by Tara Lyons
‘We feel your frustration, partner,’ Clarke said and joined Rocky scouring the CCTV.
Dixon roughly flipped her dark hair over her head. ‘This could be a crime of passion. While it’s unlikely both would be murdered, the killer could have been caught up in an affair with either Warren Speed or Felicity Ireland. They were then dumped, shunned, and ignored. It’s terrifying what jealously and rage can do to a person.’
‘Fraser, what do you think?’ Hamilton asked. ‘Warren Speed was in the public eye; you seem to know a lot about his private life. Have you read any sort of expose in the papers along these lines?’
She shook her head. ‘But let’s not knock Dixon’s theory, especially as I’ve been doing some digging into Claire Newcomb and discovered her brother, Jason, works for The Skin Clinic on Bond Street.’
Hamilton’s heartbeat quickened. ‘And I’m hoping you’re going to continue by telling us it’s some kind of cosmetic beauty clinic?’
‘Correct. Its treatments include collagen injections, implants, and Botox. I’d guess there’d be plenty of vials on the premises.’
‘Clarke, I want an APW sent out immediately. Hammersmith were given Claire Newcomb’s car details, but I want all the local stations looking for her now. Rocky, keep your eyes peeled for a white Mini in the CCTV footage near and around the Embankment. Fraser, rush through a background check on this Jason. I don’t want to miss anything. And Dixon, get in touch with Laura Joseph in the pathology department. Ask her to check if a high concentration of Botox was present in Felicity Ireland’s body.’
The shrill of the office phone cut through his urgent demands. Surprised that the FLO assigned to Dorinda Ireland had contacted him at the office so soon, Hamilton perched on the desk.
‘This is Lisa. I thought you should know Miss Ireland has just taken a call from Holly Walker, who claims she and two other friends were with Felicity last night,’ the family liaison officer explained.
‘Who were the other two friends?’ Hamilton asked.
‘Let me see …’ she paused, briefly. ‘Todd Bell and Calvin Robinson.’
He groaned. ‘Well, of course, I should have seen that coming.’
‘I suggested Miss Walker visit you to make a statement. She’s on her way to Charing Cross Station now.’
‘Excellent. Thank you for acting so quickly with this information, Lisa.’
Hamilton relayed the information to his team and set about making arrangements for the two males to also be brought in for questioning.
‘I think it might be time to put your suggestion into play, Rocky.’
The young Constable hitched his shoulder and grinned. ‘Oh yeah, and which one are you referring to, gov?’
‘I want the three remaining friends in one place at the same time. But we won’t give them a chance to all have a chin-wag – we’ll split them up and interview them separately. I want to oversee everything, so I’ll watch from the viewing room.’
Hamilton explained the line of questioning he wanted his team to take with each of the potential witnesses. It was imperative they finally gained an understanding of what had really happened to Donna Moran. Apart from the glaringly obvious clue, he believed the missing woman would lead them to the answers they needed to ensure another life wasn’t stolen. He also had faith that by revealing another member of their group had been murdered, the three remaining friends would be alarmed and finally jolted into sharing their story.
Hamilton stood, his back straight and arms crossed over his chest, as he watched Fraser and Rocky explain the sequence of recent events to Holly Walker. The curvaceous young woman pulled a hand through her short, red hair. Her pale white skin was blotchy from using a screwed-up tissue to wipe the tears and mascara stains from her cheeks. Holly had learned of Felicity’s demise after speaking to Dorinda Ireland.
‘I was with her … it’s my fault this has happened to Flick. If I’d made her stay with me … ’ Holly stuttered through deep breaths.
‘Calm down, Miss Walker, have a sip of this water,’ Fraser said and lowered a plastic cup to the table. ‘Slowly, tell us exactly what happened last night.’
‘We left Calvin’s house at about seven p.m., half an hour after Todd. We hadn’t driven very far, maybe a few miles, when it was clear we were being followed. I didn’t believe Flick at first; I truly believed it was pure paranoia. But it soon became obvious the person in the car was following us.’
