Wired For Sound

by Cherime MacFarlane

  At that moment there was a pounding on the door. It reverberated around the room. Everyone knew it was the police. Warren looked at H.M. MacGrough nodded and Warren went to the door.

  Fredrick burst through into the room. He had two uniformed officers with him. They swarmed in. One of the uniformed officers immediately grabbed MacGrough, jerking him upward from the chair. Within seconds his arms were behind his back. H.M. grunted in pain.

  "Stop this!" Warren shouted at Fredrick. "He has been injured and you are hurting him. Further more, he called you. Now, back off!"

  "O.K., O.K." Fredrick walked over to H.M., the detective looked him over carefully. "What happened to you?"

  "I fell off tha motorcycle. Minor accident."

  "We've picked up your wife. She is already downstairs in a car. We're taking the whole lot of you in."

  Hamish shook his head. "'Tis nae necessary. I have tha information ye need. We finally put all tha pieces together. We ken who killed Vincent Slaughter."

  "Withholding information isn't going to look good for any of you." Fredrick pushed his jacket open. He stood with his hands on his hips glaring at the group standing in front of him.

  "We didna have all tha information until recently. Nae one has withheld anything." H.M. took an experimental deep breath. The pain had lessened.

  "Glen and myself are tha only ones you will need tae take statements from. We finally put all our information together and came up with tha answer."

  Fredrick took his notebook from his pocket. He smacked it against his palm a few times. "Yeah, well, we'll see."

  The Sargent looked at Warren. "Alright, you can stay here for the time being. Don't try to leave. I intend to post an officer at your door."

  Warren sat back down on the couch. "I don't intend to run away. You'll understand in a while."

  Fredrick motioned toward the door. "Let's go. I want to hear this one."

  The police hustled the two men away. They were taken to the service entrance where two police cars waited. H.M. did not see Lori in the other car. He and Glen were put in the back seat of the first car which promptly sped off.

  Neither of them spoke on the ride to the station. H.M. was taken to a small room and left alone for about fifteen minutes.

  Fredrick opened the door and stood aside to allow another man carrying a tape recorder to proceed him inside. "So, you're going to give me a voluntary statement. Let's get on with this."

  H.M. looked at him then at the tape recorder. "I believe my solicitor should be here by now. I do wish tae speak with him first, then I will give ye my statement."

  The cop's smile was not friendly. "Oh, yeah. He's here. You can have fifteen minutes. Then all bets are off and I want the truth."

  The door slammed against the wall when Fredrick left the room. Another man in a business suit, with brief case in hand watched the cop stalk out of the room.

  With a slight shake of his head the man in the expensive suit addressed Hamish. "I'm Harris, your attorney Mr. MacGrough. Perhaps you would like to fill me in on the details."

  H.M. quickly did so, telling him as much as he intended to tell Fredrick. "The girl is not in her right mind. Do ye feel we can get them tae keep this out o tha papers?"

  The man tapped the pen he was writing with on the pad in front of him. "Good question. It could be done. They don't have to release any details as long as the matter is still under investigation. We will just have to see."

  Fredrick opened the door. He stared at H.M. "I want that statement."

  Harris looked up with a smile. "I don't believe our time is quite up, but that's fine. We're ready now."

  Fredrick turned and motioned to someone behind him. The man with the tape recorder entered the room. After placing the recorder on the table, he turned it on.

  Fredrick sat down and spoke into the machine. "For the record, this is a voluntary statement from Hamish Cadell MacGrough." Fredrick noted the day and time then looked at H.M. "Your turn."

  "Francine Wistin is responsible for tha death of Vincent Slaughter. She had nae accomplice."

  Fredrick consulted his notebook. "Now, Ms. Wistin is Glen Barrett's girlfriend I believe. She wasn't even in Los Angeles. She left the tour in Seattle after the last show."

  "Correct." H.M. nodded. "That was when tha polarity on tha amp was changed. Francie went back tae tha auditorium during tha roadie's party. She was wearin ah security guard's uniform. Francie simply rewired tha power plug an left. She went tae tha airport an boarded ah plane for Rio tha next day. She is safe an she kens it."

