Holding the keys in his hand Connor turned the engine on and knelt down next to Stewart placing the bottle on the floor of the car.
“Everything will be ok Malcolm. It will be painless and when they, or should I say Rachel discovers you in the morning there will be only one conclusion. The man who loses everything and is on the verge of doing time in prison could no longer cope with the humiliation of being publicly disgraced so he decided to get drunk and finish himself off. You see the last time you went to court a lot of people suffered and you managed to get away with it but not this time. Every day I have thought about what went through my fathers’ mind as he tried to kill me all those years ago. Perhaps as you cherish the last few seconds of your life you can try and imagine what it must have been like for him. Goodbye Mr Stewart”
The shaking of the body and the fury in Stewart’s eyes told Connor the drug was slowly wearing off. By the time they found him in the morning the carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipe would have flushed the poison out of his system leaving no trace. This he learned during his time at the hospital. Connor closed the door and felt nothing but hatred for the man who helped drive his father to try
and kill his own son. Within minutes the car had filled with a thin blue smoke and the wretched face of Stewart was barely visible which told Connor by the time he reached the end of the drive he would most certainly be dead.
Opening, then quickly closing the door to the garage Connor never once looked back as he stayed near to the hedgerow until he reached the road. The drive back to Hereford was a quick one along the M4 motorway as Connor took a good guess at what Philip Newton might be thinking as he slept in his own bed for what would probably be the last time.
Chapter 20
19th June 2011.
“Good morning Mr Newton and thank you for helping us with our enquiries” said the guy in the police uniform who had come to meet them at the entrance.
Philip Newton seemed calmer than yesterday and it was perhaps because he had spoken with his friend the commissioner last night as he, his second wife Anne, his son Hugh and Sarah were led through to a room that resembled a lounge area more than an interview room.
“Hello Philip how are? Don’t worry we will sort this all out and you can be on your way” said John Murphy the commissioner as he shook Newton’s hand.
Murphy was a fit looking man of medium height that gave a look of him nearing retirement with his neat short grey hair and his neatly trimmed grey moustache. A slight Scottish accent could be heard which seemed to reinforce his air of confidence as his piercing blue eyes stared at whoever he spoke to. The pitted red nose gave away he was a heavy drinker of mainly malts and he would regularly be sucking a mint to hide the fact.
“Thank you for doing this John it is very much appreciated” said Newton with a slight smile on his face.
Newton didn’t even take his jacket off as he was asked with the rest of his family to take a seat. There was a quiet confidence about him that he did not have yesterday and this in turn put Hugh at ease. It was as though he did not expect to be there very long as John Murphy came near and spoke quietly in his ear.
“I haven’t had chance to check the evidence yet Philip because they are still processing it but as soon as they have finished I will have a look then put all this behind us”
“Thank you John” said Newton as someone came in with a tray of tea and biscuits.
The whole family sat in silence as the effects of the past few days caught up with them. Sarah still looked in shock and it was obvious she had not slept at all and Hugh looked like he was trying to imagine what prison would be like which in turn was draining the colour from his face. Someone would enter the room and the whole group would watch with anticipation, waiting for something to be said. This happened quite frequently and interrupted Sarah trying to convince Hugh that they should move house because of what happened. Then it would dawn on Sarah that “them” meant her and Ava because Hugh might be in custody.
Another person entered the room and this time they were to do with the case.
“Sir may we have a word in private” asked one of the plain clothed officers.
His question was directed at the commissioner who remained seated and asked why it could not be said in front of everyone. The officer squirmed but didn’t give in and requested again that the
commissioner follow him. Everyone sitting in the room knew it was something to do with the case as John Murphy the commissioner tried to put everyone at ease.
“I’ll be back in a minute and please don’t worry. Would you like anything else?”
There was hardly an answer, only mumbling as they watched him leave the room and disappear down the corridor. A whole half an hour went by and the tension could be felt amongst the family. Newton had gone from being calm to agitated during this time and paced the room glaring at anyone who entered or spoke, including his own family. Just as the clock was about to strike the hour John Murphy re-entered the room with detective Mills who had dealt with the case yesterday. Newton could tell straight away that something was wrong by the look on Murphy’s face as he asked Newton to take a seat as the rest of the family waited with baited breath once again.
The Commissioner spoke softly as he leant in towards Newton.
