“Yes, I know. Don’t worry, we’re not that easily offended.”
“OK. How can I help you then, ’Spector?”
She nodded to switch on the tape and confirmed her name and address.
“Right Ms Walker, could you please outline your movements on Monday night, from the moment you came on duty.”
“Well, I came on at eight for the night shift, and Evie was one of two patients I had on the labour ward. I was keeping an eye on the post-natal ward as well. That’s where the mums go when they’ve had their babies. It’s just through there.” She pointed to the floor map that Craig had spread out on the table.
“Is that normal practice?”
“Aye. Yes, totally. If you’re a midwife with mums due to deliver, then you get post-natal to cover. Post-natal’s nearly always quiet. You work with another midwife and she takes the emergencies. And anything else that comes up.
Anyway, Evie was fine. All her observations were perfect. She had a drip up, with her Insulin being injected twice a day. She’d had some at lunchtime, and wasn’t due again until midnight. So we just chatted away for fifteen minutes. About baby names mostly. She was still choosing, but she liked Ella... she knew it was a wee girl.”
She stopped speaking abruptly, and a small stream of tears started down her cheeks, freed by tiredness and alcohol. It was a minute before she could talk again. Craig stayed silent. Alcohol was lowering her inhibitions and she wouldn’t thank him for pointing it out. Plus it could prove useful for getting at the truth. In Vino Veritas indeed.
She sniffed loudly and re-started. “She wasn’t in any distress. She was really happy, honestly. That was about nine on Monday night. She said that her mum, step-dad and husband had been up earlier. Her father, Mr Hill, had been around all afternoon. He was often outside on the patio smoking. Anyway, then Katy Stevens arrived to check on her. She was Evie’s physician.”
Craig interjected. “Could you tell me why she needed a physician?”
“It’s Trust practice for pregnancy diabetes now. Every woman must have oversight by an endocrine physician – that’s Katy Stevens. She’s lovely. I’ve known her for years.”
“How long was Dr Stevens with Evie?”
“About fifteen minutes. Then she left the room to chat to Mr Hill, outside in the patio garden. I could see them through the glass.” She pointed to the garden on the map. “Then Mr Hill came back in to sit with Evie, and I went to see another patient.”
“Was Dr Stevens alone with Evie?”
“Yes of course. Why?”
Craig didn’t answer but she hardly seemed to notice, rambling on.
“Five minutes later I noticed Murdock going into the room so I stayed away. I really can’t stand the man. Mr Hill must’ve felt the same ‘cos he left the room immediately. He went outside again, probably for another smoke. He always smells of cigarettes - it made Evie a bit queasy. Anyway, then Murdock left and I headed back in, just to check that she didn’t need anything. But she was grand. She wasn’t even nervous about her operation. It wasn’t due until today anyway.”
Craig feigned puzzlement. “Why was she having a Caesarean?”
Beth’s expression set hard. “My question exactly! Because Nigel Murdock’s a selfish, lazy shite, that’s why! That’s part of the reason I’m not very popular with him. He Caesareans practically all of his health service patients, between nine and five. It’s a major operation but he still puts women through it. Because it’s more convenient for him than being called in at three in the morning, for an ‘inconvenient’ natural birth. We’ve had loads of rows about it.” She snorted in disgust. “Conveyor-belt medicine.”
He nodded her on.
“Anyway, I was in and out all evening. And I was just walking down the corridor to check on Evie at about three-thirty, when I got an urgent call to post-natal. One of the mothers had picked up the baby bath with baby in it, and her scar burst open.”
Sandi winced...babies could definitely wait.
“Anyway, all hell broke loose while she was calmed down. And the registrar was called to take her back to theatre. We had to get that all sorted, so what should have taken me fifteen minutes actually took me about forty-five. But I knew that Evie was fine. Katy and Murdock had checked on her earlier, and her Dad was always around. I knew he’d fetch me if there were any problems.”
She stopped dead and was silent for at least a minute. When she started again her voice was slow and halting. Craig leaned forward encouragingly. “What happened then, Ms Walker?”