  "Motive. What was her motive?" Fredrick was watching H.M. closely.

  "She was Vince's girl before she was Glen's. She told Vince she was pregnant about two months before tha tour was scheduled tae start. Vince wanted her tae abort tha pregnancy. When she refused, he went mad. He had a party one evening at tha studio. He gave something tae Francie, I've nae idea what, then began tae give her other drugs. Cocaine, God only kens. Vincent turned her out, gave her tae four of tha roadies. She was raped."

  Saying it all out loud bothered him. Hamish took a deep breath. "She realized he had tried tae get her tae spontaneously abort. Francie never forgave him for trying tae kill her baby. I wonder if perhaps she felt tha child would never be safe as long as Vince was alive. I've nae idea what her reasoning was."

  Fredrick tapped the notebook against the tabletop. "The episode you are referring to doesn't show up in any of the information we have on Slaughter."

  "She was taken tae ah private clinic under another name. Glen and I made sure tha incident went nae further than ah very few people in tha band and tha men Vince had given her tae. Vince gave tha men tha sack an I believe, paid them off. Why would they talk? It was rape. None of those men were interested in goin tae jail."

  Fredrick leaned across the table to glare at H.M. "We are supposed to buy this nice pat little tale, are we?"

  H.M. took out the list of names from the security company in Seattle. "Here is ah list of all tha individuals who worked tha Seattle show. I would imagine one of them sold her tha uniform. The travel agent Warren regularly uses for tha band booked her ontae ah flight tae Rio, not London. None of her family in London has seen her. Glen thought she was in London. Furthermore, she was seen by one of tha roadie's tha night of tha party. She was seen, alone, on tha stage around tha amps. Tha roadie's name is Jim Tatterson. He thought nothing of it. Security guards were all over tha auditorium, it was all quite a regular occurrence."

  Fredrick looked at the information. "Fine, we'll check it out."

  H.M. nodded. "An ye will find she is tha individual ye're looking for. Now, what do ye intend tae tell tha press?"

  "What's it to you? It's all out of your hands now. You and the rest of the band will be free to leave as soon as we have checked this all." The detective handed the papers to the other man. "Get on this. I want to know if this is correct, immediately."

  "Per'aps you should keep this quiet." H.M. folded his arms across his chest. "Ye're nae goin tae be able tae close this case because ye're never goin tae get your hands on tha culprit. She willna leave Rio, tae be sure. Francie intends tae stay alive an raise her child. After committin murder for this baby, I cannae see her leavin it for someone else tae raise. In particular, I am thinking about Vince's family. She would do anythin tae keep them from doin tae her child what they did tae its father."

  Fredrick pushed the chair back. He rose to his feet. "Exactly what do you expect to gain by keeping this quiet?"

  "A decent life for someone who should have been taken better care of than any of us realized." Hamish replied.

  Fredrick reached over then turned off the tape recorder. "I would think you would want a murderer punished. It was your friend who was killed. Your band is finished because of her your cushy meal ticket is all gone."

  H.M. stood up with a rush, knocking the chair he had been seated in backward against the wall. "He was me friend! She's me friend as well! None of us saw this comin. That was o
ur mistake. I want tae see Vince's child have ah chance at ah life free from this kind of hurt. How would it be if tha media got wind of tha fact that tha child was his and its mother killed tha father. Tha child will be hounded tae tha day it dies. You cannae get her. You cannae close tha file. Are you going to inflict that sort of horror on another victim? Just keep investigatin. Keep tha file sealed because of your on goin investigation. How will it hurt ye?"

  Fredrick's face gave away nothing. "I'll give it some thought. Get out of here and I'll talk to the powers that be."

  "Very well." H.M. walked around the table. "But, I want tae know what ye are going tae do. I want ye ta tell me."

  "Or what?" Fredrick grinned at him.

  "We'll all swear she was with us at all times. You willna be able tae prove us wrong."

  "You can't do that." Fredrick turned to the attorney. "You had better inform your client he has already made previous statements of his whereabouts. What he is suggesting could get him a jail term."

