Det Annie Macpherson 02 - Programmed To Kill

by Speake, Barbara Fagan

  Ellison was thoughtful. ‘Makes you wonder whether the murderer saved the best for last, so to speak. Maybe he was working his way up to this one, almost as if the other two were for practice. There has to be some really strong link between these three for the viciousness. Monica Lansdowne didn’t recognise Mearns’ name at all and was really taken aback by the letter when I showed it to her. We also now know that all three were at the University of Westford at the same time and graduated in the same year, with different majors. I managed to get on to the university a few minutes ago and their transcripts are being searched in the archive for us. We can see if they were known to each other through matches in their timetables, clubs or sports. So hopefully that will arrive tomorrow.’

  ‘So,’ said Bronski summarising, ‘we’re still trying to establish firm links between the three. I think we’re beginning to wonder if there may be more to this than child abuse or pornography, unless we find that the trusted mayor was into the same game. We need to get those reports from Parker on the computers belonging to Mearns and Lansdowne as soon as possible.’ He addressed Ellison, ‘Threaten him with the captain.’

  ‘OK,’ Ellison responded. ‘I’ll call him now and give him a deadline of lunchtime tomorrow.’

  Annie went back to her desk to write up file notes. Somehow Lansdowne’s autopsy had disconcerted her more than the other two. She knew it wasn’t simply because of running into Charlie and his girlfriend in the parking lot of the hospital. In all the autopsies she’d ever been to, she hadn’t met the victim in the flesh beforehand. Lansdowne was a first for that. So she had more of a before and after comparison and it struck her again about the decomposition of the body. In his case, lividity had virtually turned his whole body a purplish colour, even worse than the colour of Mearns’. Then by the time the body was bagged, rigor mortis was starting to reverse and the facial muscles had started to become more flaccid which almost gave him a wry smile in death. She dreaded the thought that if anything happened to her brother Andrew at home, that she and Mum might have to face the prospect of his having to have an autopsy.

  Chapter 63

  Linda Nixon had the files piled up on the table and was systematically photocopying the first sheet of each, as well as the photograph of the respective employee. Usually she would have asked Graham Spencer, her boss, for permission to release such information. That wasn’t possible. He was on vacation and had left her in charge. Detective Ellison had been persuasive on the phone and she was happy to help, even if it meant working later than usual to get a composite file ready to drop off in the morning.

  Glancing up at the clock, she noticed it was a little after five thirty. One or two of the engineers would be back soon to drop their uniforms off in their lockers, or if they were ready for a fresh one, into the laundry bag. Some did it religiously, while others forgot and the contract for the laundry was usually missing one or two. She didn’t want any of them to see her copying the photographs and ask why. As the last piece of paper came through the machine, she placed it in the file and switching off the light in the room, headed down the corridor.

  ‘Linda’ the voice called behind her.

  The woman jumped.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re usually gone by this time.’ The casually dressed man continued to approach her, uniform rolled into a ball under his arm, a backpack slung over one shoulder.

  ‘Martin, you gave me a fright. With Graham away, I had a few extra things to do. You here to put that in the laundry bag?’ she asked, glancing at the uniform.

  ‘Yeah, I’m off tomorrow for the day. I already have a couple of uniforms at home I keep forgetting to bring in. Thought I’d better at least return this one, or you’ll start charging me for them. Sorry I made you jump.’

  ‘You took me by surprise, that’s all. I’m finishing off a few things before I leave. Enjoy your day’s vacation.’ Linda returned to her office, her heart still pounding. I’d never make a thief, she thought, my nerves wouldn’t hold up. She was tempted to leave the filing until the morning, but with an employee in the building, she knew better than to leave files lying around. This was a security company, after all. Brantingham, Martin was top of the pile. She glanced down the corridor and didn’t see Martin. She filed that one back first in case he was still around and decided to pop in.

  *****

  Around six o’clock, two uniformed patrol officers came into the squad room. Bronski motioned them over to the table. The other two detectives joined him. They introduced themselves as Officers Fallon and Speiler. Annie didn’t recognise either of them.

  ‘We knocked on every door on the road, twenty in total,’ Officer Fallon started his report. ‘Eight households have BCConn alarms, six have other company alarms and the rest don’t have alarm systems. Although after a murder on their road, I think some of them are putting orders in. None of those with alarms, including the BCConn ones, had been approached last Thursday about a fault with the alarm. We also asked them if they knew the colour of their engineer’s uniform. Only two of those with BCConn alarms knew the colour was light blue. None of the other alarm companies have brown uniforms. The closest was tan.’

  Officer Speiler added, ‘We’ll write up the details now – names, addresses, alarm companies etc, but thought you’d want some verbal feedback first.’

  ‘Thanks Officers, that’s really helpful and thorough.’

  When the two officers left the room, Ellison was the first to comment. ‘So, it sounds like this is our murderer and he spun Monica Lansdowne a story to gain entry. He would’ve had to say BCConn Alarms because that’s their system. Are all alarm control panels in the basement or did he have inside knowledge that the mayor’s was?’

