The Fourth Victim

by John Mead

  Cowan’s solicitor nodded to her client before Leanne said yes, then Merry continued, ‘As you are aware we found your fingerprints on a plastic bag at the scene of Lynsey Hensley’s killing on Wednesday 10th May. Our forensic investigators can demonstrate that the bag was wrapped round a hammer, the head of the hammer created a sort of mould in the plastic when it struck and smashed Lynsey’s skull.’

  ‘I’m so sorry the girl is dead,’ Leanne sympathised with a weak, ingratiating smile.

  ‘We all are, Leanne, which is why we want to identify her killer so that Lynsey and her mother can have justice,’ Merry said, nodding in recognition of Leanne’s words. ‘Your fingerprints, from the reconstruction undertaken by our forensics team, could only have been made in the way they were found if you’d held the hammer wrapped inside the bag. Can you explain how your fingerprints came to be on the bag?’

  Merry paused, as Leanne looked decidedly downhearted, shrugged, then at a nod from her solicitor, remembered she should try to answer any questions truthfully but in as brief a way as possible. ‘Yes,’ she said, worriedly biting her lip.

  ‘What do you mean by yes?’ Merry asked after a further pause, Leanne, he remembered did not have an open and easy communicative manner like Jackie.

  ‘Yes, I can explain how my fingerprints came to be on the bag,’ she said, with a helpful smile, ‘Jenny would have held the hammer. Doctor Hassan has told me Jenny has been in trouble before for that sort of thing and I remember someone telling me a hammer was found at my flat, so it could have been that one.’

  ‘By Jenny, you mean Jenny Cowan, which is your birth name, is that correct?’

  Leanne hesitated, ‘My name is Leanne Solbury,’ she stated, sticking to the truth.

  ‘Jenny Cowan is another personality completely separate from yourself, though physically you inhabit the same body, is that correct?’ Merry noted Leanne’s increasing unhappiness with the line of questioning but he wanted to establish who was who and how they were connected for the tape.

  ‘That is how Doctor Hassan explained things to me,’ Leanne conceded, breathing a sigh of relief as Merry smiled, nodded and moved on to another question.

  ‘Do you remember where you were the afternoon of Wednesday 10th May?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What about the night of Friday 12th May around midnight?’

  ‘No, though I’m usually in bed by ten at night.’

  ‘Or for the afternoon of Friday 14th April? You should be aware that a man, Mr William Craig, had claimed to be with you on that afternoon.’

  ‘Not that I remember.’

  ‘Which would be the truth as he has since retracted his statement, so you don’t have an alibi for any of the three dates?’

  ‘No, not that I can think of,’ she sounded untroubled by the fact but, then, there were always gaps in her life she couldn’t account for,

  ‘Do you know Mr William Craig, he’s usually called Billy, he claims to have had a brief relationship with you.’

  ‘No, I don’t know any men,’ Leanne answered without hesitation.

  ‘Yet we have a video of you speaking with him in the Hungerford Arms public house last Friday, you were handing him a roll of money?’

  Leanne looked confused, her head dropping down onto her chest.

  ‘A video?’ the solicitor queried, she wanted to see exactly what the police had before her client answered.

  ‘Yes, taken by an officer on the surveillance team who was watching Leanne after her release on police bail,’ Merry nodded to Lukula who was ready to show the video on her iPad.

  ‘Not Leanne,’ Jenny stated, her voice low and hard.

  ‘What?’ Merry asked, not catching the comment.

  ‘Not fucking Leanne, you idiot!’ Jenny erupted, standing up, sending her chair flying backwards and banging her hands on the table. ‘Not her, not her!’

  ‘Now…’ Merry began as Lukula dropped her iPad and Cowan’s solicitor leaned away from her client in sudden fear.

  ‘Fuck you, you stupid shit, you fucking wanker…’ Jenny launched herself across the table at Merry, who was getting to his feet, he caught her in his arms and the pair fell back onto the floor. Lukula hit the wall alarm as Cowan’s solicitor slid beneath the table, terrified at the sudden violent eruption. It took two uniformed officers plus Lukula to pull Jenny Cowan off Merry and restrain her. Matthew had managed to stop her from biting his face but she had managed to knee him in the balls and pummel him with her fists.

