by M A Comley
“What? Jesus, you guys don’t let up, do you?”
“Not when it’s a murder enquiry, Cathy, no.”
“But I keep telling you I know nothing. Why isn’t that sinking into your thick heads?”
“Less of the insults.” Hero rose from his chair and marched over to the bar. “Mr. Gillan?” he called out, straining to see if he could see the landlord through the doorway.
The landlord looked flustered and out of breath when he returned. “I can’t get hold of any of my other staff. Are you sure you can’t put this off for another day?”
“Sorry, no. We’re going now. Hopefully, we won’t cause you too much inconvenience. We’ll try not to keep Mrs. Daws for too long.”
“Shit, this is totally annoying for me. Cathy, I’m sorry, but if this is going to be a regular occurrence, I’m going to have to reconsider you working here.”
“Steve, you can’t do that. I haven’t done anything wrong. I need this job.” She turned to snarl at Hero. “Why don’t you just fuck off and leave me alone? In fact, if you don’t back off, I’m going to come after you with a harassment charge.”
Hero locked eyes with her. “Calm down, Mrs. Daws. We’re only taking you in for questioning. If you want me to resurrect the assault of a police officer charge, I’d be happy to do so. Now, are you coming with us, peacefully?”
“Just go, Cathy. We’ll discuss your work situation later,” the landlord urged, looking around him sheepishly, fearing Cathy’s foul-mouthed tirade had drawn unwanted attention from the few regulars.
Cathy’s shoulders crumpled in defeat, and she turned to walk out the same way she’d just come in. “All right. I’m not happy about this, though. Not one bit.”
Hero thanked the landlord and followed Foxy and Cathy out of the pub. “I’ll jump in the back, sir, just in case,” Foxy said, opening the back door and ushering Daws inside.
“Are you going to behave yourself, Cathy? Or do I need to put the cuffs on?” Hero asked at the woman’s reluctance to get in the car.
Cathy grunted, slipped into the backseat, and folded her arms.
Hero winked at Foxy. “I’m taking that as an affirmative.”
They drove back to the station, and as Hero was about to enter the car park, he noticed Jason parking his car. Mrs. Taylor was sitting in the rear. Hero quickly changed direction to avoid having the witness spot Cathy travelling in his car. “Slight detour is needed, I think.”
Cathy tutted and glared at him in the rear-view mirror. Hero did his best to suppress the chuckle dying to escape as he took the car for a spin around the block. When he returned, the car park was empty of people, so Hero and Foxy escorted Cathy into the station.
“Is there an interview room free, Sergeant?” Hero asked the duty desk sergeant.
“There is, sir. Room Two. The duty solicitor is waiting for you.”
The desk sergeant buzzed the security doors open and invited the three of them into the hallway.
Winking, Hero leaned in to whisper, “Are the others here yet?”
“Yes, sir. Ready and waiting.”
Hero led the way to the interview room with Daws and Foxy right behind him. He shook hands with Cathy’s solicitor. “Thanks for coming in at such short notice, Mr. Boulten.”
“Let’s hope this isn’t a waste of everyone’s time, Inspector,” Boulten said brusquely.
He smiled at the solicitor and turned to the suspect. “Take a seat, Cathy. Foxy, will you do the honours and say the necessary for the tape?”
Foxy pressed the record button and announced the date, time, and the people present in the room. Then Hero began questioning Daws.
“Cathy, since our last meeting, have you either heard or seen anything of Stan Foster?”
A puzzled look pulled at her face. “No,” she said adamantly.
“Not even to say a quick hello?”
Sighing heavily and folding her arms again, Cathy once more offered a firm response. “No.”
“Well, we believe differently and have the evidence to back up our assumption. I’m going to ask you if you wouldn’t mind giving us a sample of your DNA. Would you?”
She glanced at her brief, who nodded at Hero.
“What for? Do I have to? I know my rights.”
