by L M Krier
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then locked his eyes with Ted's and began. As Ted suspected, once he started, he barely paused for breath.
'You know I've got this snake, right. Boris. A royal python. I tried to draw him at school once for a project but I'm crap at drawing. The art teacher, Miss Lake, asked about him. When I said he sheds his skin a few times a year, she told me to bring some in and try working with that. That was okay. She asked if she could give some of it to some other students to work with and I said yes.
'This girl, Morgane Edwards. She's older than me, in a higher class. She's good at art. She had some of Boris's skin. She come up to me in the corridor one day and said she'd like to meet Boris, draw him live. She showed me some of the stuff she'd done with some of his skin. It was awesome. Anyway, I wasn't keen. Royals don't much like being handled and gawped at a lot. They're quite shy.
'She asked if she could come and watch him feed one time, draw him eating. She was, like, really interested in what he ate and how he ate, all that stuff. He usually eats about once a week. I generally give him a small rat, sometimes day old chicks. We fixed up a day when I was going to feed him, when I knew my dad would probably be out. I didn't really want Morgane seeing him. Me dad, that is.'
He paused to drink some of the water which had been provided for him. His eyes were still on Ted, ignoring the two women in the room as much as he could.
'She turned up and asked to see Boris, do some sketches of him, before he ate. She can draw really quick, so that was okay. I explained about putting him in a different tank to eat. You shouldn't feed them in the vivarium.
'Anyway, as soon as I moved him into his eating tank, she reached in her pocket and brought out a baby rabbit. She said it was a present, for Boris. But it was still alive. The poor little sod was petrified. I told her I couldn't give it to him. You're not allowed to feed them live prey and anyway, it could be dangerous for him, in case he got injured. Even from a littl'un like that, maybe kicking him or summat.'
He paused to take a long breath, looking more ill at ease than ever.
'She just laughed and chucked the little bleeder in with Boris. Some royals are real fussy eaters, but he's a greedy sod. He wasn't going to say no. They wrap themselves round their prey, crush 'em and swallow 'em whole.
'When she saw him doing this, she went, like, crazy, man. I mean hot as hell crazy. Horny.'
Now he was turning red and risked a quick look at Aditi, then at Jezza. They both remained impassive in the face of his growing embarrassment.
'Her eyes went all wide and wild-looking, like she was getting really turned on by it. The little bunny started screaming when Boris got 'im and that seemed to fire her up even more.'
This time he looked pointedly from one woman to another then back to Ted, his expression pleading.
'Look, mate, this is really difficult to talk about, especially with women here. I want to tell you my side of things, in case she tells you and it's summat different. But it ain't easy.'
'You're doing well, Max, and you are doing the right thing. I can assure you we're all professionals here. I understand that it isn't easy, but you can tell us anything. Aditi will advise you if at any point she thinks you should stop.'
Max paused to drink more water, to buy himself some time as he weighed up his options. It was clear that he didn't want to talk about it but realised that it was in his best interests to do so and to be as frank and honest as possible.
'I was standing next to her. She suddenly grabbed me. You know, down there,' his eyes dropped briefly to his lap, then locked once more with Ted's. 'She started saying stuff about wanting to see my snake in action next. She pulled me over to the bed and just, like, pulled my pants down and ripped hers off. She must have planned it. She brought condoms and shoved one on me really quickly. Then she went totally wild. I've never known anything like it, and she weren't my first. I'm not a kid.'
He paused for a moment, glancing warily from one to the other of them, clearly looking for judgement in their expressions. He found none. All three stayed impassive, Jezza just writing quickly, trying to keep up with everything he said. He took another drink of water before he continued.
'She'd brought some cans with 'er; vodka and summat fruity. We drank those after, and she sketched a bit. As soon as I could, you know, get it up again, she was at it again, like a bloody rabbit. Then she just got dressed, grabbed all her stuff, her sketch book, the cans an' that, and she went. Not spoke to me since. If I try and talk to her at school she just blanks me.'