  "Per'aps," H.M. grinned at Fredrick and then laughed. "Per'aps we're keeping tae ourselves a little party Glen, Francie, Lori and me were having on that evening. We could be trying tae conceal ah little tryst. People expect it of artists. We tend tae do odd things. None would think tae much of ah sexual liaison. It would all be over rather quickly an you would be left trying tae prove we lied. That might be difficult."

  "Not with your attorney sitting here and not with me to give testimony that this is a put-up job. Not with the statement you just gave."

  "Really?" H.M. shrugged his shoulders. "How do ye know what exactly is put on an what isnae? Think about this. We got Francie tae get tha uniform because we wanted her tae pretend tae be ah copper who was going tae arrest us. We are all waiting back stage, out of sight, for her tae take us intae custody. We're taken tae one of the dressing rooms by her where we entice her intae ah sexual frolic. A little play staged for tha benefit of tha four of us. No one else would have seen anything. The roadies were all quite pissed by then. Actually it all sounds like great fun. Just tha kind of nonsense expected of ah rock band."

  H.M. raised one eyebrow and leered at Fredrick. "Of course we couldnae come forward with that kind of thing, until she was accused, that is."

  "Get the hell out of here MacGrough! One more word out of you and I'll put you in jail for something. I'll think of something. Withholding evidence maybe, making a false statement."

  Fredrick roared at the attorney. "Get him the hell out of my station!"

  The attorney took H.M.'s arm and practically ran out of the room with him. "This way."

  He led H.M. to a car. Harris opened the passenger door. "Get in. We need to talk."

  The attorney started the car, then pulled away from the sidewalk. "What's the truth? Which one of those stories is the real thing?"

  "It depends on what Fredrick does." H.M. made himself comfortable. "Would you take me back tae tha hotel please?"

  "I am your attorney. You need to tell me the facts or I can't help you."

  "Dinnae bother yourself about it, Mr. Harris. At tha moment Fredrick is tha only person who can do anything about this situation."

  Harris dropped him at the hotel. H.M. immediately went in search of Lori. He filled her in on the scene at the station.

  "God, H.M.! He must be furious with you."

  "Let him be. I dinnae care. If they press things, I want tae do exactly as I said I would."

  She picked up the phone. "I wonder if Glen is back yet? We will need to fill him in on the details of this plot."

  Lori called Glen's number every fifteen minutes. In between calls she bandaged H.M. ribs with elastic bandages sent over from a nearby drugstore.

  About forty-five minutes later Glen answered the phone. Lori and H.M. dashed over to his room. H.M. outlined his plan to Glen.

  "You really would stick to this story?" Glen stared at H.M. He then glanced at Lori. "You too?"

  They looked at each other then back at Glen. "Sure, why not." Lori replied.

  Then Lori smiled. "They can take their choice. No one would think anything about a sex party in Europe or the U.K. After all, we're all artists. What's a little sex between friends? H.M. is right; the baby could be damaged far more by the truth than we could by the lie."

  H.M. looked at Glen. "Can we call her now? We need tae talk."

  "Yeah. I'll get the number." Glen went into the bedroom.

  Lori looked at her husband. "You knew he had the number?"

  "By now, I would have it." Hamish replied.

  Glen handed the paper to H.M. "Do you want to call?"

  MacGrough dialed the number. Francie answered on the fifth ring. "Hello, Francie. H.M. here. That was ah horrid thing tae do."

  Francie began to cry. "I have no idea what happened to me. I went crazy with hate."

  "If tha press gets wind of this, they will be hounding ye and tha child for tha rest of yur lives. Francie, you should have gotten some kind of help."

  She was sobbing on the end of the line. "You are correct. H.M. But I tried. It did not help! I made an awful hash of everything. What am I going to do? I will never be able to leave here. I am in a prison of my own making. I was so angry and so frightened of Vincent."

  "Find ah doctor there, Francie, ye need tae keep trying tae do something about it. You must talk tae someone." He responded.