“It would make things easier if you offered it, although I’d have no hesitation in seeking a court order to obtain one. Of course, that would mean you having to spend the next day or so in a police cell until that order came through. The choice is yours,” Hero said.
Through gritted teeth, she replied, “Go on then, if I must.”
Hero turned to Foxy. “Can you organise that for me please, Sergeant?”
Foxy stood up, announced she was leaving the room, and left the room to notify the doctor they’d arranged to be on standby. She returned before Hero had a chance to ask Cathy anything else.
Foxy announced her return to the tape then told Hero, “The doctor will be five minutes, sir.”
“Good. Cathy, is there anything you wish to share with us?” Hero pressed the suspect.
“Like what? I keep saying I don’t know this man.”
“Well, we have reason to believe differently. All right, answer me this then, where were you the night before last at around eight in the evening?”
She shrugged. “That’s easy—at work. And don’t bother giving me any bullshit about checking my rota. I know full well that you’ve already asked my boss, right?”
“Yes, we have. Were you at the pub all evening? What about nipping out during your break? You do get a break, don’t you?”
“Sometimes. It depends if Steve’s got a function on or not. That night, he had a function—an out-of-town skittles team—so I didn’t get a break.”
Hero glanced at Foxy, and the uncertainty written on her face mirrored his own.
Someone knocked at the door, and Foxy leapt out of her seat to answer it. The doctor walked in, and Foxy introduced him to the tape.
“Can you take off your jacket, Cathy? So the doc can take some blood?” Hero asked.
She shook her head and her eyes grew wide. “You never said anything about wanting my blood. I’m scared of needles.”
The doctor smiled to reassure her. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”
She stretched away from the doctor as he dipped into his bag to extract a fine-needled syringe. “No, I can’t. I won’t,” the suspect insisted.
“Okay, doc, can we get the DNA another way? Perhaps a buccal swab?”
“If I have to. There’s no need to be so petrified. It’s like a cotton bud being put in your mouth, that’s all,” the doctor tried to assure Daws.
Cathy’s eyes darted around at the other occupants of the room as she reluctantly nodded.
The doctor took out the swab. “Open wide.”
When the doctor had finished he left the room. Hero shuffled forward in his chair. “While you’re here, we’d like you to be involved in a line-up.” He glanced at the solicitor, whose eyes remained on his notepad.
“What? What for?”
“All right, look at it this way. If you say you’re totally innocent of the crime, then the two witnesses we’ve brought in won’t pick you out, will they? Either you agree to the line-up, or again, we’ll get a court order for you to go through with one. What do you say?”
“I say you’re pissing me off. You’re never going to believe me, no matter how much I protest my innocence, are you?”
“That about sums it up, Cathy. Are you ready?” Hero walked over to the door and looked back at the suspect, who was staring at the wall in front of her, stubbornly ignoring him. “I’ll give you to the count of five. One…two…three…four…”
Cathy looked daggers at her brief, who hadn’t halted the proceedings, and slammed her hands on the table, using them to lever herself to her feet. She stomped towards Hero, her face crimson with anger. “I’m only agreeing to this so I can look forward to watching the egg drip off your face.”
/> Hero opened the door, inviting Cathy to leave the room ahead of him. “We’ll see,” he mumbled as she passed.
James Boulten remained in the room.
She snapped her head around to face Hero. “Yeah, we will.”
Foxy and Hero walked alongside Cathy, steering her through the warren of corridors towards the room they used for line-ups. Hero opened the door and ushered Cathy to stand in line with five similar-looking members of the public they had managed to round up at short notice. He positioned the suspect in front of the number-four sign posted on the wall. “Just look natural and try not to scare the witnesses with that death stare of yours.”
“You’re hilarious.” Cathy sneered.
Hero leaned in. “Do you think I missed my vocation, Cathy?”
The other people in the room sniggered, but Cathy just glared at him contemptuously.
After leaving the room, Hero stepped into the room next door to meet Mrs. Taylor. He shook hands with the tottering old lady. “How are you today, Mrs. Taylor?”
