‘Only to make him understand,’ she interrupted. ‘I was so sure he’d have already seen them that I was taken unawares, and it was the easiest way…’ She stopped and sighed loudly. ‘It seemed like a good idea.’
‘And he mentioned me by name. You’re sure you’ve never used my name in conversation?’
She shook her head, loose hair swinging. ‘There was never any reason to. We’ve never met socially. Your name would never have come up. I don’t think even Hugh knows your name, why would he?’
‘Indeed,’ West said and looked down at his desk to hide his expression. When he continued his voice was cooler. ‘And afterwards, you went to meet Aidan Power.’
‘Yes, and don’t forget it was Aidan who recommended Owen as an agent.’
West nodded. ‘Yes, so you said. You mentioned to me before that you found Power pleasant and helpful as an editor.’
‘He is a good editor. On a personal level, I’d found him a little too flirtatious, too touchy-feely, but today he was obnoxious and rude and he made it quite clear that he doesn’t like me at all.’ She frowned at the memory. ‘He doesn’t rate me highly as a writer either.’
‘And you think he lied about his relationship with Owen Grady?’
She met his eyes. ‘He definitely lied, then he couldn’t leave the café fast enough.’
‘Would he have recommended Grady as an agent if he hardly knew him?’ West said. He’d no idea how things worked in the publishing industry. ‘I suppose he might have known him by reputation.’
Edel sighed loudly. ‘I suppose.’
‘Elliot Mannion said the publishing business is a small one. Maybe everyone knows everyone else.’
‘Elliot Mannion,’ she said, her eyes opening wide. ‘The MD of Books Ireland Inc.?’
‘I went to see him to pick up those photographs. There was always a chance that whoever wrote on them might have got careless and left some trace. Unfortunately, we weren’t so lucky.’ He could feel her eyes boring a hole in him.
‘You had no right. I haven’t made an official complaint.’
‘I told you I’d look into it unofficially,’ he said with a shrug. He saw her mulish look grow and as quickly fade.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said wearily, ‘I was going to ask you to make it official, Mike. They’re in it together; you’ll be able to find out why they’re doing it.’
He saw her wan look, the air of defeat that settled over her like a cloud. ‘If they’re responsible, we’ll get them. As it happens, I asked Baxter to do some digging into all three men; Todd, Grady and Power. He just mentioned that he found something, so let’s get him in here and hear what he’s got to say.’
He opened his office door. Baxter was perched on the side of a desk chatting to Andrews. Both men looked up as the door opened. ‘Come on in,’ he called, returning to his desk.
Andrews nodded a friendly greeting at Edel and took the vacant chair while Baxter pushed paperwork from one corner of the desk and perched on the spot.
‘Make yourselves at home,’ West said, rescuing the papers that had been in an orderly pile. He shuffled them back together and placed them in a drawer. ‘Right,’ he said, looking up at the younger man’s freckled face, ‘tell us what you found.’
‘There’s a lot available on Hugh Todd,’ Baxter said, ‘and having read most of it, my conclusion is that what you see is what you get. A straight-up, well-respected, conservative family man. In business, he’s regarded as tough, but fair.
‘Aidan Power has worked for FinalEdit Publishing for three years, before that he worked with Oisin Dubh Publishing for almost ten. He left following a falling out with the owner, with whom he’d had a seven-year relationship. From all accounts,’ he looked around the room, ‘and there are multiple, it wasn’t an amicable split. Power arrived home to find his partner in bed with a woman.’
‘Finding out your partner of seven years is a lesbian, might make him a little bitter,’ Andrews said.
Baxter grinned. ‘No, you have it wrong. Power’s partner was Oisin O’Leary. Power is homosexual. The insult was that O’Leary strayed with a woman, not another man.’
‘Ah,’ West and Andrews said in unison.
‘So, it isn’t me he doesn’t like,’ Edel said, drawing three pairs of eyes toward her. ‘He blames women in general for his partner’s cheating. Although,’ she frowned, ‘he made it seem personal.’