  22

  ‘I half expected you to phone in sick today,’ Swift told Matthew as he hobbled into the incident room. ‘That’s a nasty bruise you have on your face.’

  ‘I’ll live,’ Merry said, his injuries were hardly life threatening, his pride being the part most hurt. ‘Besides I’ll not give Julie the satisfaction, she couldn’t stop grinning yesterday.’

  ‘You can hardly blame her,’ Swift was less than sympathetic, ‘given what you got up to with her girlfriend she probably thought you deserved a swift kick to the nuts.’

  ‘Anything from forensics,’ Merry changed the topic, knowing his indiscretion could well come out in court so Julie’s displeasure with him was the least of his concerns.

  ‘Yes, their preliminary findings are all in a file on your desk,’ Swift explained. ‘Both suspects have spent the night in the cells, they are back now and Doctor Hassan and her solicitor are waiting for us to resume. Hopefully I’ll get something closer to the truth from her today. Cowan is still being seen by a psychiatrist, I don’t think her mental health issues should cause us any worries but another opinion wouldn’t hurt. To be honest I don’t think this DID thing is an issue, Jenny Cowan might be unstable and may have DID but basically she is simply a nasty piece of work.’

  ‘You won’t get any argument from me,’ Merry readily agreed with a frown as he eased his aching body into a chair.

  ‘You can start to reinterview her once they are ready but her solicitor wants a uniformed officer present, she was really shaken by yesterday’s assault,’ Swift left Merry to feel sorry for himself and to read through the forensic team’s initial findings; as always the SOCOs were thorough and had turned up some golden nuggets.

  ‘My client would like to clarify some of the statements she made yesterday,’ Hassan’s solicitor began as soon as they were all ready, no doubt he had been giving her some strong advice before the start of the interview. ‘Understandably she has been very shaken and confused at her arrest, given the assistance she has been giving the police, and realises she has been very naive in her approach. She believes this has led to a misunderstanding as to her actions.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Swift smiled, noticing that Doctor Hassan looked somewhat worse for a night in the cells but was still smiling, her demeanour still confident. For some reason this made Swift doubt her even more, it was his experience that innocent people became more despairing and hunted looking the longer they were held, only the guilty had nothing to lose by bravado. ‘Perhaps we can restart with where you were when Lynsey Hensley was killed?’

  ‘I barely knew Lynsey,’ Alima began, determined to retain some control of the direction the questioning took, ‘but I had spoken to her at the supermarket and discovered she was going to university to study Psychology. Naturally, I took an interest in this and wanted to help her.’

  ‘That isn’t what I asked you Doctor Hassan,’ Swift persisted, his fixed stare giving no hint he was going to be deflected from his question. ‘Where were you when she was killed?’

  ‘I’ve already explained…’

  ‘No,’ Swift stated forcefully, ‘you haven’t. Our technicians have checked your laptop, your brief FaceTime with your brother ended at two, there was no other activity on your computer until twelve minutes past six. Ample time for you to get to Swedenborg Gardens and back and for our witness to have seen you.’

&nbs
p; ‘You don’t understand how scared I’ve been, how confused,’ Alima switched to a pleading tone, holding her hand to her face as if holding back tears.

  ‘Were you at Swedenborg Gardens at the time Lynsey Hensley was killed?’ Swift demanded, his voice calm but intense. ‘If I don’t get the truth from you I will be charging you for her murder.’ He tapped the folder of as yet undisclosed new forensic evidence on the table.

  Alima still hesitated, not knowing exactly what the police had found made any decision on how much she should reveal to them difficult. Then, with a deep breath she took a gamble.

  ‘I was there, I tried to stop Jenny but she was too quick for me,’ Alima paused, lifting herself upright and squaring her shoulders as if some great weight had been lifted from her. ‘Everything since then has been a nightmare of terror and confusion for me.’

  Swift paused, studying the doctor, he still wasn’t convinced, the performance he thought was just a little too perfect, a touch too contrived, ‘Perhaps you can explain in your own words?’

