The Reckless Engineer

by Jac Wright

  ‘Of course I shall.’ He smiled. ‘It is cold in here.’

  Jeremy walked to the window which opened out just about four inches, tried to close it properly, and failed. A metal bracket holding the double-glazed PVC windowpane attached to the metal frame had come lose at one end, and the other bracket and the hinge on the left were bent. They jammed against the frame.

  ‘It’s broken,’ he said.

  ‘Let’s go back out in the lounge then.’

  ‘Are Alan and you going out?’

  Sally paused, tying her shoelaces, a secret smile at the edge of her lips.

  ‘Maybe. I dunno. He got very emotional when he first saw me in here and his hug turned into a kiss before either of us realized it. Isn’t he married?’

  ‘Separated, for about two years now. He has been seeing a couple of women on and off, but I don’t think he is serious about any of them.’

  They returned to their former seats in the lounge. She sat cross-legged on the sofa again.

  A kiss from Alan probably meant something; he had not known Alan to flirt with women. Alan may be closer to her than he knew. He had better stop prying into his client’s private life.

  ‘Alan feels responsible. He thinks everything that happened was due to a management failure on his part from not dismissing Michelle when she first became disruptive,’ he explained.

  ‘Tell me, what is going on out there with Jack?’ Sally changed the subject. ‘I couldn’t handle it, Jeremy, having Michelle on my back all the time, poisoning Jack and Alan, and Alan not being here. When they fired me it was the last straw. I just went to that house to talk to him away from Michelle; get my job back.’

  He told her what was happening with Jack in the outside world, briefly and cautiously, leaving out anything that might depress her and keeping only to the public knowledge already in the news. Then he got down to the business his client had sent him here for.

  ‘Sally, we need to get you out of here. I can visit you and keep you company whenever I am around Portsmouth and I’m sure Alan will visit you too. Dr. Harding will only release you to a relative or a friend who can stay with you at your home right now. Is there someone in Australia that we can get out here? Can you sign a release form giving us permission to speak to your parents in Australia?’

  ‘Yes. They will probably send cousin Pippa. She has always wanted to visit England. It will take a little time because Pippa has to get a visa and fly out here, maybe about two weeks. I did not want them to know when I first got here because I was in a bad way. If you pick up the charger for my mobile I can call and talk to Mom myself now.’

  She reached into the left pocket of her jeans and tossed Jeremy her keys, dropping a Swiss Army Knife that was tucked away in her pocket. Jeremy picked it up. In true engineering style it was a modern compact variation of a Swiss Army Knife about an inch thick, with a set of flat-head, hexagon-head, and star-head screw drivers of varying sizes off the edges, and a USB stick in the middle.

  ‘I remember you used to carry this around all the time. No one could get you to part with it,’ he reminisced, smiling.

  ‘Much like that case you carry around,’ Sally teased back. ‘Shh, give that back. We are not allowed to keep that in here. They did not think to search me when they first brought me in here because I was unconscious. That knife and my house and car keys were in my pocket. They have towed my car from Jack’s house and left it in the hospital parking lot. I need someone to drive it home for me some time.’

  He looked at his watch. It was 3:15 p.m.

  ‘Sally, first I’m going to drive over to your house, pick up your things, and bring them over. I have to be back in my office in London tomorrow. We can take your car another day.’

  ‘Okay.’ She nodded. ‘But give me the Swiss Army Knife. I have stuff on that USB stick I want to work on when you get my laptop. The work will keep me sane in here.’ She held out her hand.

  He took the keys and tossed the Swiss Army Knife back to her. She sounded just like Jack. They all had that trait in common-it was their engineering work that gave them pleasure, kept them grounded, structured their life, and kept them sane. He had felt as lost as a homeless man during the past eight months when Radio Silicon’s work had dried up. Only tagging along with Harry and helping him had kept him distracted through his days.

  ‘My house will be a mess. I have no cleaners, no relatives, no one who can go in and clean it. Just step around everything. The clothes will be in my room upstairs. Thank you very much for doing this.’

