’s murder.’
The woman glanced at him briefly but made no reply.
‘The press conference said that Matthew’s murder is being linked by the police to the two earlier murders. Why is that?’ Jordan Prentice asked.
Ellison looked at Monica Lansdowne. Her head was down and her hands were in her lap. Even in grief, she was very attractive, although not your typical beauty. There was something gentle and reassuring about her face that Ellison realised was her attraction. Not a trophy wife in one sense, yet still a worthwhile companion for someone in the political field. ‘That’s correct, although I am unable to give out too many details at this stage. It’s due to the nature of the injuries inflicted on all three men. They’re too similar to be dismissed.’
Jordan Prentice looked across at his daughter as he leaned his elbows on the table. He then gave Ellison a brief shake of his head to indicate that they weren’t looking for explicit details.
‘Mrs Lansdowne, what was your husband’s mood like in the last few weeks? Was anything bothering him, as far as you could tell?’
‘Matthew’s job was very stressful, Detective, as I’m sure you can imagine. Matthew is, I mean was the type of person who craved order. If you’ve interviewed his personal assistant, Sheila Holmes, she must’ve told you how methodical and meticulous he was at work. He also kept a lot to himself, especially since our daughter was born six months ago. Although he loved Lydia, you would never describe him as a hands-on father. I’m afraid that our meal times, which used to be our catching up time together, were invariably interrupted by the needs of a newborn. So, let’s simply say that we haven’t talked as much as we used to before Lydia was born. So if there were any issues at work, I’m not aware of them.’
‘Did your husband bring work home?’
‘Yes, he did, most nights. He used to do another hour or so late in the evening, sometimes after I’d gone to bed. I need my sleep as Lydia is still up feeding in the night.’
‘Did your husband know Father Bannister?’
‘Only in that we used to be his parishioners some years ago, but we moved soon after he came to the parish. Also I think that they might have been at the University of Westford at the same time, although Matthew told me that he didn’t know him from there.’ She went on to confirm the year that her husband had graduated and his degree major. Ellison made a note of the information.
‘Do you remember how he reacted to the news of the murder?’ Ellison asked.
Monica Lansdowne paused before she replied. ‘Only that, as mayor, he was concerned that a murder had taken place in the city; nothing more than that.’
‘Mrs Lansdowne, I’d like to show you a letter we found in your husband’s jacket the night he was murdered. It was received and date stamped in the office, but he held on to it. Sheila Holmes never discussed it with him and, as you’ll see, it’s not signed.’ Ellison took the letter out of the file, still in the plastic evidence bag and placed it in front of her.
Both Monica Lansdowne and her father read it together, before she replied. ‘I have no idea why a letter like this would be sent to Matthew. We only knew Father Bannister as a priest, so I don’t understand this reference. How would my husband know the man’s past? As I said, he was an acquaintance at the most. Matthew went to his funeral, but that was in his official capacity. I have no idea what this letter is all about. Do you think whoever wrote this killed my husband?’
‘We think that might be the case,’ Ellison responded.
Monica Lansdowne put her hand to her mouth as if to stifle a cry. Her father put an arm around her shoulder and then addressed Ellison. ‘What about fingerprints? Whoever sent it must have left fingerprints.’
‘Some fingerprints have been taken off the letter, but we’re still awaiting some further identifications.’ Ellison then turned to Monica Lansdowne again. ‘Mrs Lansdowne, did you husband know the second victim, Patrick Mearns?’
‘I don’t know. I don’t remember him being mentioned at home. I guess he could’ve known him through work. I don’t know the man myself.’
‘So, no particular reaction by your husband to the news of his death?’
Monica Lansdowne put her hands on the table now. ‘No, Detective. I don’t understand these questions. As far as I know my husband had nothing to do with these two men, apart from a passing acquaintance with Father Bannister.’
Jordan Prentice came in at this point. ‘Detective, I can see that you’re trying to explore a link between Matthew and these two victims but my daughter has been through a major trauma. I get the feeling that you already have established a link, or more than one, which my daughter doesn’t know about. This line of questioning is distressing her.’
Ellison tapped the folder in front of him. ‘We do think Matthew Lansdowne and Patrick Mearns were acquainted. In fact they had lunch together on the day that Patrick Mearns was murdered. The phone records from both of them also show that they were in regular contact.’
Monica Lansdowne was shaking her head. Jordan Prentice continued. ‘We can’t help you further on those connections, I’m afraid. Do you have any more questions for my daughter?’
Ellison addressed the woman directly. ‘Mrs Lansdowne, one last question. Have there been any callers to the house, strangers asking about the mayor in the last few weeks?’
Monica Lansdowne hesitated at first. ‘We live in a very private neighbourhood, Detective. We don’t tend to get callers coming to the door. As far as I know, Matthew didn’t hold any meetings at the house. Of course, he could’ve had people there when I was away.’
‘Thank you, Mrs Lansdowne. Do you have any questions for us?’
Over the next few minutes, Ellison outlined details about the autopsy, the procedures for releasing the body and details of the Family Liaison Service. Then he moved his chair back to signal the end of the interview.
