What Goes Around

by Ann Bloxwich

  ‘Did you kill Elizabeth Callendar in order to frame Ray Diamond, as revenge for what he did to your mother?’ Alex asked her.

  ‘No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t use anyone else to get to him, I’d just beat the shit out of him myself. The only reason I haven’t is because it would hurt my Mum. She doesn’t need all that crap dragging up again. I tried to keep Vicky away from him though. I did hear Elizabeth talking about him though, so I told Vicky he was two-timing her. She went to the toilets to confront Elizabeth and they started fighting, so I sent her to my place. I hoped that Vicky would see him for what he was after that, but she still went on about how much she loved him.’

  ‘Why did you wrongly identify Elizabeth as Vicky?’

  ‘I don’t know, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. She looked so much like Mum after he beat her that I thought he had done it. I told Vicky that Ray had done it and she believed me.’

  Alex blew out a long breath. ‘I’m going to ask someone to come and take a formal statement from you, but for now this interview is suspended.’

  61

  Vicky Wilson was in a similar room to Helen, but her expression was more of fear than defiance. Her blue cut-off trousers and long-sleeved orange polo-neck jumper looked far too big for her, and her hair was dragged back off her face in a rough ponytail. She couldn’t look either officer in the face as they set everything up, instead she concentrated on trying to read the faded graffiti scored into the table top.

  ‘Miss Wilson,’ Mo began, ‘we’ve already spoken to Miss Whittaker, but we’d like to hear what you have to say.’

  Alex watched the young woman’s expression but said nothing.

  ‘I didn’t kill anyone, I swear!’ Vicky began, as tears started to form in her eyes. ‘I don’t know who did, but it wasn’t me.’

  ‘Tell us about the fight with Elizabeth Callendar,’ Alex said in a firm voice.

  ‘Was that her name? It was her fault. I was in the cubicle when she came into the loos, she was on her phone, talking all lovey-dovey with someone. I came out and nearly walked into her. I mentioned that we had the same hair pins in, she said her bloke gave them to her. I said he had the same great taste as mine and we laughed. It was only when she said it was Ray that I flipped out. I told her that I was seeing him, but she laughed and said she doubted Ray had ever been exclusive with anyone. She said Ray had lusted after her for months, ever since she’d met him at the pub where her boyfriend was a bouncer. Ray had been with someone at the time, but it hadn’t stopped him trying to get into her knickers.’

  Mo wrote everything down. ‘So, rather than get angry with Ray Diamond for cheating on you, you chose to take it out on Elizabeth Callendar instead.’

  ‘Ray is a sweetie; he’s easily led where women are concerned. I know him and he’s not a cheater at all. She was just out to get laid, she admitted that her and her chap had broken up recently, so she thought it would be a good laugh. That’s when I lost it with her, but I swear I didn’t kill her.’ Vicky chewed on her false fingernails, looking everywhere but at the two officers.

  ‘Show me your arms.’ Alex said. Vicky looked taken aback, so Alex repeated his request so she pulled her sleeves up. There were faded scratches on her forearms and bruising around her wrists. ‘Explain those injuries to me please,’ he said.

  ‘The scratches are from the fight with that slag, I’m surprised I didn’t catch something from her, the skanky cow.’ She stopped speaking when she saw the expression on Alex’s face. ‘Well, she asked for everything she got, stealing someone else’s man.’

  ‘What about these marks?’ Mo asked, leaning forward and taking Vicky’s hand. She pointed to the bruise that circled Vicky’s wrist. ‘Were these from the fight too?’

  Vicky blushed. ‘No, they were from one of the times I was with Ray. He wanted to try a bit of bondage, and I like to make him happy, so I said yes. He had these handcuffs, which were fun. I wasn’t too keen on the noose at first though, but he said it gives you the most intense orgasms, so I was willing to give it a try.’

  ‘He had a noose?’ Mo asked.

  Vicky nodded. ‘Yeah, he keeps it in his car, it used to be part of his costume when he did his Highwayman routine. We went out into the woods behind his house where it’s secluded. If you’ve never done it outdoors, I highly recommend it. He pulled the noose quite tight and I was a bit scared, but Ray was right when he said that having your breathing restricted intensifies the orgasm. It was pretty amazing.’