  He nodded. ‘This is the HR form we need you to sign, giving us permission to talk to your parents. Alan and I will make all the arrangements necessary to get Pippa her visa and to fly her out here as soon as possible. I have a little notepad here. Could you write down everything you want me to get from your house, particularly the reading material and the clothes?’

  Sally signed the form and thought out loud as she jotted down the list. ‘Well, I have a running magazine that comes out every Monday, the equestrian magazine comes out every Tuesday, the Rock Climber’s Journal comes out Wednesday, the windsurfing magazine comes out Thursday, the sailing magazine comes out Friday, and the off-road cycling magazine comes out every Saturday; and then there are the Sunday papers. My sports lift my spirits and keep me going and I hate that I am trapped in here and cannot do anything. Having the magazines, at least, will help. Bring only the unread ones, please, Jeremy. They should be the ones on the carpet by the door posted in through the letterbox, still in their cellophane covers.’

  ‘See you later, Sally, and get well soon.’ He pocketed the keys as he got up to leave. He would bring as much of her favourite things as possible so that she could fill her cupboard with things familiar to her. Hopefully this will help alleviate the so called “obsessive compulsive” traits.

  She got up and gave him a hug.

  ‘Thank you for coming here to save my life.’

  Jeremy called Alan to update him on the visit as he walked through the car park.

  ‘Hi, Jeremy. How is she?’

  ‘She’s looking good, Alan, and her doctor says she has been getting better since we started visiting her.’

  ‘Listen,’ he interrupted. ‘Soon after you left I had technical support take Sally and Michelle’s PCs and laptops into the lab and search through the content. I found the letters, Jeremy. I found the anonymous letters to Jack’s family on Michelle’s laptop along with the digital photos taken from a mobile phone that looked like the ones included with the letter to Jack’s wife. I’ve just called the police in because this is material evidence in a murder case. They are on their way to pick up the machines. Michelle sent those letters Jeremy. That witch sent them to break up Jack’s family, then blamed poor Sally and had her fired. I should have fired Michelle at the early stages of these troubles.’

  ‘You cannot blame yourself for all this’ Jeremy tried to comfort him.

  Once inside the car, Jeremy briefed Alan on the important points of his visit to St. James’ ward.

  The administrative nurse who greeted Jeremy informed him that Alan was with Sally when he returned to the hospital. As part of the hospital procedures she took him to her office and proceeded to make an inventory of the belongings brought in for the patient.

  ‘I’ve got five pairs of jeans and trousers, nine tops, two sweaters, six pairs of socks, six pairs of underwear, three brassieres, a pair of high-heeled boots, a pair of trainers, her laptop with the charger, and her phone charger. I picked up some extra stuff from her bedroom, miss. A framed photograph of her family, an album filled with travel and sports photographs, two rock-climbing trophies, two John Grisham novels (these I bought for her), and grapes.’

  The nurse filled out a white form, inspecting and putting away each item.

  ‘I’ve got her post here. Eleven letters and ten magazines that were in the post. Two windsurfing magazines, two sailing magazines, two off-road cycling magazines, two running magazines, one equestrian magazine,
and one rock climbing magazine. I have two Sunday newspapers with the post as well. She likes doing the Sudoku and the crossword puzzles. I have also got her hot water bottle. She says she cannot sleep without it. I’ve got four bottles of shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, and cologne and her makeup bag. Do you need me to itemize what’s in the makeup case?’

  Déjà vu! This was triggering a long forgotten memory in him somewhere. The police station that night he nearly got killed! They had put his car in the compound and him in a cell until Jack had turned up to take him home. The officer at the counter had made an inventory of everything he had with the same meticulous detail, just like this. They probably did the same thing in prison. Locked doors, 24-hour male guards, security alarms . . . This bloody place felt like a sanitised version of prison.

  The nurse looked through the case and approved its content, then itemizing them individually except for the nail clippers and scissors which she kept back. She then had Jeremy sign the list and gave him the yellow carbon copy, which he folded and slipped inside the inner pocket of his jacket.