‘Detective, I’ve remembered something in relation to your last question. On Thursday when I was packing the car to leave for the Cape, a man from the alarm company approached me. He said that they were checking for a fault with the alarms, something to do with patio doors. Some of our neighbours had had error readings apparently. He noticed our alarm box and even though we weren’t on his list as reporting the fault, he offered to check mine while he was there. I wasn’t going to let him at first, then considered that I was going to be away and the house wouldn’t be occupied as much as usual. So, for my own peace of mind, I let him in to make sure ours was OK.’
‘Where did he go in the house?’
‘I showed him where the alarm gets set in the hall closet and then unlocked the basement door and told him where he would find the main control panel. I don’t really understand how it works, but he seemed very efficient. When he was done in the basement, he reassured me that ours was OK, no fault displayed. He couldn’t have been in the house more that ten minutes.’
Ellison was taking notes. ‘Thanks, Mrs Lansdowne, that’s helpful. Do you remember what the man looked like, colour of uniform, his vehicle?’
‘I can’t really picture him. Probably average height. He had sunglasses on and a cap. The uniform was brown and I think the cap was too. That’s all I recall. As I said, I was in the middle of packing so I wanted him in and out. Oh, he said he had a baby son.’
‘Did you see his vehicle?’ Ellison prompted.
‘No, he was on foot when I saw him.’
‘Thanks, Mrs Lansdowne, you’ve been very helpful. We’ll check it.’ Ellison wanted to sound as neutral as possible so as not to distress her. ‘I’ll show you out.’
Chapter 62
Once Monica Lansdowne and her father had left the station
, Ellison returned upstairs. He dialled the number for BCConn Alarms.
‘I’m sorry Detective, Mr Crawley is out of the office,’ the receptionist reported.
From the sound of her voice, this was probably her first job. ‘It’s urgent that I speak to him. I need his cellphone number.’
‘I have instructions not to give that out, sir. I’m sorry.’
‘I need to speak to him as soon as possible. Get hold of him and pass that message on. Stress the urgency.’
‘I’ll do that and either he’ll get back to you or I will. Let me have your number.’
Ellison virtually slammed the phone down and rubbed his chin. This could be a break in the case and he had some overly conscientious youngster delaying much needed information. He grabbed the file and started to make some notes.
Luckily the receptionist was as good as her word and a few minutes later Bruce Crawley returned his call. ‘Detective, I’m sorry I missed your call. What can I help you with?’
‘Thanks for getting back to me, Mr Crawley. What colour uniform do your engineers wear?’
‘Light blue,’ the CEO said in a voice showing concern. ‘Why? Was there an issue when my engineer went to the church?’
Ellison cut across him, impatiently. ‘No, no problem. I need to know if the uniform has ever been brown?’
‘No, Detective.’ Now Crawley was sounding indignant. ‘This is my company. I started it from scratch, with two engineers. I’ve built it up to the eastern coast company it is today. I specifically wanted light blue and the uniforms have always been that colour. I don’t know about you, but I associate brown with car mechanics.’
Fair enough, thought Ellison. Forensics was definitely reporting that the fibres found were brown. Still it could be someone impersonating an engineer who had spoken to Monica Lansdowne. She obviously wasn’t used to dealing with engineers enough to know that the uniforms were a different colour altogether. Unless of course, in her grief, her memory was inaccurate. ‘What about records of your employees’ whereabouts on a day-to-day basis? I’m particularly interested in last Thursday.’ Ellison was jotting notes as he spoke.
‘I can get you those. What vicinity are we talking about? My staff cover the eastern seaboard.’ The CEO now sounded a bit exasperated.
‘I’m interested in the vicinity of the mayor’s property from early afternoon through to seven p.m. last Thursday.’
‘Fine, I’ll get the information for you and bring it in the morning with our reports on the three properties.’
‘How’s that going by the way?’ Ellison asked.
‘I went to the mayor’s address and to Mr Mearns’ apartment myself today to check the alarms, as I only had one engineer I could send to the church, without seriously disrupting the day’s scheduled work. In fact, I thought that’s what you were calling about. Now you’re starting to worry me Detective. Is there something I should know?’
‘Nothing I can discuss sir. I do need the information I mentioned. What about your visit to the two premises today? Was there anything amiss with the control boxes?’ Ellison was flicking the pen on his desk.
‘No. I checked both thoroughly. I’ll write it up as a report for you, together with the report from my engineer. I’ll also look at whether any of my staff were in the vicinity of the mayor’s last Thursday. I can drop the reports into the station and go through them with you in the morning, if that would help.’
‘Thanks, that would be great. Also, do you have photographs of your employees who work in and around Westford? I presume the staff are allocated travel zones.’
The man sighed. ‘I’ll have to sort that in the morning. I’m usually in early. I’ll bring the files and the reports, say about ten o’clock.’
‘Fine. In those employee files, does it mention if they have kids?’
There was a momentary pause. ‘I’m sure you have a reason for asking that Detective. I’m not sure if I have that information on all my employees. Of course we have next-of-kin information for emergencies and I know a lot of the staff personally, so I can probably jot down some more information. I’ll have to see what I can get in the morning. I’m presuming the information about dependants is for the staff working more local, not the Massachusetts, New Jersey or New York ones?’
