by Emily Selby
Ouch... Was Alex being overconfident if not slightly condescending, or was it Katie's overzealous suspiciousness?
'I beg your pardon?' Even Jack was becoming annoyed. 'Whose car do you mean?'
'Rob Heron's.'
Katie inhaled sharply.
'Why wasn’t his car supposed to be there?'
'The night before, Rob, who I consider to be a close friend, had told me he was going away hunting.'
'Did you see him in or around the car?'
'It was quite dark, as you said, Inspector. I did see a silhouette inside, but I couldn’t identify him or her.'
'Maybe he didn't go hunting in his car?'
'I saw him driving away. He came to our house just before he left. He had his rucksack fully packed, ready for his hunting trip. He tried to talk me into going with him, but I wasn’t interested. Not my type of game to play. I think it might have been what pushed me to leave the following day. My mind was ready, and I just needed a push.'
'Okay, Mr Gibson,' Jack cut in. 'Going back to that evening...'
'Yes, Inspector, what else would you like to know?'
'Do you know Jeff Livermore?'
A pause.
'Jeff Livermore? I've heard the name before. Is this the person who was killed?'
'That's correct. Did you know him? '
'I left the town so I'm not up-to-date with the crime. I've been disconnected from the world for a few days now. Do you care giving me a little bit more information about this person?' Alex said apologetically.
Katie hated to admit, he had a point.
'Mr Livermore was a former business consultant. I understand his most recent job was freelancing for a local authority in Nottingham. Helping people in long term unemployment return to the workforce.'
'Ah... him. Yes, I met him a few times a little while ago. The Job Centre allocated me to work with him. His role was to help me retrain to find a job. He advised me to go back into IT, but it didn't work out. I've tried talking to him about going into teaching, but he wouldn't listen. Basically, we didn't get on, and I asked to be assigned to someone else.'
'How would you describe your relationship with Mr Livermore? Was he upset by that?'
'Not at all. It was all very professional. I told him I needed someone else with a different type of experience. He understood. And that was it. No grudges no hurt feelings. At least, not on my part.'
Jack continued with more questions about the evening and Alex answered. He seemed to be replying with just enough balance between confidence and hesitation to make it sound genuine and believable. The further the interview progressed, the more Katie struggled internally. She was used to trusting her hunches, but ever since she started interacting with Jack Heaton, she'd been challenging her intuitions. Sometimes they were in perfect harmony, but sometimes, like now - with Alex Gibson, they were far from harmonious. The worst thing was her negative intuitions seemed based around the fact she didn't like Alex Gibson. Only this. And she didn't have any evidence to support her feelings. She really had to talk to someone about it. Chris, or maybe even Jack. How, the heck, does a person decide whether they can trust someone? In the last couple of months, she had gone from a generally trusting everyone to borderline paranoid. There had to be a happy medium to it!
The questions continued. Alex denied any access to guns, but confirmed that his friend, Rob had a gun.
'Has he ever brought it into your home?'
There was a brief silence in the room. Katie would love to have been there to see Alex' face.
'I understand this is a murder investigation, Inspector, and that my wife is one of the key suspects. Rob is my friend. And probably the only friend, beside my wife, I have at the moment. Normally, I would be inclined to protect him, but I understand the seriousness of this situation. Yes, Rob has brought his gun to my place. I know this might have not been legal and all, I don't really understand gun regulations. On Friday night he came to tell me he was going hunting, and he had his gun with him.'
'Did he show it to you?'
'No, he had it in the bag where he normally keeps it. But he showed me the box with the bullets.'
'Just showed you?'
'Okay, I had a closer look, as it isn't the kind of thing you see every day. You must forgive me my curiosity, but I took the box and... I was actually quite clumsy, and I dropped it. The bullets spilled out.'
'Did you collect them?'
'No, not me. Right at that moment, my wife walked into the house and called me, so I rushed to the hallway. I left Rob to put it all away. '
'Can you describe the bullets?'
There was another pause. When Alex spoke again, his voice sounded more hesitant.
'Small, fiddly, slippery... I'm sorry, I didn't manage to have a proper look, because I heard my wife walking into the house.'
'Do you know if he, indeed, put all the spilled bullets away?'
'I assume so.'
'We found a bullet in your house.'
'Oh, then...' There was a second of hesitation. 'He must have missed one.'
'Do you know what type of firearm your friend uses to hunt with?'
'I'm not really an expert. I've seen this particular firearm before, but only once and a while ago. It looked like something I saw on the TV that people use for hunting. I think this type of gun is called a rifle. I can't tell you what model or type it is.'
'The bullet we found was a handgun bullet. For a pistol rather than a rifle.'
'On Friday night, Rob brought in a large, about 30 or 40 inches long, black sling bag, which he told me was for his gun. I don't know what he had in there though. I didn't look. I just took his word for it. He was going hunting.'
'Thank you, Mr Gibson. Do you happen to know where your friend, Rob, is right now?'
Another pause. Katie chewed on her lip.
