by John Holt
Kendall started to turn the pages. “Take it with you,” Dixon said. “I’m sorry but I really must get on.” Dixon walked to the door and opened it waiting for Kendall to leave.
* * *
As Kendall returned to the Reception area, Julie was on the telephone. She looked up. Covering the hand set she said that she wouldn’t be too long, and for him to take a seat.
Kendall sat down and opened up the day’s issue of the Sentinel that Dixon had given him. The headline was more on the usual phone hacking scandal. Kendall turned to the inside pages. It was no better. There was the four page feature Dixon had mentioned. A nice piece of journalism stating how disgraceful the whole business was, and how the Sentinel would not condone such behavior, and how it welcomed the promised enquiry. And if you believed that you would believe anything. He re-folded the newspaper and placed it on to a side table.
“I’ll certainly get him to call you.” Julie replaced the handset, and turned to face Kendall. “Now Mr. Kendall, what can I do for you?”
Well a double scotch would have been a good starting point, or maybe a cup of coffee, but it seemed that neither would be forthcoming. “I understand that Mr. Lowry received a call a few days before his death.”
“Mr. Lowry receives, received numerous calls Mr. Kendall,” Julie replied. “Could you be a little more precise?”
Kendall nodded. A guy like Lowry would receive maybe a hundred calls a day, naturally. “Well I’m afraid I don’t know exactly when the call was made,” he explained. “But it was as a result of that call that Mr. Lowry took the day off, the day he was killed.”
“I remember the call,” Julie replied. She brushed a tear from her eye.
“Do you remember who made the call?” Kendall asked.
“You know it was strange really because I never recognized the voice at all,” Julie said. “But after the call was finished Mr. Lowry simply said that he would be out of the office the following day, and if I needed to get in touch with him I should ring the apartment.”
“Had anything like that ever happened before?”
Julie shook her head.
“So Mr. Lowry gets a call from an apparent stranger, and it is so important that he needs to take a day off,” said Kendall. “Is that about right?”
“Well, yes and no,” Julie replied hesitantly.
“What do you mean?” asked Kendall.
“Mr. Lowry would never take a day off because of some stranger calling him,” Julie replied. “He was a very cautious man, and a suspicious one.” She heaved a sigh. “No he would never do that for someone he didn’t know.”
“You’re sure of that?” Kendall asked.
“Mr. Lowry was an extremely busy man,” Julie replied. “His time was limited, and, as they say, time was money. He would never waste a second on a complete stranger.”
“So the caller was someone that he knew, and knew well,” said Kendall. He stood up and started towards the door. “Thank you Miss …. “
“Julie,” the young lady replied.
Kendall nodded. “Julie you have been very helpful.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Three
Martin Gardiner
Wakefield Jail, home to four hundred and forty-six inmates, and constructed in the early nineteen-thirties, is located twenty-two miles north of the town. For the past few weeks it had also been home to Martin Gardiner, awaiting trial for first degree murder.
It had been suggested that it might be worthwhile if Kendall actually met up with Gardiner, and heard his version of events.
“Come along at four,” Jennings had suggested.
Kendall was far from enthusiastic, and could think of far more enjoyable things to be doing rather than visiting a dismal, depressing, jail. Mollie, however, had other ideas. Kendall had quickly learnt not to argue with Mollie. Ignore her if need be, but at your peril, and never argue with her.
“It might be worthwhile after all. You might learn something,” she had said. “Besides what do you have to lose? A few hours at the most and anyway you are getting well paid.”
Maybe thought Kendall, not entirely convinced. After all the accused person would be hardly likely to incriminate himself. Whatever they said would have very limited value.
* * *
It was a little after four o’clock Kendall and Mollie arrived at the main gates of the prison. They were shown into a small office area, where Mr. Jennings was waiting for them.
He stood up as they entered. “Good of you to come,” he said. “Take a seat.”
Kendall sat down, and wondered what if anything would be gained. “This isn’t the normal visiting area is it?”
Jennings shook his head. “Oh no, the authorities set aside these facilities for attorneys visiting their clients,” he explained. “That way they can really have a private conversation. Well that is private except for the guard at the door.”
Kendall looked towards the door and waved to the guard. The guard stared back but said nothing. “Now when Gardiner comes in I’ll leave you to speak to him alone,” Jennings continued. “Mollie and I will go off to the cafeteria and get a coffee or something. When you’ve finished you can join us, and we’ll have a talk.”
* * *
A few minutes later the door opened and Martin Gardiner was escorted into the room. Jennings stood up and walked towards him.
“Martin, this is Tom Kendall,” he said indicating Kendall who was still seated. “He has promised to help you, so just answer his questions the best you can.”
Gardiner looked at Kendall and shook his head. “No one can help me Mr. Jennings,” he replied.
“Please Martin just answer Mr. Kendall’s questions will you?” Jennings said almost pleading, as he looked towards Kendall.
Kendall stood up, and attempted a smile. “You never know,” he said. “It’s worth a try at least.” He pointed to a chair. “Come on have a seat and we’ll see what we can see shall we?”
Gardiner shrugged and heaved a sigh. “I got nowhere else to go have I, and nothing else to do, so ….”