Beth took a tearful breath. “I walked down the corridor towards Evie’s room. She was in the side-room nearest the Unit entrance. But you know that already.”
She pointed to the floor plan again. “Just there. But as I approached, somewhere, on some level, I registered that it was just too quiet. You know how you can tell that a room’s empty even before you go in? Well I just sensed that there was no life in there. When I walked in, Evie was lying halfway out of the bed with her arm nearly touching the floor. She was completely pale and...” She stopped abruptly.
“And what, Ms Walker?”
She stood up and leaned across the table, shouting at him with the freedom of drink.
“She was dead! I knew she was dead. Is that what you want?” She turned around and shouted at the tape recorder. “Did you get that, tape? Are you happy now?”
Sandi stood, ready to restrain her if she lashed out, but Craig shook his head. Then Beth sat down again abruptly, and slumped, like a deflated balloon. The interview room fell silent, except for the sound of her crying, until finally Craig spoke softly.
“How did you know that she was dead?”
She swallowed hard, not looking at him. “Experience, some sort of sixth sense. I knew she’d gone before I even touched her. And her father was nowhere to be seen. She died alone. Twenty-six and pregnant and she died alone.” She paused for a few seconds, collecting herself.
“I felt for a pulse but there was none. So I hit the crash button and resuscitated her until the team arrived. As soon as they came in I put a monitor on the baby. Its wee heart was still beating, so Evie can’t have been dead for long. We had to get her to theatre quickly, for the baby to have any chance. The registrar was with the other lady, so I crash-called Murdock. Then I got her into theatre one, for an emergency Caesarean.”
“The records say that the crash team got there within three minutes, Ms Walker - is that correct?” Then Craig startled; had they interviewed all of them? He made a mental note to check.
“I think so. I remember there was an anaesthetist, the on-call doctor and nurses. Evie already had lines up, so they rushed her into theatre two. It’s only down the corridor. The whole Unit’s laid out in a cross-shape. Look, there.” She pointed to the map again.
“Then Mr Hill suddenly appeared. He’d fallen asleep on a chair outside. Evie was being wheeled into theatre and he grabbed her hand and refused to let go. There was no time to argue, so we just threw a gown over him. No one said it, but we all knew she’d already gone. All I remember then was Murdock arriving and him saying ‘here’s the baby’. Then the paediatrician took her to check her over. Murdock called time of death on Evie, and that was it - there was a big bang, and instruments fell all over the floor. Mr Hill had punched Murdock when he said that Evie was dead. He was swinging for everyone, yelling he was going to kill us all. I didn’t pay much attention to be honest, I felt so sorry for him. And truthfully, I was really pleased that he’d punched Murdock – the man’s a pig.”
Craig knew exactly what she meant.
“After I checked the baby, I went to see if Mr Hill was OK. But he just said he was going to kill me. Murdock had disappeared with his bloody nose, and then the security men arrived. Murdock called them. I was really pissed-off about that. We didn’t need them. We could have calmed Mr Hill down ourselves. The poor man didn’t need manhandling when his daughter had just died.”
She gasped for breath and wiped her face with he
r ragged sleeve. Sandi gently put a tissue in her hand. Craig leaned forward and smiled at her kindly.
“You saved the baby by your quick actions. Dr Stevens says she’s beautiful,”
Beth blew her nose loudly. “But why has it happened again? Evie was such a nice wee girl and so excited about the baby. Who would do this? What sort of animals are they? I’m going home to Derry the first chance I get. Nice people don’t behave this way.”
“We don’t know who yet. But I promise you we’ll find out.”
“I can’t keep working here, or anywhere as a midwife now. That’s three of my patients dead in less than six months.”
It was a stark truth. And although Craig recognised that her guilt had nothing to do with being a murderer, he had to be certain. He made a note to question her about the two earlier deaths. But not today - she was exhausted.
“D.S McElroy will contact you to take your statement about the other two cases. But I think that’s enough for today. You should go home and rest. And if you don’t mind me saying so, please don’t drink anything more, you’ll only feel worse. Believe me, I know. Thank you for coming in, Ms Walker.”
