The Reckless Engineer

by Jac Wright

  ‘I need only the two PCs your husband and you have private access to. I shall also instruct my officers to make copies of any business papers they seize.’

  Caitlin’s apparent cooperation seemed to have softened Edwards’ approach. If only he knew the truth. A lot of people in this room today, Jeremy thought. It was starting to feel stuffy. He quietly reached over from his usual perch on the windowsill and opened two of the side windows a couple of inches. A cool draft blew over the hair on his arm and into the room.

  WPC Hansen, who was yet to take her seat, had walked over to the side of the room and was now hunched down giving instructions to the search party over her radio. Jeremy could see his breeze blowing her short hair up at the back of her neck.

  When she was seated and ready to take notes, Edwards resumed.

  ‘You said yesterday, Mrs. Connor, that you have had no contact with Michelle Williams other than when she called your house. Now how do you explain this thick pile of reports containing every bit of even very private information we found hidden under the floorboards in your attic?’

  ‘I commissioned those reports, Inspector.’ Douglas McAllen answered the question. ‘I put some private investigators on Jack and the woman when I first received the anonymous letter about the affair. Caitlin has seen only the first report from when we first confronted Jack. She was not aware of the investigators after that or of those reports being up there. I hid them in the attic so that Jack would not find them and Caitlin would not see them and get distressed.’

  ‘Who did this work for you?’

  ‘A firm called Blackmoon Investigations based in Acton, London. They were quite expensive, so at a later stage I put a cheaper man on the job, but that guy took the last payment I made on account, thirty-two thousand pounds in cash, and vanished. He first contacted me in Aberdeen when the word got around that I was looking for a man to do some digging. He did a good job for a while, but now I cannot contact him.’

  A disappearing second investigator? This sounds like an invention.

  ‘I’m going to need whatever information you have on this man.’

  ‘Well, he’s a white male in his mid-forties, about 5’ 10”, muscular, stocky build like a wrester, bald, brown eyes; Scottish—he spoke with a Scottish accent; lots of tattoos—in particular a skull on his right hand and a scorpion winding half way around the back of his neck. He approached me in person in Aberdeen, giving his name as Danny Brown, and all his reports were delivered to me by post or in-person, some delivered here and some up in Aberdeen. He was doing a good job, digging deeper than Blackmoon. So I kept him on. The mobile number he gave me has not been answered.’

  McAllen was going to great lengths to create this imaginary private eye. Jeremy raised an eyebrow at Harry.

  ‘Where did you meet him? How did he contact you to arrange the meeting?’

  ‘He called me, always on my mobile from his mobile. I met him at the pub in town, The Eagle, and handed him the cash.’

  This is not good for Douglas McAllen. Edwards would be thinking he had paid the man to murder Michelle and vanish. However, McAllen had to account for the reports that the police had that Blackmoon would deny they produced. He was talking himself into quite a fix to protect his daughter.

  ‘What were you going to do with the reports?’

  ‘I was going to fire my son-in-law, Inspector. My daughter’s happiness is at stake here, but so is my family business I have built over decades. I can’t have him taking a chunk out of it for some gold-digging tart. So I took him out to a pub two Sundays ago, put some of the reports in front of him, and threatened to fire him from his post as Director of Engineering of McAllen BlackGold. I further threatened to ban him from entering the premises of any part of my company in any business capacity.’

  McAllen reading Jack the riot act. Pressure with a capital P. I wonder how Jack took it.

  ‘That’s righ’, Inspector Eddie, ole boy,’ Magnus chimed in, temporarily stopping the combing of his moustache with his forefinger. ‘About two weeks ago Douglas instructed me firm to look into what liabilities migh’ arise from dismissing Jack Connor from his position as Director of Engineering of McAllen BlackGold and to fin’ a way to do it as cheaply and as cleanly as possible. We were planning to execute the dismissal next Thursday. Me firm will provide ye with all the paperwork I hae on this.’