Jezza turned to Ted. He could see she was dying to ask a question but wanted his permission. He imagined it was the same one that was on his mind. He nodded briefly.
'Max, what happened to the condoms you used? Did you dispose of them?'
He seemed surprised by the question, frowning in response.
'I dunno now. I can't remember.'
'You must remember, Max. You surely wouldn't want to leave them lying round in your room, in case your mum or dad saw them. Or is it something you do so often they wouldn't say anything?'
'Bloody hell, no. Me mum'd go mental. Now you mention it, I didn't find them, so she must have taken them for some reason. Wouldn't surprise me if she'd made, like, one of her art pieces out of them. She is seriously weird.'
'Max, I appreciate your apparent honesty up to this point. I know this hasn't been easy for you to talk about. I'm going to ask you a question now and it's very important that you answer it as truthfully as you can. Where were you on Monday evening, say between about eight o'clock and midnight.'
'Can I just interrupt you there, Inspector?'
It was Max's representative who cut in at that point.
'I'm assuming you're asking Max to provide an alibi for himself for the time of death of this Morgane's mother. If so, it's only right that I advise him that he doesn't, at this time, need to answer your question.'
'You're quite right, of course. I apologise, Max, I should have made that clear myself. You are under no obligation to answer that, or any other question at this time. However, it would help enormously if you don't mind answering it, and also if you'd mind telling me if you've ever been to Morgane's house.'
'Bloody hell, no.' He looked outraged by the mere suggestion. 'She lives up Offerton somewhere, the posh end. I don't even know where. I wouldn't go up there. I don't mind telling you about Monday, I got nothing to hide. I was at home. Me dad's grounded me, cos I got suspended from school so I just stayed in. Don't want any more trouble.'
'Can anyone verify that?'
'Me mam was at work, as usual. Me dad was ...' He hesitated for a moment. 'He were out doing a job for a mate, he said.'
Ted left Jezza to find an empty interview room to talk to Max's father while he sprinted upstairs to find out what had been discovered about the man's background.
'He's got a bit of form for petty theft, but nothing serious. A suspended sentence, spent now. But he's on the radar, suspected of doing a bit of driving for others who've been up to worse than that,' Maurice told him. 'If his lad said he was doing a job for a mate, I'm betting he doesn't mean he was helping him with hanging wallpaper.'
His suspicions were confirmed when Jezza reported back that Newman had been reluctant to say where he'd been but would only say he wasn't at the house the whole evening. Max could have gone out without him knowing, he said, although he doubted it because 'he knows what's good for him', as he told Jezza. He also said that his wife would have been back from work around ten o'clock so could account for Max's presence in the house then, which she did, when Ted sent Jezza round to the hospital where she worked, to talk to her.
It gave him a lot to feed back to the team at the catch-up briefing later on. It meant they could place Max's DNA at the murder scene, but only through the semen stains in the bedroom. There was no sign of his presence elsewhere.
'So it's just possible that the two of them were at it in her room when the mother came home,' Maurice suggested. 'T
hey had a massive row when she caught them, they chased her downstairs and one or other of them killed her?'
'But then why has she shopped him? Unless she's trying to clear herself and she was involved?' Jo put in.
'I want to talk to Morgane again tomorrow. Kate, are you able to work tomorrow? Have you got childcare sorted? At least for part of the day? I'd like you to be there; just tell me what time suits you best.'
'I'm at your disposal whenever you need me, boss. Granny and my partner have a full programme of fun and treats planned already for Bella and George, just in case I was needed. I doubt I'll be missed.'
Ted managed to get home just as Trev was seating his guests at the table in the living room. It meant he had no time to shower and change, but at least he'd made it, as promised. He leaned down between Trev and his sister to plant a kiss on each of their cheeks, then turned his attention to Shewee's boyfriend, who had leapt to his feet as soon as Ted came in.
'Henry Baillie-Douglas, sir; I'm very pleased to meet you,' the young man said, holding his hand out to shake Ted's.