  ‘Mine’s in the basement,’ replied Bronski. ‘Makes sense, as that’s a good out of the way place and most people have their electrics and meters down there.’

  ‘So you think it was an educated guess?’ Annie asked.

  ‘Maybe,’ Bronski shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘OK, well there’s no harm in talking to Bruce Crawley tomorrow and looking through Linda Nixon’s files. I’ll also ask Crawley where the majority of the control panels are fitted in houses. I’ll still get the photos from him and show them to Monica Lansdowne as well as the ones from Freedom Security. At least that way we can eliminate legitimate staff,’ Ellison replied.

  Bronski put on his jacket. ‘I’m off, see you tomorrow.’

  ‘How about you?’ Ellison asked Annie when Bronski was out the door.

  ‘I could do with a shoulder to cry on, if I’m honest,’ Annie answered.

  ‘Right,’ Ellison said, ‘my place for pizza, beer and my shoulder. Then a cab home, unless I can persuade you to stay.’

  *****

  Annie really liked Ellison’s tenth floor apartment. It was a bachelor pad without being too macho. The patio doors in the living room led out to an enclosed area with seating for two.

  ‘You have to see the view,’ Ellison said, opening the patio doors and leading Annie out on to the balcony. ‘That’s the Capitol building all lit up.’

  Annie stared into the distance. ‘I didn’t realise how much park land there was, but from here you realise that there are swaths of it.’

  ‘It’s deceptive from the ground, isn’t it? You can’t quite see the station, but it’s over to the right,’ Ellison said, pointing.

  Annie was mesmerised.

  ‘Anyway, what do you want to drink? I’ve got wine, beer …’

  ‘White wine, if you have it,’ Annie replied, following Ellison back into the living room. She took a seat, glancing around at the prints on his walls.

  Ellison came through with her wine and a bottle of beer. He had already taken his tie off and loosened his collar. He joined Annie on the leather couch, placing his drink on the glass coffee t
able. ‘So, something happened when you were out with Bronski, didn’t it? You looked upset when you two got back. It was more than the autopsy, wasn’t it?’

  Annie took a sip of her wine. ‘You’re very perceptive, Dave, I’ll give you that. I guess you could say that I had a bit of a shock. Bronski and I were in the hospital parking lot when Charlie came walking towards us.’

  ‘Shit, of course, I never thought. He’s still there visiting his sister, isn’t he? Did he say something to upset you?’

  ‘It wasn’t what he said, exactly.’ Annie put her wine down. ‘It was the fact that he wasn’t alone. He was strolling towards us holding hands with a very attractive woman.’

  ‘The forces sweetheart?’

  ‘She’s called, Captain Jane Garry. He had no choice but to introduce us. She said she’d heard a lot about Bronski and me and how I had saved Angela Goodman’s life.’

  ‘That it?’

  ‘I could tell that Charlie was really uncomfortable. Bronski asked about his sister and Charlie thought for a moment that we there to see her, before Bronski explained that we were on our way to the mortuary. He told us how his sister was doing. I guess the whole thing only lasted a couple of minutes.’

  ‘And I bet the bastard has never told this woman about you and him.’

  ‘I think that’s true from the way she reacted to me.’

  Ellison was about to comment when his cellphone rang. He glanced at Annie, not wanting to interrupt her story.

  ‘Answer it, Dave. It could be important.’

  ‘It’s one of the station numbers,’ he said as he answered. ‘Yeah, who? Where are they now? What about the kid? She has a kid, where’s he?’

  Annie was trying to work out what was going on. Ellison was too absorbed to relay what was happening for the moment.

  ‘Who’s on duty? So, they’re being arrested? … Yeah, it’s relevant to us, thanks.’ Ellison closed the phone and sighed. ‘That was Officer Cunningham. He remembered the name Amato coming up in the Bannister investigation. His patrol car responded to an emergency call at the Amato address, an hour ago. Frances Amato and her uncle were found beaten up. A neighbour called it in. They’re both in Westford Hospital. Brother Jonathan wants to press charges.’

  ‘Was it Tony Amato?’

  ‘Yeah, with the help of John Merton. Uniformed are on the way to Merton’s house to arrest them.’

  ‘What about the son?’ Annie asked, her voice raised.

  ‘He’s been at the Mertons’ since school finished, playing with their son.’

  ‘What bastards,’ Annie commented. ‘What do you want to do?’

  ‘I want to stay here and order our pizza and let you finish your story and forget we’re both cops,’ he said, touching her arm gently.

  ‘I’d like that too, Dave, but we both know we’re going to the hospital. If nothing else, we need to ask Frances Amato if her alibis for her husband were true.’

  Chapter 64

  Bill Williamson and Grace Marks crossed the road from the coffee shop, back towards the office. ‘Thanks for that, Bill. Your timing was perfect.’

  ‘Merely acting on instructions, like all lawyers do,’ he said, opening the door for her.

  They entered the building and took the stairs to the basement parking lot. ‘I’ll fill you in about that little encounter back at my place. If we get separated, do you know the way?’