  Mo looked as if she was going to be sick. Alex leaned forward and studied Vicky hard for a moment. ‘So, you went into the woods with Ray and had sex with him while being partially strung up from the nearest tree. Have I got that right?’

  ‘I was wearing the handcuffs too, and he insisted that I was naked,’ Vicky added. ‘To get the full experience, you know? Ray said it was the best sex he’d ever had too. He’s so sweet, you have no idea how lovely he is. There’s no way he killed that slag, it’s not in his nature to hurt anyone.’

  Mo wrote WTF? on her notepad and Alex had to agree with her. They both pitied Vicky, Ray had her eating out of the palm of his hand, and she wouldn’t hear a word against him.

  ‘We will need to verify all the things you’ve told us, so I’ll be keeping you here for a while. If it all checks out, I’ll let you go home. In the meantime, maybe you’d care to explain to your mother why we ruined her holiday by wrongly informing her of your death,’ Alex said as he stood up.

  There was an audible creak from his knees and Mo winced on his behalf. Alex opened the door to find Gary waiting with Vicky’s mother. She pushed past, her arms around Vicky, crying and shaking as she hugged her daughter. Vicky broke down and hugged her back, repeating how sorry she was. Alex ushered Mo out, closed the door and left them to it, leaving Gary to supervise.

  ‘How come you didn’t tell her about the things Helen Whittaker told us?’ Mo asked.

  ‘I will, but let’s give Vicky’s mother some time first. That poor woman has been through enough. I’m too knackered to think straight at the moment, I need a caffeine hit.’

  ***

  Alex sank back in his office chair, closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Dawn and Les were currently interviewing Laura Morrison, but Alex wasn’t too concerned. If what the other two had said was to be believed, Laura was an innocent bystander. She had been horrified that her two best friends had deceived her. Alex rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Ray Diamond – that man seemed to be the root of all the problems, and Alex was sick of hearing his name. He looked up when Gary knocked the door. Alex waved for him to come in and sit down.

  ‘I’ve got the reports on what we found as a result of the search warrants,’ Gary said. ‘Nothing really of substance as expected. The Forensics report said that Vicky Wilson’s place yielded nothing of significance. Several photos and a couple of videos of an . . .’ Gary went red and cleared his throat ‘. . . explicit nature were recovered, which we’ll have to ask her friends about. There are no faces shown on any of them, so we don’t know who the people are. There were other indications that a man, or men, had been at the flat.’

  ‘Such as?’ Alex asked.

  ‘Men’s shower gel, razors, that kind of thing. Of course, they could be hers. Jo uses my razor all the time, she says they’re a better shave.’

  ‘Anything else?’ Alex asked, impatiently.

  ‘Helen Whittaker’s place had nothing at all to offer. Craig is still at Laura Morrison’s place, but he should be back very soon. What do you want me to do now?’ Gary asked, trying to look at his watch without Alex noticing.

  ‘Go home, get some sleep and we’ll start fresh tomorrow. God knows I could do with getting my head down. See you tomorrow.’

  ‘Cheers boss.’ Gary was off like a shot.

  Alex smiled and shook his head. Gary was a great team player, solid and dependable. He’d been very shy when he’d first joined the team but pairing him with Craig Mui
r on a regular basis had brought him out of his shell, and since meeting his fiancée Jo, Gary had grown in confidence and ability. He still had his faults, but Alex believed in playing to someone’s strengths instead of their weaknesses.

  On a whim, Alex rang Jayne from his personal mobile phone. It was a while before she answered, and she sounded breathless.

  ‘Ooh, heavy breathing – I like it, Mrs Peachey. Very kinky,’ he grinned. ‘What colour knickers are you wearing?’

  ‘Sorry, I couldn’t find my phone,’ Jayne panted. ‘I can’t talk now, my husband will be home soon, so I need to have his dinner ready for when he gets in. He can be a grumpy old bastard when he wants to be, especially where food is concerned. How about you ring back another time and we can indulge in some phone sex?’

