Children of the Revolution

by Peter Robinson

  ‘It wasn’t. And there is reception at the crime scene, at least at the top of the embankment. I assumed you weren’t answering because you didn’t want to talk about it.’

  ‘Talk about what?’

  ‘What happened with Red Ron and Madame Gervaise.’

  ‘Oh, that. What do you think happened? They warned us off.’

  ‘Off Lady Chalmers?’

  Banks looked around with mock concern. ‘Who else has a title around here?’

  Annie squinted at him from the passenger seat. ‘So they gave you a bollocking?’

  ‘It wasn’t a bollocking.’

  ‘Whatever. You were off sulking, weren’t you? Drinking and listening to some weird music, I’ll bet. Licking your wounds.’

  ‘You’ve got imagination, I’ll give you that.’

  ‘Well? Tell me I’m wrong.’

  ‘Here we are.’ Banks pulled up behind the college building. ‘Sure he’s in?’

  ‘Sure as I can be,’ said Annie. ‘I checked with the department. He doesn’t have any classes on a Friday morning. He might be seeing a student or working on Monday’s lecture, but he’s usually in his office.’

  ‘Right. Lead on.’

  Annie led Banks into the squat concrete and glass building and up the stairs to Trevor Lomax’s office. The door was slightly ajar, and they heard voices from inside. Banks tapped softly and pushed the door open. Lomax was sitting at his cluttered desk; a girl sat opposite him with a clipboard resting on her lap.

  ‘Who the hell are … Oh, Ms Cabbot?’ he said, smiling when he saw Annie.

  ‘We’re sorry to bother you, Trevor,’ Annie said. ‘This is my boss, DCI Banks. We’d like a quick word, if possible.’

  ‘I was just—’

  ‘We’re very busy,’ said Banks. Then he looked at the puzzled girl, bowed and gestured with his arm towards the open door. ‘If you don’t mind.’

  Flustered, she gathered up her things and left without a backward glance.

  ‘Was that really necessary?’ Lomax asked.

  ‘Like I said, we’re busy.’ Banks proffered the empty chair to Annie and leaned against the wall beside the window.

  ‘Cast your mind back four years ago,’ Annie said. ‘Several weeks after Gavin Miller’s hearing and dismissal.’

  ‘I don’t—’

  ‘Did a young woman pay you a visit and tell you she had evidence that Miller didn’t do what he was accused of?’

  ‘Why should anyone—’

  ‘Cut the bullshit, Mr Lomax,’ said Banks. ‘We know the whole story. It’s just a technique we use. You know, feeding it out bit by bit as questions, see if you slip up anywhere. We don’t ask questions to which we don’t already know the answer. With you, I think we can just cut to the chase, can’t we?’

  ‘Your boss is a bit full of himself, isn’t he, Ms Cabbot,’ said Lomax, smiling at Annie.

  Annie didn’t return his smile. ‘You might as well tell us the truth, Trevor. When he gets like this he’s unpredictable, not to mention impossible to call off.’

  ‘Are you threatening me?’

  ‘Not at all. I’ll jog your memory a bit, see if it helps. Lisa Gray. Remember that name?’

  ‘I remember a young woman coming to me with some cock-and-bull story.’

  ‘Now we’re getting somewhere,’ said Annie. ‘How do you know it was a cock-and-bull story?’

  ‘The board had made its decision, implemented it. It was over and done with. If anyone had any information, they should have come forward earlier, before or during the hearing. They had every chance.’

  ‘But Lisa Gray didn’t know about it during the hearing,’ said Annie. ‘She only found out afterwards. Don’t you remember what she told you? She overheard a conversation between Beth Gallagher and Kayleigh Vernon in the ladies’ and came to tell you about it. She also told you about Gavin Miller warning Kyle McClusky off selling drugs on campus, and that was the reason Beth and Kayleigh ganged up to discredit him. The three of them were mates. Surely you remember that?’

  ‘So she said. But it was nothing but hearsay. Pure invention. There was no proof.’

  ‘And there was proof of Miller’s guilt in the first place?’ Annie shook her head. ‘Did you question the girls again after you received this new information, ask them if it was true?’

  ‘No. As I said, there would have been no point. I’d done everything I could for Gavin. The hearing was over; the decision had been made. The girls had already been through enough. Why put them through the trauma all over again?’