“Pig sick of being cooped up in my flat when the streets aren’t safe to walk around it. Apart from that, I suppose I’m well.”
Hero winked at her. “I had a word with a friend of mine at the council about your situation. I don’t want to raise your hopes, but he’s going to see what he can do to help out. I thought that would bring a smile to your face.”
“Oh, it has, lovey. It’s definitely done that. What do I have to do then? With regard to this, I’m talking about.”
Hero motioned for Foxy to turn off the light. Once the room was pitch-black, Hero flicked a switch that allowed them all to observe the occupants of the room next door through the one-way mirror.
“Oh, what kind of magic is this?”
“It is pretty nifty, isn’t it? Here we go then, Mrs. Taylor. As you can see, each of the women have a big number above their heads. I’d like you to simply tell me which number corresponds to the person you saw visiting Foster’s flat. Do you think you can do that for me?”
Mrs. Taylor’s eyes strained as her nose touched the glass, which didn’t exactly fill Hero with confidence.
“Hmm…let me see. Can they maybe turn to the side?”
“Let me ask them. Please be quiet while I use the microphone.” He pressed the button and bent down to use the mic. “Could you all please turn to your right?” He let go of the switch and watched the six women turn to face the wall. “What do you think? Do you recognise anyone now?”
“Now don’t go shouting at me if I get this wrong. I think number four is the one you’re after, but my eyesight isn’t like it used to be.”
“Would you like them all to turn the other way? Would that help?”
“I don’t think so, dear.” She nodded firmly. “I’m sticking with my answer, number four. She looks kind of a dubious character, so it was a no-brainer for me.”
Hero turned and flicked the switch again, which sent the room next door into darkness and switched on the light to the room they were standing in. “Thank you, Mrs. Taylor. You’ve been most helpful. I’ll get Jason to drop you back home now.” He held out his hand and gently shook the lady’s.
“Any chance your young man could play chauffeur with me and take me to the supermarket? What with me not being able to get out of my flat my cupboards, my fridge actually is looking pretty empty, and my daughter can’t fit me in until the weekend.”
“I don’t see why not. One good turn and all that. Thanks for sparing the time to drop in and see us today.” Turning to his partner, Hero said, “Sally, can you deliver Mrs. Taylor back to her allocated chauffeur and pick up the next witness?”
While Foxy was gone, Hero flicked the mirror back on and studied the suspect. Apart from anger, he couldn’t really tell what was running through Cathy Daws’s mind. She was looking down at her feet most of the time, ignoring the other women in the room. Or were they ignoring her? Hero couldn’t really tell which way round it was, but Cathy was certainly set apart from the other occupants. Hero heard footsteps in the hallway and flicked the switch again.
Mr. Wilson entered the room and immediately dropped into the chair. “My legs have trouble holding me up at times. Mind if I take a second to catch my breath?”
“Not at all. Can we get you a tea or coffee?”
“Don’t fuss on my count, sonny.” He pulled himself upright in the chair and glanced around the room. “Well this is a funny little room. What goes on here then?”
Hero switched off the overheard light and illuminated the room next door. “To your places people, please?” he asked the women in the adjacent room. The women shuffled back beneath the numbers they’d been given and stood erect. He muted the microphone and turned to his second witness. “Right, Mr. Wilson, I’d like you to pick out the woman you thought you saw paying Lomax a visit.”
Mr. Wilson rose to his feet and stumbled forward. After several silent minutes, he pointed a shaking finger at the woman standing beneath the number four. Cathy Daws.
“Are you definite about that, Mr. Wilson?”
“As sure as I eat Alpen every morning to help me…well, you know what I’m referring to. You’re not daft. Although…” He frowned.
Here we go again. “Is there a problem, Mr. Wilson?”
“I thought I’d be able to pick her out, but now, I’m not so sure. What if I got it wrong? I couldn’t live with myself for putting the wrong person in prison. Do you understand me?”
“Of course, I understand. Take all the time you need. There’s no rush. I’ll get the ladies to turn sideways for you, all right?”