  Alex laughed. ‘It’s a date. Will wine be served or is he picking a bottle up on the way home?’

  ‘I’m hoping he will pick a nice bottle of red up, unless he’s happy with water tonight?’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll bring something back with him.’

  ‘Can you also tell him that his son is away overnight, so all I’m wearing is a frilly apron, stockings and high heels? Thanks, bye.’ The line went dead, leaving Alex to wonder how he was supposed to drive home with a raging hard-on.

  62

  Les arrived early the following day, having been up half the night with a vomiting dog. The sickness had eventually stopped, only to be replaced by diarrhoea, so after clearing up again at 5 a.m., Les had abandoned any hopes of sleep and headed into work, leaving Ruth in charge of the mop bucket.

  He studied the board carefully, tilting his head this way and that, trying to see the bigger picture. He had rearranged the evidence several times and it still pointed to Ray Diamond.

  ‘Hey, you’re in early, did you shit the bed?’ Craig called when he walked in. Today’s attire was a midnight-blue suit, ivory-coloured shirt and grey tie. The trademark matching handkerchief peeked out of his breast pocket.

  ‘No, but Millie did,’ Les replied. ‘I mean, she didn’t do it in my bed, just her own – and in the hallway, the kitchen and probably the lounge by now. The dopey dog swallowed a peach stone and has been trying to shift it ever since. Ruth’s taking her to the vets as soon as they open. It’ll probably mean surgery and a large bill to go with it.’

  Craig shuddered. ‘That’s why we don’t have any pets, I couldn’t be dealing with stuff like that. I’m sure she’ll be okay, though.’ He walked over and stood next to Les, eyes scanning the board. ‘You see something?’

  ‘Not sure,’ Les admitted. ‘I’ve shuffled things around to try and see things from a different perspective, but it all keeps coming back to Ray Diamond.’

  Craig squinted at the board. ‘You’re not wrong mate. It looks that way to me too. The problem is he’s a slippery customer, and we can’t get anything to stick.’

  ‘I think the key is the relationship between him and his assistant,’ Les said. ‘Everyone we’ve spoken to has mentioned it. Either he’s holding something damning over her head, or she’s a bloody masochist. Either way, I’d like to know what’s going on.’

  ‘You and me both, mate,’ Craig agreed. ‘Michelle Simmons seems like a sensible woman, I can’t see her working for someone who treats her so badly unless she has a bloody good reason to. Maybe he’s blackmailing her.’

  ‘Craig, you are a bloody genius!’ Les took the pictures off the board and rearranged them again, this time putting Michelle in the centre. He stood back with a grin. Craig looked puzzled, not knowing what Les was on about.

  ‘Suppose for a second that Ray has a deep, dark secret and Michelle knows what it is. She forces him to give her a job and somewhere to live in exchange for keeping quiet. He resents her for having a hold over him, which is why he’s so horrible towards her. She refuses to leave no matter how badly he treats her, because she knows that she’s got him by the short and curlies.’ Les looked very pleased with himself and Craig patted him on the shoulder.

  ‘You’re right, I am a genius. Let’s do some digging and see what we find,’ Craig said as he headed for his desk. ‘I’ll start with the electoral roll; you get cracking on phone records and financial stuff.’

  After a few moments, Craig frowned and called Les over. ‘Hey, look at this. It says that Michelle Simmons isn’t on the electoral register.’

  Les scanned the screen. ‘Maybe she’s opted out of the public one. Try the private one.’

  ‘I have done, she’s not on that one either. Has she been married? Maybe Simmons isn’t her maiden name.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Les replied. ‘See if she’s got a social media account or anything like that.’

  Craig hit a few more keys. ‘Nada. Not even Myspace.’

  Les laughed. ‘Nobody has Myspace any more, but you could try another older site, like Friends Reunited. Do we know where she’s from?’

  Craig opened one of the folders on his desktop. ‘I don’t think we do.’ He looked at Les. ‘How long did she say she’s worked for Ray Diamond?’