'No idea. He didn't mention the exact location. It's often a bit of a trade secret. They invite some people who don't want too much publicity around it.'
'He didn't even tell you?' Jack asked.
Katie wondered if there was a hint of disbelief in his voice.
'Rob is a loyal guy. He keeps his commitments. He had confidentiality agreements to abide by, and I had no interest in knowing. We've left it like this.'
'Have you tried contacting him during your time away?'
'I did think about him, but, as I said, I was without a network myself. The first message I received was from my wife, so obviously, this took priority.'
'So, I take you didn't contact him?'
'Correct.'
'Can anyone confirm your whereabouts in the early hours of Sunday morning, that is, after you left Sunnyvale?'
Another pause.
'I stopped for petrol on the motorway, just before Newcastle.'
'Did you pay by card?'
'No. I don't use cards. I don't earn. I took some cash and paid with it, but I think I still have the receipt.'
Whoa! He didn't have a phone connected to any of the networks. He didn't use credit or debit cards. This man went off the grid. Katie could see now why it had been so difficult to track him.
'And your mobile phone was on when you were travelling?'
'No, Inspector. I turned if off before I left the house. I didn't want to be disturbed.'
Yeah...
'We would like to see the car as well.'
'No problem. It's my wife's car though.'
The interview came to the close. Jack thanked Alex, took some contact details, and Alex left.
Katie pressed stop on the recorder for the last time.
It had been one intense interview, with a lot of details, most of which confirmed what she already knew. Except that now, Rob Heron was quickly becoming her main suspect.
Katie printed the transcript and left it in Jack's cubbyhole. She texted him that the report was ready and waited to see if the message was delivered. But as her phone remained silent, she grabbed her jacket and handbag and headed for the door.
It was getting late. Julia would be home soon.
20
It wasn’t until Katie reached home that she realised her back was aching again. The tension that must have built during the day was now in full swing. Her whole body ached. She really wanted to try the exercises Trish had recommended. She completed the usual evening chores on autopilot. Luckily, Julia was tired rather than excited following her play date. After dinner, Katie was more than happy to let Julia watch TV while she sat on the floor in the hallway.
In the dim light of the only bulb on the landing, the worn-out floor panels were less visible. She pulled their only rug into the centre, hoping it would mask any squeaking the floorboards made and her exercising wouldn't disturb Julia. She lay on her stomach, with Trish's booklet in front of her, and she tried loosening her muscles first, as recommended. She read the instructions for the first exercise intro to follow them. They weren't clear. She looked at the picture.
'Okay, Katie you can do it,' she mumbled. She forced her tired muscles to follow the instructions. It was easier when she could look at the picture though. She repeated the exercise a few more times. Fortunately, things improved with every repetition.
She dropped on her front again.
Okay, now a bit of rest.
She flicked the pages, to see what the other exercises were like. She tried reading the instructions, but she never really like doing so, and she abandoned it pretty quickly, focusing only on the illustrations. Luckily the pictures were clear and obvious to interpret. The exercises didn't look very complicated. She could probably learn most of them. Hopefully, she should be able to do it properly and, hopefully, they would help her aching back.
She paged through the booklet and something caught her eye just before the end. The exercise was called Downward-Facing Dog, but someone had scribbled all over it with a pencil.
Bummer! She could hardly read anything.
She sat up and brought the page into the light. It was really bizarre. Some words were crossed off, and other words jotted on top of instructions. There were numbers and letters added, too. She moved the booklet up and down and sideways to see if the pale, grey writing was more legible at an angle.
'Best hunting dog ever...' she read with difficulty. It didn't make any sense. It was the yoga position, nothing to do with hunting. Why would Trish scribble anything like this all over the booklet?
Katie studied the string of numbers. And then found another riddle.
'Never go there without a corn.'
Shouldn't it read "without corn"? What was it? Someone was trying to solve a crossword puzzle, or create one?
She heaved herself up and went to the kitchen. But even in the bright, sharp light, the scribbling still didn't make any sense. In any other circumstances, she would have just called Trish, or ignored it, but the reference to hunting brought the memory of the recent interview she typed and of course – Rob.
Had the forensics team noticed it?
She took a photo of the page, trying hard to catch the pale writing and sent it to Jack.
"Not sure if it's of any relevance to the murder, but I found it in a booklet from Trish. Wondering if Rob made the notes.'
She pressed send and left her phone on the table. The exercises hadn’t helped her back much. She was going to try a hot bath. It was barely 6.30 pm.
She ran herself a steaming hot bath and added some lovely-smelling salts. The flat filled with the soothing aroma of lavender and cedar wood. If she was fast, she could finish before Julia's bedtime.
'Having a bath, mum?' Julia called from the living room. 'Is your back any better?'
'I hope will be, after the bath.'
She wondered if taking a cup of tea, for the lack of wine, to the bathroom was excessive.
The sound of her phone ringing cut through the white noise of the flat and she rushed to the kitchen.
'Jack! Everything okay with the transcript?' she said as she answered. Her heart was beating fast. She wasn't sure if it was more because of rushing to catch the phone or because it was Jack calling.