  Alima hesitated again, glancing at her solicitor who nodded as if to say it was now her chance to explain her part in things though of course he also meant for her to be truthful. ‘As I told you I had worked with Jenny, as her therapist, for some years. I was confident of the diagnosis of DID but Jenny also presented other symptoms. I was able to document Jackie, John and two children and, to an extent, Leanne as being completely separate personalities. However Jenny’s case wasn’t straightforward, the abuse she must have suffered in her earliest childhood has shattered her, producing different personalities, different coping strategies within her. However, she also grew up learning to use the rage within her. I believe she was intuitively aware of the other personalities and would use her violent rages and craziness to intimidate and manipulate others. I would describe Jenny, specifically, as presenting Antisocial Personality Disorder, she is what you might call a sociopath.’

  Alima paused to take a sip of water, more confident now she could present her story in her own way. ‘During our time in Edinburgh she used every opportunity to find out about how her other personalities functioned. What’s more I believe she occasionally tried to imitate them so as to further hide herself and use them as cover. I could usually spot this but, particularly with Leanne, on a number of occasions I believe I was fooled. Leanne is the antithesis of Jenny, a personality so featureless and mild that she is easily overlooked and ignored by everyone – the perfect cover for Jenny.’

  ‘This is all very interesting,’ Swift interrupted, feeling his time was being wasted, ‘but what does it have to do with the killings?’

  ‘When I first met Jenny, in Mallaig, we became lovers,’ Alima’s voice became smaller, softer as she increasingly touched on the truth, ‘that love affair was rekindled in Edinburgh and again here in London. As her therapist it was, of course, beyond the pale and if it’d come out my career would have been over, my reputation ruined. But, she was an addiction I couldn’t give up: the feral nature of her personality, the lack of boundaries, her wild and passionate violence, her very rage. It just sucked me in like a drug fuelled obsession.’

  ‘So, you are saying, you helped her cover up for and murder three young women out of love?’ Swift recognised the degree of truth he heard in Hassan’s words but was still sceptical about her motive.

  ‘To help her only in coming to terms with what she had done. Though increasingly I have been driven by fear of her. Her violent, jealous rages became more frequent and made me fear for my own life,’ Alima stated her head down and shoulders slumped as if in despair. ‘She told me she had killed Jody Grahame in a fit of rage, some argument over drugs. This was the day Lynsey was killed. Jenny was going on about Lynsey, how she wouldn’t shut up about how terrible Jody’s death was and how the man arrested deserved all he got. I said Lynsey was simply shocked by the killing of someone she had worked with, but Jenny just flew into another rage. My defending Lynsey had only made things worse as Jenny was already jealous of the interest I’d shown towards Lynsey and her studies. Eventually Jenny worked herself into a fury and stormed out saying she was going to have it out with her.’

  ‘How did she know where to find her?’ Swift wanted to know, looking for any points that didn’t hold true.

  ‘I don’t know, perhaps she had been following her, but she headed directly for Swedenborg Gardens. I had fallen behind but I saw her climb over a fence and struggled to follow…’

  ‘Wearing your headscarf, gloves and sunglasses?’ Rosen asked, even less certain of Alima’s tale than Swift.

  ‘I had snatched them up out of habit. By the time I caught up with Jenny she had already attacked Lynsey,’ Alima struggled to contain a sob before continuing, ‘There was no one about, I was terrified, my mind numb, but I couldn’t leave Lynsey where she lay crumpled up. I moved her into the shade of a tree and realised she was dead.’

  ‘You didn’t call for help? Phone for the police or an ambulance?’ Swift asked, her failing to do so was evidence enough for him of her complicity.

  ‘I’d left my phone behind and I was terrified of what Jenny might do next so I went after her, but couldn’t see where she had gone. It must have been then your witness saw me by the gate. By the time I realised what had happened, there was a paramedic pulling up and I panicked. It was cowardice but I was terrified by what the police would think.’

  ‘So you walked away?’