He sat down. Jennings and Mollie walked to the door. “I’ll speak with you later,” he called out to Gardiner, and then he and Mollie left the room.
* * *
Gardiner watched as the door closed, and the armed guard returned to his position. Gardiner then turned and looked at Kendall. “So Mr. Kendall, what shall we ….
“It’s Tom,” Kendall interrupted.
Gardiner smiled. “Okay so it’s Tom,” he replied. “So Tom what shall we talk about?”
Kendall withdrew a notepad from his pocket, and started to flick through the pages. He looked at Gardiner. “You don’t mind do you?” he asked. “I have to make notes, my memory’s not what it used to be.”
Gardiner shrugged. “Be my guest.”
Kendall nodded. “Okay, so let’s start with the day Victor Lowry died shall we? I understand that you paid him a visit.”
“Yes, that’s right I was there that day,” Gardiner replied.
“So what time did you arrive?” asked Kendall.
Gardiner smiled. “It was just after four.”
“You’re certain of that?” said Kendall.
“Absolutely,” replied Gardiner.
“How are you so sure?” asked Kendall.
“I heard that music, you know on the television,” Gardiner started to explain. It was coming from the apartment across the hallway. Columbo, you know the detective. It was just starting.”
Kendall shook his head. Columbo, he murmured. How these TV detectives managed to solve the most complex crime in a couple of hours was beyond belief. It was totally ridiculous, and completely un-realistic. It wasn’t like that in real life, he thought.
“Why were you there?” asked Kendall.
Gardiner shook his head. “I had an appointment.”
“Are you saying that Lowry invited you to his apartment?” said Kendall.
“He had sent me a note asking me to come
round, simple as that,” Gardiner replied. “Come at four o’clock, and we’ll discuss things. That’s what it said.”
“He sent you a note,” replied Kendall incredulously. “A bit odd wouldn’t you say?”
“Odd,” repeated Gardiner. “Why?”
“After your outburst at the hotel a few days before,” said Kendall. “That’s why.”
“Maybe,” agreed Gardiner. “But I just thought that perhaps he’d had second thoughts, so I went to see him.”
“Second thoughts about what?” asked Kendall.
“Mr. Kendall, a few days before he died we had a long discussion about phone hacking,” Gardiner explained. “I told him that I wasn’t prepared to do it anymore. So he sacked me.”
“You carried out the phone hacking?” asked Kendall.
Gardiner nodded. “Acting on his instructions, yes I’m ashamed to admit it.” He paused for a moment. “Oh I didn’t mind hacking the phones of those celebrities, I considered them fair game. They were big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves. Besides they loved publicity. They couldn’t have it both ways.” He paused once again. “But when it came to ordinary people, especially those who were victims of crime, well that was another matter.”
“Peter Jobson for example,” suggested Kendall.
“Peter Jobson for example,” Gardiner agreed, shaking his head. “Lowry said that it made good news stories. I just thought that it was an intrusion into people’s private thoughts, their grief, their suffering.” He sighed deeply and stared at the ceiling.
“Go on Mr. Gardiner,” Kendall coaxed gently.
Gardiner looked round. “There’s not much more to say really, he replied. “I told him that I just didn’t see it his way, and I wasn’t prepared to do it anymore.”
“So what happened when you arrived at the apartment?” asked Kendall. “What did he say?”
Gardiner shrugged his shoulders and gave a cough. “Well that was really odd because he denied all knowledge of sending me a note,” replied Gardiner. “He was fuming. Why on earth would I write to you, he said. As for getting my job back, he wouldn’t budge. He just laughed at me and then he just said that if I wasn’t prepared to carry out his instructions then he didn’t need me anymore, and that I was sacked, there and then. He also said that he would see to it that I would never work again. He didn’t want to ever see me again, and threatened to call the police.”
“So that’s why you were sacked,” Kendall said. “That sounds like a good motive for murder to me.”
“No, Mr. Kendall, you’ve got it all wrong,” Gardiner protested. “I tell you I did not kill him. Sure, I was good and angry, but I never murdered Victor Lowry.”
Kendall shook his head. “You said that you would kill him only a few nights before, in front of everyone, at that Man of the Year function.”
“Mr. Kendall, I was mad, and drunk, simple as that.”
“But you did threaten him didn’t you?” said Kendall.
Gardiner nodded. “Yes I admit it, I threatened him, but it was the drink doing the talking. I did not kill him. He was still alive when I left him.”
“And what time was that?” asked Kendall.
Gardiner thought for a few moments and then nodded. “I’m not sure exactly but it was about four thirty, a bit earlier maybe. Lowry didn’t exactly welcome me, and I had no intentions of hanging around.”
“After you had killed him you mean,” suggested Kendall.
Gardiner thumped the table. “I never killed him.”
Kendall wasn’t convinced. “Did anyone see you leave?”
Gardiner shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. But I thought I heard a door opening, further down the corridor, but then I heard it close.”
“So no one saw you leave,” Kendall said. “Is that about the size of it?”
Gardiner made no reply, and simply shook his head once again.
“What about the security guard?”
Gardiner shook his head. “I never saw him. I don’t know where he was.”