‘Maybe you look like her,’ Andrews suggested, ‘or maybe you’ve the same colouring. It might have brought it back to him.’
‘It might be worthwhile checking to see if he ever enacted any form of revenge on the woman O’Leary was with.’
Andrews nodded. ‘I’ll look into it.’
Baxter shuffled on the desk. ‘I’m not finished,’ he said with a grin. ‘In fact, I’ve left the best to last.’
‘Well?’ West said.
‘Guess who Owen Grady is related to?’ Baxter said. Getting a warning glance from Andrews to stop playing games, he hurried on. ‘He’s Amanda Pratt’s brother.’ He glanced over to Edel. He didn’t have to spell it out; they all knew who she was. The widow of Cyril Pratt aka Simon Johnson, the man Edel still thought of as her late husband. Andrews gave a low whistle. He’d interviewed Amanda Pratt; she was a piece of work.
Edel looked shocked, her face even paler than it had been. She turned wide eyes to West but said nothing.
West was checking the time. Five o’clock. If they were in luck, they might catch both men in their offices. Giving Andrews a nod, he said, ‘Ring Power and Grady, ask them to come in. If they refuse, tell them we’ll send uniformed gardaí to their offices in the morning with a warrant.’
Andrews didn’t need to be told twice. He left and seconds later they heard his deep voice in conversation.
Baxter, with a quick look at Edel, shuffled to his feet, murmured something inaudible and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
West knew there was no point in asking her to go home; she wouldn’t go and they’d end up having a row. He was about to suggest that she stay in his office until after they’d interviewed the men when she turned sad eyes on him.
‘Amanda Pratt’s brother,’ she said, and shook her head. ‘It seems I’m never going to be able to put that whole terrible ordeal behind me.’ Standing, she walked a few steps, turned and walked back. ‘The whole situation was explained to her, wasn’t it? She knows it wasn’t my fault.’
He nodded. ‘A family liaison officer went and explained the details. Peter said that there was little love lost between her and her husband, and a very healthy life insurance policy has left her and her two children well cared for.’
‘You don’t think she bears a grudge?’ Edel said, sitting back in her chair.
‘I don’t see why she should,’ he said, trying to reassure her. But the one thing he’d learned from working with the public was that there was no accounting for what they did. Perceived grievances could be held for a long time by some people. Maybe Grady held a grudge on his sister’s behalf.
Andrews knocked, and stuck his head around the door. ‘It took a bit of persuading,’ he said, ‘and a heavy emphasis on uniformed gardaí in squad cars arriving with sirens blazing to escort them in tomorrow morning. But finally, our two law-abiding, upstanding gentlemen saw sense and agreed to come of their own accord.’
‘Good. Show them into separate interview rooms.’
Once Andrews had gone, he turned to Edel. ‘Before they get here, I’d like you to make an official statement. It will just make our lives a little easier and ensure that there’ll be no room for them to wriggle out of any charges.’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘of course.’
‘Good.’ He slipped a few sheets of paper across the desk. ‘Just write exactly what happened, starting with the phone call you had from Hugh Todd and finishing when you came into us today. Take your time.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll get you some coffee; we’re going to be here for a while.’
He
left her to write her statement and sat in the office with Andrews and Baxter. ‘Any word from Jarvis regarding that friend of Ollie Fearon’s?’ he asked.
Andrews shook his head. ‘They’ve had no luck chasing him down as yet. They’re still looking.’
It was the way the job went. ‘Slowly, slowly catchy monkey.’
‘Never understood that expression myself,’ Andrews said. ‘Why would anyone want to catch a monkey anyway?’
‘To chop off the top of their heads and eat their brains,’ Baxter suggested. He grinned when they both looked at him. ‘It was in that Indiana Jones movie.’
The phone rang. Andrews, answering it, gave the other two a thumbs-up. ‘Show him into the Big One.’ He hung up. ‘Aidan Power has just arrived. Sergeant Blunt says he doesn’t appear too happy.’
‘Let’s give him a few minutes to settle into his new accommodation,’ West said, picking up his mug. ‘Some day,’ he said conversationally, ‘we’re going to invest in some decent coffee.’