  ‘I think I can find it. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be right behind you.’

  Bill was as good as his word. Grace found it comforting to look in the rear view mirror and see him following. The brief time with Barry had disconcerted her. He’d kept asking her about Jennifer and the intervening years. The questions turned into ones Grace couldn’t answer. Did she know what triggered Jennifer’s depression? If only she did know, that would be such a help to her and her mom. She was glad now that she hadn’t mentioned the box of things from the hospital. If he knew she had the last things Jennifer had in her possession, he might never leave her and her mother alone. He wanted answers, but not as much as she did.

  A half hour later they both pulled into the underground parking lot. Bill passed her as he found the visitors’ spaces. Grace had the lid open when he got to the VW. ‘Let me feel the weight,’ he suggested, ‘I might be able to manage it on my own.’ Bill manoeuvred the cardboard box to the rim. ‘I’ll manage it,’ he confirmed.

  Grace opened the apartment door and let Bill in first. ‘Put it over there on the coffee table. I’ll shift stuff out of it as I go along and will probably shred most of it.’

  Bill put the box down and then loosened his tie and took off his suit jacket. Grace opened the fridge. ‘Glass of white wine?’

  ‘I’m ready for one,’ he replied as he sat down at the breakfast bar.

  A half hour later, the food arrived. Grace had put out some plates and chopsticks and they were both drinking their second glasses of wine. She had filled Bill in on her conversation with Barry Ainscough. ‘I agree, Grace, it does seem a bit strange that he wants back in your life. It would make more sense if it was soon after their breakup and he was still coming to terms with it. Unless maybe, during all these years he was hoping they would get back together. Was he in touch with her more recently?’

  ‘Not to our knowledge. The unit didn’t mention any visitors, but who knows? Maybe there’ll be something in that box.’

  ‘If you don’t think it too intrusive, I don’t mind helping you do an initial sift after we’ve eaten.’

  ‘Oh Bill, that would be so kind of you. I must admit I might keep putting it off.’

  ‘Well then, we’ll clear the dishes up when we finish, pour another glass of wine and make a start.’ Bill helped himself to more food.

  Grace was quiet for a moment. ‘I was just thinking of a conversation I had at the unit with Jennifer’s therapist.’

  ‘Do you want to tell me about it?’

  ‘It was strange really. The first thing she said was that Jennifer talked about me a lot in the sessions: that she was very proud of me because I’d achieved so many things. The therapist said she got the impression that Jen idolised me.’

  ‘It’s not unusual for a little sister to idolise her big sister, is it?’ Bill asked.

  ‘I guess not. Yet I hardly saw her the last few years when I was based in Dubai. When I said that to the therapist she said she didn’t think that mattered. Then she said something like, you know she was very troubled, don’t you? I kind of got annoyed at that and probably sounded too harsh. I said that of course, I knew, otherwise she would’ve been living a very different life.’

  Bill looked at her, but didn’t comment.

  ‘It was then that she admitted that the unit never managed to get to the root of what was troubling her. Jennifer, apparently, wouldn’t open up to any of them. Never singled out one of them to confide in. They concluded that that there was something she couldn’t disclose, that it was too painful.’

  ‘Do you think there will be any answers in that stuff in the box?’

  ‘Funny, that’s exactly what I asked the therapist. She said she wasn’t sure because they hadn’t been through her personal things. All they had to go on is what she disclosed in sessions. In fact, the therapist said that Jen was more interested in the other patients in the groups and them getting well, than she ever was about herself. It was almost as if she had accepted the illness role, like she never expected to get better.’

  Twenty minutes later, they sat on the couch with fresh coffees. ‘Are you sure you want to do this, Bill? It’s getting late and you still have the drive home.’

  ‘Another hour or so is fine. Let’s make a start. It might make you feel better. The hardest bit is getting started, as I well know.’ Bill touched her arm in encouragement and then took the heavy box off the cof
fee table and placed it on the floor. Grace knelt down and lifted the lid off. There were several manila folders, which she took out and placed on the couch between them. ‘What are we looking for?’ Bill asked. ‘I don’t want to miss anything important.’

  Grace hesitated for a minute. ‘I want some answers, anything that will help Mom and me understand what was going on for Jen. She told us so little. I guess I’m also curious now about Barry Ainscough. I wonder if he meant as much to Jen as he thinks he did. It might set my mind to rest. I may have been too hard on him tonight. I need to be sure that he’s not exploiting her memory for some bizarre reason.’

  Bill opened the first folder and flicked through it. He skimmed the letters from the hospital unit to Jennifer Marks outlining how they were trying to help her, the changes in medication and the group programmes suggested for her. ‘I think this one is to satisfy the insurance companies that treatment was being offered,’ he commented, as he picked up the folder beneath it. That contained more of the same, covering different years. He placed the two folders on the floor on top of each other. ‘Grace I’ll start a pile of things that may be worth keeping in case there are any insurance questions in the future, although I expect that’s all been settled.’