Hero put the request in and watched the ladies again turn to their right. He tried to bat away the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when Mr. Wilson peered at each woman and either shook his head or ran a worried hand through his snowy white hair.
“Anything?”
“If you’re pushing me to make a guess, I’d lean towards saying number four, sticking to my original assumption. But again, I want to state for the record that I’m not one hundred percent sure she’s the one.”
“That’ll be noted down, Mr. Wilson. No problem there.” Hero extended his hand. “Thanks very much for taking the time and trouble to visit us today. Foxy will escort you out and put you in Lance’s safe hands. I’ll let you know the outcome of this case when it’s concluded.”
“Yeah, that’d be great. I’d like to know what happens. If it turns out not to be her in there, then I hope you catch the right person soon.”
Foxy supported Mr. Wilson by the elbow as they left the room. Again, as he had before, Hero illuminated the room next door and scrutinised Cathy Daws’s reaction.
When Foxy returned, she accompanied Hero back to the interview room.
“What happens next?” she asked.
“We say thank you to the people in the line-up and set them free.”
Foxy stopped mid-step. “What? Even Cathy?”
“No. Sorry, I didn’t make myself very clear, did I? Everyone else is free to go, but we need to put Cathy back in the interview room until I make a phone call.”
“Do you want me to go and get Cathy now?”
“If you would. The desk sergeant can organise thanking the other line-up people and sending them on their way, while you make Cathy comfortable. Take a couple of coffees with you, for Boulten and Cathy, and tell them we need to question Cathy further. I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”
Hero took the stairs back up to the incident room two at a time and rushed into his office. He searched for the small address book he kept tucked at the back of his in-tray and looked up the number for his contact at the Crown Prosecution Service.
“Hi, Emily. It’s DI Nelson.”
“Hello there. How did it go?” Emily Grant asked, sounding a little distracted.
“Okayish. We called upon the services of two witnesses, old-timer witnesses, I hasten to add.”
“Meaning?” Emily asked, seeming to have given Hero her undivided att
ention.
“Well, they’ve both said their eyesight isn’t up to much nowadays. Not sure if that would stand up well in court.”
“Yep, you have a point there. But they did pick the same person out. Is that right?”
“Yes. While the suspect was here—she still is here, actually—I asked the doc to take a DNA sample. The thing is the pathologist picked up further DNA evidence from one of the crime scenes. I’m banking on it matching Cathy Daws, but that will take a few days before it’s verified,” Hero said.
“We haven’t got much to go on then, right?”
“Well, yes, there is that. However, another victim was murdered last night, someone else the suspect had a connection with. Just to recap, that’s three murder victims, either known by or in a relationship with Cathy Daws. My greatest fear is that if we set her free, we could be having the same conversation tomorrow about yet another victim.”
“I understand. What about alibis? Do they stand up?”
Hero exhaled a large breath. “Yep, that’s the problem. Her boss confirmed she was at work during two of the murders.”
“I can see exactly what the quandary is. It doesn’t mean that she wasn’t involved in the crimes, though, does it? She could’ve had help from another individual, such as her boss. Let me have a chat with someone, and I’ll call you straight back.”
“Thanks,” Hero said before hanging up. While he waited for Emily to ring back, he took out his mobile and called his sister. “Hey, Cara. How are you doing?”
“How do you think I’m doing? I’m bored out of my mind. I keep sitting down one minute, pacing around the room the next. God, this is driving me crazy, Hero, just bloody crazy.”
“I’m sorry you’re going through this hell, love. Truly, I am. How about coming round for dinner tonight? I think I’ll be wrapping up a case today. That’s the plan anyway. What do you say? Louie would love to see you.” Hero played the doting nephew card, hoping it would change his sister’s mind. It wasn’t good for her to be by herself at such an awful time.
“All right, I’ll fold. Can I pop round to your place early, say about five? I could help Fay prepare the dinner or look after the twins while she gets on with it. I’m just going out of my mind here.”