  ‘He had until next Thursday to cut off all contact with Michelle Williams,’ Douglas McAllen continued. ‘I have been paying alimony, eight thousand pounds each month, to the former Mrs. Marianne Connor until she remarries; and a further eighteen thousand pounds per year each for a private school education and the upkeep of each one of Jack’s sons, Peter and Marc, out of that marriage on Jack’s behalf. I have a further agreement to pay the full tuition fees and costs for Peter and Marc to attend University in the US or the UK, twenty thousand pounds per year, if they qualify to read a science or an engineering undergraduate degree, and to continue paying the same for their further education if they stay on to do postgraduate studies. I threatened to cut off all of this funding also.’

  Jeremy took a quick glance around to make sure that Peter was not in the room. He hoped he was not outside listening from a quiet spot the way he liked to.

  ‘That’s righ’, Inspector Eddie,’ Magnus confirmed again. ‘Me firm handled Jack Connor’s divorce from Marianne Connor and we agreed the finances the wee lass needed. I sent out a letter to Marianne Connor two weeks ago, outlining our lad Jack’s involvement with that odious Michelle Williams and including some of the Blackmoon reports. I put her on notice that we shall be terminating all funding tae her and her lads in the event of a separation between Jack and Caitlin.’

  Pressure on Jack with a capital P and a capital R!

  ‘Peter’s a lovely, brilliant boy,’ McAllen continued fondly. ‘He’s the grandson I never had. Or rather he’s the only grandson I have. Peter grew up here with Gillian who thought he was her real brother until a couple of years ago. I was going to continue to look after his upkeep and education, but I am damned if I’m going to do it through the bloody Connor divorce agreements if Jack was going to separate from my Caitlin.’

  ‘Hardly fair that Douglas should keep paying the wee lass don’t ye think, Inspector Eddie?’ Magnus chimed in.

  Caitlin had started sniffling softly into her handkerchief.

  Douglas McAllen softened the regal and matter-of-fact tone with which he had been addressing the officers. He put a protective arm over the head rest of the sofa behind his daughter. ‘I am sorry, Caitlin. I am sorry that you had to hear any of that. Inspector, Caitlin was not aware of much of this until now, other than the first Blackmoon report of the affair with which we confronted Jack.’

  Edwards sat back and paused. The satisfied smirk on his face told Jeremy that Edwards must be pleased with the barrage of information that had come his way.

  ‘Mr. McAllen, Mrs. Connor, I need to ask each of you some questions now and I need each of you to answer them individually, if you choose to answer that is.’

  The cross-examination. Now this was going to be interesting. Jeremy listened intently.

  ‘Mr. McAllen,’ he began. ‘This man, Danny Brown, what did you pay him to do?’

  ‘I paid him to investigate the affair between Michelle Williams and Jack and report back to me.’

  ‘Then, if you were such a good source of cash to him, why did he just disappear? It doesn’t make sense. Did you pay him to get Michelle Williams out of your lives and then disappear?’

  Just as I suspected, no end of trouble for McAllen.

  ‘Oh no, I did not. Honestly, I did not.’ Douglas McAllen sat back, alarmed.

  ‘You turned the screws on Jack Connor, and now that you’ve got rid of Michelle Williams, executing any of your previous threats is unnecessary. Isn’t that right, Mr. McAllen?’

  ‘No. Good heavens, no!’

  ‘Then we need to find this man, if anything to get your cash back. You need to give m
e the details and copies of all communications you have had with this man. I need his phone number and I need to access your phone records to trace through the calls he has made to you and vice versa.’

  ‘Like I said officer he approached me in person and all his communications were through the post. All I can give you are the reports he provided me with, and those you already have. I can assist you with a description of him if your officers can search for his whereabouts.’

  Douglas McAllen was being evasive, but he needed to do so to cover for his daughter.

  ‘You can give me copies of these anonymous letters that triggered your investigation, I’m sure?’

  ‘Aye. Magnus has that bloody letter. He will make a copy for you.’

  ‘Mrs. Connor, so you have never seen these reports before?’

  ‘I have not seen those reports before, Inspector, except the first one with which we confronted Jack.’ Caitlin finally spoke, lying.

  ‘You said that Michelle Williams called you here. I’m having the phone records checked anyway, both hers and yours. Can you detail what she said?’

