by Ken McClure
‘ Bingo,’ murmured Steven. He was relieved to hear that there was no mention yet of the David Little miscarriage of justice.
Almost as if an adjunct to the news, Steven’s phone rang: it was Peter McClintock.
‘ Congratulations,’ said Steven. ‘I just saw it on the news.’
‘ I tried ringing you earlier,’ said McClintock. ‘You must have been on the plane. Having Verdi’s assets frozen did the trick. His two heavies saw things differently when we told them a 100 % wage freeze was about to be implemented and their boss was looking for legal aid. They argued a bit but finally one coughed but said the killing was down to Verdi. The other one was keen to agree with that.’
‘ There was no mention of the snuff videos on the news,’ said Steven.
‘ That’s proving problematical,’ said McClintock. ‘The Fiscal’s office has pointed out that actresses die on the screen every day. Getting a jury to believe that it was for real in this case demands that we come up with the bodies and we will. It’s just a question of finding the weakest link among the names that Tracy left us. Somebody must know something.’
‘ I wish you luck,’ said Steven.
‘ I guess you’re glad to be out of it,’ said McClintock.
‘ Just one more thing to do,’ said Steven. ‘I’m going to tell Charlotte Little personally about her husband. I’m going up there tomorrow.’
‘ You’re a good man, Charlie Brown,’ said McClintock. ‘What made you decide to do that?’
Steven told him.
‘ Then I wish you luck,’ said McClintock. ‘I’ll let you know if there are any developments.’
The battery in Steven’s own car, a dark green MGF, had gone flat with standing in the garage unused. The starter motor barely managed to turn over the engine.
‘ Been lying for a while?’ asked one of his neighbours who had been about to drive off when he’d heard the final turn of the Steven’s starter fade into nothingness. ‘These car alarms use up more juice than you’d think. Want to borrow my charger?’
Steven looked at his watch and said, ‘If you’ve got jump leads I’d rather have a start. I’ve got a way to go so she’ll charge herself on the journey.’
‘ No problem,’ said the neighbour. He brought his car alongside Steven’s and brought out a set of jump leads from his boot. He connected up the two batteries, trying not to let his smart business suit come into contact with the bodywork as he did so. Steven started his car, blipping the throttle until he was sure that the engine wasn’t going to stall.
‘ I’m obliged to you,’ he said.
The neighbour waved away his thanks with a smile as he wiped his hands on a paper towel and got back into his car to set off for work.
Steven thought about the man as he drove across town. It had been a simple, everyday act of kindness but he found himself clinging to it to reassure himself that such things still went on. That he needed to do so was telling him that Verdi’s sordid world of vice, pornography and murder had been getting to him more than he had realised, as had thinking about the Littles. There were times when it would be all too easy just to give up on human nature and drift down into the welcoming arms of complete and abject cynicism.
Steven parked by the sea front in Cromer and used his mobile phone. He was relieved when it was James Grant who answered.
‘ This is going to sound very melodramatic, Mr Grant,’ he said. ‘But it’s Steven Dunbar here and I’d like you to answer one question before you say anything else. Is you daughter in the house at the moment?’
‘ No, Lotty’s out shopping with her mother. They’ve gone into Norwich.’
‘ So you’re alone and they’ll be away for a while?’
‘ They’ll be back around tea time,’ said a puzzled sounding Grant.
‘ I need to speak to you. I’m in Cromer. Is it all right if I come to the house?’
‘ I suppose so. I’d rather hoped I’d seen the last of you, Dr Dunbar, if you don’t mind me saying so.’
‘ It’s important,’ said Steven.
‘ All right,’ said Grant in a resigned tone.
Steven and Grant spoke in the conservatory. Today, a bag of potting compost and several large pots were lying on the floor, as was a trowel and a number of colourful seed packets.
‘ I was in the middle of doing my early planting,’ said Grant.