‘Can you remember what the car looked like, or did you see who was driving?’ Rocky asked.
Holly shook her head. ‘It was dark; I couldn’t see the driver’s face. But the car was black. A Ford Focus, same model as mine, except this one had tinted windows.’
She continued to describe what happened once Felicity was out of sight, and Hamilton’s eyes roamed over every inch of her body – the shaking hands and twitching leg, and the constant snivelling into the tissue.
Holly cleared her throat. ‘I managed to hobble back to the car, but my battery had died, so I couldn’t call the police like she asked. I stuck the key in, and unbelievably, the engine started.’
‘Where did you drive to?’
‘I searched the road, for Felicity and the mysterious car, but couldn’t see either. I … I was so scared. My mind went into autopilot, and I drove back to Calvin’s flat, but he wasn’t there. My ankle throbbed; I was in agony by this point. I could only think of Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith; it’s not far, so I went there. I thought I could alert somebody about what had happened to us.’
Rocky wrote a note and slide it along the table to Fraser. ‘And did you? Alert someone?’
She wiped her eyes clear of tears and nodded. ‘I explained to the nurse in A&E what had happened to me and my friend. She contacted the police and someone came and took my statement. He told me to go home and wait. I did … I shouldn’t have. It’s my fault.’
Hamilton made a quick note to follow up on Holly’s alibi, and ensure Clarke questioned Calvin Robinson of his whereabouts once his friends had vacated his home. Now, he needed the pair to press on with Holly. As if Fraser had heard his internal pleas, the line of questioning turned in the direction he wanted.
‘Miss Walker, we understand what a difficult time this is for you,’ she said, ‘but we need your help to capture the person, or persons, who murdered your two friends.’
Holly’s head snapped up. ‘Of course. I’ll do everything I can.’
Fraser smiled. ‘I need you to tell us about the last time you saw Donna Moran. What exactly happened at Lake Windermere, and why she disappeared without a word to you, her friends.’
Hamilton watched the colour drain from Holly’s face. The twitching and fidgeting stopped, as though the woman froze in time for a few moments. Before breaking through the barrier of the past, she inhaled deeply.
‘I don’t understand. What has this got to do with Donna?’ Holly asked.
‘Can you honestly say you don’t think it has anything to do with your friend, Miss Walker? Considering the date and location of Warren Speed’s murder. And now, his fiancée …’ Fraser trailed off.
Hamilton liked his colleague’s tactic; he knew her words would hang in the air like a thick mist. Holly’s eyes darted away. Her head hung low.
‘We all thought the same thing … or, at least that it was possible. It’s the reason we met last night,’ the woman confessed, her hands falling limp in her lap. ‘I honestly don’t know if Donna is alive. If she’s doing this to us. But she’d probably have reason to.’
‘Why?’ Fraser implored. ‘Tell us what happened.’
‘It was a stupid, alcohol-induced dare. We’d made our way over to the castle’s boat house and continued drinking. The darkness descended around us, and Warren saw the opportunity to play his usual prankster role. He dared one of us to stay in the boat house for the night. Donna, besotted and hanging on to his every word, agreed to do it. But Flick decided to up the ante, and instructed Donna to stay overnight in a rickety dinghy cha
ined up inside the boat house.’
Holly looked away again. A red flush crept along her neck and rested in her round cheeks. She refused to make eye contact while Fraser spoke.
‘What did you, Calvin, and Todd think about all this?’
Holly sighed. ‘I asked her not to do it. It might have been the summer, but … it had become so cold, so quickly. Calvin didn’t like the idea; he’s never been a fan of any type of bullying. Suffered enough persecution himself growing up. Warren was hell-bent on the idea, and Donna would never turn him down. She got in the boat, and we left. We all just left her there.’
‘But she returned to the B&B you were staying at?’ Rocky said and he sat forward in the chair. ‘She collected her belongings before returning to London?’