  ‘Hold on a sec,’ Les went to his own computer and looked for a copy of Michelle’s statement. ‘I don’t think we asked her, and if we did, it’s not recorded anywhere here. Mo and Dawn talked to her, perhaps they know.’ He picked up his phone and rang Dawn, who walked through the door just as her phone started ringing.

  ‘Where’s the fire? I’m only ten minutes late,’ she grumbled. ‘Barney decided he needed an extra dump this morning.’

  Les skipped the usual pleasantries. ‘How long has Michelle Simmons worked for Ray Diamond?’

  Dawn tilted her head to the side as she thought about it. ‘Around five or six years I think, I can’t remember off the top of my head, but it’ll be in the paperwork somewhere. Why?’

  Les filled her in on his conversation with Craig and explained that he couldn’t find any trace of Michelle Simmons.

  ‘What, no paper trail at all?’ Dawn asked. ‘What about the electoral roll?’

  ‘First place we looked,’ Craig said. ‘Do you know where she’s from originally?’’

  Dawn looked stumped. ‘Now you’ve asked me. I have no idea. I just assumed that she was local. Hang on, I’ll go through the interview logs. Scrap that,’ she said as Mo walked in.

  ‘Oi, Rainman, how long has Michelle Simmons worked for Ray Diamond?’ Craig called.

  Mo smiled at the use of her nickname. ‘Six years and one month exactly, she started in late November.’ She took off her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair then switched her computer on.’

  ‘See, I told you she’d know,’ Dawn said.

  ‘Les thinks that maybe Michelle could be blackmailing Ray to make him keep her on, rather than Ray having something over her,’ Craig said. ‘I have to say, it’s plausible. Plus, we can’t find any trace of her on the electoral roll or social media.’

  Mo mulled it over for a second. ‘Try looking for her parents instead, chances are they still live in the same place.’

  ‘We don’t know where Michelle is from, we didn’t ask her.’ Dawn said.

  ‘Well there must be someone who knows her better than we do, Neil Stone for instance, or maybe one of the strippers.’

  Dawn picked up the phone to call Neil just as Alex arrived, and the team quickly bought him up to speed. He told Dawn to put the phone down.

  ‘Don’t ring any of Ray’s colleagues, they may tip Michelle off and then we’ll get nowhere.’ Alex said.

  ‘What do you suggest we do then?’ Craig asked.

  ‘I’ll give John Jackson a call, he’s pretty approachable and he’s known Ray for nearly twenty years. Gary, stick the kettle on, will you?’

  Alex went into his office and closed the door. Within a few minutes he came back out.

  ‘That was interesting. John says that Michelle turned up at his office around seven years ago, asking where she could find Ray Diamond. John said she told him she was a fan, so he told her where R
ay was going to be appearing over the next few weeks, and she left. Next thing he knew, Michelle was working for Ray. He thought they were sleeping together but Michelle denied it. She said she wanted to find Ray because he’d promised her a job when she left University.’

  ‘Did John know where she was from?’ Craig asked.

  ‘No, but he had a daughter in college at the time and had some university prospectuses on his desk. They got talking about them and Michelle told him that she’d studied Business Studies and Psychology at Birmingham City University.’

  ‘I’ll get on to the Uni,’ Les said, ‘They may still have a home address on their system.’

  63

  Ray strode into his house, threw his keys on the hall table and jogged upstairs. He was in a good mood, having earned nearly two hundred pounds from a couple of middle-aged housewives who had wanted a threesome, and another hundred from the hapless Liam, who still hung on his every word and believed all of Ray’s bullshit.

  Ray spotted the bin bags outside his bedroom and frowned. He opened his bedroom door and saw that all the clothes and shoes that had been on the floor were gone. The drapes had been removed as well. He noticed the boxes of photographs spewing their contents across the floor of the open wardrobe and scrabbled around among the contents in a panic, throwing clothes up in the air and scattering shoes and other belongings in his search but to no avail.

  ‘Shelley you bitch. You’ve gone too fucking far this time,’ he shouted at the top of his lungs, ‘I’ll fucking kill you!’