by A L Fraine
“Does he know Naomi well?”
“I don’t think so. He chats with Robyn more than Naomi. And Kay.”
“I see,” Kate said. “And tell me about Robyn?”
“The weirdo? She’s into that Voodoo shit. Witch stuff. Bit of a freak, if you ask me.”
“So, you don’t speak to her much?”
“Not if I can avoid it. I only talk to her for work stuff really.”
“That’s big of you,” Kate muttered as she wrote in her pad. She wondered what Robyn’s opinion of Hunter would be. Although she could probably guess.
“Do you have any information that might help us further on this investigation? Anything you’ve noticed or seen?” Nathan asked.
“I don’t think so. It was a bit of a shock really when I heard. Just wondering if I have a job to go back to now.”
“Well, if you do think of anything,” Kate added, “here’s the number of the station.”
“Just the station?” he asked as they all rose from their seats. He looked at her, his expression questioning.
“Thank you for your time, Mr West,” Kate said, and walked towards the door, aware that he was probably ogling her arse as she turned her back to him. She didn’t care enough to say anything and led the way out after a quick acknowledgement of thanks to him.
He’s a bit of a dick,” Kate commented as they approached their car on the street outside.
“But did he do it?” Nathan asked.
“I don’t think so,” she answered as she climbed into the passenger side of the car. “I don’t get that vibe from him at all. He’s clearly an over-sexed man’s man, looking to get his end away at the earliest opportunity, but as for a killer? No, my money’s not on him. I don’t think he did it.”
“He didn’t think much of Chris, though.”
Kate shrugged. “Prejudice doesn’t mean you’re a killer.”
“No, it doesn’t. Well done, by the way. You handled him well. You’ve got good people skills. Do you want to lead the next two?”
Kate smiled, genuinely this time. “Sure, thanks. I’ll give it a go.”
“So, who’s next on the list?”
Kate checked her notebook and the name and address listed inside. “Wilson Hollins, the property owner.”
CHAPTER 11
“Well, someone’s done alright for themselves,” Nathan commented as he pulled up onto the drive of the gated property.
Kate admired the large, beautiful house on the other side and nodded. The three-story home was huge, with well-maintained gardens on a road of houses that were similar, or even bigger still.
Surrey was an affluent area with lots of very wealthy people living in the county, but it still had its fair share of residents living on or below the poverty line. Clearly, that wasn’t an issue on this road though.
Nathan pulled up next to an intercom just in front of the gate and pressed the button. Moments later, Kate heard a male voice ask who they were. Kate guessed it was Wilson. Nathan answered, and seconds later, the gates opened remotely, granting them entry into the bricked driveway with enough room for several cars. There was already two in here, but that still left ample room for them to turn the car around and park up.
“I always enjoy coming to houses like this and being reminded that I chose the wrong career,” Nathan commented.
Kate smiled. “So, you’re saying I should quit and retrain?”
“Depends if you like money or not.”
“Good point, I’ll have to ponder that one. Hmmm, do I like money? Let me think…”
“Alright, little miss sarcastic, let’s go chat with the millionaire,” he said and climbed out the car.
Kate followed. “I bet he has good coffee.”
“Oh, so you’ll accept it off the rich man in the large house. Gotcha.”
“Provided he doesn’t ogle my tits.”
“Because standards,” Nathan answered as they approached the front door.
“Every girl’s gotta have them. Shall I take the lead on this one too?”
“Go for it. You’ve got a good way with people.”
“Unlike you?” Kate asked.
“Like you say, it’s probably the tits.”
“Get some implants, Mr Happy.”
“I’m the grumpy one, haven’t you noticed that yet?”
“I’m blocking it out, it’s the only way I can stand to be around you.”
Nathan smiled and shook his head as Kate pressed the doorbell. Moments later the large wooden door swung inwards revealing the shortish man with a shaved-bald head that they’d met at the office yesterday.
“Detectives. Welcome. Please, come in… Ooof,” he said, as a little girl ran up behind him and grabbed his legs in a hug. She peered around them, her large eyes looking up at Kate with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
Kate smiled at the little girl. “Hi there. I’m Kate, and I’m a Policewoman.”
The little girl backed up. “Police?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, we’re not here to arrest anyone,” Kate continued.
The girl looked out into the driveway and then back up at Nathan and Kate.
“Where’s your police car?”
Kate smiled. “That’s our police car out there. It’s a secret one.”
The girl looked up at her in wonder. “So you can sneak up on robbers?”
“That’s right. We sneak up on them and grab them,” Kate answered, making claws with her hands and reaching for her, but deliberately missing.
“Wow,” the girl said, laughing.
“Shall we let the nice police people in now, Daisy? They want to speak to daddy.”
“Okay,” Daisy said, allowing her father to back up and let them in.
“Please, go through there and take a seat.” He said to them. “I’ll get Daisy settled in the playroom and be right back.”
Kate nodded and smiled.
“Thanks, Mr Hollins,” Nathan said and went into the front room on their right. It was large and like everything else they could see, clean and filled with expensive-looking furniture and ornaments.