  ‘No sharp objects are allowed with the patients. You may inform the patient that she may use these while being supervised by a nurse. She can ask a nurse when she wants to use them.’

  Upstairs, Sally was seated on the sofa next to Alan dressed in the same corduroy jeans, fitted sweater and socks—no shirt, no bra. She looked pale and alluring and greeted Jeremy and her belongings with cries of joy.

  Sally asked for some work she could do on her laptop so that she could keep her mind occupied, but Alan declined. She must rest in here, he urged, and she could read the three novels he had bought for her from her favourite writer to keep her mind occupied.

  ‘It was on the 8th of October that you were admitted, right? You have been sectioned for 28 days until the 4th of November and they are likely to extend this to Section 5 detention then. Jeremy and I have brought in a mental health lawyer who will file an appeal for a review tomorrow and get myself assigned as your guardian until your family gets here. Then they can release you to me. Rest for a little while longer and we will have you out of here in great shape, Sally. It is murder out there, with Michelle killed on the 14th and Jack charged for it. I wish I had locked myself in here, too, blissfully unaware of the chaos out there all this time.’

  They kept Sally company for another half an hour. At 5:00 p.m. Jeremy bid them good-bye and set out on his drive back to London with the rush hour traffic out of Portsmouth.

  CHAPTER 27

  Tuesday, October 26 — Eleven Days Later

  ‘So we now have several sets of suspects who could have easily killed Michelle and the baby, right? What do you think?’

  Jeremy leaned forward, looking expectantly at Harry from his seat across his desk in Harry’s office. It had taken a good hour and a half for him to relay to Harry every detail of what his investigations over the past few days had uncovered. Harry had listened intently, taken notes, and cross-questioned him to capture any further details he might have subconsciously registered.

  ‘Yes, we have several groups of suspects engaging in very suspicious activities.’ Harry nodded. ‘We have Douglas McAllen and Skull; Caitlin with Kevin Cossack and Cyrus Levent; Gavin Hunter for the love of Caitlin with or without her collaboration; and Peter and Marianne Connor, either independently or in collaboration with each other. They all have strong motives, the means, and good opportunity to have committed the crime.’

  ‘How about Ronnie, Sally, and Alan for the love of Sally?’ Jeremy suggested.

  ‘Sure. We have Alan Walters with a weak motive but no opportunity since he was away in San Francisco at the AirWater Imaging headquarters. He could have simply sacked Michelle and Jack, you see if protecting Sally was the motive. Sally has a strong motive but limited opportunity unless the chocolates were introduced to Michelle’s premises early on and consumed by Michelle after a delay of almost a week, which is only remotely likely given the note and the fact that every piece of chocolate in the top tier of the two-tier box had poison in its centre. Anyone would try one of the chocolates right away. If only one or two of the chocolates were poisoned it was possible to have killed Michelle with a delay. Actually that would have been the smart thing to do since it puts a time gap between the killer’s presence at the scene of the crime and the death.’

  Harry paused thoughtfully.

  ‘The killer would have then run the risk of Michelle’s sharing the chocolates with someone else and not being killed herself. No, I think, the killer meant to kill with the first chocolate. The box had to be introduced to the premises after Jack left on Wednesday night or else Jack would have had a couple of chocolates himself,’ Jeremy pointed out.

  ‘We also need to find out more about Ronnie,’ Harry continued. ‘He could have acted out to protect his unhealthy interest in BlackGold, Jack’s part of the business. If Jack had got divorced he would have tried to take most of BlackGold and part of the McAllen estate in Guildford with him. The McAllens knew this, as we know from Douglas McAllen’s testimony to Edwards. Framing Jack works out nicely for Ronnie, though it would have been an undesirable necessity for Douglas McAllen purely to save his family from being the prime suspects; he wants Jack at the helm of BlackGold. We also need to locate Skull. I shall send one of my investigators up to Aberdeen right away.’

  ‘Jack has emailed me a list of pubs Caitlin used to frequent with Gavin where Skull might hang out and one of which he might own. He’s bringing the list with him to his meeting this morning. He should be here any minute now.’

