by John Mead
Before Alima could think of anything to say that could argue for keeping Merry in London, Swift had agreed, ‘Excellent idea, Matthew. This could end up in an diminished responsibility plea and, though we won’t have any say in that, the more we can produce to show prior actions, motives and factors that explain the killings the better,’ Swift sat back, looking satisfied. ‘Things are definitely coming together, I feel it in my water. We still have a way to go yet, although I’m hoping you can release more officers, especially once the review of CCTV footage is complete; things are tight, very tight.’ Swift tapped the desk, no doubt echoing the mood of the chief superintendent’s briefing to her senior staff.
‘It will only be a couple of days,’ Merry apologised once again to his wife, Kathy, ‘I rather talked to the govenor into letting me go so I can’t back out.’
‘It’s fine,’ Kathy told him, again, amused he should think she was upset, ‘Mum and Dad love to stay and they will look after the girls when I’m at the school governors’ meeting the day after next. I’m just glad to see you have some of your old enthusiasm for the job back.’
‘What do you mean?’ he still felt guilty at leaving his wife and daughters, as much because of his indiscretion with Jackie as going to Fort William on his own.
‘You are not really suited to a nine to five job,’ Kathy smiled as a thought struck her, ‘That young female sergeant isn’t going with you is she? The attractive one with the nice figure and come-to-bed eyes.’
‘She doesn’t have come-to-bed eyes and she isn’t into men,’ Merry protested, smiling, knowing when he was being teased. ‘She’d probably break my arm if I so much as looked at her in the wrong way.’
Hayden had phoned Lukula to apologise as she was running late, something about one of her children being taken ill during the school run. Lukula had told her not to rush as Jenny Cowan’s legal council, Ms Robeson, was still getting up to speed and meeting with her client.
‘It didn’t start well,’ Alima sighed taking the seat next to Julie in the ward’s waiting area. ‘Despite everything I told the solicitor she still addressed Leanne as Leanne Cowan. Leanne was none too pleased but seems to be cooperating.’
Lukula nodded, not in the mood to chat, she had received a text from her mother telling her she had a hospital appointment arranged, much sooner than she had expected and Julie was trying to work out if she could get time off.
‘Everything alright?’ Alima asked, more out of politeness than real concern.
‘Just family,’ Julie gave a half smile to signal it was just one of those things and not Hassan’s business.
‘Ohh, family, that’s never an easy situation is it?’ Alima, raised her eyebrows in sympathy, seeing a way to get closer to Julie. ‘I’m forty but being single my parents still talk to me like a teenager: “you should be married” and “you’ve passed up on children, such a pity”, endlessly badgering me.’
‘You’re forty?’ Julie was genuinely surprised as the doctor didn’t look older than her.
‘Oh, that’s cheered me up no end,’ Alima was decidedly pleased at the unintended compliment. ‘Yes, I’m forty, over the hill and all washed up.’
‘Hardly, you look stunning and I’m surprised you aren’t married you must have had lots of offers.’
‘I have,’ Alima’s smile broadened at the thought, ‘but men can be such arseholes. Matty is a prime example, when we met he was such a gentleman, reserved but earnest. However, he didn’t think to mention that he was only a few days off getting married until after we had sex.’
Julie wasn’t surprised, given what she had recently found out about her boss, but had no intention of gossiping about him either. ‘Women can be just as bad,’ was all she said, thinking back to the brunette sergeant from the Gangs Unit.
‘I’ve been lucky then,’ Alima confessed, ‘I’ve had two good relationships with women. In both cases it was me that could not make a commitment.’
‘Snap,’ Julie confided, realising she wasn’t particularly surprised at the doctor’s revelation about her being bisexual. Then adding without thought, ‘We would be a disaster as a couple.’
‘My excuse is my parents,’ Alima decided to push on the door that was opening between them. ‘Papa is from India and is a well known medical researcher, Mama is from Egypt and was an economist working for a large bank. Papa is also a devout muslim and Mama a christian, but when they met it was love at first sight. All obstacles of family, race, religion were overthrown in the face of their all conquering love. Growing up with such a romantic view of love makes finding the perfect partner difficult.’
‘Wow,’ Julie couldn’t help being impressed, she thought her own family history was exotic, but Alima had her beat, ‘sounds an interesting story.’
‘Add two older brothers into the mix, one a successful TV producer in America and the other a barrister, and you begin to see why I have high expectations and a competitive streak that is a mile wide,’ Alima laughed.
‘Money as well,’ Julie assumed, pulling a face of mock disapproval. ‘God, some girls have all the luck.’
‘I’m also a great cook, my talents are endless,’ the pair briefly locked eyes and Alima decided to take another step. ‘You should try my ful medames or hawawshi.’
‘Sounds exotic,’ Julie sighed, her best and most enticing smile on her lips.
‘Why not come for dinner? It will give us a chance to get to know each other and compare who has the most difficult family,’ Alima smiled back, hoping the date would be sooner than later, with Merry in Fort William the closer she could get to Julie the more she could insinuate herself into the investigation.