Kate caught Nathan’s eye and whispered to him. “Playroom? La-di-da.”
“Like I said, wrong job.”
Neither of them sat on the seats spread around the space they walked into. Instead, Kate made a slow circuit of the room, running her eyes over the photos and items on display. Nathan also took an interest in the pictures, but was less subtle about it, just walking right up to them and squinting at them.
Kate heard the sound of the television going on in another room and made her way back towards the sofa with a quick hiss at Nathan to join her.
He glanced back at her but didn’t rush over. Instead, he took his time and finished his perusal of the photos on the cabinet, looking up as Wilson strode back into the room.
“Sorry to keep you, officers. Please, take a seat. How can I help you? I take it this is about Jordan Donaldson.”
“That’s right,” Kate replied, sitting on the sofa. Nathan walked over and joined her, as she checked Wilson’s full name and some other basic details.
“So you were at the office, the morning after the night of the murder,” Kate began.
“That’s right. I had a meeting with Jordan that morning. It had been in the diary a while. I parked up behind the office as usual. Jordan’s car was there, so when I learned he wasn’t in, I figured he’d gone out to get a coffee or something,” he said with a shrug. That’s when you guys turned up.”
“Okay. I see. And what about the night of the murder? Were you home?”
“I worked late that night at my office. My secretary was there. She’ll confirm where I was.”
“I see, and what time were you there until?”
“Oh, around ten, ten-thirty, maybe? I was home shortly after that. Caught my wife before she went to bed. Watched a little TV and joined her a little later on.”
“So, you say your secretary can confirm you were at your office on the nig
ht in question?”
“That’s right. Her name is Stacy Lee. Would you like to speak to her?”
“We would,” Kate confirmed, and Wilson gave her his secretary’s phone number.
“I must say, I’m shocked that something like this should happen to an upstanding member of the community like Jordan. He’s a great guy. I mean, why would someone do this to someone like him?”
“Well, that’s what we’re trying to find out, Mr Hollins.”
“Of course, of course.”
“Did you know Jordan well?”
“Only on a professional basis. We saw each other most months as I like to keep an eye on my units and properties, but that was all. My wife knows Joanna a little better, though. They’ve had coffee a few times.”
“I see. We might need to speak to her as well then.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged. She’s out right now, but I’ll let her know you want to talk.”
“Thank you. We’ll be in touch soon, later today perhaps, to arrange taking her statement.”
“Were you aware of any problems surrounding Jordan? Any relationships within the business that might have led to this?”
“I’m sorry, no. I’m not there very often and don’t take much interest in the relationships of the workers.”
“Understandable,” Nathan said.
“No. He paid his bills on time, looked after the property, and was always kind and polite to me. A model tenant, really.”
“Do you know any of the other workers well?” Kate asked.
“Not well, no. I know them to say hi to, but that’s all. They seem nice.”
“So, I understand from our search of the unit, there’s no security cameras in the office?” Nathan asked.
“It’s on the list to have fitted, but Donaldson’s isn’t a shop with goods that can be pilfered, so it just got delayed. Besides, there are the cameras on the street outside. It wasn’t something that Jordan was pushing me for. It would have been disruptive for his business anyway.”
“Having the CEO murdered is probably more disruptive,” Kate interjected, disliking his reply.
“We know about the cameras outside. That’s not as helpful as having a camera inside though, is it?” Nathan continued.
“Yeah. I understand. I do regret that now. Jordan was a good man. This should never have happened to him.”
“No, it shouldn’t. But you’re sat here nice and safe in your ivory tower, right?” Kate replied. She disliked the corporate greed and indifference of the rich that she saw all too often these days. But when it led, directly or not, to the death of an innocent man, she found it difficult not to say something.
Wilson glanced up at her, his expression unreadable, but then he nodded. “You’re right. I wish I’d done more. It won’t change what’s happened, but I’ll make sure Mrs Donaldson has everything she needs.”
Kate’s anger lessened a fraction as she listened to him and found herself unable to form a reply. So, she just nodded.
“Okay,” Nathan said, getting up from the sofa. “Thank you Mr Hollins, you’ve been most helpful. I think we have what we need. We’ll be in touch if we need anything further.”
“Thank you,” Kate said, pressing her lips together in a thin smile, before following Nathan from the house and back to the car.
He was looking a little frustrated as he slumped into the driver's seat. “Standing up against our corporate overlords in there, were you?”
“Sorry. They just annoy me sometimes.”
“Yeah, me too,” Nathan admitted.
“Do you think he’s guilty?”
“Of corporate negligence, maybe. There really should be working cameras in that office, but as usual, it’s too expensive and disruptive to implement, which makes our job all the more difficult.” He sighed, sagging into his seat.
“Everything okay?” Kate asked.
“Dead ends. Everywhere we look is just a dead end right now. We need to catch a break.”
“So, you don’t think it was a co-worker that did it?”