‘The local ones will do for now, if you could.’
‘I’ll do my best, Detective Ellison.’
‘Oh, one last thing. You said your alarm engineers wear blue uniforms.’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you know of any other security firms that use brown uniforms?’ Ellison asked.
Crawley replied without hesitation. ‘There are two small companies that have set up recently. I know because they tried to poach some of my staff. Luckily my staff refused to jump. One of them, Freedom Security, may have brown uniforms. I don’t know. The other, Secure Help chose bright yellow, I understand. I heard a couple of my guys joking about their engineers looking like canaries. That’s all I know, Detective.’
‘Thanks, Mr Crawley. You’ve been very helpful. I’ll see you in the morning.’ Ellison went on line and looked up the number for Freedom Security.
Half an hour later, Bronski and Annie returned to the squad room. Ellison sensed that something was wrong with Annie. She looked completely drained. He assumed it was from witnessing her third autopsy in a little over a week. Bronski read his messages while Annie went to make coffee. Finally the three of them retreated to the squad room table to catch up.
‘So, what have you been up to Ellison, while Macpherson and I were witnessing sights we’d rather not have seen?’
Annie smiled at the way Bronski had put it. For her, the autopsy was not as bad as seeing Charlie holding hands with Jane Garry. Thinking back to his body language, Charlie had obviously not spotted them until it was too late. If he had let go of Jane’s hand suddenly, the woman would’ve wondered what was going on. From the way Jane Garry had shaken her hand and spoken to her, Annie was certain that Charlie hadn’t told Jane the whole story about the two of them, beyond her involvement as a police detective. There had been no sense of having had a rival for Charlie’s affections. In reality though, she’d never know for sure. It was unlikely she’d be speaking to Charlie again, unless it was literally about the case. Then again, she might defer to Bronski for that.
Ellison started to report back on his examination of the phone records and his email from the prison about the case going back ten years. Annie missed most of it because she was so absorbed in her own thoughts. Then he relayed the key points of the interview with Monica Lansdowne, especially the one about the visit from the alarm company and then the subsequent call to Bruce Crawley.
Bronski became quite excited. ‘Ellison, this could be the break we need. This guy in the brown uniform sounds like he could be the killer, don’t you think? Maybe he wasn’t even a real engineer: maybe he was impersonating one. He wouldn’t even have had to know the alarm system. She didn’t go down into the basement with him. Maybe he never touched it, just opened the window and left it ajar for coming back. Then he also saw where the alarm was turned off. He probably threw her some line about needing the code number.’
‘She never mentioned that. Actually she nearly forgot to mention him at all,’ Ellison responded.
‘So this CEO, Crawley, did you say? When he brings the photos of his employees in tomorrow, we could make copies and show them to Monica Lansdowne. Then at least we can eliminate them, or put someone in the frame,’ Bronski added.
‘Unless BCConn has nothing to do with it and the guy in the brown uniform was being opportunistic and made up a story to get her attention,’ Annie added. ‘All he would’ve had to do was to stake the house out, notice the alarm system from the alarm box on the outside of the house and spin her some line. Why don’t we check with the neighbours on the street to
see if an alarm engineer called round last Thursday? At least then we’d know whether it was only Monica Lansdowne who was targeted.’
‘Good thinking Macpherson. I’ll get Sergeant Owens to send a couple of patrol officers out.’ Bronski got up and went over to his desk and made the request.
‘That’ll be useful to know but there’s something else,’ Ellison said. ‘I also asked Crawley whether any other security companies wear brown uniforms. I was thinking like Macpherson: that the guy could have seen the BCConn alarm box outside and used the name. He mentioned a firm called Freedom Security. I spoke to their office manager, Linda Nixon, a few minutes before you got back. The woman was very helpful. She described the uniforms as dark tan. They’re a new company with only a dozen engineers so far. She’s also promised me the names and photographs for the morning. She’s going to drop them in at the desk.’
‘Hmm, I suppose dark tan could be described as brown,’ Annie mused.
‘So, between Crawley’s photographs and Linda Nixon’s, we may have a photograph of our murderer,’ Bronski summarised.
‘Let’s see what tomorrow brings. How was the autopsy?’ Ellison asked.
Annie opened her notebook. ‘The injuries around the groin area were remarkably similar to those of Mearns and Bannister. Fogarty was in no doubt that the same or a very similar knife was used. So again there was a series of incised wounds, curved to the contour of the genital area. The wounds appeared deeper than with the other two, producing more muscle damage. Still, the pattern of the wounds remained the same. In addition, there were several puncture wounds, which were made when Lansdowne was still alive, as evidenced by the blood loss from these. There was also bruising on the face, close to the mouth. A tooth was broken and his tongue cut. That was different from the other two. Again death was caused by traumatic blood loss. Although not a medical finding as such, Fogarty is of the opinion that this attack was more vicious than the others.’
Det Annie Macpherson 02 - Programmed To Kill Page 27