  ‘Gee, Trevor, I don’t know,’ said Annie. ‘Because a man’s reputation and livelihood were at stake? A friend of yours.’

  ‘And if Beth and Kayleigh had been lying,’ Banks said, ‘as Lisa Gray claimed they were, then surely it was your duty to investigate that and find out?’

  ‘You mistake my job for your own, Mr Banks. It wasn’t my duty to do anything of the kind. It was over and done with. I’d already done my best to stick up for Gavin, but to no avail.’

  ‘What was it your duty to do?’ Annie asked. ‘Brush it under the carpet?’

  ‘I resent that. Gavin Miller was a friend of mine.’

  Banks scratched his head. ‘That’s what puzzles me. He was supposed to be your mate. I’d love to know how you treat your enemies.’

  ‘That was uncalled for.’

  ‘Was it?’ Banks moved away from the wall, leaned forward and rested his palms on the desk. ‘A girl comes to you and tells you she overheard two girls who’ve accused a fellow employee, a friend of yours, of sexual misconduct, having a giggle about how they pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes, including yours, and you do nothing. I have to ask myself why.’

  Lomax leaned back in his chair. ‘And what brilliant conclusion do you come to?’

  ‘There are a number of possibilities,’ Banks said slowly. ‘The first one that comes to mind is that Kyle McClusky also supplied you with drugs. Perhaps you bought some roofies from him and had your way with some leggy eighteen-year-old student. Or maybe you scored a bit of speed so you could stay up all night marking essays. Maybe you were shagging Beth or Kayleigh. Obviously, Kyle knew about this, and if he went down he would make sure as hell you went with him, so it was in your best interests to keep him out of the whole affair. Gavin Miller didn’t know Kyle was a pal of Beth and Kayleigh’s. As far as he was concerned, there was no connection between his warning Kyle off selling drugs, which had taken place some time before, and the accusations the girls made of sexual misconduct. But you knew, didn’t you? And as only you and the Gray girl knew that she’d been to see you – or so you thought – it was a simple matter of sitting on it.’

  ‘That’s absurd. You’re accusing me of buying drugs from Kyle McClusky and having sex with a student? This is bordering on slander. Maybe I should call my solicitor.’

  ‘I didn’t hear him say anything about sex and drugs,’ said Annie.

  ‘I’m simply suggesting it as a possibility,’ Banks went on, ‘a reason why you didn’t do anything with the information Lisa Gray brought to you.’

  ‘I told you. It was too late. The decision had already been made. It would have done no good to … to …’

  ‘To what? Rake it all up again and risk the publicity? Wouldn’t be good for who? For you? For the college?’

  ‘Of course it wouldn’t have been good for the college. What’s wrong with that? Don’t you lot all close ranks and pull together when someone attacks one of you?’ He glanced sharply at Annie. ‘Didn’t you do exactly that just now?’

  ‘You’re comparing what you did to us closing ranks?’ Banks leaned back against the wall again. ‘Now I’ve heard it all. Annie, I’ve had enough. Perhaps you can take it from here?’

  ‘What DCI Banks means is that the information was entrusted to you, a friend of the accused, by perhaps the only other person around here who seemed to give a damn what happened to him.’

  ‘But nobody would have listened to her,’ said
Lomax. ‘To Lisa Gray. I wanted to avoid getting personal about it, but she was neurotic, a delusional, drunken trollop. She started out as an outstanding student, but she was failing her courses and going downhill fast in every way.’

  ‘What was wrong with her? Why did she change?’

  Lomax shrugged. ‘It happens. She was probably on drugs.’

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘It’s true. The girl was on the verge of expulsion herself. She was behind in her work, she’d been abusive to members of staff, she’d missed more than half of her classes and attended at least one of them while intoxicated. Imagine how well it would have gone down if we had publicised an exoneration of Miller by such a person. Not that I’m saying it was an exoneration. All Beth and Kayleigh would have had to do was stick to their guns.’

  ‘Beth Gallagher admitted to us that she fabricated her story.’

  Lomax swallowed. ‘She did? When?’

  ‘Yesterday,’ said Annie.

  ‘And you believe her?’