  "I have. I know what I did. I just cannot believe I did something so horrible. What will I tell the baby? What can I tell the baby about it?" He could barely make out her words.

  "Nothing. As you said, it's ah hell you will have tae live with. Now, listen tae me very carefully, Francie. We're tryin tae keep this out of tha papers an if we have tae, we are going tae leak ah story to them. I am going tae tell you what tae say when you are contacted if you are contacted." H.M. told her the story he had concocted. She listened quietly.

  When he was finished, she spoke. "I do not understand. Why would you do this for me?"

  "This isnae for you. 'Tis for Vincent's child. I want it tae have the best possible chance it can. Be ah good mother Francie. Dinnae be overprotective. Dinnae try to make up tae it for what ye did. Raise it with love an live with your mistakes without making tha child live with them as well. Glen will come tae you when he can. Lori an I will keep in touch."

  H.M. handed the phone to Glen. He took Lori's hand. Together they left the room. Holding hands, they walked down the corridor.

  "What do you think Fredrick will do?" Lori asked him.

  Hamish shrugged. "I've nae notion. I would drop tha matter but, I am not tha polis."

  It was a night without sleep for Hamish as he waited for Fredrick to call him. He was sure he would call. Early in the morning, before eight, the phone finally rang. He picked it up on the second ring.

  "I lost a lot of sleep over this one. It really goes against everything I believe in. I hope you're satisfied MacGrough." Fredrick sounded tired.

  H.M. rubbed one hand across his face. "I take it ye are goin tae keep this quiet?"

  "Yeah. I don't want to. She needs to be in jail."

  "The baby doesnae."

  Fredrick sighed on the other end of the line. "That is where we have a basic disagreement. I feel she should have thought of the consequences before committing the crime."

  "So, may we leave now?" Hamish asked.

  "Uh huh. You're free to go. In fact, I'm going to be glad to be rid of you. Stay out of California. I don't want to have to deal with you or any of your crowd again."

  His hand had begun to shake. "Have nae fear officer, I intend tae stay at home for ah very long time. Goodbye, Sergeant Fredrick, an thanks."

  H.M. hung up the phone and went to wake Lori. "Get dressed, luv. Fredrick called an 'tis over. They are going tae keep investigating. We're free to go home. Get us ah plane. I dinnae care what kind of tickets, first class, coach, baggage compartment."

  Picking her up from the bed, he pulled his wife into an embrace and began to spin around the room. "We're going home
today!"

  Lori hung on. She laughed as he cavorted around the room. When he finally put her down, Hamish was laughing and holding his ribs all at the same time.

  Lori reached up to kiss him. "Well done, MacGrough. I'll go and make the arrangements. It will be good to get home."

  It was the first trip for the new bike in Scotland. The new album was done. Lori had completed the album cover. She managed to squeeze in a couple of commissions while Hamish worked on his solo album. They both felt they needed a break.

  His ribs had healed well. Hamish was ready to have a little fun. Lori was clinging to his waist as he eased the Harley along the A82 highway up the west side of Loch Lomond. The day was beautiful. Puffy little clouds chased each other across the deep blue of the highland sky.

  Lori woke him in the most satisfying manner. It had taken them a full two hours to leave the bed and get ready to go.

  Heart full, he began to hum to himself. Hamish had two surprises for Lori. The worries she had about money would shortly be put paid to. Lori was great with the day-to-day money issues. But he had found business didn't bore him quite as much as previously. Hamish supposed he was finally beginning to grow up.

  It was going to be quite a surprise for her when the money from Glen's tour began to come in. Warren had advised him that Glen was doing much better than expected.

  Then there were the sales of both the Bushmaster live and wake albums which had taken off according to all reports. Critics were supposedly waiting with bated breath for the release of Hamish's solo offering.

  The bike took the turns on the old twisting road easily. Hamish stayed on the A82. When they reached Tarbet, he pulled over at a small cafe.

  After purchasing two ice creams, he went back outside to join Lori. "Here, luv." Hamish handed her a cone.

  They leaned against the bike drinking in the sunshine.