  Caitlin gave a long description of the quite distressing verbal tirades.

  ‘That bloody woman,’ McAllen swore under his breath.

  ‘And you never called her back?’

  ‘No, her calls to my home were the only contact I have had with her. I got an anonymous letter too, about the same time that Papa did. Mine had photographs of Jack with the woman, and I think you already have these.’

  ‘The reports you had upstairs contain details of Michelle’s pregnancy tests just over three months ago. So you knew about her pregnancy even before your husband did, didn’t you?’

  ‘I knew that, Inspector, not Caitlin,’ McAllen jumped in before Caitlin could respond.

  Edwards looked annoyed. It was clear that he was thinking he should have taken the questioning of the father and the daughter separately.

  ‘Do you work with chemicals, Mrs. Connor?’

  ‘Chemicals? No, I do the company accounts. I’m a chartered accountant.’

  Now where is this heading? Ah. They are getting to the poison.

  ‘How about your workmen? You have a pool here. I think you have it treated with chlorine, et cetera?’

  ‘We have a man, also a David, who comes in twice a week to treat and clean the pool, but he’s been sent on holiday now. He has trained Félipé to do some of his work when he’s away, but I prefer David to do it. Félipé’s main responsibilities are to look after the horses and the other animals and to attend to the grounds.’

  ‘What treatment does he do to the pool, do you know?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘My men found chlorine and dry sodium carbonate for pH adjusting for the hard water. So your man chlorinates the water and then pH adjusts it. Am I right?’

  ‘I don’t like much chlorine in the water because it smells bad and ruins one’s hair. Other than that that sounds about right.’

  ‘Who orders these chemicals? And how do you get them?’

  ‘Everybody gives his orders to Hannah, what to buy and where to order it. I run my eye through the accounts every now and then, but Hannah handles the orders for everything for the house. The orders are delivered here, or Hannah drives the pickup and picks things up with Johnny, the gardener.’

  ‘Do you know what dry sodium carbonate is?’

  ‘That’s pool pH adjuster.’

  Edwards smiled and nodded quietly at his notes for a minute or two.

  This sounds important, sodium carbonate, Jeremy made a mental note.

  ‘How about you Mr. McAllen? Do you have a pool?’

  ‘We have an indoor pool because the winters in Aberdeen are bitterly cold. And yes, I have mine treated the same way. My men do it for me.’

  ‘I can see that you have a lovely landscaped garden. I’m told that you also have a large patch of vegetables in the backyard, Mrs. Connor.’

  ‘Much of the grounds are for grazing for my horses, but I do have some vegetable patches. Johnny looks after the garden and the vegetable patches.’

  ‘How about you, Mr. McAllen, do you have green fingers?’

  ‘I have two acres of land where we grow vegetables and fruit, such as carrots and strawberries. My men look after it, but Leana and I like to do some work in it for relaxation when we have some time.’

  ‘Where do you order the fertilizer, Mrs. Connor? Do you know what fertilizer you use?’

  ‘I don’t know much about that. Johnny places the orders with Hannah, and then they pick it up in the pickup.’

  ‘My men do all that also. I think they use nitrogen something,’ McAllen volunteered.

  ‘Well, despite having an abundance of ammonia nitrate, do you know what I found in your barn? Potassium ferrocyanide.’

  Potassium ferrocyanide. They are fishing for information on its presence and accessibility. The active ingredient here is cyanide. Cyanide poisoning!

  ‘I think they mix it up for better effect. I always ask them to use natural compost, but it takes such a long time to make enough. I don’t think they use much of it though,’ Caitlin answered.

  ‘I gather you manufacture equipment used in oil and gas mining. Do you use something like a welding torch or a propane torch for our manufacturing processes? I found one in Jack Connor’s lab.’

  ‘My men do. We manufacture electromechanical equipment and machinery for the oil and gas industry. All our labs have propane torches, and some, the mechanical ones, have oxy-fuel welding torches,’ McAllen advised.

  Edwards paused and nodded, exchanging a glance with Hansen.