  ‘My DS believes her,’ Banks said. ‘And that’s good enough for me.’

  Lomax spread his hands. ‘Well, what can I say? If she’d admitted that at the time, maybe I could have done something, but it was too little, too late.’

  ‘Couldn’t you somehow have reinstated Gavin Miller after you found out the truth?’ Annie asked.

  ‘What truth? Lisa Gray’s say-so? Weeks after he’d been dismissed? I can’t imagine any precedent for that sort of action. Can you? Who’d believe her? Don’t forget, it’s ultimately down to the government. They provide our money. We’re not a private institution, you know. Besides, I thought you were investigating Gavin’s murder, not his dismissal.’

  ‘Oh, we are,’ said Annie. She glanced towards Banks, who gave her a nod. ‘We just think they might be connected. How many people did you tell about Lisa’s story?’

  ‘What do you mean? Nobody. Why?’

  ‘Not Jim Cooper, or anyone else on the board or the committee?’

  ‘No. Why would I? Jim Cooper wasn’t on the committee. Besides, I don’t particularly like him, to be honest, and the board … well, it wasn’t their concern.’

  ‘Did you tell your wife?’

  ‘Sally and I share everything. It was she who advised me that it would be foolish to go to the board with the girl’s story, that I’d be laughed off campus.’

  ‘Might your wife have told someone else? Dayle Snider, perhaps?’

  ‘I very much doubt it. Besides, Dayle and Gavin weren’t together then.’

  ‘What about Kyle McClusky dealing drugs on campus?’

  ‘We didn’t know about that, either, if he was. And he’d gone by then.’

  ‘Thanks to Gavin Miller warning him off.’

  ‘Yes, well … as I said, we didn’t know about that. Gavin didn’t see fit to tell us. What Gavin did was tantamount to a tip-off more than anything else.’

  ‘Does Jim Cooper use drugs? Did he buy from Kyle?’

  ‘How on earth would I know? It wouldn’t surprise me, the way he goes about trying to be so hip and cool all the time, but really I have no idea.’

  ‘Imagine this, Trevor,’ said Annie. ‘You reminded me that we’re investigating the murder, not the dismissal. Well, consider this scenario. Somehow, four years after the events that lost him his job, Gavin Miller finds out that Lisa Gray came to you with information that might have exonerated him, and that you did nothing. Maybe she told him, or maybe he found out some other way. It doesn’t matter. He confronts you about this. He’s broke, and he wants money, compensation, perhaps, so he blackmails you. If you don’t pay, he’ll denounce you to the college authorities for some indiscretion or other that he knows about. You arrange to meet at the old railway bridge south of Coverton. It’s a nice, secluded spot. Something goes wrong. Maybe he decides he’d rather have a public apology and get his old job back. Whatever. You struggle and end up pushing him over the bridge. Maybe it’s an accident. Maybe you didn’t mean to kill him. Or maybe you couldn’t afford to pay a blackmailer, so you went there intending to kill him. What kind of car do you drive?’

  ‘This is outrageous!’

  ‘What kind?’

  ‘An Audi.’

  ‘What colour.’

  ‘Black.’

  ‘Someone saw you getting into your car around ten o’clock last Sunday night in Coverton car park. How does that sound, Trevor?’

  ‘Preposterous,’ said Lomax. ‘You’ll never convince anyone of that.’

  ‘Oh, we might,’ said Annie. ‘And it might just be true, mightn’t it?

  ‘I already told you. I was at home with my wife.’

  ‘Watching Downton Abbey. Yes, we know. But alibis can be very fragile things, Trevor. In our experience, wives especially don’t make very convincing alibis.’

  Annie stood up and walked towards the door. Banks followed, while Lomax remained at his desk, red-faced and spluttering.

  ‘Cooper next?’ Banks asked when they got down the stairs.

  ‘I suppose so,’ sighed Annie. ‘But I’ve had enough of this place for the moment. Lunch first?’

  ‘Good—’ Banks’s mobile went off. He stopped on the stairs and listened for a while, as Annie waited impatiently.

  ‘Who was it?’ she asked, when he’d finished.

  ‘Doug Watson.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘He’s located Kyle McClusky. Seems he’s a guest in HM Prison Leeds.’