He was tall, nearly the same height as Trev, almost as sun-tanned, well-spoken, thick, blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He was casually dressed in chinos and an Oxford shirt that even Ted could tell had cost a fortune and had probably come from Jermyn Street.
'Ted is fine, Henry; even my team don't bother with the sir, unless they've done something wrong. Please sit down. Sorry I'm on the last minute, as usual, but at least I made it.'
He was stunned at the transformation in Shewee since he'd seen her last. She was always so fashionably turned out, mature, confident, looking far older than her actual years. This time she was wearing no make-up and her shiny black curls were pulled back into a severe pony tail tucked through the strap of a baseball cap with a polo logo. She wore a hooded jacket several sizes too large, with baggy sweat pants. The look was completely androgynous.
Nor had Ted or Trev ever known her so quiet. She barely got a word in. She simply sat there looking at Henry in something like awe. He was busy trying to persuade Trev to go and join them for the polo match the next day, promising to furnish him with ponies.
'I haven't played polo for so long I'd probably fall off and disgrace myself,' he laughed.
'Well, come and watch us play tomorrow. Stay to dinner, then stay over and you can ride out with us on Sunday. We've still got some hunters up. Father doesn't turn them all away, so there's always something for me to ride when I go home.'
'It sounds like fun,' Trev admitted, always eager to ride whenever he could. 'Would you mind?'
'Of course not,' Ted told him immediately. 'It will be great for you, and I'm going to have to work for a good part of the weekend, so it would ease my conscience.'
As Ted and Trev stood on the doorstep, each with an arm around the other, to wave their guests off, Ted watched the sleek, sporty, silver car purr demurely up the road then asked, 'Do you think Shewee knows about Henry?'
'That he bats for the same team as us?' Trev laughed. 'I doubt my sister has yet acquired a finely tuned gaydar. Most of us have done it. Taken the token girl back to show the parents. I know I have, and even slept with one of them, as you know. You were lucky you didn't need to, with an understanding father.'
'No wonder he likes her turned out like that. I kept thinking that without the make-up and the feminine clothes, she could pass for a lad at a distance.'
Chapter Twenty-six
Ted was pleased that Trev would be having fun while he would be working most of the weekend. It made him feel better about the hours he intended putting in.
Trev was still fast asleep when Ted left for work, as usual. He left him a note on the kitchen table, telling him to enjoy himself but to take care riding big horses. They all seemed terrifying to Ted, although he knew Trev had grown up with them and was an accomplished rider. He weighted the note down with the sugar basin and sternly told Queen, who was watching him with interest, not to interfere with it.
He was going into the station first thing. He wanted to phone Kate Jones to brief her in advance on what he intended to talk to Morgane about. In particular, he wanted to brief her on how he intended to play things. He was impressed with her so far but he needed to be sure they were both singing from the same hymn sheet when it came to a small deception he planned to introduce.
The team were still doubling up on their usual weekend numbers, with so much extra work to cover. Jo and Mike were in their shared office, Maurice and Jezza were in the general office together. Just as Ted went in, Jezza was hurling a hefty book at Maurice's head. She grinned guiltily as the boss walked in.
'Sorry, boss, but that cheesy grin and incessant humming was driving me mad.'
Ted could see what she meant about the grin. He suspected the reason behind it.
'I'm glad things are going well, Maurice. As ever, leave the personal stuff at home, please. You're grown-ups, your personal life is your own. But I don't want to have to start putting you and DC Jennings on separate shifts.'
He went to find Jo and Mike, who had been wading through CCTV footage near to the Offerton murder site.
'Nothing of any use to us at all so far, boss,' Jo told him. 'Are we sure Morgane couldn't be wrong about the car colour? We've not yet found anything likely that's dark-coloured and small going in the right direction at the right time, apart from a couple which we've already traced and eliminated. Unless he took a very strange route.'