Holly shrugged. ‘I never saw her again.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Fraser said, frowning. ‘In Felicity’s statement, she said Donna had taken her bag and left a note explaining she wanted to get home.’
‘We all had our own rooms. It was late when we woke, and Flick assumed Donna would have just returned to the B&B and forgot about the stupid dare, so she went looking for her in her room. That’s when she found the note. But … what must have happened to Donna out there to make her up and leave us without a word?’
‘Did you all leave Donna at the boat house at the same time?’
Holly puckered her lips and hummed. ‘I can’t … I’m not sure. I’d had too much to drink. No, wait, Calvin left first. Yes, that’s it. The others were taking photographs, and he didn’t want to be involved. Myself, Todd, Warren, and Felicity left about ten minutes later.’
‘Thank you, Miss Walker, you’ve been extremely helpful with our investigation,’ Fraser said, as Holly’s head fell into her hands.
Calvin Robinson sat upright and appeared more focused than the last time Hamilton had interviewed him. He watched through the one-way glass, observing the eye contact between Robinson and Clarke.
‘When Miss Walker returned to your apartment, less than thirty minutes after leaving, you were nowhere to be found. Where did you go, Calvin?’
‘To work. I was on the night shift.’
‘At a local coffee shop?’
The young man grunted. ‘Clever. I work at the coffee shop during the day, and every now and then, my mate hooks me up with a gig at a local bar.’
Clarke leaned back in his chair. ‘What kind of gig was this then?’
‘Music. It’s my passion. I DJ whenever I get the chance to.’
‘And the name of the local bar?’
‘The Muse. It’s right next the London Eye, and I was there until about three a.m., if you want to check it out?’
Hamilton’s partner grinned. ‘We will, Mr Robinson. Thank you for the permission. Now, I need you to tell us about the night before Donna Moran disappeared from Ambleside.’
Calvin’s chest tensed. ‘Well, actually, she went missing from London. And it’s your guys who told us that, after we’d reported her missing.’
Clarke nodded. ‘Yes, but I asked you to tell us about the night before she left Ambleside. You know, when you and your friends were on the lake, having a drink, or two, at the old boat house.’
Hamilton watched the young man’s nostrils flare as his hands balled into fists under the table. It was obvious. Calvin quickly realised one of his friends had said too much to the police.
‘It was Donna’s idea. I think she wanted to try and impress Warren. We could all see he was getting a bit too friendly with Felicity.’
‘And Donna didn’t approve of their blossoming relationship?’
Calvin shrugged. ‘Well, she never said that, but I guess it was obvious. Donna and Warren had fooled around together, and she didn’t want to share him. But it was all light-hearted. It’s what you do at university.’
‘But you were no longer their university friend. How did that make you feel?’
Calvin visibly blanched at the question. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Well, here are your five best friends, all fresh with their degrees, and you’re sat with them, just a barman. Were you bitter? Jealous of their relationships?’
The man sucked the air between his teeth. ‘No.’
‘But you were happy to leave Donna there, alone and unprotected?’
‘I make my own choices in life. Donna made hers. It was a bit of fun, and she was well up for it. No one made her stay overnight at that boat house. It was stupid, but it was a laugh.’
‘And was it still a laugh when her mother had to report her only daughter missing?’ Clarke asked, but Calvin refused to look him in the eye. ‘Did you and the others leave the boat house together?’
‘Honestly, I didn’t think Donna would make the night. Assumed she’d be back within the hour when it got too cold, or she got bored. I headed back to the B&B for another few drinks. It was a decent place; they kept the bar open as long as a guest was drinking. The others went back to their rooms. I guess it was about midnight when I finally decided to turn in.’
‘And did you see Donna return to her room?’
The young man hesitated. ‘No.’
‘What do you think happened to her out there to make her run off back to London without saying a word to any of her friends?’ Clarke said and stared at the young man.