  * * *

  ‘Mr Cooper,’ called Annie. ‘I’m so glad I caught you before you left for the weekend.’ She was crossing the grassy square when she saw Cooper leaving his department with his battered briefcase in his hand and a silk scarf wrapped artistically around his neck, longish hair hanging over at the back. He looked exactly as Lomax had described him, someone pathetically trying to appear younger and more hip than he really was. He probably liked to hang out in the student bar, too, Annie thought, pretend he was one of them, and maybe, just maybe, to appear extra cool, he might like to score some coke or speed once in a while, or smoke a joint.

  Banks had gone back to the station after lunch to follow up on the call they’d got about Kyle McClusky, so Annie was on her own for this one. She didn’t mind. It would be a pleasure to puncture Cooper’s sense of self-importance and arrogance.

  ‘I like to get away early on a Friday,’ said Cooper as Annie fell into step beside him. ‘I don’t have any classes in the afternoon, so I usually manage to get the paperwork done and slip away before three. What is it this time?’

  ‘Oh, you know. Just a few more questions.’

  ‘I thought I’d already answered all your questions.’

  ‘We keep coming up with new ones. It’s the funny thing about this job. One piece of new information comes in, and it changes the whole picture.’

  ‘And this time?’

  ‘Well, perhaps there’s somewhere we could have a quick chat?’

  ‘Would my car do?’ Cooper pointed his key ring at a red Toyota, and it beeped as the door locks opened. Annie didn’t particularly fancy the idea of being enclosed in a car with Cooper, but it was a bit nippy outside, and what could happen, anyway? She was sure she could still take care of herself, despite the odd aches and pains she still suffered since the shooting. Besides, she didn’t think he had the bottle to try anything.

  Once they had got seated, the heater on, Annie half turned to face him and said, ‘It’s about the Gavin Miller case.’

  ‘I thought so. Still not caught your man?’

  ‘Or woman.’

  ‘Oh, yes. Mustn’t forget. Equal opportunity murders these days. Well, how can I help you this time?’

  ‘That’s assuming you helped us last time.’

  ‘Didn’t I? I’m mortified. Well, I must try to do better, mustn’t I? Ask away.’ The faint mocking smile never left his face. It was the kind of smile that made Annie want to slap it off. Hard. ‘What is this new piece of information? You have me intrigued.’
/>   ‘We think that Gavin Miller’s murder may be linked to the events of four years ago.’

  ‘That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?’

  ‘It was very traumatic for him. He lost his job, his living, his self-respect. It was the start of a long downward spiral.’

  ‘You don’t have to tell me what it did to him. I was there, listening, lending a shoulder, not to mention a tenner or two.’

  ‘But it wasn’t enough, was it?’

  ‘Nothing ever is. I couldn’t turn back the clock.’

  ‘He wanted more money, didn’t he?’

  ‘Don’t we all?’

  ‘Don’t try to be clever. You know what I’m talking about. Gavin Miller was desperate for a change in his fortunes. Desperate enough to take things in his own hands and seek it. By blackmail, perhaps?’

  ‘Gavin? You obviously didn’t know him. Never. He might have been a bit of an oddball, but he wasn’t a crook. Gavin was a gentle soul, angry and bitter though he was. He would no more have blackmailed someone than he would have hurt them.’

  ‘People change,’ said Annie. ‘Sometimes circumstances drive them to it. What do you think of Trevor Lomax?’

  ‘Lomax. He’s a competent enough department head, but there’s not a great deal of energy or sense of innovation about him. He’s about as exciting as a wet Sunday in November.’

  ‘Shortly after Gavin Miller was fired, a student overheard Beth and Kayleigh boasting in the ladies’ about how they’d pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes about Miller. What do you think about that?’

  ‘First I’ve heard of it. Did she tell anyone?’

  ‘Trevor Lomax.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘That’s as far as it went.’

  ‘The bastard.’

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘Well, it could have helped Gavin, couldn’t it? Lomax was also supposed to be his friend. I didn’t know anything about this.’

  ‘Trevor Lomax said it was too late, and he didn’t believe the source.’

  ‘Who was it?’

  ‘I can’t tell you that.’

  ‘Then I can’t really help you. Why didn’t Gavin tell me about it, or make a fuss himself at the time?’