They waited five minutes. Baxter sat in the observation room while the other two went to speak to an obviously annoyed Aidan Power. They took the two seats opposite him; West introduced himself and Andrews and warned Power that the interview was being recorded.
‘Just a formality, you understand,’ West said, looking at the face of the man who sat opposite, lips and eyes narrowed, a frown on his forehead. ‘Thank you for coming in to help with our enquiries.’
Power’s lips curved into an unattractive sneer. ‘It didn’t look as if I had much choice. Come in now or be dragged here in a blaze of publicity tomorrow. Now,’ he snapped, ‘tell me why I’m here.’
‘You know about the photographs purporting to be Edel Johnson that were delivered to Mr Todd and Mr Mannion.’
‘Is that what this is all about?’ Power said, sitting back with wide eyes. ‘Has that stupid cow said it was my doing?’ He slammed his hands on the table. ‘I told her it was nothing to do with me.’ Crossing his arms, he sneered. ‘She said they weren’t photographs of her. Well, it looked bloody like her to me.’
West took a deep breath. ‘No, Mr Power, they’re not of her. The photographs have been forensically examined and have been proven to be composites. Now,’ he said, looking him in the eye, ‘if you are, as you claim, innocent of any wrongdoing in this regard, can you explain your obvious antagonism towards Ms Johnson.’
Power looked down his nose at him. ‘Antagonism? I just don’t like the woman. So, sue me.’
West and Andrews stayed silent. It was obvious there was something more to it than that. They could wait.
‘Oh, for goodness sake,’ Power said, uncrossing his arms and resting his hands on the table. ‘If you must know, although why it’s any of your business I don’t know, but if you must, I’ll tell you.’ He ran a hand over his face. ‘Once upon a time,’ he started, ‘there was an enthusiastic young man who fell in love with an older man and was happy for many years. One day, this innocent young man came home and found him in bed with a woman. A woman,’ he repeated with disgust. ‘He was devastated.
‘Many years later, this somewhat cynical and world-weary man fell in love again. When he started to hear his new love talk about a woman they both knew, he began to suspect the same thing might happen again. And he was angry.’ He stopped and looked from West to Andrews. ‘The end.’
‘The first older man, that was Oisin O’Leary, I assume,’ West said, letting the man know they’d already done some digging.
Power gave a sad smile. All anger was gone. Gripping one of his hands in the other, he said, ‘It took me a couple of years to come to terms with what happened. When I met Owen, I thought, maybe, I was getting a second chance.’
West and Andrews resisted the temptation to look at one another. Power and Grady were a couple?
‘That’s Owen Grady, isn’t it?’ West said, going for it.
Power nodded. ‘Stupidly, I’m the one who suggested him to her. Owen’s trying to build his client base. She looked to be going places, and I thought I’d be doing him a favour.’
‘What happened?’ West nudged when he didn’t speak for a while.
‘He met her, and it was all Edel this, and Edel that, until I could hardly bear it. When I accused him of having feelings for her, he laughed and told me I was getting paranoid.’
‘So, you sent the photographs to destroy her professionally?’
Power, who’d drifted off into his own little world, looked up sharply. ‘What? No, I tell you, I didn’t send the damn photographs. I wouldn’t destroy anyone professionally, and certainly not personally. I’ve been there; I wouldn’t inflict that kind of pain on anyone.’
The two detectives exchanged glances. They believed him.
‘One last question,’ West asked. ‘Why did you lie to Ms Johnson when she asked you if you knew Owen Grady?’
‘I wasn’t getting into a discussion about Owen with her,’ he said simply.
West saw the truth in his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to get into a discussion with her about the man he loved because he was afraid she’d admit to having an affair with him.
He pushed back from the table and stood. ‘This interview is terminated,’ he said for the benefit of the recording, stating the time and date. He looked down at the seated man. ‘We’ve no further questions for you, Mr Power. Thank you for coming to assist with our enquiries.’
Power stood. All the fight had left him during the recounting of his story. Without a glance at either of the detectives, he left the room.