‘ Always a nice time of the year,’ said Steven. ‘What are they?’ He could see that Grant was worried: it showed in his face despite the polite small talk they kept up for a few moments. ‘I’m afraid I have some disturbing news for you,’ he said. ‘I thought it best if you heard it first rather than Charlotte.’
Grant’s shoulders sagged forward and he shook his head slowly in disbelief as Steven told him of David Little’s innocence.
‘ This just cannot be,’ he said. ‘Charlotte was told — we all were — that he was guilty beyond all shadow of a doubt. I mean, they found
…’
‘ It must have seemed that way to everyone at the time,’ said Steven. ‘To be fair to the authorities, there was no other way of construing the evidence.’
‘ Fair to the authorities?’ repeated Grant slowly as if it were the last thing on earth that he wanted to be.
‘ I know it’s going to be difficult,’ said Steven.
‘ This could prove the last straw for Lotty,’ said Grant. ‘I know my daughter and she’s going to be overwhelmed by guilt. It could well push her into a complete nervous breakdown.’
‘ That’s really why I came here to speak to her personally,’ said Steven. ‘I was convinced that Little was guilty too. I know that your daughter had no option but to believe the evidence presented to her at the time.’
Grant shook his head again as if trying to clear his head of what he hoped might still turn out to be a bad dream. ‘But who would do such a thing? he asked. ‘And why?’
‘ A man with a grudge against your ex-son-in-law,’ said Steven. ‘His name is John Merton; he was working in the police forensic lab at the time. That’s how he had access to Julie Summers’ body. The police are trying to find him as we speak but it won’t be easy.’
‘ Will Charlotte have to see David?’ asked Grant, his mind wandering to other things.
‘ That’s entirely up to her,’ said Steven. ‘It’s been such a long time. Apart from that, he’s very ill.’
‘ What’s wrong with him?’
Steven took a deep breath before saying, ‘Well, that’s another thing… He has full-blown AIDS.’
Grant’s eyes opened wide as if his senses were reeling. His lips quivered as he tried to find words. ‘How?’ he murmured.
‘ He was the victim of rape in his early days in prison.’
Grant rose out of his chair and put a hand to his forehead as he turned his back on Steven and shuffled over to look out of the windows. After almost a minute of complete silence he turned round and said, ‘I really… I really… I re…’
Steven saw that Grant was about to faint and rushed forward to break his fall, realising that the ceramic tiles on the floor would be less than kind to his head. The contents of Steven’s pockets scattered out on the floor as he threw himself forward but he managed to grab hold of Grant’s shoulders and lower him the last foot or so to the floor. He loosened Grant’s tie and put him in the recovery position while he examined the damage to his own knee, which he’d hit on the unforgiving tiles. It was nothing that a good rub wouldn’t heal.
Grant came round and was hugely embarrassed at what he saw as his ‘girlish’ behaviour. ‘Don’t know what came over me,’ he said.
Steven helped him to his feet and settled him in a cane armchair while he picked up his own belongings from the floor. ‘You had a severe shock,’ he said.
‘ That photograph,’ said Grant coldly.
In his hand Steven was holding the photograph of John Merton that McClintock had given him. ‘This is John Merton,’ he said, showing it properly to Grant. ‘The m
an responsible for David Little’s arrest and conviction.
‘ No it isn’t,’ said Grant, sounding bemused. ‘That man is John Mission.’
TWENTY ONE
For a few moments Steven felt like a man who had just awoken from a nightmare to find that it was all true.
‘ The photograph was taken some years ago,’ he said, hoping that Grant might be mistaken.
‘ This is John Mission,’ said Grant. ‘I’m hardly liable to forget him. Damn the man.’
‘ Then you are telling me that the man who engineered David Little’s false conviction and who subsequently treated your daughter so badly are one and the same?’ said Steven.
Grant continued to stare at the photograph, his face reflecting the anguish of painful memory.
‘ His grudge must have extended to your daughter too,’ said Steven. ‘Merton held Little responsible for having ruined his career and for the fact that the girl he planned to marry left him. Putting Charlotte through hell must have been part of the plan.’