Calvin glared down at his hands, one index finger drumming on the table. ‘I don’t know. Maybe she blamed us for not sticking around … for leaving her there. Maybe … she didn’t want to speak to us anymore. I don’t know, but I never saw or spoke to Donna again.’
Clarke glanced in Hamilton’s direction and ended the interview.
Hamilton observed Todd Bell with interest. His brown, floppy hair fell casually to one side, and he sat away from the table, one foot comfortably resting on his knee. Dixon didn’t question him straight away, but flicked through the file of crime scene photographs for a few minutes. Todd’s foot idly bounced up and down.
‘You don’t seem too upset, Mr Bell, for someone who’s just lost yet another friend.’
‘Sadly, I’m used to dealing with death in my life. I tend not to wear my heart on my sleeve, shall we say.’
‘Yes, I know your parents were killed in the 7/7 bombings –’
‘Is that what I’m here to discuss?’ Todd interrupted.
Dixon pushed the photographs forward in front of Todd, giving him details about both Warren Speed and Felicity Ireland’s murder scenes. He glanced at them for only a second before turning away.
‘I don’t want to see them.’
‘Can you tell us where you were when both of your friends met an untimely death?’
Todd pushed the photographs back to Dixon. ‘I was with my girlfriend, Mel, the weekend Warren was in Ambleside. You can have her number and address. Then … when Felicity …’ He paused and steadied his breathing. ‘I left Calvin’s apartment before the girls. I was booked to coach under twelves at a local football club. But it was called off ten minutes before I arrived at the venue.’
‘So, where did you go?’
‘Home. And, yes, I was alone. Mel was working the night shift at the hospital, and she doesn’t stay at mine when she’s on nights.’
‘What’s Mel’s job at …?’
‘Charing Cross Hospital. She’s an A&E nurse.’
‘And how long have the two of you been together?’
‘Nearly six months now. We met at the coffee shop where Calvin works.’
Dixon paused for a few moments. ‘And what was your relationship with Felicity Ireland like?’
Todd’s jaw tightened, but his gaze never quitted Dixon’s. ‘She was my friend.’
‘Was there anything ever romantic between the two of you?’
His mouth turned down, and he shook his head. ‘Not really, no.’
‘What about you and Donna, anything there?’
‘I’m not in the habit of sleeping with my friends, Detective. Besides, Warren had a history with both Donna and Felicit
y, and you don’t step to your best friend’s women.’
‘How did you get those cuts on your hand, Mr Bell?’
He looked down and rubbed his thumb across the grazed skin on his knuckles. Although Dixon had veered off course with the line of questioning, Hamilton was pleased of it. During the previous two interviews, it became clear the friends’ recollections of Lake Windermere were not entirely matching. But he wondered if Todd could offer them something different.
‘I punched a wall.’
‘Lose your temper a lot, do you?’
‘No, not usually. But I’d made a stupid decision that day and hated myself for it. I lashed out, at myself may I add, and this was my prize.’
‘Care to share what bad decision you’d made, Mr Bell?’
Todd grinned, half-heartedly. ‘Women troubles.’
‘I see. Do you drive, or own a car?’
‘No, I never saw the point in learning. Living in London, everywhere is within walking or tube distance. But, Mel drives and sometimes it’s nice to get out of the City.’
‘Do you travel out of London together a lot? Perhaps you took your girlfriend to Ambleside, maybe thought you could show her the sights of the lakes you visited before with friends?’
Todd snorted a puff of air and shook his head. ‘No, Mel and I have never been to Ambleside together.’
Hamilton took a step closer to the glass, his eyes fixed on Todd, and the beads of sweat brimming at the edge of the man’s poised and pale face. There was one final question he wanted the answer to, and he desperately needed Dixon to be on his wavelength right now.
She sat forward in her chair. ‘Mr Bell, did you have an affair with Felicity?’
‘I already told you, no.’
‘Were you jealous of Warren and Felicity’s relationship?’