  ‘Do you like chocolates, Mrs. Connor? What chocolates do you like?’

  ‘Well, Thornton’s chocolates are okay for daily use, but I get mine on mail order from a couple of fine handmade Belgian chocolate shops in London. Leonidas and Cavalier chocolates. I’ve got everybody addicted to them. So I get a regular order of a dozen boxes of each make every month, which Hannah stores in the larder in the basement next to the wine.’

  ‘Leonidas, Cavalier, and Thornton’s. Have any of these boxes gone missing lately?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know, Inspector. I never keep track of the food. Hannah looks after the larder and if any of the food is low on stocks she orders more.’

  ‘We are going to need to interview your household staff at some point, Mrs. Connor.’ He nodded at Hansen to make a note to do so.

  ‘Have you seen this before, Mrs. Connor, Mr. McAllen? Or something like it?’ Edwards pushed the trays to a side and put a small-lidded vial in a cellophane bag on the coffee table, then sat back and looked at the Caitlin and McAllen searchingly.

  Jeremy got up from his perch and stole forward to get a better look. It was the kind of thing you might find in any old pharmacy or laboratory.

  Both of them were shaking their heads. Harry had warned them that this question was sure to arise.

  After a few minutes of silence Edwards picked up the vial and his papers.

  ‘Well, that’s all the questions I have for now. I need the details of your private investigators, Blackmoon. I should also like you to come into the station tomorrow morning, Mr. McAllen, and speak to an artist who will draw an impression of your disappearing private eye. We shall try to track him down.’

  McAllen looked harangued by the request, but nodded as Edwards and WPC Hansen got up.

  ‘If ye come into the board room with me, Inspector Eddie, I shall give ye copies of the documents, the Blackmoon business cards, and any other papers ye want.’

  Magnus held up his right hand to Edwards who was by now standing, clearly asking for a hand up from his comfortable seat. Edwards, taken aback by the request, obliged anyway by taking Magnus’ hand and pulling him forward and up into a standing position, but not before getting precariously close to being pulled down instead.

  ‘And I should like to talk to you about releasing Jack on police bail, Inspector.’ Harry got up as well.

  ‘That
is not going to happen today, Mr. Stavers, but I shall consider it after we will have sifted through the results from our search of the BlackGold offices, likely the day after tomorrow.’ Edwards pursed his lips and shook his head.

  ‘This way, this way, Inspector Eddie.’

  Magnus pointed the officers toward the door, and led a startled Edwards out by his elbow with friendly enthusiasm.

  Caitlin, Douglas McAllen, and Harry sat back and with sighs of relief. They all listened quietly to the sounds of the officers in the hall and then of the cars driving off.

  Turning back from the window to which he had returned to watch the officers’ departure, Jeremy finally broke the silence.

  ‘Michelle died from seizure, multiple organ failure, and probably cardiac arrest from cyanide poisoning. Almost pure cyanide can be made from reacting treated Potassium ferrocyanide with sodium carbonate by heating the mixture with an intense heat source like a propane torch. They believe the poison had been stored in that vial and administered with food, likely chocolates,’ he deduced out loud, stunning his audience into another long silence.

  And almost everybody living in this mansion had a motive and the means to do it.

  CHAPTER 12

  Monday, October 18 — Three Days Later

  ‘I left my car parked in the airport parking lot. So that’s where we are heading first. Could you follow me in my car from there to the limousine company? We can return the limo and then head over to Mum’s place from there.’

  The Chrysler Executive hummed a sleepy song as Peter maneuverer it through the Monday morning traffic heading towards Southampton.

  ‘Sounds like a plan, Peter.’ Jeremy nodded. ‘Thanks for driving me. I didn’t really want to be stuck in the house by myself. I have to get Jack four weeks of leave and sort out some work matters for him at Marine. My appointment with Alan Walters, Jack’s manager—actually he was my former manager also—is at three in the afternoon. Alan has his hands full with a lot of distraught engineers this morning, having had news of Michelle’s murder splashed all over the front pages this weekend. Harry has somehow managed to keep your dad’s involvement out of the news so far.’