‘ What kind of man thinks like that?’ murmured Grant.
‘ Merton’s a psychopath,’ said Steven.
‘ I don’t know how I’m going to tell Lotty all this,’ said Grant, looking as if he’d aged ten years in the past half-hour.
‘ You don’t have to; I will,’ said Steven. ‘Perhaps you could tell your wife while I’m doing it?’
Grant nodded. ‘God, I need a drink,’ he said. ‘Will you join me?’
Steven said not but encouraged Grant to go ahead. He said that he had some calls to make in the light of what he’d just learned. Grant invited him to use the house phone and said that he’d leave him alone until he’d finished. Steven called Sci-Med first and then McClintock in Edinburgh.
‘ Mission?’ exclaimed McClintock. ‘Freudian or what?’
‘ Quite so,’ agreed Steven. ‘I haven’t spoken to Charlotte yet but there’s a chance she might be able to give us some clue as to his whereabouts. I’ll get back to you if I make progress.’
‘ In the meantime I’ll start the ball rolling with an alert for Mission as well as Merton.’
‘ Any progress with the video girls?’
‘ Not yet,’ sighed McClintock. ‘I’m beginning to think that these particular films weren’t made in the local studios. ‘There are just too many people pleading ignorance. Even Verdi seems confident we’re not going to pin these murders on him.’
‘ But they were local girls?’ said Steven.
‘ We’ve established that one of them, a lassie named Sharon Duthie, worked in one of Verdi’s saunas at one time and that two other girls were friends of hers. Our thinking at the moment is that Verdi recruited Sharon for a film and she brought in two of her pals but after that the trail goes cold. None of the people that Tracy listed as being in on the making of the films would admit to ever coming across the three girls.’
‘ Nothing’s ever easy,’ said Steven.
‘ I think you should know that the papers are on to the Little situation,’ said McClintock. He was transferred to a specialised AIDS unit in a hospital in Edinburgh last night. Word is they’ll probably run with the story tomorrow. Little’s already got himself a lawyer who’s talking seven figure compensation sums.’
‘ Que sera sera,’ said Steven.
‘ The civil liberties crowd have been shouting the odds on the phone this morning as have the prison reform lot and half a dozen other groups with axes to grind. You can bet your buns that politicians will be polishing up their outrage as we speak, ready to call for a “full public inquiry”. That’s all some of these buggers ever seem to do.’
Steven looked at his watch and said, ‘Charlotte and her mother should be back in half an hour or so. I’ll call you if I find out anything.’
Steven could see James Grant standing out in the garden. He went out to tell him that he he’d finished making calls.
‘ You know,’ said Grant, still gazing out towards the sea. ‘I have never ever felt so guilty about anything in my entire life. I was absolutely convinced that David Little was guilty. I didn’t even consider the possibility that a mistake might have been made. I know what you said about the strength of the evidence against him but I still feel awful.’
‘ Guilt never sees the circumstances,’ said Steven.
‘ A cross to bear for all of us,’ said Grant. ‘God forgive us.’
Steven put a hand on Grant’s shoulder.
Grant glanced to his right and said, ‘That’s Lotty’s car coming up the hill.’
Steven went back into the conservatory while Grant walked round to the front door to meet his returning wife and daughter. Steven sat and waited while Grant told them of his presence and then stood up when Charlotte appeared in the doorway.
‘ Not more questions about filth on the computer,’ she said, sounding exasperated. ‘What does it matter now, anyway?’
‘ It’s not about that,’ Steven assured her. ‘I think you’d better sit down.’
Steven broke the news to her about Little’s innocence to her as gently as he could, constantly stressing that she was in no way to blame for having believed him to be guilty. John Merton, with his forensic expertise had made sure that there had been no other possible interpretation of the evidence.’
Charlotte’s face paled with the shock she was feeling.
‘ I’m afraid there’s more,’ said Steven. ‘Perhaps you’d like a brandy? A glass of water?’