26
West and Andrews joined Baxter in the observation room.
‘Power and Grady,’ Baxter said when they sat down. ‘That was a bit of a surprise, wasn’t it? They’ve kept that quiet, nothing on social media about their being an item.’
‘What did you make of his story?’ West asked him.
Baxter ran a hand through his ginger hair, making it stand on end. ‘He went from confrontational to pathetic very quickly. I think his bravado is all front, and the innocent boy who was so hurt by O’Leary is never very far away.’
West hadn’t expected such a thoughtful reply. ‘Yes, I think you’re probably right,’ he said. ‘Has Grady arrived?’
‘About ten minutes ago. He’s waiting in the Other One,’ Baxter said. He moved to the water cooler in the corner, filled two paper cups and handed one to West.
‘Thanks.’ West drained the cup, scrunched it and threw it into the wire rubbish bin as Andrews walked in. ‘Right,’ he said to him, ‘let’s go and see what Grady has to say for himself. If Power didn’t send the photographs, maybe he did.’
Owen Grady looked up and smiled when they came into the room. West introduced himself and Andrews and they sat in the chairs opposite.
‘This interview is being recorded, Mr Grady,’ he said before stating the date and time and the names of those present.
When he’d finished, to the surprise of both detectives, Grady laughed and said, ‘This is great, really great.’
West and Andrews exchanged glances. Was he on something?
‘You seem to be unusually happy about being here, Mr Grady.’
‘I am,’ Grady said, ‘and I’ll tell you why, shall I?’
‘Well, if it saves us having to go and get the police doctor to certify that you haven’t taken any mood-altering drugs, that would be of benefit,’ West said caustically.
‘No, I’m on a natural high. You see, after years of watching authors have their novels published, I decided to write one myself. A crime novel, Sergeant, set in Dublin. This,’ he waved his hands around the room, ‘will allow me to give it veracity.’
‘We’re happy to be of use,’ West said, wondering if the day would come when people stopped surprising him. He certainly hoped not. ‘Perhaps you can return the favour and answer some questions for us.’
‘Fire away,’ Grady said, ‘I’ve nothing to hide.’
‘Not even your relationship with Aidan Power?’
Grady’s
smile faded a little. ‘Keeping it quiet was his idea, not mine.’ He shrugged. ‘He has trust issues.’ He looked from one detective to the other. ‘You’ve hardly brought me here to ask about my relationship with Aide, have you?’
‘No,’ West said, ‘you’re here to assist in our investigation into the photographs that were sent to FinalEdit Publishing and Books Ireland Inc. purporting to be of–’
‘Edel Johnson,’ Grady interrupted him. ‘Is that what this is all about? She was in with me earlier today. You can’t think I’ve anything to do with sending them?’
‘During your conversation you mentioned her partner’s name. She maintains she never told you about him.’
‘I know her partner’s name, and therefore I’m the guilty party. Seriously?’ He shrugged dismissively. ‘I must have heard the name somewhere.’
‘From your sister, Amanda, maybe?’
All trace of good humour left Grady’s face. ‘I should have guessed she’d come into this somewhere. Yes, okay, I probably heard his name from her. She told me all about what happened to that piece of shit she married. For a while, she became obsessed with the other life he’d led and tried to find out everything she could about it, especially about Edel Johnson, where she moved to, what she worked at et cetera. She knew about her relationship with some garda who was involved in her husband’s case.’ He stopped and closed his eyes briefly. ‘Of course,’ he said, staring at West. ‘Mike West. I’d forgotten your surname until now. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
‘Would that obsession have led Amanda to send those photographs? Trying to destroy Edel personally and professionally to get revenge?’
Grady shook his head firmly. ‘She’s over that. Cyril was an idiot, but at least he had the wit to have good life insurance. Money is a good balm, you know.’ He smiled. ‘As is the new man in her life, he must be good for her, she looks happier than I’ve seen her in years. The past is behind her, she’s moved on.’
They’d have to follow it up, but if he were right it looked like Amanda Pratt was out of the picture.
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