  ‘Yes, as I said I already knew Lynsey was past help and the paramedic had arrived,’ Alima admitted. ‘And, yes I know I should have stayed but I didn’t. I went to look for Jenny, I wanted to talk to her, to get her to give herself up.’

  ‘But she didn’t?’

  ‘No,’ Alima looked up, pale faced, but believing the worst of her confession was over. ‘Instead she threatened me, scared me out of my wits, said if I told anyone she’d drag me down with her or, worse, that she’d kill me as well. She said she had nothing to lose.’

  ‘What about Madeline Turner, how was she killed?’ Swift asked, gauging he had about eighty per cent of the truth so far.

  ‘Jenny must have been keeping an eye on me, she kept calling at my flat at odd hours. She must have seen Madeline leave, she had come to do my nails the day she was killed. Jenny must have followed her and killed her that night. I realised that Leanne must have been suspicious of what was going on and I’d tried talking to her about it, she was certainly terrified that Jenny would resurface and by retaking control, as it were, kill her. I guessed as much when she attempted suicide, a classic cry for help.’

  ‘So you lied about Jenny’s so-called confession?’

  ‘Yes, I wanted you to focus on Jenny as the culprit. I knew I should have told you everything but I realised what the police would think. I thought that if I could help with the investigation I could ensure it was Jenny who was blamed and there would be some sort of plea for mercy to be shown to the others.’

  ‘As well as keeping yourself out of it?’

  ‘Yes, I didn’t want to go to jail for loving Jenny but mainly I wanted to ensure that Leanne, Jackie and John got a fair hearing. A number of times I wanted to tell everything, to explain to you all, but I knew I wouldn’t be believed and once I had started on that path I couldn’t go back. I’ve lived in such fear, such confusion,’ Alima finally broke down, crying into her handkerchief.

  After a brief break Swift went through the forensic evidence they had so far. ‘We have found Madeline Turner’s finger print on the inside of your underwear draw, can you explain that?’

  ‘She must have rummaged around when I was in the bathroom,’ Alima looked annoyed at having trusted the girl.

  ‘And, Lynsey’s fingerprints in your car, under the passenger seat by the adjustment handle?’

  ‘I did give her a lift part way home once,’ Alima smiled, surely they had more than this she thought.

  ‘We also have details
of your bank account, money going out that corresponds with deposits made by both Lynsey and Madeline.’

  ‘I liked them both. I wanted to help Lynsey with her studies, and Madeline had such grand designs for her life and was so enterprising, my tips were extremely generous.’

  ‘We have also been able to match money you withdrew from various ATMs to the bank notes Mr William Craig was given by Jenny Cowan, in payment for his providing her with an alibi.’

  Alima sighed, her face a study of remorse, this at least she had prepared for and she could be almost completely truthful in her answer. ‘I was as shocked as everyone to hear about the alibi, I had no idea how it had come about but I knew with certainty it could not be true. As I told you at the time, I thought Jackie had gotten her boyfriend to lie for her. At first I thought you would disprove it in some way, but you all seemed to be convinced by it. You said the evidence you had against Jenny was slim and mainly circumstantial and the more I thought about it the more I thought Jenny might go free. I could not let that happen, not for my safety nor anyone else’s, it was too likely she might kill again.’

  Hassan glanced up, an almost imperceptible glance, she could not resist checking if Swift’s expression showed he believed her. It was her most damning mistake. Swift was too experienced to let any emotion show on his face, unless he wanted it to, during an interview. And he was too perceptive to miss the glance, it told him all he needed to know.

  ‘I knew you were having Jenny watched,’ Alima continued, unaware of her mistake, ‘I worked out how to avoid being seen and then it was simply a matter of getting Jenny to emerge. She has increasingly been the dominant personality so it did not take long, I gave her the money and told her Jackie had promised to pay the man for an alibi. She believed me and went to find him, using the information I had given her. I knew she’d be followed and you’d discover the alibi was a lie. I know it wasn’t correct police procedure but I did it to assist the case, to help bring Jenny to justice.’ Alima’s tone was almost triumphant at the end. So wrong was she about the impact of her explanation on Swift that she half expected him to praise her in some small way.