Charlotte shook her head. ‘Tell me,’ she said, blowing her nose and then crumpling the tissue in her clenched right fist as she straightened her back and looked Steven in the eye.
Steven told her that Little had AIDS and how he’d got it. He watched her fall apart before his eyes.
‘ Oh my God,’ she gasped. ‘This is all my fault. I should have believed in him in spite of… I should have known there had been some kind of a mix up and put up a fight for him. I let him down when he needed me most…’
Steven continued trying to assure her that she had nothing to be ashamed of although he could see that it was a losing battle. He could only hope that at least some of what he was saying was getting through. He took a deep breath and continued, ‘The man who did this to David wasn’t content with ruining his life,’ he said. ‘He wanted to do the same to yours. I know this man as John Merton… but you knew him as John Mission.’
Charlotte remained silent for fully half a minute. She seemed stunned but once she had taken on board what Steven was saying, he could see her take some comfort from the fact that she had to a certain extent shared her ex-husband’s suffering.
‘ He set out to get both of you,’ said Steven.
Charlotte hung her head and said quietly, ‘It all makes sense now, the accidental meeting, the charming manners, the attentiveness, the sympathy and understanding. I was completely taken in. I thought he was such a… sensitive man.'
‘ He’s a clever, scheming psychopath,’ said Steven.
‘ That would explain the change,’ said Charlotte with a rueful shake of the head. ‘Once he had cheated me out of my money he treated me like dirt and enjoyed it. He got pleasure from humiliating me. He actually smiled when he was hitting me as if he was enjoying some kind of private joke.’
‘ The police need your help to find this man,’ said Steven.
‘ I haven’t seen him in years,’ said Charlotte. ‘I can’t think what possible help I could be.’
‘ Maybe not but perhaps we could talk some things through if you feel up to it?’ said Steven.
‘ Of course,’ said Charlotte although she seemed far from comfortable with the idea.
‘ I understand from your father that Mission told you he was some kind of businessman with premises up north.’
‘ He said he was a computer graphics expert. His company made promotional material for other companies, films, advertising material, websites, that sort of thing.’
‘ You never visited the company?’
Charlotte shook her
head and said, ‘Never. He said that there was no point as he was looking for premises down here. He’d be moving as soon as the bank had agreed to the loan.’
‘ That’s what he told you he needed the house for? The one you bought but put in his name?’
Charlotte nodded. ‘Fool that I was.’
‘ Did he ever say where his premises were up north?’
‘ He said that they were in the middle of the North Yorkshire moors. They needed absolute quiet when they were making films.’
‘ I’ll bet,’ thought Steven.
‘ Did he ever mention a name? Some place it was near perhaps?’
‘ Not exactly,’ said Charlotte. ‘Just that it was in the middle of nowhere but I once heard him talking on the phone in his study. He told whoever he was speaking to that he would see them at The Abbey on Monday.’
‘ The abbey? Nothing else?’
‘ Fraid not.’
‘ Well, it’s a start,’ said Steven.
‘ I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help,’ said Charlotte.
‘ You’ve been wonderful in the circumstances and I’m very grateful to you,’ said Steven. ‘I’m sorry I had to be the bearer of such shocking news but if it’s any comfort, your folks already know.’
‘ It is,’ said Charlotte. ‘Thank you for being so thoughtful.’
Steven phoned Sci-Med as soon as he got back to the car.
‘ You’re kidding! There must be a million places all over the country called, The Abbey,’ said the duty officer.
‘ You are looking for one in the middle of the North Yorkshire moors,’ said Steven. ‘It may be registered as the business address of a firm concerned with making promotional material for other companies. Films and websites and the like.’
‘ Glossy lies,’ murmured the man as he made notes. ‘I’ll do my best and call you back.’
Steven called McClintock to tell him the state of play.
‘ Not much to go on,’ said McClintock. ‘Want me to contact the Yorkshire Police and ask them?’