'I'd be surprised, with her art background. But being kidnapped, traumatised and presumably terrified might do strange things to someone's powers of perception. I'm going to talk to her again later this morning, so I'll see if her story stays the same.
'Any calls yet in response to the incident boards up near where she was found?'
'Nothing, boss,' Mike told him. 'Not even timewasters. That's strange, of itself. Could she have got confused about which end of Marple Old Road she ran along? I mean, a bang on the head like that, and everything else, she might not have been thinking straight.'
Mike's comment set a bell jangling in the back of Ted's mind, a couple of things he'd made a mental note to look at again and hadn't yet done so. He went to his own office and put the kettle on. He'd go through his notes and the various statements once more before he went to talk to Morgane again.
He remembered that Doug from the forensic lab had wanted to talk to him further about the semen stains. Ted hadn't yet had time to call him. He knew some of the scientific team would be working over the weekend and hoped Doug might be one of them. Unfortunately not, and no one he spoke to knew anything about it, so Ted left a message to say he'd called and would try to call again the following morning, when Doug would be back at work.
Next, he turned to the crime scene report and the mention of the blood and blonde hairs on the edge of the work-surface. Those hadn't yet been matched against Morgane's, but what interested Ted most was the detail that there was not much blood. Yet he'd made a note of Morgane's father telling him that when she'd been brought to the hospital, there had been a lot of blood. Then there was the question of the dirt in the wound. As Jezza had pointed out, it rather suggested that she'd received a second injury between leaving the house and being found, and he needed to find out where.
There was one person who could help him with that line of enquiry, one he knew wouldn't be likely to have anything planned for a Saturday evening and may well jump at the chance to join him for supper.
'Bizzie, I'll come clean at the start and admit this is a dinner invitation with strings. I need to pick your brains and, as Trev is away playing horses, I wondered if you'd like to come round and share a takeaway while I do so? Come in a taxi and I'll drive you home afterwards, then you can enjoy a glass or two of wine.'
The professor laughed delightedly.
'Edwin, it sounds like just the tonic I need for this evening. I'm going to visit Mummy this afternoon, never my favourite activity, so I'd love some company afterwards.'
They arrange
d a time, a menu, and Ted checked on her preferred drink to accompany it.
Kate met Ted at the door when he arrived at the flat in Bramhall. She led him through the kitchen to a tiny sun lounge at the back of the house, overlooking a pleasant garden, which was clearly well-tended. There was a small shed down in the bottom corner, in front of a high fence which effectively screened the back of the house and the garden from nearby properties.
There was a small dining table and four chairs, as well as a compact bamboo sofa, all of which made the space feel crowded. Morgane, looking brighter, but still in pyjamas, was sitting at the table with her sketch pad. This time she was wearing a large sweatshirt over the top, its kangaroo pockets pulled well out of shape by having fists thrust into them. Her father was sitting next to her.
After preliminary greetings, Ted sat down opposite Morgane and took out the photocopy he'd made of her sketch of the person she said had abducted her and killed her mother. He placed it on the table in front of him, looking directly at Morgane.
'Morgane, do you know someone called Max Newman?'
'I don't think so. The name doesn't ring a bell.'
This time, Ted didn't stop him when her father interrupted her.
'Isn't he the boy you told me about, darling? The one with the snake?'
She looked surprised.
'Mad Max? Is that what he's called? I know about him, through school, but everyone just calls him Mad Max.'
'Have you ever been to his house?'
She looked at him in something like horror.
'His house? Good grief, no, I don't even know where he lives. Why would I?'
'But you've done sketches of the snake?'
'No, not really. I mean, I know Mad Max brought in some of its skin when it moulted, or whatever they do, and Miss Lake, the art teacher, gave us some to work with. I loved the patterns, so I looked up online about them. The pattern's called desert ghost, which I really liked, so I did some sketches of the ones I found online. I used those, and some of the skin, to create something for a big course work project I was doing. Daddy, would you mind getting that from your room to show to the inspector, please?'