Beth sniffed again and nodded, shuffling out of the room in an erratic line. She’d managed to cycle down but Jack had a taxi waiting to take her home. Otherwise he’d have to book her for being ‘drunk in charge of a bicycle’. And that wouldn’t look good on her C.V.
Craig walked out to the back office, raking his dark hair. ”Well I know we’ve got to keep an open mind, Jack. But if either of those women are murderers then there’s no hope for the health service.”
“True. But you’ll be checking them both out just the same.”
Chapter Twelve
“Liam, it’s Davy. I’ve got that information for you on McAllister. You w…were totally right! But how did you even know to look? It didn’t come up on any of the first level checks.”
Liam nodded to himself. He knew it. McAllister was lying.
“Experience has to count for something lad. Print that out for me, would you? And just keep this to yourself for the minute. I want to do some more digging.”
***
3.55pm.
The briefing room had three boards set up at the front. Liam had anticipated Craig’s approach well. One of them was covered with information on Evie and her father. Liam indicated the others. “I thought we’d be looking at the McCance and Bryson cases too, boss.”
Craig nodded, hanging up the flip chart he was carrying, on a free tripod. Then he leaned against the front desk and looked at the wall clock. Three-fifty-five. Nearly time to start.
People filtered in slowly and Liam stretched his long legs out across the doorway, playfully making new entrants hop over them.
“Where are Nicky and Davy, Annette? Could you get them down please? They’ll need to be in all the briefings. Liam, do we have a probationer attached to us?”
“Aye, a wee lad called Martin, up from Fermanagh for a few weeks. He started this morning.”
“Get him here as well then. Plus, Joe Rice is coming, and possibly Karl Rimmins from Drugs.”
“Joe’s definitely coming - he’s upstairs now. But I didn’t see Karl.”
Craig handed round coffees as everyone trickled in, calling them to order at five past.
“OK. Hello everyone. Do you all know each other? And welcome Martin, glad to have you with us. We’ll have a chat at some point this week, but I’d like to move on for now.”
Martin nodded, surprised at being addressed so amiably by a D.C.I. He was a freckled lad of about twenty with a broad open face and the high colour of the healthy. He wore a brand new suit and a tie with a knot so small that it looked like a tourniquet. Craig remembered his own early attempts and smiled at him.
“Right. Liam’s going to update us on what’s been happening since yesterday.”
“Aye. Now, the M.P.E., that’s the slang for the Maternity, Paediatric and Endocrine part of St Marys’ Healthcare Trust. It’s on Elmwood Avenue, near the junction with the Lisburn Road. Where the old Dunmore Medical Centre used to be.”
Craig leaned forward and Liam paused to let him speak.
“Sorry Liam. But before we get to specifics, I need to tell you that this case has top priority. Both Dr Winter and I believe this to be, not one murder, but possibly three so far that we know of. Most likely by the same killer.”
Joe and Martin were shocked and immediately started asking questions. Craig held up a hand, quieting the room.
“Let Liam outline things first please, then we can deal with any questions. But we have to catch this one quickly, before they kill someone else. There’s possible evidence of escalation. Joe, is Karl coming?”
“Sorry sir, but he’s in Court until Friday. I’ll get what I can from him.”
“Thanks. I’m nipping up to see Andy later as well.”
Liam ran quickly through everything they knew about the first two cases, and then paused for a question from Annette.
“Did these women have anything in common outside the hospital, sir? Did they know each other, or did they all know anyone at the hospital?”
“All good questions, with no answers. We’ve a lot of the preliminary interviews covered but we’re not deep into the detail yet. Joe, Davy and Martin, could you work with Liam and Annette to get deeper background on the victims and ward staff please? Nigel, Murdock and Beth Walker in particular. Include all the issues Annette’s just asked about. Davy, can you start looking for sources of Pethidine? Liam can give you John’s list on that.”