Leanne wasn’t happy, she just wanted to be left alone, her left arm hurt and she didn’t like the drip attached to her right. She was worried about her job and what the manager would say about her not going to work, although the new woman, Robeson, told her not to worry about that. Leanne didn’t much like the assertive and confident Robeson. She also disliked the police sergeant, Lookyloo – or something like that – who sat looking stern and asking lots of questions. Questions Leanne didn’t like or know the answers to. She wasn’t happy either that her therapist, her doctor, had brought these two women into her room. The hospital bed and the room were the only things Leanne did like. It was how she imagined a hotel room would be, with the nurses waiting on her and the ward doctor being so kind.
What is more Leanne was worried as she didn’t know how she had cut her arm, though Sergeant Lookyloo seemed to think she should. And, why should she have a hammer in her wardrobe? She remembered another time with a hammer, one that belonged to a man, but the man had hit her when she told him to go away. That hammer had gotten her into trouble so she would never want one in her flat. Nor did she shop at Tesco’s, she got a small discount where she worked and bought what little she needed from there. Yes, she knew Jody, a little, but Lynsey hardly at all and Madeline Turner not in the least, although she did walk past the hair and nail bar to and from work. She didn’t normally go to any of the parks Lookyloo mentioned, though she did like to sit in Rope Walk Gardens when the weather was nice. The questions went on and on until she pulled the bedclothes over her head and buzzed the buzzer for the nurse, falling asleep before he came.
Merry arrived at Fort William station on time, having dozed on the train he felt refreshed and strode through the barrier and into the small concourse of shops, the entire station was hardly bigger than his local tube.
‘I’m Sergeant Allaway,’ the plainclothes officer greeted him, her accent softer than John’s had been, she was tall, broad at the shoulder, dark haired and looked bored. ‘You were easy to spot amongst the tourists and locals,’ she informed him before suggesting that he drop his overnight bag at the hotel before starting.
Merry had expected a car waiting as they emerged from the subway leading from the station into the town centre but came out into a
large, open square with a green in front of him, a row of shops to his right and an outdoor gear shop on his immediate left, before emerging into the square. Almost opposite from where he stood, across the green, was an imposing grey stone building which turned out to be his hotel. He had assumed Scotland would be colder and wetter than London and could not have been more wrong. The sky had only just sufficient clouds to emphasise its otherwise endless blue, the sun was a bright, crayon yellow and the air warm and mellow.
‘I was told you’d want to see the foster parents first,’ Allaway stated, still looking bored. ‘They live nearby so we can walk.’ Merry didn’t complain, he was happy to stretch his legs after the train journey and they crossed the Parade, which was what the green was called, and then followed a street lined with gift shops, cafes and restaurants to suit every tourist’s taste.
‘Unless you want something fancy I’d suggest you eat at the hotel, they do a good meal there,’ Allaway, informed him as they turned up a small side street, little more than an alley, that climbed up the hillside, emerging onto a row of grey stone houses. ‘The bar is well stocked as well and a lot of the locals drink there.’ Merry paused to look back over the roofs of the shops down at the expanse of the narrow loch that the town sat beside.
The foster parents were little help. Despite their fostering experience they freely admitted they had not been able to cope with the Cowans, brother and sister, who had been placed with them thirty years previous. Things had gone well at first, better than expected, they had two elder foster children in their care at the time who had helped with the younger newcomers. But, when the older ones left home, then Jenny and her brother, Albert or Alby as everyone knew him, became too much for the couple.
‘We did all we could,’ the foster mother explained, her rheumy eyes, moist with tears, ‘but Alby had a wicked soul and was a big lad, he’d threaten Father,’ she nodded to the lanky, old man who sat sullenly silent in the corner, ‘whenever he told him off. The police became regular visitors and Jenny would act up.’
‘Act up? In what way?’ Merry asked, sipping the hot, strong tea he’d been given without being asked.
‘She was in a world of her own,’ the old man suddenly broke his silence, ‘always pretending to be someone else, messing around and laughing one minute, being angry and throwing stuff the next. The school complained more about her than Alby, though he got expelled often enough.’
‘Jenny was out late when she was attacked, do you remember where she had been?’
‘With boys, I expect,’ the old man stated, anger in his voice even after all the years that had passed, ‘doing her drugs, I expect, causing trouble.’
‘Now, Father,’ the foster mother remonstrated, ‘she did little more than what most teenagers get up to.’
‘She ruined our life is what she did,’ it was too much for the old man and he got up and left the room, they could hear him banging around in the kitchen beyond.
‘After Jenny was attacked, all sorts of things were said,’ the old woman explained, dabbing at tears, ‘things about us, about Father mainly, and how he had treated the children. After all we had done for them, it was too much, even our friends stopped talking to us and he stopped going out to the pub. Life became bitter for him.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Merry sympathised, noticing Allaway still looked bored.
14
‘You shouldn’t pay too much attention to the old couple,’ Allaway told him as she drove him from the hotel, where she had parked, to the police station in the centre of what was still known locally as the new part of town. ‘Jenny used to tell that she was given regular smacks with a belt and put in the cupboard under the stairs as punishment.’