“Philip there has been some new developments and I just want to clarify a few things with you before we go any further, off the record of course”
“As long as it helps this situation John then yes no problem”
The Commissioner took a deep breath as though he was struggling to comprehend what he was about to say.
“Philip……..were you at your son’s house two nights ago around ten thirty in the evening?”
“Yes I was” said Newton with a questioning tone in his voice.
“And how long were you there for?”
“I pulled up on the driveway, rang the doorbell then knocked the door but there was no answer. Why are you asking me these questions John? Shouldn’t we be discussing my son being cleared?”
“Let’s just say that the information you give us could help us establish the fact that your son is not the killer”
“Ok!” said Newton nodding.
“You are sure that is all you did? So you were at the house no longer than let’s say five minutes”
“Yes that’s right”
John Murphy glanced at detective Mills to at least let him answer more questions and Mills nodded his reply. Murphy then glanced at notes on a sheet of paper that had the stamp of the government and the fraud investigation team.
“Listen Philip I’ll cut to the chase. I know, or should I say we know that your company is being investigated and her majesty’s government has been knocking on your door for the past few months. I don’t want to embarrass you now but you know as well as I do your company as it stands will be worth nothing when their investigations are finished and your assets that have come from embezzling funds and money laundering will be taken from you”
Hugh gasped in shock at the revelations being revealed and turned to his father then his stepmother.
“What the hell is going on? Anne is this true?”
Newton didn’t give his wife Anne a chance to answer although the look on her face meant she didn’t have to.
“Of course she knew, you all should have known” shouted Newton.
“Oh my god” mumbled Sarah putting her hand over her mouth in disbelief.
“Really is it that bad?” sighed Hugh.
Newton looked at Murphy who held up the piece of paper giving Newton the option of either coming clean or he would read out what the fraud investigations, the Inland Revenue and the courts were saying.
“It’s all that bloody Malcolm Stewarts fault. He was meant to be looking out for me and keeping people off my back. Instead he let a bloody kid out of college do my accounting and the next thing I know the tax people are all over me. You have to understand I had to do what I had to do otherwise the company would have go
ne under long before this”
“What do you mean you had to do what you had to do?”
Newton shook his head and sighed as Murphy glanced at Mills.
“Take from the smaller companies, hide funds in ghost accounts, false accounting, you name it we did it. Now the government has found out and wants its share back…………….but there is not much to give back. Most of the company has been running on phantom figures over the last few years. If only the government had not found out until next year when we would have won a large contract in Saudi Arabia. Bloody Malcolm Stewart”
“Excuse me Mr Murphy can you tell me what this has to do with the murder of Paul Taylor in my home” said Hugh sounding like he was at the end of his tether at what his father had just announced.
Mills looked at the Commissioner as he took a deep breath and made his next announcement.
“Philip it seems as though you are all going through a hard time at the moment and looking at these files from the fraud office it looks like it is not going to get much better. We won’t delve into this any further. That is someone else’s job”
“It’s a bit late for that now but thank you anyway John” said Newton sarcastically.
“But it does play a part in the proceedings here today”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe it is stress form the fact you face losing everything or maybe it is something Paul Taylor knew about your family that you wanted to be kept a secret but from the evidence we have and what we found on him, from where we are sitting it looks like you killed Paul Taylor Philip and not your son”
As much as they were both good friends, Newton now looked at Murphy like he had just wiped him off the bottom of his shoe.
“This is preposterous John and you know it, have these hypocrites put you up to this?”
“Be careful what you say Philip because I am well within my rights to have you arrested”
“What’s going on this is ridiculous?” said Hugh as he stood up and walked the room, his hands covering his face.
“There is evidence to suggest that your father was in the garage at the time of the murder ……..and there is……………I’m sorry to say there is a motive”
John Murphy struggled to say the last sentence as the family all waited for the supposed proof he was talking about.
“What’s going on John? We’re supposed to be friends” said Philip Newton in a calm pleading voice.
John Murphy looked at the family with sympathetic eyes because he knew what he was about to tell them was going to tear the family apart.
“Philip I’ve tried to find proof you did not do this but I cannot find any other explanation. Yours as well as Hugh’s prints are on the gun”
“Well I gave Hugh the gun”
“A cushion and a blanket from your car were used to silence the weapon during the murder”
“They are from my father’s car that I borrowed when I took Anne out last week” said Hugh.