Davy Walsh was the squad’s handsome twenty-five-year-old analyst. He was brilliant with technology and shy with people, an impression added to by his dark Emo fashion and mild stammer on ‘s’ and ‘w’. When he’d joined the squad the year before he would hardly speak to Craig. But his confidence had grown now, enough to present at meetings and banter Liam ruthlessly. It had also gained him his first steady girlfriend, Maggie Clarke, a talented journalist. Unfortunately, she worked for The Belfast Chronicle, the local tabloid rag.
Davy worked at the speed of light for a salary half of what he was worth, and Craig hoped that he would never leave them. But the public sector never paid analysts enough to hold them long.
Davy started speaking confidently. “The retail pharmacies and G.P.s aren’t a problem. I can contact the professional and retail bodies easily. But the s...street drugs could be an issue.”
“Yes. It’ll be nearly impossible to access the supply. But try D.C.I. White on that, Davy. He’ll know the local dealers, if anyone does.”
“Aye, ask D.C.I. White, hey.”
Liam imitated Andy White’s Dungiven accent with astounding accuracy. Never missing out his tendency to say ‘hey’ after every other word. Craig laughed and then stared him down, in case he was working up to one of his bantering sessions. Fun as they were they were too busy for one right now. Liam stared back at him, feigning hurt.
“OK, thanks Davy. On the victims. We need to know everything about them and whether they knew each other? Did they have anything in common? Look at their causes of death and what information that gives us about our killer? We’ll get more from John on that soon, but we can start building a picture now.
Why were they killed? Unknown as yet. But Evie is our best chance to get leads, so let’s look at her closely first. Evie is Tommy Hill’s daughter, so we need to look at his enemies as well as any that she might have had personally. In particular, look at the families of the men he killed in the 1980s. And Joe - ask Karl what enemies Tommy might have made from his drugs racket.”
Joe nodded sleepily, eyeing the plate of biscuits sitting beside Craig on the desk. Craig caught the look and handed the plate around, not skipping a beat.
“When were these women killed? We know the answer to that. And so far the killings have been six to eight weeks apart. We also know where they were killed. In the Maternity Unit at the M.P.E., in side-rooms near the Unit’s front door. How were they killed? Liam
has covered the use of drugs and Caesareans, but why was that method used? It’s very unusual. And in Evie’s case Dr Winter doesn’t think that was her final cause of death. We don’t know what was yet. The answers to all these questions should tell us who killed them.” He turned back to Liam. “Carry on please.”
Nicky was sitting beside Liam and Craig watched as she busied herself, minuting the meeting in her own quirky shorthand. Her crossed leg was swinging rhythmically, moving her sequined high heels back and forth in a flashing arc at the edge of his vision. They were matched by sequins on her swan patterned jumper and black leggings. It was a conservative outfit by Nicky’s standards. Craig smiled to himself. She always brightened up the squad.
She worked quickly and quietly, somehow managing not to recoil in horror at the things she heard. As Liam’s deep voice outlined the trauma that Evie had suffered, the only sign of Nicky’s emotions was in her change of speed as she wrote. Slower at sad information, faster when they broke off to banter and chat.
Craig wondered how she coped with everything she heard. She was a secretary, not a police officer. But she gave nothing away. Only glancing up occasionally during the fifteen minutes it took Liam to cover Monday night’s events. And summarise Tommy Hill’s history, known habits and associates.
“Since he came out of the Maze in ’98, Tommy says he’s been the model citizen. Helping at the youth-club. Gardening, golfing...”
“And grass.” Joe’s sing-song voice broke through Liam’s bass and Craig nodded him on.
“Tell us what you know, Joe.”
“Well, as you all know, Tommy’s well known to the Drugs Squad. They have him under surveillance on and off. And they figure that his community work is a front for dealing.”
“Dealing what?”
“Pretty much everything below Heroin, sir. But I’m sure he’d know where to get his hands on that as well.”
“That could be important, Joe. Drugs were part of the murder, although we’re not sure that they’re the cause of death. We’re still waiting for Dr Winter on that. But if Tommy has access to hard drugs, follow it up with Karl, please.”
The Visitor (#3 - The Craig Modern Thriller Series) Page 10