“Not any of these, no. The people with the strongest motives so far are his wife, and maybe Naomi, if she really was having an affair with him.”
“Well, we have one more person to visit and I, for one, am interested in what she has to say.”
“Robyn?”
“The girl with the pentagram around her neck, yes.”
“Alright. Let’s go see what she has to say for herself.”
CHAPTER 12
“Rachel’s going to get a statement from Stacey Lee,” Nathan said, stuffing his phone into his trouser pocket as they walked up through the block of flats and along the balcony corridor to the front door of the address Kate was double-checking on her phone.
“Here we are, number thirty-six,” she said, returning her phone to her inside jacket pocket and removing her warrant card as she knocked.
The door jerked open a few inches, a steel chain stopping it from opening any further as a face appeared in the gap. The girl’s face looked Kate up and down. “Yes?”
“Robyn Boyce?” Kate asked.
“Who’s askin’?”
Kate held up her identification. “DC O’Connell and this is DS Halliwell. We’d like to come in and ask you a few questions, please.”
Robyn eyed the badge for a moment, and then glanced between Kate and Nathan. Kate smiled back. Robyn pursed her lips and then rolled her eyes.
“Alright, one second,” she said with an exasperated sigh. The door shut and Kate could hear the chain being removed before it opened again. “Come in, shut the door behind you.”
“Thanks,” Kate said, walking into the small flat and getting a strong whiff of marijuana. The flat consisted of one main room with a small double bed, some sofas, an attached kitchenette, and a single door to another room that Kate guessed would be the bathroom.
It was a little dark in here. The nets on the windows and the half-open curtains cast the corners of the room into shadow. Posters of heavy metal bands covered the walls, and the whole place looked like it could do with a clean-up. There weren’t any used food cartons or dirty plates out, but there was an abundance of crap all around the place. Books and magazines piled up on the floor and table. DVD and Blu Ray cases, video game cases, bills and other letters left in messy piles. Admittedly, there wasn’t much room in the whole flat by the looks of things, but a little work to get rid of some of the rubbish would likely go a long way.
“Sorry to bother you at home,” Kate said as she took in the environment that Robyn lived in.
“Whatever,” Robyn answered dropping onto the sofa.
Robyn didn’t look pleased to have two detectives invading her home, and sat with her chin propped up on her fist, staring into the middle distance. Kate frowned and glanced at Nathan, who shrugged.
There was only one sofa in here. Kate looked around for another seat but couldn’t see one. But she did spot a Japanese sword on a black wooden stand on a shelf on the far wall.
Kate stared at it for a long moment as images from her past rose up from the depths of her memory. Images from her teenage years, just after the death of her aunt.
She remembered walking through a house that was in a much worse state than this flat, with dirty plates and empty takeaway cartons everywhere. She clearly remembered spotting the same style of sword on the fireplace in that house in Cork, and what it possibly had signified back then.
She also remembered being discovered by a resident she hadn’t realised was in the building when she’d snuck in, and then being chased from the house.
Kate took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she looked back at Robyn.
“So, we just need to confirm a few things first,” she said, making her way through some basic questions about Robyn and her life, including details about the boyfriend she lived with.
“We have a few questions regarding the death of Jordan Donaldson, and your movements on the night of his murder.”
Robyn nodde
d, taking her chin off her hand and looking up. “Sure.”
“Can you confirm your whereabouts on the evening of Jordan’s murder?”
“I was here.”
“And can anyone confirm that?”
“My boyfriend,” Robyn replied.
“That’s Patrick Norman, right? And where is he?”
“That’s right. He’s at work,” she answered, her voice sounding fed up already.
“And where does he work?”
“At Riverstone’s Bookshop in town. He’ll be there all day.”
“We’re going to need to speak to Patrick,” Kate said.
Robyn sighed, clearly exasperated. “Sure. Why not?”
“So you’ve worked for Jordan for a little under a year, correct?” Kate asked.
“That’s right,” Robyn answered.
“And how’re you finding it?”
“S’alright, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“It’s a job, innit?”
“I guess so,” Kate replied.
“Have you noticed anything strange recently? Especially anything to do with Jordan?”
“Like what?”
“Anything. Any jealousy? Bad feeling? Anyone been coming to the office upset with him?”
Robyn shrugged. “No, nothin’ like that.”
“Okay, good,” Kate answered, noting that it fit with what everyone else had been saying so far.
“What about any relationships in the office? Did you see Jordan getting close to anybody…?” Nathan asked.
Robyn sighed. “Alright, yeah. I did see Jordan kissing Naomi once.”
Kate flinched and raised her eyebrows. “You saw them kissing?”
“I don’t think I was meant to,” Robyn added.
“Okay. And did they see you?”
“No. They didn’t.”
“And did you tell anyone about this?” Nathan asked.
“Only Norm.”
“Norm?”
“My boyfriend,” Robyn explained.
“And that’s it?” Kate asked.
Robyn nodded.
“Tell me about your relationships with everyone in the office. Do you get on with everyone?”
“With most of them, I guess.”