“There is other evidence too Philip but you must let me explain the motive because……….well I honestly don’t know how else I can tell you this. The reason I am here to sit in on this case is not just because I want to help as a friend. It is because what I have to tell you now affects the whole family and because we have been friends for so long I think it is right it should be me and not a stranger”
John Murphy’s sympathetic tone had captured the attention of the family, more with concern than anything else as they hung on attentively to his every word.
“We found a motive why you would have wanted Paul dead. Stuffed in the pocket of the victim was an envelope that contained these papers and we think what is written on these papers is what Paul was trying to bribe you with. How much was he asking for Philip?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about John. This Paul guy was a relative and a lawyer and never once approached me to ask for money”
“He was Hugh’s cousin so perhaps he stumbled on this and decided to take advantage” asked Murphy
“This is crazy. What could he possibly bribe me with? Most people knew the company was going bankrupt”
John Murphy opened some copies of the letters found on Paul Taylor and even though he had read them once before he struggled to comprehend what was on them.
“Before I tell you what is on these I have to let you know that it has been verified by the correct authorities and that is why it has taken a day or two to get this far. It says……..I’m sorry Philip you have to read it” said Murphy putting it in Newton’s hand then standing up and placing his head in his hands to the bemusement of the Newton family.
There was dead silence as Philip Newton read quietly to his self the supposed motive. He had only gone a few lines down before he looked a t Hugh, Sarah then his wife Anne and placed his hand over his mouth. As he read on the tears came then his face creased up in anguish before he threw the few pages onto the floor and stood up ever defiantly”
“This can’t be, this bullshit, this is bullshit” he shouted as Murphy tried to grab him and calm him down.
“What is it? What does it say?” shouted Hugh at everyone in the room.
The ever defiant Newton seemed to be crumbling as he walked to the window and pulled it open to get some fresh air.
“You have to tell them Philip………before we take you for further questioning”
“Why is this happening, which bastard has set me up, this is so wrong. No…………no this shouldn’t be happening”
“Please tell us what the hell is going on” cried Sarah as she watched her husband start to shake.
Philip Newton walked over to the pieces of paper shaking his head before Hugh had chance to pick them up and read further in case it had been a mistake. Taking a deep breath and rubbing his forehead nervously he glanced back at what was on the papers trying to hold back the emotional choking in his throat then placed them back on the table and faced his family.
“Jesus Chris…….. when Hugh was born we celebrated it like you do when a first child comes into the family…………… Your mother and I were overjoyed and cherished every day with you and loved you like no other………………… We probably went over the top sometimes but we didn’t care…………….. It was probably because we were trying to shut out the memories of……….of our actual first child”
Newton’s wife looked horrified and Hugh was bent double struggling to take in enough oxygen at the revelation as Newton senior covered his face with his hand.
“Our first child came at a bad time in our lives because my first wife was not very well and she was told it was possible she would not survive the birth. Of course she did survive but before the child was even born we both decided that it would be better for the child and your mother if it was given up for adoption”
“Jesus Christ you bastard!” shouted Hugh.
“How dare you say that? You don’t know what we were going through so you have no right” replied his father.
Newton took a few more deep breaths before continuing.
“Before the birth we also agreed we would have no interaction with it so we would not get emotionally attached. We made plans for the child to go to a respectful home and agreed with the foster parents that it would never be revealed and there was no real need to because we handed it over straight away. Before they had even cleaned your mother up the child was taken to another room in the hospital and we never saw it again”
“And when would you have told me this……..were you going to tell me………I can’t believe this”
“And that is what they think the bribe and the motive is” asked Sarah as she watched her husband struggle to comprehend what was being said.
“No they think Paul tried to bribe me because…………. he perhaps knew who our first born was”
“How would he know that?” asked Sarah wiping the tears away from her face.
“Because according to this………..this can’t be possible please god”
&nbs
p; Newton could barely talk at the prospect of what he was about to say.
“For god sake tell us what it says” shouted Hugh.
“……you…………… you were our first born child Sarah………….you were our first born child”
A few seconds of silence came before the outburst of emotions that filled the room.
“Please no…………… no this is not true no…………. no god no!” cried Hugh at the realisation of what had just been said.
Hugh grabbed his father and shook him.
“Tell me this is not true you bastard……………bastard!!!”
“Sarah sat in shock shaking, just staring into space and not being able to comprehend the situation they all found themselves in.
LUCIFER'S ANGEL Page 17