  Jeremy looked at his watch. It was 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The skies were overcast and it was a somewhat cold but dry day outside.

  ‘I’m likely to spend the rest of this morning and possibly a little into this afternoon with Jack, and I don’t want you in this meeting, Jeremy. For one thing attorney client confidentiality does not extend to you and the courts could make you testify. Secondly, Jack might not want to disappoint his friend and he might hold something back. I need to do this alone. We can break for lunch together.’

  ‘Okay, I shall make lunch reservations for 1 p.m.’

  Jeremy got up from his seat as Amanda buzzed in to announce Jack’s arrival at the entrance to the building. He watched Harry press the button and answer her.

  ‘I have to take my two new engineers, Ani and Neil, through some training this morning. Jack is staying at my place tonight. We shall be talking engineering stuff and business, and we might go out and have a good time. God knows Jack needs it. I shall bring him up to you now. I expect we are off to Blackmoon Investigations about 3:00 p.m.?’

  ‘Yes. Oh, and Jeremy,’ Harry called after him. ‘Don’t forget we also have Jack Connor as a suspect, with strong motive and strong opportunity. His involvement could be the simplest explanation how the chocolates got there and why Jack did not have one of the chocolates himself, which is why Jack is the one charged with the murder. They could convict him with a majority decision of ten out of twelve jurors. My job here, Jeremy, is to raise a reasonable doubt in the minds of three members of the jury with what we have got on the others.’

  ‘Occam’s razor,’ Jeremy murmured to himself as he headed out to the elevators. He so desperately wanted Jack to be innocent. He wanted his old work-mate and buddy back.

  CHAPTER 28

  Tuesday, October 26 — Eleven Days Later

  The entrance to Blackmoon Investigations was marked by a cheesy sign hung above the front entrance featuring a figure of a crouched man on tiptoe in silhouette against a large waxing moon reminiscent of a Pink Panther introduction sequence. It was apparent that private investigators liked to convey discretion, stealth, and concealment in their services by not having their offices in prominent display, for once again the door to the entrance opened to a discreet stairwell that led up to the Blackmoon offices contained within the upper floors above a dry cleaning outfit. This time, however, the door did not give into Jeremy’s push. He had to ring the bell to
hear the receptionist’s voice welcoming them over a squeaky entry-phone. The electric buzz of the disengaging door lock eventually directed Jack, Harry, and Jeremy up the stairs to the firm’s reception.

  Inside, the décor was unremarkable and not very different from that of a solicitors’ firm struggling through the still tough London economy. The office tried very hard to portray an air of confident affluence and failed miserably, the truth leaking through and staining patches on the ceiling, sticking to the cobwebs where the walls met the ceiling, and seeping up to form islands of dirt and oil on the heavily worn carpets.

  They were greeted eagerly at the reception by Mr. John Smith himself, a hearty short Welshman about 5’ 5” tall, with a muscular upper body and dark hair prematurely thinning at about thirty-nine or forty.

  ‘It’s a great pleasure to meet you, gentlemen. I am John Smith.’

  Harry stepped forward with the introductions. “Harry Stavers. We spoke on the phone, Mr. Smith. This is Jack Connor, our client, and my associate Jeremy Stone.”

  ‘Ah yes, we spoke on the phone a couple of days ago, Mr. Stavers. Mr. Connor, you are of course no stranger to me and my team since we were tailing you for months. This way, gentlemen. I have a room booked where we can chat and I have about two hours to spare. If you have any more questions after that I have to leave you with my right-hand man, David Brown.’

  David, a young black lad only a little taller than Smith and sporting a closely cropped Afro, gave a slight nod of acknowledgement from his place behind his boss.

  The room Smith led them to was, like the rest of the office rooms, partitioned out using waist high plywood and, from there, ceiling high glass panels. Jeremy took the seat at the head of the table with Harry and Jack on his left and the investigators on his right.

  ‘We are of course paying you and your associate for your time, Mr. Smith, along the lines of the rates that you outlined to me on the phone,’ Harry reminded Smith as everybody settled into his seat around the rectangular glass table.