‘Did that come out in the investigation?’ Merry asked.
‘No, I knew Jenny, we were in the same class at junior and secondary school, me being A for Allaway and she a C for Cowan,’ Allaway explained, smiling for the first time since they had met. ‘I wasn’t a close friend, no one was, and her brother was a couple of years older, he was a real shite and was more out of school than in. However, this is a small town, at least this end of it is and everyone knew about the Cowans.’
‘Was she into using drugs?’ Merry asked as they pulled off the main road.
‘Oh yes, and a lot more besides. Sold drugs as well and never said no to any boy,’ Allaway informed him, pulling up and getting out of the car, ‘I thought you’d want to see where she was attacked.’ They followed a well worn path through open woodland running alongside a green field and shortly came out at the ruined castle on the banks of the Lochy river. Only the walls remained, though the worn pathways criss-crossing the site showed it to be a popular tourist attraction.
‘She had been dumped in a dip, over by that wall,’ Allaway explained, like a tourist guide pointing out the sights and giving a brief history of the place. ‘It’s been filled in since, but was half-full of rain water and even in the late spring it gets cold here, so she was lucky not to die.’
‘She was found by one of the local police?’ Merry asked, wondering how this landscape tallied with John’s dreamscape
‘Yes, before my time and when there was an office up beyond the Parade, he was on his way home on his bike around dawn. He apparently liked to watch the sun come up over Ben Nevis.’
‘Which is where?’ Merry puzzled, assuming it a long way off.
‘It’s the big rocky thing behind you,’ Allaway pointed out, assuming Londoners spent all their time dodging traffic and pedestrians and never looked up. Merry turned, having had his back to the mountain since getting out of the car, and took stock of the huge mountain and its snowy top. ‘The big pipes running down the side have to do with powering the smelting plant over the way and the small factory, over to the left, is the Ben Nevis distillery.’
‘The file said Cowan was hit over the back of the head and left for dead. And, although there were other injuries, rape was quickly ruled out as a motive?’ Merry asked, eventually turning back, he could see why someone would be happy to stand there looking at the view as Ben Nevis had a singular majesty of its own.
‘Hmm, poor cow. From what I know, her clothes were all in place and the medical examination showed no signs of rape nor was there any evidence of a robbery either. No weapon was recovered, in fact virtually no other evidence was found as she’d lain in the water all night. She remembered nothing of the attack and was in hospital a long while recovering, eventually she was transferred to Edinburgh,’ Allaway sighed, thinking back to the time and her own so different youth: a time of dances, boys and the wonder of a promising future, ‘I never saw her again.’ Allaway paused, taking in a deep lungful of the bright, clean air before saying, ‘There was no arrest, no real suspects either come to that. It was a DCI from Glasgow who came up to lead the investigation, he looked at the connection with drugs and her brother, but threw in the towel after a couple of weeks and went back. A local man, DC Proctor, kept up with the case for sometime afterwards, he told me all about it when I joined up, it was a bit of a cause célèbre with him.’
‘Do you know what happened to the brother?’ Merry asked as they walked back, passing a small group of hikers.
‘Left, just after the DCI from Glasgow went back, I think he went to Newcastle but he’s in prison now. Some of your mob from the Met caught up with him when he moved to London: selling class A drugs, GBH, possession of an unlicensed firearm, resisting arrest and pretty well anything else they could think off. I think he’s in Belmarsh currently and won’t be out for another decade or more at least,’ Allaway told him as she started the car then, catching sight of Merry’s expression, explained, ‘I keep Procter informed, he’s moved to Mallaig, since retiring, but still pesters me for information.
‘Talking of which, Jenny often travelled to Mallaig and had just returned from there before she was attacked. It was assumed she had either been to see her supplier o
r was selling drugs there herself. She must have come back on the late train, the castle isn’t too far to walk from the station so it was possible she was meeting someone but whether it had to do with drugs or something else we don’t know. Toxicology showed she had traces of drugs in her system but there was no evidence of her carrying anything. Nothing really added up but, then, nothing ever did with Jenny.’
‘Jesus, you look stunning,’ Julie’s jaw literally dropped as Alima opened the door to her apartment, dressed in a silky, dark brown, off-the-shoulder dress which was intricately patterned with pin-points of white. The dress’s colour complimented her golden skin, as did the lightest of coral pink lipsticks and matching varnish on her manicured nails. Her high heels emphasised the curve of her shapely calves and thighs and she had put her hair up in a simple knot that suited her oval face. ‘You might have said you were dressing in your finest.’ Julie tugged at her faded denim jacket covering a plain white tee shirt. At least her jeans were fashionably distressed and horizontally slashed a number of times across her thighs, although her comfortable, beige sandals looked well used.
‘Actually, you look quite sexy as you are,’ Alima assured her, then threw caution to the wind and taking Julie by her waist, kissed her. Not a welcoming peck on the cheek but a full kiss on the mouth, the tip of her tongue invitingly parting the other woman’s lips. Julie, without thought reacted as her body and nature wanted, her own tongue pushing into Alima’s mouth, pulling her close, momentarily their bodies pressing into each other.