'I'm not calling about the transcript but thanks for doing it. It's about the photo you just sent me,' he replied.
'What about it? Do you know what it might be?'
'I'm not sure yet, but I would love to see it in real life. It's hard to read it from the photo. Where did you find it?'
Katie told him about the booklet and the noticeboard in the craft room.
'I thought the forensic team had looked through everything,' she added.
'Looks like we might have missed it. It's really quite well disguised. I can barely see anything on the photo.'
'I know what you mean. I think someone used a very hard pencil but wrote lightly. You have to look at it under a certain angle to be able to read it. And even then, it's a riddle.'
'How long do you think it might have been there?'
'A couple of months. Trish pinned it up there. And there is a hunting reference. I wondered...' she said.
There was a short pause at the other end.
'Katie, I realise it's late, but I wondered'–his voice brimmed with hesitation-'if it's not too late to pop in and see the booklet? I'm only fifteen minutes away.'
Katie's heart stopped for a moment and her stomach flipped.
'No, not at all,' she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
'I'll be right there.'
As soon as she disconnected, Katie jumped to her feet and rushed around the kitchen, trying to make it look tidy. He was probably going to pop in for a minute, but in case he wanted to stay for a cup of tea, she checked the cupboard. Lucky there were some biscuits!
Thirteen minutes later there was a knock on her door. She moved slowly, not wanting to appear short of breath. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror on the way and tucked the rogue strand of hair behind her ear. She straightened the top. That should do!
When she opened the door, it was raining outside again, and droplets of water clung to his face and his glasses. His hair was sticking out in all directions. There was a shadow of the five o'clock stubble on his face. Katie wandered whether Jack even had the chance to get home. She ushered him inside and up the stairs.
'Thank you for letting me see it, Katie. I really don't want to take up too much of your time.'
'No problem,' she said more huskily than she wanted. 'I've just made fresh tea. Would you like some?'
'Actually, I’d love a cup,' he said slowly.
He removed his glasses and cleaned them with the piece of cloth he took out of his pocket.
'Always the same problem with glasses in cold and wet seasons,' he said glancing at her.
His blue eyes looked vulnerable. He smiled, and a net of tiny wrinkles appeared on his face.
A warm feeling settled around Katie's heart.
She smiled at him and watched him put his glasses back on while digging her elbows into her sides. Behave professionally, Katie chastised herself.
She grabbed the booklet from the kitchen surface and put it in front of him, opened on the downward facing dog exercise. 'Here it is.'
He picked it up and looked at it for a while without saying a word.
'Can you make any sense of it?'
'Not really,' he said slowly. 'But I have an idea what it might be.'
'Dare to share?'
He chuckled.
'Dare to guess?'
'Dare to give me some clues?' she asked. The banter was making her feel a little too excited.
'It makes me want to relook at your crafts room. I think we might have underestimated the importance of it.'
'Do you think it's linked to the murder?'
'I'm not sure, but it might be linked to something else I've been working on.'
'Oh, indeed,' Katie remembered what Jack had said a while ago. 'I was meant to ask you how it was going, but I keep forgetting. You said you were working on some cybercrime issue that was happening in the community centre.'
'Good memory,' h
e said making again the tip of the hat gesture.
Katie sighed. 'What do you want to do in the crafts room?'
'If I recall, you have a laptop, which you use for the Club and crafts related matters?'
Katie nodded.
'Have you changed the password to the network after the problem with someone breaking into the room?'
'We have.' Katie cringed at the memory of the events accompanying that issue.
'But you still keep the password on the boards, don't you?'
'That's right.' Katie's cheeks grew hot. 'I tried to avoid it, but the other members argued that, since presumably only the members have access to the room, there was little point in not doing so.'
'Could you let me in?'
'Now?'
'Now is best,' he said and shot her a cheeky smile.
She hesitated. She would love to go with him, because she was dying of curiosity to know what was happening, but she couldn't leave Julia alone at home and she didn't want to drag her out.
'Okay,' she said suddenly finding a solution. Actually, this solution was making her giddy. 'Here's the deal. I'll give you the key, you'll check whatever you want, but you must come back and tell me what you find.'
His eyes glinted.
'Would it be too much to ask for a cup of tea on my return? Since you've already offered me one but haven’t served it.' He flashed her another grin.
Her knees turned to cotton-candy. 'I'm so sorry, what bad manners I have! How about a cup of tea and some biscuits?'
'I'll grab a pizza on the way back and we can share it. How about that?'
'It's a deal, she said and pressed her clasped hands to her stomach.
Was it a date?
21
Julia was in bed by the time Katie's phone rang again.
'I've finished. Is it too late to pop in with the key?'
Katie's heart fluttered hearing Jack's voice again.
'No, as long as we stay quiet...'
Oh, bummer! Why did she even say that? As if she was thinking they would do something other than having a quiet chat in the kitchen.
'No problem. I'll be on my best spy behaviour. You still okay for a pizza? I'm starving.'