“Where did you go after leaving his apartment?” asked Kendall.
“I walked around for a while,” Gardiner replied. “Not long.”
“How long?” Kendall pressed.
Gardiner shook his head. “I don’t know, five minutes, maybe ten.”
“Then what did you do?” asked Kendall.
“I dropped into a bar,” Gardiner replied. “The Blue Orchid, it’s on Tredegar and ….”
“I know where it is,” Kendall interrupted. “Did you speak to anyone?”
“Only the bar-keeper.”
Kendall nodded. “No one else?”
Gardiner nodded. “That’s right no one else.”
“And nobody else saw you?” said Kendall.
“That’s right, nobody saw me,” Gardiner replied angrily.
“How long did you stay?” asked Kendall.
Gardiner thought for a few moments. “I guess I left at just about six, the news was just coming on the television.”
Kendall shook his head. This was all a bit too simple, a bit too vague. He wondered exactly how helpful, if at all, it was. “So what was the main news item?” he asked.
Gardiner thought for a while, and then started to smile. “Phone hacking,” he replied. “What else. That’s all there is these days. Wars are going on, and people are dying, and all we are concerned about is phone hacking.”
Kendall nodded in agreement. He made a note in his pad, and heaved a sigh. “So what about this famous note, the one from Lowry, can I see it?”
Gardiner shook his head. “I don’t have it any more.”
“You don’t have it any more,” repeated Kendall in disbelief. “You didn’t think it important enough to keep?”
“I figured if Lowry hadn’t sent it to me, what was the point of keeping it. It meant nothing did it,” replied Gardiner. “It wasn’t worth keeping.”
“It meant nothing,” repeated Kendall. “Didn’t you wonder if it wasn’t from Lowry, then who was it from. And just as important, why did they send it?”
“I just never thought that’s all,” replied Gardiner, looked down at the floor.
“It might have helped your case,” said Kendall. “As it is you have a motive, you have been placed at the scene and you had the opportunity. A jury wouldn’t need much more to convict you I’m afraid. I would guess twenty years to life.”
Gardiner looked up, the blood had drained from his face, and he looked quite ashen. “He was alive when I left I tell you.” He thumped the table hard. “I did not kill him, you must believe me.”
“You know what Gardiner, in all of my years I’ve never yet met anyone who actually confessed to a crime, who was later found to be guilty,” said Kendall. “And I don’t think you are any different.”
Gardiner struck the table once again. “Believe what you like,” he replied angrily. “I did not kill him.”
“Gardiner let me ask one more question,” said Kendall. “Then you can go back to your cell.”
“Go on.”
“Do you know what time Lowry was murdered?” Kendall asked.
“Between five and six, or so I understand,” Gardiner replied.
“Correct,” said Kendall. “As you say between five and six, just when you happened to be in the bar.”
“That’s right,” Gardiner agreed. “Just when I was in the bar, so what’s your point?”
“A little convenient wouldn’t you say?” said Kendall sarcastically.
“Maybe,” replied Gardiner. “But true none the less.”
“So you say, Gardiner,” said Kendall. “I’m not convinced.” He looked over at the guard. “I’m all done here.” He stood up and looked back at Gardiner. “Mr. Gardiner, if you think of anything else, anything helpful that is, just give Mr. Jennings a call.”
With that he turned and walked to the door, opened it and went into the corridor, and made his way to the cafeteria.
* * *
Jenni
ngs and Mollie looked up as he entered.
“Mr. Jennings I’m sorry but you’ll just have to accept it, your client hasn’t a hope.”
“That’s very disappointing Mr. Kendall,” Jennings replied. “Are there any particular reasons that lead you to that conclusion?”
“Where do I start,” said Kendall. “Firstly his alibi just doesn’t stand up. Apparently he had a letter from Lowry asking him to come to the apartment.”
“Well that must mean something,” suggested Mollie.
Kendall shook his head. “It might have if it had been true,” he replied. “There was no such letter. And why would Lowry invite him round anyway? Coffee and sandwiches perhaps, or maybe to watch a DVD, or something?” Kendall smiled. “I don’t think so. And another thing, he says that he left the apartment around about four-thirty, and then he went to a bar, but no one saw him, he spoke to no one and no one remembers him. I mean come on.”
“Mr. Kendall I certainly appreciate what you say, and things certainly look bad for our client but he never murdered Victor Lowry, you have my word on that.”
Kendall looked at Jennings, as though trying to see into his mind. You have my word on that. What did that mean? Just saying it didn’t make it so.
“Mr. Jennings things don’t look bad for your client,” Kendall replied. “They look utterly hopeless. He hasn’t got a chance.”
“Mr. Kendall, please don’t give up quite so soon.”
“But everything is against him,” protested Kendall. “He had the motive, the opportunity and he was also at the scene. He made a very public threat on Lowry’s life. His alibi is so poor.” Kendall shook his head. “I don’t know. I just can’t see any way out.”
Mollie looked at him and smiled. “What about the bar?” she asked.
“What bar?” asked Kendall.
“The bar he went to,” Mollie said.
“The bar he said that he went to you mean,” corrected Kendall.